Page 77 of Wine & Warlocks

His heart hiccuped as he stared down into the wide, trusting eyes of the dog. Lifting his gaze to meet Sabrina’s, he saw the same damned expression, and he wanted to howl his pain. It seemed she already knew what he was just realizing; he could never harm her. The capricious girl who reminded him of Dubheasa whenever she cocked her head and graced him with a mischievous grin. Dubheasa, who would despise him for making war on a child after he’d sworn he never would.

“Go home, ya wee wild beastie. Your da will be worried about you,” he ordered dully. “And take the pup back to Baz. He’ll find her a better home than I could ever give her.”

“No take backs. Mack said so. She said you need Buttercup to make you smile again.”

He snorted at the ridiculousness of naming a RottweilerButtercup. “Sure, and if Mack was truly psychic, she’d know I’ll not give so regal a girl the name Buttercup.”

“Mack said it’s from the Princess Bride.” Sabrina shrugged and rubbed the dog behind the ear. “She said that ‘Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.’ That’s from the Princess Bride, too. Wesley said it.”

Ronan closed his lids against the stabbing torment her cheerful conversation brought. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, as the words remained locked behind the lump of emotion clogging his throat.

When Sabrina patted his cheek, he looked at her, meeting her clear-eyed gaze.

“I miss her,” he croaked, only able to confess the truth toher, the child with the ability to see beneath the outer layers, all the way down to his soul.

“Don’t worry, Ronan. You’ll see her again. As soon as you’re done here.”

Knowing he could be stuck on the earthly plane for a century or two if he accepted the return of his Guardian powers, he nodded tiredly. Ronan looked down at the black-and-tan puppy as she burrowed against his belly and gazed up at him with adoration he wasn’t deserving of. “She’d have loved you, Buttercup,” he said softly.

Buttercup barked, giving him the equivalent of a canine grin, mouth open and tongue lolling.

Sabrina’s giggle made him smile, bittersweet though it felt.

“Are you still cross with Papa?” she asked, and she sounded as if the idea of Ronan being upset with Damian was the worst thing she could think of. To her, it probably was.

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a while as Buttercup gnawed on the fingers of Ronan’s uninjured hand.

“You shouldn’t be mad at him, you know.”

Her tone was so matter-of-fact Ronan almost smiled again. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Papa wanted to save Dubheasa, but Fintan said he couldn’t. He said the Authority wanted her dead.”

Fury exploded in Ronan’s brain, and he swore viciously, blind to the fact a child was present. Fintan Sullivan had earned himself a place on Ronan’s hit list.

Buttercup whined and leapt to the ground to hide next to Sabrina. Unperturbed, she gathered the puppy to her chest and placed a tender kiss on her head. “He’s hurting, Buttercup. Mama says when people are hurting, we have to forgive a swear word or two.”

Awash with shame, Ronan bowed his head and squeezed his eyes closed. “I’m sorry I used such language in front of you both.”

“I don’t mind, but Buttercup was scared. Papa says we can’t show anger in front of innocent animals. They don’t know why we’re mad.”

“I don’t care to hear what your da has to say, and if you’re trying to tell me youcan’ttalk to animals, I’ll call ya a liar, wee beastie,” Ronan said dryly. “I was there when you asked the pups which ones wouldn’t be sad to leave their mam and go home with you.”

She grinned. “Okay, Buttercup knows why you were mad, but she doesn’t like it.”

“If I promise not to curse your puir ears bloody, will you tell me the why of it?”

“Why the Authority wouldn’t let Papa save Dubheasa?”

“Aye.”

Sabrina’s shoulders lifted as she widened her eyes and grimaced.

Again, Ronan almost smiled. If there was one thing that annoyed Sabrina Dethridge, it was not being privy to certain knowledge.

“That’s a question for the Authority or Fintan,” Damian said somberly from behind him.

---