Page 42 of Highballs & Hexes

“Fi, please listen to me,” he begged. Gripping his head like he feared it would explode, he implored her to listen. “Please. That isn’t me. It isn’t who I am in here with you. Ya have to believe I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know?” she scoffed. “How could you not?”

Was he trying to justify upending those victims’ lives? Hers? Rage boiled inside her. What right did he have?

“I love you,” he said simply, dropping his arms to his side and making no move to touch her. “Since meeting you?—”

“Jaysus!I hate you! And I’ll not believe another word you say.”

When she sneered in the face of his declaration, he sat back on his heels. He looked as stricken as she’d felt moments before.

“You’re a fucking liar,” she snarled, forgetting her fear and caution and warming to her rant. “From the moment you answered my phone call about Tadhg, you’ve been lyin’ to me, and it hasn’t stopped. Do ya really think I’m going to believe you’ve suddenly had a change of heart about all of this? That you’re suddenly going to let everyone here go unharmed?”

Acceptance took the place of his hurt, and it was hard to see the torment in his darkening eyes. They were a witch’s tell. The darker the shade, the more upset the person.

A witch’s tell.

Belatedly, it occurred to her that his irises had progressively lightened over the time they’d been here. They’d gone from a mossy green to the emerald ofÉire’sfields in the spring, as they’d grown closer.

Yet his eye color was turning to a dense forest, deeper and darker than their first meeting, revealing his upset. Was it because she’d found him out? Because he’d destroyed what she thought they were building with his sick games, shattering her heart in the process?

Like a pendulum, her emotions swept back and forth. On one side, fear for what he’d done and was capable of doing still. On the other, fury for all of it along with his lies. With her balled fist, she struck, knocking him on his arse.

Scrambling to her feet, she raced for the door, unsure how she intended to unlock it before he caught her but willing to try anyway. It swung wide before she got there, and the shock halted her in her tracks.

Was it a trick?

“It’s no trick, Fionola,” he said tiredly. “Sure, and you’re right about everything. I’m a fucking monster.”

She spun back to see him settle into the shadows with his back to the wall. As she watched, the remaining light seeped from his eyes and his corner of the cell grew dimmer than normal.

Was he doing that? Making himself disappear?

Her heartbeat was excruciatingly loud in her ears, and she almost missed his next words.

“There’s a panel at the end of the corridor.” He waved a hand in the general direction. “If you flip the main switch into the up position, it’ll unlock all the cells at once.” His dull-eyed stare was focused on the ground.

She froze where she stood, unsure if she could trust him, and it drew his attention to her. A bitter half smile curled his lip.

“You’re safe from me, love. I’ll hold the monster at bay while you shut my door and use the override to open theirs. When it’s done, bring your brother back, and I’ll tell you how to seal mine for good, yeah?”

Her stomach flipped, and tears stung her eyes before rushing down her cheeks. Using the heels of her hands, she swiped them away.

“You mean for me to leave you here to die?” she asked incredulously. “Are ya mad?” With a shake of her head, she swore. “Of course you’re mad. What the feck am I saying?”

He huffed out a tragic little laugh, as if she amused him with her ramblings, but just as quickly, his countenance hardened. “Go now, Fionola,” he ordered harshly. “Get the fuck out before it takes over again.”

Why was her urge to rush back to him so strong? It made her feet leaden as she lifted first one then the other to leave.

“Fi?” His tone held desperation.

She paused in the act of swinging the door closed.

“Idolove you, Fionola Bohannon. You gave me hope,” he confessed, his voice hardly audible above the deafening noise of the hollering along the corridor.

“I loved the man I thought you to be,” she replied on a sob. “But you’re not him. You could never be and do what you did.”

Closing his eyes, he compressed his lips, and the faint movement of his Adam’s apple was visible, as if he were swallowing convulsively. Finally, he nodded. “Aye. I’m not a man anyone can love.”

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