Page 14 of The Seer

The pain in Fintan’s head was searing, and he dropped to his knees. In the far reaches of his mind, where he’d retreated for the oncoming vision, the sound of Taryn’s cry drifted to him. His subconscious was aware of her falling into him and of the two of them tumbling to the floor. Yet as he struggled to return to her, to help, he was drawn farther into the ether.

“Tayrn!”he shouted, straining to reach her through their connection.

No answer.

His panic grew. What had they done to her?

“She can’t hear you, Fintan, me boy.”

He spun around, searching for his Uncle Peter, whose voice he recognized. The standard rippling sea of black nothingness stretched out before him, and he wanted to scream his fury but refrained. Any cry would echo and cause untold assault on his eardrums. Stuck in a weightless state with no directional sense, he floated and awaited the ancestors’ directive.

None came.

No unified omnipresent voice like usual.

“Where is she? Where’s Taryn?”he demanded, waiting for them to join him from the other dimension or afterlife or wherever the fuck they resided. They hadn’t seen fit to tell him in the twenty-four years he’d been a slave to their vision quests. He cursed his stupidity at allowing himself to be duped and for playing along.

What if they’d abducted her spirit? Or killed her for his disobedience? Could they do it? Was her death to be his undoing? It certainly would be if it were his fault. Maybe because of their new link and the vision state brought on by his uncle, they had somehow imprisoned her soul, causing her to float in endless nothingness.

“Your girl is well, but listen to me now, yeah? There’s not much time before they discover…”

A lengthy pause frayed his nerves.“Discover what? Uncle Peter?”

“Feck it all! Put on Bloodstone’s necklace, boyo, and never take it off.”

“But it’s to be my downfall, the ancestors?—”

“Lied,”his uncle snapped.“Now quit dickin’ around, Fintan, or another will take what’s yours. Wake and claim your prizes.”

“Prizes? Plural?”

But before Fintan received his answer, the buzzing of their connection grew deafening. If he could’ve, he would’ve slapped his hands over his ears, but in his limbo state, all he could do was suffer the pain as it transformed into a high-pitched squeal.

Soothing fingers stroked his brow, and healing energy flowed from warm fingertips to his brain, calming his neurotransmitters and allowing him to focus again.

“Taryn!”

He shoved the Healer away to sit upright. After locating her sisters hovering beside Damian’s shoulder as they fretted over an immobile Taryn, Fintan crab crawled the short distance.

“What’s happenin’? She not answerin’ me!” He spun back to plead with the Healer. “Jordan! Do to her what ya did to me. Hurry, man! The pain is ungodly.”

As the young Healer assisted Damian, Fintan questioned Josie. “How long was I unconscious?”

“Long enough for you to be missed and us to get a Sentinel Healer here.”

His heart pounded too fast and way too hard. The thundering pulse rose into his throat, making it difficult to swallow. Or perhaps it was the lump of self-recrimination choking him. If she was hurt because of him…

Helplessly, he waited, alternating between being furious at himself, the Sullivan ancestors, and Damian for allowing him anywhere near Taryn. When she recovered, he’d put enough distance between them that it never happened again.

“Bloodstone’s necklace.”

Peter Sullivan’s words echoed in his head, and Fintan glanced toward the cushion where Taryn stored the bleedin’ thing. His uncle had said “Bloodstone’s” and not “the bloodstone” as Fintan mistakingly believed it to be. Uncle Peter had given him an invaluable clue about the piece’s provenance.

Did he dare slip it on without permission? What would it do to him?Forhim? Instinct had him pocketing the amulet, and the instant he did, Taryn’s eyes snapped open to focus on him.

“Give it to Damian to destroy,” she ordered in a voice not her own. “Give it to him or face our wrath.”

CHAPTER5

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