Page 94 of The Seer

Taryn and Fintan gave sullen nods.

“Lovely. Now, wait here while I dip into the water and heal my face.”

“Fuck all the way off,” they said in unison, teleporting away and leaving him alone.

The whirlpool dissipated, and the resulting tidal wave dragged him under. But he didn’t mind. This enchanted pool loved him, was bound to him, as he was bound to it. The current stirred the bottom, and a gleam caught his eye.

He swam for the spot and brushed aside the sand. When he saw the jewelry piece, his heart spasmed.

His signet ring.

The one he’d given to Elizabeth on their wedding day as a promise to love her always.

Ardghal slipped it on his pinky and kicked for the surface. Though the desire to grieve his lost love consumed him, he couldn’t rest until the Authority and Fintan’s ancestor problem were resolved. By then, if witnessing the love of Taryn and Fintan became too much, he’d return here for a permanent sleep.

CHAPTER29

Taryn strolled through the Dethridge gardens for the fourth morning in a row as she tried to gain perspective on what she’d become. It felt impossible. Another physical part of her existed, and she had to be cautious. Raising her voice could hurt those she loved.

The crunch of gravel caught her attention, but she didn’t need to turn around to know who had joined her. It wasn’t as if she could evade Fintan forever.

“You’ve been avoidin’ me since you’ve returned from the ancestors’ abyss,aoibhneas mo croí.”

Taryn was no closer to reconciling all that had happened over the past week. She’d discovered she was the reincarnated wife of a Siren prince, essentially died, and was resurrected with his Siren DNA. Upon her return to the land of the living, her spirit had been held hostage to be used as a weapon against Fintan. She endured electrocution, and having been rescued, she was once again stabbed. This time for a sacrificial rite to collect ancient magical artifacts, by a man who claimed he loved her.

But none of that bothered her as much as how quickly she’d escaped her prison. She was a novice, and while she had help, she did the bulk of the lifting. Yet it had taken Fintan twenty-four years to rebel against his psychic captors and finally admit he loved her. And the more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Their day of reckoning had come.

She faced him, and crossed her arms.

“Yes. I’ve been avoiding you.”

“If you’re willin’ to tell me, I’m after knowin’ why,” he said softly.

When they returned, she built a wall to keep him out so she could work through her feelings. The second it was completed, she told him she was moving in with Damian, Viv, and the kids. Her family’s joy provided a welcome distraction while at the same time helped reaffirm her life.

“Why didn’t you fight harder for me?” The question was packed with her anguish and poured from her mouth. Embarrassed by her lack of control, she presented her back to him. “I’m sorry, I?—”

“I should have, to be sure.”

She felt his approach and the wave of masculine energy he brought. This was new to her, thisfeelingof things, especially men. Her Siren senses, she supposed. The damned thing felt everything. Craved what it shouldn’t. Who it shouldn’t.

“It was cowardly to hide the way you did,” she said coldly. Purposefully. Better to drive him away now than to eventually be his downfall, as predicted. Although how anyone could’ve seen that she would come to be a Siren when she was born a regular witch was a mystery. It definitely wasn’t on her bingo card as a possibility.

“Aye,” he agreed quietly. “But I was a broken man, Taryn-Taryn. I love you that much.”

She blinked against the stinging tears. “If you love something, you fight for it.”

“Sure, and I agree.” He stepped in front of her and tilted up her chin. “I’m after fightin’ for you. Until me dying day,aoibhneas mo croí.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to. Not anymore.” How she’d forced those words past her emotion-clogged throat and made them sound as chilly as she had was beyond her comprehension.

Fintan narrowed his eyes as he traveled over her set features. It seemed like a year had passed when he finally nodded and said, “Too feckin’ bad. You’ll not be rid of me so easy.”

She scowled.

He grinned.

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