Page 95 of The Seer

“You don’t know how to take a hint, so let me spell it out for you, Fintan Sullivan. I. Don’t. Want. You!”

“Sure, and you’re a feckin’ liar, all the same.”

“Are you thick?” she growled.

“Aye. But I’m not wrong.”

“Well, come see me in about twenty-four years or so. Maybe I’ll feel like giving you a second chance.”

He winced.

“It’s deserving of your scorn, I am, but I’ll have the why of its suddenness, love.” In a stunningly fast move, he wrapped an arm around her waist and dug his hands into her hair, fisting it as he hauled her close. “Should I use my five-note skills to soften your mood?”

Her surly Siren perked up, forgetting to pout at being denied another’s magic, and she clapped her hands with enthusiasm.Yes!

No! Bad Siren!

“No,” Taryn squeaked. “And women like agency, Fintan. You can’t go around singing them into an orgasm.”

One dark brow shot up as his mouth twitched, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself.

“I’d not do it for anyone but you, love.”

“Did you merge with Ardghal again? Is that how you’re able to do the whole singing-O thing?” Yes, she was growing suspicious in her old age, but if his original Siren had separated from him, how did he retain the power?

He chuckled, and the sensation against her neck sent delightful shivers along her spine.

Gripping his hair, she tugged and forced him to look at her. “I mean it. If your Siren is gone, how can you manipulate others with your voice?”

“My Siren isn’t gone.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“Ardghal’s energy split from mine and returned to his body at the bottom of the grotto. The water was blessed by both his mother’s magic and his da’s, who was a demigod. It regenerates life. His, yours, and mine.” Fintan fought her hold and kissed the hollow of her throat, then trailed his lips along her neck to her ear. “That’s why he was able to sacrifice us for the artifacts. Sure, and he knew our bodies would regenerate.”

“I’m still salty about getting stabbed twice in a day.”

His mouth curled, and because the sensation wasn’t at all unpleasant, Taryn didn’t object when his hand slid down to cup her ass.

“Aye, as you have a right to be,” he assured her. “But gettin’ back to your question. Me Siren still exists, but with me at the helm. I’ve control of it.”

She shifted closer, angling her head to give him better access to continue his lovemaking. “Didn’t you before?”

“Aye, but my grip was never as firm as it should’ve been. Not like Narissa, Brenna, or Ardghal.”

And it finally clicked.

Taryn gasped and framed his face between her palms. “That’s why you were afraid. And why you didn’t break free of the ancestors when you so easily could’ve with Ardghal’s power!” She shook her head, amazed she’d missed it before. “It was never truly about me being your downfall, was it? You were worried you’d lose control of your Siren and kill me one day.”

“Aye. And if that happened, I’d have become an Incubus. Feral and power hungry. Whatever human bits were left would live in a state of grief forever. Unable to move on.”

“Like Ari letting Elizabeth have the amulet,” she murmured.

“Just like that,” Fintan agreed, revealing his memories of their previous lives were alive and well.

In her mind’s eye, she formed a wrecking ball, demolished the wall she’d built, and dusted her hands.

“How is it we both recall their past when we couldn’t before?”

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