Page 174 of A Winding Wave of Magic
I looked down, considering. The world had been quieter today—in fact, it had been more cooperative over the last several weeks. Visions more often came to call when I asked with the help of water (though without it, they tended to explode more frequently). It was as if the more I made proper invitations, the more they were willing to wait for the door to open instead of busting it down themselves.
“Definitely not,” I said and placed my bare palm in his.
They were easily the most incoherent bunch of feelings and thoughts I had ever Seen. All instinct, very little premeditation or memory. Caomhán’s attention ran about the room, wary of new people entering, registering their scents, focusing on the rare possibility of threats and on a few good-looking girls. Although he was acutely aware of me, I didn’t register on that particular list.
“Well, that’s good,” I said.
“What’s that?”
I smirked. “Caitlin’s convinced you want to be kissing cousins.”
Despite generally accepting the fact that Iwasgoing to spend time with the shifter side of my family tree, Caitlin hadn’t givenup the suspicion that Caomhán was still planning to spirit me away in the same manner my grandfather and his great-great uncle had supposedly seduced Penny.
Caomhán’s face, however, twisted into the exact expression Iona made whenever her mother announced they were having boiled cabbage for dinner. “Jaysus, why would you say something like that? We’re feckin’ related.”
“Oh, I’m aware.” The longer I spent in the company of Caomhán or the Kilronan ilk, the more threads of kinship I recognized between us. His great-grandmother was my exact double if one particular memory floating around the streets of Kilronan was any indicator.
His scowl deepened, and I felt the disgust through his fingertips. “Tell Caitlin that kissin’ you’d be like kissin’ my sister. No matter what she says, I’m notthatmuch of an animal, you know?”
I grinned. “Yes, I do know. And for what it’s worth. The feelings are entirely mutual.”
He looked visibly relieved. “Good. Let’s dance, then.”
Though I squashedCaomhán’s foot half a dozen times during as many reels, it was easy enough to follow him as we promenaded with the other townspeople. Everyone was well lubricated with drink by this point, and I was having more fun than I’d had in longer than I could remember. Caomhán’s easy instincts were infectious, and I found my tendency to overthink slipping out the door along with my inhibitions.
After the sixth reel, I was out of breath and left Caomhán to be claimed by a pretty blonde girl from Cork while I went to get a drink of water and shed my sweater. Robbie greeted me as Iapproached the table and handed me a plastic cup before I could even ask.
“Thanks,” I gasped, gulping it down.
“You looked well out there,” Robbie said, nodding toward the dancers. “Having fun, were you?”
“The best. I don’t think I’ve ever actually enjoyed dancing, but that was amazing. Caomhán’s a terrific lead.”
We both watched as my cousin whirled his partner effortlessly around the floor.
“Sure, and he’s that,” Robbie agreed. “Good at other things too, mm?”
I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh. If only he had overheard our earlier conversation. “You too, Robbie? You have nothing to worry about.”
Robbie handed me another cup and took the other, which I had already emptied. “Oh, I know. Caitlin just worries about that so she doesn’t have to consider the real matter at hand.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
At that, Robbie looked uneasy. I wasn’t used to seeing him like that. Whereas Caitlin, like any seer, seemed to worry about nearly everything, Robbie was almost always calm. He didn’t worry because he didn’t have to.
Now, though, he was.
“Jonny’s shown you what we See, hasn’t he?”
“You mean your super sorcerer spidey sense?” Another jig was starting, and I couldn’t help but tap my foot in time.
Robbie twisted his lips to one side and nodded as if I hadn’t just compared him to a comic book character. It only then occurred to me that those characters were likely based on real fae, too.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say anything,” he mumbled to himself. Then he looked at me and appeared to change his mind.“Caitlin’s going to have my neck.”
“For what?” I asked.
He sighed, then looked back at Caomhán. His teeth flashed, and the twinkling lights that had been strung around the gathering blinked off the sheen of his hair, dark as the night sky. I could understand, for the hundredth time, why half the tourists and single women on the islands, and not a few of the married ones too, had already asked him for a dance.
