Page 186 of White Raven
“Maybe you should pray about it,” Sarah smiled, earning a hearty laugh from him as he trudged along behind her.
It was colder here, and the sun wasn’t much help in keeping them warmer. Ireland was rife with cloud cover, and rain. The ground was already wet, and the scent of mud was everywhere. But damn…it was beautiful. They grabbed a cab, and the scenery on the ride into town was so much different than Boston that Sarah felt like she was in a completely different world.
“Oh, my God, Athan!” she cried, pointing out the window. “Sheep! Look!” The driver laughed under his breath, and Athan only grinned adoringly as she took in every sight. It was all so lush and green. And it smelled so earthy here. Not like the bustle of the city, and so far from the life she knew that she almost wondered if she’d be able to leave this place. Her face hurt from all the smiling.
“We’re here,” Athan breathed, looking out at a small pub. She could already hear folk music playing from inside.
“Where’s here?” she asked, opening the door as he paid their fare.
“You’ll see in a minute.”
They walked through the spinning door, and mugs clinked over heavy laughter while a live band played on a small stage in the corner. To her right was a bartender that reminded her a lot of Tony as he slung a bar towel over his shoulder and lit a cigarette for a pretty redhead sitting at one of the stools.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” a familiar voice bellowed from the other side of the pub. “Hell must have a skating rink!” Devin lifted a sloshing mug of beer as he danced his way through dozens of drunk patrons and threw an arm around Athan. “And here I thought your decrepit ass would never last on a plane! How the hell are you, mate?”
“Good to see you too, bastard,” Athan side-smiled, clapping him on the back. “I’m better now that I’ve got both feet on the ground.” Devin smiled as he gulped from his mug, and he turned his attention towards Sarah, who couldn’t help but reach her arms out. He wagged his brows, and tipped his cap as he scooped her up, and sloppily kissed her cheeks.
“You’re as delicious as you were when we left,fitheach bán.” He pulled back, smiling generously at her…and taking his fill of an eyeful as they raked over her body. Athan rolled his eyes.
“What’s that mean?” she asked, looking at Athan for an answer.
“White raven,” he smiled.
Devin took another swig and waved a hand around the bar. “Want a drink? You know they’ve got the best whiskey around! I’ve got an extra room at my flat if you wanna sleep off your jet lag.”
“We’ll take a drink, but we can’t stay, Dev. We’ve got another flight in a few hours.” Devin drew his face in disappointment.
“To where?” When Athan didn’t respond, their stare became serious, and Devin slowly nodded. “Goin’ home, mate?”
“We are,” he finished, pulling Sarah to his side.
“I’m happy for you, brother. Really. For both of ya.” He took another drink and lifted his brows as he fluttered a hand in front of him and pulled down his mug. “Oh! You know what? Decclan! Decc’s gonna shit a pot a’ gold when he finds out you’re here! Lemme go get him!”
Oh…so that’s why they came…
Devin disappeared into the crowd, and Athan looked over at her. “I know what you’re doing,” Sarah drawled. She scowled at him, and turned herself to the bar, picking out a stool close to the end. Athan followed behind her and dropped their bags to the floor as he took the seat next to hers. “Did you think I was gonna seek my revenge on him, Athan?”
The bartender must have recognized Athan, even if it had been a long time. Chances were, he was a vampire too. It wouldn’t have surprised her at all. He tossed his head in the barkeep’s direction, and before she could blink, there were two glasses of amber liquid in front of them.
“If that were ever something you wanted, I wanted to lay it at your feet. Decc’s the reason your father—”
“I know that,” she cut him off, taking a sip from the short crystal glass. “But from what it seems like…Decclan was torn between the woman he loved, and the right thing.”
“He used Poe like a poker chip, Sarah. He’s one of the reasons this coven suffered like that. Besides the fact that Dahlia was an evil bitch.”
He wasn’t wrong. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it before they ended up here. As fate would have it, theirconnecting flight was right at Decclan’s back door. His heart was in the right place, and Sarah could tell it bothered him just as much. The problem was…she had no idea what to say.
“Kane!” Decclan grinned, approaching the space between their stools. “You made it across the pond!” His glee was short-lived when Athan turned to look at him and the darkness in his stare cut Decclan down ten sizes smaller. Decclan looked at Sarah then, and she knew in that moment that he’d realized they knew the ugly truth.
“We need to talk, Decc,” Athan said in a low, damning voice. Decclan hung his head, and slowly nodded.
“There’s a poker table in the back. Doesn’t really get used until later in the evenings. We can talk there.” They finished their drinks, and Sarah took Athan’s hand as they followed him to the back of the pub, and down a short, dark hallway to a shabby room with a card table, and a small private bar. Decclan closed the door and turned a chair around to sit backwards in it. He hung his arms over the back of the seat, and they pulled two more to face him. He stared down at the floor in shame, blowing a heavy breath. “So…you know, then.”
Neither one of them said anything. His head rose, and he met Sarah’s eyes. It was hard for her not to pity him a little.
“I’m so sorry. I know I don’t deserve what you’ve given us, Sarah. I didn’t expect this new chance at life, and when we met at the pub in Boston, I—when Tony started telling you about John Allan, I didn’t know how to tell you then. I didn’t know how you’d take it, and it was obvious you had no idea who he really was. I could have given you all the answers, and God help me…I should have. I just…I didn’t know how.”
“Do you have any idea what happened after you left, Decclan?” Athan asked, growing angry. She could feel it through their bond. “Tonydoes. He came back to help Sarah figure out the truth. And then he helped her dig me out of Poe’sgrave. Agrave I’d been buried alive in, all becauseyoufucked him over all those years ago!” Sarah reached for Athan’s hand, and he took it. He was struggling to hold back on his long-time friend. “I fuckingdied…over and over. I relived so many horrible parts of my past. I helped save your life on more than one occasion, against my better judgment, when what Ishouldhave done was let you fucking rot!”
