Page 8 of Void of Endings
Maeve had spent all that time in the Ether, with no recollection of him. If her thoughts were only of Rowan, then perhaps he filled the emptiness in her heart as well.
The torment of even considering it, of entertaining those thoughts, left him gutted. He turned away from them and tried to focus on anything else, only to find Ceridwen watching him.
“Let it be,” her voice whispered into his mind, sensing the disquiet.
“How can I?”he countered.“She’s right here, right in front of me, and I can’t even touch her. She barely looks at me. Her heart is no longer mine.”
Ceridwen shook her head.“You must give her time. She needs your help now more than ever, Tier. Her memories will return, and when they do, the witch thread bonding the two of you together will be unbreakable. She’s your mate, Tiernan. Yoursirra. She is fated to you. No one else. Just you.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, then pinched the bridge of his nose.“It’s not that easy. Don’t you remember? She has to choose me.”
“She already has.”
Gods, this was like some kind of fresh hell.
“My lord?”
Rowan’s voice pulled Tiernan from his conversation with Ceridwen. He faced the Nightweaver, shuttering away hisemotions, his insecurities, his dread. He kept his voice even and cool. “Rowan.”
“Might I have a word?”
Tiernan stole a glance at Maeve, who was playing with her petfaolan,while Brynn and Saoirse fawned over the pup. Lir stood off to the side, standing guard, while Merrick struggled in vain to keep from laughing when the wolfling emptied its bladder on the studded toe of Lir’s boot.
The commander glowered, muttering a few choice words under his breath.
“This way.” Tiernan strode to the opposite side of the courtyard, where the shade from the palm trees stretched as the sun made its descent into the sky. At least over here, they would be out of earshot of the ladies, should the conversation become…intense. “What is it?”
Rowan rocked back onto his heels, taking stock of him. “I’m taking Maeve to the memory keeper.”
“Absolutely not.” Tiernan crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to be swayed. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. Not so long ago, Maeve had considered having her memories of Rowan wiped from her mind. Unfortunately, it was Tiernan who had been erased instead. “I’ll not have that wretch of a fae picking through her mind, determining which recollections of hers are worth keeping and which ones are not.”
“Would you rather her have no memories of you at all?” Rowan squared off, leveling him with an indignant glare. His shadows crawled, his eyes flashed. “Check your selfish agenda, High King. Because trust me, I have no problem making sure the only male she remembers of the two of us is me.”
Thunder cracked overhead as Tiernan’s magic broke loose. Dark clouds rolled overhead, cloaking the sky, diminishing the sun.
Everyone in the courtyard turned to stare at him.
Everyone except Maeve.
She looked up, as though a storm might be coming.
Goddess save him, not even his magic was enough to bring her back to him.
“Why should I believe you’re doing this to help her?” Tiernan’s harsh words scraped between them, forging a bridge of mistrust. “How do I know you won’t convince the memory keeper to steal her memories of me, of all of us, completely?”
There was a glimmer of power, a force Tiernan recognized. He sensed the darkness then, the cool shift in the air, the ever-present threat it promised. Once, not so long ago, it had been a part of him. Before Aed had taken it back.
“Because I fucking love her.” Destruction settled around Rowan’s shoulders and his magic flared. “And because my soul already knows that she can never be mine.”
Chapter Three
Asinewy shadow curled around Maeve’s braid, tugging it gently.
She looked up to see Rowan standing over her. She still couldn’t believe he’d come back from the Ether, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to be so…pleasant considering her abrupt departure. She’d left him there in the library with Laurel, without even bothering to say goodbye.
He extended his hand to her and she accepted, allowing him to pull her to her feet. Cahira bounded around her in a circle, then darted across the courtyard to Tiernan, who looked more than a little displeased to have the wolfling in his general vicinity. But she plopped down next to him, waiting patiently for him to pet her.
Tiernan’s gaze lifted, finding Maeve’s, and without taking his eyes off of her, he slowly reached out and ran his fingers lightly across the top of Cahira’s head. Obedient to a fault, Cahira nuzzled him, then promptly curled into a ball to nap. Right next to him. Tiernan’s face was unreadable, stony even. But Maeve’s heart warmed at the sight.
