quieted, hiccupped, and then tucked her head beneath Shealy’s chin.
As the deafening shouts of victory echoed around her, Shealy fell back against the solid earth and cried.
Chapter Eight
T IARNAN knelt beside Shealy’s prone body, preparing himself to find that her heart no longer beat and her lungs had frozen in death. But when he touched the satin warmth of her cheek, her eyes fluttered open and captured him in the mists of a silvery storm.
“Yer alive,” he said softly.
Her lashes were spiky and blood splattered her face and body. A child lay sprawled across her with arms tight around her neck. He recognized the little girl who’d been born on this islet. Her name was Ellie. She had a thumb stuck between her lips and she sucked furiously, eyes clenched tight.
Shealy sat up unsteadily and Tiarnan reached out to help her, but she flinched away, and her reaction stung him more than he wanted to admit. She hadn’t flinched from him last night. He started to pull back, but then she threw her arm around his neck, curling herself into the hard planes of his body, and he found himself embracing both woman and child as a feeling of unbelievable wholeness washed over him.
Clearly, he’d lost his mind.
She was soft and pliant beneath his touch, and gently he soothed her, running his fingers through her hair, rubbing small circles against her back, remembering the way she’d arched into him last night. The way she’d welcomed him into her body, making him feel alive for the first time in what seemed a hundred years. He felt the damp heat of tears on his bare chest and he wished he wasn’t covered in blood. He didn’t want any part of the vile ellén trechend touching her. Yet the creatures had come for her. He knew it with a certainty that shook him. He’d seen how they fixed their black eyes on her and followed her across the islet.
Why? Why?
Had the monsters come to kill her or take her away? Were they sent or had they merely been stalking human prey? Yesterday Jamie said they’d been seen watching, spying. Tiarnan hadn’t thought it possible that a creature so ghastly could possess enough intelligence for that, but this morning he’d seen it with his own eyes.
“T,” Jamie said, standing behind him.
Tiarnan looked back to see the dark-skinned man bathed in the gold of sunrise and the blackened blood of their enemy. He was as torn and battered as Tiarnan, half dressed as if he, too, had been ripped from slumber by the beasts. But his eyes blazed with battle lust that had yet to dim. Behind him stood Zac—a big man who wore the look of a Northman—and Reyes, who had the dark eyes of the Spaniards, both wounded but alive. Liam leaned against a boulder not far behind. Tiarnan took a deep breath as relief washed over him at the sight of his brother. Then he scanned the devastation of their settlement for signs of life. Not a single dwelling remained erect. Nothing and no one moved in the soft breeze that seemed to mock the violence it rustled.
“Are there others?” Tiarnan asked, his throat hoarse from shouting, his voice raw.
Jamie shook his head. “Not even bodies to bury. Whatever it sprayed, it just ate them away. Nothing’s left. We’ll go downriver and see if anybody made it over Endless Falls, but I doubt it. There’s no surviving that.”
“What the fuck were those things?” Reyes said, horror and fear in his tone.
“ Ellén trechend ,” Tiarnan replied softly. “They are creatures of the Gods.”
“Creatures of hell, maybe,” Jamie muttered.
“Fuck me,” Zac said, shaking his head. “I didn’t think we were going to win this one.” His legs gave a suspicious wobble, and he sat suddenly, putting his head between his knees. “I couldn’t get a shot at any of them. It was like they were wearing armor.”
Jamie nodded in agreement. “I had a few clean blows, but my blade just bounced.”
“How’d you get through it?” Reyes demanded, staring at Tiarnan. They all stared
As the deafening shouts of victory echoed around her, Shealy fell back against the solid earth and cried.
Chapter Eight
T IARNAN knelt beside Shealy’s prone body, preparing himself to find that her heart no longer beat and her lungs had frozen in death. But when he touched the satin warmth of her cheek, her eyes fluttered open and captured him in the mists of a silvery storm.
“Yer alive,” he said softly.
Her lashes were spiky and blood splattered her face and body. A child lay sprawled across her with arms tight around her neck. He recognized the little girl who’d been born on this islet. Her name was Ellie. She had a thumb stuck between her lips and she sucked furiously, eyes clenched tight.
Shealy sat up unsteadily and Tiarnan reached out to help her, but she flinched away, and her reaction stung him more than he wanted to admit. She hadn’t flinched from him last night. He started to pull back, but then she threw her arm around his neck, curling herself into the hard planes of his body, and he found himself embracing both woman and child as a feeling of unbelievable wholeness washed over him.
Clearly, he’d lost his mind.
She was soft and pliant beneath his touch, and gently he soothed her, running his fingers through her hair, rubbing small circles against her back, remembering the way she’d arched into him last night. The way she’d welcomed him into her body, making him feel alive for the first time in what seemed a hundred years. He felt the damp heat of tears on his bare chest and he wished he wasn’t covered in blood. He didn’t want any part of the vile ellén trechend touching her. Yet the creatures had come for her. He knew it with a certainty that shook him. He’d seen how they fixed their black eyes on her and followed her across the islet.
Why? Why?
Had the monsters come to kill her or take her away? Were they sent or had they merely been stalking human prey? Yesterday Jamie said they’d been seen watching, spying. Tiarnan hadn’t thought it possible that a creature so ghastly could possess enough intelligence for that, but this morning he’d seen it with his own eyes.
“T,” Jamie said, standing behind him.
Tiarnan looked back to see the dark-skinned man bathed in the gold of sunrise and the blackened blood of their enemy. He was as torn and battered as Tiarnan, half dressed as if he, too, had been ripped from slumber by the beasts. But his eyes blazed with battle lust that had yet to dim. Behind him stood Zac—a big man who wore the look of a Northman—and Reyes, who had the dark eyes of the Spaniards, both wounded but alive. Liam leaned against a boulder not far behind. Tiarnan took a deep breath as relief washed over him at the sight of his brother. Then he scanned the devastation of their settlement for signs of life. Not a single dwelling remained erect. Nothing and no one moved in the soft breeze that seemed to mock the violence it rustled.
“Are there others?” Tiarnan asked, his throat hoarse from shouting, his voice raw.
Jamie shook his head. “Not even bodies to bury. Whatever it sprayed, it just ate them away. Nothing’s left. We’ll go downriver and see if anybody made it over Endless Falls, but I doubt it. There’s no surviving that.”
“What the fuck were those things?” Reyes said, horror and fear in his tone.
“ Ellén trechend ,” Tiarnan replied softly. “They are creatures of the Gods.”
“Creatures of hell, maybe,” Jamie muttered.
“Fuck me,” Zac said, shaking his head. “I didn’t think we were going to win this one.” His legs gave a suspicious wobble, and he sat suddenly, putting his head between his knees. “I couldn’t get a shot at any of them. It was like they were wearing armor.”
Jamie nodded in agreement. “I had a few clean blows, but my blade just bounced.”
“How’d you get through it?” Reyes demanded, staring at Tiarnan. They all stared
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