Page 37 of Shattered Veil
“Like I said, later,” I cut him off, my tone firm despite the easy smile I maintain.“Look, I know you’ve all got questions. Hell, I’ve got a few myself. But right now?” I pat my stomach dramatically.“I’m fucking starving. Haven’t eaten in months, remember?”
The joke lands with mixed results. Callen chuckles, but there’s an undercurrent of tension that wasn’t there before that makes me wonder what the hell happened while I was gone?
I glance at Brigid, and my stomach twists. She’s let go of my hand and is standing apart from us, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her gray eyes dart between the guys, confusion and hurt etched into her features. Fuck. This isn’t how I imagined our reunion going.
“Brigid?” I call softly, reaching for her hand.
She flinches, almost imperceptibly, before forcing a smile.“I... I should go grab something from my room before dinner.” Her voice is steady, but I catch the slight tremor in it.“I’ll meet you in the dining hall, okay?”
I frown.“You sure? We can wait—”
“No, it’s fine,” she cuts me off, already backing towards the door.“I won’t be long.”
As she slips out, the door clicking shut behind her, I feel a pang in my chest. Something’s off, and I don’t like it one bit.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand, rounding on the guys.
Callen’s staring at the door.“You don’t know what’s been happening, Rory. Things have changed.”
“Then enlighten me.” My earlier good mood evaporating.“Because right now, all I see is you treating Brigid like she’s got the plague.”
“Rory. What’s the last thing you remember?” Tiernan asks.
I think about it. What is the last thing I remember? After so long in the void, I realize it’s kind of a blur, actually. I remember Brigid, seeing her face… but when I try to remember what happened before, I can’t quite catch it.
“We were in the basement.” I say, more asking than stating.
“Right.” Tiernan’s voice is even.“Do you remember the Council guards, Rory?”
I squint, trying to recall. A flash of memory comes to me. My claws, some guy’s chest, blood and guts.Well, shit.
“Okay. Alright.” I take a breath.“So what the fuck happened after that? No one goes against the Council and keeps their balls. Yet, here you all still are, not nutless—I presume.”
Callen clears his throat.“After you were… lost, we fought, but there were too many. We had to escape, but there was no way out. Until—”
“Until that asshole Marius conveniently located a secret passageway,” Lochan breaks in.“We found an ancient ritual chamber.”
“Something happened down there,” Tiernan tells me.“Brigid almost died.”
“Brigid almost what!?” I crack my knuckles.
“She’s fine, loverboy.” Callen says.“Long story short, there were some pornographic murals with Brigid and the Raven King, or someone who looked like Brigid, and one with all of us and Brigid, then some weird fucking magic attacked Brigid, but in the end, the most insufferable asshole in the world became exponentiallymoreinsufferable when he saved her life.” Callen takes a breath.“I’m talking about Marius, obviously.”
“The punchline,” Lochan says,“is that when we finally got ourselves out, planning to run, we’re stopped by our new dean and some council guards. And she’s sweet as honey, tells us everything’s bygones, and we can all go back to normal.”
“And you didn’t think that was odd?” I ask.
Lochan snorts.“Of course we did. But you haven’t heard the best part. The dean was someone Brigid knew. Her friend Fiona. From before.”
I’m trying to keep up, but my head is fucking spinning.“So who the hell is this Fiona?”
“We don’t know yet,” says Tiernan.“But she’s with the Council, and getting cozy with King Cillian.”
I gape at Callen.“Your dad was here?” I’ve never laid eyes on the king, even after all these years of friendship with Callen.
Callen sighs.“Yes. Dear old dad stopped by for a visit, and to impart some fatherly advice that went something like‘stay in your lane or Brigid might meet an untimely demise’.”
“You’re fucking joking?” I want to leave now, find Brigid, and make sure she’s safe.“Why?”
