Page 12 of Consumed
I went very still, staring at him as he pressed on, his enthusiasm building with each word. Eoin took my silence as a keen invitation, describing his betrothed. His voice bubbled with warmth, but to my ears, it was like dissonant strings—grating me as he described her beauty, her kindness, her effortless charm.
Eoin’s warm arms around me felt feverish now, stifling.
Faint crackling sounded around us—brambles darkening and whitebeam trees shivering with my contempt.
Control.I could not afford to frighten him again.
Chest tight with shallow breaths, I leaned away from Eoin to put space between our faces, and balled my fists in my gown. I squeezed so hard that my nails dug painfully into my palms. If blood still ran through my veins, scarlet crescents would have marred my skin. The forest eased like a breeze settling.
“You would love her as I do, I’m sure of it,” Eoin said, his boyish grin still bright in the pale wintery sun. “She’s no stranger to venturing into the wilds of our strange country. She has an adventurous spirit, like that of any fox.” Eoin’s large, calloused hand slipped around both of mine and squeezed meaningfully. “I’d like to bring Brianna here to see the forest in all itsglory. To seeyou.”
What a hideous name.
“No.” The word flew from my lips without a thought.
Eoin’s grin froze like he didn’t quite believe me, a furrow pulling between his eyes. Silence crackled between us. A frozen wind cut through the clearing—one that I could not quite feel, yet made an instinctive shiver race through Eoin despite the heavy cloak he donned.
“No? But—why?” he asked. “You don’t need to be frightened of her.”
His hand squeezed mine again—a beacon of heat. That seductive pulse of his hammering against my frigid skin.
“I’m not scared of that woman,” I snarled. “I fear no mortal.”
His gaze dropped, darkness clouding his features. “Perhaps you should. Sometimes I worry for you. The Wild Hunt has been on the move. Tales spread of their victories over a village of changelings, and the Aos Sídhe of Ulaid.” His eyes lifted, pinning me with their sudden intensity. “It sickens me to imagine the Hunt coming here. What they might do to you.”
Memories stirred—torches and wicked metals. Screaming, though I could not distinguish my own voice from my sisters’. Though it had been decades ago, the memory remained like a dark smudge—impossible to clear away, no matter how many years passed.
Though I didn’t need Eoin’s protection, my heart squeezed at the thought of what he would do for me.
“The last hunters who tried to harm my forest now lie beneath it,” I told him.
Eoin swallowed, his gaze scanning my face. “Brianna isn’t like those brutes. You should have seen her face when I showed her your rose. She was utterly bewitched—not repulsed.”
My heart squeezed, a gentle furrow in my brow.No, he couldn’t possibly have been so cruel.
For the first time, Eoin’s smile flickered with uncertainty, like a child caught wandering away from his parents. “It was my betrothal gift to her. A token of my devotion.”
I ripped my hand from his and stood, trembling. “You gave it to her.”
A flurry of images crossed my mind—all of them involving the many violent ways I could end him now.
No, not him.
Her.Her.
But he was here, and he had confessed to a deed of such monstrous disrespect that I couldn’t rid myself of the inclination to hurt him. I had to get away from him—had to stop myself before I sent his soul to where I could never again reach.
“Róisín,” Eoin said, rising to his feet. He raised his hands as though to soothe a frightened animal.
“Step away from me.”
“Justhelp me understand—”
“You vile human!” I hissed. The words burned like bile in my mouth. I couldn’t be sure if I even meant it. All I saw was red, and that rose, and my Eoin cradling some common maid in his arms, whereIwas meant to be.
When I took a quick step back, he surged forward to stop me from leaving. A hand seized my shoulder, wrenching me around.
“Róisín,please—wait!”
