Page 63 of Evil Eyed
Slowly, like a tight bud gently opening after a hundred years, light coalesced into my mother’s embrace. Étain’s wings fluttered around me and Vanta purred against my cheek. Another eon passed, and I smelled the lush flowers of the Summer Isle and heard the symphony of riotous color.
I remembered the dancing grin of a cute barkeeper and the sparkle in his emerald eyes. His ebony hair flowed around me like a cape, his arms pulling me close. Closing my eyes, I breathed in his fresh green scent and soaked in his love. I even remembered his name. Warwick Greenshanks.
“Did I do it?”
He carried me somewhere. I didn’t care where as long as he was there. “Aye, love. You blasted the eye wide open and released the power Balor had been storing for thousands of years. All the worlds shine with magic now, even the mortal plane. Dún Bhalair sank beneath the waves and is no more. Only the rocky cliffs remain in the mortal plane.”
I didn’t have to ask him where my treasures were. I could feel the throbbing emptiness inside me. There wasn’t a wheel to spin any longer. Nothing remained, not even a few broken spokes of the wheel. They were gone.
My chest ached so badly that I couldn’t breathe.
I didn’t need to breathe here. My body felt… different. Like I was made up of nothing but light.
“Aye,” he whispered, laying me on the green cushions where I’d rested so long ago. “You shine like opals and rainbows and all the love in the world.”
“Vivi?” I whispered.
I didn’t realize that I wept until he gently wiped my cheeks. “She’s back home safe just as you wished. You can see her any time that you wish. She’ll be relieved to see you.”
Time passed, though I wasn’t sure how long I lay on the elegant velvet couch and breathed in the peace of the Summer Isle. Time was meaningless here. My body felt more like flesh and blood than light, though that meant I hurt even more. The constriction in my chest and throat made it difficult to talk, and I didn’t want to ask.
I didn’t want to know how they’d died. I only knew that they were gone.
“Are they gone forever this time?” I finally managed to whisper.
Warwick’s lips quirked into a chiding, teasing smile that only confused me more. “Have you not learned anything at all, love?”
Confused, I shook my head. “I guess not.”
“What did I tell you inShamrocked? Before Aidan and I came to our agreement?”
That seemed so long ago. Before I knew the truth about the man I’d married. Before we learned who Boss Man really was. Before I even knew much about my treasures at all. How much I needed and loved them.
Which only hurt more.
“Why did we call youmo stór?”
“Treasure,” I rasped out.
He shook his head slowly. “Ourtreasure. You be treasure for me too. A leprechaun’s treasure is gold. What did you learn about a leprechaun’s oath made on his gold?”
Bewildered, I fought the urge to wail. “Your oath is unbreakable. But—”
“You be treasure for me too,” he repeated, stroking my hair back out of my face. “What do you wish for, love?”
Sighing, I closed my eyes. “I wish we could all be together like before. Only this time, we’re here in your Summer Isle, but it’s… it’s… No offense, but it’s better.”
He chuckled softly, still stroking my hair. “How is it better?”
“It’s still as beautiful as ever with your flowers and brilliant colors everywhere, but it’s also Doran’s Windswept Moors and Aidan’s Fallen Dells.”
“Are they still fallen?”
“Of course not,” I grumbled. “That wouldn’t be a very good wish, would it? A place where Ivarr’s light shines forever, and Keane feeds us all with his incredible food, and none of us go away unsatisfied. And I can see Vanta—or rather, my mother—in her true form whenever I want. And I can see Vivi whenever I want. I paint you all the time, and we’re all together. Forever.”
“Is that all?”
I couldn’t resist opening my eyes and glaring up at him. “How can you be so amused when I’m so miserable?”
