Page 59 of Her Irish Treasures
“I have scars,” I whispered, each word tearing my throat.
“Indeed.” He licked his lips, making me shudder. “It cost me a great deal of effort to keep you hidden, honeybun. Do you honestly think you could have survived on your own in this city without me? Evil Eye’s minions roam the city at will, sniffing the wind, looking for any sign of you. They would have dragged you kicking and screaming down the nearest portal, and your beloved Stoneheart would still be lying in the bottom of some forgotten cellar prison. Or worse, the meddling leprechaun would have finally tracked you down.”
“Warwick?” My voice shook. “What does he have to do with any of this?”
Jonathan threw his head back and laughed again, holding his stomach as if I’d told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. “Oh, that’s rich. So sweet, little honeybun. Have your treasures not warned you about a leprechaun’s true nature? It takes a special breed to play the game of neutrality between dark and light fae.”
I drew a shuddering breath despite the ache in my chest. I didn’t want to believe Warwick might have been capable of hurting or betraying me. He’d said himself thatShamrockedwas a neutral place. He’d served fae both dark and light, though he’d sworn he would throw Balor out.
Could that have been a ploy to make us think he was on our side? Fae couldn’t lie, right?
You be treasure for me too. Hold on to that, love.
Something rumbled through the ground beneath me, making the whole island quiver.
“Ah, times up. Fhroig awakes.” Jonathan slapped his thighs and stood, though he bent down, offering his hand to me. “Come along, honeybun.”
“Where? I won’t go back to my old life with you.”
Nodding, he sighed regretfully, though he couldn’t disguise the sharp glint of his teeth, his tongue flicking out to taste my scent on the air. “Does it matter as long as you’re not devoured by Fhroig?”
“Yes. I want to know exactly where you’re taking me.”
“This time, I’ll take you to my true home.”
The grassy knoll rocked, making me gasp. It was almost like… breathing. “Where’s that? Hell?”
“Once he awakens, even I can’t stop him.” Jonathan looked at something behind me and grimaced. “We must go now.”
I wasn’t falling for that trick. Of course, there was a horrible frog creature coming. I wasn’t going to take my eyes off the monster in front of me. “What are you? Was Jonathan ever human? I need answers, or I’m not going anywhere with you. Especially not to some unknown place you won’t even name. It’s probably even worse than this nasty swamp.”
“I said I would take you to my true home where you’ll even be safe from Evil Eye’s minions.”
Sure. Until he decided to kill me himself. Or worse… What if he started feeding on me again and managed to destroy the memories of my guys? If he made me forget that I was the treasurekeeper?
I can’t lose them again.
He took a step back, lifting his hands palm out before him. “Stand up slowly, Riann. He’s not fully awake yet.”
A horrible squelching sound behind me tightened my shoulders. I had to look—even if it was some kind of trick. Ever so slowly, I swiveled my head around. Two gray, muddy lumps had pushed up out of the soggy grass. Maybe two or three feet tall. Fatter at the bottom where they sat on the ground but generally rounded at the top. I didn’t see any limbs or eyes or mouth.
That’s not too bad. Right?
One of the lumps moved, slinging droplets of muddy water that my mind registered on my cheek and arm. It opened. Blinked.
The two lumps. Were eyes. Red eyes with vertical black slits. Looking at me. Almost like a frog or crocodile submerged in water except for the very tip of its eyes. Three feet apart or so. Which would make the creature’s mouth…
I distinctly felt the ground moving beneath my hand. No, it wasn’t ground at all. Grassy roots and mud—that covered a giant frog head.
“When his mouth opens, you’re dead,” Jonathan whispered. “Not even I can save you. I don’t know how long it’ll take for you to be digested, but I guarantee it won’t be a pleasant way to die.”
“And having you devour my memories and hurt me for years is such a better alternative?” I retorted in a low voice, slowly backing away from the creature’s eyes. How far away was his mouth? Frogs had long, elastic tongues. I needed to be as far away as possible…
“My pillars still stand on the plain where Evil Eye was first defeated. You’ll be safe enough there until you can tell me how to kill him once and for all. You know that fae can’t lie.”
Though that doesn’t mean you always hear the unvarnished truth, either.Warwick had said so himself.
The ground started to collapse inward just feet away. The mouth. A thick, pasty pink worm wriggled beneath the muddy grass.
