Page 106 of Broken Veil
“I’m putting my foot down as the driver of this expedition or quest or whatever you want to call it,” he told Jibril. “Carys needs to rest, and she’s the hero of this whole business, isn’t she?”
Jibril nodded. “She is.”
“Then she’s getting a full meal,” Duncan growled. “Not travel center crap. She’s getting a decent shower or bath or whatever the fuck she wants, and she’s getting a good night’s sleep.” He glared over the rest of the van. “Anyone have a fucking problem with that?”
Carys felt like crying a little bit. “That sounds really great actually.”
“I have a friend in town with a house we can borrow.” Duncan looked straight at her. “I already called him.”
“Fine,” Jibril said. “But please know that according to the radio news, another fae fort just rose in Avebury that is nearly identical to the fort near Stonehenge.”
Laura raised her hand. “And the Morrígan is trending on social media again.” She glanced at Carys with a guilty expression. “I just wanted to let you know. People are starting to put Macha’s appearance together with the fae forts and all the other supernatural stuff that’s been happening.”
Jibril nodded. “She is gathering believers.”
Carys’s heart sank. “Duncan, maybe we should?—”
“Deal with that in the fucking morning?” Duncan snapped. “Agreed. Because you’re getting a decent night’s sleep and a full meal.” He glared at the rest of the van. “Do we all understand?”
Cadell said, “I approve of this plan, and I am happy to physically restrain anyone who does not.”
“Thank you, dragon.”
There was nothing other than vague murmuring after that, and the van fell silent.
Jibril did, however, turn on the radio, which was full of excited clamor about current events.
“—followers of the newest social media sensation, a young woman named Matcha?—”
“I believe it’s pronounced Ma-ha, Emily.” A man with a slight Welsh accent interrupted the announcer. “Her appearance has taken the internet by storm with brands around the world purportedly clamoring to strike deals with the young, provocative redhead. We’ll be talking later to a marketing pro. Doessexstill sell?”
“In more somber news, we’ll have a report at the top of the hour about the serious uptick in road crime, Gareth.”
“Good to get more information about that, isn’t it?” The male presenter responded in a deeper voice. “And of course we’ll return to our local correspondent in Wiltshire where another extraordinary structure has risen that resembles something you might see out of a Hollywood blockbuster.”
“Is this a geological phenomenon,” the female presenter asked, “or have vandals pulled off the prank of the century? After this break, we’ll be back with geologist Dr. Avery Khan from the Royal Geographic Society to get her insight into the exciting possibilities.”
“What wereyou and Lachlan talking about?” Duncan was sitting at the foot of the tub, rubbing Carys’s feet as she soaked in a bath filled with lavender-scented water.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Don’t lie. You were upset.”
“He was…” She closed her eyes. “I was just trying to be nice, and then he said he never thought about me at all before Seren died. And logically, I know that makes sense. Why would he? But for some reason it hurt.”
Duncan’s hand held her foot firm, but he stopped rubbing.
“It doesn’t matter,” she continued even though tears filled her eyes. “I don’t love him, so it doesn’t matter. I don’t even know why it upset me.”
“Because you did love him once,” Duncan said. “And you knew he’d been married and widowed, and you probably had a lot of feelings about that. It was a cruel thing to say even if it was true. And I’ve a mind to go and bash him on the head for being a brute. There’s no excuse for it.”
She pulled her foot away and scooted to the side of the tub, throwing damp arms around Duncan’s shoulders. “Why are you so good?”
He ran his hands down her back and hugged her even though she was soaking wet. “Well, it makes me look really good when Lachlan’s being an arse, doesn’t it?”
She laughed into his shoulder and blinked away her tears. “Yeah.”
“I should probably thank him for being such a royal twat.”
