Page 70 of Broken Veil
She felland she fell and she fell until her lungs were on fire and her clothes were dragging her to the depths.
She heard nothing but the chords from the copper bells, still striking over and over again by the falling water.
Carys was turned around, inside out, and had no idea which way to swim until a gleaming mirrored surface appeared in the distance.
She swam toward it, surfacing with a gasp into a dark grotto where water dripped from the rocks overhead into the pool where she had surfaced.
There was no cave, no opening, and the only light came from the surface of the water where she treaded. When she put her face under the surface, she saw the other side of the pool, and Laura’s and Duncan’s panicked faces as they searched for her.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
She pulled her head up, shook the water from her eyes, and saw Angus lurching toward her.
“What just happened?” She spat freezing water from her mouth. “Who are you?Whatare you, Angus?”
“You question me?” He leaned over her and shouted again. “Do you know what you have done?”
He was furious. She’d seen him cranky before, but now he was truly furious.
“I let the Morrígan into the Brightlands!” Carys was treading water, but her arms and legs were getting more and more exhausted. She was dressed in heavy canvas pants, a short-sleeved shirt, and a canvas jacket. “Then she used the fae battle on Saris Plain to give her enough power to raise a barrow.”
Angus glared at her but said nothing.
“I fucked up, Angus. Big-time. But can I get out of the water before I drown?”
Angus jerked his head to the side, and Carys saw steps hidden in the rocks. She swam to them and crawled up the stones and out of the water.
No light. No sound. And once she left the water, the flickering reflection of Laura and Duncan faded until all there was on the surface was an eerie silver light.
“Goddess of war and chaos in the Brightlands. Legends coming to life,” Angus muttered. “Your people have no idea what they are dealing with.”
“I know, okay?”
“There was a reason the gates were built!” Angus snarled. “There was a reason the magic was contained.”
“I know it’s bad. I know.” She held out her hands, which were shaking with both fear and freezing. “I need your help. The sea god’s daughter said that one choice will lead the way.”
Angus curled his lip. Had he always had fangs?
“One choice!” she said. “Angus. One choice. That’s you. She spoke in prophesy. I’ve read enough to recognize it when I see it. She spoke in prophesy, and she told me that you—Angus—will lead the way.”
“I could.” Angus lifted his chin. “But Wada’s daughter presumes too much.”
“I need your help.” Water dripped into her eyes, and she brushed it away again. “I fucked up and let a war goddess into the Brightlands. I know.”
“You think she’s simply a war goddess?” Angus let out a harsh laugh. “If all her power was contained in war, she could do no more harm to your world than you do to yourselves.”
“I know there is more to the Morrígan than war, but?—”
“Yourpeople are acolytes of war. You revel in your bombs and your guns. In starvation and in suffering. Youworshipat the altar of violence. Nothing Macha could do would make your people’s suffering worse.”
Carys frowned. “Then why?—”
“Why?” Angus strode to her, bent down, and stared into Carys’s eyes. “Why does she bathe in the blood of her warriors? She is not evil no matter what your human heart might perceive. Her violence has a purpose, Carys of Baywood.”
She racked her brain, but Angus’s aggression was not exactly helping clear her mind. “Uh… she’s a triple goddess. War and fate. She can…” Carys dug through her memory for everything she’d learned about Celtic mythology. “She can foretell victory in human battle.”
“And that would be a useful trait for the vultures of your world who feed on the bones of war, butthatis not her purpose.”
