Page 102 of Broken Veil
Cadell stepped forward as the bear disappeared into the light, and in the eerie green glow of the fae gate, she saw the dragon’s profile lengthen and the fire at his throat glow.
Moments later, the bear disappeared, the green glow had died down, and Carys, Lachlan, Duncan, and Cadell were standing in the middle of the forest alone.
“It worked.” Carys felt high. She felt elated.
She felt… just a little bit like a hero.
Cadell looked at the three of them. “All of you stink. Very, very badly.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Oh, the oak and the ash, and the bonny ivy tree. How I wish once again in the north I could be.”
Carys looked up when she heard the familiar words. Jack Green, his beard just a little greener than it had been the night before, was singing under an apple tree in Jibril’s garden, staring at her with a twinkle in his eye.
“Why are you singing that?”
It was the morning after their ammonia-drenched trek in the woods, and Carys was sitting in the garden, soaking in the morning sun and trying to gather energy for whatever the day might bring.
Possessed sea monsters.
Enchanted bears.
Another horrible and violent nightmare.
And she still felt no closer to figuring out what she was supposed to do.
Carys was waiting as the last of her friends washed up in the only bathroom of Jibril’s tiny cottage. They had all hosed off in the garden the night before, but the pungent smell of ammonia lingered in her nose.
And after the elation of success had worn off the night before, exhaustion had hit and there was nowhere to sleep save for the floor of the cottage.
She was sore, stinking, and hungry.
And Jack was singing Macha’s song, apparently just to tease her.
Despite her small victories, there was still a goddess roaming through the Brightlands, and she didn’t feel any closer to understanding how she was supposed to fix it.
“While sadly I roam, I regret my dear home” —Jack’s eyes were fixed on her— “where lads and young lasses are making the hay…”
Carys started to get angry. “Macha sang that song in Gorne Wood.”
“Did she now?”
Jack knew she had. Somehow he seemed to know everything, and he still expected her to fight the Morrígan blindfolded.
She wanted to drive back to Scotland. She wanted to fly back to Baywood.
She was exhausted, and she wanted to be anywhere but the front garden of another enigmatic supernatural who just wanted to mess with her head.
The Green Man continued singing. “The merry bells ring and the birds sweetly sing?—”
“Why are you still singing that?” Carys snapped. She was exhausted, confused, and losing her patience. “What are we doing here?”
“You needed to protect Jibril’s hives and chase off that bear. Well done.”
“Okay, why?” Not even the peace of Jibril’s garden could soothe her temper. “You all seem to know things, but you don’t tell me anything. So… what am I doing here?”
Jack leaned against the trunk of the apple tree. “Whatareyou doing here, Carys Morgan? You’re not a goddess. Not even a fae. You’re a human and a Brightkin. You’re barely a dragon lord at all.”
