“I can’t.”

One was bad enough. Two is impossible. A droplet of sweat drips down my brow and I try to wipe it, but my hand is shaking too badly.

“We’ve got her, my lord.”

Hands grab my waist, carefully lifting me from Blizzard’s back. As if the motion is permission to let go, I reach out.

Connecting to the two of them only makes it worse. Caed’s bond—still raging and battle hungry, despite his wounds—latches on to me and wrenches, taking anything I can give him without hesitation. Lore… Lore is worse. He’s numb and weak and—from what I can tell—hardly even conscious. Blackness eats at the edges of my vision. My legs give out the second I touch the floor, and a hundred hands reach out of nowhere to catch me.

“What the fuck is going on?” Drystan demands as he dismounts with a scowl.

“The Fomorian escaped,” someone says, but my vision is too blurry to recognise anyone.

The only person I know is him, and that’s because his eyes are glowing with fury. Almost as bright as the flames which take their place when he removes his head.

“I upset you again,” I whisper.

“Get her somewhere safe, and tend to her,” he grunts, talking over my head to the servants. “I’ll deal with the others.”

“No!” I tear out of the arms holding me.

But Drystan is already gone.

“My lady, please,” a maid I don’t recognise begs, trying to tug me over to a bench.

Someone undoes the scarf around my chest, pulling Wraith away.

“Out of my way! Out of my way!” Kitarni.

Thank Danu.

Her face swims in my vision, and for a second, I’m certain there are two of her. No, three? Maybe if I close my eyes, it will all make sense…

“Rose, listen to me.”

My head snaps up. Kitarni never uses my real name.

“Reach for your bond to Danu. Your Guard is draining you, but if you draw on the Goddess’s power, it won’t affect you as badly.”

I can’t think of anything worse right now. “Every time I do that, someone dies.”

I’m mumbling, but Kitarni hears me anyway.

“Rose, the Goddess is life and death. Part of your challenge as Nicnevin is to find the balance.”

I shake my head furiously, but I’m forced to stop as it makes my nausea worse. “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

The dryad meets my eyes levelly. “Do you trust me?”

Is that even a question? I nod, jerkily.

“Then do it.”

Gritting my teeth, I reluctantly do as she says. But it’s a struggle to find my bond to Danu and that place of inner peace when I’m so focused on my Guard and the fear of what’s happening to them.

“I can’t find it,” I whisper, horrified.

This has never happened before. Usually the Goddess is right there, waiting for me to find her. When I’m angry, she bursts through without me even looking for her.