My gut tightens, my instincts screaming at me to distrust him, to throw him out on his ass. But I don’t move. I don’t speak. I just watch him, my eyes narrowing as I try to read between the lines of his too-casual tone.
Lochan steps forward, his massive frame towering over Marius.“How?” he growls, his deep voice a warning.
Marius's eyes flick to Lochan, a challenge in their depths. He doesn't flinch, doesn't back down. Instead, he moves further into the room, his presence filling the space like smoke from an extinguished candle.
"I've been keeping something from you. From all of you. Except Brigid." His voice is even and controlled, but he can’t hide the split-second note of desperation that I catch.
"What are you talking about?" I demand.
"The Morrigan wasn’t the only one prophesied to come back in a vessel. The Raven King was too." Marius inhales before continuing.“I’m the next vessel of the Raven King," he says. The words fall into the silence like rocks down a well.
For a moment, no one moves. No one breathes. Then the room erupts.
"What the fuck?" Rory explodes.
Lochan's massive frame goes rigid, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. "You knew this? All along?"
I feel my own anger rising. "And you didn't think to mention it?" I spit out. I take a step towards Marius. "While we've been running ourselves ragged trying to save Brigid, you've been sitting on this?"
“I’m telling you now.”
Lochan closes the distance between them in two long strides. "You fucker. You've been playing us this whole time."
Tiernan's quiet voice cuts through the tension. "Let him speak." We all turn to look at him, his eyes now fixed on Marius
Marius nods once at Tiernan before addressing us all.“Right now, the details don’t matter. What matters is that I’m pretty sure I can find Brigid. If I allow the Raven King to use me, as he planned.”
“No fucking way.” I ignore the hand Tiernan has raised to silence me.“I’m sympathetic to the rebels, you know that by now, but there’s no way I’m going to let you bring back the Raven King, so that he and the Morrigan can reunite and wreak gods only know what havoc.”
Rory nods his head in agreement.“We don’t know how to stop the Morrigan as it is. How would we ever stop them both when they’re together?”
“Perhaps I can help with that.”
I swing around to see Fiona standing in the doorway.“You.”
“You’ve done fucking enough,” Lochan growls at the tiny woman.
"I see you've told them," she says, her voice carrying a weight I've never heard before. It's as if the very air around her has changed, charged with an immense power that makes my skin prickle. How did I not notice it before?
Marius nods, his dark eyes narrowing. "You knew?"
Fiona's lips curve into a smile that holds no mirth. "I've known a great many things for a very long time, Marius."
She proceeds further into the room.“It's time you all knew the truth." She moves to stand in the center of our dysfunctional little gathering, and I swear the air around her shimmers. "I'm not who you think I am. My name, my true name, is Sirona."
The name hits me like a physical blow.
Sirona. The goddess of healing, vitality, and rebirth. My mind reels, struggling to process this revelation.
"Bullshit," Rory mutters, but his voice lacks conviction.
Fiona, no, Sirona, turns to him, her eyes glowing with an ethereal light. "I assure you, Rory, it is the truth."
There’s a sudden energy that makes my hair stand on end. I can feel the power emanating from her small frame, and suddenly, I believe.
"Why?" I demand, finding my voice. "Why the deception? Why now?"
Sirona's gaze shifts to me. "To protect Brigid. To guide her. And now, to save her."
