Chapter 34
Clare woke with the largest hangover ever.
At first, she didn’t know where she was, but a quick eye-opening scan showed she was back in her old bedroom at the apartment filled with fairy knick-knacks and apparel.
Everything hurt. Her head, her eyes, herneck, the inside of her throat, her lungs, ribcage, and limbs.
But the worse pain of all came from her heart—not her actual physical heart. That beat just fine.
No, it was the ache deep in her soul of not having gained anything, but losing it all the same. It was like the dreaded hangover after writing the most emotionally wrenching story and having it end more bitter than sweet.
What day was it? Had she slept all day and all night? Or had everything that she thought happened been a dream?
She pulled off the covers and examined her body.
Bruised and scuffed. That was real enough. She also had a bandage over her shoulder from a tattoo she’d gotten—was it only yesterday or the day before?
Gingerly, she peeled it off. The skin was raw and irritated.She’d probably neglected to take care of it. Yikes, some of the fibers on the bandage were sticking into the prickly parts of the tattoo.
She picked off as much fluff as she could, then stared at the tattoo in the mirror. It was the cross of Brigid with four numbers, one on each prong.
A password. Griffin’s password.
Clare swung her legs off her bed and looked around the roomfor her cell phone. Her purse was missing, and there was nothing in the night table.
A beam of light entered through the parted curtains and shone on a glittery white bridal gown on a seamstress’s mannequin. It was the new line of fairy queen bridal gown she and her cousin Jenna had worked on.
She’d brought it back from San Francisco to add the bits of rhinestone and cubic zirconia.
Memories flooded like a tsunami over her, and she held her hands to her head, holding it all in.
“What has happened to me? Was it all a dream or vision? Then why would I have the tattoo? Where’s my phone, and wait, wait, am I still a virgin?”
She rushed to the closet to look for her Morrigan costume. It was her favorite one. Her ring of fire party dress, her aquamarine wetworks serpent suit, her ivory hunter safari elephant leather riding outfit, and her musical metallic scale dragon gown were present and accounted for. But the black-feathered cape and wings were missing, and her green suede lace-up boots were nowhere to be found.
“I need my phone,” Clare said. “My phone tracks where I went. It has all my pictures, my recordings, my trips, and my notes.”
She rummaged through the closet, but there was no sign of her suitcase. But then, she had packed it when Griffin told her they were going to get married.
How many lifetimes ago was that?
“Sorcha, Maeve,” she called out as she rushed to the bathroom. “What day is it?”
“Oh, you’re awake,” Sorcha said, coming out of the kitchen. “You slept all day yesterday after we broughtyou back from Gallagher Castle.”
“You were babbling like a baby,” Maeve said. “Better be glad we were there to bail you out.”
The realization that everything had happened slammed Clare like a giant foot squishing a bug. She quailed under their gazes and slumped to the ground.
“Then it all happened,” she cried. “I’ve fallen in love with a man who cannot remember me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sorcha said, sliding down and putting her arm around her. “It’s not his fault, you know.”
“At least you tried to help him,” Maeve said. “Are you up to us telling you how we defeated Seamus and Mack?”
“I will be after coffee,” Clare said.
“Say, you got another check from Jenna,” Sorcha said, handing her an envelope. “I know I wasn’t supposed to open your mail,but you’ve been getting forgetful about the bills, so I figured…”
