I wondered if those killers could see it.
Closin’ my eyes tight, I kept very still until my stomach rolled. I turned my head and puked.
Tear streaked down my cheeks. Not because I was scared. But because I’d lost the good dinner Mam had taken the time to make.
She’d never make me dinner again.
I’d never smell her flowery perfume or the scent of onions on her hands after she cut them up for one of her recipes.
Voices.
I heard them comin’ before the sound of footsteps in the grass made it to me.
Those bastards were lookin’ for me.
Turned out, trolls were not the meanest creatures.
People were.
Go to sleep, Cillian. Close your eyes and go to sleep.
“Looks like a graveyard,” a voice said.
“Good. We’ll bring them here.”
“If we have time. We need to find the gold. That’s all Oran’s worried about.”
“What about the kid?”
“We’ll find him—sooner or later.”
A few seconds passed. The whistlin’ of the wind made me feel even colder, and I was worried they could hear my teeth startin’ to chatter.
“He’s not here. Little bastard might be halfway back to the village. We should have gone that way first.”
“I’ll go check.”
I heard footsteps retreatin’, but I didn’t move, in case it was a trap to lure me out.
Like a dead body, I kept my arms pressed to my sides and my legs straight, even though my muscles were havin’ fits. I slowed my breathin’ because I was strainin’ to take in air.
How long can I stay under here?
It didn’t matter.
I imagined my parents, even the brother or sister I’d never know, and how they were probably goin’ to rest upon this hill for eternity.
I fell asleep with their blood coatin’ me, knowin’ one day I’d rest here too.
After I killed those bastards.
Chapter1
Maeve
PRESENT DAY
Iwas surrounded by time. But there never seemed to be enough of it.
