I frowned at the shadow hound sitting at my grandfather’s feet. “I concede you did me a favor.”
A small one.
I would have preferred if he hadn’t placed me in mortal peril in the process.
I frowned at my bio-dad. “That still doesn’t excuse you kidnapping me to drag me all the way out here.”
Brin’s mouth hooked up on one side as he gave me a sardonic look. “No thank you for dealing with the assassins Muiredach sent?”
Okay. Yes. I was grateful for that. Maybe even a little bit for the fact that I wouldn’t have to deal with the political fallout when they discovered all those dead Fae in the room I was no longer in.
It was what Liam and the rest would do when they discovered my disappearance that really concerned me.
Thankfully, my sire rarely reacted from an emotional stance. He’d keep Liam and Connor under control.
I hoped.
“She does bring up a good point,” my grandfather interrupted. “You’ve kept your distance until now. As much as I enjoy both of your company, I’m curious as to why you’ve come.”
Brin leaned a hip against one of the stones marking the boundary. “I wanted your input on something.” He tipped his head at me. “Take a look at her. Tell me what you see.”
I stiffened at suddenly becoming the focus of attention.
“Shh,” my grandfather soothed.
The abyss in his eyes expanded, eclipsing all else until it became my whole universe. My mind went quiet, my fears and concerns smothered by the void that held me mesmerized. It was captivating. The desolate emptiness a source of comfort that called out to my very soul.
I gazed into it with rapt attention. Lost in its brilliance.
From inside me, in the deepest darkest depths of my being, an answering abyss unfurled. Tiny tendrils reaching out to greet the vastness before me. Minuscule compared to what was inside my grandfather, but very much present and accounted for.
My grandfather gazed at me with awe. “She’s beautiful.”
His void gave mine one last affectionate squeeze before releasing its grip on me and withdrawing. The darkness within me sunk back into its hiding place, rolling over and going back to sleep.
I sucked in a harsh breath at suddenly finding myself in my own head again, breaking out in a cold sweat. “What was that?”
The abyss was still there. I could feel it noe. Deep in my chest, coiled around my soul. A presence I’d been denying.
It slumbered. For now.
But it would wake. I was afraid of what would happen when it did.
“How is this possible?” my grandfather breathed.
“She ate Ahrun’s madness.”
My grandfather tsked. “Child—when will you learn to be careful with what you put in your mouth? Just because youcaneat something, doesn’t mean youshould.”
It’s not like I’d eaten Ahrun’s madness on purpose. I wasn’t a toddler. Bite one medusa and spend a little time as a statue and no one ever lets you live it down.
My grandfather focused on Brin. “How did you find out about this?”
Brin folded his arms over his chest to regard us with a neutral gaze. “Her boy-toy tracked me down.”
Hold on a minute.
“Liam did what?”
