I stopped in my tracks, my mind working furiously.
Realization hits me like a truck. Theswans. Fucking birds.
They were next on the list. I was going swan hunting, and I didn’t give a shit if they were out of season.
Caelan had disappeared. Moira was nowhere to be found, and Garrett and Simone circled around the god and Chimera, searching for a way to assist, but doing so could get them killed.
Mom and Dad were lingering somewhere close, the comforting tingle of their combined power in the air around us. They’d step in if Garrett and Simone endangered themselves, but other than that, their hands were tied.
A real bummer, that. Dad could snap his fingers and turn Lugh into dust.
I needed to get closer to Lugh. Taking him down in a physical fight wouldn’t be easy, but I had no plans to go that route.
As if he sensed my thoughts, Lugh blinked away from Barrett. A moment later he stood before me, wearing a slight smile.
He snapped his fingers and the world fell away.
We stood in a field of heather, the sky lit by the stars. I was back in my human form dressed in clothes I had tossed long ago. A cool breeze lifted my hair from my neck and my clothing…
I took a step back. “No.”
Lugh’s soft laughter sent the hair on the back of my neck standing up. He hopped up on a fence post and balanced on one leg. The bastard knew his illusions wouldn’t work all that well on me, so he’d sent me back into my memories. These were real. I knew this had happened—this moment that changed the entire trajectory of my life.
“What do you want from me?” I asked, my gaze scanning the field for the man who’d destroyed me.
“You are queen,” Lugh said. “Maybe one day I’ll require a favor.”
I searched for a way out of this place.
“You can’t leave. This is not an illusion. It’s a memory. We aren’t in the town square, and we aren’t in Scotland. We’re inside your head, Your Majesty. Everything here is real.”
“What favor?” I asked, my heart a pounding thud in my chest. He would be here soon. I wasn’t in the field for that long before he showed up.
Concentrate, Evie. Be the bridge.
I took in a deep breath even as hot tears burned my eyes.
“Open ended,” Lugh said, hopping from foot to foot like we were two friends hanging out in a field on a quiet Friday night.
“No.”
“Mmm. Finn is not far away. He’s eager to attend you.”
I bit my lip so hard, I tasted copper. “Why are you doing this? You could have asked my father for a favor, left me and my friends out of this.”
“Your friends and your father do not have the influence you do.”
I stared at him incredulously. “My father has more power than I could ever dream of!”
Lugh’s brow furrowed. “You really believe that don’t you?” He laughed and hopped off the fence post. “No. He doesn’t. Your father was made from…” His voice trailed off and he squinted at the sky. “Primordial ooze, I suppose. His powers are limited.”
I’d never seen my father unable to do anything.
“I see your doubt,” Lugh continued. “But he is. He’s more powerful than anyone you’ve seen, of course. Especially your Lord. A Shifter Lord is usually a one-trick pony, though there are a few exceptions out there. Cernunnos can walk through worlds and perform many feats, but his bloodline does not have the glory yours does.”
I frowned. “You’ve got the wrong droid.”
Lugh blinked. “What?”
