‘I never said I had all the answers. Why don’t you let me do my job, and?—’
‘And in the meantime, I’ll do mine and work on finding a legal solution to present to the Court. Force them to provide evidence of Matt’s guilt,’ Niamh says, a new authority clear in her tone. ‘And maybe together, we can find something that resembles justice.’
I stare at her, and I suspect this will not be the last time Niamh surprises me like this. Or maybe now that our two worlds are far more similar than I ever imagined, I’ll stop being surprised by her.
‘How do you feel?’ I ask as we make our way past the torches to the exit.
‘I’m not sure yet. Surprisingly normal.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’ She kisses me, pulling away with a wide smile on her face. ‘How did I not know who I was? It all seems so clear now. Although, I’m not sure what changed. Was it Vittoria taking my necklace, or when we…’ She blushes, charmingly.
I laugh and hug her, loving that even after all we’ve done together, that she still retains some of her innocent charm.
‘You know, several times in the past four years, I have meant to ask Aiden to investigate you further. I meant to ask him to look into your parents’ lives in more depth, meant to ask him to get copies of the accident reports about their accident. To find out more about your necklace.’
‘So why didn’t you?’
‘You parents’ magic was good, Niamh. Thorough. I think I just kept… forgetting. The easiest way to hide, after all, is if no one is really looking for you in the first place.’
‘My mother’s magic. It was her magic that hid me.’
‘How do you know?’
She shrugs. ‘Just a feeling.’
We walk out the main doors into the Necropolis.
Niamh smiles as she turns her face up to the summer sunshine. ‘We’re in the Underworld?’
‘How can you tell?’
We laugh as we cross the bridge, and she stops to look down into the Molendinar Burn. I stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her against the sandstone parapet. She twists her head around to kiss me, then turns back, placing her hands over mine.
‘What I don’t really understand is why Vittoria kept coming after me? You were going to marry her, you stayed away from me, she was getting exactly what she wanted.’
‘I don’t think that was enough for her.’ I kiss the nape of Niamh’s neck. ‘She knew there was something between us, knew I would never… yearn for her, the way I yearned for you. She wanted to be the fairest in my eyes. And I just couldn’t give her that.’
She nods and is quiet for a while. I can see her looking over the Underworld’s city landscape– ironically, it’s far more idyllic than the one in the human world.
‘What are you thinking?’ I ask her.
‘That there’s a lot of open space for running.’
My lips curve into a smile.
‘And lots of places to hide.’
‘There certainly are.’
‘I love you,Gléigeal.’
‘I love you, too, Huntsman, and if you can catch me, I might just show you how much.’
She winks at me, ducking under my arm and running far away from me, her long dark hair streaming behind her, leaving only the sound of her laughter dancing in the wind.
I smile as I count to ten, giving her a chance before I commence my hunt.
