My usual excuse is on my lips.I didn’t want to go.
The older ones know that is a lie.
The newer ones bring news from faery. I recognize some of the names. Lorcan took a woman named Jenna and they are expecting their first baby. Ronan thought dead—I’m sure we held a wake for him fifteen years ago—turned up and is earning the love of the woman he took. I listen to Fin talk as I put shots on the table.
“She wanted nothing to do with him, but he ripped away the veil so she could see the monsters. Couldn’t leave her here.” Fin picks up a shot glass and downs it in a swallow. “Is there really a one, or will any woman do?”
“There is a one.” Daire says. He shakes his head, refusing the offered shot. I wouldn’t mind if he broke his word, it might be easier if he did.
Fin takes the glass instead.
“However, any woman can be taken, but if you don’t take the one you have a connection with, then there’s a chance she’ll leave you for another in faery.” I watch Daire as he speaks. His eyes are impossibly blue, and for a moment I’m almost dizzy.
If Shay had taken me, would I have eventually left him?
Fin shrugs. “And? At least I’d be home.”
Daithi slaps him on the shoulder. “You volunteered.”
“Aye, we all make dumb mistakes,” Fin says.
They all laugh, and the conversation turns to the most stupid thing they’ve done. That’s easy, falling into Shay’s bed. But he gave me Danni so I can’t hate everything about our time together.
I take one more glance at Daire and move onto the next table. I’m not making any more mistakes with the fae. No matter how tempting.
But what if I was his one?
4
Daire
I’m too full of wine and missed chances. I know that if I don’t do something, I’ll be the next wake to be held. They’ll be singing of my exploits and telling wild tales of things I never did or said.
I refuse to die in the outer realms.
But I’m not like Fin either, itching to go home when he’s barely dipped his toes in all the human world has to offer. The old riders back home talk of times before cars and computers. They don’t talk about cameras on every phone in every pocket.
I hope Lorcan and Ronan can prepare the newer riders, so they don’t arrive to a shock like Fin. He’d have been waiting for a rider to return, to get his necklace and leave, and now that he’s here he hates it. The first year is always a shock.
I leave the party that has moved to the yard, making use of the door frame so I don’t trip up the step. Lindsay is gathering up glasses and wiping down tables. “Leave it until morning.”
“I can do it now, just as easily. Besides, they’ll be no help as they’ll all have sore heads.”
I smile and walk over to her, hoping it looks more like a swagger and less like a stumble. Outside, one of them is singing as the others clap or hum. With no body to bury, this is all we have. In this realm we turn to dust, like any fae creature, as though we never existed.
“Dance with me.” I hold out my hand and sway to the music.
She shakes her head, but then looks at me. “What are you doing, Daire?”
“Asking for a dance?”
“You’re drunk.”
I draw in a breath. “Yeah. That doesn’t change how I feel, only makes me brave enough to ask.”
My heart hammers. It’s taken me over twenty years to draw up the courage. But twenty years ago, I still lived for the hunt and the fight. Now I just want to live.
“Just a dance?” She lifts an eyebrow.
