Immortal but not invulnerable. I will not sacrifice your hearing or sight, or Mórrígan only knows what other organ, to rescue a crow I’ve no need for.
“No need for?”I squeak out loud.
You promised to retire with me once I told you, Behach Éan. The same way you promised not to broach the subject until daybreak.His shadows knit into feathers.I expect you to keep both promises.He presents me with his wing.
With a sigh, I blow my friends a quick kiss and climb atop Lorcan’s broad back.
I can hear you thinking,he says as he flies me through the quiet kingdom.
I promised not to speak of your crow. I never promised not to dwell on how to retrieve him.
As we travel through the shadowy hallways, a plan begins to take shape. There’s no depth a serpent can’t reach. Not to mention that neither iron nor obsidian can harm them.Can you communicate with serpents, Lore?
No. Only Shabbins can.
How?
They can plant visions inside the sea creatures’ minds.
Perfect.
He swerves a little but then readjusts his trajectory.What is?
I cannot tell you until daybreak. I wouldn’t want to be accused of shirking my promises.
He growls my name.
Hey, it was your idea not to discuss the rescue mission.
He slows, surfing on the cool air that fills his giant hallways.Reid left for Shabbe days ago to discuss the matter with Priya, yet my crow still lies in the exact spot it’s been in since it fell.After a prolonged beat, he adds,I fear his voyage was for naught.
It wasn’t for naught. After all, the woman to whom he gave a love stone resides in Shabbe. Did Mamma recognize him, or is her mind still a murky place filled with fear and anxiety?Perhaps the visions fade when the mareserpens travel through the wards?
They helped dredge the galleon on which I’d been caged, so no, the visions don’t fade. The only explanation I can come up with is that I fell somewhere even serpents cannot reach.
Like a crevasse?
Yes.
His individual crows are on the small side, but so are my arms. Lore mustn’t have tuned into my thoughts because he doesn’t emit another growled objection.
I’m not objecting because you swore an oath to me. One that ensures you remain at my side. Has it already slipped your mind?
I did, didn’t I?I sigh.In that case, you’ll just have to dive with me and succor your crow at my side like we did in the good old days. You were a fantastic sidekick.
He doesn’t reply until we reach his studded bedchamber door and shifts from feathers to shadows.Sidekick, huh?There’s a lilt to his voice, as though some of my positivity has finally drilled through his negativity.I prefer the termguide. Ortrailblazer.
I’m sure you do.With a taunting grin, I say,You are, after all, in possession of quite the ego, Mórrgaht.
His shadows wrap around me in a caress, eliciting goosebumps everywhere.Mórrígan, how my world was bleak without you, Little Bird.
My throat and lids feel thick all of a sudden. I cannot possibly be about to weep. Not again. How is it that I even have tears left after this endless day? As I reach out to stroke my storm cloud of a king, he hoists me into his spectral arms and twists the doorknob.
I gasp.I cannot believe you can carry me.
The door clangs shut.Wait till you see what else I can do in this form.
Forty-Six
