“So you can get your key?” Margaret asked.
“Yes,” I said, leaving out the part about me potentially marrying Cillian. I didn’t feel like bringing up that topic now that Margaret had made it clear how Cillian felt about Ceri. That would be a whole other complication to worry about.
“So what do we do?” Morton asked. “Just start cleaning?”
I walked toward one of the broken shelves and plucked out a book. “No.” I tucked the book under my arm and sat in one of the chairs. “We just found the library. Let’s enjoy it a little bit before we get to work.” I snuggled deeper into the chair and opened the book to start reading.
CHAPTER 13
Wolfe
Istood atop the hill, sword in hand, and slashed it through the air. My torso twisted as I moved the sword in the opposite direction, muscles contracting, arms trembling. I’d been at this for over two hours, practicing my sword work after the latest invasion.
There’d been so many in the last few months, and they were ramping up. This lithaguar had been the second this week. We’d never had two in one week.
No one would be able to find this place without magic, but for some reason, magical beings could break through our invisible barriers. No humans had ever followed them, which was the only reason we knew that even if their pets and objects could find us, that didn’t mean they could. But it was troubling to think they might know where we were located, that at this very moment they might be planning exactly how to infiltrate us and take over our home, that they might be outside our barrier right now.
I laid down my sword and picked up an axe, then stalked over tothe pile of wood that needed chopping, one log already perfectly placed on a lone stump. I picked up the axe and brought it down, straight into the middle of the log, feeling some of my nervous energy dissipating. It wasn’t a matter of if but when the day that we were infiltrated would come, and I would make damn well sure I was prepared to protect my home, my brother.
I lifted another log to the stump and raised my axe in the air.
“You know, if you brought all that wood to the castle, it would probably find a way to chop it for you.”
The axe slipped from my hand, swiveling through the air and straight toward Niamh. She jumped backward, and the axe embedded itself in the ground in front of her.
A breeze flowed through the air, rustling the maroon skirt of her dress. The bodice was cinched tight, accentuating her wide hips and the heaving bosom that spilled over the top?—
I cleared my throat and looked up at her face, hoping she hadn’t caught me staring. It had been a long time since I’d even allowed myself to notice a woman. Truth be told, I spent most of the time that I wasn’t guarding Cillian alone at my cabin. I didn’t run into the opposite sex all that much, and even if I did, none of them were interested in me. Not after what had happened with Lor, after that situation had broken me.
But Niamh, clueless as ever, didn’t have the same wariness toward me that everyone else seemed to. That was probably why I was noticing her. She was the only female who’d actually talk to me, who wanted to talk to me.
I grunted and stalked forward. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. My axe almost impaled you.”
“You almost impaled me. If I’m to become queen, wouldn’t that be treason?” The right side of her lips tipped up, and by now, I knew that meant she was teasing.
“So you’ve decided to become queen now?” I grumbled as I bent over and wrenched the axe from the ground, slinging it over my shoulder. “And how did you find my house?”
She ignored my questions, asking one of her own instead. “Why don’t you live in the castle? Doesn’t your whole family live there?”
Not everyone. Not Lor.
I turned and stomped back toward the tree stump. A chilly gust brushed past me, cooling the sweat that had settled across my chest and arms.
I turned and jumped to see Niamh right in front of me. “Witches be, woman. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
She raised her thick brows, the same blazing red color as her hair. “You knew I was here.” She paused, face screwing up like she was working through a puzzle. “Oh, I get it. You thought you’d dismissed me. Does that work? You just ignore people, and they leave you alone?”
“Yes,” I gritted it out. “That’s generally how it goes.”
“Oh.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, lucky for me, I’m not so easily turned away.”
“I can see that.” I grabbed her arm and pushed her back. “Watch out.”
I swung the axe over my head and down into the center of the log, splitting it perfectly down the middle.
“Can’t the magic just do that?” Niamh asked.
“I don’t know,” I said and knew she wasn’t going to leave until she got whatever she was here for. “Why are you here, Niamh? Don’t you have a castle to be winning over?”
