Now, I felt...well,shymight be the right word, even though I’d never felt shy a day in mylife.
“I’m okay,” I said in a weird squeak. “Don’t worry about me. You still might be able to catch them if you go now. At least search the castlegrounds.”
A strange expression flickered across his face. “No, I won’t be able to catch them now. It has been two days,Moira.”
My mouth dropped open. “Twodays?!”
He gave a solemnnod.
“Two. Days?” I pushed at his chest. “You let me sleep for two bloodydays?”
“You were drugged with Sapphire, and then you were given a fatal wound.” He stepped back warily, clearly not expecting my angry reaction. “Your body needed time toheal.”
I let out a frustrated grunt. “What aboutSaoirse?”
“Our team is looking into it.” He took my hands in his, squeezing tight. “We’ve found a few leads. Hopefully, one of them will lead us straight toher.”
My anger deflated a little. He’d been searching while I’d been out cold. At least that was something. “And, um, the hobgoblin...I mean, Uisnech. How isUisnech?”
“He’s fine.” Lugh’s lips twitched. “Though he’s very worried aboutyou.”
“The hobgoblin is worried about me,” I saidflatly.
“It seems you’ve earned his very grudging respect,” Lugh added. “First, you saved me in Barrie’s Close. Then, you took on a gang of traitors alone in order to help Saoirse. And when you earn Uisnech’srespect...”
“Oh. Well.” I swallowed hard and stared down at my bare feet. “Thanks for saving my life in return. I guess we’re evennow.”
“It’s not a game, Moira. We don’t have points we can score. I’d do the same again for you in aheartbeat.”
I lifted my eyes to his. “Even though I came here to spy on you for theMorrigan.”
Henodded.
“Well, thank you.” My cheeks flooded with heat. Clearing my throat, I said, “I’m feeling much better now, so I’ll get out of your hair. I’ll just grab my shoes and head back to myroom.”
“That is not happening,” he saidquietly.
“What?Why?”
He motioned for me to join him in his room. I picked through the piles of books and found a clear spot on the same armchair I’d chosen the last time I’d been here. Lugh settled back in on his sofa, placing the book he’d been reading on the table, a yellow bookmark poking out from themiddle.
“I heard part of the conversation in the courtyard. The traitors want youdead.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Yep, sure seems thatway.”
“It seems their original target was Saoirse. At least, that was the plan for the night.” He cleared his throat, eyes narrowing. “I have reasons to suspect they’ll go after youagain.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I agreed. “Though their main target isyou.”
“Perhaps.” His eyes raked across me, sending a new swarm of goosebumps across my body. “They had a chance to attack us when we were...distracted. But they waited to go after you when you werealone.”
My neck warmed. “Yeah, but you, uh, had your, uh,spear.”
Why did that sound way dirtier than itwas?
He leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees. “They took Saoirse. They didn’t try to harm her. I’d guess they plan to use her for her prophecyskills.”
“But they tried to kill you in Barrie’s Close,” I argued. “Even if they wanted to use her for her prophecy skills, why the sudden change—oh.”
