“My fae power is skill with a spear, but this particular weapon goes beyond that. When I use it, my powers are far greater than anything else most have ever seen. That’s why the fae ran from me when I caught them attacking you in Mag Mell. It would strike them down. It would steal the breath from their lungs, the blood from their veins, if I touched them withit.”
Fear shuddered throughme.
“But there is a downside to my powers, which is why I keep my spear locked up and hidden from those who wish to steal it from me.” Lugh reached out and wrapped his hand around the spear, slamming the shaft onto the floor by hisfeet.
In an instant, my world changed. Something inside my soul snapped tight. Magic rushed through me like a category five hurricane. Power crackled between Lugh and his spear, and the entire room was engulfed byit.
My heart pounded as I stared into Lugh’s midnight eyes. Lips parted, I shook my head. The magic pulsing between us clenched tight in my gut, and a strange sensation swirled between us. His power pummelled through my heart, but my own magic rushed right back towardhim.
Fear tripped through me. I’d heard about thisbefore.
I knew what itwas.
“No!” I clutched at my heart and backed away from him, shaking my head in horror. “No, no,no.”
“What is it?” Confusion and alarm flashed across his face. “What’s wrong? I thought my spear did not scareyou.”
“You’re my mate,” I whispered. “You’re my actualmate.”
He shook his head, still confused. “Of course I am. Didn’t you know? Didn’t you feel the bond snap between us the moment we met? If not then, the moment in the trainingroom?”
That moment he’d looked at me and laughed about the cruelty offate.
“No.” Closing my eyes, I twisted away. I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore, not knowing the truth about our bond. Lugh Tuireann was my mate. The prophecy roared in my head, drowning out a moment that should have been one of the happiest of mylife.
The King of Wraiths was mymate.
Which meant I would kill him oneday.
18
Itoreout of the castle. Now that I knew the truth, I couldn’t stay here anymore. Every moment I spent with Lugh was another moment when I might stab him in theheart.
He caught my arm as I shoved my feet into my boots. “Moira, you have to explain what’s going on. I realise it’s an intense moment, finding your mate, but I honestly thought you already knew. All these times we’ve touched, I could feel it in mygut.”
Tears stung my eyes. I kept my gaze on my boots. I couldn’t look at him anymore. “Saoirse isn’t the first druid I’ve met. There’s another. Her name isCaer.”
“I’ve heard of Caer,” he said suspiciously, dropping my arm. “She tends to deal in prophecies that are a matter of life anddeath.”
“Exactly.” I tightened my laces and headed for the door. Then, I stopped, twisting to give him one last look. He stood tall beside his harp, a piercing reminder that he was brutal and fierce but also soft, caring, and heartachingly perfect. I wanted to memorise his face. It would be the last time I ever saw it. Coal black hair, fierce black eyes, sharp jaw and cheekbones that could cut glass. Hands that were strong enough to pummel foes but soft enough to make memelt.
I closed my eyes. “Caer told me that I will one day kill my mate. I don’t understand how it happened, but it turns out that’s you. That’s why I have toleave.”
I was a warrior. I loved to fight. My blood sang when battle called. I’d always needed someone the same. I understood that now. I should have known from the moment that I met Lugh that he would be my mate. We mirrored each other in a way that I could scarcelybelieve.
And that was why I had toleave.
With that, I pushed out the door and raced toward the castle gates. I wasn’t sure if he would try to stop me when the shock of my words wore off, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out. Instead, I clambered over the gates and dropped onto the ground on the other side. The guards shouted at me, but they didn’t hold me back. They weren’t there to keep us from leaving. They were there to keep enemiesout.
And now I wasone.
The city spread out before me, but the glittering lights had faded as the moon stalked toward the horizon. It was the middle of the night. Most places were shut tight until morning. No trains ran this late, which meant I was kind of stuck. For now, I’d have to find a pub and crash for the night, until I could leave the nextmorning.
Time to go home. My heart squeezed. When I’d left London, I’d ached to stay, and now the very opposite was true. I didn’t want to goback.
A few pubs on a street just off the High Street had their lights still blazing through the windows. I picked one called A Knight’s End and pushed inside. A little bell clanged as I sauntered over to the bar, dropped onto the stool, and sunk my elbows onto the sleekwood.
“Rough night?” the bartender asked through a beard that could rival the thickest brush. His sandy hair matched, thick and hanging down to his shoulders. He wore a black t-shirt with a reaper illustration, and he had a tattoo on his arm of some sort of Celticsymbol.
