Page 185 of A Legacy of the Light

“I love you, Granny.”

I lift my eyes to meet hers. Mist swirls around us, creating a barrier between her body and mine. Panic starts to overwhelm me. She's hurting somewhere and I can’t get to her.

Granny’s green eyes and soft smile are the last things I see before the darkness of sleep takes me once more.

I snap awake, jolting upright in bed. I bury my head into my hands and cry so hard my entire body shakes.

“Elsie?” Tavish sits up next to me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He wraps me in his arms and pulls me to him. I fold against his chest and let the emotion pour out of me.

“Elsie, talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s . . . it’s my Granny,” I cough out between sobs. “She’s alive.”

He tips my face up to his, his form blurry in the dim light.

“Where is she, Elsie?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know, but she was hurt. Really hurt.”

Tavish holds me to him again. “I will find her for you. I swear it on my crown. I will make sure you see your Granny again.”

The caress of his voice, and the determination in his words soothe some of the raw ache inside me.

The door to our room crashes open as my bawling stops.

Tavish pushes me behind him with a strength and speed that whips the air out of me.

“What the fuck, Reyne!” he barks.

I peer around him and find Reyne in our doorway, hair wild from sleep and throwing on her armor. She’s armed, a dagger strapped to her thigh and a sword dangling from her waist as she pulls the breastplate over her head.

“Brollachan. They’re here.”

Chapter 44

A sense of déjà vu washes over me. And fear. There will be no hiding in the safety of the palace during this attack.

Tavish scrambles from the bed and hurries toward his pack, not caring that he’s naked. He pulls his armor out and dresses quickly. He straps his sword down his back and attaches a belt to his waist with two short swords hanging from it.

“Reyne, stay with Elsie. Get her out,” he commands.

Reyne nods in confirmation and moves into the room, throwing another belt onto the crumpled sheets.

Tavish moves around her to exit the room. I pull the sheet tighter around me, conscious of the fact I’m naked beneath them.

“Tavish,” I squeak out, my voice still raw from crying.

He turns to face me, resolve and calm radiating from him. A prince and a leader. A gladiator ready to defend his kingdom.

He closes the distance between us in a few long strides, takes my face in his hands, still wet from tears, and kisses me long and deep.

“Listen to Reyne. Do everything she says and get out. Don’t wait for me, okay?”

I look up at him, fear clawing through my chest. And something else. Something savage and vengeful. The Brollachan are here. The things that have taken my mother from me, that have left Granny weak and bleeding somewhere in this realm, are here and are likely hurting and killing others. The need to see them suffer worms its way through me.

“Elsie. You get out. Do you hear me?”