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“I don’t know if I’d go that far. He’s very friendly and collegial.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Can I be honest with you?”

“I expect nothing less.”

“I can’t shake the feeling Sion is a misstep. I get you want to honor Martha’s find me message.”

I shake my head. “I never said Sion was connected to Máthair’s ring.” I didn’t say it, but Sion promising to help me find her is feeling less and less like a coincidence.

Colleen waves her hands. “And I totally understand you’re in a vulnerable place with your future in flux waiting to hear about the professorship, but clocking sexy time with the first Irish accent you meet isn’t going to make your life easier.”

“Colleen, you’re misreading the situation.”

“Am I?”

She knows me too well. It would be impossible for her not to see I’ve got feelings for Sion. Colleen is worried that my good decision making is broken. She sees Sion as an irresponsible fling and figures Jeremy could be an anchor for my life adrift. Colleen and I have always watched out for one another. That’s what we do, and overly cautious me is acting way out of character by attaching so quickly to Sion.

Colleen presses fingertips to the corners of her eyes. “Another thing, I can’t shake the feeling I’m being left out of the loop since you met Mr. Irish Guy.”

I run a hand along her arm, grateful when she doesn’t shake me off. “I swear you’re not. I’m not keeping anything important from you.” The lie burns my throat. She read me right. I’m keeping monumental secrets from her but not the ones she imagines. Colleen wears her feelings a hundred layers closer to the surface than I do.

She points at the reflection of my eyes in the window. “Weren’t we going to do the contact eye color thing together?”

My breath catches when eyes shining like the glass of my grandmother’s greenhouse stare back at me. Even stranger is the tiny bright band of gold around the iris, a Faerie ring reflecting a yellow moon. I’m looking at a dead-on replica of Sion’s eyes. Did he do this to me? Is my new eye color some twisted, possessive brand?

There’s no feasible explanation for the change in my eye color so I go with the one she already believes. “We did. I needed a distraction so I went for it.” For a fleeting moment, I consider caving and confiding every detail about Sion, the Veil, the soulfall tower. A series of tiny painful stings erupt inside me as Veil Sprites weigh in on the decision.

Ah, they do follow me into real time and just wait for their moments. Another need-to-know Sion blew off. I do trust Colleen. It would relieve some of the stress to have an objective third party. Then I think about Sion’s confession of danger. I could never put her in harm’s way.

I grab the hem of her sweater when she starts to turn away. “Look, there will be plenty of time to get to know Jeremy at home. Sion is...I—I find him intriguing.” I thread an arm around her back. “You held me together after I lost Máthair and a hundred other times.” I flip through every file in my brain trying to choose words that will calm her. “You’re right. The whole find me thing with Máthair’s ring is messing with my mind. It’s taken over. Maybe the message refers to Sion or Jeremy or something completely different. Whatever it might be, I have to allow for all potential options. But I promise, I won’t let anything come between you and me.”

“Oh, La.” She throws her arms around my neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I hug her back. “Colleen, Sion is a good guy.”

“We don’t know him.” She tugs at her hair.

“You’ll get to know him better on the Wexford trip.”

She rubs her lips together. “He was very sweet this morning.”

“And has excellent catching reflexes.” We share a laugh. I nudge the spotlight off me. “So you and Charlie?”

She sighs the high note of an aria. “Oh La, it's like a Fourth of July sparkler goes off inside me whenever I touch him.” She levels her gaze at me. “I know we clicked fast, but I have a gut feeling he’s going to be important in my life.” Her face pinks like a ballet slipper. “We’re dying for some alone time.” She scoffs. “That won’t happen at my grandmother’s.”

It worked. She’s backing off of Sion.

Colleen nudges my shoulder. “You okay with being short one roomie when we get to the hotel tomorrow night?” She leans back on her hands. “Did I tell you we FaceTimed Charlie’s parents? He was dying to introduce me.”

“Wow.”

Her gaze drifts over the greenery in the atrium. “He’s against my usual type. That must mean something, right?”

“Absolutely.” Here’s my opening. “Will you give Sion a chance? For me?”

Realization strikes me like the blast of frigid air on a New York City winter day. I want Colleen to like Sion.

I can’t deny the connection between Sion and me has the earmarks of fate. It’s not only our shared goals binding us together. I’m drawn to his heart, the one that sang alongside my own for one hundred thousand beats in a Celtic day. The commitment he’s pledged to the spirits in the soulfall surrounds me with the light of a person so selfless, so determined to do good. Despite his crusty edges and questionable patience, I want to be with him, touch him, walk our path together.