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Soulmate.

Time pauses as we appreciate the stillness, the sweetness of the moment fixed on one another. The word drifts into my heart and finds a place there. The Veil Sprites flow rather than dance through my spirit.

Soulmate.

A hopeful look replaces his shy one as he steps between my knees to reach me, tracing the side of my face with a fingertip. “Okay?”

I nod and smile, relishing this tenderness. Sion drops a soft kiss on my forehead and I long for more. He pats my legs, encouraging them back inside the car then closes my door and moves around the front of the car with the jerky gait of his limp.

My dear romantic Colleen has been on a life quest to find her soulmate. Did I stumble upon mine by walking into a cave in the Blarney Castle Rock Close? Graduating from partners to soulmates is quite a leap, but since we are in the business of saving souls, it fits like a second skin. My face still tingles where he touched me with fingertip and lips.

Anamchara.

The Veil Sprites dust my insides with their little fires.

I watch from the corner of my eye as he slides behind the wheel. Is he pondering the same question I am? Have we indeed moved from side-by-side to hand-in-hand? I flex my fingers, remembering the feel of mine joined with his.

He starts the car and pulls onto the road. “It’s an apt term for my pal in the soul-saving business, doncha think?”

Pal?

What the hell. My heart shrinks a couple of sizes, and a bubble of embarrassment encircles me. I’m an idiot. This man is focused on his otherworldly quest, not me. I’m nothing more than a useful tool to him. Hand-in-hand my ass.

“Sure.”

When he sneaks a glance at me, I look away so he can’t catch the misinterpretation of anamchara flashing across my face. Message received, we’re in the soul-saving business. Sion’s words confirm he feels nothing special between us aside from mutual goals. I’m a pal, a buddy, a chum. He doesn’t think of us as a couple in the romantic sense. We’re business partners.

I rub my lips together, conjuring our kiss at Leap Castle. No, I can’t count that as a kiss. It was a device to serve a purpose. All the cuddles in Robbie’s flat were part of our act for my friends.

He pats the steering wheel. “We’ll meet Alfie, my fánaí tree, in a wee wood outside of Enniscorthy. In the morning, we’ll get back to Colleen and Charlie in time to make Dublin by Olk’s witching hour.” Under his breath, he grumbles, “Never trust a man with round glasses.”

Disappointment keeps sloshing over me in waves. Beltane will come. Sion and I will part ways. Visions of growing roots here fade as I force the picture of Kennard Park University and the small, tidy life it offers into my head.

I press a hand to my stomach as Sion tears up the road like we’re in a damn rocket instead of a compact car. “You swore I’d get used to crossing the Veil, but it makes me really sick.”

Sion pats the hair over his ears. “That’s my fault.” He smiles at me. “I’ll be fixing it right soon.”

Long, smoldering questions in my brain flare, flaming with a need for resolution. Since Sionnach’s defined our partnership in corporate terms, and we may or may not be in fucking danger, I’m not holding back. “Why wouldn’t you look me in the eye before the night in the forest?” My voice is sharp.

He squirms. “I promised myself I’d avoid such contact until I got you into the Veil. I knew once I looked into your eyes, it’d be hard to stop.” His smile is so sweet, I taste it on my tongue, but sugar quickly turns to salt.

I don’t want Sion to sense any trace of my naïve hope he might see me as more than a sidekick so I keep talking. “Did the Veil change my eyes?”

He nods. “You’ve got the mark of a wanderer, green with the gold band.”

Every drop of blood pools in my feet. Máthair’s eyes were like Sion’s. Did she travel too? I stare at the roof. Surely, she would have told me, at least dropped breadcrumbs in a story for me to follow.

I spin the silver band on my finger. Could this be the breadcrumb?

“You’ve lost your color again, love. Do you need me to pull off?”

I shake my head. “Why don’t you limp in the Veil?”

His foot stutters on the gas and the car lurches, jerking my neck to the side. Sion’s face assumes a not-so-pretty shade of purple as he holds his breath.

“As we say in America, suck it up. You owe me explanations.”

“I do.” He slows our trajectory from the speed of light to a steady clip.