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She’d never prayed a day in her life, didn’t necessarily believe in a divine entity, but right now, she wanted nothing more than for God to exist. To hear her and listen to her and grant her one request.

“I’ll let him go. I’ll let him be with the woman he chose, I promise. But please, help me. Don’t let her harm anyone. Please.”

Her promise tore her heart in two. Pinched the tears from her eyes to trail down her face.

But a lightness overcame her. A sense of peace.

Whether it be divine intervention or not, she might never know. Yet a glimmer of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation pulsed inside her chest.

A sudden thought sprang to life in her mind.

She had no idea what cost her childish antics would reap, but she would do everything in her power to fix the wrongs she’d done.

She might be human, but she wasn’t helpless.

And she certainly wasn’t hopeless any longer.

38

The walls around them trembled, showering a thin layer of dirt over the cavern floor. Moira pulled the blanket over her sons while Horano shot to his feet and pressed a palm flat to the uneven wall. On the second mattress, Bryce stirred, but didn’t come out of his transformation sleep. Neither did Chase.

A booming roll rocked the cavern. Horano rushed across the space, using his body to protect her and the children. Pieces of the ceiling and walls crumbled around them, plinking against the pillow, the blanket.

“Protect Bryce. I’ve got the boys,” Moira urged, voice raised over the rumble.

“Nay.” He shifted and cast his arm behind him. Streams of gauzy gray light pulsed from his fingertips, creating a protective bubble around the sleeping Bryce. Once complete, Horano turned his truth-hardened gaze to her. “My promise is to you. Until I know what is happening around us, you’re my priority.”

“Can you tell me where we are? What might be causing this?”

Horano grimaced when a chunk of rock bounced off the back of his head. “Bloody hell.” He flicked his hand, expanding the bubble from Bryce to protect them as well. He sat on his heels and removed a shard of black crystal from inside his vest. The single ring on his finger glowed in recognition of a powerful stone. “The key in and out.”

He lifted his head, his eyes ablaze with determination even as the cavern crumbled around them. The ground shook and quivered, the walls and ceiling cracked and chipped. Small pieces of rock and larger chunks slid down the magical dome’s sides.

Moira scrambled up, ignoring the slight ache in her belly, and gathered Terrek and Chase close to her. Chase groaned, but remained in a steadfast sleep. Terrek stirred, face scrunching right before he released a wail.

“How long can your magic hold? Long enough for Bryce and Chase to wake?”

Horano scowled and shook his head. “I don’t know.” He waved a hand to the dome. “I don’t know if ’tis a trap, a means of luring you out of hiding. Or if ’tis real.”

“There’s no way to check, is there?” Moira motioned with a tip of her head toward the black crystal. “One way or another, if this cavern continues to crumble like this, we’ll have to leave.”

“I know.”

Horano rolled the crystal between his fingers, casting his gaze away from Moira.

The walls shuddered, a large crack forming overhead. Chunks of rock pattered down the sides of the dome. Ripples of gray moved over the invisible shield as the cavern challenged the magical barrier. Terrek howled, his cries unsettling.

The first piece of debris trickled through the shield.

Horano’s head jerked up.

Moira stilled. The fierceness in the man’s expression, the ethereal glow of his eyes, the sharp edges of his face that exuded a lethal warning, stabbed a shock of fright into her soul. Horano, her brotherly Fae friend whose impeccable control and poise, whose calm and angelic appearance shattered around this new mask of virile warrior.

“No place is safe as long as she lives.” His words resonated through her marrow, a haunting curse she understood all too well. The shadow of their past hovered overhead, a relentless threat that would never cease.

When another, larger, piece of rock tumbled through the widening hole in the barrier, Horano lunged for Bryce and dragged his limp body to Moira’s pad. He slung an arm around Moira, pulling her tight to his side, hand splayed over the back of her head, and barked words in ancient Gaelic.

The scent of mineral dust and moisture faded, as did the persistent rumble of the cavern as the walls crumbled. She coughed as particles of dust floated around her nose and quickly covered Terrek’s wailing mouth so he wouldn’t choke. Chase slid down to her lap as her arm loosened around him, but Horano gathered him up as he released his death hold on her.