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Not worth it.

The large gravel-filled tanks underneath the town only held so much water. The windmills outside were starting to run dry as they pumped the last of the season’s rainfall into homes and businesses from the main water reserve.

The rustling of feathers had her turning to really look at the bird. Beautiful black feathers covered the small creature, and she noticed a small feather of silver on its chest, another unique marking compared to the birds in the illustrated books she’d skimmed through.

“The demon has been banished... for now,”the crow’s voice whispered into her mind as she preened. Her job as Bryn’s valiant knight defending her from the shadow man had been done and done well, obviously.

One imaginary creature taken down at a time.

“What do you mean ‘demon’?” she asked, wishing her voice was less tinny and fearful.

“Bryndis Kenneally. So much different than your other selves and no knowledge of your past at all. I am saddened by this.”The crow’s beady eyes looked her over.

“Sorry to ruin your day with my ignorance,” Bryn replied with a dry tone. The crow must have been eavesdropping for a while to know her full name.

“Apology accepted. We must remedy this of course. I cannot fight near as strong as I can when we are bonded.”

“That might be too much information or too little. I can’t decide.”

Shaking her feathered head, Cyerra hopped closer.

“The demons are from below, and one was here. I never trusted him, and that he follows you here worries me. You must talk to Danu and figure it out. Soon. We don’t have much longer.”

Without further explanation, the crow took flight and disappeared through the window.

Bryn followed the crow with her eyes, trying to form words. The crow had just flown through a window... that was closed.

Jace knocked impatiently on the door, and Bryn closed her open mouth, shaking the shock from her overwhelmed mind.

“We’ve got to go, Bryn!” his muffled voice ordered.

Standing, she riffled through the swirling thoughts in her mind. Obviously there was something happening in their tiny town, especially if Justin and Jace were rattled. Not much ever bothered them.

Of all the things to dream up and create in her own mind, it was a man made of shadows.

Bryn mindlessly zipped up her boring and bland brown skirt as she wondered how they committed people in her day and age. In the past, people went to places called hospitals and were given medication and therapy to work through their psychosis. Now she assumed she’d be too much of a burden and would be exiled to the desert. Or worse.

A crow feather floated in the air in front of her, lazily making its way back down to Bryn.

Reaching for it, a jolt of static electricity jumped from the feather to her finger, giving her a start as she grabbed it out of the air. The same jolt she’d felt with Niamh and Kessler.

Twirling it in the last of the sun’s light, she admired the darkness of it.

Well, there was no turning back midstream down shit’s creek.

It was time for Bryn to figure out what in the hell was going on.

Chapter 9

Brynsteppedoutsidenextto Jace into the dying sunlight, the heat still stifling enough to feel like she had stuck her face into the hearth.

If only they lived somewhere cold. The freezing season was her favorite time of the year, and while it was an extreme cold, it was tolerable for a few days to not have sweat make clothing and sand stick to skin, dripping into a person’s eyes as they tried to work.

Ifreann was a miserable place most of the time, but once the freezing season set in, Bryn had more freedom, another reason she loved that time of year.

The days were shorter with people staying in more, hating the cold just as she hated the heat.

Just more proof she didn’t belong here. She was supposed to be somewhere covered in snow and mountains, not plain, flat, and drab like Ifreann.