Page 23

CHAPTER 23

“ A re you all right, love?”

Fionola shrugged a shoulder, unsure what to say. Noah had taken it upon himself to hand her off to another, and she hated that he’d done it as a male relation of old would, handing off his unwanted spinster sister. She also hated that it was so easy for him to walk away. But how did she tell that to the man she was currently with? How did one admit to mourning another relationship they didn’t really want anymore?

With a tired-sounding sigh, Patrick led her to a bench and urged her to sit beside him. “I’ve spent too many hours inside my head, wondering what I might’ve done differently to make Rose not behave as she had or to make other lovers stay,” he said. “Noah left you because he believed you wanted me. But if that’s not the case, Fi, you should go after him.”

“It is the case, but I’m not happy with the way he...” She shook her head, grateful for Patrick’s willingness to listen and understand, yet unable to voice what was in her heart. “Do you think it’s possible to love more than one person at a time?” she asked hoarsely, knowing it might insult him, but needing to be open and real.

He seemed to consider the question for a time as he gazed out over the landscape. Finally, he nodded. “I do. Why else can we love more than one child? More than one sibling or parent?” His smile was tender as he looked at her. “To varying degrees, we can love many people at once, but it’s acting on the urges attached to those feelings that creates a problem. I’m not interested in a relationship with a woman who doesn’t want me or who wants others in addition to what I can give her.”

He released her hand and stood. “I’m a one-woman man hoping for a one-man woman. Think longer on what you want and give me your answer when you’re ready, yeah?”

Before he could turn away, she grabbed his wrist, rising beside him. “You already have my answer, Paddy O. I wouldn’t be here in this garden if I didn’t want you, and you alone.” She stroked his cheek and smiled. “When you were in the throes of healing, Noah tried to comfort me, and all I could think was that any touch that wasn’t yours was unpleasant.”

“But you love him, yeah?”

“I do, but what I feel for you is different. Deeper somehow.” She frowned, knowing she was making a haymes of things. “I’ve fallen for you, Patrick O’Malley. I don’t want another, but I also don’t want to be forgotten and pushed aside so easily.”

He laughed, and when she scowled, he cradled her face in his hands. Leaning in, he kissed her. As he drew away, his grin was broad and his eyes twinkled. “Noah didn’t put you aside easily, love. That was a tortured man, and only you couldn’t see it. To the rest of us, his suffering was plain and his pain great. He won’t be forgetting you, Fionola Bohannon. You’re not the type of woman a man can dismiss from his mind without a lobotomy.”

Tears filled her eyes, her throat closed, and her sinus passages burned with the need to cry again. Shaking her head, she swallowed down her emotional reaction. “How is it you always know how to say the perfect thing to make me feel better?”

“Maybe it’s because, like Noah said, the Goddess planned for us to be together.” Stroking his thumbs along her cheekbones, he nodded. “I think he must be right. How else can you be so perfect for me? How else can you embody all the exemplary traits to feed my starved soul? With you, I want to be a better man.”

“You’re already a good man.” Rising on tiptoe, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against the corded muscles along his throat. She inhaled deeply, registering that he smelled of salty ocean breezes after a storm, when the sand had been washed clean. Her favorite scent. Smiling, she pressed her lips to his warm skin. “I think you’re both right. I’ll be thanking Anu when my time comes to stand before her.”

“That might be sooner than you think,” he murmured, drawing back and pointing to the terrace. “She’s just there, with Ronan O’Connor.”

Fi’s jaw dropped. Never in her life had she met a deity, though she’d heard stories of them paying special attention to their favorite witches. She always assumed she’d never gain their favor.

“Sure, and I don’t know what to say or how to behave,” she confessed as Patrick led her toward the steps.

“Like she’s royalty. Curtsy and bow your head until she gives you leave to look at her,” he murmured as they approached Anu.

The Goddess was tiny, no more than five-one or two, with a build that put an hourglass to shame. Thick auburn hair, leaning toward ruby, fell freely down the entire length of her back in a plethora of corkscrew curls. Pale, alabaster skin was porcelain smooth and set off by plump lips of the deepest scarlet. The overall effect was of a stunningly beautiful yet earthy woman.

Having never curtsied a day in her life, Fi felt off balance as she attempted it. The Goddess took pity on her with a hand on her elbow, and the surge of power running through her body was like eight shots of espresso along with five energy drinks all at once. Her cells seemed to vibrate at a higher frequency, and she’d swear she saw rainbows with pots of gold and chortling leprechauns waving shillelaghs in the air.

“Wow! Your touch packs a punch,” Fi told her.

The Goddess smiled, revealing straight white teeth and perfectly symmetrical dimples. She was thoroughly charming.

“Those with lesser magic feel it the most,” Anu told her. “The effects will wear off soon enough.”

“My Queen,” Patrick intoned with a deep bow. “To what do we owe this visit?”

“You and I need to have a conversation, Patrick O’Malley.”

She didn’t sound remotely pleased, and Fi’s heart started a painful hammering.

Ronan didn’t appear surprised, but then, he never had in the short time since Fi met him. The man was a virtual giant next to the petite deity, and his protective stance cemented the fact the Fates had chosen correctly to bestow him with the powers they had.

“Shall we walk?” Patrick suggested, holding his arm out for Anu to take.

Fi started to fall in behind them, but the Goddess held up a hand. “It’s privacy we’re needing, Fionola Bohannon. I’ll bring him back to you in due course.”

After the two of them cleared the terrace, Fi turned and looked up at Ronan. “Why is she here?”

“Patrick O’Malley disobeyed her orders, and she intends to take him to task.”

Her heart plummeted to the ground, and the desire to run after Patrick was overwhelming. As if sensing this, Ronan stepped in her path.

“Don’t interfere, Fi. Trust the process.”

His eyes had changed from their standard sterling gray to a pale silver glow, as if he were utilizing magic in some form. A calmness settled over her, and the urge to follow and defend Patrick bled away.

“Okay,” she said obediently, frowning at how her will seemed to have a mind of its own.

A small smile curled Ronan’s mouth. “You’ll thank me later.”

“Doubtful.”

“You failed,” Anu said, and the displeasure in her tone caused his stomach to tighten.

“Aye.”

Patrick had fucked up. There were no two ways about it. He’d been tasked with healing Loman’s victims, and instead, he’d created more turmoil. He waited for her to do her worst, but she continued to stroll down the path as if they had all day.

“Punishment must be doled out, of course,” the Goddess said, her tone light and conversational, and at direct odds with her fearsome declaration a moment before.

“As expected.” He wanted to weep. It had taken him his entire life to find a woman like Fionola, and the chances were that his punishment would result in his death. Which meant he’d need to wait until his next lifetime and hope like hell they found each other first.

“What do you believe Ronan’s punishment should be, Patrick O’Malley?”

“Whatever you see fit to hand out, beloved. I’ll not venture a guess as to what you’ve got planned—wait! Ronan? ” He jerked to a halt and stared at Anu. “The man’s done nothing wrong.”

“I charged him with your welfare and seeing to it that you carried out your mission. He failed and must be punished,” she replied as if it were a forgone conclusion that the Guardian take his place for whatever she intended.

“No!”

Her dark auburn brows shot up, and her mouth compressed into a hard line, causing her dimples to wink at him. “You’re very daring, Patrick O’Malley.”

Jaysus! What the hell had he done? He’d gone and upset the Goddess with his impulsive reaction. There was no telling what a vexed deity would do to the annoying mortal who sassed them.

“What I meant to say was, if anyone is to be punished, it should be me, Exalted One. I’m a stubborn fecker and was like to never listen to an O’Connor. You set the man up for failure if you thought to have him watch over me.”

Green eyes narrowed, she cocked her head. “You believe I purposely played games with Ronan O’Connor’s life, knowing he’d fail at whatever task I assigned him? Is that what you’re saying?”

Her indignation caused Patrick’s sphincter to tighten and his bollocks to shrivel.

Fuck!

Even on a good day, he was terrible with words. And today wasn’t a good day. It was worsening by the minute. He did the only thing he could and dropped on one knee to plead for the other man’s life.

“I’m after begging you to take pity on Ronan. I’m the eejit here.” He bowed his head in deference to her authority. “He’s been a blessing to the O’Malley clan”—and here Patrick tried not to choke at having to defend his enemy’s son—“and the Aether.”

After what felt like a lifetime, she said, “Rise, my child.”

With a resigned sigh, he did. Her eyes were dancing with mischief, and a pleased smile flitted about her mouth, causing the dimples to dance in her cheeks.

“You please me. Ronan is a favorite of mine, as are your family members. I’m happy to see you willing to work together as you move forward.” The gold bracelet on her wrist lit as she lifted her arm, and the ogham etchings flared with a blinding white light. When she touched his cheek, he felt the zing all the way to the soles of his feet. “There will be no trial, beloved. It will be known that you’ve gained my favor and that the Aether has restored your mind.”

“I’m free of judgment for my crimes?” Positive he was dreaming, he blinked and surreptitiously pinched the skin of his forearm. Many times, when he wasn’t certain if he was lost to memories or in a real moment, he’d injure himself in some small way. The pain always woke him to the truth.

“From the Witches’ Council, yes. Restitution is still yours to make should you choose.”

“How?”

Anu looked toward the terrace. “Give her up and become my consort. You’ll be given untold powers. During this time, you’re to visit each of Loman’s victims and restore what they lost to him.”

“Give up Fionola?” Every bit of air escaped his lungs and refused to be recaptured. All he could do was gasp. The weight of doing what was right versus what he desired was crushing. How did he let her go after it took so long to find her? He’d waited a bleeding lifetime.

“I don’t think I can,” he croaked.

Yet he’d been prepared to when he believed she loved Noah. Could he do it if she forgot he existed, knowing she was safe and happy with another? Dare he request that of Anu? Considering it was destroying his will to live, and he longed for the shadowy corner of a cell so he didn’t have to think.

“The choice is yours,” Anu told him with a caress of his cheek. “You’ll have until midday two days hence to let me know your answer.”

In a burst of twinkling lights, she was gone, leaving him to wrap his freshly healed mind around what must be done.

Restitution .

That fucking ugly word.