Page 31
FOUR MONTHS LATER…
“Do you still have reservations?” Ardghal asked.
Taryn’s full-length mirror displayed him in all his finery, and she inhaled sharply.
“Ari, you need a warning label.”
He grinned as he approached, his hot eyes raking the length of her. “I’m not half as dangerous as you, love.”
“Pfft. I bet you say that to all the girls at the pub.”
His expression sobered, and his smile turned bittersweet. “Fintan is a lucky bastard.”
“I’m the lucky one.” She smoothed a hand down his shirt, straightening the buttons. “To earn the love of two good men. Once as Elizabeth and again as me.”
“You’ve always been easy to love, Taryn,” he assured her. “Fintan is hopelessly smitten.”
“So am I,” she said with a soft smile.
“Here. I’ve brought you something old for your human-wedding tradition.”
Staring down at the velvet box, her heart tripped. Without needing to open it, she knew what it contained. “Those jewels were a gift from your father to your mother, Ari. I can’t take such priceless items.”
“Mother has long since returned to the sea, love, and she gave them to you—uh, Elizabeth— on our wedding day. They were meant for a woman in love.”
Flipping open the lid, she sucked in a breath. There was a king’s ransom in emeralds and diamonds, but the setting was all new.
“Dude,” she whispered. “If your mother were here, she’d kill you for doing that.”
He chuckled. “Both pieces are charmed and will change shape to suit the woman whose neck and wrist they adorn.”
“I’d forgotten that little party trick.”
He grinned as he handed her the box. After removing the necklace, he held it up before her.
“May I?”
Facing the mirror, she met his admiring gaze and became overly warm. “You’ve got to stop looking at me like that, Ari. Fintan’s, remember?”
“How can I forget? You take every opportunity to remind me,” he replied dryly. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to her ear. “Would you like one last?—”
Spinning around, she clamped her hand over his mouth.
“Don’t you dare!”
His eyes crinkled with laughter, and with sudden clarity, she recalled the first time he’d laughed at Elizabeth. For a moment, their gazes locked, and her heart ached for their loss.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t a better wife to you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t a better husband,” he said huskily. With a tender kiss on her forehead, he cleared his throat. “Fintan will make up for my wrongs. He’s not nearly as arrogant.”
Taryn let that one slide.
“Do you think it’s possible to love two men?” she whispered.
“No.”
“Oh.” It depressed her to think she wasn’t normal, that perhaps she was sabotaging her relationship with Fintan by caring for Ardghal, too.
He tapped her nose. “We’re the same man, love, meaning you love only me.”
“Fintan,” she corrected. “And someday, I’m going to need a further explanation of how the two of you can exist at the same time if you’re the same soul.”
“Yes, well, as soon as I channel my inner genius and work it out, you’ll be the first to know.”
She pressed her palm to his chiseled jaw. “Thank you for everything, darling Ari.”
As she gathered her train, a stray thought implanted itself in her brain and began to grow wildly out of control.
Taryn paused in the doorway. “Ari?”
“Yes, love?” Amusement shone from his bright eyes as he patiently held the door for her.
“Do you already know what I’m going to ask?”
“I suspect, but please, voice your question.”
After a warning glare, which made him grin, Taryn sighed. “If you and Fintan can split off, what’s to stop Elizabeth and me from splitting off? Is there a second chance for you crazy kids to get it right?”
“And if I had the answer, you might not be wearing those jewels, Taryn.” He winked and ushered her down the hallway. “Don’t keep Fintan waiting. I can’t take another broken nose. The first one hurt like a right proper bastard.”
“Do you still have your psychic ability? Like Fintan?”
“Yes, but like him, it’s sporadic and ever changing. It will be there when it’s important.”
“Why did no one see Odessa stab me? I’d like to have avoided that incident.”
When he remained quiet in the face of her question, Taryn stopped short. “You knew ? And you let me die anyway?”
“Don’t scrunch your nose at me. I’d always planned to revive you.”
“Every time I feel bad for you, shit like this pops up.”
He laughed as he swept her, cradling her in his arms. “Stop stalling. I’m not dealing with Fintan’s wrath.”
“I’m afraid,” she admitted, staring into his understanding eyes. “Love always goes wrong for me.”
“Not this time, aoibhneas mo croí ,” Fintan said from the landing below them. “I’ll make sure of it.”
As she looked down at him, calm descended, sweeping away the shadow of broken dreams she had lived in for so long.
His eyes locked on her necklace and matching bracelet. “I’d wondered where they’d gone. I’ve spent the last twenty minutes searchin’ for the feckin’ set.”
“Ari beat you to it. Something old.”
A wry smile curled Fintan’s mouth, and he bounded up the steps two at a time to relieve Ardghal of his burden.
“I’ve written you a song for the new,” he said. “We just need somethin’ borrowed and blue.”
“The sky over the garden is as blue as I’ve ever seen,” Creed said as he joined them.
“And Brenna has your something borrowed downstairs, sugar,” Narissa added.
Just as she settled into Fintan’s embrace, she gasped and stiffened.
“What?” There was a thread of panic in his voice, indicating he wasn’t as cool and collected as he pretended.
“You saw me in my gown before the ceremony!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Ya almost gave me a feckin’ heart attack over a bleedin’ superstition.”
“It’s bad luck,” she moaned.
Ardghal huffed a laugh. “You’re safe. That silly superstition stemmed from arranged marriages. Not love matches.”
“Really? Why?”
“It might create doubts about a match, especially for the groom if he didn’t find his bride-to-be beautiful enough. To allay doubts and keep the marriage on track, men were discouraged from seeing their future wives before the nuptials.”
“A superstition born of practicality and not real.” Fintan grinned. “And you have two Seers here, Taryn-Taryn. We’ll be on the lookout for problems.”
“I know I will,” Ardghal said with a devilish smile for the double meaning.
“Aye, and I’ve no problem plantin’ you another facer, ya feck.”
“Come on, sugar.” Tucking her arm through Ardghal’s, Narissa led him away. “Taryn will be upset if the two of you come to blows.”
Creed checked his watch. “I’ll buy you five more minutes with the crowd downstairs, but then I’m sending up Damian.”
“You’re the best of friends, man.”
“Us boy-band members need to stick together,” he said. His evil laugh drowned out Fintan’s curse.
When they were alone, Fintan gave her an amused look. “Sure, and you put him up to that, didn’t ya?”
“No, but I don’t hate that he said it,” she replied with a giggle.
“I’ve a powerful need to snog ya when ya look at me that way, Taryn-Taryn.”
“Mm, and I’ve a powerful need to let you,” she purred. “But if we get started, we’ll be late, and Bridget is catering this event. You know how she gets.”
“Feck.”
“Exactly.”
A wicked gleam entered his sparkling sea-green eyes. “I’m after takin’ me chances.”
“I was hoping you were. And that maybe you were up for a five-note song, while you’re at it.”
* * *
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