Resistance (43 page)

“We’re sure Sean handled it?” I ask as I’m running my
hands along her sides in an attempt to calm her down.

She shakes her head and wraps her arms around her
middle, looking down. “Are we sure of anything Sean did or didn’t
do at this point?”

“Hey,” I say, tugging her arms away and leading her
to sit at the edge of the bed. I kneel down in front of her and
hold her hands in mine. “Don’t get upset. Maybe he has a
brother.”

She shakes her head. “Hugh had no family at all. He
wouldn’t tell us who he was working with, but we assumed it was the
Winter Court.” She sniffles and her eyes are rimmed with red.

“Maybe Lu knows something,” I offer, trying to lift
her spirits again. She looks so down and it’s driving me nuts. I
kiss her palm. “Look, don’t worry about him, okay? He’s not going
to get anywhere near you while I’m around.”

She looks at me and tries to smile, but it doesn’t
reach her eyes. She looks exhausted, and I link our fingers
together. “How about we lie down for a while, let you catch your
breath, and then we can go talk to Lu?”

She nods and I stand, gesturing for her to move over.
I am not even fully down beside her before she’s curling into my
chest and fisting my shirt in her hands. I rest my hands low on her
back and just let her relax and breathe for a while.

“I truly am sorry I lied to you,” she says after a
moment, sighing against my neck. “I really am.”

Hoping she didn’t feel my shiver over her mouth on my
collarbone, I shrug one shoulder and hum in response. “Wanna know
how you could make it up to me?”

Her head snaps up and she stares down at me,
curiosity overtaking her features. “How?”

“Kiss me.”

She pauses for a minute and then smacks my chest,
laughing. “You are such an ass sometimes.”

“Yeah, but it made you smile,” I reply and smirk up
at her. She huffs and shakes her head, but she ducks her head down
and presses her lips to mine. “You’re lucky I love you,” she
grumbles before dropping her head to my shoulder again, feigning
irritation.

“Believe me, love,” I reply. “I already know
that.”

Chapter 28—Eirnin

September 2102

As soon as Flint follows my sister from the room and
closes the door behind them, I haul Lumi back into my arms. I need
to feel that she’s here and alive. The absolute panic that flowed
through me the whole way back to the house is still wreaking havoc
on my insides. My heart is pounding and my legs are like rubber
from our frantic run. I am not ready to let her go yet, and I might
never be. My hands are shaking when Lu says, "Eir, you need to sit
down."

I pull back so I can look at her, surprised at the
concern in her voice. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

She blinks at me and I wonder if maybe I’m missing
something. It would be the first time I was oblivious to what’s
right in front of me, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. "I'm
right here, Eirnin, you don't have to be worried." She grabs my
much larger hand in both of hers and drags her bottom lip between
her teeth. "Please?"

I look down at her, see the concern on her face and
feel terrible that she’s worrying about me. “If it will make you
feel better, of course." I don’t know if there is anything I
wouldn’t do to comfort her. I sit down on her bed and keep a firm
grasp of one of her hands. It calms me down and reminds me that
she’s safe.

Her brow furrows a little and she sits down next to
me, clearly thinking I’m insane. "You, um...you wanna tell me why
you think I wouldn't be okay?"

I shake my head a little and try to unclutter my
brain. "We found a trap. Well, I had a vision and it led us to the
trap, and it was set for Flint." I pause to collect my thoughts; my
mind still frantic from the events of the day. "We were worried he
might have made a play for you too." I feel my whole body tense
just thinking about Sean getting anywhere near her.

"Okay." Lu pokes my chest until I lie down and then
sits back down by my waist. I can feel the stress and worry
radiating from her as she looks down at me; her midnight eyes wide.
"How about we focus on breathing for a little bit, okay? You're
scaring me."

I lay back to appease her. "I didn't mean to scare
you. I'm sorry. I was just worried I'd missed something and he'd
come here instead." I swallow past the fear still clogging my
throat. "I was terrified something had happened to you and we'd
left you here with no idea of what was going on.” I stop rambling
and do my best to staunch the anxiety still running through me.

She scrunches her adorable little nose at me and
smacks my arm. "Don't apologize to me." Then she smiles; leaning on
me a bit and making the room seem a whole lot warmer than it was.
"Flint sucks at poker, by the way."

I grin at her, surprised to find myself laughing. I
know she’s trying to change the subject and for now, I let her.
"Huh, I never figured Flint would suck at poker."

"Oh, yeah. Like," she shakes her head, "really bad.
The cards are not his friend." She places her hand on my chest and
watches my face intently. I wonder for a moment what thoughts are
running through her head, and then make myself snap out of it
before I make a bigger fool of myself.

Instead I capture her gaze with my own, reminding
myself that I can’t just lean in and kiss her, no matter how much
I’d like to. And I’d really, really like to. "Are you sure you're
not just really good?"

Her lips quirk up and the bottom drops out of my
stomach. She clears her throat and says, "Eh. Maybe." She pauses a
moment before adding, "Don't tell him I said that, though."

I grin and am enchanted by her all over again. "I'll
take it to the grave. Are you sure you're okay?"

She nods. "Positive." She narrows her eyes and tilts
her head a little, studying me. "If you don't mind my asking,
though — who did you think was coming after me?" She pauses and
then rushes on. "And what do you mean you had a vision?"

"Uh, sorry — it was Sean, of course. I knew he was up
to something." I swallow and look away from her, scared to confess
my ‘gift’. This is the moment of truth. Will she turn and run away
when she finds out I’m a freak? "Uh, a dream vision. I think Fi
told you about our Gran."

She reaches her hand up and brushes the hair out of
my face, looking distracted. "You're a seer?" She sounds amazed and
curious, not scared or disgusted, and I feel a weight leave my
chest.

I raise my eyes to hers. "Yes, and I seem to be a bit
of an empath, too. That's new, though," I tell her with a grin.

She blushes for some reason but tilts her head,
interested. "Well aren't you full of surprises?" She smiles; her
fingers still toying with my hair and making my brain fuzzy. "What
did Sean do?"

"I would have told you, but I'm just used to people
I’m close to already knowing,” I tell her; blushing at the way she
makes me feel just by running her fingers through my hair.

"It's okay," she says, still smiling in that very
cute way of hers.

“....and Sean set up an iron animal trap, trying to
get rid of Flint," I ramble on, dazzled by her smile.

"He went after Flint?" She scowls and then mutters,
"I hate him."

I nod in total agreement. "You should have seen Fi;
she was scary. Sean better hope he never sees her again.” I shudder
as I remember my sister’s reaction to the trap. “And I hate him,
too," I tell her honestly.

"He's not dead? How is he not dead?" she asks;
looking spooked, holding my gaze with her navy one. I see the fear
there, and when she puts her hand back on my chest I cover it with
my larger one.

"No, Fi had — we had — a plan, but he figured things
out somehow because he took off, which is why we were in a panic
thinking he'd come here for you guys."

She kneads her fingers against my chest and scoots a
bit closer; looking at our entwined hands and letting out a breath.
"Sean's not wrapped too tight, is he?"

I have to admit I’m slightly distracted by her hand
on my chest, just as I am every time she touches me in the most
innocent of ways. "No, I don't think he is. He's dangerous — I’ve
known he was dangerous for a while." I put my other hand on her
leg, trying to offer comfort. "We had no idea he would do something
like this, though."

She blushes suddenly, saying, "I'm sorry he's making
you go through this."

I wonder for a moment why she’s blushing but make
myself leave it alone. “It’s not your fault. I just can’t help but
think that maybe if I’d said something to Fi about him sooner we
could have avoided this.”

She stares at me for a minute and I see her eyes
narrow. "It's not your fault, either. At all."

I squeeze her leg. “Thank you for saying that, but I
can’t agree with you. I get these feelings for a reason, Lu, and I
know better than to ignore them.”

She shakes her head at me. "You had a feeling he was
a bad person, but you just said yourself that you never expected
he'd do something like this. His actions aren't your
responsibility."

I shake my head back at her, angry with myself for
behaving like a spoiled brat. “I knew something wasn’t right. I
know his actions aren’t my responsibility, but Fi not knowing what
I knew is.”

She bites her lip and looks at me closely, and I try
my best not to squirm under her scrutiny. "I think you're putting
way too much pressure on yourself."

"I was an ass, Lu. I was mad at Fi because she didn't
just blindly believe me like she used to, and I let that keep me
from doing what I should have," I tell her; feeling ashamed of my
petulance and non-action.

She huffs at me and I bite my lip to keep from
grinning at her. "Okay, tell me this, Wonder Boy." She stares into
my eyes and for the moment I decide to let the nickname slide;
losing my place in the conversation. "Did you sit in your room with
a feeling Sean would try and murder your sister’s beau, and go,
'You know, I'm gonna withhold this information out of spite'?"

I shake my head, still trying not to grin at her. “Of
course I didn’t, Lu, but I should have told her the moment I
started feeling so strongly about Sean. Instead I pussyfooted
around it and told myself I couldn’t hurt her like that.”

"You were trying to protect her from something
emotionally painful, Eir." She looks very serious for once and I
get the impression that she is about to impart something both
personal and painful. "It sucks to find out someone you trust is
using you, and as hard as it sounds, sometimes proof is the only
way for you to understand."

I take in the set of her jaw and the sincerity in her
midnight blue eyes and know she’s speaking from experience. I have
to remind myself to act normal, as much as I’d like to maim whoever
put the pain in her eyes. “You’re trying to make me feel better,
aren’t you?”

Her lips quirk up into a small smile. "Maybe."

“You are entirely too sweet for your own good, Lumi,”
I say with complete honesty.

"Nope. I just like you," she says with a shrug and a
grin, and I feel my face flood with color. I like her too, way too
much to let anyone ever hurt her if I can help it. I open my mouth
to tell her, hear a knock sound at her door and close it again. The
time just isn’t right…yet.

Chapter 29—Flint

August 2102

I don’t know how long Fi and I lay in bed, but it
only feels like minutes before she pops her head up and sighs. Some
dark wisps of hair stand wildly around her face and fall in front
of her eyes from her time against my shirt, but she seems too tired
to give even an ounce of a damn. “We should probably go check on
the kids,” I say gently, using her term for Eirnin and Lu. She
groans and hides her face in my chest again.