The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (33 page)

“How you ask?” anger
forced tears to well in her eyes as she berated
him
.
“Your
precious o’Conaills convinced my parents when I was thirteen to
give me to Nemetona. While you were off on various adventures with
the o’Conaill brothers, I was sold to a goddess for more powers.
Oh? Where you ask? I have been here for the last five years. My
only saving grace was
that
Nemetona allowed my brothers to come with
me.”

Eoghan, finally stable on his feet,
slowly walked towards Haley. The angry tears dripping down her
cheeks pulled at his heart as each droplet splashed against the
floor.

“
You left me, Eoghan. You
were my betrothed. Our parents,
the
leaders of two tribes, promised us to each other.
We were meant to form the largest Celtic tribe known in history,
but you let them sell me.” Haley sobbed into her
hands
,
her words
muffled as she cried
.
“You were supposed to protect me
;
but your only cares were for war
and your precious Etruscan Princess.”

Eoghan rushed forward and
wrapped his arms around her. “I am so sorry,
Haley
.
I never
meant for any of this to happen to you. I did love you, I swear. I
was ready to wed.” He kissed the top of her head.

Haley pushed Eoghan back
and wiped her eyes. “Love me? If you loved me, you would not have
left when I begged you to stay. You had a choice,
Eoghan…
and
you
didn’t choose me.”

Haley walked to her bed where a
bedside table held a gold bowl filled with water. She grabbed the
bowl and walked back to Eoghan.

“
I assume you want to see
where Breanna and your clan members are now. I also assume you know
how to use this
.”
She slammed the bowl down on the square, wooden table next to
him, spilling water onto the floor.

“No, not right now,”
he
said, pushing
the bowl away
as he
remembered
how angry Bre was the last time
he saw her. Resentment brought a bitter taste to his
mouth
,
but he was
angry with Bre for not controlling her temper.

Haley turned
around
,
surprised
by his answer.

“Your sweet Breanna must
be worried sick about you,” she answered coldly, hoping to
hurt
him.

“Stop it, Haley. I did not mean for
you to have this life. I did not persuade your parents to give you
to Nemetona,” Eoghan said, staring sternly at Haley.

“I believe you mean to say sell me!
They sold me, Eoghan. They sold me to gain more power,” Haley
shouted and threw her arms up in the air. She began rambling in
Gaelic and fiddling with various objects on the bedside
table.

Nauseating turmoil
replaced Eoghan’s bitter resentment. Since they met as children,
Eoghan had always been protective of Haley. He let her down when he
chose to leave and he could never make it up to her. In one
fluid
motion, he crossed
the room and grabbed Haley quicker than she thought possible.
Quicker than what she prepared for. One hand wrapped around her
lower back and the other released her hair from the silver dagger.
She tried to protest, but was silenced by his warm lips on her
own.

When Eoghan released
Haley, he smiled, pleased
that
he stopped her pain
-
filled rambling. From
outside
,
they
heard Druantia’s giggles accompanied by grunts from Haley’s
brothers
.

A
shiver ran through Eoghan’s body. “Disgusting! And she
expects me to be with her?”

“How do you think I feel?
Those are my brothers in there with
her
.” Haley said with a curled
lip
, revolted.
She clapped her hands and the room fell silent.

“Well done, Hale! A
silencing spell. I have not performed one of those in years
annnd
you did it without
uttering a word. You are an accomplished Druidess. I am proud to
know you and call you my friend.” Eoghan warmly
smiled
.
He meant
every praise he gave Haley.

Haley blushed and hid her
face behind her hair, but her stomach sank
.

“
Friend,” Haley breathed
heavily and walked to her bed.

Eoghan bit his tongue,
flung his head back and stared absently at the ceiling. He shook
his head
reprehensively
at his actions and poor choice of words. Haley
was a strong, beautiful warrior Druidess that feared nothing, but
somehow
he
always
managed to
hurt
her
. All he wanted to do was help
her and protect her from harm, but tonight
,
and
for
the last five
years
,
he was
that harm. Haley was right
.
He abandoned her
,
and that infuriated him more.

As she lay down on her
heather bed, she rolled over and faced the
wooden
wall. She pulled a wool
blanket over her shoulder and curled into its
protective
warmth.

“Goodnight, Eoghan. We
have a lot to figure out in the morning. Get some rest.” She
snapped her fingers and the lights extinguished
,
leaving nothing but moonlight to
illuminate the room
.

Eoghan looked from his bed
to Haley’s
.
He
headed towards his own
,
but stopped. His mind
urged
him towards the safety and
respectfulness of his bed
,
but every nerve in his body screamed to turn
around. Whether it was the presence of the fertility goddess or his
own desire, he sat down on Haley’s bed, leaning his back against
Haley.

She held her breath, too scared to
talk. All she ever wanted was Eoghan, but their life together was
stripped from her years ago. Eoghan’s warmth flowed into her as he
lay down next to her, squeezing his legs behind hers. He fit her
like a key.

Nerves made butterflies zoom in her
stomach and her mouth dry, but she cleared her throat and said with
a cracking voice, “You realize that when we both turned eighteen we
were to be wed, right?”

“You turned eighteen last
month,” Eoghan whispered in her ear
.
“Happy birthday, Hale.” He kissed
her neck lightly.

Haley’s
breath was
bated as her
heart pounded. She found his hand and intertwined their fingers.
Eoghan moved his arm to wrap around her waist. He flexed his muscle
and slid Haley closer to him.
His
breath fell on Haley’s ear, sending an electric
shiver through her body. He smiled
,
watching her body betray
her as
she
tried to hide her desire
.

Haley did not have to
see
it to know
the smile on his face. She never forgot how he looked, acted,
smelled; it
was
seared into her memory.

“
It is only Druantia’s
presence in the camp making you feel so
…”
She cleared her throat
uncomfortably, “friendly.”

“I don’t think it’s only me feeling
this,” Eoghan whispered, inching closer.

“No, it’s the whole camp.
The last time Druantia was here
,
ten babies were born nine months
later
,
and the
time before that there was…”

Eoghan abruptly rolled her
over and cut her off with a passionate kiss
.
This time
, she relaxed
and
enjoyed
his
aggressiveness.

As the night passed, few people in the
nemeton slept.

Chapter 26

The Daughter of
Death

B
reanna and her group rode through the night. Every horse
exhausted, except Whisper, who now the lead group.

“Brian
,
we need to rest the animals,”
Alina shouted as she patted
Lightning’s
sweaty neck as the sun
rose over the hills.

“I know
,
but this territory isn’t safe.
Germanic tribes have invaded here. They will not think twice about
slitting our throats while we rest,” Brian called back.

“That’s a comforting
image,” Leo shouted
,
to no one in particular, rubbing his throat with his
rein-free hand.

“
Exactly, now keep
riding,” Brian said, urging his horse forward. The horse decided
otherwise and slowed down
,
no matter how hard Brian kicked and whipped its
haunches.

“I guess we’re resting
then,” Cole commented as his own horse slowed to
a
walk.

Whisper
whinnied in aggravation and pranced restlessly
around the tired steeds.

“Easy,
boy
.
I know you
want to keep going. We will get there in time. Let’s rest for now,”
Breanna said, steadying her horse.

We are running out of
time, Your Majesty
.
By the week’s end, the ceremony will take place and Eoghan
will be lost to us forever
, Whisper said
psychically.

“I know
,
but we don’t have a choice. The
other horses don’t compare to your strength
.”
Bre
hopped
down and pulled out some high
grass to feed him.

Speak for yourself,
Queeny!
Magic’s voice appeared in her
head.

“Sorry, Magic.” Bre smirked as
Lysandros walked Magic past her and he playfully waved his tail in
her face.

“Breanna! Come here,” Alina called out
in tone only a frightened mother could produce. Her eyes widened in
panic as she extended a hand to clutch her daughter.

Before Breanna could react, a hand
wrapped around her throat and cut off her air supply. Another arm
wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground. The man who
held her spoke with a thick accent in a language she had never
heard. The terrified faces of her group did not invoke any
confidence in her situation.

The man barked
orders
,
but no
one understood him. In his frustration, he squeezed Bre’s throat
tighter. Bre tried to use her powers. She summoned them to her
chest, but they slipped away like sand through her fingers from the
lack of oxygen.

Clover and Aurora growled
and paced back and forth, watching the
mysterious,
angry man. They dared
not do anything while he had such a tight grasp on Bre.

Bre, you need to channel
into his mind and allow us to understand him
, Cole hurriedly said in Bre’s mind.

Bre faintly
replied,
I…Don’t…Think… I
can
.

You have to try. We need
to know what he wants in order to release you
, Cole urged, panic making his voice
quiver
.
Search
his mind for words and focus on them. The more your mind mulls over
the words the more it will crave a translation and your powers will
translate it for you. Once you understand him, the three of us
will.

Bre’s body weakened as her
captor continued yelling in
his
strange language, but Cole was
right
.
They
needed her
.
Eoghan needed her. She mustered all the strength she had and
searched his mind for the words he was saying. Black spots clouded
her vision and suddenly the world seemed to spin around her.
Despite slowly dying of suffocation, the man’s words reverberated
into her chest until finally
,
her fleeting strength yearned to understand the
reason behind him strangling her. Her powers washed
over
her mind as the
strange terms reformed into words she recognized
. They were
fragments
,
but comprehensible:
brothers,
murder, and money
.

I don’t think I have the
strength to send the translation to everyone
, replied Bre, the tone of her voice barely a
whisper.

Don’t worry about that. We
will take care of you. I know you don’t know us well, but you need
to trust us,
pleaded Cole. His fierce
protectiveness gave Breanna a little more strength
not to succumb to
the
darkness
her
dwindling airflow
produced
.