17
Only a few hours passed before Bres roused me. I sat up with a groan and he dropped a jar into my hands. “Rub ta poultice in good. Your wounds aren’t healed up yet, they were too deep to heal this fast, but we are running out of time.” He was all business.
I dropped my chin to my chest and slowly rubbed the poultice in. My head throbbed, but my body did feel remarkably good—only a dull ache, for the most part. I watched Bres from the corner of my eye as he gathered his things. I wanted him, more than anything, but my priority was Ashling and Mom. That hadn’t changed. There was no time for a romp in the sack, no matter how luscious he was. I would deal with my treacherous emotions later, when lives weren’t on the line.
Wearing only pants; I stood with one arm across my br**sts. My shirt was shredded and saturated with blood in a pile off to the side along with my bra. “Bres, I need something to wear on top.”
He had his back to me as he stood by the pit. Not bothering to turn around he said, “There are clothes to ta left of the bed. Take your pick.” More than bitter, his voice had a hollow sound to it. Like I’d hurt him. Should I apologize?
I found the pile of discarded clothes and pulled out the smallest shirt in the pile. It was bloodied and had a few gashes in it, but it would do. I glanced back at Bres, who hadn’t moved. Taking the largest, cleanest shirt, I used my knife to cut it into swaths. I could use it to wrap my upper body, covering the wounds. A shirt over top and voila, ready to go.
“Let me help you,” Bres said, coming up beside me.
I handed him the swath of material, took a shallow breath and lifted my arms up over my head, baring myself completely. Bres wrapped my wounds, starting at my waist and working his way upwards, his eyes never lingering on any one spot. I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or not.
“I should have known you’d be faithful to him,” Bres said, his hands working deftly, but not touching my skin at all.
I frowned and put my hand on his, stopping him. “What are you talking about?”
Bres looked down at me, his eyebrows drawn tight, and his fingers quiet under mine. “Luke of course. I should have known you’d be faithful to him.”
I said nothing, just stared at the far wall. I wasn’t feeling particularly faithful at the moment. Right then all I wanted to do was burrow back into the bed with Bres, and pretend that I hadn’t met Luke.
Bres shook his head and started to wrap again. “No, ta two of you are meant for each other. Prophecies are never wrong Quinn. Though I’ve often wished they were, have fought them my whole life, they always turn out exactly as they say they will. Forgive me for tempting you.”
Again I stopped him. “You just said that destiny is crap, now you’re telling me it can’t be changed? And nowhere did it say Luke and Quinn, XOXO.” Though even as I said that I could feel something settle around me, like a chain around my heart.
He nodded. “I can see it in your face. You know he’s meant for you too. Damn.” He shook his head.
I licked my lips. “Ashling told me the prophecy.” I repeated it back to him, he nodded.
“That be the one.”
“But, it’s not plain English,” I said. “The prophecy doesn’t say ‘point A here, then to point B by characters C and D.’”
Bres finished wrapping me up like a mummy and tied off the tail end of it, his fingers lingering on my collarbone. With a sigh he removed his hand from my skin and took a step back.
“Ta basics of it is that you will cut down evil, bring all ta realms into a single one and that you and Luke are meant to be. Ta end.” He bent and picked up a shirt, slipping it over his head.
I frowned. “Are you sure? Because as far as I can tell, I’m not much for being this chosen person. No one listens to me—I can’t even rescue my own sister without being pushed out of a helicopter.”
“Dragged.”
“Whatever.” I let out a sigh, immediately regretting it when pain followed.
“Prophecies can’t be bargained with Quinn,” he said, then let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh what the hell.” Then he grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me.
I froze at first, then slowly wrapped my arms around him with a groan, his tongue and lips lighting a fire in my blood that made my heart pound and my body ache. I pressed my body against him, very slowly pulling my lips from his, just far enough so that I could speak.
“What was that about a prophecy?” I asked.
The corners of his lips lifted as he seemed to hold back a grin. “Prophecy be damned.”
I nodded and kissed him lightly. “That’s what I thought too. Besides, if I meant anything at all to Luke, wouldn’t he be here trying to save me?”
Bres snorted. “He is the Shining One. He can’t come to the kingdom of the Fomorii; it would be a death sentence. So even for you he wouldn’t come here. Besides that, ta Council forbid him.”
That was not far off what Cora had said, that the Council didn’t know that Luke had come for me. I brushed a lock of his dark hair off his face, thinking of all the paths ahead of me. “What a mess this is.”
He unwrapped himself from around me. “We’ll figure this out once we get out of here. If we get out of here.” He lifted my hand and kissed the back of it, heat trailing along with his lips.
No more was said as we left the chamber, holding hands. I didn’t want to be separated from him but I didn’t think I could have him and Luke too. Luke—he was waiting for me and here I was hanging onto Bres like a love-struck school girl. I barely knew either of them really, I was just letting my hormones get the better of me. Stupid, I was being stupid.
I let go of his hand and stared straight ahead, my fingers cooling without the heat of his skin against mine. Whether I believed the prophecy or not wasn’t in question. The ties between me and Luke were there and I would be a fool to let Bres, Balor’s son, come between us.
“What’s wrong?” Bres asked. He tried to take my hand again, but I pulled away.
“I can’t. Please don’t ask me to. I wasn’t with it enough before to push you away,” I said.
“So that’s how it’s to be is it?” His voice seemed hollow; I refused to look at him, instead keeping my eyes forward.
“Yes, that’s how it’s going to be.” I knew I was doing the right thing; being faithful to Luke was the right thing…
Though I wished with all my heart it wasn’t.
18
We’d been walking for hours. my body ached from head to toe. Fatigue—even after the rest I’d had—settling on my shoulders, a weight I couldn’t get rid of.
Any noise we made as we walked rebounded back to us, making it seem at times as if the Labyrinth was crawling with other creatures. But in truth it remained silent. When I asked Bres about it he shrugged, shook his head and wouldn’t answer.
Bres had a glow ball—at least that’s what he called it—the baseball of fire I’d seen him conjure several times, that floated in front of us, lighting our way.
“Will you show me how to do that now?” I asked, putting my hand out to touch the orb. It was warm, smooth like glass and very pretty, not to mention a godsend in this darkness.
“You just have to focus on what you want to make.”
I stretched my hand out again and thought of a glow ball; I wanted mine to be filled with blue fire. I stared at the open space above my fingers, imagined the ball, the blue fire within it. Nothing happened.
“I’m not as good at this perhaps as the prophecy thought?” I snorted. “I think they’ve got the wrong girl.”
“You have to will it into existence,” Bres offered. “There is no other way for me to explain it, I’m not much of a teacher. And just because you didn’t do it ta first time, doesn’t mean you can’t do it at all.” He grabbed my hands and pushed them together, the heat between us flaring instantly. I tried to ignore it; Bres didn’t even seem to notice. That was good.
“Use them both, cup them around the area you want to create ta ball. It will be easier that way,” he said.
I took a shallow breath and held it, forcing all my concentration on my hands and the space between them. Something shifted inside me, like a light switch turning on.
With a soft pop a glow ball appeared over my hand, blue fire trembling within it.
“Cool,” I said. He nodded and took the lead again. My little blue fire ball winked ahead of us, bobbing along beside his.
“I thought that the Labyrinth was supposed to be deadly?” I asked as we walked down yet another empty tunnel.
Bres nodded. “It is; normally it would be full of traps and twisted Fomorii. I don’t understand this. It’s like they’ve been evacuated. Balor keeps his strongest Fomorii here, to kill invaders.”
A chill rippled through me. His strongest were usually here but now they were gone and in their place a Barrier was up, meant to keep the Tuatha out. I had a feeling they weren’t evacuated—they were killed in the name of Balor’s cause. I opened my mouth to test my theory on Bres.
A deep rumble beneath us set the floor to heaving, the earthquake shaking the foundations of the underwater cave system. We were thrown to the floor; the glow balls went out and we were plunged back into the black of the tunnels. I gasped as the largest claw wound opened back up, blood soaking through my shirt. Damn, I hadn’t healed as much as I’d thought after all. The rolling motion slowed, then stopped altogether.
In a matter of seconds, Bres had his glow ball back up.
“Quinn.”
My head came around slowly, my ears straining; I thought I’d heard someone calling my name—and not just anyone. Ashling.
I turned to Bres. “Did you hear that?” I asked.
He nodded, lifting his finger to his lips and dousing the glowing fire ball that bobbed in front of us.
“Ash?” I whispered.
A new light flared in front of us and I covered my eyes. As they readjusted to the bright light I could see her standing there. I reached my hand out, thinking she was indeed in the Labyrinth, but it passed right through her. She was no longer in her wetsuit but wore a floor length sleeveless, burgundy dress that clung to every curve. I nodded. “How you are managing this?” I waved at her image.