So when she came out of the forest with Bollocks at last, started to cross the ground still blood-soaked and scorched, and saw Marco standing beside the dragon with Brian, the weeping she’d held off burst free.
He rushed to her, folded her in, rocked, swayed, and just said her name over and over.
“You were supposed to stay at the cottage.” She pressed her face against his shoulder. “I told you to stay at the cottage.”
“Hey, you’re not the boss of me. Well, you sort of are, but not about everything. Not about taking care of my best girl.”
“You rode on a dragon.”
“Yeah, and that’s not something I want to do again anytime soon.”
“Ah now, you’ll learn to love it.” Brian clapped Marco on the shoulder as he kissed the top of Breen’s head. “He wouldn’t stay behind, and if I’d left him there, how could he ever forgive me? And how could I ask him to?”
“You came.” She turned her head on Marco’s shoulder to meet Brian’s eyes. “You and all the others from the valley.”
“Marco went straight to Harken, and between him and Morena, they gathered enough of us, left enough behind to keep the valley secured if needed. Now we think we’ve dealt with all the stragglers, but I’m to do another pass.”
“Good luck with that,” Marco told him, and shifted Breen to draw Brian in for a kiss. “I’m staying down here on solid ground.”
“You’ll learn to love it,” Brian said again, and mounted. Then flew.
“I love you, Marco, and enough I’d put you in a happy trance so we could fly home, but as much as I want to be there, I don’t think I can leave yet. I need to talk to Keegan. Need to see him. And I want the longest, hottest shower in the history of long, hot showers. Maybe a gallon of wine just to dull the images in my head right now. I killed, Marco. I know they were evil, and it’s war, but I killed.”
“So did I.” Emotion that mirrored hers swam into his eyes. “Three Sidhe. One was a girl. I mean female. I never thought I could, but I did. I’m not sorry, but I feel a little sick inside.”
“Let’s go sit down somewhere and just breathe. And let Bollocks swim. He—he killed, too. The sweetest dog in the world—in any world—killed to protect me and others. And—and they hurt him.” Tears welled up again. “He had cuts and gouges.”
“Oh man.” Marco crouched to stroke his hands over Bollocks. “Is he okay? I don’t see anything.”
“I fixed it, and I took him to a stream so he could wash off the blood. I couldn’t stand seeing the blood on him. And you, you weren’t hurt?”
“Not a scratch. Were you?”
“Nothing much. Let’s just sit down somewhere quiet for a minute.”
“Breen.” He took her shoulders. “I need to tell you about Morena.”
“Oh God, no, is she hurt?”
“It’s not her. It’s her brother. Phelin. It’s Phelin.”
“He’s hurt? Where is he? I could help.”
“No, baby, you can’t help.”
She stared, then it struck, then it sank in. “No, no, no. I saw him fighting. I saw him right at the beginning.”
She’d sent frogs after him once, long ago. She’d danced with him at the Welcome. She’d met his wife. He’d talked about becoming a father.
“Where is she? Where’s Morena?”
“She went to tell her parents, her family.” Marco brushed tears from her cheeks, and from his own. “She’s going to need you, but she’s with her family. Harken, he had to tell her. He took out the one who killed Phelin, but he had to tell her.”
“All this, so many dead, over me.”
“Breen.”
“I don’t mean it’s my fault. I know better, especially now. But Odran used me, Marco. He used me, and Morena lost her brother. There’ll be other Leavings. There’ll be children whose mother or father doesn’t come home again. I’m not going to feel sick inside anymore about what I did today.”
She turned to him. “If I begged you to go home, back to Philadelphia, you wouldn’t.”
“Not a chance.”
“I’m afraid for you, Marco.”
“That’s mutual, me for you, so we stick together.” Eyes on hers, he gripped her hand, linked their fingers. “Like always.”
She took a breath. “It would’ve been worse, more would have died, if you’d listened to me this morning. So, okay, I’m going to try to stop. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to try. We stick together.”