She looked up at the moon, the lone moon of this world. And thought of the two in her father’s.
Both hers.
“If I don’t try to be just that, none of the rest means much of anything. You released me.”
“I did, and will again if that’s your choice.”
“It’s not. This is my choice.”
“Then come to the training field tomorrow as you did before. If I knock you down, you’ll get up.”
She looked toward the water and the reflection of the three-quarter moon that swam over it. “There’s not much time, is there?”
“Not as much, I think, as we’d like.”
“Will we be ready?”
“We will be because we must be. Leave your window open as before. If Odran pushes into your dreams, I’ll come.”
“He doesn’t know I’m back, not yet. He’s too busy pushing against the portal.”
Keegan gripped her arm. “You see this? Know this?”
“I feel it. Maybe I’m wrong, but—”
“You won’t be wrong. Put a charm under your pillow as well. Block him out. It gives us more time.”
“All right.”
She saw Cróga sail across the moon, then sweep over the water. “When did you bond with him, your dragon?”
“I was eleven.” Cróga landed on the grass, shaking the ground. “We were both smaller then.”
Keegan strode over, used Cróga’s tail to boost him into the saddle. He looked back at her, standing quietly, the moonlight showering silver on her hair.
“Oíche mhaith, Breen Siobhan.”
Dragon and rider soared up. She felt the wake of wind from the slash of tail before they flew over the woods, through the dark, and into Talamh.
CHAPTER FOUR
In the morning, with the first cup of coffee in her hand, Breen opened the bay-side door. Bollocks streaked out for his morning swim with his happy barks echoing through the silence.
She followed more leisurely across the patio, over the grass, spongy and damp from a rain that had come and gone while she slept.
She smelled roses and rosemary.
In her bare feet she walked down the slope of the lawn to the edge of the sand and shale beach. There she drank her coffee and watched her dog’s curly head bop and bounce through the pale gray of the water and the mists that rose, thin, smoky fingers, toward a sky just awakening.
Philadelphia felt like the dream now, those few weeks she’d spent there between the then and the now all blurred colors and movement.
Standing there in the misty dawn as night gave way to day, with the quiet disturbed only by the call of birds and her dog’s cheerful splashes, brought her a peace so complete she wished she could cup that moment in her hands and hold it.
And holding it, make it last to always.
She stood just a bit longer and watched a little red boat slide in and out of the mists, and those mists thin as the sun strengthened.
But there was work to do, and duties to uphold. She went back inside to fill the dog’s bowls and left the door open for his return before she started upstairs.
She lit the living room fire with a thought, did the same with the one in her bedroom as she changed for her morning workout.
Marco slept on as she went through her morning routine. Slept still as she settled in at her desk, the dog curled on the bed behind her.
And like the boat, she slipped into the mists of the story.
When she surfaced, craving a Coke, she felt the satisfaction of progress. She thought she might have another hour in her—once she got that hit of cold caffeine—so went out to get it.
Marco sat at the dining room table working on his laptop. He wore his jeans pressed, his red sweater trim, and his gorgeous braids tied back with a matching red band.
How, she often wondered, did he do it?
“Good morning. I didn’t even hear you.”
“I’m working on being quiet. Plus, the way you were clickety-clacking in there, I figure I could’ve blasted out some Beyoncé and you wouldn’t’ve heard it.”
“I had a groove going.” She went in the kitchen for the Coke, sniffed the air. “I smell bacon.”
“I got us a good, solid brunch warming in the oven.”
To see for herself, Breen opened the oven door to plates of omelets, bacon, breakfast potatoes.
“It looks amazing. I usually grab a piece of toast.”
“Not while Marco’s here.” He rose, went to the fridge. “We’ve got some mixed berry yogurt parfaits. I’m going to earn my keep, plus I figure you need some good, healthy fuel for all this training business.”