A rippling echo of energy billows out around us. Murky forms of Gancanagh begin emerging from the depths of the sea and striking out in legions onto the beach. These undead Faeries swarm around us, looking very real beneath the light of the moon. Fear and anger sweep through me, seeing the army he would bring down upon me, but I try to hide it as I say, “They’re not here either.”
“Na yet,” he replies darkly. “Do na make me bring dem ta fetch ye back ta me. I tought we had gotten past dis. Chasing ye is beginning ta take a toll on me, mo chroí. I do na know how ta make ye understand dat ye are me heart. Wi’out ye I do na exist…and wi’out me, ye will na exist.”
“So you’re saying that if I don’t come back to you, you’ll kill me?” I ask him, feeling cold inside.
“I will bleed ye dry,” he threatens, showing me his gleaming, white fangs. His image leans closer to my neck, allowing icy air to radiate near me. Remembering the gut-wrenching pain of being bitten by him, I cringe.
“If you bite me, you’ll have nothing,” I retort, feeling betrayed by him. “I won’t drink your blood and become one of you.”
“I have nuting now! When I bite ye, ye’ll be Gancanagh,” he counters. “Me true queen. Ye’ll be unable to resist me blood.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’ll refuse,” I say bravely, trying to mean every word.
Anger makes him sneer, “Ye may, and ye may na. I’m willing ta take dat chance.”
“Are you?” I ask, feeling like every word he ever spoke to me was a lie.
“I am,” he affirms, staring back at me with a predatory gaze.
“You’d give my soul to Sheol? To those monsters for eternity?” I ask him, feeling crushed. If I do drink his blood, then my soul will be surrendered to Sheol, to the fallen angels for eternity. I’ll die and be reborn an evil, undead creature…like him.
“If ye make me, I will,” he replies without a hint of doubt.
Russell’s voice interrupts us as he nears. “Brrrr, you feel that, Red? Now that’s cold,” Russell says, swinging his five-iron to dispel the imaginary Gancanagh that Brennus has conjured on the beach.
As their sinister images ripple and fade away, Russell rests the golf club on his shoulder. When his tall frame towers over me, he doesn’t hesitate, but drops his club and engulfs me in his arms. Picking me up off my feet, he gives me a bone-crushing hug that takes my breath away.
“Russell,” his name escapes me like a prayer as I look into his chocolate-brown eyes. His tawny hair looks almost golden in the moonlight.
Russell grins broadly at me. “Ah, you know I’ve been wantin’ to do that for so long, it hurts,” he admits, loosening his grip on me, but not putting me back on my feet. “Am I interruptin’ somethin’?” he asks, looking at Brennus’ livid face. “Ah, it’s the stalker again. I should’ve known, but your stink is not so bad out here…maybe all y’all should move somewhere tropical,” he suggests in a smart-ass tone. Seeing Brennus’ eyebrows draw together, he adds, “I’m just sayin’.”
“Da other, I—” Brennus begins, using the name he has attached to Russell. Brennus calls Russell “the other” because Russell is the only other being just like me: a human-angel hybrid. He could also mean the other half of my soul, since Russell is my human soul mate.
Russell holds up his hand. “Just one second, Brennus, you total freak,” Russell says insultingly. “I just gotta get a little smackerel from my girl.”
Russell’s hand snakes up to weave in my hair at the base of my neck, while his lips press firmly to mine, kissing me with an intensity and longing that I’m not expecting. A low growl comes from Brennus, and an instant later, another growl answers his from Reed. Reed directed it at Brennus, I’m sure, but I push against Russell anyway, trying to make him stop kissing me. However, Russell is really freaking strong now, stronger than me, so I can’t budge him an inch.
When Russell ends the kiss, he looks into my eyes, like we’re alone and says, “I missed you, Red.”
I touch my fingertips to my lips, feeling confused and overwhelmed. “I missed you, too,” I respond softly. We haven’t had much time alone together since I’d been rescued from Brennus’ estate in Ireland. Most of my time has been spent with Reed. There is still a lot left unsaid between my soul mate and me.
“You still here, Brennus?” Russell asks, not looking at him, but just at me. “Why don’t you give up now? Go on and find someone else to haunt, ya creepy, dead bastard.”
“I will enjoy killing ye,” Brennus says intently.
“Well, that’s really easy to say, when you’re not really here, isn’t it?” Russell replies, smiling into my eyes, like it’s a private joke between us. “Next time, you should come in person…you get more respect that way.”
“What are you doing,” I whisper to Russell, feeling fear wash over me at his provoking words.
“I’m pickin’ a fight I know I can win,” he replies with a cocky grin.
Looking at Brennus’ face and smiling unabashedly, Russell’s crimson, Seraphim wings stretch out menacingly from his body. They remind me of the fierce strength that Casimir showed with his.
Brennus turns his eyes to mine. “Do na hide from me, mo chroí, and do na make me come ta ye. I do na want ta make ye beg,” he says, ignoring both Reed and Russell as they growl at him.
My skin pales, feeling like my whole world is caving in on me. I feel as bad as I did in the cell in Houghton—when Brennus first tried to turn me into an undead monster like him. No, I feel worse. I hated Brennus then. He was never my friend then. Now…it’s like Freddie all over again. I let him into my heart and he’s tearing it apart.
“Why are you such a major tool, Brennus?” Russell asks, scowling as he puts me back on my feet.
“He can’t help himself, Russell,” Reed replies, holding his hand out for me to take. Taking it and holding it tight, I feel Russell reach out and take my other hand.
“Red,” Russell says, using his nickname for me, “just tell him that things weren’t working out, that he’s a really bad boyfriend. Tell him that it’s definitely not you—it’s him,” Russell says, smirking at Brennus’ image.
The air around us is growing colder. I can feel it and see it as my breath makes smoky plumes.
“Open up yer eyes, mo shíorghrá,” Brennus warns me. “I’m coming closer and ye know whah I can do. When I find ye, ye had better be ready ta submit ta yer true family. Do ye need more tellin’?”
My hands are shaking, like he’s really here. Both Reed and Russell tighten their grip, feeling my fear.
“Come and die, Brennus,” Reed says, stepping between Brennus and me.
Brennus sizes up Reed, saying “I have one ting ta say ta ye. Cogadh.”
I pale at the word. It means “war.”
“Tuigim, Brennus,” Reed replies casually, saying “I understand.”
“Póg mo thóin,” Russell grins, telling Brennus to kiss his ass. “Now run along. I wanna talk to my girl.”