Rune nudged her hand. “I’m going to find the other two.”
Aislinn bent and kissed the top of his furred head. “Thank you.”
“Thank me when all are safe.”
Aislinn turned back to Gwydion and her mother. “You loved her,” she blurted, seared by sudden understanding. Tara hadn’t told her that part. It was what she’d been hiding. Her mother had been promised to Fionn, but she loved Gwydion. Tara had solved the problem by running away.
“Aye, lass.” Gwydion still clung to her mother’s shade. “And I love her still. Fionn never did. He wanted her simply because of the ancient prophecy.” Resentment churned beneath his words.
“She was neither of yours,” Dewi boomed. “The MacLochlainn belongs to me. Now and always.” She slapped Aislinn none too gently as she lumbered past her. “You would do well to remember that, girl.”
Aislinn lurched to her feet. “How the hell did you get so close without me hearing you?”
“I can be silent when it behooves me,” Dewi informed her haughtily and grabbed Gwydion’s shoulder with a taloned foreleg. “Give me the MacLochlainn.”
Tara spewed a string of curses in Gaelic, grew progressively less substantial, and walked through the wall behind Fionn.
Good for you, Mother! Tara had told the dragon she’d see her in hell before she’d be owned by anyone or anything.
“Ye great stupid snake,” Gwydion shouted. “Now see what ye’ve done. Ye frightened her just as ye did when she was but a wee bit of a girl.”
“She hasn’t learned a damned thing.” Dewi spat back. “Doesn’t have any more sense than she did when you started pawing at her when she was only fourteen. I tried to protect her—”
“Stop. Both of you,” Aislinn shrieked. “Mother’s dead. She doesn’t need your attention. Doesn’t even want it, from the looks of things. Fionn’s the one who needs you.” She sank to her knees next to his body and laid full length atop him, covering his lips with hers. She tried to push into his mind, but the same shielding repelled her.
“Appears it will take more than a kiss from a princess to bring him back,” Dewi noted dryly.
Aislinn curled her body into a sitting position right next to Fionn. “What will it take, dragon? The way things stand, I figure you owe me one.”
Gwydion, still looking shell-shocked, dropped to the floor next to her and Fionn, robes puddling around him. He took one of Fionn’s hands, grabbed his staff with the other, and began to chant. The staff glowed blue-white; Aislinn felt the spell he wove. It dripped power so ancient that she could only guess at its origins.
The scent of lavender and jasmine filled the air. Gwydion’s voice increased in volume and cadence. Aislinn wanted to watch, to understand the magic, but it made her dizzy. When she tried to look, the air was thick with multi-colored runes morphing into one another, forming new runes like an aerial ballet. The staff blazed so bright, she even saw it through her closed lids.
“Now would be the time for ye to kiss him and call to him.” Gwydion nudged her with the staff. It burned where it touched her. “I find I am needing help.”
Aislinn glued her lips to Fionn’s and added her magic to the mix. After a heart-stopping few moments when she was afraid he was lost to her forever, his body stirred beneath her touch. She lifted her mouth from his and cried, “Fionn. Beloved.” Arranging her body half on top of him, she kissed him again. When his lips moved beneath hers, she kissed him harder, slid her hands into his hair and her tongue into his mouth. As if from a great distance, she heard the raven caw.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Mo croi, mo croi,” Fionn whispered against her lips. His arms came around her and tightened. “How did ye find me?”
“She didn’t,” Gwydion spat. “’Twas I who brought you back, though I had many second thoughts. Aislinn helped a bit, but she couldna have reached you without me.” The master enchanter hesitated. “Tara was here. She reminded me of…many things.”
“Where were you?” Aislinn asked Fionn. “Why couldn’t I reach you?”
“Slototh was after me. I secured myself in the one place he couldna follow: the Dreaming.”
“And a good thing I know your mind,” Gwydion muttered. “Saved a great deal of trouble tracking you down.” Using his staff for a lever, he pushed heavily to his feet.
Bella flapped over and settled next to Fionn. She pecked gently at him as he moved Aislinn to one side and worked his way to a sit. He rubbed his face with his hands and gazed blearily at everyone. “What are we doing here? We shouldna be unwarded with Slototh about. Hell, we shouldna be here at all. The wicked one caught me in the midst of my strength. Now I’m weak as a newborn colt. We must leave.”