Meg started up the stairs. He wasn’t so sure it would work, but he
was starting to believe her story. He knew one thing, though, as he
stared at the magnificent machine in front of him. His life had just
changed forever.
* * * *
The forest was filled with her laughter.
“You can run, Cian,” the hag’s voice said. It seemed to echo
through the trees. “But you can’t hide.”
She was wrong, Cian realized as he struggled along the river. He
could hide. The trees themselves would aid him. He just had to get
deep enough into the forest. It was hard because he carried his
brother’s weight as well as his own. Only the traps he’d been able to
set as he ran had saved him from suffering Beck’s fate so far.
In the distance, he could hear the hag’s frustration at another wall
of green she couldn’t get around.
They should have known, Cian cursed himself. They should never
have left Megan alone. One of them should have been with her at all
times. Now she was gone. The thought made Cian’s heart hurt. If
what the hag had told them was true, Meg was lost to them.
Trying to find Meg was what had led them to Liadan. When he
and Beck had discovered their wife missing, they panicked. She
wouldn’t have left them, so they knew something had happened.
Finding Niall’s body had been a terrifying moment, but they knew she
wasn’t dead. They would have felt her death deep in their souls. One
thing was certain, though. She was very far away.
It had been rumored in the village that Liadan used to know a little
something of witchcraft. Cian and Beck had been desperate enough to
ask if she knew of any way to seek out their wife. Cian had been wary
of the woman, but he was so desperate to find Meg that he’d allowed
himself and Beck to walk into a trap.