Brighid’s Quest

“That was cruel.” He ground out the words from between his teeth. In one fluid movement, he stood and stalked away into the darkness.

“To bed now!” Ciara’s voice hushed the applause and the children obediently started disappearing into the warmth of the tents, calling good-nights to each other and to the Huntress.

Brighid jumped in surprise when Liam’s little arms wrapped around her and he squeezed her with unexpected strength.

“That was a wonderful story, Brighid! Good night!” He rushed off in a flutter of wings, barely giving the Huntress time to call good-night to his back.

“You did the right thing.”

Brighid looked up at the Shaman who seemed to materialize from the fringes of the fire.

“I don’t think Cu would agree with you,” Brighid said.

Ciara went on as if Brighid hadn’t spoken. “Follow him. Don’t let him be alone right now.”

“But he’s-”

The Shaman’s eyes flashed with a flame-colored light. “He is not whole. If you care for the warrior’s soul, follow him.”

Flexing her powerful equine muscles, Brighid rose and left the campfire. Heading in the direction she thought Cu had taken she considered Ciara’s words. Of course she cared about Cuchulai

By the Goddess, she didn’t want this! She had no experience with it. She had turned from The Way of the Shaman when she’d left the Dhia

It had been the right choice. She was following the right path for her life. Now she would find Cuchulai

But where was Cu? By the Goddess, it was dark beyond the circle of tents and the campfire’s friendly light. Dark and cold. Brighid shivered as the insatiable wind licked against her skin. She would be damned glad to return to Partholon and the warmth of MacCallan Castle.

A muffled sound to her left brought her to an instant halt as she listened with the acute senses of a centaur Huntress. The sound came again, and she angled to her right, almost stumbling over Fand, who growled low in her throat.

“Don’t tempt me to kick you,” Brighid told the half-grown cub. Fand slunk off, casting a look at the Huntress that was partially contrite and partially a warning.

At least Brighid knew Cuchulai

She almost didn’t see him. If the moon hadn’t cast its wan light through the veil of high clouds at the same moment Cu lifted his tear-streaked face, she would have walked right past him. But his tears had given him away. Damn it! She hadn’t expected him to be crying! She’d expected anger-let him rail at her and get it over with. She understood that. She could handle that. But as he turned toward her something totally unexpected happened. She felt a mirroring of his pain that was caused by more than their shared clan ties or even their friendship. She was reacting with a Shaman’s empathy and the knowledge almost undid her. Brighid wanted to walk away, to deny the inherited purpose that flowed through her veins, but she could not. That would be cowardly, and Brighid Dhia

“Cu,” she said softly, reaching to touch his shoulder.

He jerked away as if her touch scalded him. “Does it make you happy to cause me pain?”

“No.”

“Then why?” The warrior didn’t sound angry. He sounded defeated.

“You have to go on, Cu. You have to find a way to live without her. And you can’t do that by avoiding all mention of her.”

“How do you know?” Anger was begi

“You’re not the only man to have ever lost a loved one. Grief isn’t exclusive to you, Cuchulai

With the lightning reflexes of a well-trained warrior, Cuchulai

“This is not you, Cuchulai

Cuchulai

A chill of warning shivered through the centaur’s body. “You aren’t dead, Cu. You’re shattered.”

Cu bent wearily and retrieved his dagger. “Aren’t the two really one and the same?”

“No, my friend. One involves the body, the other the spirit. And I’m afraid your trouble rests within the spirit realm.”

His bark of laughter was humorless. “That is something I’ve known for most of my life.”

“This is different.” Brighid sighed in frustration. “Damn, I’m doing a poor job of this!” She rubbed a hand across her brow, wishing her head wasn’t pounding in time with the beat of her heart. “I think you have a shattered soul, Cu. That’s why you don’t feel like yourself and why you’re not able to heal from Bre

Cuchulai

“No! Yes…I don’t know!” She rubbed her forehead again. “By the Goddess, you make my head hurt, Cu. The truth is I don’t know much more about Shamanistic dealings than you do! But I do trust my instincts. As a Huntress they have never failed me. Now they’re telling me that Bre

“What if I don’t want to recover?” he said slowly. “Maybe I should have died with her, Brighid.”

Everything within the centaur became still. How she answered Cuchulai