She threw power at him, weakly, so weakly. “I saw you fall, I saw you die. It’s just another trick. You, Nan, Morena, everyone’s dead. They killed Bollocks. They killed everything.”
“It’s not a trick. I’m here.”
As he started toward her, Odran dropped down at her back. He wrapped his arms around her, smiled at Keegan.
“You’ve lost, boy. This world is mine now. She is mine now.”
“She will never be. Talamh will never be. Move away from him, Breen.” He couldn’t lash out, not with power, not with sword, or he’d harm her as well.
“I couldn’t stop them.”
Odran spoke close to her ear. “You’re not enough. You’ll never be enough.”
“I wasn’t enough,” she said dully. “I’ve never been enough.”
“Lies.” All of this a lie, Keegan realized. Spun into visions by the dark god. “Go back to your hell. Your illusion’s done.”
“Soon it will be truth.”
“Wake,” Keegan ordered, and though enough of Odran seeped into the vision to singe along his skin, he reached out to grip Breen’s hand. “Come with me, and wake.”
He dragged her back, dragged both of them back.
“Dead, everyone dead.”
When her head lolled, he shook her.
“No, a deception, an illusion. Cast it aside.”
“He struck you down while I watched. Your blood on my hands. I wasn’t strong enough to stop it.”
“Lies. I’m here, aren’t I?” He shook her again. “Look!”
When she did, the shuddering started. “Is this real? Are you real?”
“Aye, this is real, as I am. The rest was lies.”
“They came so fast, so many. The screams, the fires, the smoke. I couldn’t stop it. I wasn’t enough.”
“More lies. You let him see your weakness, and he used it to wind the vision. Mine as well,” he admitted. “As when I joined you there, I believed. Here now, you’ve frightened the dog.”
“Bollocks.” She shifted to wrap her arms around the dog and weep. “He killed him. He just flicked his fingers and set Bollocks on fire. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save anyone.”
“Stop.” Keegan pulled her back. “He wants you weak, afraid, full of doubt. Will you give him what he wants so readily?”
“It felt real, all of it. What if it was a vision of what’s coming?”
He didn’t know, couldn’t know, but gave her what she needed.
“It wasn’t, and when I saw through the lies, his power broke. But you’re bringing it with you now, and you mustn’t. You need a potion. Where do you keep them?”
“No. I need to see.”
She pushed away, ran to the window, flung it open.
“And do you see? The moon, the pixies, the shadow of the hills, how the trees move and whisper in the night?”
She nodded, and when he stepped behind her, turned her, she leaned against him. “He said everyone would die unless I went with him. He said he’d make me a queen, and I could choose the world I wanted to rule.”
“More lies.” He stroked her hair, but thought of the pixies who’d sent no warning.
“He found a way to close it in. I didn’t feel any of his darkness until I came inside. He found a way, so we’ll find a way to counter.”
“I didn’t use a charm or rosemary. I thought if I had a vision, a dream, something, I might learn something.”
Brave of her, he thought. Maybe foolish as well, but brave. “And sure you did, and I did as well. He fears you.”
She’d have laughed at that if she had a laugh left in her. “That’s not what I learned.”
“Then, once more, you don’t pay attention, do you now? He used his powers to try to make you feel weak, then blame yourself for it. He does this because he knows you’re strong, but you have doubts. Your mother did much the same near the whole of your life because she fears you.”
“She—what?”
“Think.” So she’d look at him, see the truth as he believed it, he snapped her back. “She fears what you are, what you have. Her fears of you may come from fears for you—I don’t know what’s in her heart. But she does the same, makes you feel weak, feel less than you are and could be so you forget the power she fears, so it’s buried so deep you can’t find it, use it. He does this to weaken you, to damage your spirit.”
After he let her go, to settle himself, he paced a moment. “If you won’t have a potion, will you have wine?”
She shook her head.
“Well, I will.” He put in his mind where she’d gotten