tired of balancing two worlds in her head and Death is still alive inside her."
"How do you know?"
"I could hear it speak to her, urging her to succumb to me. Irish Death knows it's only chance of returning to any kind of existence is to find a way for Jacqueline to die or to take over her soul. I think she's losing that battle." Arwan stopped pacing and stared at Gwydion. "You have been unable to kill her."
"We had one encounter and I considered it a more strategic move to leave before things got out of control. She had many allies surrounding her." Gwydion recalled the last time he'd met Jacqueline on the field of battle. He'd felt fear for the first time in a long while. "I wanted more time to assess her true powers."
"You ran away." Arwan smiled. "Don't try to deny it. You were never good at bravery. Wielding power, creating spells to crush your enemy--yes, you exceed in that area. But standing your ground and fighting fair are not your style."
"Can you kill her?" asked Gwydion. Though Arwan's words infuriated Gwydion, he knew it best to show none of that to the god. "That's the real question."
"Of course, I can."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because you failed to mention how lovely she is." But Gwydion sensed Arwan was not being completely honest. He'd seen something in the dream, something that worried at him. "It seems a shame to kill without allowing me the pleasure of tasting her essence."
"You say that about all women." Gwydion rolled his eyes in disgust. "For a god, you have a great deal of trouble keeping your cock in your pants."
"All gods have trouble ignoring a pretty face." Arwan's good natured smile, turned sly. "As do some goddesses."
Gwydion ignored the comment, though it pricked at his pride in more ways than one.
"Again, I ask you, are you going to help me and kill the banshee?"
Arwan grew thoughtful.
"I suppose I could, but I encountered an unforeseen complication. I don't relish killing the baby."
Gwydion's eye narrowed.
"Baby?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Your banshee is with child. I heard Death taunting her about it."
"Well, well," Gwydion muttered. "This is a surprise indeed."
"Do you still want me to kill her?"
"Not yet!" Gwydion's eyes narrowed with glee. "Let me think about this new problem."
Arwan sat down in his throne, snapping his fingers at one of his servants who obediently came over to him. He placed her on his lap and stroked her skin as he watched Gwydion. The wizard ignored the god, used to seeing his constant need for sexual gratification.
A magical child.
Another one.
Gwydion pondered all the possibilities, the implications. A product of magical parents himself, he was aware this could open the supernatural world up to a whole new breed of powerful beings. After centuries of spreading lies and tall tales about never crossing bloodlines in an effort to remain the most powerful creature on the earthly plain, Gwydion worried about this baby. Yes, there had been times when offspring like Gabe Williams were created due to a god or goddesses interference several generations before, but Gwydion had always been able to dispose of those children and their parents before word got out.
Gabe had been hidden from him until it was too late.
But this new baby, this new thing??/p>
Would it be more powerful than him?
Possibly. It would require some research. He'd have to go to the one source who could tell him about everything--the woman he loathed more than any other creature.
His mother.
Chapter 7
Toby stood outside of Jacqueline's house.
He'd spent most of the evening before getting in touch with the few connections he had in Ireland trying to find out if the stories were true, if people in the O'Grady clan were dying and coming back to life.
It sounded as though for once Gwydion had been telling the truth.
There had been several strange occurrences of people who died and then miraculously came back. Only they weren't quite themselves. Over a period of hours, their mental capacity fled, leaving them as helpless as infants.
Worried, he'd sought out Gabe's help, but he was nowhere to be found. Toby had a sneaking suspicion Gabe was off with Angela somewhere. However, it didn't take that long to perform a memory spell which led Toby to believe more things were taking place than just spells. Things that he felt could only lead to heartache.
And that was something he knew about.
As he looked up at the windows of Jacqueline's home, he wondered if