"That was truly kind," she said softly. She was so beautiful as her tiny hand held his. How could something so small touch him so deeply?
Still, he scoffed at her sentimentality. "What do I know of kindness?"
A gentle smile curved her lips as she lifted his hand to place a sweet kiss to his knuckles, which were scarred by a lifetime of fighting. "You're learning."
Nay, he wasn't. He was what he'd always been. Cold. Calculating. Because if he wasn't, he would never be able to do what he was about to do.
Kerrigan caught Blaise's frown in the rearview mirror, but he quickly averted his gaze. Garafyn was right. The only hope they had was to separate.
And it was the last thing he wanted to do.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. "Brea! If you want your sword back, come and take it."
Chapter 14
Kerrigan heard Seren gasp beside him as he summonedthe Celtic god to them with his powers. He only hoped that Brea was listening. But then given how much the Tuatha Dé Danann wanted the sword back, it was a good wager that Brea would show.
So much for being a bad ass. He was about to become a first-rate chump. And for what?
A cheap piece of peasant…
Kerrigan clamped down on that thought in anger. That wasn't Seren and he knew it. She was so much more. And he hated that he knew the truth of her. Because in the end that was his downfall. The moment he'd looked into her eyes and seen something more than a disposable pawn to be used, looked into her heart and seen the innocent compassion, he'd set his own course for destruction.
Damn, he was a fool. And he was becoming an even bigger one by the minute.
Blaise pulled to the side of the deserted road as Brea flashed into the seat in front of Kerrigan and Seren. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a turtleneck, Brea looked completely at home in this time period. The god's dark eyes were full of suspicion as he stared at them.
"Why have you summoned me?"
Kerrigan paused as he considered his many reasons, none of which made a bit of sense. He really didn't know why he was doing this other than the one basic fact that it was the right thing to do.
You've never done the right thing before…
It was true. He hadn't, and yet he couldn't seem to keep himself from doing this.That's what you get from trading blood with the innocent. It's her purity that's corrupting you.
Then again, her innocence had corrupted him the instant she put her tiny hand into his and allowed him to pull her across his horse.
He'd been wrong when he thought she had destroyed her future by that one foolish act of trust. It was his future that had been destroyed by one act of selfishness.
Nay, it wasn't selfishness that was his undoing. It was something else entirely. Something he'd never felt before.
Compassion. Warmth. And another emotion he didn't dare name because it wasn't meant for something like him. It was a noble emotion for those who were worthy of it.
It was an emotion for someone like Seren.
He met Brea's gaze levelly. "I want you to take Seren to Avalon."
Kerrigan wasn't sure whose face appeared most stunned by those words, but he had to admit that Brea's expression was most comical. Too bad he didn't feel like laughing.
Seren's face paled as she wrapped one hand around his biceps. "I won't go without you," she said, her voice breaking.
Those words spoke to a part of him that he'd never met before. A part of him he'd thought was completely defective.
His heart.
And it was breaking now. But this had to be done. There was no choice. Not if he wanted to keep her safe.
He placed his hand over hers and gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "I'll join you there."
Brea narrowed his eyes on him. The god knew he was lying and by the look on Blaise's face, he did, too.
Seren's eyes were filled with pain as she looked up at him. She trusted him, and he hated that he was breaking that trust. "Why won'tyou take me?"
He savored the softness of her hand under his. It was such a tiny hand, and yet it had the strength to shake him to his foundations. To make him do things he'd never done before. To make him care for someone when he knew what he really