Through the Door (The Thin Veil) - By Jodi McIsaac Page 0,61

as she could down the beach, ignoring the stabbing pain in her back where the Merrow had struck her. She watched as Nuala and Eden reached the island and rested for a moment on the rocks, both of them panting. Then Nuala stood and dragged the girl to her feet. Eden’s eyes were wild with terror. Cedar sprinted the last few feet to the shore and started to wade into the water. “Eden!” she called as loudly as she could. “EDEN!”

Eden turned her head in the direction of the sound and screamed back, “Mummy!”

“Eden, I’m coming! Hold on!” Cedar yelled as she tried to run through the water.

“Stop!” Nuala raised a hand toward Cedar, and she felt herself immobilized.

It’s just a spell, she told herself. You can move. You want to move!

Nuala yanked Eden back against her side. “We can go now, Eden. We can go to Tír na nÓg, where your father is waiting for us. You’ve seen what it looks like, now all you need to do is open the door!”

“Mummy!” Eden screamed again, trying to get out of Nuala’s grasp.

“No!” Nuala screamed back at her. “We are going home! You open that damn door or your mother will drown.”

Eden sobbed hysterically while Nuala dragged her up the rocks and to the hut’s door. “Open it,” Nuala hissed.

Cedar fought against the fog in her head. Think about Eden. You have to get to her. “Eden, don’t!” she yelled, and felt her body start to free itself.

She saw Eden reach for the door, which was barely hanging onto its hinges, and push it open.

“Why isn’t it working?” Nuala yelled. “You stupid child!” She slapped Eden’s face. “I said open it!”

“I’m trying!” Eden screamed back.

“We don’t have time for this!” Nuala said. “Just get us out of here!”

Cedar had almost reached the rocks when Eden opened the door for a second time. “Eden! Eden! Come to me!” she cried out in desperation.

Eden spun away from the open door and started to run toward her mother, but Nuala caught her by the hair and jerked her back. Then Nuala looked Cedar in the eye and said in a low but clear voice, “You will stop trying to find us. You will forget about her. You never had a daughter.”

Cedar fell to her knees in the water as her thoughts turned as thick as cold molasses. She looked up just in time to see Nuala and a small child disappear into the hut, and watched as the door slammed shut behind them. The sound of screaming was all around her, but she stayed on her knees in the shallow water, staring at the door and wondering what she was supposed to be doing. Then everything around her fell silent. The next thing she knew, Finn was splashing toward her and pulling her to her feet. Rohan stormed past them and into the hut. His curses filled the silence and sent a chill down Cedar’s back.

“Cedar, where is Eden?” Finn shouted, though she was only inches away from him. She stared at him, her brow wrinkled. “Who?” she asked.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“There was a monster…did you kill it?” Cedar mumbled as Finn pulled her back onto the shore. She stumbled across the rocks, her arm firmly encased in his grip.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. “Right now we need to get out of here.”

She ducked and screamed as a giant eagle swooped down toward them. He pulled her in close.

“Shh! It’s okay!” he said. “It’s just Riona. The rope has disappeared so she’s going to lift us up to the top of the cliff.”

Cedar closed her mouth tightly to keep herself from screaming again as she felt the eagle’s bony talons close around them like a cage. It lifted them into the air and, seconds later, deposited them gently onto the same grassy bank where she had witnessed most of the battle. Finn immediately lifted her into his arms and started running toward the car. “I can walk!” she protested, but he ignored her. She saw Murdoch settling Oscar’s limp form into the back of the van.

“Is he…?” she asked Finn as he helped her into the car’s back seat and climbed in beside her. Rohan, who was already in the driver’s seat, started the car, and they turned onto the dusty road.

“Dead? Yes,” he answered. “And Molly is badly wounded, but she should be all right once Felix can tend to her. Riona is with her in the van. Anya probably has a concussion, but