Free Beyond the Pale: A Thin Veil Novella (The Thin Veil Book 3) by Jodi McIsaac Page B

he would come to her at once, which was exactly what Lorcan wanted. There must be another way , she thought frantically. Her hands were burning, and she longed to let loose a torrent of flame that would consume everyone in this place. But Felix had warned her to not use her fire gift while she was pregnant, for fear that the baby would not survive the heat generated in her body. Still…if she didn’t, her child would die anyway.
    “Looking for an escape?” Lorcan asked. “You wouldn’t get very far, even if you managed to find one. The woods are peppered with my soldiers.”
    Kier took a deep breath, and raised her arms.
    “You could try that, of course,” Lorcan said almost lazily. “I’m surprised you haven’t already, to tell you the truth. I wanted a chance to show off my latest ability.”
    “What ability?” she asked, lowering her arms.
    “A little something Gorman gave me. Just yesterday, in fact.”
    “Gorman? No .” Gorman and his wife Siesyll were friends of hers. Gorman had always laughed about how useless his ability was—an invisible shield of protection. He had joked that he needed to make more enemies so he could use it once in a while.
    “Mm-hm. So you can burn this whole place down if you’d like. I’ll still be here, waiting.”
    “I won’t let you harm my child,” Kier said, her fists clenched and her eyes blazing.
    “You don’t have much of a choice,” Lorcan said. He walked slowly toward her, and she looked desperately for a way of escape. “We could do it now. The healer in this fortress is much more talented than that oaf Felix. He’ll make sure you don’t feel a thing. When you wake up, I will have your daughter’s power.”
    Kier felt herself start to shake, a trembling she couldn’t control. She felt as though all the power was being drained from her. The baby was suddenly still—what had happened? And then she felt the wall behind her change. She turned around. It was a sidh. Had Brogan made it? Was he about to walk through, to his death? Then the baby kicked her firmly, and she realized the truth.
    Her unborn child had made this sidh. Without thinking, Kier ran through it, and collided with her husband in the middle of a battlefield.
    “Kier! What are you—” Brogan said, staring at her in shock. Then he saw the sidh, and saw Lorcan, who still stood on the other side, open-mouthed. Brogan and Lorcan locked eyes for a split second, then they moved toward the shimmering air between them, Brogan with his sword drawn; Lorcan with his arms outstretched.
    A roar ripped through the air beside Kier. She watched as Ruadhan threw himself toward Brogan, flinging out a hand toward the sidh just as the other two Danann reached it. It snapped shut instantly, and Brogan stumbled, falling through the now-ordinary air onto the ground.
    “Why did you do that?” he bellowed at his steward.
    “Because Lorcan would have killed you!” Ruadhan roared back.
    Kier screamed. A searing pain had just ripped through her shoulder—an arrow that had been aimed at Brogan or Ruadhan—or at her. Another pierced her thigh.
    “Get her out of here! Use a sidh—I’ll close it!” Ruadhan shouted at Brogan, who ran to his wife and scooped her up in his arms.
    “Not the Hall,” she moaned. “It’s under attack.” He nodded tersely and thought for a moment, but Kier screamed again as the very ground began to crumble beneath them.
    “Go!” Ruadhan yelled, and Brogan knelt down, still holding Kier, and pressed his hand into the ground. She could feel them falling, but only for a second, and then they were lying on soft grass in a small hidden glade on top of a hill, surrounded by trees.
    “Where are we?” she asked faintly.
    “On the very edge of our kingdom,” he said. “Very few ever travel here. It was the only place I could think of that would be safe.” He started to tear his shirt into shreds and bind up the wounds in her leg and shoulder. But the cloth was soon soaked through