Free The Arrow (Children of Brigid Trilogy Book 1) by Maureen O'Leary Page A

blood. “Drink up,” she said.
    Fynn took the glass, but had no intention of drinking it. The music stopped with a twang of lost notes. The clinging girl yelped as Komo stood and shed her as though he had never realized she was there. He moved behind Fynn and took the glass out of her hand. He reached around her so that she could feel his heart beat at her back and the heat of his breath on her neck. He lifted the wine to her chin.
    “Drink,” he said. His mouth brushed against her ear. She closed her eyes as he pressed the rim of the glass against her lips. She took a long swallow and the warmth from the wine bloomed inside of her in a soft detonation.
    He kissed her cheek. Electricity sparked on the place where his lips touched her skin. She took another sip of wine and turned around to face him. He straightened to his full height. The space between their bodies charged with a current almost too intense to survive. His eyes were golden and sleepy.
    “What’s going on here?” she asked. “How do you see me?” She wasn’t a shy teenager anymore. She ignored the racing terror in her heart and lifted her eyes, daring him to answer.
    “
I see you as my fire arrow.”
He sang under his breath so that only she could hear. “
I see you as my lovely one.”
    “For the love of God, Komo,” Fynn said. She struggled to breathe. A smile danced on his full lips. “Talk like a normal human being.”
    “Nothing normal about either of us,” Komo said. “And very little human. But so much love, and so much of the gods.” The space between them closed even further.
    “Talk straight with me.” She pushed against him and it was like resisting the ocean. “I’m here, aren’t I? I stayed like you wanted me to. Who am I to you?”
    “You are everything to me,” he said.
    Cara wedged her way between them. She opened her palm and lay within it a tiny silver box with a four-point star engraved on top. She flipped it open to reveal two red tablets. She lifted one out to Komo. She placed it between his lips, her finger lingering for just a second inside his mouth. Fynn bit the inside of her cheek in agony, her mouth filling with the taste of metal. Komo leaned his head back and exposed his throat.
    Cara pushed the silver box under Fynn’s nose.
    “What is that?” Fynn asked.
    “It’s a nice little something called Nine,” Cara said.
    “What does it do to you?” Her own voice was lost in a tunnel. She held an empty glass, having drunk the entire thing without realizing it. Fragrant smoke curled in ribbons from the small rolled cigarettes. Half the room smoked them. Randy, the surfers, many of the girls. Fynn’s arms and legs were loose as a dancer’s. She placed her hand flat against Komo’s chest to keep her balance.
    “Take it,” Cara whispered in her ear. “You deserve it, Fynn. All you do is work to help other people. All you ever do is think of the people you might save. You put everyone before yourself.”
    Komo nodded in agreement, his strange-colored eyes reflecting the fire. He wasn’t thinking of demons as he faced her in the firelight consumed by whatever Nine was.
    “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he said. “We deserve this one night to get lost.” He squeezed her hips, burying his face in her shoulder so that his lips moved against her throat as he spoke. “Do Nine with me,” he said. “When I’m with you, I’m not afraid.”
    Fynn moved to take the pill out of the silver box, but then stopped. “Answer me, Komo,” she said, grasping at her question before it slipped away. “I’m not one of your groupies. Who am I to you?”
    “You are my goddess.” She winced, as an almost-painful charge of desire moved down her body. He squeezed her hips harder, pulling her close. “You are my queen,” he said. He bent to brush his lips against hers, teasing her with the promise of a kiss. “My love.”
    She let him hold her up with one arm. “Is that true?” she whispered.
    “It’s only ever been