"Patience, love," he crooned, dispelling the images as he wrapped her in his arms, lips pressing against her neck. "The souls will remember, it's been that way since the dawning of our time and no amount of interference will change that."
She relaxed into his embrace. "Perhaps, but it doesn't hurt to stack the odds," she said coyly.
* * * *
"Ooh, look over there!" Ronnie squealed excitedly, pulling on Sabrina's arm, dragging her into a large striped tent. "We haven't had a reading done since school! C'mon girls, this'll be fun!"
Sabrina let Ronnie pull her into the tent, Ivy and Lorelei following slowly. Ronnie eagerly pushed Sabrina into the seat, handing over the two euros for the reading. The large, dark haired woman sitting on the other side of the table reached a meaty hand across, palm up, staring at Sabrina with dark, unreadable eyes. The rest of the women fanned out behind her, Ronnie leaning close to hear every word, her eyes dancing with excitement. Lorelei, a short, lithe brunette kept eyeing the door and Ivy, a tall, curvy redhead turned to stare at the bizarre decorations scattered around the walls of the tent. It looked like a circus sideshow, with drawings of women handling snakes as big as a child, and men swallowing swords. A wall of exotic greenery took up one whole side of the tent, the herbaceous scents mingling with whatever scented the candles burning in tall, ornate holders spread around the tent.
Sabrina placed her hand hesitantly in the large palm, gasping when the woman's plump fingers closed around. Her other hand came up to trace along the lines in Sabrina's palm, her eyes seeming to bore into Sabrina's, trying to pull out her deepest, darkest secrets.
"You hide in plain sight," the woman said finally, her voice deep and gravelly. "Never showing your true self to anyone. When the one finds you again, he alone will know your true soul, and you his." Her eyes seemed to grow darker, swirling with a mysterious light. "Tonight, it shall come to pass, that which was once given freely, shall be given again, and the Earth shall rejoice."
Sabrina snatched her hand away, turning the rickety wooden chair over as she leapt to her feet, staring down at the woman in horror. "That's just crazy, and this was a mistake!"
The seer shook her head slightly and gave her a measured look, saying nothing more. Sabrina backed away from the table and hugged the back wall of the tent as Ronnie shrugged her shoulders and sat down, handing over another two euros, which disappeared quickly into the woman's grimy, well-worn housecoat.
Ronnie laid her hand in the woman's and tensed slightly, glancing back at Sabrina before turning her attention fully to the woman before her. "A man will come back into your life, one you never would expect, but he is the one you've been searching for…"
Sabrina wrapped her arms firmly around her waist as the seer droned on.
Lorelei moved closer, touching her arm lightly. "You okay?"
Sabrina jumped at the touch, smiling nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Lorelei looked a bit green around the gills while she waited for her turn. "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea, but you know Ronnie…" Her voice trailed off when the Seer finished her reading for Ronnie and gestured impatiently for Lorelei to sit down.
Yeah, she knew Ronnie, had known her all of her life, unlike her friends from college, who'd only known the side she showed to the rest of the world. Never before had they had an experience like this one though. Ronnie liked to live on the edge, gamboling through life like she hadn't a care in the world. Having access to a massive trust fund and parents who were more likely to be seen on the society pages than home with their daughter didn't help much. Ronnie Waterston had been raised by a series of nannies and maids, the only grounding feature in her life her friendship with Sabrina. She'd abandoned most of it after college, choosing instead to pursue a career in public relations that had nothing to do with her parent's charitable interests. It'd been a struggle, but using the connections her name brought, she'd managed to build up quite the clientele over the past few years and now her services were highly in demand.
They'd met at an exclusive boarding school for wealthy children in Wales, two strangers tossed together by random chance. Sabrina's parents had been killed in a car accident when she was five and the uncle that she'd been sent to live with hadn't had a clue how to raise a small girl who cried constantly for the mommy she'd lost. He'd hired a woman to move into the house and care for Sabrina until she'd reached an age for him to ship off to school. Throughout the years, she and Ronnie had grown close, becoming each other's family. Sabrina sighed deeply, yeah, she knew Ronnie.
The walls of the tent seemed to be closing in on her and all of a sudden not enough air inside for all of them.
"I'm going to go wait outside," she stammered, jerking open the flaps and stepping out into the balmy, summer night.
She stood by the side of the tent, breathing in deep lungfuls of air. The shadows were deeper around the tent, and the dark blue top and short denim skirt that Ronnie'd talked her into let her melt back into them as crowds of people strolled along the wide dirt lane.
Glancing down at her watch, she frowned when the shadows thrown by the tent obscured the face. She stepped a few paces away from the side of the tent, holding it up to the light of the dying sun.
A hard shove from behind nearly sent her sprawling into the dirt, strong hands curving around her waist, pulling her back against a warm, solid chest.
Loud male voices surrounded her, seemingly everywhere, the soft night air filled with chuckles and laughter. Spinning around, she glared upwards at the tall man who'd run into her, her mouth going dry when recognition sank in.
Six plus feet of gorgeous male stood in front of her. Wide, muscled shoulders gave way to a broad chest, barely contained by the white V-neck T-shirt, showing her a teasing glimpse of bronze skin and thick, black hair. His legs were like tree trunks, thick and heavy with muscle beneath the tan shorts he wore. Her stomach did a funny little dance when all the feelings she'd had for him in the past bubbled to the forefront, making her feel young and vulnerable all over again.
"Sorry about that, my mates thought it'd be funny to see me trip." His dark green eyes swept over her face and then her body, widening with recognition. "Sabrina?" His hands clasped hard on her hips once before letting go like she was made of fire.
"Hello, Patrick," Sabrina said softly, making herself breathe normally and smile.
She forced her gaze from those mesmerizing green eyes, scanning the circle of men that surrounded her. "Friends find many things funny that aren't." Her heart was thumping and she felt like her knees were going to buckle.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
She stiffened, all thoughts of being nice fleeing. "I'm on assignment, covering Solstice celebrations. Truly the last place I ever thought I'd run into you."
"Assignment? You're one of the vultures now?" His sneer made it perfectly clear what he thought of that.
She glared. "No, I'm a freelance magazine writer and I'm on assignment for one of the travel magazines in the States. What are you doing here?"
He folded his arms across his chest. "My family lives around here. I grew up going to this festival." His gaze swept over her once more and she felt it from the top of her head to the tips of her feet.
Her body betrayed her, responding to his nearness with wicked heat curling in her belly, letting her know that she wasn't anywhere near being over him.
"One of my mates is getting married and I came out for the wedding. We were just taking him out to burn off some pre-wedding jitters."
"How nice. Going to help him get a leg over, too, celebrate the last moments of freedom?"
His glare matched hers. "Yeah, because that's what I do, isn't it? Fuck every woman I come across?"
Sabrina shrugged, aiming for nonchalant but her hands were shaking and it felt like her knees were knocking together. Thankfully darkness had arrived fully upon them, the only illumination coming from the flickering torches lighting the grounds. "It's your life, right? Who am I to judge what you do or don't do?"
"Christ, you're still a bitch," he snarled angrily. "Always jumping to conclusions. Your job suits you, Sabrina, writing fictional accounts because you have no idea of the real truth."
She recoiled as if he'd slapped her. "Well," she said stiffly. "Now that I know how you really feel…" Taking a deep breath, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks, she gave him a sad smile. "Have a nice life, Patrick; I hope you find what you're looking for." Spinning on her heel, she walked quickly away from him into the darkness, angrily wiping away the tears that had begun to fall.
He cursed behind her and she kept walking, concentrating on keeping one foot in front of the other in the dark, cursing Ronnie for talking her into slingback flats instead of the sneakers she'd wanted to wear. Sabrina rolled her eyes. She should have realized the evening would end up like this.
"Brina, wait."
She tensed, hearing him use the nickname he'd called her during their time together, but refused to stop walking, stumbling when her foot slid into a divot in the road. She caught herself and shook her head, moving forward once more. A heavy hand closed around her elbow, jerking her to a stop.
"Please."
She inhaled deeply before turning around. Her gaze locked with his and it made her heart clench. She opened her mouth and the world went black.
* * * *
"My love, you aren't supposed to interfere, we just talked about this."
The goddess spun around, a moue of irritation on her lips. "Such a stubborn woman, denying what she knows is hers."
Cernunnos chuckled. "I know someone else equally as stubborn."
She shook her head. "Bah, if I hadn't interfered, it would be another hundred years before your return."
He laid his hands gently on his lover's shoulders. "She is
your
avatar, my love, the one you have chosen this turn of the wheel to become your representative in the flesh."
She snuggled back into his arms. "Precisely, so now that I've gotten her to a place where she has no choice but to speak to him, perhaps the stubborn woman will finally do what her heart is telling her to, instead of letting her head talk her out of it."
Cernunnos pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let us hope so."
* * * *
Sabrina sat up gingerly, her gaze darting around her surroundings. A cave, the rock walls soaring up around her. So similar to the ones at Llewellyn, but deeper and filled with drawings. Also strangely filled with light, where it should've been pitch black.
A low fire burned in a pit in the corner, but it wasn't nearly big enough to put out the amount of light that filled the space. Where the hell was she? When she saw Patrick leaning up against the rock wall opposite of where she sat, staring at her, a surge of white-hot anger speared through her. "What the hell did you do? Kidnapping is a crime, you know!"
He snorted. "Untwist your knickers, sweets. I didn't kidnap you and I didn't make you fall into whatever the hell it was that we both fell into."
Sabrina stood up, holding onto the wall for balance before glaring in his direction once more. "You're lying!" she hissed.
He closed the distance between them faster than she could blink, looming over her, staring down into her face. Sabrina shrank back against the wall, cursing inwardly for her complete and utter lack of courage. His hand rose and she flinched.
Disgust flitted across his face. "I wouldn't hit you," he muttered, stepping backwards quickly. "I was trying to keep you from falling flat on your face. I never once raised my hands to you, why would you think I'd do so now?"
She straightened, her hands smoothing nervously over her skirt. "Sorry," she mumbled, forcing herself to look upwards, to meet his gaze. "I don't think you'd hit me, I'm just really, really freaked out right now.
He shrugged. "If I wanted to kidnap you, Sabrina, I certainly wouldn't have taken you to a dank, cold barrow. There's nothing down here but rocks and dirt."
"Then what happened?" Sabrina asked, biting on her lip as she gazed around the space.
Patrick followed her gaze and sighed, raking his hand through his dark hair. "I don't know. One minute I was talking to you and the next, we're down here and you were out cold."
"How long?"
His gaze returned to her face. "A few minutes, nothing serious."
Sabrina nodded and slid past him, walking over to what appeared to be a break in the barrow wall. She walked purposely towards it, rebounding hard off of what looked like air, but felt like solid stone, stumbling and nearly falling to the floor.
Patrick leapt towards her, grabbing her elbow to keep her upright. She shook his hand off and approached the opening again, lifting her fists and pounding on the invisible barrier.
"You're going to hurt yourself, no one can see us," Patrick said, shaking his head
Sabrina turned around, glaring. "And how the hell do you know what anyone can see and what they can't?"