Tell No Lies

Hours Until Sunset

"Come on! Kill him or I'll do it," Roisin shouted.

To make her point, Cathal groaned in agony, obviously from her grip on him. He looked as though he was in serious pain, his normally smug look long gone as his dark eyes roved around frantically, almost as though he was looking for some sort of help.

The shadows that had cut them off from the rest of the group were long gone, now much lighter as they hovered around his body. He was weakened, that was easy to see. Paul wondered what had happened when they were stuck in the tornado of shadows together.

Paul wasn't sure what to do. He had never seen Roisin like this before. This unhinged. Was it a fae thing or a Roisin thing?

Her hair and wings were alight in flames and he could see them dancing around her hands. There was a fierceness in her eyes that he had never been before. Almost as though she was enjoying this.

He chanced a look over at Sean, the stoic fae now with a stern look on his face as he took in the scene. Paul could also sense a bit of confusion and worry in his dark eyes. Almost as though he wasn't sure what to do either. The temperature around them was about the same as a hot summer day, and climbing.

"Roisin, let him go," Sean finally said. Both Cathal and Roisin looked up at him in confusion.

"What?" she asked. "But isn't this what you want?"

"I want him to leave me alone. But not at this cost. At what it's doing to you," Sean said calmly.

Roisin stared at him a few moments and then something switched inside her. She looked down at Cathal and then let him go, backing away from him as she stared down at her hands in momentary shock. Cathal brushed himself off and slowly got to his feet, grimacing.

"You really were never meant for Shadow Court. All this mercy," Cathal said, disdain filling his voice.

Now that it was obvious that Roisin wasn't about to kill him, Cathal had transformed back into his usual arrogant self.

"I don't want the court. I only want to be left in peace," Sean said. He was then suddenly in front of Cathal, gripping his shirt as his shadows swirled around them. "But get this through your head. Leave us alone and we won't have any problems. Try something like this again, I won't hesitate to kill you." He glanced over at Roisin and then back at Cathal. "Or I'll let her do it."

Cathal swallowed and nodded quickly. Sean shoved him away and Cathal looked around the clearing. He snapped his fingers and then he and his guard disappeared into the trees, some of them carrying others, though Paul wasn't sure if they were just injured or dead. To be honest, he had been so desperate to get to Roisin in the fight, that he wasn't sure what the casualties were on either side.

As soon as the Shadow Court was gone, Paul rushed over and took Roisin in his arms, holding her tightly.

"Thank god you're okay," he said, kissing her head. "When I couldn't see you - I thought the worst."

"Yea, I'm fine," Roisin said, though she still sounded a bit dazed.

Paul stepped back and looked at Roisin. She had some scratches and bruises, but seemed more shaken than anything. For a moment, Paul was back in the moment when he saw Roisin cut off from everyone. He had tried to break through, as had Sean, but neither had any luck. And they couldn't see or hear anything that went on inside. He thought he would collapse in relief when the shadows broke down and he saw Roisin on top of Cathal.

And then he had seen the look in her eyes and he wasn't so sure.

"What was that?" he asked. She shook her head and shrugged.