Over and over again I bashed at the unseen Barrier until the rock grew impossibly heavy, my arms exhausted. Sliding to the ground, the green moss beneath my knees cushioning me, I placed both palms on the slick surface, and stared at the ocean.

“You won’t get her back. You do know that, don’t you?”

I turned my head to stare at Luke, his eyes sad. He knew something about where Ashling had been taken; he knew all about the Fomorii.

“Please, she’s my little sister. You know where she is, help me,” I said, my voice cracking, tears pooling in my eyes.

His jaw tightened. “I won’t help you in this, not to get you through the Barrier. Quinn, I’m here to protect you, even if that means from yourself.” He stepped forward, crouched and put a hand on the Barrier, staring out at the ocean. “The depths are beyond dangerous; they will steal your soul if you let them. But the prophecy . . .”

I stared at him, not understanding, confused by what he was saying. His eyebrows furrowed down over those glorious blue eyes.

“I will be guarding you tonight.” His eyes roved up and down my body, a flush of heat following where his gaze touched. “If you have need of me, call out my name and I will come to you.” His voice rippled over my skin, promising more than protection. Skin hunger, the desire to be touched and held, lit within me, shocking me with its intensity.

I swallowed hard. “Why don’t you just stay with me then, if you are supposed to be protecting me?” Brazen, heat filled my face at what it sounded like I was suggesting. “I don’t mean like…” What was I thinking? I was still angry at him, wasn’t I?

“You need time to assimilate this on your own Quinn. No amount of persuasion will make you believe.”

“Believing isn’t an issue Luke. I believe this is happening, I just don’t understand it,” I said.

His hand was still resting on the Barrier. He tapped it. “This is a Barrier put up by the Fomorii. You won’t be able to get through, no matter how you try,” he said.

He plucked a fern and started to peel it. “I don’t want you to hate me Quinn, so what I share with you now is something I have not told many people. But I want you to understand why I stopped you.”

I frowned and leaned against the invisible Barrier. “I’m listening. It’d better be damn good too.”

Luke let out a sigh and scrubbed his hands through his hair, the ends spiking up. He looked very young at that moment and a small piece of my heart melted.

“I had a younger brother. He was…” Luke looked up, his eyes going distant, a smile tripping along his lips. “My best friend.”