Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (25 page)

Glances between the brothers told that none
of them liked what that sounded like when Kerry stepped into view,
his eyes flashing in a way that said he’d heard everything

“I could forgive your
hatred of our mother if there had been some reasonable effort
behind it, but you hated her for petty jealously that she took Da
away from you and replaced you in the manor,” he spoke quietly
while motioning Mac and the rest to stay in place as he crossed
closer.

“What I will never forgive
you for is the knowing that you not only tore my family apart for
your own reasons, but you put hands on my brother, you used magic
to hurt your own grandson!” Kerry saw her eyes slit and knew the
risks but his anger was too huge.

Kathleen rolled her eyes.
“Kerry, let all that go and accept this is a better path,” she
urged, shrugging. “Besides, for all your powers you still couldn’t
defeat me.”

“I know,” he agreed,
stepping back slightly to look toward the gate. “I wasn’t planning
on it, Grandmother. I was planning on leaving that up to
her.”

Confused, Kathleen followed
her eldest grandson’s extended arm to look at the approaching,
stooped and cloaked figure and she began laughing. “Darling boys,
you four would have more ability to stop me from killing this boy
than calling in some crone.”

Lightning flashed in the
distance as Kerry chuckled, feeling the power build as this new
arrival got closer. “No, not a crone,” he smiled easily as he held
out a hand that was accepted.

It was when the lightning
flashed on the jade ring that Kathleen stepped back. Doubts turning
to concern as the cloak was tossed back to reveal a rather tall,
striking older woman who showed some age marks as she didn’t see
the need to hide her wrinkles, long flowing reddish blond hair and
sharp green eyes that flashed with power and restrained
temper.

“Kathleen Murphy
Fitzgerald, I believe you should recall our maternal grandmother
Fiona Kerrigan.” Kerry saw the fear for a moment. “She’s less than
pleased.”

Fiona stared hard at the
opposing woman before moving easily and without aid to kneel next
to Roarke, who had curled into a tight ball.

“You will never raise a
hand to one of my grandsons again, Kathleen,” she spoke with a
distinct accent while softly running a hand over her grandson’s
hair. “You were spiteful and bitter as a girl and you haven’t
changed, only grown more so, but to take that hatred out on mere
lads is beyond even you.”

As she stood to confront
her former childhood friend, Roarke seemed to grow still and she
spoke without looking. “Ryan, stay by your brother. Mac, the pretty
red-haired girl you brought with you is about to get in over her
head as Kathleen’s canceling of the protection spells has allowed
Sebastian access to the manor. Both she and the child are in
danger.”

“What?” Mac blinked and
quickly sought to get an image from Maggie but found himself
blocked. “Damn. Kerry?”

Kerry was hesitant to break
them up farther until Fiona shook her head. “You and Ian go with
Mac back to the house, lad,” she replied easily. “I’ll help Ryan
with your brother as soon as I deal with this.”

“Go,” Ryan jerked his head,
seeing the concern in Mac, then just had to put in his usual
sarcastic remark. “The brat would never forgive us if anything
happened to Jessica.”

“Be careful and use your
bleedin’ head for once, Ry,” Kerry urged, seeing that Ian had
already broke into a run with Mac close behind. “Gram?”

Fiona waved his concern off
as she looked at the other woman. “I knew from day one you despised
Brenna, but I never thought your hatred would allow you to do
what’s been done.”

“My power is still more,”
Kathleen started to sneer but stopped when the spell
died.

“You’ve kept your strength
and youth by using the same methods as that devil,” Fiona
countered, shaking her head sadly. “You tried to kill Roarke at
birth to assure your power base and that’s why you want him dead
more than the others because Roarke, you believe, inherited that
which grants the Fitzgerald clan long life and power, but all five
of the boys have that,” she replied, seeing the truth start to dawn
on the woman. “Leave this place and never threaten these lads
again, Kathleen, or next we meet I will remind you of why you
shouldn’t have caused harm to my kin.”

Kathleen knew enough to
know when things had turned against her and backed away, but not
without a final word. “You haven’t won, Fi,” she said. “It takes
five to form the Circle and if Roarke wants to save the girl he’ll
have to sacrifice his life, so either way, I win.”

“Don’t be too quick to
claim victory,” Fiona Kerrigan murmured as the other woman slowly
vanished, allowing her to focus on her two grandsons. “Now, let’s
see about this.”

Ryan had only been paying
partial attention to the near altercation between his grandmothers
since most of his attention had centered on his younger
brother.

He had been quick to kneel next to him once
Fiona had eased the spell but was hesitant to touch him fully since
he could both see and feel the emotions he had been dealing
with.

While the spell vanished,
Roarke still fought both the visions and memories of his
past.

“Hush now, lad,” Fiona
Kerrigan had been a hereditary witch since birth and had passed
those powers to her daughter, and therefore a part of her grandsons
abilities were also from her.

A vibrant, healthy woman in
her late sixties, she still flowed with energy and power. Even
though she was quite happy being settled in Galway with her husband
and spoiling her other grandchildren, it wasn’t said she still
didn’t practice the Craft.

Easily kneeling on the grass next to the
boys, she gently touched Roarke’s forehead as he relived his
youth.

“He was almost at peace
with himself again and us,” Ryan muttered, hating the pain he heard
in the soft whimpers of his brother. “Can’t you stop
this?”

Fiona heard the unspoken
pain and guilt in Ryan’s tone and lightly touched his face as she
once had done. “You can stop what he’s feeling, my darling boy,”
she replied, seeing his look, and seeing so much of her own sweet
Brenna in these two boys even though they resembled her
son-in-law.

“Kerry or Mac or, hell even
Ian, maybe, but he’d never let me,” Ryan scoffed, nearly cringing
under those sharp eyes. “We’re not close, Gram.”

“Which is why you hover
when he’s been sleeping or you hurt when he hurts?” Fiona shook her
head. “Ryan, your Mum always said you were her most stubborn child
and she was right, but it’s time to get past this and start to
heal, for the both of you.”

Ryan looked at the older
woman then slowly, hesitantly, let his fingers touch his brother’s
face and forced his own temper down when he felt the
tears.

It had never been a secret
that out of the five brothers, Ryan and Roarke had always had the
strongest rivalry and it was hard after all the years, the sarcasm
and bitterness between them to let go, but as Ryan knew, he made
damn sure usually to know what his brother was into.

“Damn,” he whispered,
closing his eyes before reaching down to do the one thing he’d done
only once in their lives.

He had been nine and Roarke
seven the time he had dared his little brother to climb the apple
tree in the back of their house even though he knew their mother
had forbidden it since his brother had never been as strong
then.

Ryan had climbed that tree
all the time and knew the best branches to go up so he’d done so
easily and was high up when he dared his brother to do the same.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to, but not counting on him getting
halfway up before a branch he knew was weak did break and Roarke
fell to the ground.

To this day at times, he
could recall hearing his brother’s shout as he fell and landed,
breaking his arm and three ribs. Ryan also recalled getting back to
the ground himself quickly while screaming for his parents then
holding his brother still in his arms so he wouldn’t hurt
anymore.

“Brenna told her father and
me later that when she and Toryn got outside you were holding your
little brother and rocking as she often did,” Fiona spoke as if
knowing what her grandson was thinking. “You were always the one
who needed to hide the emotions away, but you did it more with
Roarke.”

Ryan sighed, feeling his
brother go rigid as he held him but ignored it to focus on him.
“It’s okay, brat. Push past it and come back,” he spoke firmly but
knew when his brother tried to curl tighter that Kathleen
Fitzgerald’s spell had done more damage than they
thought.

Muttering under his breath,
Ryan reached for both the obsidian stone and the Trinity medallion
his brother wore, and closed his fingers tight around them while
keeping his hand closed over Roarke’s hand.

“C’mon, Roarke, open your
eyes and listen to me.” He tightened his grip on the boy and
silently wondered how this had landed on him.

Roarke’s labored breathing had started to
level off but his body was still rigid and his eyes closed
tightly.

Not knowing what to say to make this better
or even if any of them even could, Ryan just held his brother
tighter and said the only thing he could think of.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered,
unaware of opening powers he rarely used as he recalled what it had
been like that day in the garden. “None of us can take it away or
say we know what it feels like. Only Jess can say that to some
extent but what you’re seeing now isn’t real, Roarke. It’s just
some bitter old woman’s attempt at hurting you and I won’t let that
happen to you or us.”

Letting the shields down,
Ryan held his brother tighter and took the waves of emotion and
pain into himself and off his brother. Unlike the little bits that
Kerry or even Mac may have picked up on earlier, Ryan received the
full versions and fought down his temper and own rolling
stomach.

“Easy does it, lad,” Fiona
knew the dangers of this act for Ryan since he had rarely done this
like Kerry or Mac had.

“I’m tired of seeing him
scared,” he gritted, feeling the pain take a toll but also feeling
his brother’s body relaxing, but hearing the soft hidden sobs of a
child. “You’re still safe, brat. Just let it go. I’m
here.”

Roarke’s mind and body
slowly felt the attacks easing but was confused for a short while
until finally his tired, worn thoughts recognized his brother’s
voice even though it was softer than he normally used.

As if waking from a stabbing nightmare, his
body jerked upright and felt the strong arms holding him but
instead of fighting as he had trained himself to do since
childhood, Roarke’s arms slowly, lightly, tentatively slid around
to hold on; just needing that connection for a time.

“God, Ry. It still hurts,”
he finally spoke, voice quiet and fighting to bury the sobs that
wanted to escape, though he knew his brother was never going to let
him live this down. “Still makes me want to die.”

Eyes sharpening, Ryan
remembered what Kerry had warned about using his head before
speaking and bit his tongue. “No you don’t because you’re not a
coward,” he did finally say. “Let it out, Roarke, but if you ever
tell the others I did this I will hurt you, brat.”

Shifting his eyes to lock
on his older brother’s, Roarke didn’t see the sarcasm to match the
tone. He saw the pain and concern in them and felt the shame burn
that, out of all of them, Ryan knew it all. “I never wanted you
to…” he started to push back and was surprised when Ryan’s grip
tightened.

“It wasn’t your fault and
we’ll cope with it after all this is settled,” Ryan told him,
holding his eyes and letting his brother make the next
step.

Realizing what his brother
was offering made Roarke blink but before he could take that step
something else hit him. “Jessica,” he whispered, frowning. “Ry,
what’s happening?”

“Sebastian’s in the house,
Roarke,” his brother replied slowly, knowing he wasn’t ready to
face this yet. “Kathleen’s spell that broke the barriers allowed
him access and he’s…”

“He’ll go after her to get
to me,” Roarke tried to stand quickly but fell back then felt a
gentle hand on his shoulder. “Who?!”

Fiona knew that this hadn’t
been fully settled between the brothers but a gap had been closed.
Now it was time to deal with the first hurdle. “Sebastian will
barter the child’s life for your own, lad.”

Staring at the older woman,
Roarke struggled for a moment then seemed to relax as he allowed
Ryan to help him stand. “Gram.”

“Ah, you two were always
the charmers,” Fiona reached up to lightly pat his cheek and in
doing so took the rest of the pain and angst. “Does an old Irish
woman’s heart good to see her five favorite grandsons in one place
for a change. It takes too many seeing stones to keep track of just
you two.”

“Old woman my butt, bet you
could still handle us,” Ryan rolled his eyes, finally having the
chance to lightly kiss her cheek.

“Oh, that goes without
saying, my lad,” she smiled then grew serious as she centered on
Roarke. “You’re his target. What will you wager?”