Shatter - Sins of the Sidhe (27 page)

“What is it? What did she say?” he urged.

It took Rowan a couple of heartbeats before she was able to relay the words Abaigael had said. Standing up, Devlin spun in a circle to evaluate his surroundings for weak points. “By Danu! We have to do something. How can we save her?” An overwhelming, and all too familiar feeling engulfed the Druid. Once again, his sister was in danger of something he could not control. It was maddening.

Sensing Devlin’s desperation, Rowan gathered her sensibilities and tried to think of a way to save the little girl and all the other souls in perilous danger. “What happens to the souls that are caught, Abaigael? Do they ever return?”

“Aye, some do. But they are nay the same as they once were, my lady.”

Upon asking further questions, Rowan was able to decipher that even if the souls come back, they were mindless, twisted balls of grief and hate. Their forms had faded to shadows and no longer recognized friends… they’d turned into some kind of demon.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

“Can you not leave here?” Rowan asked. Maybe they can take her home, keep her safe at Devlin’s house or something. Put up extra wards? Rowan didn’t know what to do, but felt she had to do something.

“Nay, I canna leave this place. I was given a purpose. I canna leave without seeing my duties complete. I was charged with looking after something. ‘Tis why I’ve waited for my brother to return. ‘Tis a gift!” Abaigael hopped off the log and skip-to-my-loued over to a big tree. Leaves clinging feebly to its branches, shimmering gold, it shined like a beacon. Rowan and Devlin followed in silence.

“Dig it up, Devlin,” the child ordered. “I love presents!” she added to Rowan, all eager herself.

Rowan gave her a sweet smile and then told Devlin he’d have to dig. He sunk his large hands into the earth and started scraping away the dirt and decomposed leaves. Digging, digging, digging, his hands sank further into brown and black earth. He finally touched something soft. Pulling it out, he held up a leather pouch.

Opening it carefully, for not knowing what was inside, Devlin tipped the opening towards his hand and a necklace slid into his palm. It shined bright as a star and was made of the purest silver. The magic in it seemed to have a heartbeat of its own and pulsed in his hands. Upon further examination, Devlin saw the thing was engraved with a picture of the Tree of Life – a Druid symbol, but this felt like much more. Branches and leaves swirled to the heavens and curling down to touch the ground, the bottom of the tree boasted twisted roots weaving and tangled together to stretch up towards the earth. A series of symbols snaked around the rim of the whole thing. Devlin didn’t know what they meant, but was going to ask Adam about it. These were Fae markings, powerful magic, and that usually meant it came with a price.

“Oh shiny! Put it on Devlin!” Abaigael clapped her hands and did a little jump of excitement. Devlin looked at Rowan, he’d heard a whisper, but couldn’t tell if it was coming from Rowan or the winds.

“She’s asking you to put it on,” Rowan confirmed.

Devlin stood and stared at the pulsing work of art. ‘Tis a gamble for sure, but he had to believe his sister would nay trick him. Or maybe someone had tricked her and this was all a trap? Nay, that can’t be. Shaking the thought away, he closed his eyes and hooked the necklace over his head. A new sense of magic fluttered inside him. Like wee birds in a cage. He opened his eyes, and stared at his baby sister.

“By Danu, I see ye! Oh my wee Abby, I see ye standing there!” Shock and amazement washed over his face and knocked him to his knees. “You’re as bonnie as ever, lass. Ye look so much like our mother, I’d nearly forgotten.” Regret filled his eyes but he’d not break away from her face. She was spring rain. A day at the beach. A rainbow after the storm.

“Yes! Yes! Ye see me!! Morrigan said ye would and she was right!” Doing a little jump of delight she bounced around over to where her body was once laid to rest. “I get to leave now,” excited little sprite she was, “I only had to stay long enough to see ye got the gift.”

She looked at Rowan, face a little somber, “Ye must free them, my lady. Free them all. Take care of my brother.” She hopped up onto the rocky crest and looked at Devlin, “Do ye think I’ll have another pet in heaven?”

Tears ran down the man’s face. “Aye lass. Ye’ll have more pets that ye can dream of. I’m sure of it.” He shot her his best smile, and she beamed a matching one back. “I’ll tell Mam about ye. Ye look well, brother. I believe ye found yer match!” She turned her face to the sky and was gone.

Rowan tried to pull herself together while she rubbed Devlin’s back- it was a humbling sight to see such a strong man go to pieces like that. This journey had become something more substantial than she’d ever thought – and not just the part of coming into these woods. Blowing out a puff of air, Rowan walked over to the two rocky graves and kissed them each goodbye.

The ride back was not as rushed as the ride there had been. They didn’t speak much but that was okay. When they arrived at the stables, Devlin helped Rowan off of Cain and he took his time to give the horse a cool down. Proffering an extra bag of oats, two apples, and a bundle of carrots, Rowan laughed while he spoiled his horse. Cain nickered with glee and nudged Devlin his thanks.

“No end of begging?” Ro teased.

He laughed as he brushed the beast and cooed to the horse in Gaelic. Rowan wished she knew was he was saying. All the words he’d said to her in that language sounded beautiful and sweet, but she didn’t have a clue what they were. Devlin walked up to her smelling like horse, leather and woods. He was the earth made into man. Amazing.

“Thank ye, Rowan. Ye gave me more than I could’ve ever dreamed of.”

Well that was nice of him to say, but really she hadn’t done anything. Reading her mind, and the look on her face, he shook his head, “Ye gave me back something I thought was lost to me for good. Ye used your gift to help my baby sister when I couldna do a thing for her. She was able to complete her duty and move on, thanks to ye. That is a great gift, indeed.”

Rowan didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. Going up on her tippy toes, she stretched up and gave the humble man a kiss and left it at that.

They decided to walk back to Adam’s if only to linger a little while longer in a world all their own. Halfway up the hill, a falcon screeched in a tree and dived down. The fierce bird swooped in front of Rowan and landed lightly on Devlin’s shoulder. He made a hissing noise as the falcon’s claws dug deep in his flesh for balance, causing it to sting but he didn’t looked too bothered by it. Tough and solid, that was Devlin.

Rowan froze as she took in the sight. “Oh wow. He’s gorgeous.” Looking at the two of them, she thought they looked like a fierce pair. Both sets of eyes locked on her.

Smiling, Devlin made a shrill of his own, and the bird pushed up into the air. Wings beating hard, the bird soared, dived, and zipped all around the obstacle of trees, branches, and Rowan. The Druid let out another screech and the falcon landed on a branch a few yards ahead, waited for the signal, and with a slight turn of its head, was off again soaring out of sight.

“That was amazing! Where did he go in such a hurry?”

“I thanked him for the performance and sent him to my yard for a wee treat.”

“No chicken this time, huh?”

That made him laugh, “Nay lass. I learned my lesson that day.”

They continued on up the hill and finally reached the garden gates of Adam’s house. There was a lot to discuss among them, but Rowan was a little worried about Brinley. “Devlin, stop.”

Halting at her command, he raised an eyebrow in question.

“I don’t want Brinley to have anything to do with this. We need to send her home.”

Devlin’s head tilted, looking much like the bird did minutes ago, and gave a grunt back in response. He continued through the garden gates and held the door for her to go inside the house.

Breakfast and lunch were over with and dinner would soon be on its way. Ava and Brinley were in the sunroom, Ava giving her a private lesson in how to read tarot cards, and Adam was hunched over a book at his desk as usual. Looking up at their arrival, he’d never been so grateful to have another male in the house in all his days. He clapped his friend’s back and nodded to Rowan. “Glad to see you’ve made up.”

“Aye,” Devlin gave his friend a big toothy smile.

“Och, was the making up that good? I know I’ve never seen a smile like that before on your ugly face.” Adam turned to go back towards his papers.

“Aye, ‘twas wonderful, but that’s not my only reason for smiling. I’ve seen Abby.”

Adam’s face turned to stone – a reflex the Sidhe had when hit with a surprise. “What do you mean?”

Devlin told Adam about taking Rowan to his family’s grave, how Abaigael had waited for him with a gift, and what that gift was. He pulled the necklace out from under his shirt and showed it to a troubled-looking Adam.

“By Danu!” Adam was shocked. The symbols on the necklace were Fae alright, but that didn’t make Adam feel any better about it. Fae can be tricky and corrupt – not much different than humans, but far more ruthless. “You say the Goddess Morrigan left it with her?”

“Aye,” Devlin said while palming the pendant.

“Do you have proof that it was Morrigan herself?” Adam was too suspicious. He knew damn well what Fae were capable of. If something seems too good to be true, then it usually is.

Usually.

“Ye don’t think it’s a trick do ye?” Devlin had practically read Adam’s mind.

“It’s possible, but…” Adam studied the design intently.

Not to refute what the child had said, but how do they know it wasn’t all a terrible ruse? Adam’s pride was bruised thinking that the Goddess would not have left him in charge of such a rare relic. The gift of seeing spirits was not one given lightly. It comes with a terrible price if not used with respect, a price Rowan knew all about.

This was one more thing Adam will have to research more. The necklace had the markings of Fae, but there was something stronger in it too, he could feel it. Adam didn’t like not having all the answers. Being in the dark was not his way. He asked questions and insisted on truths.

Always.

Ava and Brinley came into the room when hearing the commotion.

“What’s up?” Brinley asked.

Adam circled around to his desk once more. “I’ve been reading up on old magics while the two of you were… out. The Wild Hunt is an unruly troop, one that not even the greatest of Sidhes has been able to bring to heel. Many have tried, all to their own destruction. I was hoping to find something in here that we didn’t already know, but I haven’t had much luck.”

Well that sounded all gloomy-doomy. Ominous much?

Rowan walked around to look at the book. There were pictures that took a minute for the eyes to adjust and the brain to comprehend. People screaming, mouths wide open, running for their lives (or souls) as huge beasts were giving chase. Some pictures showed what looked like huge horses, black and fierce with fangs and wicked eyes. Other pictures illustrated a creature that looked like a dragon, but its head was more like a cat, and there were feathers on its breast and scaly legs. Tolkien didn’t hold a candle to whoever wrote this creepy ass book.

Rowan bent forward, studying one of the smaller pictures at the bottom of the page. A small demon, with an unruly mane of hair and large teeth jutting out of its bottom jaw, stared back at her with large eyes black as ink. Rowan busted out in a sweat and the color seeped away from her face. Mouth going dry, she was feeling light-headed all of a sudden and she tapped her figure on the drawing.

“I know him,” she whispered.

Adam must have not heard her right. He thought the wee woman just said she knew the beast in the book. “Come again, my dear?”

Devlin took a step closer to see the image himself. “What is it? Who do ye ken,
a ghrá
?”

Rowan tapped her finger over the image of the small creature again and then looked at Adam for an explanation. A look of confusion and anxiety clouded his eyes and he didn’t move. The Sidhe was scared.

“Who is that?” Rowan could tell Adam knew by the look on his face – it wasn’t a comforting look either.

Adam cleared his throat nervously. “That, my dear Rowan, is the
iompróir báis
– the Death Bringer. He is the one who created the Wild Hunt.”

Why didn’t that sound like a good thing? Certainly the creator would be able to control what they make. Rowan’s hands went on her hips. “He can certainly control the Wild Hunt, right?”

“Nay lass, ‘tis like all powerful magic – it has a mind of its own. You may be able to wield it, control it to a point, but setting it loose, wild magic knows no master and heeds to no call. It is wild, in the truest sense of the word.”

Oh great. Rowan was now six shades of green. “And, why would I be seeing it? This
thing
that made the Wild Hunt and lost control of it?”

“I do not know, my dear. The Fates have weaved a tangled web. I cannot begin to guess what this is about.” Adam not knowing more on the matter made Rowan squeamish. Adam knew everything, why doesn’t he know more about this?

“How many other people have been able to see it?” she asked. There were power in numbers, if other people have seen this thing, then maybe she can ask them for help.