Love's Fury (Immortal Ireland Book 2)

by Kristen Cobb

  “Why would anyone bother using Conri to control me if I no longer care about him?”

  “You really are trying to protect him.” The sad tone of Will’s voice told her he finally understood.

  Looking out at the river rather than at her friend seemed the wiser course. She cried enough tears lately to last a lifetime. Will’s pity would not help in that regard. She knew it was a sad situation. “Yes, so you cannot say a word to him about this.”

  “There must be another way. You said the two of you could bond giving him your powers. Maybe you could talk to him…”

  She shook her head in answer before he even finished the question. “No. I promised never to bring it up again. It hurt him deeply the first time I suggested it. I will not break that promise.”

  “Then we will guard him. You, Ronan, and I together can…”

  Nessa shook her head again.

  “Why is that not an option?” Will’s frustration very nearly matched her own.

  “He would never allow us to guard him every moment of every day. He would figure it out and demand we stop. Ronan is going to stay and help keep an eye on him, at least for the first hundred years or so.” That actually brought a small smile to her face. Ronan would be good for Conri.

  “And what about you? How long can you pretend to be sharing Rory’s bed? Eventually he will tire of the game or die. Then what? You will never see Conri again. What if someone out there does not believe you stopped loving him? They might think it is worth their while to try and use him against you. Would it not be better to stay with him, remaining close in case he needs you?” Will apparently thought he came up with a way to talk her out of it.

  Fortunately she had that scenario covered now too. “I will be with him, as the hawk. I can pretend to leave Rory after Conor’s execution, disappearing from their lives forever. Nessa will leave but the hawk will remain. No one need ever know I am still with him, well, apart from Ronan, Rory, and now you. Conri has already accepted the animal’s presence in his life. He has no idea I am the hawk because he believes I am spending my nights in Rory’s bed. I can remain close and watch over him without anyone even realizing I still care.”

  When Will did not immediately respond Nessa turned to look at him. He was staring at her just as Rory had when she revealed her plan to remain with Conri as the hawk. They both thought she’d gone a bit mad.

  “Let me see if I understand this correctly. You are planning to turn into a hawk, permanently, to stay with your husband who will believe you have deserted him. Permanently being a very important word here. The two of you are immortal. The rest of his life could be a very long time. Are you seriously telling me that you intend to follow the man around as a bird for the rest of his life?” Will stopped walking and stood in front of her, attempting to block her path forward.

  “Yes.” She stepped around him and continued walking. It took a moment before he caught up, no doubt staring at her in stupefied horror.

  “He will expect the bird to die at some point. What then?” Will stood in front of her again.

  Nessa sighed in frustration, shooting him a look that conveyed her aggravation with his persistent attempts to discredit her plan. “I have not thought that far ahead. Maybe another bird will befriend him. I will think of something. Apparently I can even make myself invisible, although I do not quite know how to do it yet. I also have no idea how long I would be able to maintain that.” She shook her head, waving a hand in dismissal. “The point being I have options.” Nessa walked over to a nearby patch of grass and sat down, away from the wet mossy ground.

  Will followed, sitting down next to her. “I hate what you are doing but I understand why you are doing it.”

  “So you will keep my secret?” One more ally in her campaign to protect Conri.

  “Yes, I will keep your secret.”

  They sat quietly after that, each with their own thoughts. Thankfully Will made no move to comfort her. It would have been her undoing. A quiet afternoon with a friend was exactly what she needed.

  ETAIN APPARENTLY DECIDED to force the issue next. Nessa sat at the table in Rory’s room attempting to have a quiet dinner alone with him. The afternoon with Will had been relaxing and exhausting all at the same time. She felt completely spent from having to go through the entire situation with him, tired of thinking about it. The only thing left to do now was learn to live with it. That is where she intended to focus all of her energy.

  Allister stood in the doorway waiting for instructions from Rory. Etain announced her intention to remain at the bottom of the stairwell leading to Rory’s tower until they agreed to see her. The guards had no idea what to do about a woman sitting quietly at the bottom of the stairwell.

  “Send her up.” Rory did not sound excited by the prospect.

  “I do not wish to see her. I cannot do this again. Not today.” Of course Allister had already left and closed the door by the time she finished making the statement, Rory’s opinion being the only one that mattered in this instance.

  “Why not get it over with and talk to her. She will not give up and go away if that is what you are waiting for.”

  “What exactly am I supposed to say? Sorry I broke your son’s heart or maybe the ever popular sorry I am bed bouncing with your son’s best friend.” Pushing the plate of food away she sent him an angry glare for forcing her into this situation.

  “Do not look at me like that. This is for your own good. Face her and get it over with.”

  The door opened and Etain walked in, her displeasure at the intimate scene obvious. If there were any way to crawl under a piece of furniture and hide with any degree of dignity she would do so. Conri’s mother had every right to look upon her as the lowest form of humanity but it still stung.

  Rory stood up, motioning toward his chair. “Please, take my seat. I will leave you two alone to talk.”

  Etain made no move toward the chair. “No, you need to hear this as well.”

  Etain sat down on the storage trunk at the end of the bed, waiting until Rory was seated again before speaking. “After what the two of you have done I am not certain this will do any good but there is no one else he will listen to. There is something wrong with my son. He goes to Declan’s room every night after the evening meal and tortures him. My son has barred Glenna from Declan’s chamber but she managed a glimpse inside last night as Conri entered. Glenna tells me Declan is covered with dried blood, still chained and not moving at all. Arguably I have not known my son long but this does not seem like sane behavior to me. My father always told me those without the ability to change form become violent but this cannot possibly be normal. I demand that you do something. Our relationship has not yet reached a point where he will listen to me.”

  She expected Etain to rant and rave about what horrible people they were, not demand they help her son. Nessa looked to Rory for assistance.

  “He is more likely to punch me in the face than take orders from me at this point and I am not yet inclined to interfere with his choice of punishment for Declan. He is entitled to vent a bit of anger before I intervene.” Rory looked at her as he spoke rather than Etain, effectively passing responsibility for the final decision into her hands.

  To a point she agreed with Etain but after everything Conri had been through she could not justify taking anything else away from him. At the same time they could not allow him to torment Declan indefinitely.

  Gathering her courage to look directly at Etain she said the only thing she could. “It is his right. If he is unable to stop on his own and kill Declan I will intervene.”

  “His right? My son has turned into a monster and all you can say is it is his right.” Etain stood up to leave. “Perhaps my father was right to cast him out.”

  Nessa strode quickly across the room, pushing Etain back down onto the trunk. She could feel her eyes beginning to glow as the anger swelled, energy flooding into her body. “Your father is the monster, not Conri. You have no idea what they did to him.
He is a good man. If you cannot see that then perhaps you should return to Knocknashee and stay away from your son. Do not ever call him a monster.”

  The initial fear in Etain’s eyes passed, leaving only sadness. “Then tell me what they did to my son.”

  Nessa struggled to get herself under control using the skills Kaelan taught her in the short time they were together. Slowly releasing the energy anger compelled her to collect she shook her head. “You do not want to know.”

  “Yes, I do. I want to understand what is going on.” Etain grabbed both of her hands. “He does not just scare me now, he terrifies me. I do not want to feel that way about my son.”

  Nessa sat down on the floor in front of Etain, still holding her hands. Crossing her legs she dreaded the telling. It meant reliving it. How much worse must it be for Conri? She knew he was having nightmares. At least once a night he woke, screaming, eyes wide with terror.

  She stared at the dark green quilt covering the bed, going back to the day they rescued Conri, her least favorite place to be. “We found him tied to a tree, naked. They stabbed him repeatedly, probably every day multiple times. There were wounds all over his body. I have never seen anything like it and I have lived a life steeped in violence.”

  She heard Etain’s gasp but did not look up. In her mind she was back at the fort, reliving the moment she first saw him. “Apparently our bodies shut down when dealt a mortal wound. His head hung down. He could not move or speak or even open his eyes. A few of the wounds actually healed but most were infected. The poison from so many festering wounds would have killed him. He was burning from the inside out with fever. I cannot even imagine the amount of pain he endured.”

  Etain’s hands were squeezing hers so hard it bordered on painful. “When you brought him home he seemed fine. How is that possible?”

  “Kaelan and I used our powers to draw the infection from each wound then heal him. Once enough of his wounds were healed he woke. I was forced to inflict more pain to save his life but in the end his body recovered. He is a strong man. Not many would have survived that.” She finally looked up at Etain. “Now do you see why he is torturing Declan before we kill him?” The unwanted tears were welling in her eyes again. Nessa stood up, walking over to the window. Opening the shutters she leaned on the stone sill trying to rein in her emotions. It was nearly dark, her favorite time of day now.

  “What I see is that you still love my son a great deal. So why are you here in the king’s private bedchamber instead of my son’s?” Etain walked up behind her.

  Nessa looked at Rory, still seated at the table next to the window, torn between whether to trust Etain or not.

  “For what it is worth I think you should trust her.”

  Etain watched Rory for a moment, clearly puzzled by his statement.

  “I have already trusted too many people. What if she returns to Knocknashee and tells her father? He hates Conri. Or if she decides to tell Glenna?” Nessa looked Etain in the eye now. “Glenna cannot be trusted any longer. She cares for Declan. There is no telling how she will react toward Conri now.”

  “Whatever it is you have my word that I will not tell anyone.” Etain grasped both of her hands again. “I will protect my son.”

  Nessa continued looking into Etain’s eyes, searching their depths, trying to discern if she truly meant those words. “How do I know you will continue to love your son? Only moments ago you called him a monster.”

  “I did not understand. I thought he had merely been kidnapped and held for a few days. How could I have known?” Etain’s unwavering gaze pleaded with her to believe.

  “Rory and I are not actually together. I need everyone to believe I no longer love your son. Declan will not be the last to try and use Conri to control me. If everyone believes I no longer care about Conri then there is far less chance anyone will ever harm him again because of me. No one can know that I still love him, including Conri.” Nessa watched Etain as she attempted to take it all in.

  “But seeing you here with Rory day after day will…”

  “I would never do that to him. Conor’s execution is in a couple of days. That is the perfect excuse for me to leave Rory.” Glancing back out the window she was elated to see the encroaching darkness.

  “It is also the perfect time for us to take care of the Declan problem.” Rory definitely had their attention now. “I am sending Conri to oversee the transport of the hostages to the execution site. They leave the day after tomorrow.”

  Nessa did not need him to finish that thought. “As soon as Conri leaves I will kill Declan. I want him brought outside. I intend to take his head publicly. I will need four men to transport body parts.”

  “Rather extreme, is it not dear?” Etain appeared a bit taken aback by her plans for Declan.

  “No. I want these people terrified. This is just one more way for me to protect your son.” She did not expect Etain to completely understand. Conri’s mother grew up in a world where violence was supposedly abhorred and avoided at all costs.

  “What if someone does attempt to take him again at some point in the future? What if they are willing to take a chance that you might care?”

  “I am not actually leaving. I have been turning into a hawk every night and sleeping on the tower roof with your son. Believing I am here in this room with Rory he has no idea the hawk is actually me watching over him. Once the execution is over and everyone believes I have left I will remain with him as the hawk.” Glancing outside she noticed darkness had finally descended. Tired of explaining the situation all she wanted to do was sit quietly on the roof with Conri.

  Etain hugged her.

  After an awkward moment Nessa returned the embrace, relieved when Etain pulled away. “Now if you do not mind it is finally dark and I would like to go wait for your son.”

  Etain nodded with tears in her eyes.

  Nessa pulled off her boots, flinging them across the room.

  “Must you throw your things around the room every time, leaving me to clean up?” Rory stared at her boots mildly annoyed.

  Nessa smiled, happy for the first time all day. Lifting her tunic off over her head she flung that across the room as well. It almost reached the trunk. Not bothering to pull off her pants she turned into a hawk. She knew the pants would fall away from the bird’s thin legs the instant she changed form.

  Etain gave her a lift up onto the stone sill. Jumping out the window Nessa threw her wings wide, turning her body into the wind current. The hawk’s enormous wingspan made flying nearly effortless. She was able to soar with the wind rather than having to continuously pump her wings, working against the breeze. Flying around the castle she reached Conri’s tower roof in a matter of moments. Seeing that he was already there a familiar warmth settled within her, a feeling worth hanging onto at any cost, even if it meant spending the rest of her life as a bird.

  10

  Pushing a door open should not be so difficult. In the morning Conor would be taken to the execution site in Athlone. She was allowing Rory to kill Conor without doing a thing to stop it. How could she walk into that room and face him. If she truly wanted Conri to hate her killing Rory would certainly accomplish that. It might even save Conor. Deep down she did not really want Conri to hate her.

  Somewhere along the way Rory became one of her closest friends, holding her hand through some of the worst moments of her life, turning his own life upside down to help her protect Conri simply because she asked it of him. She could never kill him now.

  The guards on either side of Conor’s door ignored her. Her connection to Rory assured they could not stop her from visiting Conor. Slowly pushing the door open she walked into the room.

  Conor sat on the bed, leaning back against the wall. This chamber did not have a window. The only light came from a single candle burning on the bedside table.

  Closing the door Nessa walked over to the bed, sitting down next to him. Sliding her hand under Conor’s she wound her fingers through his. This wa
s her last chance to hold his hand. Two days from now the man seated next to her would exist only as a decomposing corpse, his life extinguished forever.

  “I do not want to die.” Conor continued staring straight ahead at the wall as he spoke the words that broke her heart.

  Tears filled her eyes with great pools of water. More crying. Would it never end? Having no idea what to say she simply squeezed his hand tighter, allowing him to talk.

  “There are so many things I will never get to do. I want to fall in love, like you have with Conri. I want to watch her grow large with my child. I want to be there when he is born and watch him grow.” Conor remained silent for a moment, staring straight ahead, avoiding eye contact. “Knowing when you are going to die is no blessing.”

  Nessa wiped the tears from her face with her free hand. She needed to be strong for Conor. He should not be consoling her. She had so much regret concerning his situation. “I chose Conri over saving you. I could say I am sorry but it would be a lie. Even now when I know your execution is imminent I am choosing him and leaving you to die. Sometimes I think falling in love is nothing more than obsession, not necessarily something to be desired.”

  Conor not only looked at her but actually smiled. “You are in love. I would expect nothing less than complete devotion. You have always been that way. It is one of the things I admire most about you. Never regret that. How does Conri feel about being saved by his wife? He is a proud man. I cannot imagine that going over well.”

  Apparently no one informed Conor about her defection to Rory’s bed. She certainly had no intention of telling him. He did not need to know her life was a complete and utter disaster. Better he die believing her happy and content. Hopefully no one would say anything while they transported him to Athlone. “Things are a bit tense right now. I suggest you stay away from the subject altogether when you see Conri tomorrow. He will be going with you to Athlone.”