He loosened my ties, not enough for me to pull free, but just enough that I could feel the return of circulation.
“Please let me go,” I begged him. “I won’t tell anyone what you did. I promise.”
He shook his head as he stood up, “I can’t do that, but this isn’t anything against you personally.”
How can kidnapping me and tying me to a chair not be personal?
Taking a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, he lit one and leaned back against the barn wall to enjoy his smile.
“I swear,” he said. “I am just using you to lure the devils out. Our quarrel is with them, not you.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you hate them so much?”
He kicked at the black plastic bucket near his feet; it flipped across the ground a few times before landing upside down. Walking over, he crushed out his cigarette and sat down on the bucket.
“The Tuatha De Danann ruled Ireland when my ancestors came to the island,” he said. “No one knows their true origins, but they are called dei terreni, or God’s of Earth.”
God’s of earth?
He shook his head and frowned, “They weren’t content to keep to their own unnatural ways, no, they would come in a mist and steal the sons and daughters of the villages, leaving the families to grieve.”
“They kidnapped children?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes, the disgusting creatures came through town in a fog and then took them as their mates. So, along came my ancestors, the sons of Mil, went to war against them, and drove them away so that Ireland could be ruled by man.”
“But that was centuries ago.”
He smiled, “It was, but now every generation selects the best man of Milean line to protect Ireland and the world from these Devils should they appear again.”
“And that’s why you’re doing all of this?” I asked. “Because you think you’re some sort of self-appointed world savior?”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “It’s a simple duty. I promise, your part will be over soon.”
I shook my head, “But no one knows that you took me.”
“Trust me, they know. They still have some among them that know the things that are not spoken.”
He said nothing else. He stood, kicked the bucket away, and walked past me to the barn door. I heard it open and shut, and then there was only silence.
Oh Kieran.... Please stay away...
Chapter 19
The day passed into afternoon, the shadows grew longer across the dirt floor as the light between the wooden barn slats took on that hazy almost evening glow.
In another life, one that seemed so long ago, this was the time of day when Grandma and I would be finishing dinner and moving out to the porch for the evening. Could it really be just a few weeks ago?
I dozed off and on, slipping into that nowhere place were none of this mattered and the Tuatha De Danann didn’t even exist. It was a strange, deep sleep that made me wonder if it was really sleep or I was losing consciousness again.
Part of me wanted to care, to fight it, but I just couldn’t make myself. I just hoped that Kieran and his family were far away by now and somewhere safe.
In my time awake, I was aware of the miserable heat in the barn. My skin was sticky with sweat, making the scratches from the rope burn and sting. Even the air was hot, scorching my nose with the smell of wood and straw.
It will all be over soon...
I licked my lips. They were dry and cracked. I could feel them pulling tight over my teeth. I was thirsty, more thirsty than I could ever remember being in my life.
Just outside the barn, I could hear my captors talking to each other and even laughing now and then. As if to torture me, every once in a while I would hear the hiss and pop of them opening a can of soda or beer.
How long before they just gave up and turned me loose? I wanted to believe that they would really let me go and not just kill me and leave me to be found by someone months from now.
I tried to push that picture out of my mind. It really didn’t matter. I was going to die of thirst long before they would have the chance to kill me.
I hung my head and tried to think of something, anything, other than how delicious an ice cold drink of water would be at the moment.
As I sat there, picturing a crystal-clear stream in some perfect wilderness like Alaska, and lone butterfly fluttered to rest on my leg. I watched it gently fan it swings back and forth, balancing perfectly on the frayed string from a hole in my jeans.
This can’t be happening...
My heart started pounding wildly against the walls of my chest. I looked down at the tiny creature, but I didn’t want to believe it.
No... No... It’s a trap!
I wanted to cry out in protest, but before I could utter a sound there was a commotion outside. I was too terrified at first to even scream. There was shouting from every direction, loud and frantic. It was too distorted to make sense out of the words, but there was no mistaking the note of panic.
It seemed like only moments later gunfire broke out. Even from inside the barn, there was something about the cracking shots that made me think of the rifle shots during deer season.
I pulled at my ropes as the butterfly flew up toward the hay loft. I had to get free. I had to warn Kieran to stay away.
“No!” I screamed, the word staring at my parched throat. “It’s a trap! Go away!”
My scream seemed to have no effect. I could hear the pounding feet of people running about; there was more shouting, and even more gunshots.
Suddenly, someone opened and closed the barn door. I stretched my neck trying to see behind myself.
“Who is it?” I demanded, “Who’s there?”
Someone was pulling at my ropes, jerking at the knots roughly.
Megan’s voice came from behind me, “Hold still.”
“No, you have to go,” I begged. “It’s a trap! They want to kill all of you.”
My ropes fell away and Megan helped me to my feet. I hadn’t noticed until then the tingling numbness going down my legs again.
“Are you all right?” She asked as she studied me, “Did they compromise you?”
I shook my head and feebly tried to push her way, “No! Aren’t you listening to me? They want to kill you!”
“It’s okay. Come on; let’s get you out of here.”
I couldn’t understand why she was so calm, but I tried to follow her out of the barn. I only made a few steps before my weakened legs made me stumble and fall.
“Go,” I told her. “Get away while you can.”
Megan came back and pulled me to my feet, “Don’t be ridiculous. Kieran would never forgive me if I left you here.”
She threw my arm across her shoulders and half carried me to the door as if I were nothing more than a doll.
At the door we stopped, she held a finger to her lips as she listened.
The gunfire had stopped. There were no voices to be heard and no hint of movement outside.
I was just about to ask her what we should do next when she opened the door and pulled me outside. I couldn’t see anything at first; even the fading evening light was too intense and bright.
Megan pulled me down so that we were crouched against the side of the barn. I could feel the rough wood on my back through the thin material of my shirt as I tried to make myself as small as possible.
I blinked again and again, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. Slowly things went from being one big white blur to a colorful blur that began bit by bit to take shape.
Blinking a few more times, I began to make out a shape on the ground right in front of us. I blinked again and the body of the one that the older one called Adam lay directly in front of us.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him or his open dead eyes staring back at me. He was a real, honest to God, dead body laying only feet from me and looking right at me.
How did this become part of my life...? Dead bodies...
Megan pulled me to my feet again, walking me around the corpse as if he were nothing more than a rock in her path. She didn’t even look down at him as we started out across the clearing for the truck I didn’t recognize.
We made it about halfway when I actually bothered to look around. It seemed we were in the middle of the woods, probably some forgotten part of the local farm.
As we move forward, I could see the other side of the barn where I had been kept and there in the dirt, another of my captors dead and unmoving.
What the hell went on out here?
Megan pulled me along, not allowing me to pause and look back at the bodies.
“I got her!” She called out as she dragged me along toward the truck.
From around the side of the truck came Alana, opening the door for us as she looked from side to side. She rushed forward to help Megan haul me the final few yards.
“Are you okay?” She asked as she looked into my bruised and battered face.
I nodded, unable to answer her in words that would make any sense.
Kieran stepped out of the woods very near the truck, sweat dampening his skin and making this tee shirt cling to his body.
“We lost the other one,” he panted as he moved toward us. “We chased the last one into the woods, but he got away.”
His eyes met mine and I saw the flash of horror crossed his face at the sight of my battered appearance.
“Oh my God Harmony,” he choked. “I am so sorry.”
I could feel the tears on my cheeks, burning and stinging the open cuts on my face. I didn’t care. All that mattered was the Kieran was alive.
He’s there... He’s there and he’s okay...
Even though it was pointless, after all, I was barely standing on my own feet, I tried to move faster. I wanted to be next to him, to be able to touch him and make sure that he was in fact real.
As we got closer, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked back over my shoulder just as we reached the truck.
There, coming around the corner of the barn, was Alec’s uncle. I saw him raise his rifle and take aim.
It happened in slow motion. I saw him squinting against the riffle barrel and I turned back to follow his line of sight to see where it was that he was aiming.
Kieran...
I pulled free of Megan and Alana, staggering as I ran toward Kieran.
No! No!
I heard the gunfire, the sound of the shot echoing against the trees. There was a sudden pain that tore through my shoulder. The force of it threw me against Kieran, but before he could grab me, I fell to the ground at his feet.
Lying in the dirt, I could see Alec’s uncle raising his rifle to take another shot. I wanted to scream, but then suddenly there were hands clutching him from behind, his head turned at an odd angle, and he fell dead. Niall stepped over him and rushed toward us.
Kieran knelt down beside me, “Harmony, you’ll be okay, I promise.”
I lost sight of Niall and the dead man as someone rolled me over onto my back. I heard someone screaming and was surprised to realize that that someone was me.
“The bullet didn’t go all the way through,” Megan said as she helped ease me over onto my side. “We have to get it out and get the blood to stop.”
I felt a hand on my back near the wound. The familiarity of the touch let me know but it was Kieran.
Kieran is here...everything is going to be okay...
“This is going to hurt,” he said softly, sounding like he was in even more agony than me. “But it will be over soon, I promise.”
What happened next was a blur. I felt his hand on my back and at first the pain subsided, then somewhere deep inside came another burning sort of pain.
I was screaming again, begging him to stop. I could feel the bullet turning inside my body and coming back out of the original wound as if being pulled by an invisible magnet.
“Stop! Oh please stop!” I cried, “You’re killing me!”
The bullet continued to twist and turn its way out of my body, breaking back through the skin. As it came back through the wound, the world went black. The last thing that I remembered was the feeling of Kieran’s lips on my cheek.
Chapter 20
I was falling, floating through the blackness, with images fading in and out.
I saw Kieran’s face when I was shot, distorted and frozen in a silent scream. He dissolved as I fell forward, looking up at Alec’s helpless expression right before his relatives took me away, and then everything twisted and turned and I saw myself making love to Kieran. Suddenly the vision of us broke apart and became butterflies that fluttered all around until I was losing my balance and falling off a ladder. I fell into a dark room, pitch black with no window, and grandma was ordering me to lock the door.
And then I was all alone. Alone and forgotten in the darkness.
I jolted myself awake and looked around wildly. I was safe in my own bed with the sun coming through the open window, making me hot even with just a sheet covering.
I tried to sit up, but my body ached in protest and the room began to spin. I fell back weakly against the pillows. I closed my eyes and tried not to vomit.
“Lay still,” I heard Kieran say.
Opening my eyes slowly, I saw him sitting on the edge of the bed. My heart thumped loudly as he reached out and smoothed my hair back.
He’s here...He’s touching me...I must be alive...
“You lost a lot of blood,” he said. “It’s made you weak.”
I reached my hand over and touched my shoulder, trying to feel my back. I couldn’t feel any wound, but there was a dull throb of pain deep inside.
“Did I really get shot?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kieran whispered as he lowered his head. “I am so sorry.”
They shot me... They really shot me...
“It’s not your fault,” I said. I doubted that any of this would ever seem real or make sense to me. What good would it do to assign blame? “Where is everyone?”
Kieran went into the bathroom and brought me back a glass of water. He lifted my head so that I could drink.
“Niall and the girls are back where we found you taking care of things.”
A chill ran up my spine as I realized that the “things” they were taking care of were the bodies of my captors.
“Won’t someone find... Them eventually?” I asked, hating the idea of some poor farmer or hunter coming across the bones months from now.
“The less you know about that the better.”
I tried not to cringe away as he took my hands; after all, he saved my life. Those men were going to kill all of us.
Kieran lowered his face and kissed my hands, “You gave me a good scare. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we hadn’t reached you in time.”
“How did do you know where to find me?” I asked. “And please don’t say that it was magic.”
“Nothing of the sort,” he said with a wink and a quick smile. “That boy that works for you came and told us what happened and where they were taking you.”
“Alec did all of that? But he led them to me. What if that was part of the plan?”
“It wasn’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Now that would be magic,” he said. “I can always tell when someone is lying to me.”
As weak as I was, I still had to smile. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but I loved the sound of his voice.
“So he was supposedly innocent and all of this?” I asked.
Kieran shrugged, “His uncle already knew about you and me. I think you just got caught up in the middle.”
“It didn’t seem that way to me.”
“Well love, family can be a strong thing and he was outnumbered when they came after you.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to forgive him. I was still angry that he didn’t do more to stop it all from happening to start.
Kieran kissed my hands again, “Let’s not talk anymore
. You need your rest.”
I clutched at his hands and fought to keep my eyes open, “Will you lay with me?”
I expected him to say no and disappear again, but he lay down beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Kieran?” I whispered as I rested my head on his chest.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?” He asked as he kissed the top of my head.
“For coming back.”
“My love, I will always come back for you.”
My eyes grew heavy and I knew that soon I would be asleep. I also knew that when I woke up, more than likely, he would be gone.
* * * *
I awoke the next morning alone. Even before I sat up in bed, I knew Kieran was gone.
Throwing back the sheets, I went to get up, but a sheet of paper fell off my night table and fluttered to the floor. I reached down and picked it up, recognizing the handwriting immediately.
Harmony,
I cannot imagine anything more difficult than leaving you behind. It was everything I could do not to carry you off while you slept, but I shall respect your wishes...For now.
Downstairs, on your kitchen table, I have left enough money for you to pay your debts.
Megan was right; everyone deserves happiness...Even if I have to wait for it. I will come back for you and when I do, I won’t take no for an answer.
All my love,
Kieran
I folded the paper and put it in my night table drawer. I knew without a doubt that Kieran would return for me...And that when he did, I would go without question.
~*~
Also Available from Dana Michelle Burnett
Far Away (Gypsy Fairy Tale Book Two) http://amzn.com/B00ESSHHJC
Are you ready for the fairy tale to continue?
I heard the sliding action of the gun as he chambered a round. The rest of the group raised their weapons and took aim.
I closed my eyes. I knew there was no magic to save me this time. This was it. This was the end. It was all for nothing...It didn't matter how hard I tried...It didn't matter...It was over...
Faery Realms: Ten Magical Titles: Multi-Author Bundle of Novels & Novellas Page 112
