Celtic Spirit (Celtic Storm Series Book 4)

by Ria Cantrell

  “And why would she need to summon you if she was a guardian herself?”

  “I am no’ a Guardian, Lass. I am just a mortal woman. Just a verra’ old woman.”

  “She is old, but she has gifts. Lass, long before the Christian God became known to mankind, there were those who practiced the Old Ways. Morag is an Ancient Seer and one of those from so long ago. She has been the protector of her clan in a matter of speaking for a verra’ long time.”

  “How long?”

  “No one really knows.”

  “But you say she is not immortal.”

  At this, Morag spoke. She said gently, “No, girl. I am old. I have even lost track of the years. I have dedicated my life to the Old Ways and the protection of the MacCollum clan. I can and will die, but I have learned to transcend the constraints of time. It is costly, aye, but I have used it only to better others and to help where there seemed to be no hope. It has cost me strength and wrought heartache that no one should experience.”

  “How do you do this…time travel that you speak of?”

  “I know not. I just know that when I need to, I do.”

  Staring in disbelief, Kiera was starting to think that she had truly gone mad or at the very least, these two were escapees from the local asylum. Gavin pinned her with a stare that made Kiera extremely uncomfortable. Validating her thoughts, Gavin said, “We are not insane, girl. This is no’ a joke. We are here for a very particular reason.”

  “Let me guess, our friend, the ghost of Campbell keep.”

  “Aye, lass. He is my grandson. I am here for him and lass, I am here for you.”

  “Me? Why in the world would you be here for me? Because trust me, I don’t need any Guardians and hocus pocus to muck up my life.” Hell, the supernatural had mucked it up plenty already, in the past and now here it was raising it’s ugly head again.

  “Trust me, lass, I am as much sent for Derek’s behalf as well as for ye.”

  “Why? What are you here to protect me from?”

  “Yerself,” he whispered.

  “Alright, that does it. I am packing my bags and getting the hell out of here. This is complete and total bullshit and I think I have heard enough.”

  Kiera stood to go, but she felt the strong, very physical grasp of Gavin Campbell’s hand on her shoulder. He no longer seemed like the dowdy old cabby that had brought her to these doors. He looked at her and she felt like he was peering into her very soul. He said firmly, but kindly, “Dunna’ be afraid, Lass. I know this is verra’ strange to ye’. Ye’ see, the modern world gives no merit to the Old Ways. They have explained it all away with science and reason. But ye’ are different. We knew that the moment ye’ arrived the first time.”

  “Did you manipulate something to bring me here?”

  Gavin smiled, “Nay lass. There are higher powers that set that path. We knew there would be a young woman, but we didna’ know who or when she would arrive. Ye’ are of the MacCollum line. It makes sense that it would be ye’.”

  “Why? What makes sense?”

  “There are things we canna’ tell ye’, lass. Ye’ have to learn them for yerself. We can only aid ye’ as much as we are allowed.”

  “Does me being here have something to do with your grandson?”

  Gavin and Morag exchanged glances and without answering, they both nodded silently in unison.”

  “Am I supposed to help him cross over or something?”

  “We dunna’ not know what the final outcome will be. He has been trapped between these worlds for a long time. Ye’ are the only one who can see him. The secrets will be unlocked in time. Please dunna’ go. Ye’ met him. Ye’ arena’ frightened of him.”

  Frightened? Oh hell no. If he wasn’t a blasted ghost, she would happily have a fling with him.

  “No, I am not frightened of him. So, what am I supposed to do, befriend him or something? Be his gal pal until he goes toward the light?”

  Morag sighed and sat down. She was tired. She was definitely feeling her age all of a sudden and she said, “He will learn from ye’ and ye’ will learn from him.”

  “Well answer me this. Obviously, he was not deemed worthy to cross over. Just what sort of guy is he that he has been stuck for nearly seven hundred years? Murderer, violator? What? What am I dealing with here?”

  “He will have to tell ye’ himself.”

  “Great. He must have been a real winner.”

  Even as she said those words, Kiera thought about how he had not tried to scare or hurt her; how she actually felt a deep sense of protection once she had spoken with him; and above all, how he seemed sad. It was a deep sadness that came with loss and loneliness. Kiera’s heart again seemed to be moved to pity for the man that once had lived so long ago. Loneliness sucked. She had been there herself, a time or two and she could not imagine what it was like to be cut off from contact from others for even a few days, let alone seven hundred years. Again she thought he must have been a nightmare when he walked the earth. Kiera did not like to think those thoughts. For all she knew he had been the monster she had inferred, murdering and raping women of his past. She tried to rationalize that times were different back then and he was a warrior after all. He had confirmed that. She did not want to think about living under the same roof with a man who could possibly channel such evil in life; especially one that was a ghost, now. Still, she realized that he had not tried to harm her. This was one hell of a predicament.

  Morag watched as emotions warred on this pretty young woman’s face. She did not know it, but she had already opened her heart to the man, not the spirit of Derek Campbell. She said, “Kiera, perhaps it is not that he is solely being punished, but more that he died before his time; before he fulfilled his destiny.”

  “And it has taken him this long to fulfill it? That seems doubtful. He must have been a real dick in life.”

  “Sometimes the paths of destiny do not hold to time as we mere mortals understand it,” Morag offered. Kiera rolled her beautiful, expressive eyes. She was waiting for someone to say something stupid like, “Do not question, grasshopper….”

  Despite how she wanted to discredit the entire debacle, something about the way these two tried to convince her made sense, which of course, was utterly ridiculous. Nothing about any of this made sense.

  “Okay, so you are from the past. You are from Derek’s time?”

  “Aye, lass. I was there when he died.”

  “And you are a MacCollum.”

  “Through and through, lass.”

  “I have been reading about the history of the MacCollums. Weren’t the Campbells mortal enemies of the MacCollums?”

  “Aye.”

  “So how is it that you and he seem to be thick as thieves? I mean, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought you two had a thing going on?”

  Gavin grinned, and said, “Make no mistake, lass. We dunna’ have a thing going on, as ye’ say. She has been my friend. Sometimes the division between clans lessens over time.”

  “So, when she came to this time, her people still warred with yours?”

  “Aye.”

  “Don’t you think they worried about you when you just disappeared from their time?”

  “They may no’ be aware I am gone.”

  Kiera blinked hard. Morag spoke as if the past was still part of the present. Kiera was getting a headache.

  “When I left them, they were all hale and whole.”

  “But now they are…” Kiera stopped herself. To say they were all dead would be quite cruel, even if the old woman had embroiled her in this mess. She watched as deep sadness etched the pale eyes of this Ancient One.

  “Aye, lass. They are all long gone now. Even though I know I can go back, to the time in which they still live, knowing they are gone in this time pains an old woman’s heart. For ye’ see, I love them all. I watched them all grow into strong men and beautiful lasses. I have nurtured them and their offspring. I have paid a steep price to come this far from home.”<
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  Kiera was moved at the thought. Her hand inched across the table and she patted the frail gnarled hand of the woman who sat before her. Kiera could not imagine having to live with such knowledge and heartache. In a sense, the old woman had outlived all her own offspring as well as all her clan. Well that certainly explained why both Gavin and Morag spoke of the past as if they had lived there themselves; for truly they had. Kiera was still trying to get used to the real identity of these two people and she was trying to process all that had been told to her. She was pretty certain another headache was eminent. After a brief silence, Kiera finally said, “So what do I do now?”

  “Ye’ need not do anything, Lass. All will be revealed in time. But I will offer this bit of advice, Dunna’ close yer’ mind or heart to any possibility. For if ye’ do, ye’ will be longer in the learnin’.”

  A wan smile lifted Kiera’s lips. She said, “Why am I not surprised that those wise words would be just as confusing as all these other riddles you have thrown upon me?”

  She picked up her bag and stood back up. Gavin rose, but Kiera said, “You don’t need to hog tie me. I am staying.”

  “What convinced ye’, Lass?”

  “Not sure. But if you two loonies went to all this trouble, and seeing that I have already made this commitment, I might as well see how this all plays out. But I am telling you, if our castle guest haunts me, I am out of here. He had better play nice.”

  “Oh lass, one more thing…ye’ canna’ tell him about this. He doesna’ know we are here in this time. It’s best that he doesna’ for now.”

  “You are not winning my confidence again.”

  “We canna’ explain yet, but we dunna’ want to provoke him with that knowledge for the moment. Will ye’ promise no’ to mention it to him?”

  “I am not sure I can promise that. I will see.”

  “Alright. Fair enough. Ye’ can come to us when ye’ need us. We are always here to aid ye’.”

  Kiera nodded. Gavin took her hand and kissed it, saying, “Thank ye’, lass.”

  She did not know why he was thanking her, but she guessed she was here to help Derek move on. Hell, it had been a long time to be trapped, after all. Kiera felt up to the challenge. She would help him go to the Light, or whatever it was called. She did not know why the thought of sending Derek onward to his eternal reward made her feel sick to her stomach. It was as if sending him on would suddenly cause a sense of deep sorrow and loss in her own life. Of course, she was just being ridiculous.

  Chapter 23

  Kiera had been in Scotland for several weeks and she only saw her spectral friend sporadically. She sensed his presence more times than actually seeing him. It was like she could feel him observing her or watching her…guarding her. She knew she should have felt unnerved by it, but strangely she did not. The truth was, she had never felt as protected and safe as she suddenly did with this most unlikely castle-mate.

  This time, Kiera had not seen him for days. It was almost as if he had been avoiding her. Actually, Derek was silently keeping watch over her just so he could look at her and learn about her. He never intruded upon her private moments but he had been so completely overwhelmed by her that he wanted to learn as much as he could about her and he wanted to give her time to get used to his presence. Sometimes, he almost thought she was starting to wish him present and Derek did not want to get his hopes elevated unnecessarily. They had had brief encounters, which was the hardest discipline Derek had to impose upon himself. He longed to talk to her or just to sit and watch her. The times that he did, she was usually sleeping, or busy with some task. The more he observed her, the more he wished beyond all hopes that he could resume being a man again. In the past, Derek had not been a man who spent hours talking to women or for that matter anyone, really. Somehow, though, he thought he could spend eternity talking to her. He had been so lonely, that it was difficult to not impose himself upon her at every chance. Derek knew he had to take things slowly. He knew that he could not force the issue with her. His soul depended on it.

  When Kiera got used to the fact that Derek was making himself scarce, she concentrated on her job and lost herself in the busy day-to-day tasks at hand. She tried not to think about how she would achieve helping Derek move on because every time she did think of that, Kiera felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She knew it was wrong to feel that way. After all, the poor soul needed to move on. It was unfair to keep him trapped in a time that he could not relate to just because he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Kiera chided herself for these thoughts. She would be best to have a fling because it was really all about needing to be with a man. It had been a heck of a dry spell and she found herself suddenly ready to have some fun again.

  Only, when she thought about being with a guy; any guy, she felt no real desire to initiate a sexual encounter. Not after seeing him. He was the epitome of sex appeal. Kiera knew that Derek needed to move on, but she could not allow herself to think about that at the moment. Besides, she had gotten a call from some of the friends she had made while she was in Italy and they were planning on coming to Scotland for the weekend. Kiera busied herself to receive her guests, and she put her gorgeous ghost-hunk out of her head as best as she could.

  After the last tour was done and the castle staff had gone for the night, Kiera made her rounds of the place, locking all the doors and securing the entries. As she approached her apartments, she felt tired. She could really use a nice hot bath and something good to snack on.

  Kiera unlocked the door to the suite of rooms and she saw a fire had been lit in the hearth. She called out, “Hello? Are you here?”

  “I am, lass.”

  Even though she was expecting it, seeing the fire lit and all, hearing him answer her made her jump. She wondered if she would ever get past that knee jerk reaction. She hoped she would come to accept his presence in time. She was not sure why she hoped that. Everything inside of her rebelled at the thought of his existence and she knew that she should react startled by the very thought of him. Only, she wasn’t really startled. Not only that, she seemed to calm instantly after the initial jolt to her system by hearing him answer her.

  He was sitting in the chair she had first seen him in, with his long muscular legs stretched out before him.

  My God, he is a sight to behold. He must have been magnificent in his day. Hell, he is magnificent now. Kiera’s tongue licked her lips that had suddenly gone dry. He looked at her with a sultry gaze and a slight smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Kiera swallowed hard and said, “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Did ye’ miss me, Lass,” he asked rakishly.

  “I just wondered. I was afraid you would jump out at me at any moment.”

  “I told ye’ I wouldna’ do that to ye’.”

  He sounded dejected; as if her words had somehow wounded his honor and pride.

  “Well, I thought you would have been happy to have company, now that you know you can be seen and you can communicate with me.”

  “Aye, that I would, but solitude has been my companion a very long time. Besides, I wanted to give ye’ time to get used to the idea that we would be sharin’ the place, so to speak.”

  “Hmm,” Kiera answered, distracted by his raw sensual magnetism. Oh for the love of God, he is a ghost, Kiera. Get a grip.

  Derek studied her. In the few days that he had not seen her, he had tried to forget how beautiful she was. He couldn’t. He thought he could be happy for the rest of eternity just to look at her. Well, maybe not just look at her. If he was a complete man, he would like to spend the next seven hundred years making love to her, but those sorts of thoughts were just pure torture, so he consoled himself to gaze upon her. Noticing how he was looking at her with something that was not unlike a man starving, Kiera felt heat flood over her at his bold and unabashed appraisal of her. With a nervous little laugh, Kiera said, “What?”

  “Oh nothing, Lass. I was just thinking how pretty ye’ are.”


  She blushed like a school girl and said, “Oh, please. Like you haven’t seen lots of pretty girls in your day.”

  “I dinna’ say that, Lass. Of course I have, but ye’ are different. Lassies of my day were a wee more…timid, I suppose. Ye’ dunna’ have that way about ye’. And besides, t’is been a long, long time since I have been able to actually talk to a pretty lass. I must say, ye’ are one of the bonniest things I have ever laid my eyes upon.”

  Derek watched as the blush stained her cheeks crimson. He liked that. She was tenacious and strong-willed and yet she could still blush like a maiden at his praise. He wondered what else would make her blush. She swallowed deeply and stammered, “Thank you for lighting the fire. It does get a little chilly up here at night.”

  He nodded; his long dark hair swung against his broad shoulders at that gesture. He was so damned delicious to look at. He saw the way she looked at him and he smile. He winked at her and said, “Aye, t’is the least I can do.”

  Kiera sat opposite him, plopping down in the comfortable chair and drawing her legs underneath her. He admired her lithe flexibility as she settled herself before him. She said, “I was talking about you to some people the other day.”

  “Oh, really? How did ye’ explain that to these persons?”

  “They seemed to know about you. It seems you have a reputation here,” Kiera said carefully. She was going to try to keep her promise to Gavin and Morag, despite their unwanted manipulation in her life.

  “Oh? And just what did these people say about me?”

  “Not enough, it would seem.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Oh, I was trying to find out more about you. It isn’t every day a girl finds herself sharing her home with a ghost, you know?”

  “Nay, I suppose not,” Derek said thoughtfully. “What did ye’ want to know, Lass? I promise to try to be honest with ye’.”