Celtic Spirit (Celtic Storm Series Book 4)

by Ria Cantrell

  When she woke before dawn, John was up on his feet and he went to her side. She sat up and said, “It’s really true, isn’t it, Dad? Derek’s really gone.”

  John nodded. For the past week he had answered the same question, day after day. He suspected he would have to for many more days to come. But this day, instead of dissolving into unbearable sobs at the realization of the truth, as she had done for the past week, Kiera drew in a ragged breath of defeated acceptance and she rose from her bed. John did not ask his daughter if she was alright. He knew she wasn’t alright. He watched her get up and he asked, “Where are you going?”

  “There is something that I need to do. I have been putting it off for a week now, but I need to know for sure once and for all.”

  John looked at his daughter, puzzled at what she meant. His heart leapt into his throat when she turned and locked herself in the bathroom. He was afraid that she was going to hurt herself.

  He pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what was happening. He would bust the blasted thing down if he had to, but then he heard a soft weeping coming from beyond the door. He rapped softly on it and he said the words he had tried to avoid. “Kiera, are you alright?”

  When she didn’t answer, John was prepared to take the door off its hinges. But then a miraculous thing happened. Kiera opened the door slowly. She looked pretty worse for the wear. She still had bruises on her face from where Jax had hit her, and her eyes were red-rimmed from days of crying, but something about her demeanor had changed. There was a tremulous smile trying to lift the corners of her lips. With a sound that was part laughter and part sob, Kiera said, “Dad, you aren’t going to like this…but…it seems I’m pregnant.”

  John Callum stood there looking at his beautiful daughter and he was stunned at the news. He wasn’t one of these fathers that would get upset if his thirty-something daughter was pregnant, because he prided himself on being pretty liberal minded about that sort of thing, but he didn’t know how this news was going to sit with his daughter who had lost so much. He grabbed her into his arms and he hugged her. She cried softly into his shoulder and then after a few minutes, she seemed to pull herself together. She said, “He will be with me now…no matter what. I had thought I was on the day he died, and I even bought a test. We were going to find out together. That was the plan…but then Jax--”

  Fresh tears choked her, but she quickly sniffled them back.

  “But Jax didn’t win, Dad. I have part of Derek with me…and Jax can’t take that away from me.”

  John Callum felt tears burning in the back of his throat. As they spilled down his face, Kiera smiled tearfully. “It’s going to be alright, now, Dad. Derek gave me the ultimate gift. We have to bury him now. I owe him that much.”

  John didn’t know what Kiera meant, but as she broke free from his hold, she pulled her blood stained clothes from under her bed. She cradled them to her chest and then she said, “I don’t have a body for the funeral, dad. But this is his blood. We will lay him to rest now. It is the least I can do for him.”

  John nodded. His daughter was going to be alright. She was making coherent sense now. She was going to put closure on it. He knew then, that she would not wake and ask him if it was real any longer. Kiera knew it was real, but she was going to live now. She was going to live so that she could care for his grandchild.

  Kiera carefully put the clothes inside a duffel bag and then she went off to have a shower. Afterward, she dressed in jeans and a sweater. She wasn’t wearing PJ’s. She was going to leave her rooms. She was going to return to the world of the living. John Callum thanked whatever forces were behind this twist of fate. His daughter’s heart would never be the same, but she would heal with the love she would foster for her and Derek’s child.

  That night, when she went to bed, she slept. John watched his daughter sleeping normally for the first time in more than a week. She had met with her friends. She had made plans for the memorial service. She talked about Derek and shared what experiences, although brief they may have been, with them. She had even sought out the old woman who had found her in the tower; the one named Morag, who had brought Derek and Kiera together. John was proud of his daughter. She had such a beautiful heart. She offered forgiveness and love to the old woman, even though it was by her intervention that Kiera found herself in this tragic predicament. He caught glimpses of his daughter as she had been before this horrible thing had happened. He saw her strength and determination and he knew that the road before her as a single parent was not going to be easy. She had told him that she was going to stay at Castle Campbell for as long as they would have her because that way she could be close to the things that had been part of Derek’s life and she would be able to raise her child in Derek’s shadow. John would miss her, but he knew she was making the best decision for herself at the moment. He watched her sleeping now. She was not tormented with dreams and memories of the horror that had befallen her.

  John thought he would be able to leave her for a few minutes to get himself a cup of tea. Even though she seemed better, he did not want to leave Kiera for long periods of time just yet, but a short jaunt to the kitchens would be safe enough for now. He fixed himself some tea, welcoming its warmth. Kiera had kept the apartments so cold, that the hot mug felt good in his hands. As he sipped it, and stretched his neck, he sighed. This was the hardest week of his life. Tomorrow was going to be a hard day. The service was planned for 3 p.m. John hoped his beloved Kiera was going to be able to get through it. With a final gulp of his hot brew, he set the cup in the dishwasher and he made his way back up to Kiera’s rooms. He stopped dead in his tracks upon entering the apartments. There standing beside his daughter’s bed was a massive man, dressed in a kilt, with hair that hung past his shoulders. He was no ghost. He was a man not of this time, but he was solid and real as he himself was. John had looked at the pictures Kiera had taken with Derek only days before the attack. John would know the man anywhere.

  Holy Shit, it was him. It was really him. This was Kiera’s Derek and he is not a ghost. He is alive!

  Chapter 41

  Derek turned quickly and faced the man who had entered the room. He was ready to do battle and his expression turned deadly. He was not going to let anyone else hurt Kiera and he was fully prepared to kill for her.

  Seeing the murderous look on Derek Campbell’s face, John Callum put his hands up and he stammered, “I’m her…father… I’m Kiera’s father.”

  His words broke through the sudden bloodlust coursing through Derek. His stance instantly relaxed and John Callum slowly approached him. Extending his hand toward his daughter’s mate, he waited for the storm to pass. Derek clasped John’s hand, but gripped his forearm in the greeting of old.

  The father of his mate was crying. How odd. “I don’t know how you are here, but you cannot know how happy I am to see you.”

  Derek just nodded, confused by the greeting. John continued and said, “We thought you were dead.”

  “I was.”

  As if it was the most normal thing in the world to come back to life, John just almost laughed at his response.

  “But you don’t feel like a ghost.”

  “I’m not.” Hmm, a man of few words, John thought.

  “But how…”

  “I know not. The Guardians took me to a place and healed me.”

  Derek looked from John back to his sleeping Kiera. John whispered, “She has been through so much. I thought we were going to lose her, too.”

  “Aye. I felt her soul dying. She is part of me and I struggled to get back to her. I was afraid she wouldna’ be here upon my return.”

  John smiled and pulled the big man in toward his chest and hugged him. “She was so sad, son. She will be alright now…you are staying, aren’t you?”

  With a slow smile, Derek said, “Aye, for as long as she will have me.”

  John Callum patted his future son-in-law on the back. He was blubbering like a baby, but he couldn’t help it. He said
, “Go to her now. I’ll find another place to stay. She doesn’t need her father tonight.”

  Hugging the man who would be his daughter’s mate once again, and wiping the fresh tears from his eyes, John Callum took his leave and thanked every heavenly force for this gift and blessing.

  *****

  Derek shook off his leine and kilt. He removed his boots and slid into bed beside his woman. He did not want to startle her, so he very gently drew her into his arms. She sighed in her sleep and murmured, “I knew you would come back to my dreams, my love.”

  Kissing her lovely face, he whispered, “T’is no dream, beloved.”

  Kiera’s eyes flew open and she pushed herself back from Derek’s grasp. She shrieked with both shock and joy, unable to contain her emotions. It was a sound that permeated the walls of her apartments.

  *****

  John heard his daughter and realized that she had learned that Derek lived. Smiling to himself, he knew that she was going to be just fine now. He left earshot of her dwelling quarters because he knew she would be giving Derek a welcome home party that would last most of the night. Fathers did not usually want to think of such things, but this time was an exception. He took himself to one of the many guest quarters far down the corridor from his daughter’s rooms.

  *****

  Kiera stared at Derek in disbelief. “How is it you are here? I saw you die. I know you really did.”

  “It seems the Guardians saw fit to return me to ye’,” he said with a grin.

  My God he was beautiful. Kiera thought she had never seen a more beautiful sight than that of this big man lying beside her. All at once she kissed him deeply, planting kisses all over his face. Derek’s hands took her shoulders and he pulled her against his chest. She felt his warmth and felt the solidity of his body and she said, “Please tell me this is not a dream.”

  “It is not, Lass. By God, ye’ are a sight for a lost man.”

  Kiera was crying and laughing at the same time. She kissed his mouth and then his chin and neck, soaking his flesh with fresh tears.

  “I could not bear to live without you. I just wanted to die, too.”

  “I know. When souls are entwined, one can feel the other dying. I needed to get back to ye’. Heaven offered me no solace if it was to be spent without ye’.”

  Kiera laughed and then sniffled back her tears of joy. She said, “So they were actually going to let you into heaven, huh?”

  “So it would seem. Instead, they let me come back to my bossy little Sassenach.”

  At those words, Kiera pushed Derek down and devoured his lips with unabashed hunger. As she felt him rise up against her in desire, she was assured he was very much and completely alive. Encasing him in her hand, she said, “I am verra’ verra’ glad ye’ arenae a ghostie.”

  “Ye’ are a wicked woman, Kiera MacCollum.”

  “Aye, laddie, but ye’ are wickeder.”

  Derek laughed, feeling his beautiful woman hastily shaking off her clothes and then straddling him. He kissed her and turned her over, pulling her legs about his hips. As he felt her taking him deeply into her blessed body, he breathed his thanks. He was grateful to be alive; to be able to have his woman making love with him. Derek sank blissfully inside of her and he knew what it meant to truly live. He vowed to make this chance that he had been given truly count. The Guardians would not regret giving him this gift. He knew that life came with love. Kiera was that love; she was his life.

  Epilogue I

  It was a bright, autumn day. The leaves had turned to many shades of crimson, gold, orange, and amber. Many fluttered down like a magical bower as the castle seemed to sparkle when the sun hit the granite. The crystal loch mirrored the colorful leaves that adorned the edges of the glade. It was a perfect day for a wedding. The piper stood upon the battlements of the ancient keep and as he played, the almost mournful sound drifted out toward the medieval arch that had been carefully constructed of twisted Alder and dried grape vines. Mums and marigolds had been tucked into it and the groom stood beneath it. He was handsomely dressed in Campbell plaid. There was no doubt he was the rightful heir of the Keep. It had been in his family for centuries and now he was finally going to be granted lairdship of it. It was only a title, of course. These days, there were no more Lairds as they were, all those years ago. He heard the wailing of the piper and he smiled. She would be here soon.

  Then he saw her. She was dressed in a beautiful blue velvet gown. The train trailed behind her and she was walking to join him under the arch constructed in the Old Ways to complete their handfasting. His heart jumped in his chest as he looked at his beautiful woman, dressed in the fashion of his time. He felt pride welling inside of himself at the sight of her. The exquisite gown fit her perfectly, as if it had been sewn on her. The tight fitting sleeves pointed delicately over each wrist. They were adorned with golden armbands over each elbow. The same trim bordered the bottom of the gown and as she drew closer, he could see the intricately woven embroidery of his heritage. The pattern was the ancient love knot and each one winked a sapphire gem in its center. It almost appeared that she fairly twinkled in the sun’s warm embrace. Her lush hair hung in soft waves, spilling down her back. She had a circlet of the fall flowers woven into her hair and she carried a nosegay of the same before her. When she finally reached him, the priest took ribbons and as in times past, wound the bands around both their hands.

  Derek looked at Kiera. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears of joy. Love poured from her to her handsome husband and as the winds of time seemed to still, they were married. Two souls united. It was as it always had been destined. It was as it was always meant to be. Life would be shared. Hearts entrusted to each other. Souls bonded as one. The past and present united and joined.

  It was a perfect day for a wedding.

  Epilogue II

  Kiera Campbell tucked her daughter and son in for the night. On her way back into the sitting room, she grabbed her notes. She only had a few more weeks until she would finish her thesis. She hoped she would be able to make it to graduation. As she approached her husband, who sat reading by the fire, he raised his eyes to her and smiled. “By God, ye’ are beautiful.”

  With a hand pressed to her own back she said, “Oh, I am big as a house. Did you have to give me such a big baby to carry?”

  Pulling her onto his lap, he kissed her and tossed his book down. His hands eased around her swollen middle and he said, “Ye’ always look beautiful carryin’ my bairns.”

  As he nuzzled her neck she sighed. Even big as a house, she felt beautiful. He always made her feel that way. She was so in love with this man and her life that she could not help but smile. Her third child was due in about 8 weeks, but she felt like it may be sooner. She wanted to finish her doctorate on the effects of the ancient world on the modern one. She smiled to herself. She had an ace in the hole so to speak on that subject. She and Derek had settled in as Laird and Lady of Campbell Keep upon their marriage. It seemed that documents miraculously turned up deeming them the rightful heirs and Kiera silently thanked the meddlesome powers behind it. It was Derek’s rightful place. It had always been and now, in this time, it was fulfilled. Derek also enjoyed teaching at the local college as an adjunct professor on antiquities. No one ever questioned his credentials. How could they? He was a walking history book and history lived within him.

  So much had happened since they married. Morag had departed. Kiera did not know if she was gone from the world or just did her time manipulation thing that sent her back to the past. She missed the old woman, but she was grateful for all Morag had done for her. Gavin, too, was no longer present, but his Presence lingered in the great halls of the keep. Kiera always felt protected, like he was their personal guardian angel. In a way, he truly was.

  After their own wedding, her best friend Jeannie married Chris in a big modern ceremony. She and Derek had flown to New York City for the event. He was enchanted with the hustle and bustle of the life there, but he was happy
just to visit and return to his beloved Scotland, where he and Kiera settled in to raise their family.

  As for Jax, no one knows how or what happened to him. Whether it was his conscience or by some other unforeseen force, he had his reckoning. His body had washed up on the banks of one of the nearby rivers about a month after Kiera’s and Derek’s wedding. Now, years later, Kiera did not give him much thought. He was a distant memory sent back in time where she would not grant him even a tear or a regret. He had no place in her life now. Life was good; beyond good. Kiera’s life was filled with love, the love that came from being with her soul mate and the love that came from raising that mate’s children together as a family.

  If Kiera would have doubted that love could span centuries, she knew better now. Love was timeless. With love, all things were possible. She also knew that the spirit of the soul was a force not to be reckoned with. She would never doubt that powerful force again.

  ~The End~

  …well not really…there is no end to love….

  Acknowledgements

  The people who were brought to me through this journey have been such treasures to me. They are almost too many to name, but I would like to thank first and foremost my husband Paul. He inspires me to true romance and is my greatest supporter. He is responsible for the artwork and the ceaseless promotion of this book and the others in the series. I want to thank my family and friends who encouraged me to follow my dream to write. I am grateful to the many new friends I have made who share this journey with me, especially Angela Boudreux Searles, who has taken me under her wing and has helped in the promotion efforts. To all my other author sisters, I thank you for the guidance and the support. Your words of wisdom have been so very helpful in the development of this story. To Wynne Guglielmo, it meant so much to me that you enjoyed reading the story while painstakingly editing every comma and ellipse. You are a “KEEPer”. I want to thank my street team for stepping up and helping me make this a success. You are all so wonderful and awesome and I am blessed to have you in my life. I am also so blessed for my spiritual guides both living and ethereal, who have been a profound influence in the creating of this story. Finally, last but not least I want to thank my Mom and my sister for believing in me. Blessings all!!!