“Dressed?”
“Yes! For dinner!”
“But I am dressed.” She looked down at her jeans and navy sweatshirt wondering what was wrong with what she was wearing.
“You have clothes on, but you need to get dressed.” At Abby’s blank expression she added, “As in, put a dress on, get dressed up! It will be fun!” Myria smiled mischievously at Abby, which made her wonder what she was up to.
“I didn’t bring any dresses.”
“That’s perfectly fine.”
Abby followed Myria into her room and stood as she sorted through an impressive closet.
“I have the absolute perfect dress for you, and I know it will fit.” Myria giggled and reached in to pull out the most gorgeous gown that Abby had ever seen. Emerald in color the bodice laced up the front and the skirts spilled out over the waistline. The front of the skirts pleated open to show an ivory satin gown below it, that at a closer look, Abby saw was designed with beads arranged in Celtic knot designs.
“Do you like it?” Myria asked hesitantly.
“Myria, it's gorgeous. I couldn’t possibly borrow this! What if I stained it!”
“Well, we could get it out. Abby this is your dress.”
“I know I would love to wear it but-”
“No, Abby it's your dress.” Her tone of voice had Abby looking up at Myria. “Aengus had it made for you back before- you know. It was to be a gift for you when he asked you to marry him.”
Abby felt as if her heart was going to explode. He had a dress made for her? Made specifically for her. She walked towards it and felt the soft fabric. It was the absolutely most beautiful dress she had ever seen and she knew that in order to create such beauty one must be deeply in love. Her eyes misted and she wiped away the tears.
“You kept it? All this time?”
“Of course, I kept it. It took some upkeep being that it’s been quite some time,” she laughed. “But a couple of light spells and it held up nicely.”
Myria helped Abby get into the dress, taking care to lace it up gently. The fabric felt smooth against her skin and Abby couldn’t wait to see how she looked in the gown. When Myria finished the laces, she stepped back tears stinging her eyes.
“Aye, Abby you are a vision. My brother is going to be speechless.”
Abby turned to look in the mirror and gasped. She looked like a princess. No, like a queen. She was amazed at how perfectly it fit her. When she had been a child, she used to love to play dress up, she would dress herself in the prettiest gowns she could find and then twirl while her parents called her Princess Abby. She could never have anticipated how a single dress could take her from pretending to reality until now.
Her lips curved upward. “Yes, he is.” And she couldn’t wait.
Myria fussed over her hair and finally settled on an updo with curled strands framing her face. She handed her some black ankle boots that laced up the front like the dress and Abby eagerly put them on. She immediately felt as if she had been transported back to when this all began.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed?”
“Huh? Oh, I forgot to tell you! Sheamus and Molly need my help with something so we aren’t going to make it to dinner.”
Abby smirked at her, so she had been up to something. “You are a terrible liar Myria.”
Myria grinned widely. “I didn’t lie, just didn’t offer up the entire truth. And besides, Aengus wanted to surprise you. He has prepared dinner for the two of you. The rest of us are to make ourselves scarce, and scarce we will be. It will be just the two of you.” She winked.
Abby couldn’t have been happier. He went through such trouble and she couldn’t wait to reward him later. She smiled inwardly and her plan. She was going to seduce him, right to his core.
They walked into the dining room that had been set for two. Candles glittered in the center of the table while a vase of fresh flowers stood tall. When Aengus walked in from the kitchen, his heart stopped.
She was breathtaking. The gown hung tight to her curves and came up to reveal the swell of her breasts. He found he couldn’t speak. His mouth had gone dry and if his sister hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have been able to process a clear thought and would have made love to her right there. He always wanted her, but the fact that she was wearing the gown he had made for her, one that he didn’t even realize still existed, made his heart warm.
“I told you, speechless.” Myria smiled at him. “Well, I’m going to be off now, not that either of you would notice.” She added in a whisper as she backed out of the room. She couldn’t be happier for them.
“You look absolutely wonderful. And that word doesn’t do you any justice.”
She stepped towards him and placed her finger on his chest. “Thank you for my dress.”
“It suits you. I hadn’t known Myria had kept it.”
“I love it.” She looked down at her skirts and then back up to him. “I feel like a queen in some fairytale.” She spun around and then stopped to look him up and down. “You clean up well yourself Aengus.” He wore a modern day black suit that somehow made him look even more masculine. She giggled inwardly when her mind flashed to some scenes from a James Bond movie.
He set the plates down on the table and pulled her chair out for her. She purposely brushed against him and he nearly whimpered.
“Dinner first.” It pained him to say it, but he wanted a proper meal with her. It would be a first for them, and he wanted to make a new memory with her, one that she remembered as well.
She looked down at the plates he had set. Pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans sat before her and she couldn’t wait to try them. Just as she had imagined, they tasted amazing. “Aengus where did you learn to cook like this?”
“I’ve had quite a bit of time on my hands over the last two hundred years.” It came out as a joke, but she noticed the pain behind it.
“I’m sorry Aengus, I shouldn’t have asked that way.”
“Abby, it's fine. I don’t mind talking about it. You're here now, and that’s all that matters.”
“Still, I don’t know how you did it. Had the roles been reversed, I don’t think I could have handled losing you.”
“I didn’t handle it well at first. After that night in the clearing, and after what I had done, I left home and spent quite a bit of time at the bottom of a whiskey glass.” It pained him to admit how weak he had been. “Even when I got word that my mother was dying, I refused to see her.”
Abby touched his hand. She didn’t know what to say to soothe him, so she sat quietly and listened.
“I just couldn’t get over the fact that they had brought Caipre to our household, I blamed them for what happened when the fault was really my own.”
“Aengus it wasn’t your fault, Caipre is the one who is to blame not you.”
“Myria warned me of the way he watched you.” He had never spoken it out loud and he hoped the admission would bring him some piece. “I dismissed it, told myself there was no way he would ever think to touch you. Then after Isleen got sick things changed. When she finally recovered it was as if something inside of him snapped and he started acting more aggressive towards you. But by the time I noticed, it was too late. I’m so sorry Abby.”
She cupped his face in her hands. “Aengus it’s not your fault. None of it is.” She leaned forward and kissed him gently.
He buried his hands in her hair and deepened the kiss. Her mouth opened under his and she gave him back the same heat he delivered. She ran her hands down his chest and felt his heartbeat. It was racing and she knew he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.
Abby knew that Aengus needed her now. Needed her to love him without any reservations, as he had loved her for so long. She did her best to pour her feelings into the kiss and he gathered her up in his arms.
They headed for the stairs and by the time they reached his door, they were both breathless. He sat on the bed and pulled her so she was standing in front of him.
Abby’s breath caught in her chest as he began to slowly untie the laces of the bodice on her gown.
“When I asked them to make this for you, I had envisioned how I would take it off of you.” He looked up at her and his eyes were heavy. “You are magnificent Abby.” He lowered the gown to the floor and she stood before him in her panties and boots. She didn’t shy away because when he looked at her, she felt as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world.
She had meant to seduce him and yet, it seemed she was the one being seduced. She walked towards him and began to undo the buttons on his shirt. He gripped her hips and pulled her closer to take one of her nipples into his mouth. She moaned and arched into him.
His shirt half unbuttoned and her task forgotten, he pulled her down and rolled her underneath him. His hands traced down her body until he found her. She cried out when his hand slipped underneath the thin layer of lace and cupped her. She bucked up against him, impatient to feel him inside of her.
Aengus was losing his mind. His brain was full of her. Every time he touched her it seemed as if it were the first time. She was so ready for him and yet he wanted to take his time, to savor every moment they were together.
He trailed kisses down her body until he was kneeling at the side of the bed. He slowly removed her underwear and then kissed the insides of her thighs. She called out to him when his mouth closed over her and she felt as if every nerve in her body was firing at once. He drove her up and as she came back down he was covering her body with his. When he pushed into her, she cried out in pleasure.
“I love you, Abby.” Her heart melted at his words.
The scream tore through the night and they both shot out of bed. She followed him to the window and she cried out as she looked at the barn. It was completely engulfed in flames. He tugged on his pants and boots and ran out the door. She grabbed the robe hanging by the door and followed him.
All she could think about were the horses. They had to get to the horses.
“Wait here, Abby!” He yelled as he ran towards the barn.
“I want to help!”
“Then stay here! I need to know your safe!” He ran into the flames. She could hear the horses screams and the panic in her chest expanded until it was all she could feel. Seconds turned into what felt like hours when Caley finally emerged from the flames.
“Easy girl! Easy girl.” She called to her and did her best to calm the frightened horse. She looked her over for wounds and saw that her left hindquarters had been burned, but that was the extent of her injuries. Physical ones at least, she added as she looked into the horses’ wide eyes.
Her attention turned back to the barn as she waited for Eamon and Aengus. The smoke burned her lungs as she frantically searched the barn for any sign of them. The roof caved in and she lunged for the barn. “Aengus!” She screamed into the flames. “No! Aengus!”
That’s when she saw the hooded figure standing next to the barn.
“You did this.” She stood gaping at him, tears streaming down her face. “You monster!” She screamed and lunged for him.
He laughed and in the blink of an eye was behind her. She felt the knife at her throat.
“This is all your fault.” He said in her ear. She could feel his breath on her face and she wanted to vomit. “You think I don’t know what you did? You let him inside of you Aine. After I had already cleansed you, made you worthy of me. Now you are dirty again.” He spits the words out and she felt the blood trickle down the side of her neck. “It's really too bad he’s dead, I wanted him to suffer before.”
“Aengus!” She cried and felt the knife dig into her skin deeper.
“You will not say his name!” He screamed at her. “Never again!”
“Let her go Caipre.”
He turned then and Abby saw Myria standing just a few feet away from them.
“Myria, Aengus! He’s in the fire!”
Her eyes looked to the flames as Sheamus emerged from behind her. Suddenly Myria looked as if she were glowing, her hair blowing back in the wind that wasn’t actually there.
Abby heard Eamon’s screams and Sheamus took off towards the barn. She watched as he disappeared into the smoke.
“I will kill her where she stands, witch.”
Myria didn’t respond and Abby watched in awe as the light began to grow. She radiated the light and Abby could feel Caipre grow nervous behind her.
Molly emerged from the house and Abby felt a wave of relief as she walked towards Myria. Aengus had said she had been born with the magic as well and had been studying under his sister. Two witches against one were definitely odds she liked.
Rain began to fall and Abby prayed that when it put out the fire, that Caipre had been wrong and Aengus would be alive.
Everything seemed to happen so fast. Abby watched in horror as Molly raised a branch towards Myria’s head, a smile spread across her face.
“Myria!” She screamed, but it was too late.
Myria crumpled to the ground, the light that had surrounded her, gone.
“You bitch! They trusted you!” Abby screamed at her.
“We need to go in case that Sheamus makes it out alive.”
Molly ignored Abby and moved to stand next to Caipre. Abby felt herself being drug from behind and all she could do was scream.
She fought them, kicked and screamed and used every ounce of strength she had to get away, but his grip on her was solid. Molly watched her amused the entire time they walked through the woods. Abby could have sworn even tree branches moved out of their way.
“You will never get away with this! Aengus will come for me you just wait!”
“Your Aengus is dead. There is no way he is coming out of that fire.” Molly’s voice was chipper as if they had been talking about anything other than death.
Her heart broke, she had to be right. He had been in there for a while, how could he have gotten out? Especially after the roof had caved in. But she had heard Eamon! Hadn’t she?
“Can't we just knock her out, father.”
Father. Molly had called Caipre father.
Suddenly it all made sense. Molly had been trying to get her alone to ‘talk’ ever since she had shown back up. “You’re not Molly.”
“Clever one isn’t she?” She said to Caipre. She snapped her fingers and suddenly Annie replaced her. So it had been a trick all along.
“Where is Molly?”
“Please father,” Annie begged, ignoring her. “Make her be quiet.”
Caipre rolled his eyes and then everything went black.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ouch!” Aengus cried out when his sister touched his burns.
“Don’t be such a baby Aengus, I’m only trying to heal them.” The salve provided him with a wave of relief after the initial bite and he grit his teeth while she tended to the other burns on his back.
Sheamus angrily paced behind them. “Son of a bitch. He played us! Played all of us!”
“Sheamus, calm down please.” Myria focused her hands over the salve she had applied and began to chant in a language that had been long forgotten by most.
“How can I be calm? I saw her Myria! Molly hit you and then walked off with him!” He punched the wooden door of Aengus’s bedroom and then held his hand when it didn’t budge underneath it.
“Great, now I get to heal your hand as well you fool.”
Aengus sat in silence, his body vibrating with anger. They had indeed been played. When he got into the barn, he saw that the fire had been started away from the horses but on either side of the barn doors, there would have been no way to get out had Myria not protected him. He had sent Caley running through the flames but as the roof caved in he felt a shield come over him and Eamon. He had known his sister must have seen the fire and known he had gone in.
It hadn’t even crossed his mind that Caipre would have started the fire, and that should have been his first thought. He never should have let Abby follow him outside. But he knew that he
wouldn’t have been able to stop her. She loved the horses as much as he did and them being harmed was something she wouldn’t have just stood back and watched.
“Aengus we will get her back.” Myria’s voice was taut and he knew she had taken quite a drain from herself by healing him and the horses. Her nose started bleeding and Aengus moved her hands away from his burns.
“Let the salve finish Myria, you need to rest.”
The tears began to fall down her face and he pulled her in for a hug. Her body shook as she cried and Sheamus knelt next to her.
“I nearly lost you tonight brother, had I not gotten out there in time I would have lost you as well.” She cried and Sheamus began to rub her back.
“I’m fine Myria, you protected me well.”
“But not well enough.” She said noting his burns.
“They are not that bad Myria. We need to focus on what happened tonight, and getting Abby back.”
“How could Molly have gone to him? It just doesn’t make any sense?” They could hear the betrayal in Sheamus’s voice and then something clicked in Myria’s memory.
“She didn’t want to practice with me.”
“What?” Aengus asked releasing her.
“Molly, she has always been so eager to learn about her magic, but when I asked her if she wanted to help me with the potion to bring Abby’s memories back, she refused.” She stood and walked towards the window shaking her head. “How could I have been so stupid?”
“What are you getting at?” Sheamus wondered.
“It wasn’t Molly, it was never Molly.”
“Can you fill the rest of us in sister?” Aengus asked impatiently.
“Sorry, yes. Caipre must have sent Annie to us, instead of Molly. Oh, how did I not see it!” Her eyes lit with a new fire, she smiled. “It was Annie all along.”
“Then where the bloody hell is my sister?” The relief that his sister hadn’t betrayed them was quickly replaced with the fear that something had happened to her.
“She’s alive Sheamus, the cloaking spell wouldn’t work unless she was.” Myria lied, the likelihood that she had been left alive was low, but Myria wanted him to cling to it a little longer.
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