Deaglan's Deception

by Belinda M Gordon

"This isn't a good time," Rosheen said. "She's about to get married."

  "Aye, but this will only take a minute. I have a gift for the bride."

  "It's fine, Rosheen. Go put your dress on. I'll be out in five minutes," I said. It was so unusual for the Leprechaun to search me out that I was quite curious to see what he wanted. "Sophia, why don't you help Rosheen?"

  "Okeydokey," she said. However she didn't move away; instead she squeezed my hand. I smiled down at her, wondering if she was nervous. A pulse of energy ran through me as she released her grip. She kissed my cheek and let Rosheen herd her out the door.

  "At last, I can fulfill the bargain we made months ago," Gobban said. "The talisman is completed."

  "Gobban, I've told you so many times. It isn't necessary for you to repay me for the ointments I gave you. I was just happy I could help." I repeated what I always told him, knowing he wouldn't listen. Leprechauns spent their entire lives making bargains. While it was acceptable—even admirable—in their culture to make a lopsided bargain in their favor, reneging on an agreement or accepting something of value without giving anything in return was inexcusable.

  He ignored my words and held out a flat, quarter-sized brown and cream stone carved with tiny, intricate symbols. I changed tactics, simply accepting it as a wedding gift. I felt the weight of it in my hand as I examined the design. The grooves of the etches had been painted as well, making the lines easier to see. He had drilled a small hole on one edge and attached a chain so it could be worn around the neck.

  "What is this stone? I don't recognize it."

  "Petrified wood from the Oacher tree in Faery. Very rare. It makes the talisman stronger. I carved it into an illusion stone. It's a dying art."

  "An illusion stone?" I didn't know what that meant. However, if it had been made by Gobban the Great, the supreme illusionist of the Faery World, I understood that it must be very powerful.

  "I told you when we met that I did something to get away from the Unseelie that might have dire consequences for you. I deceived him with an illusion. He might think you were involved, since we're living so close to each other. This charm will protect you from any evil I brought your way by coming here. If Deaglan or any of his disciples find you, squeeze the talisman and call up its power. You will fade into the background; for all intents and purposes, you'll disappear."

  "I don't know what to say." The torture he received at Deaglan's hand had damaged his ability to work his magic. It must have cost him mightily to make this.

  "You must keep it with you at all times. Also, you should know that it has limited uses in it. My power isn't what it used to be. Only use it when you really need it."

  I nodded and turned back to the mirror, intending to place it over my head without disturbing Rosheen's hard work on my hair. I gasped in surprise. My complexion had reverted to its normal self. My eyes and skin were as opalescent as if I had just returned from Faery.

  Gobban started through the door, then stopped to look back at me.

  "Tressa—the Leprechauns who were killed, they were clansmen of mine. We come from a long line of Leprechauns who have protected a great secret for centuries. I believe that secret is why they were killed. Neither of them got the chance to tell me why they were in Findale."

  I nodded to let him know I was listening, though I didn't understand why he was telling me this now.

  "Whatever the reason, I'm sure it had something to do with the woods at Pine Ridge. I think they hid something there, and they mean you to find it."

  Neve and John waited for me in the vestibule. Neve wore a sophisticated lavender gown, and John looked dashing in a black tuxedo. Any tinge of disappointment that lingered at not having a traditional Sidhe garden wedding faded away at the sight of them. To marry their son, my Anam Cara, was a blessing no matter the setting.

  They beamed at me as I approached them. John smiled with such affection that I knew it was one of the rare occasions when he recognized me.

  "There's never been a more beautiful bride," he said. He grinned and kissed his wife's cheek. "Except for my own, of course."

  "Will you allow us the honor of walking you to your groom?" Neve asked as she handed me a bouquet of white calla lilies. I nodded, too choked up to speak, realizing that these two wonderful people welcomed me as their daughter. Their warm acceptance into their family felt especially gratifying after such a difficult day.

  They walked arm in arm down the aisle of the church, and I followed behind them, according to our tradition, as they presented me symbolically to the congregation. A flute played a simple hymn as we entered the main hall.

  The church was empty except for our family and closest friends, who stood waiting for me in front of the altar. Keelin played the music that accompanied us down the aisle. Although the flood had been a disaster, it had created one good side effect: my wedding became the intimate gathering of loved ones I had wished for, rather than a spectacle with hundreds of strangers gawking at the marriage of the King's Jewel to Nuada's Heir.

  Halfway down the aisle, the church faded away, replaced by a bainis garden much like my grandmothers with a brook trickling over rocks to the left and spring flowers blooming all around us.

  I searched for Gobban and found him standing against the wall behind us, leaning on his shillelagh. Ronan stood on one side of him, watching the ceremony with a grim expression, and Max sat on the other, quiet and calm for once. I smiled at Gobban with gratitude—this could only have been one of his illusions—and he nodded his head with great dignity to acknowledge my thanks.

  Neve and John led me down the garden path and escorted me to Alexander, who waited at a stone altar wearing a tuxedo that matched his father's. I rested my palm on Alexander's raised hand, and he held it there as our family and friends created a circle around us.

  Father Michael stood in front of us, not seeming to notice that his church had become a garden; perhaps Gobban had blocked the illusion from the priest. He performed the typical Catholic wedding ritual, and we dutifully repeated our vows and our promises. After we made our commitment to each other, Father Michael added a section at our request.

  "With this ceremony today, we not only create the bonds of matrimony, taking two souls and making them one, but we are also creating a family. Sophia, please come join your parents."

  Our usually effervescent child came forward with uncharacteristic seriousness. She stood between us, holding each of our hands. She gazed up at the priest, her eyes wide and transfixed.

  "Tressa Danann, will you take Sophia Alexa Mannus as your daughter, in love and in spirit?" The big eyes turned their gaze to me, and I smiled down, my insides warming with affection for this child of my heart.

  "Aye. From this day forward she is mine."

  "And you, Sophia? Do you agree to have Tressa as your new mom?" All her nerves seemed to evaporate when the priest directed this question to her. She smiled brightly and looked from Alexander to me.

  "Yes, please. I want her to be my mommy." Father Michael grinned at her enthusiastic response.

  "Well then, here before God and those who love you, I now pronounce you a family."

  The garden dissolved as he spoke these words, turning back into rows of wooden pews. I glanced at Gobban, now standing alone with Max. I assumed his strength had worn out and forced him to drop the illusion, but his expression told me he was as surprised to see it fade as we were.

  Patches of jewel-toned colors danced around the church. It took a minute before I realized that the color came from the stained-glass windows. The sun beamed through them, scattering colorful light everywhere.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Alexander cupped my face in his hands and stared into my eyes, his own sparkling with joy, and grinned. He kissed me and beamed at all our guests.

  "My wife, everyone!"

  Father Michael congratulated us with a warm handshake for Alexander and a light kiss on my cheek. He leaned over and stretched out his hand, meaning to give Sophia a congr
atulatory handshake, however Sophia ignored his gesture and hugged him instead.

  He stepped away and we were swamped with hugs and kisses. My new parents embraced and kissed us both. Matt thumped Alexander on the back, grinning at him like a Cheshire cat. Evidently that wasn't enough, and he gave Alexander a hug as well. Keelin and Rosheen squeezed me both at once. They were chattering over each other so that I couldn't understand what they were saying; I only heard the exuberance in their voices.

  Holly embraced me with one arm, the other holding Trayce on her hip.

  "You look radiant," she whispered. "I've never seen a more beautiful bride." I blushed with happiness, despite knowing that all brides hear the same words.

  "It's the stunning dress that clinches the effect," Rosheen said, winking at me.

  "The gown is lovely. Much more than I could have asked for," I said, giving Rosheen the praise she deserved.

  Only Sloan stayed away, leaning on the side of the pew and stroking Max's head. The dog stood on the seat next to her, his front paws on its armrest. She looked awkward and unsure of what to do with herself. It occurred to me that this may have been the first wedding she had ever attended. I approached her with my arms outstretched.

  "Sloan, thank you for sharing this special event with us. It means the world to me that you were here."

  "It was nothing." She dropped my hands and folded her arms across her chest, trying to look nonchalant, but the rosy blush on her cheeks revealed her true feelings.

  Rosheen gathered her instrument case and we retreated down the aisle, joining up with Gobban as we reached the doors leading to the vestibule.

  Gobban's complexion looked gray and sickly, much as it had when I first met him. That last illusion had depleted what stores remained in his cauldron. I smiled at the grumpy old Leprechaun. He tried so hard to appear indifferent to my attempts to befriend him, however his actions had always told a different story.

  "Thank you, Gobban, for bringing me a bainis garden. It wouldn't have felt like a true wedding without it."

  "Can't have a Sidhe wedding indoors. Goes against nature," he grumbled, forcing a frown so he wouldn't smile. I couldn't resist teasing him a bit.

  "And how about my kiss? It's common knowledge that it's bad luck if all the guests don't congratulate the happy couple." I leaned over to enable him to reach my cheek.

  "Dagnabbit," he mumbled before giving me a light peck.

  Our group passed through the foyer in high spirits, laughing and talking over each other. We stepped outside to find the weather had transformed. The gloomy grayness, ever present for the last week, had disappeared at last, exposing a bright blue sky. The sun had eradicated any hints of rain.

  "Since things didn't go as planned today, I asked Shamus to take the food for the party out to the camp. He'll hold some back for us, but we'll have to make due with eating at home," Keelin explained as we stood on the landing outside the church. "I hope that's okay."

  "That's perfect." It didn't matter what had gone wrong with our plans. Alexander, Sophia and I were now officially a family, bonded for life. Nothing else mattered.

  I inhaled, feeling a deep sense of contentment, just as something whizzed past my ear. I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me.

  Trayce let out an earsplitting howl. The dog snarled and bared his teeth, bolting down the stairs and ignoring Sloan's shouts.

  "Mr. Gobban, Mr. Gobban!" Sophia cried out. I spun around in time to see Keelin grab Sophia and hold her back.

  Gobban lay on the stoop, the shaft of an arrow sticking straight up from his heart. Blood oozed from the wound and poured down the side of his body as the world took on a feeling of unreality. I may have screamed, though I can't be sure. I dropped down next to him, desperate to save him. I ripped his shirt open and placed my palm on his chest.

  "Tressa!" Alexander shouted, fear evident in his voice, afraid I would hurt myself trying to heal the Leprechaun.

  But Gobban was dead. There was no movement under my hand—no expanding of his lungs, no beating of his heart.

  "Everyone, get back inside," Matt yelled over the crying baby. It took both Keelin and Rosheen to drag Sophia away. She cried inconsolably as she dug in her heels and tried to stay.

  I was cognizant of what was going on around me only as if seeing it from a great distance or through a heavy fog. I couldn't bring myself to leave my friend. I traced the tattoo of a harp on his chest with my forefinger, idly thinking that it matched the one on the Leprechaun killed in the camp.

  "Tressa, please! Come inside where it's safe," Alexander's voice came through the haze in my brain as he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to my feet. The bottom of my lovely seafoam green wedding gown dripped with crimson blood.

  ALEXANDER

  Tressa wept in my arms as we huddled together in the same church where we had been so happy just a few short minutes ago. Everyone was shocked at the sudden turn of events.

  After the earlier attacks, adrenalin had filled me with a hot fury, urging me to draw the sword and swing it at everything around me. This time, the anger was cold and calculating. I felt with utmost confidence that the shooter had hit his mark; Tressa had never been his target. All the same, I needed to stop this guy. He had killed three people. Who knew how many more were on his list?

  "Matt, will you get everyone back to the estate? They'll be safer there. Sloan, I need you to stay with me." She raised her eyebrows, the only sign she made that the request surprised her, then nodded.

  "Mom?" I gently guided Tressa to sit in a nearby pew. "Take care of her for me, please."

  "Of course, sweetheart."

  I could see the moment Tressa realized that I was planning to leave her. She stood to kiss me, gulping a few mouthfuls of air as she worked to pull herself together. Then she put her arm around my mother, who responded in kind.

  We decided as a group that Tressa would go with Matt and my parents in the car back to the estate. The twins and Sophia would flit back. With that settled, the whole group of them left the church through the side door.

  "What's the plan?" Sloan asked.

  "Your dog is chasing someone. We're going after him."

  "Max? How could you know that? And anyway, he's a runt. He can't weigh more than twenty pounds. Even if he does catch up to him, how is he supposed to stop a killer?"

  "He doesn't need to stop him. Tracking him for us is good enough."

  She shrugged and followed me to the front door. The realization hit me belatedly as the door swung open at my push: I hadn't thought about the mess outside. If we dealt with that before going after Max, it would be too late to do any good.

  We found Ronan standing over Gobban's body. The scene reminded me powerfully of the morning when the first Leprechaun was killed. I had found Ronan over his lifeless body that time as well. The Guardsman had been in the church when the wedding started, but not at the end. Where had he gone?

  "Returning to the scene of the crime?" I asked, curious to see his reaction. His expression didn't change. Sloan bent down to grab the spearhead at her feet, stashing it in a pocket hidden in the side seam of her dress pants.

  "I'm tired of cleaning up your messes, Mannus," Ronan answered, but his eyes were fixed on Sloan.

  "You can hardly call them mine."

  "Yet you're always close by whenever they happen."

  "As are you." Stalemate. We scrutinized each other's reaction to the sparring match, both coming away unenlightened.

  I left him to his task; I had other things to take care of. Besides, there wasn't much I could do much to help him. I waved for Sloan to follow me and we trotted down the steps to the sidewalk. Max had bolted to the right, down Church Street. I led her in that direction until I was sure we were out of Ronan's hearing.

  "Can you hear Max?" I asked. She closed her eyes to concentrate.

  "A lady is talking to a stray dog; it could be him. Sounds like it's coming from straight ahead."

  We jogged down the street, making
a bizarre sight in our formalwear. I followed Sloan to the right when we reached a T in the road. Two blocks down, a woman was trying to lure Max over to her by offering him a treat. The dog paced just outside her reach, tempted by the food but not trusting her enough to take it, until he saw Sloan.

  He ran toward her, barking wildly, then turned back around and took off past his surprised would-be rescuer. We followed his lead, but he moved too fast for us to keep pace with him. Whenever we fell too far behind him he ran back to us, barking to urge us on before turning and sprinting ahead again. We got as far as the highway heading out of town when it became clear he'd lost the scent.

  "Come on, Xander. This is crazy." Sloan leaned over, supporting herself with her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. "He got too much of a head start. He probably got in a car here and drove off."

  I nodded. She was right, of course, but I hated to give up the chase. I wanted to get this guy.

  "Okay. You go ahead and flit home. I'll take Max in my truck."

  "No way; you can take me with you too. I'm the one who'll answer to Tressa if something happens to her new husband."

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  TRESSA

  Matt dropped Holly and Trayce off at their apartment before heading back to the estate. He walked her up to the building door. Even through the fog in my brain, I recognized that Holly was in a bad state. Matt hugged her and she melted into him, laying her head on his chest and weeping. He made soothing noises as he held her and tenderly stroked her hair.

  He glanced back at the car, holding up a finger to signal he would be a minute before taking the handle of Trayce's seat out of her hand. Holly leaned on him as he helped her up the stairs to her apartment.

  I expected him to insist she come with us until the realization hit: he thought she was safer away from me, or maybe just away from the fae in general. I stared out the side window as he got back in the car and drove us home, watching the town whizz by as I thought about this.

  He was right to worry. I had been a target all my life; Deaglan Mór and his Unseelie kinsman had been after me since the minute I was born. His plan was to burn me at the stake, much like he had torched Kyla's village. People had died at his hand for no greater reason than for standing too close to me when he attacked. I shook these ugly thoughts out of my head as Matt pulled up to the Manor House.