by S Lawrence
Cheers of agreement go up through the men. I realize, at some point, the music has started, and more people have filled the pub. Glancing around, I notice there are a number of envious looks from the ladies. Looking back at these men, I again can’t help but notice they are five very handsome, manly men and none of whom seem married. Of course, I can’t help myself and ask, “So, how is it that none of you are married or are you?”
Patrick is the first one to answer, “Naw, none married and currently no girlfriends. Jobs and responsibilities keep us from it.”
“There are certainly plenty of takers here it seems, if the daggers being shot my way, just for sitting here, are anything to go off of.” All at once, five sets of eyes scan the room, not in interest but anger.
“They doona have the right to be angry at you!” Sean says, loud enough the whole place could hear.
When he looks back at me, I am shaking my head at him, really at all of them. “Don’t you boys know anything about women? That just made it worse. Someone, please dance with me, while the rest of you smile NICELY at someone.” Michael shoves his brother in arms out of the way and grabs my hand, dragging me from my seat. I can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes me. And so goes the next few hours, drinking and dancing, I learn more about each of them as they take turns spinning me around the dance floor. It’s only Jason that hasn’t danced with me, although I do catch him watching.
So, I’m drunk.
I didn’t mean to drink this much, but these guys are so much fun. Looking around the table, I can’t keep the grin off my face. “Okay, fellas. Here’s the deal. My BFF Emma, sent me on a mission tonight. I was to find a man with a beard...check.” I look pointedly at Sean and Michael and shake my head no, while sticking out my bottom lip, pouting. The others start to laugh and make fun of their smooth baby faces. “I was to find a man with tattoos...check.” Raising my eyebrows, my eyes roam over their exposed flesh. They are all grinning and looking at each other when I finish my perusal. ”Lastly, I was to molest this man…” I lean in and loudly whisper, “Sexually!” I lean back with a Cheshire-like smile on my face. While they begin to argue, Jason’s eyes are on me.
“Oh and I think we should video chat with her.” I get my phone out and start the call. They all quiet, waiting to see if she answers. Her face pops up, and I smile. “Heeey, best friend!”
“Oh my God! You ARE drunk!” she declares immediately.
“I am, yes, but I have here with me, my new friends. I told them my mission, should I choose to accept.” I am giggling now, once again finding myself funnier than anyone else does.
“Really? Well let me see the new friends,” she laughs.
Turning the camera around, I scan over each of the boys, taking the time to introduce them to Emma. “Whatcha think? I know Sean and Michael have no beards, so they are probably out. Am I right?” Protests arise all around the table, as Sean yells out, “Have a heart woman!”
“Show me again.” Emma’s delighted with their torment.
I’m scanning the boys again when a cheer goes up. Looking around, I can’t see anything. When did this place get so packed, I wonder? When I look back, I realize I have left the camera facing Jason, and he is staring at Emma intently, like with hunger. I turn her back to me with my eyebrow raised. My eyes ask her what the hell that was all about and she mouths ‘holy shit’, while fanning herself. I glance up at him, and his eyes narrow on me. I am about to ask her who she thinks I should choose, obviously not Jason, when I hear smoky whiskey float through the air. I stumble up, as Emma is asking me what is wrong. I look at her and say, “It’s him...it’s Kia. Can you hear it? That's his voice.”
“Aislin, how can you be sure?” she asks with skepticism.
“I AM sure! That is his voice, I am telling you. Shit, fuck! I can’t see again.” I hold the camera close to my face, “Emma, I’m going to hold the phone up. Try to see him for me.”
“Okay! Okay, I believe you. Hold me up so I can see.”
I practically throw the phone up, as I climb up on my chair to get me even higher. The boys are looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. Jason is staring in the direction of the music. Again, I can only see the top of his head. Does the man forever stare at the ground? Pulling the phone back to me, I yell at Emma, “I can see his head!”
“I never saw his face. Get off that chair and push your way forward! Hurry up! This is your chance; the song is almost over!” She’s joining me in my excitement.
As I get down, Jason is suddenly standing in front of me. “Move Jason. I need to get closer,” I demand.
“Let me help you,” he replies, just as I realize this is the first I have heard him speak. His voice rolls over me, and I hear Emma sigh through the phone. I feel dazed, but I nod, thinking I have drunk too much because his voice feels like honey over my skin. Then we are suddenly moving through the crowd, but when we finally get to the front, once again, Kia is gone. I stand there, turning in circles, dismayed and confused. Eventually, Jason pulls me back to the table where the boys are watching me with fascinated gazes.
“What?” I snap and immediately regret it. “Sorry guys. I just heard that guy sing in Edinburgh and couldn’t get a glimpse of him then either. This Kia must be some sorta magician.”
I am sulking in my chair when I notice that Jason is gone. Patrick leans towards me and whispers, “Lass, it isn’t you that has us concerned, it’s Jason. He never speaks to people. I mean, he does us, but that took years.”
“What? Why?” Asking, I glance around at their faces. They are all nodding in agreement. “If I had his voice, I would talk to everyone.”
I hear a faint “seriously” and realize I still have Emma on the phone.
“Shit, sorry Em. Hey, I’ll call you tomorrow to talk.” My eyes said ‘about Jason,’ and she nods yes.
“So spill, why no talking? His voice is AMAZING. It’s like...” I know my mouth is hanging open as I try to pull up a word to describe it. A shiver runs down my spine as I contemplate what to say. I look at them, realizing it must have been some time that I was thinking because they are all leaning forward with expectant looks on their faces. “Shit, I am drawing a blank. I don’t know how to describe it,” I finally say. I am in no way going to let them know that the only word I could think of was orgasmic. Sean starts to chuckle, and soon the rest follow until we were all laughing hysterically.
“Lass, we have all seen that look before. We knew exactly what you were thinking,” Michael didn’t miss the shiver.
I feel my face turn a brilliant shade of red, “Whatever. You better not say anything. Besides, I need all the information you have on Kia. His voice is like warm whiskey with honey.”
“Not much to tell really. He comes through every once in a while, never stays longer than a night and only sings one song.” Chris’s accent-ladened words take a moment for my muddled brain to decipher, it completely misses the look that they all share.
“Really? That’s it? Nothing else? Where does he go? Where is he from? Where does he stay when he is here? NOTHING!?” I am practically yelling at them with frustration.
I look around the pub, both Kia and Jason have disappeared. “Does Jason know Kia?” I ask them, eyes still scanning.
Patrick looks around saying, “Honestly, don’t know. Jason has secrets. He came to the Highlands a few years ago. I found him, like I found you, looking a little lost. Made him join up with the lads and me. He didn’t say a word for the longest time. We thought he coona talk at all. Then out of the blue one day, he started talking to us, but only when it was just us five.”
“How strange,” I murmur in Patrick’s direction, my voice filling with concern. “Maybe some kinda trauma?”
“We never asked. Figured he tell us if and when he was ready.”
We’re all a little subdued, each puzzling over the mysteries. We listen to some more music in silence. Telling them I need to head back to the hotel; I stand getting hugs from each of them. Giving them my card, I tell them t
hat they had better stay in touch. Reaching the door, I turn to look back at them. The feeling that I just spent the evening with some very important people causes my mind to begin a tale featuring them all, of course. I wave bye, stepping out into the night. The boys have called a cab for me. Glancing back through the windows, I see they all have their eyes on me, as I wait for it to pull up. It arrives in moments. As it’s pulling away, my phone chimes. Opening the text, I see their smiling faces with their numbers listed. My heart expands.
Chapter 18
We look at each other, then back out at this woman. She’s so innocent in all of this. She knows not what she wears. She doesn’t have any idea who Kia or Jason is. She’s merely looking for her father. How will we tell our old friend, Faolan, that his love has not come for him, but a daughter has? One who seems to be following in her mother’s footsteps. She’s angry and full of questions, questions that our Grove could probably help her answer. We too are going to the stones, but it’s not answers we seek. We go to honor our Gods. Aislin will be surprised to see us there, but we couldn’t tell her tonight. We must wait and, for now, we must find Kia. He must be tracking her and the bracelet she wears. We send her a picture with our numbers. We weren’t lying when we told her we would keep in touch. We just hope she isn’t too angry when she realizes who and what we are.
Chapter 19
She didn’t notice him this evening. How could she with all of them surrounding her with their energy? He saw a dark one watching the crowd though, that one seemed to be on alert, even though he was careful. He was surprised to see Kia here too, singing again. Good god, what does that one think he is doing? The true surprise of the night was seeing the dark one keep her from Kia and then suddenly leave. He tried to get a picture of him to send the council, but it proved to be too difficult. He thought to follow her back to her hotel, but they were all watching her like fucking guard dogs. He overheard her say she is heading to catch the ferry tomorrow; it can’t be a coincidence that she is heading to Roag...to the stones, just mere days before the solstice. With Kia circling and now others circling her, it is too uncanny. When he make his report tonight, he will alert them to his plans to leave for Ullapool promptly so he can beat her there.
**********
“She almost saw you, Kai!” Jason yells at me.
I look back at Jason pacing in front of me, then turn my eyes back down to the city. The magic of the bracelet shows like a beacon to those of us that could sense its magic. Eyes flick over to amber, and I can see her more clearly in the window of her hotel. She is looking toward the mountain, and I imagine that she is looking at me.
“Are you even listening to me?” Jason was suddenly in front of me.
“No, actually I wasn’t. Jason, it matters not if she sees me. Soon enough, I will know why she’s here and how she got that bracelet.”
“You idiot!” Jason says with irritation.
A growl rumbles in my chest and my head swivels towards him as he paces in frustration. “Jason, I do not care for your tone or your words for that matter.” I know my eyes are glowing for I am not the only one offended by him. He turns back to me with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Listen asshole! I don’t care if you are upset by my words. There was someone in that pub tonight, watching her and us.”
Another rumble vibrates through my body as my head twists back towards her hotel. “Now, who’s the idiot? You should’ve told me that first! She could be in danger.” I start to call on my other, intent on getting down to her as fast I can.
“Wait!” Jason places his hand on my shoulder. “The druids are watching her. She has won them over with her tale of loss and her sassy attitude. They will not let her come to any harm. You’ll also want to hear what she told us. Relax my friend.”
I feel my magic and body calming. “Do not use your voice on me” I admonish him.
He smiles unrepentant and shrugs, “Do you wish to hear or not?”
Jason sits on the ground, leaning against the boulder near the ledge. It seems that I have no choice but to follow suit. Jason isn’t from here, and I only recently learned of his presence from the druids. Apparently, they do things a little differently where he comes from. I am staring out into the night, expanding my mind trying to reach for Faolan. He will want to hear, whatever it is Jason is about to tell me. A fire suddenly springs to life between us. I glance over at Jason, another of his talents no doubt, but I have my own fire. I feel Faolan stirring in my mind.
‘Have you found my Jean?’ My heart aches for my old friend, so many tragedies for one man to endure.
‘No, my friend. But there is another here who has some information for us. Listen with me.’ Jason is looking at me with his head cocked to the side. I smile at his confusion knowing he feels the magic.
“Are you not connected to your brethren?” I ask a bit smugly.
“No. It would be a useful tool to have,” his face shows his envy.
I block Faolan for a moment and say, “My friend listens. I was sent to find his love, whom he gave the bracelet to twenty-five years ago. Obviously, the girl isn't her, so please be gently in your telling of this tale. He has suffered more than any should ever have to.”
Jason nods, as I reconnect with Faolan.
‘Do not baby me, Kia. I’m damaged, but not so weak that I canna hear some information. I don’t need protection, just tell me of the bracelet.’
Jason had waited, so I nodded to let him know we were ready for him to begin. We both glance at the hotel, her light is out. I can see her clearly through the window, but I do not know if he can or not. I find myself wanting him not to be able to see her. She looks innocent and beautiful in the moonlight, an image I want not to share. He turns back to me with a smirk on his face, my eyes narrow, wondering at his talents. When he begins to speak his voice washes over me, I can feel it reaching for Faolan, while a part of me is offended, I hope that maybe it will soften the coming blow for my friend.
“Patrick brought her in, he found her outside the bar. We’d planned to meet there to discuss the magic we felt when she arrived in town. It was luck, or maybe those bitches the fates, that brought her and the bracelet to us. Either way, we are lucky we saw her first. She is beautiful, her soul shining out. I could tell the druids were enamored almost as soon as she opened her mouth, her slow southern drawl trickling out. I, on the other hand, was drawn in by truth ringing in her words. She introduced herself as Aislin, from New Orleans. She came here to connect with the mother she lost as a girl. A mother she loved entirely. One who held her above all others. A mother that left her a bracelet. One who wrote to her in a journal telling her about a father she’d never met and their great love story.”
Foalan roars inside my head, his heartbreak reaching across the miles. I know he had suspected, but the confirmation is just another blow to an already weary warrior. Even Jason, who is not joined, seems to feel his pain, sympathy radiating from his eyes. I nod for him to continue, pleading with the Gods for something to console my friend.
Taking a breath, I see Jason carefully choose his next words. “I know you are mourning your love, old one, but you should revel in this woman who is your daughter. She is smart, funny and brave. She is also fierce. Not to mention, she seems to be a bit angry that you never came for her mother as you said you would.”
“Don’t you dare sit there and judge him!” I shout at this newcomer, how dare he.
‘No, my friend, he is right. Even if I couldn’t go to her, I should have sent someone else,’ Faolan murmurs, regret filling his voice.
‘Years had passed before we could even sense you. There was nothing you could have done to spare her.’ I want to lessen his guilt.
‘I should have been more careful; less arrogant. We knew they were still a threat, but I thought myself untouchable.’
I look at my companion, he will get no apology from me, and I see that he expects none.
“I was not judging, merely relaying the information so
that you would be prepared for some ‘fire’ from her,” Jason smirks at his own joke. If I had been a teenage girl, I would have rolled my eyes. “She is heading to the stones where her mother first met you, hoping that someone knows or remembers her father. I told Kia that we were not the only ones interested in her. This Order that has plagued you for so long has a watcher assigned to her. He watches with hungry eyes, ones that gleam with his desire. I fear that he knows not who she is or even what she is. If he believes she has the power he seeks, he will grab her for certain. I’m also worried that he has other desires where she is concerned and will not stay on the leash the Order has him on.” The cry of denial comes from both Faolan and myself. Realization hits me like a freight train, and I slam the connection with Faolan closed. That bastard from the Order desires her; her ivory skin and raven hair.
I feel Jason’s eyes on me, and I look up and see a knowing look on his face. “She is beautiful. Did you not realize that you sang to her?” he asks, feeling it was obvious.
“Sang to her? No, I wasn’t, I was just...” I looked to the hotel, who was I kidding? I had been. “Shit, I didn’t mean...I was just trying to find my friend’s cinniúint,” I defended.
“I see things in music and voices - truths, lies, feelings. It is both a curse and a blessing. You, my friend, sang desire, both of your essences reached for her. They caressed along her soul. Which I suspect is why she too has been looking and dreaming of you.”
My eyes jerk to his, “Dreaming?”
He throws his head back laughing, the sound of it brings me sudden joy and happiness. He quickly stops, seeing my face, my feelings shining through and I see his regret.
“So, I guess I know why you don’t usually speak,” I murmur as my joy fades swiftly.
“Yes. Now you know another of my curses. My voice can influence people, often when I don’t mean for it to. It can also be very useful at times. Hell, it can even be pleasurable at the right moment, but mostly it is a burden,” he says with underlying sadness.
