Sword Song: The Isle of Destiny Series

by Tricia O'Malley

  Bianca watched the entire exchange with a delighted look on her face.

  “Knock it off,” Sasha grumbled, and both Maddox and Bianca chuckled.

  It was probably just because she hadn’t slept with anyone in a while. Women have needs, Sasha thought, a grumpy expression on her face. Declan was sexy. It was quite simple. No need for either of these two to be reading anything more into it.

  “You know,” Bianca said, turning to smile at Seamus, “Clare and Blake ended up together.”

  Sasha buried her face in her hands and groaned, ignoring Declan’s low rumble of laughter at her side.

  “Can we just not do this? I have bigger things to worry about than sex.”

  The word ‘sex’ hung in the air as everyone grew quiet.

  “Can’t think of a much better thing to occupy your mind with than sex,” Seamus remarked cheerfully and the car erupted in laughter. Even Sasha finally broke out in a smile.

  “Fair enough. Can we move on? Where are we going? What do we know? How does this work?”

  “Well, last time we had a clue. Do you have any clues?” Bianca asked.

  Sasha just looked at her for a moment. “I can’t honestly say that I do.”

  “Nothing? No poems? No notes? No weird sensations or drawn to any weird objects?”

  “Just my dagger,” Sasha said automatically, then paused.

  “Let’s see,” Bianca demanded, and Sasha slipped it out of her boot and handed it off to Bianca.

  “So Declan,” Maddox began, leaning forward a bit to look at Declan, and Sasha barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. “Tell us about yourself.”

  Declan leaned forward and smiled at Maddox.

  “I’m Na Cosantoir,” Declan said simply.

  “Well, yeah, duh. We know that. But like, what about you? Where are you from, what do you like doing? Do you have family?” Maddox asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I have family, a brother and a sister. Both of my parents are still living,” Declan said, then closed his mouth.

  “Chatty one, aren’t you?” Maddox commented.

  “I’m not here to chat. In fact, I shouldn’t even be in this car. The code is that I’m supposed to remain unseen. Yet this one here had other ideas in her head,” Declan said, annoyance lacing his voice.

  “Not everything can go the way you want it to,” Sasha grumbled.

  “Nothing’s gone the way I want it to since I’ve laid eyes on you,” Declan said, turning to stare out the window. Maddox pounced on that.

  “And how long has it been since you laid eyes on our beautiful Sasha?”

  Sasha rolled her eyes at that. She’d take ‘striking’ or ‘unique’ – but being called ‘beautiful’ always made her feel a bit squirmy. She’d fought too hard to be taken seriously in her field, and often found the terms ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’ to be used in a condescending manner by colleagues.

  “For a handful of years,” Declan said.

  Sasha’s brain almost shorted out. “What?” she exclaimed, swinging to punch him in the arm. “You’ve been following me for years? Years! And you’ve never said a word to me? That’s stalking, you know?”

  Declan just shook his head and ran his hand over the stubble on his jaw.

  “It’s not stalking if I’m saving your life.”

  “I thought this all just started recently. Why the need to watch me for so long?” Sasha demanded. Her thoughts skidded over all the years she’d owned the gallery, her time with Aaron, her travels. Just how often had he watched her and what had he watched her doing? It was a decidedly creepy feeling to know that your every move had been catalogued by a third party for years.

  She wondered if he liked her.

  What a stupid thing to think, Sasha admonished herself. His job wasn’t to like her – his job was apparently to keep her alive and safe from the murdering fae that kept showing up at her back door. That was it. He didn’t have to like her to do his job.

  “Fae are tricky. They slip through and try to derail the Seekers. It’s how it has always been. It’s quite an honor to be chosen.”

  “How are you chosen?” Maddox asked.

  “The Goddess chooses. It’s a birthright. The mark appears and it is so,” Declan said.

  “You have the same mark as the Seekers?” Sasha asked, turning to look him over.

  “Yes, but inverted. Just here,” Declan said, turning his wrist over to show what looked like a small tattoo on the interior of his wrist.

  Sasha was about to ask another question, but Bianca interrupted her. “Speaking of birthrights,” she said, and held up the dagger. “Did you tell me where you got this? There’s an inscription just here.”

  “There is?” That sincerely shocked Sasha. She was so careful with cataloging the details of every antique that came into the gallery. There was no way she would have missed an inscription.

  One must first know the dark to see the light.

  “Seriously?” Sasha asked, pulling the dagger from Bianca’s hand to examine the small line of text on the hilt of the sword, winding around one of the engravings. “How did I miss this? My attention to detail is usually fantastic.”

  “’Tis true, my love, ’tis true. But this is fae,” Maddox said, pulling the dagger gently from her hand. “Riddles, inscriptions, runes – all of those things will show up in their own time.”

  “Sasha, where were you born?” Bianca interrupted again.

  Sasha looked at her in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “We found clues at Clare’s birthplace. We might as well start at the beginning again, no?” Bianca asked, shrugging a shoulder.

  Sasha felt annoyed, as she did every time this topic came up. “I was an orphan. A foster family took me in. They didn’t really know how to parent a child like me and I left as soon as I was old enough to earn a wage,” Sasha said quickly, hoping that would be the end of the inquiry.

  “Wait, what? You just left? What did you do?”

  “Cleaned dishes, worked a library, cleaned some houses, babysat.” Sasha shrugged it off. “Those types of jobs, until I was able to go on to school.”

  “What were your parents like?” Bianca asked.

  “This doesn’t matter,” Sasha said, and there was a silence in the car. Sasha sighed and tugged on her braid. Maddox patted her leg in reassurance. “Listen, they’re fine people. They just didn’t know how to parent a child like me. They were so authoritarian, and if I didn’t fall in line with their beliefs or behavior, I was cast as the black sheep. Instead of giving me the chance to learn and grow freely, they ruled with an iron hand. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well with someone like me. We clashed a lot. I think they were just as relieved to see me go as I was to say goodbye to them.”

  “I’m sorry, honey. That sounds awful,” Bianca said, her expression soft with empathy.

  “It is what it is. I just wish they had seen me for who I am instead of trying to make me into what they wanted me to be. It would have made life significantly easier. Of course, I was blamed for the arguments and the fighting, so it was easy for them to cast me in the role of the black sheep – of always being the bad one. And at this point in my life, it doesn’t really matter anymore. For a long time, I still sought their approval. I wanted them to be proud of me. Now? Well, I’m living for me and I’m proud of who I am and who my friends are. I’m a good person,” Sasha said, surprised to find the old angst boiling up inside her.

  “Of course you are. You’re one of the best people I know,” Maddox said automatically.

  “Thanks, but I think you may be biased. I’m not always all that nice,” Sasha said with a sigh, wanting to change the conversation. “Anyway, the papers that came with me from the orphanage say I was found near to Killarney.”

  “Shall we head that way?” Seamus asked.

  Sasha sighed again and tugged her braid.

  “If we must go back to the beginning, then we go back to the beginning
.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  As the car cruised along a coastal road, Sasha went quiet and let the chatter flow around her. She didn’t much like thinking of her childhood, let alone of the days before she went into the orphanage. Vague images of a woman surrounded by a glow of light, as if she were looking down at Sasha with the sun beaming behind her head, and a sense of warmth. After that, just vague images of a dark room, being hungry, and being totally out of control until she landed in a foster home.

  It was one of the things that had drawn her into the martial arts world – being in control. After her erratic upbringing, control was vitally important to Sasha.

  “Is there anything in particular that pops into your head when you think about the sword and your upbringing? Any connection you see?” Bianca asked, rousing Sasha from her reverie.

  “That love is conditional,” Sasha said automatically, and then paused. Maddox reached over and squeezed her hand, but said nothing.

  “Oh, honey, do you really believe that?” Bianca’s face was wreathed in sorrow and Sasha had to call on her deepest reserves to keep her walls up.

  “It is, though,” Sasha insisted, shrugging a shoulder. “However, I’m not sure what that has to do with the sword.”

  “Why do you say it is?” Seamus asked, his voice only holding curiosity, not judgment.

  “It’s just the way it is,” Sasha said, struggling to articulate her feelings. “If you don’t change yourself for the people who love you – if you don’t become what they want you to be – they take their love from you. If you aren’t the perfect daughter or the perfect wife, they don’t love you. It’s a condition of their love. It’s not that uncommon, I’m not even sure why you’re surprised at this. People hold expectations of others all the time. When you constantly fail to meet them, they withdraw their love. That’s just how it works.”

  Sasha felt all that old angst swirl around in her stomach, burning a hole, desperately trying to claw its way out. Her hand clenched unconsciously around the dagger and a tingling sensation burned through her, up her arm, and shot a bolt straight into the roof of the car.

  Sasha froze, staring at the singed mark in the fabric of the ceiling. Maddox swore and batted the fire out, Bianca screeched, and Seamus swung the car to the side of the road. The only one who was calm was Declan, who leveled an unreadable look at her.

  Sasha closed her eyes against the tears that suddenly threatened.

  She hadn’t cried in years. But here she was, about to lose the few people who claimed to be on her side. She supposed it was to be expected. You couldn’t shoot a fireball through someone’s car ceiling and think people would stick around.

  Where had that come from, anyway? Since when could daggers shoot fire? Sweat broke out across Sasha’s hairline, trickling down her neck into her braid. She kept her eyes closed, holding the tears back through sheer force of will.

  Sasha jolted as she felt Declan’s arm go over her shoulders, pulling her into him. She wanted to snuggle right up, bury her face in his neck, and cry it all out. All the years of pain, of feeling like the only person on her own private island, of being strong all the time against those who always sought to change her or castigate her because she was different.

  A tap on her knee made her open her eyes to see Bianca smiling at her.

  “Can I just say, that was pretty badass.”

  And despite herself, Sasha found herself laughing so hard that the tears came after all. But this time they were from the joy of finding people who accepted her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Declan dug his nails into his palm as he looked out the window and away from where Sasha wiped tears from her eyes. He wanted to punch something or someone – take down a Domnua or two. When he’d heard the crack in her voice when she’d tried to calmly explain that love was conditional, he had been filled with anger.

  Her wounds ran deeper, perhaps much deeper than he had realized. No wonder she was so fierce in her day-to-day life. Not only was she a warrior, but she was protecting her heart.

  It was far easier to keep a wall up than it was to let people in, then have them abandon you.

  Declan knew all about walls. He’d been traveling alone for years, protecting Sasha, maintaining minimal contact with his family and his friends. It was more for preservation and dedication to the role entrusted to him than by choice; however, his solitary and introverted nature now felt normal to him. No friends meant no distractions, and he could honor the Goddess by keeping Sasha alive.

  Declan slid a quick glance at Sasha and then back out the window.

  He made a vow to himself in that moment. If – no, when they found the sword and the mission was over, he’d show Sasha the truth of unconditional love until his dying breath.

  His service to the Goddess and the Danula would be over.

  And he’d be free to love the one woman who’d gotten past his walls without even trying.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Clare could freeze time. Well, not time, but the Domnua. And Sasha shoots fire bolts. I wonder if all the powers will be elemental,” Bianca mused as they wound their way toward the village where Sasha believed she had been born. Declan kept his gaze steady out the window. Sasha wondered what he was thinking about, or if he thought differently of her because of her newly discovered magickal power.

  “How do you even know they all get to have powers?” Maddox inquired.

  Bianca paused as she considered. “I don’t. I guess I’m just hoping they do. Because, duh, how cool would that be? I mean, I know all of you are fae and this magick stuff is like, the norm, for you guys. But for me? It’s like I’m living out all the myths and fairytales I’ve learned and lectured about. It’s just beyond awesome, in my opinion. Yup, I definitely hope everyone gets magick powers.” Bianca’s enthusiasm was contagious and Sasha found herself relaxing back into the seat.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Sasha commented, nudging Declan.

  “Keeping watch,” Declan said, not sparing her a glance.

  Sasha straightened a bit, turning to crane her head to look out the back window. “Do you think they’d ambush us?”

  “Yes,” Bianca and Seamus both exclaimed at once.

  “I hadn’t even considered that,” Sasha admitted, feeling a bit foolish for thinking they were safe once they’d exited Dublin.

  “We’re at war. You’re never safe – from here on out. Do you understand me? There’s no sneaking off alone, no using the bathroom alone, nothing.” Declan ordered, his green eyes hard as he stared her down.

  “Yes, Captain,” Sasha said, giving him a little attitude.

  She was met with a stony glare.

  “Tough crowd,” Sasha murmured and was delighted to see a quick smile flash across Declan’s face before he went back to scanning the hills.

  “Turn here,” Sasha said, seeing a small lane that jutted from the main road. She had no idea why she insisted they turn – something tugged at the corners of her memories, but she couldn’t quite pull the thought out.

  Seamus drove the SUV carefully down the rutted lane, following a stone wall that was overgrown with bramble. The sun struggled to peek through the grey clouds that clung to the horizon, and a lone bird swooped in lazy circles over the road.

  If isolation had an image, it would be this place, Sasha thought, as the road stretched ahead of them for ages with nothing in sight but hill after faded green hill. She idly hoped Seamus had filled the car with enough petrol.

  “Where are you taking us, girl?” Bianca asked and Sasha shrugged.

  “I can’t quite say. I just had this overwhelming urge to go up this lane,” Sasha admitted, and Declan swore.

  “You think it’s a trap?” Seamus asked, his eyes meeting Declan’s in the rearview mirror.

  “I think we should be on full alert,” Declan said, sliding a dagger into his hand. Bianca and Maddox both followed suit, arming themselves. Sasha didn’t bother – she was in the middle of the car and her
gut instinct said it wasn’t a trap.

  Then again, she’d long ago stopped trusting her instincts, as they clearly hadn’t helped her in some situations – like with her ex-fiancé. With that in mind, she gripped the hilt of the dagger and slid it from to its hiding place in her boot.

  “I see something,” Bianca said softly.

  A cluster of small, one-room stone huts and a few tents were tucked behind a hill, where there was shelter from the wind that whipped across the land.

  “Gypsies,” Sasha said, and Bianca turned to nod her agreement.

  “This look familiar to you?” Maddox asked, but Sasha just shrugged. She had no way of knowing why she had needed to come this way.

  Until she saw the woman step into the road.

  “She’ll be wanting to talk to me, then,” Sasha said, and instructed Seamus to pull the car over. They all went silent and waited.

  The woman – easily eighty-five years old if not older, judging from the deep lines that furrowed her face – lifted her chin high and raised one hand to curl her fingers into a beckoning motion. Her clear grey eyes met Sasha’s through the windshield.

  “I’ll go,” Sasha said, nudging Maddox to let her out.

  “Not without me you won’t,” Declan said and slipped from the car to stand in front of the woman, hands on his hips.

  “Wait,” Sasha said, annoyed that he’d barely given her a chance to get out of the car before he spoke with the woman. By the time she reached his side, the woman was chuckling and Declan had relaxed ever so slightly.

  “This is Sasha, the one you seek,” Declan said, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her slightly forward so that his body sheltered hers. Comfort filled her as his warmth seeped through her body from behind. It also reminded her just how much larger this man was than her, as he all but towered over her and protected her from the back.

  “I know Sasha. Her eyes are the same, though it has been ages since I’ve held her,” The woman’s eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled gently, running her gaze over Sasha before nodding once in approval. “You’ve turned out to be an impressive young woman.”