“This was one of Grace O’Malley’s castles,” Declan said from behind her.
“It was? That’s amazing. I have nothing but respect for Grace O’Malley. The original tough-as-nails woman. Did you know she gave birth at sea? And then went into battle? And women today talk about having perfect birth plans. Please. Grace O’Malley would laugh in their faces,” Bianca pattered on behind her, but Sasha tuned her out and turned to look back at the lonely gull swooping above the crashing waves.
When it dove into the water and snatched a fish, the fish dangling from its mouth for a moment before meeting its death, Sasha nodded once.
There but for the grace of God go I.
Chapter Forty-one
“I love Grace’s Cove. Once we kick Domnua butt, I want to spent a couple weeks there just puttering around in the shops, going for hikes along the coast, and maybe even spending time in the cove – if the cove will let me.” Bianca chattered away and Sasha had half-listened as she twisted the quote around in her head once more.
“Wait, what? Why wouldn’t the cove let you go there?”
“Oh, well, it’s just the most romantic and melodramatic story ever,” Bianca sighed and held her hand to her heart. “Romantic in an abstract way, you get me? Not like love-romantic. But Grace O’Malley chose to end her life in the cove, as she was very sick. And the night she walked into the water – blood sacrifice, strong magick – she enchanted the cove. Her daughter was there and gave birth on the beach that very night – double blood magick – and imbued the bloodline with extra special gifts. Now the cove basically doesn’t let anyone in if they don’t have O’Malley blood.”
“Wait, like fairy magick? And how does it stop the people from getting in?” Sasha snorted out a laugh. “Like, is there a bouncer? Do they club people?”
Bianca turned and looked at her with a very serious look on her pert face.
“The water swallows them as soon as they get to the beach. It’s not pretty. Nobody in the village will go there. They claim it’s because there’s a dangerous undertow, but everybody who lives there knows differently. They won’t speak of it.”
“Wow, that’s kind of intense. So that’s where the sword is? In a cove that will swallow us whole? Awesome,” Sasha muttered. Declan reached up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her in for a hug.
“Maybe not at the cove. But we can see how we feel once we get to town. Plus, maybe we’ll find Fiona. Or we can always stop at Cait’s pub. She was awesome and outfitted us for our hike to battle.”
“Tell me how that went down,” Sasha asked, and spent the rest of the drive listening to Bianca’s engaging reenactment of the great battle that Clare had undertaken to secure the stone. Bianca was an excellent storyteller, but it also made Sasha realize that the end of this would not go easily.
“No chance I’m just going to trip over the sword, is there?” Sasha finally asked, a growing sense of dread creeping up her shoulders.
“Not likely. But you’ll figure it out. I have faith,” Bianca said, her endless optimism soothing Sasha a bit.
“How can you be sure?” Sasha asked.
“Because I believe in fairytale endings,” Bianca smiled over her shoulder.
And that was that, Sasha thought as they followed a road that curved along a cliff, one side filled with sleepy sodden hills, the other sullen grey water. She wished she could share Bianca’s easy belief in happy endings. Unfortunately, Sasha was far more pragmatic than that. Perhaps she was a realist, or perhaps she was a pessimist, but either way, she’d seen enough to know that fairytale endings were more the oddity than the usual. But nonetheless, it was sweet of Bianca, and her never-ending cheerfulness even in the face of battle was something Sasha could believe in and rely upon.
“Do you just want to go to the cove? Or should we go to town first?” Seamus asked, looking at Bianca.
“I think we go to the cove. Not that the town isn’t darling, but I don’t know. I don’t see the Sword of Light appearing in the middle of Gallagher’s Pub, you know?” Bianca said.
Sasha agreed with her. “The cove, first, I think.”
Seamus directed the car down a road that skirted a small village tucked into the foothills of a beautiful bay. Looking almost like a green Christmas tree decorated with colorful ornaments, the village was absolutely charming, each store and house painted a different bright color, and colorful flags strung up in streamers over the streets.
Sasha could indeed see why Bianca would want to spend a few weeks here. “It’s charming.”
“It really is. I love how each building has a different design, or different windows, big doors, little doors, lace curtains in one window, stained glass in another. Pottery studios, bookstores, little bakeries...” Bianca sighed and clutched her hands to her chest. “It isn’t that I don’t love Dublin and big city life, but isn’t there just something about a beautiful village tucked on the water that calls to your heart?”
“Aye, it’s lovely,” Maddox agreed. “Though I’m sure every teenage boy and girl in town hates it and is dying to see the bright lights of the big city.”
“Ah, teenage angst,” Bianca chuckled. “I came from a small town, so I knew it well. There wasn’t much to do but get ourselves into trouble. For the most part, I kept to my studies and worked until I could get into Dubs and move on.”
“You weren’t a troublemaker?” Seamus teased as he turned onto a smaller one-lane road that began to wind along the cliffs, which looked dangerously steep in Sasha’s estimation.
“I’ve always been a good girl,” Bianca said, fluttering her eyelashes at Seamus.
“Not that good,” Seamus said, sending her a saucy wink.
Sasha smiled broadly at the both of them. Even in the face of danger, in the face of death, in the face of battle – they faced each other with love.
That was certainly something to think about.
The sea stretched before them, unmarred by land, almost the same shade of grey as the ominous clouds that hung low in the horizon. More birds swooped here, the rain doing little to deter them from their daily meal, and the waves crashed dangerously upon jagged rocks that jutted up from the shoreline. The ocean never failed to make Sasha feel but like a miniscule speck of nothingness in a web of something so much greater. Who was she to think she was something in this world? How was she going to impact the world or change it for the better?
Sasha leaned back and watched Seamus navigate a particularly dicey turn in the road. It seemed she was going to impact the world – if she found the sword, that is. And in the history of time nobody would know what she had done for humanity. Was she okay with that? Did she need the accolades? Or would she be content knowing she had quietly effected massive change?
Realizing that the accolades didn’t matter, but the change did, Sasha vowed to herself that, no matter what awful or uncomfortable situation she was thrown into in order to find this damn sword, she’d weather it.
Because people like Bianca and Seamus deserved a world they could smile in.
Chapter Forty-two
“Fiona!” Bianca exclaimed as they bumped down a gravel lane, having turned off from the main road. A woman, easily eighty years old if a day, perched casually on a stone wall, a dog at her side.
It could have been a sunny day in spring for the way the woman was casually sitting in the rain, a bright smile on her face, her dog’s tongue lolling happily out of its mouth by her side. A bright red rain slicker mostly covered her white hair, and her pants were tucked into serviceable Wellies. She waved a hello to stop them.
“Hi, Fiona,” Bianca called out of the window she rolled down.
“Come to my house for a cup of tea and a chat. No need to go to the cove on a grumpy day like today,” Fiona said easily, whistling for her dog. “Ronan, home.” The dog raced like a bullet across the wet field, his ears streaming behind him, toward a stone cottage that sat a ways up the lane.
“Do you want a ride?” Bianca asked.
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Fiona laughed. “No, child. Go on. John’s up there. I’ll be along. Just a few more herbs to gather.”
Gathering herbs in the rain, Sasha thought, and shook her head. There were so many other ways to spend a rainy day. A flash of her and Declan tangled in bed, with the rain pouring outside, had her stomach flipping over in knots. She pushed the thought away and instead focused on the cheerful cottage they were pulling up to.
A man, easily the same age as Fiona, crouched by the door and toweled off Ronan, who danced in anticipation of going inside. The cottage was made of stone, with pretty little red flower boxes and a bright door. Turning her head, Sasha gasped.
“You can’t beat the view,” she said, and Bianca turned and nodded at her.
“Isn’t it fabulous? It’s like you’re at the end of the world and everything drops away. Could you imagine waking up to this every day?”
Sasha could, though it went against her busy city-soul nature. But a few weeks out here? With nothing to do but wander the hills and dream out at the ocean? Yeah, she could see the appeal.
“Come in, come in,” John—or so Sasha presumed—said, waving to them.
They all dashed from the car and past a beaming John through the door of the cottage. It opened to one big room. In the center stood a long table with benches on both sides, and behind it was a wall lined with shelves that left Sasha gaping. There had to be hundreds of bottles, glass jars, and jugs, all meticulously labeled. To the left, a country kitchen sink stood beneath a huge window that overlooked the water. To the right was an alcove with a few beautiful rocking chairs tucked into it, a peat-moss fireplace, and a delighted baby crawling across a beautifully woven rug of warm reds and blues.
“This is baby Grace. We have her for the weekend,” John said, walking over to Grace, who demanded to be picked up. He brought her to his hip, and the baby clapped her hands, then surveyed the lot of them with eyes that were far too intelligent for a baby.
Declan whistled, long and low.
“You’ve got a real corker on your hands with that one, don’t you,” he said.
“Aye, she’s a feisty lass, that’s for sure,” John agreed.
“There’s more there, isn’t there?” Seamus surmised, tilting his head at the baby. Grace tilted her head right back at him, making them all laugh.
“Aye, she’s a touch of something more than all of us combined,” Fiona said from the doorway, and baby Grace clapped her hands in enthusiasm when she saw Fiona.
Placing a basket with some herbs on the table, Fiona pointed at Grace.
“You just hold on, Grace. You know I’ve got to attend to my guests. I’ll be back to teaching you in just a bit.”
That baby understood every word Fiona said – Sasha would have sworn it. Grace scowled at Fiona first, and then daintily inclined her head at her, and Fiona chuckled.
“That one, I tell you. She’s been nothing but a joy and a pain in our arses since the day she was born.” Fiona winked at Grace, who just winked right back at her.
Oh yeah, something definitely different about that baby, Sasha thought, and moved to the bench where Fiona gestured for them to sit.
“I’ll just get tea on. Perhaps with a touch of the Irish on this fine day?” Fiona asked as they all settled in and finished introducing themselves to her and John.
“Gracie would like to sit with you,” John said from over Sasha’s shoulder, startling her.
“Oh, um, well, I’m not that great with...” Sasha trailed off as she found a baby deposited in her arms. She stared down into the sherry-brown eyes of this cherubic baby and thought, Please don’t cry.
Grace dimpled up at her, but did nothing other than bang her palms on the table.
“Don’t you like children?” Fiona asked, putting a basket of warm scones in front of them, along with a crock of butter that Sasha wondered if she had churned herself. Passing out little plates, Fiona gestured for them to dig in.
“It’s not that I don’t like children. I just haven’t had a lot of experience around them,” Sasha admitted, gingerly bouncing Grace and hoping the baby didn’t get mad at her.
“Do you want children?” Bianca asked, her face openly curious, and Sasha paused as she was reaching for a scone. “I’m sorry. That’s rude of me.”
“I don’t want children. No,” Sasha admitted and turned to see surprise quickly cross Declan’s face. Ha! He said he loved her, but did he know that she wouldn’t want a traditional stay-at-home-mum lifestyle? See, maybe it wasn’t really love for him either.
Baby Grace turned and put a tiny hand on Sasha’s cheek, her pretty eyes trained on Sasha’s.
Love.
Sasha started. Had the baby just spoken to her telepathically, or was she losing her mind? See, Sasha chided herself, you open yourself to magick and then you start thinking you see it everywhere. The baby patted her cheek one more time.
Love. Trust it.
“Is she talking to you? I swear she just likes getting in everyone’s minds. This one is going to give all of us a run for our money,” Fiona chuckled. “Don’t you let her tell you anything you aren’t ready to hear, Sasha. You’re allowed to not want to have children. Not everyone is interested in being a mother and there is nothing wrong with that. Now you let her be, Gracie.” Fiona plucked a laughing Grace from Sasha’s lap and went to rock her at the end of the table.
“She can talk to you like that?” Bianca asked, her eyes wide.
“I’m pretty certain she’s going to be able to do whatever she feels like doing,” Fiona said, chuckling again.
Bianca reached out to pretend high-five the baby. “Way to be awesome, little one.” The whole table laughed when Grace slapped her palm against Bianca’s in delight.
“So, the sword,” Fiona said, rocking Grace and leveling her eyes on Sasha. “Fill me in thus far.”
“I’ll take that. I like to tell stories,” Bianca said cheerfully. “And by the way, these blueberry scones are to die for. So, here is what we know...”
Sasha zoned out for a moment as she spread butter on her warm scone, watching it melt in rivulets, her mind on what Baby Grace had told her. Was there a clue in Grace’s Cove about love?
There but for the grace of God go I.
“How are you feeling?” Declan asked, nudging her with his leg.
She looked up at him. “I’m confused. I feel like everyone is right – I hold the answer. But I don’t know what that is, or how I could just suddenly materialize a sword in front of me by clicking a locked door inside my mind open, you know?”
“Sure, I understand. But maybe you’re being too hard on yourself. Maybe you just need to trust that it will all unfold as it needs to.”
She wondered if his words had more meaning for her, and the thought made her a bit skittish. Would she be able to live up to his expectations? Was she even worthy of his love? Frustrated, she tore off a piece of scone and shoved it in her mouth, turning back when her name was spoken.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Have you given any other thought to the clue about going where the light always shines?” Fiona asked, her eyes sparkling with warmth.
“The only other thing that popped into my head was a sundial. But that doesn’t really make sense because it isn’t lit up at night or if it’s cloudy, that kind of thing.”
“Ah, methinks you are thinking too literally. You need to play fast and loose with these clues, as the fae certainly like to do so with the rules.” Fiona regarded the fae at the table sternly, and they seemed to shrink a little under her gaze.
“The Domnua more so than us,” Seamus protested.
“There’s a sundial not far from here. An ancient one, used to mark the passage of days, and even weeks or months. It’s but a circle of stones with a prominent altar in the middle. The altar was used for worship, as well as casting shadows as the sun made its path. Keep in mind that a shadow will almost always fall on a sundial – no matter in moonlight or sunlight. I’d serio
usly consider this as a spot to go investigate. It’s on holy ground, so there’s no reason that magick won’t be strong there,” Fiona said evenly.
Sasha looked at her in shock. “I was right?” Sasha squeaked.
“Maybe, maybe not. But if that is what your first instinct was, then I suggest you’d better investigate. Though I’d wait until morning. Night falls soon and this rain won’t let up for hours yet.”
“May we camp on your land?” Declan asked politely, and Fiona looked at him in horror.
“Camping? In this weather? No, you’ll be staying at Keelin and Flynn’s house, just over the way there. They’re on a little holiday, which is why we’re watching this wee one. You’re free to use their house as your own; they’ve plenty of guest rooms. I’ve called over to their stablehand already, when I woke this morning and knew you were coming. The fire should be stoked and going.”
“How’d you know we were coming?” Bianca asked, and both Fiona and the baby looked at her with expressions akin to pity.
“Whoops, sorry. Got it,” Bianca said, pointing a finger at her head.
“John will take you over while I attempt to get this one fed. The pantry should be stocked, but if nothing else, there are a few frozen pizzas in the freezer. Though it goes against everything I believe in, I don’t think I’ll be able to cook you dinner this night,” Fiona said.
“Pizza is fine. We’re all pretty exhausted after the last few days. I’m sure we’ll have an early evening,” Maddox said easily and stood. “Thank you for the scones and the words of guidance.”
“Will you be safe? If the Domnua follow us here?” It was something Sasha didn’t think she’d be able to handle – not this sweet old couple and otherworldly baby. They needed peace, not war on their front doorstep.
“Aye, we’re well protected. Have no fear for us. We’re more powerful than you’ll ever know,” Fiona said, her tone fearsome and the light of a warrior in her eyes.
Sword Song: The Isle of Destiny Series Page 14
