Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1)

by K. R. Richards

  Decker and Jade met everyone in the kitchen and dining area. Niall, Fianna, Harper, and Liam had prepared breakfast. Fianna zapped in some cinnamon bread, cream, and strawberry jam from their hotel. It was a large meal with eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, homemade biscuits, toast, coffee, tea, and orange juice. They sat down to enjoy their meal.

  “Cousin Fianna, the cinnamon bread is amazing!” Liam grinned at his cousin and patted his stomach.

  “Thank you, Liam.” Fianna beamed at him. “I thought it might go well with our breakfast.”

  Brody snagged another piece of the bread. “It’s the best!” He winked at his pretty cousin.

  “Everything tastes great!” Decker agreed just before he bit into a biscuit loaded with cream and strawberry jam.

  “Yeah, since you’re apparently on strike from breakfast duty, we have to make do.” Brody displayed an amused grin.

  Decker turned a brow-raised glare on him.

  Brody laughed.

  “You need to eat, dear,” Aunt Neave, who sat on the other side of Jade, whispered to her.

  Jade offered her a small smile, “I know. I will try.”

  Decker gave her a concerned look.

  Jade forced herself to eat, even though she had no appetite. It was the worry, she knew. She had to remind herself to continually push it away, stay positive. She did notice how everyone was going out of their way to remain in high spirits, just going through the motions, saying funny and clever things, joking around as if everything was normal. After breakfast, they would get to it. Plan whatever it was they needed to do, decide how they would keep everyone safe tomorrow. This was serious business.

  After taking a few bites of scrambled egg with some herbs and vegetables mixed in, she realized she was hungrier than she thought. She tore off a piece of Decker’s cinnamon bread, earning a smile and a wink from him. The cinnamon bread with the cream and jam was divine. She munched on a piece of toast and finished with yogurt mixed with fruit and some awesome homemade granola they had bought at the store that first day. She did feel much better after eating.

  Everyone except Aunt Neave, whom Fianna instructed to sit and finish her tea, cleared off the table. Jade, Fianna, Erin, and Brody did the dishes. Liam, Decker, and Niall stepped out on the deck to finish cleaning up what Ciaran left for them.

  They moved to the various sofas and chairs in the large family room when their tasks were completed.

  Niall began, “Aunt Neave, Fianna, and I have talked about our situation at length. I think you are aware that you are not ready for a full-on confrontation with Ciaran.”

  The six agreed verbally or with solemn nods.

  “That being said, our objective is to get this Lauren person away from him without anyone being harmed. In order to do this, we are going to have to create some sort of diversion. Decker will have to go to the trail and meet with him, but he can’t go alone. We may have to resort to using our cloaking abilities to cloak whoever is on or near the trail with him unless we come up with another way. We’ve gathered from the experience of earlier O’Flynns that sea salt from the Dead Sea and holy water slow him down. We need that advantage.” Niall waved his hand and a large box labeled Dead Sea Salt and cases of gallon containers appeared on the floor behind him. The cases were marked Holy Water.

  “There’s salt from the Dead Sea meant to be mixed in with a bath, so I am confident it will melt easily. I think holy water from Ireland is appropriate, don’t you agree?”

  “Absolutely,” Decker agreed with a wide smile.

  “We could try to create some kind of weapon to fire the salt, and possibly even the holy water at him,” Liam suggested.

  “Super Soaker,” Brody suggested.

  “That would work for the holy water!” Liam grinned.

  “Oh, it’s a large water gun you’re thinking of. Yes, that is a splendid idea.” Aunt Neave chuckled.

  “If we could come up with a way to hurl or throw a large amount of salt at him at one time, we could wet him first then send the salt, it would stick to the water,” Liam thought aloud.

  “That’s an incredible suggestion. I like it.” Niall grinned. “Not to mention we can melt the salt in the holy water as well. Holy salt water!”

  “Bloody brilliant, nephew!” Aunt Neave sent a proud smile his way. “I don’t believe anyone has ever tried that combination before. Mixing the two might offer better results than using them separately.”

  “A catapult would definitely launch a large amount of salt! But we don’t have one and it would take more time than we have to build one.” Brody shrugged.

  “A catapult. That’s positively medieval. I like it!” Aunt Neave grinned. Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “It is an ingenious idea. It should be smaller than the ones generally used in the Middle Ages for siege, I think. Perhaps a ballista…hmm, yes I think that might work. Something like this?” She waved her hand.

  A heavy wooden catapult appeared behind the box of salt and cases of gallon containers of holy water. It was not as large as the ones used in movies, like Lord of the Rings, to hurl large pieces of rock or bodies, but it was big. It was definitely large enough to fling a whole lot of salt a good distance.

  “Yeah, but we can’t hide it before hand, this is the desert and I doubt it would be possible to hide anything that big along the trail,” Harper mentioned.

  “I’ll pop it in when it’s time, dear,” Neave assured her.

  Harper laughed and pretended to give herself a face-palm. “Duh! I’ll never get used to this magic thing. I’m such an idiot! Of course you can pop it in.”

  “Now, now, cousin. The magic will come natural to you in time.” Niall grinned and gave her a wink.

  “Aunt Neave, I believe you told us you were there at the stone circle when your grandmother, Aoife, cursed Ciaran?” Jade asked.

  “Yes, dear, I was. Why do you ask?”

  “You said she meant to destroy him, but he got to her first, and that is when she cursed him.”

  “Yes, that is what happened.”

  “Do you know how she planned to destroy him?”

  “Oh, I see what you are asking. No. I don’t know anything of her plan. She left Ardagh in the dark of night, the very night Ciaran murdered my father and his brothers. She saw it in a dream, saw Ciaran kill them, and she felt their spirits leave their bodies, so my grandfather told me after. It was the next evening when I arrived at the circle. She did tell me she would go to the circle, but not precisely why, only that there was dark magic at work and she meant to banish it. She left us each with a protective charm. I think she knew she might not return, you see.”

  Neave sighed. “I’ll tell you a little about that time. It may help me remember something I have forgotten over the centuries.”

  She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes for a few seconds. With a smile, Neave began to tell what took place on that night, so long ago. “I woke up when Aoife, my dear Granny, put her charm around my neck; it was one of my favorites that she wore. It was a bronze triple spiral symbol.” Neave paused to draw a chain from beneath her blouse and showed them the old medallion.

  “It represents the powers of the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. She chose me, of all her grandchildren, to carry on in her footsteps as clan healer. She always said I had the gift. And the symbol she gave me that night was her own.”

  Neave smiled. “I don’t know how my granny planned to end Ciaran. When I arrived, there was water boiling in the stone trough, the fulacht fiadh, or old cook place, and a cauldron on the fire. She was in the cooking area when I first saw her. By the time I reached the circle, Ciaran was there. She cast her spell and lured him into the confines of the circle, but he killed her before her magic was finished, I think.”

  She added, “Ciaran was very cocky and bitter when he was a young man. I remember my father saying he was a loner, and never really fit in with him and his brothers. My mother told me that his mother was a witch, like Granny, but she pra
cticed the dark arts, and that Ciaran must have learned them as well to have such evil in his soul. You see, he wanted my mother, but my father captured her heart. When he killed father, mother blamed herself, for it was always whispered Ciaran still longed for her, even after she married my brave and handsome father.”

  “And you said Jade looks like your mother.” Decker was reminded why Ciaran was fixated on Jade.

  “She’s nearly a mirror image. My mother’s eyes were blue, but the facial structure, the slenderness and hair color is strikingly similar.”

  “Which is why he’s so interested in me now.” Jade frowned.

  “I believe so, my dear.”

  “Did he pursue your mother after your father was killed?” Erin asked.

  “Well, he might have, had my grandfather not banished him from O’Flynn land and his own clan disowned him and likewise banished him from Beara. They threatened to kill him should he return. He didn’t know he was immortal yet. He was still much of a coward then. I heard he went to Galway during that time. He would show up occasionally after my grandfather and elder kin passed in later years, always looking the same, as he does now. I remember when my brother was chief of the O’Flynn, mother was middle-aged, and I was in my late twenties. It was me, who Ciaran turned his eye to then. My brothers sent my mother and me to live with my sister and her husband in Clare, in hopes Ciaran would not find us. Back then, it was easier to hide, for one had to physically hunt for someone.”

  Neave added, “I stayed there until after my mother passed a decade later and my sister passed long years after that. I stayed with my niece for another decade. When I suspected I might not die, I decided that it was a good time to wander away. I made it look as if I fell into the lough and drowned. I was very advanced in age by then, and they were sad, but accepted that a feeble old woman slipped, lost her balance, fell into the water, and drowned.”

  “I settled in Clare. By that time, I had learned that I could alter my appearance. It was from vanity, I think, that I changed myself into a young woman for a time. I soon realized that was dangerous. After years of moving about Ireland trying to escape the notice of men, I decided a middle-aged woman was a better choice. I returned to live near Ardagh, so I could keep my eye on the O’Flynns. By that time, I suspected the curse that had kept Ciaran alive, for he continued to look the same as he ever had, had done the same for me and that I was doomed to never die.”

  “Did you ever see this demon woman he supposedly aligned himself with?” Harper asked.

  “No. He stayed in Galway and Antrim most often. That seems to be where he went when he wasn’t wandering the Continent. I heard she lived in Galway and he stayed with her for a time, a decade at least. There was a castle. It was her family seat, hers by that time, and local folks said she practiced the dark arts there. Many stories circulated of her fornicating with the devil himself, though I’ve often suspected it was just Ciaran. They said at the time, that he murdered her in her bed. After her death, many saw her tortured spirit floating about the castle and grounds. That’s when rumors that she was a demon began. I do know he spent many a century in Europe after that. But he would always return to Cork every five years or so, to sniff around and stay long enough to find out if sons had been born to any O’Flynn of Ardagh, or daughters to the other three clans.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  They listened to everything Aunt Neave knew of Ciaran O’Sullivan. It was apparent that while Neave spent her centuries of a lifetime looking out for the O’Flynns and helping others with her healing gifts, Ciaran was more selfish. Yet it was clear to all that he did keep a close eye on the O’Flynns, as he seemed to be doing now, with them, the latest living descendants of Bearach and Aoife of Ardagh.

  “So, you never told the O’Flynns of old who you were?” Jade asked.

  Neave shook her head. “I could not, you see. As the centuries went on, some folk began to look upon the healing arts and any powers with disdain and suspicion. Some still believed in the old ways while others were wary of them. The knowledge of the magical arts began to die out, bit by bit. I might have been accused of being a witch, and I have no idea, nor do I want to know what would happen to an immortal if they were burned. I kept to myself, generally playing the part of a widow. I did have some friends and pets for company. I made healing creams and medicines from the plants in my garden. I worked here and there to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. I had to move about often, change my age and appearance from generation to generation, so I wouldn’t be recognized.”

  She took a sip of her tea and continued, “I did try to keep the legend of the O’Flynn curse alive, so O’Flynns, as well as the Murphys, O’Driscolls, and McCarthys remaining in Cork, might stay aware in the event three sons were born. However, legends die out, and the stories were sometimes misinterpreted or forgotten. Some of the Murphy line connected to the O’Flynns moved to America, the O’Driscolls did the same. There are some McCarthy’s of the line still in Cork, but most immigrated to America and Canada in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Some from all the families even went as far as South America or Australia. As this was long before the telephone, computers, and social media, I lost track of the Murphy and McCarthy lines altogether after a time. The last I saw of any O’Driscolls was when I visited with Erin’s grandparents in New York. The next time I returned, nearly a decade ago, Donald and Maxine no longer occupied the apartment and no one could tell me anything about them or the rest of their family.”

  Neave sighed and went on. “Any gifts passed from generation to generation were suppressed, and not encouraged. Generations of O’Flynns had gifts, enhanced intuition, or even psychic ability, but most never fully understood them while others never even thought to use them. Some never even knew they had gifts. Magic in the family became non-existent because it had been suppressed for so long. Every so often, a child was born who was just naturally gifted with magic, but parents generally discouraged the use of it, and the full potential of the gifts were never fully realized. Many of the O’Flynns knew they were either Guardians or O’Flynns of Ardagh, but they did not comprehend what the true meaning of that was.”

  “On occasion, I played the part of a distant relative come to visit and imparted some information about the curse to a new generation, but so often, they just smiled and nodded at me, never taking any of it seriously. I didn’t expect they would, but passed the stories on in hopes they would tell it to younger ones. There are still some folk in Cork who tell of the curse put on Ciaran O’Sullivan by Aoife O’Flynn.”

  “It wasn’t until the modern age, when psychic gifts and healing arts were beginning to be understood and accepted, that I actually dared to speak to some O’Flynns. Niall and Fianna’s great-grandfather was the first I actually told the truth to. Their grandfather was instructed by his father. His son, Sean, the next guardian, embraced it also, as did Niall and Fianna.”

  She turned to Decker, then to his brothers and said, “Sean sent me to your grandfather and mother in Boston before she married, so I could speak to her. The rest is history. Ciaran found them in Boston, eliminated three O’Flynn males, your grandfather and his two sons, but thankfully your mother and father were able to get away.”

  “Why would he kill Mom’s brothers?” Brody asked.

  “If she or her brothers had sons, there might be three. Three sons from the direct line of Bearach of Ardagh, even cousins, might possibly be able to destroy him, we don’t know. We guessed the three could possibly be cousins, as long as they were from the direct line. That’s why he killed Mary Kate’s brothers. He wanted to kill your mother but we had hidden her and your father well. He didn’t know where she was. Therefore, he killed your grandfather as a warning and it was his way of punishing him and your mother. Besides, Ciaran has always plagued the families. Dozens of young maids from their number were lured to ruin by him over the centuries. It gave him some sort of perverse delight to bring shame upon them. It is a game he still enjoys playing.
He’s always carried a grudge and takes his revenge when given an opportunity, even though those he’s harmed might never understand the why of it.”

  “So, he tends to show up when the O’Flynn and other families’ offspring are of age to marry and have children,” Harper thought aloud. “And here we are. Wonderful.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Yes, that seems to be his pattern, but this time he didn’t know where to find the Decker brothers until recently,” Niall provided.

  “Aunt Neave, some years ago, you told Niall and me every detail about the night the curse was made at Drombeg. Perhaps you can give us the tale again. There might be something you describe that we can use against him tomorrow,” Fianna spoke up.

  “I will, dear. Then we must spend the rest of our time formulating a plan,” Neave agreed.

  She began from the moment she woke in her bed in the keep at Ardagh to see her Grandmother above her. Aoife was placing a cord with the bronze triskele, her own symbol, over Neave’s head.

  It was odd, but as Aunt Neave began the telling of her story, it was as if Jade could actually see what was happening, like a movie in her mind’s eye. She could see the young Neave and her grandmother, and even heard them. The old woman and girl spoke Gaelic, but after a few seconds, Jade understood what they were saying.

  “What are you doing, Maimeó?” the little golden-haired girl asked.

  “Shh, gariníon. I’m just giving you my charm. It’s to keep you safe. Many hours of darkness remain before the sun rises. Go back to your dreams, Niamh.”

  She sat up in her bed, brushing her golden curls from her face. “It’s your triskele, your symbol.” She looked down at the charm. “Where are you going, Maimeó?”

  “Ah! I’ve always said you were too wise for your years. All seven of them.” Aoife made a clucking noise and kissed the top of her curly blonde head. “I go to the circle, little one. You must promise me you will remember all I have taught you. I have left my book on your table so you may continue your lessons.”