by Nora Roberts
pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “You cried for me.”
“Tears of panic and frustration.”
But when he kissed her shoulder again, she spun around, wrapped around him, rocked. “Where did you go? Where did he take you?”
“He didn’t take me, that I’m sure of. I went back to the night Cabhan killed Daithi. I saw Sorcha. I spoke with her.”
Branna jerked back. “You spoke with her.”
“As I’m speaking to you. You look so like her.” He brushed her hair behind her back. “So very like her, though her eyes are dark, they have the same look as yours. It’s the strength in them. And the power.”
“What did she say to you?”
“I’ll tell you, but I think it’s best to tell all of us. And the truth is I could use some time to sort through it all myself.”
“Then I’ll tell them to come.”
She dressed, asked him no more questions. In truth, she needed the time herself, to settle, to put on her armor. Not since the day she’d seen the mark on him had she felt the level of fear, of grief she’d known that dawn. She asked herself if feeling so much had blocked her powers to heal him, to bring him out of the dream. And didn’t know the answers.
When she went down, she noted he’d put the kettle on, and already had coffee waiting for her.
“You’ll think you need to cook up breakfast for the lot of us,” he began. “We can fend for ourselves.”
“It keeps my hands busy. If you want to fend, scrub and chip up some potatoes. You’ve skill enough for that.”
They worked in silence until the others began to straggle in.
“Looks like a full fry’s coming,” Connor commented. “But a damned early hour for it. Had an adventure, did you?” he said to Fin.
“You could say it was.”
“But you’re okay.” Iona touched his arm as if checking for herself.
“I am, and also clever enough to turn over the duty dropped on me here to Boyle, who has a better hand with it.”
“Nearly all do.” Boyle shoved up his sleeves and joined Branna.
With the air of anticipation hanging, they set the table, brewed tea, made the coffee, sliced the bread.
When all were settled at the table, all eyes turned to Fin.
“It’s a strange tale, though some of it we know from the books. I found myself riding Baru at a hard gallop on a dirt road still hard from winter.”
He wound his way through it, doing his best to leave out no details.
“Wait now.” Boyle held up a hand. “How can you be so sure Cabhan didn’t reel you into this? The wolf attacked you, went for your throat, and our Branna couldn’t get through to help you, or to bring you back. It sounds like Cabhan’s doing.”
“I took him by surprise, I can swear to that. The wolf came at me only because I was there, and might interfere with the murder. If Cabhan had wanted to do me harm, why not lie in wait, and come at me? No, his aim was Daithi, and my coming into it something unexpected.
“I couldn’t save him, and thinking over it all, was never meant to save him.”
“He was a sacrifice,” Iona said quietly. “His death, like Sorcha’s, gave birth to the three.”
“He had eyes like yours, bright and blue. I could see, when I could see, how brave and fierce he fought. But no matter that, no matter what I could bring to help, nothing could change what was done. Cabhan’s power was great, more than he has now. Sorcha dimmed that power, though he healed. I think now some of the hunger that drives him is to gain it all back again. And to gain it, he must take it from the three.”
“He never will,” Branna said. “Tell them the rest. I only know a little of it.”
“Daithi fell. I thought I could heal his wound, but it was too late for that. He drew his last breath almost as soon as I put my hands on him. And then she came. Sorcha.”
“Sorcha?” Meara set down the coffee she’d started to drink. “She was there with you?”
“We spoke. It seemed a long time there on the bloody road, but I think it wasn’t.”
He went over it, word by word, her grief, her remorse, her strength. And then the words that changed so much inside him.
“Daithi? You come from him, your blood is mixed with his and Cabhan’s?” Shaken, Branna got slowly to her feet. “How could I have not known? How could none of us have known? It’s him you carry, it’s him and what’s in you that beats back Cabhan at every turn. But I didn’t see it. Or wouldn’t. Because I saw the mark.”
“How could you see what I myself couldn’t see in me? I saw the mark and let that weigh as heavy as you did. Heavier, I think. She knew, as she said, she knew, but didn’t believe or trust. So I think she brought me there, to see what I would do. That last test of what burned strongest in me.”
He reached in his pocket. “And in the end, she gave me this.” He opened his hand, showed the brooch. “What she made for him, she gave to me.”
“Daithi’s brooch. Some have searched for it.” Branna sat again, studied the copper brooch. “We thought it lost.”
“The three guides as one.” When Connor held out his hand, Fin gave him the brooch. “As you’re the only among us who can speak with all three. It was always yours. Waiting for you, for her to give it to you.”
“She sees Daithi die every night, she told me. Her punishment for the curse. I think the gods are harsh indeed to so condemn a grieving woman. Blood and death, she said, as you did, Branna. Blood and death follow, and so she gives us—all of us here, and her children—her faith. We must end him, but not for revenge, and I confess revenge rode high in me before this. We must end him for the light, for love, and all who will come from us. She said love had powers beyond all magicks, then sent me back. She said, ‘Go back to her,’ and I woke with you weeping over me.”
Saying nothing, Branna held out a hand to Connor, then studied the brooch. “She made this for love, as she did what the three wear. It’s strong magick here. And as we do, you must never be without it now that it’s given to you.”
“We can make him a chain for it,” Iona suggested, “like ours.”
“Yes, we’ll do that. That’s a fine idea. This all tells me why I’ve always needed so much of your blood to make a poison. It’s never had enough of Cabhan in it.”
With a half laugh, Fin decided to eat the eggs that had gone cold on his plate. “Ever practical.”
“You’re one of us,” Iona realized. “I mean, you’re a cousin. A really, really distant one, but you’re a cousin.”
“Welcome to the family then.” Connor lifted his tea, toasted. “So it may be written, at some point, that the Cousins O’Dwyer, and their friends and lovers, sent Cabhan the black to hell.”
“I’ll raise a glass to that.”
As Fin did, Boyle gave Iona’s hand a squeeze. “I say we all raise them tonight, at the pub, and the new cousin stands the first round.”
“I’m fine with that, and the second’s on you.” Fin lifted his own glass, then drank the coffee that had gone cold as his eggs.
And still he felt a warmth in him.
19
FIN WORE THE BROOCH ON A CHAIN, FELT THE WEIGHT of it. But when he looked in the mirror, he saw the same man. He was what he ever was.
And while the brooch lay near his heart, the mark still rode on his shoulder. Knowing his blood held both dark and light didn’t change that, didn’t change him.
It wouldn’t change what would be in only a few weeks’ time.
He ran his businesses, worked the stables, the school, spent time in his own workshop trying to perfect spells that could be useful to his circle.
He walked or rode with Branna, along with the dogs, hoping to lure out Cabhan, hoping they would find the way to dig out that last piece.
But the demon’s name eluded them as February waned and March bloomed.
“Going back to the cave may be the only way left.” Fin said it casually as he and Connor watched a pair of young hawks circle above a
field.
“There’s time yet.”
“Time’s passing, and he waits as we wait.”
“And you’re weary of the waiting, that’s clear enough. But going back’s not the answer, and you can’t know you’ll learn the name if you did.”
Connor drew the white stone out of his pocket, the one Eamon of the first three had given him. “We all wait, Fin. Three and three and three, for I can’t find Eamon in dreams now. I can’t find him, and still I know he’s there. Waiting as we are.”
Fin could admire Connor’s equanimity—and curse it. “Without the name, what do we wait for?”
“For what comes, and that’s always been an easier matter for me than you. Tell me this, when it’s done, when we finish it, and I believe we will, what then for you?”
“There are places in the world I haven’t been.”
Temper flashed, and Connor was a man slow to temper. “Your place is here, with Branna, with us.”
“My home is here, and I can’t deny it. But Branna and I can’t have the life we wished for, so we take what we can while we can. We can’t have the life you’ll have with Meara, or Boyle with Iona. It’s not meant.”
“Ah, bollocks. She thinks too much for her own good, and you blame yourself for things beyond your doing. The past may be written, but the future isn’t, and two such clever people should be able to suss out how to make one together.”
“Having Daithi’s blood in me doesn’t change having Cabhan’s, or bearing his mark. If we win this, and destroy him, the demon, his lair, what’s to say I won’t be pulled as he was, a year from now, or ten? I know just how dark and sweet that pull can be, and Branna knows it’s in me. We could never have children who would carry that same burden.”
“If, can’t, doesn’t.” Connor dismissed all with a wave of his hand. “More bollocks. The pair of you stare into the hard side of things.”
“A witch’s dying curse may be regretted now, but its power holds. It may be one of the places I haven’t been holds the key to breaking it. I won’t stop looking.”
“Then when this is done, we’ll all of us look. Think of all the free time on our hands once we dispatch Cabhan.”
Fin smiled, but thought there were lives to be lived. “Let’s keep our minds on dispatching him. And tell me, what sort of house are you thinking of building for yourself and your bride. Something such as . . .”
With a twirl of his finger, Fin floated an image of a glittery faerie palace over a silver lake.
With a laugh, Connor twirled his own. “To start, perhaps more this.” And turned the palace into a thatched-roof cottage in a field of green.
“Likely suits you better. And what does Meara have to say about it?”
“That she doesn’t want to think about it until Iona and Boyle are wed, and their house finished. At that time, as she’s giving up her flat on the first of the month in any case, we thought it might be with Boyle and Iona tucked in their new place, we might give Branna her quiet and tuck ourselves into the flat over your garage.”
“You could, indeed. As long as you like, but I think your fingers will be itching to make your own.”
“Well, it may be I’ve drawn up a few ideas on it. I think—”
He broke off as his phone signaled a text.
“It’s Branna. No, no, nothing’s wrong,” he said as Fin lunged to his feet. “She’d like us to come back is all, has something she wants to talk to us and Iona about. Hmm.” Connor sent back a quick response. “Witches only, it seems, and I wonder what that’s about.”
“She’s been brewing on something—in her head,” Fin added. “She may be finished on the brewing of it.”
And with Connor, he called the hawks.
Branna continued to work as she waited. She had indeed finished brewing on it, and felt the time had come to ask if the others were willing or thought the idea had merit.
She’d studied the means to do it, had gone over the ritual needed more times than she cared to count—as it was a great deal to ask, of all.
Was it another answer? she wondered. Another step needed for what they all hoped was the end?
Not an impulse, she assured herself as she filled the last bottles with fragrant oils for the shop. She’d given it far too much thought, considered it from every side and angle for it to be deemed an impulse.
No, it was a decision, a choice, and must be fully agreed to by all.
She washed her hands, wiped her counter, then went over to look into her crystal.
The cave was empty, but for the red glow of the fire, the dark smoke rising from the cauldron. So Cabhan wandered where he willed. And if he watched, would see nothing that offered him aid or insight. She’d seen to that.
She rose as Iona came in, and did what she always did. Put the kettle on.
“You said no worries, but—”
“There aren’t,” Branna assured her. “It’s just a matter I need to talk over with you and Connor and Fin.”
“But not Boyle or Meara.”
“Not as yet. It’s nothing we would do without them, I promise, only it needs to be discussed among us first. So, have you settled it all then on the wedding flowers?”
“Yes.” Iona hung up her jacket and scarf, tried to shift topics as Branna wanted. “You were right about the florist, she’s wonderful. We’ve nailed that all down, and I’m nearly done—I tell myself—changing the menu for the reception. And I’m glad I’ve left the music in your hands and Meara’s or I’d drive myself crazy.”
“We’re happy to help, and Meara’s making notes on what you’re doing she might want to turn a bit for herself. Though she claims she’s barely thinking of it all yet, she thinks of it quite a bit.”
Branna started the tea. “And here come Fin and Connor now. Let’s use the little table so we’re all settled in one place.”
“It’s serious, isn’t it?”
“That’s for each to decide. Would you get the cups?”
Branna brought the teapot to the table, the sugar, the cream, the biscuits her brother particularly would expect.
And Connor’s eyebrows lifted as he came in. “A tea party, is it?”
“A party, no, but there’s tea. If we could all sit, I’m more than ready to say what’s on my mind.”
“And been on your mind for some time.” Fin came over, sat.
“I had to be sure of my own thoughts and feelings on it before I asked for yours.”
“But not the full circle,” Connor pointed out.
“Not yet, you’ll see why it’s for us first.”
“Okay.” Iona blew out a breath. “You’re killing me now. Spill it.”
“I thought of what came through me the day Fin and I made the poison for the demon. What I said, all the words, at the moment all the work we’d done there came to fruition. We have the means to destroy Cabhan, and what’s in him, or will when we have the name. And the means to destroy the stone, and close the portal.”
“I love that one,” Iona commented. “All the light and heat of it.”
“It’ll take all to close the dark. But there was more that came through me than poisons, than weapons. It’s all risk, all duty, and the blood and death may be ours, any of us. And still, even fully myself again, one thing continued to echo in me. Three and three and three.”
“And so we are,” Connor agreed. “If you’ve found a way to connect us again with Sorcha’s three, I’d like to hear it, for I feel, and all through me feel, they must be a part of it. They must be there.”
“And I believe they will, as the shadows of them came on Samhain. To bring them full, it may be another thing. Three and three and three,” Branna repeated. “But there are two armed with only courage and sword or fist. They have no magicks. Sorcha’s three, we three, and Fin—part of us, part of Cabhan. Then Boyle and Meara. It doesn’t truly balance.”
“You said we wouldn’t leave them out,” Iona began.
“And I gave my word I’d never lock her or Boyle aw
ay, whatever my wish to protect them.” Connor ignored the biscuits, frowned at his sister. “If you think to appeal to others of our blood, to our father or—”
“No. We are a circle, and nothing changes that. We go, three by three by three, as is meant. But that balance can be met, if we’re willing. And in turn if Boyle and Meara are willing.”
“You’d give them power.” Fin sat back as he began to understand. “You would give them, as Sorcha did her children, what we have.”
“I would—not near to all as she did, never that. We need what we are, and I would never burden two we loved with so much. But some, from all of us, to them. It can be done. I’ve studied how Sorcha did it, I’ve worked on how to pass—gently as we can—some of what we are. It’s a risk if I’ve got any of it wrong, and it must be a choice for all.”
“Sorcha’s children already had power, through her,” Iona pointed out, “through the blood. I’m newer at this than all of you, but I’ve never heard of transferring magicks into, well, let’s say laypeople.”
“They’re connected. Not just to us, but also through their bloodline. With or without power, that connection is real. And it’s that connection that would allow this to work, if it’s meant to work.”
“They’d have more protection,” Connor considered.
“They would, though as much as I love them, my purpose here is balance. It’s the fulfillment of what prophecy came through me. But it must be our purpose. Ours and theirs. And we can’t know, not for certain, what the powers would be for them.”
“But in having them,” Fin began, “they, with me, become truly another three.”
As that was exactly her thought, Branna let out a pent-up breath. “Yes, another three. I’ve come to believe that. Now each of you must think it through, and decide if you’re willing to give them what is both gift and burden. I can show you how it can be done, how I believe it can be done, without draining any of us, or giving them more than they can hold. If any of us aren’t sure, aren’t willing, then we set it aside. If we are, but they aren’t, again it’s set aside. A gift like this must be given freely and with a full heart, and taken the same.”
“Should any come from me? If there’s willing on all sides,” Fin continued, “should any come from me, as what I have is tainted?”
“I don’t like hearing you say that,” Iona replied.
“This is too large a step not to speak plain truth, deirfiúr bheag.”
“I’ll speak plain truth when I say I asked myself the same while I worked this through my head.” After scanning the table, Branna looked directly at Fin. “Even before we learned you come from Daithi, I had come to believe—again with a full heart—that yes, also from you. They’re yours,” Branna told him, “as they’re ours. And you are of the three. What you have in you isn’t pure, but that—to my mind—makes the light in it all the stronger.”
“I’ll agree to it, if they do. They must be sure they can accept what comes from me.”
“You need to take time to think it through,” Branna said, and Connor snorted, grabbed a biscuit.
“And didn’t I tell you this one thinks too much? Haven’t you taxed your brain on this enough for all of us?” he asked Branna. “Fiddled and figured all the little steps, the ways and means, the pros and cons and the good Christ knows what else? If they’ll take it, it’s theirs.” He looked to Iona.
“Absolutely. I’m not sure how Boyle will react to the idea. He accepts all this—we all know. And he’ll fight and stand with us. But at the core . . .”
“He’s a man with feet planted firm on the ground,” Fin said. “That’s true enough. We can only ask, as Branna’s asked, and leave the rest to him, and to Meara.”
“Well, I can see I wasted time making copious notes for the three of you.”
Connor grinned at his sister. “Too much thinking,” he said, and ate the biscuit.
“When do we ask?” Iona wondered.
“Sooner’s better than later,” Fin decided. “When the day’s work’s done?”
“Then I’m cooking for six.” Branna shoved at her hair.
“Happens I’ve the fat chicken you put on the list for me,” Fin told her. “And
