Carrier of the Mark

by Leigh Fallon

  Adam laughed, stretching his arms out to the gaudy orange floral wallpaper. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s horrible. Back in the sixties some bright spark ‘updated’ the bedrooms. So now we have dilapidated retro land up here.”

  “It’s not too bad. It’s just … not what I was expecting,” I hedged, looking around. “I never put you down as the floral type.”

  “Hey, if you think this is bad, you should see Rían’s room.”

  I sat down on the edge of the sleigh bed in the middle of the room, my heart pounding. I’m sitting on Adam’s bed! Not knowing where to look, I picked a knot in the floorboards and stared at it.

  He walked over to me. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can go back downstairs.”

  Drawing in a deep breath, I allowed my eyes to move up from the floor to his legs, pausing at his chest before glancing at his face.

  “I want to be here.”

  “Good,” he said, bending down and dropping a gentle kiss on my lips.

  He sat beside me and placed a cushion behind me. Then he pushed me gently down onto it, until my back came to rest on the quilt. “You take my breath away.”

  “As much as I love hearing you say things like that to me, it does make me wonder about your mental stability,” I joked.

  “Don’t you believe me?” He sounded offended.

  “I’m just not good at taking compliments.”

  “Well, I think you’re beautiful, and I think I’m mentally stable.” He laughed, then made a crazy face.

  “Oh, very nice.”

  “So, why can’t you take a compliment?” he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

  I shrugged. “I guess I’m just not used to it.”

  “Surely other boyfriends have told you.”

  “That would be hard, considering there haven’t been any other boyfriends.”

  He looked shocked. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. We moved around a lot. Anyway, I never wanted to date just for the sake of dating. I thought that when I met the right guy, I would know, so there was no point in wasting my time until then.”

  “And now?” he prodded. “Me?”

  I flushed a little. “Well, I guess this is ‘then.’”

  He beamed down at me. “I can accept that.”

  “And what about you? Any gorgeous exes I should be aware of?”

  He let out a little laugh. “Not really. We moved around a lot too, and our lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to forming relationships. I’m sure you’ve heard what the locals have to say about us.”

  “I have. Is there any truth in the stories?”

  He rolled to one side, lay down on his back, and laughed again. “Why, are you scared?”

  I threw a pillow at him. “No, but I’m curious.”

  “Don’t worry; the stories are nonsense.”

  “Oh,” I said, a little disappointed.

  Adam let out a contented sigh. He took my hand and raised it to his mouth to plant a kiss on it and then left it resting there. I lay quietly by his side.

  This felt so real. It seemed like my future was suddenly very clear. I had a whole new purpose—and it all revolved around this boy by my side.

  A hard rapping on the door snapped me out of my reverie.

  “Heads up, Adam.” Áine popped her head in the door. “Fionn’s home.”

  I felt Adam’s body stiffen slightly.

  “Time to face the music,” he said with a groan.

  “Oh, come on; how bad can it be?” I said.

  Adam and Áine looked at each other, strained. Crap. I guess it could be very bad.

  The three of us headed down the stairs together, Adam walking in front of me as if shielding me from what was to come. Even in the face of Adam’s discomfort, I couldn’t help feeling like this was a bit ridiculous. Fionn wasn’t even Adam’s dad.

  “Fionn.” Adam’s voice rang out against the silence of the kitchen. “This is Megan Rosenberg.”

  “Yes, Adam, I know who she is.”

  Adam’s guardian had his back to us. He seemed reluctant to turn around and he was rubbing his hair in irritation, his hand running up and down over the back of his head. He was a very big man, strong and lean, with a broad, defined back. His hair was cropped very short; he looked more like a bodyguard than a father.

  “Fionn.” Adam’s voice broke through my thoughts. “You’re going to have to get over it. She’s here now, just as she should be. You know that as well as I do. You’re in denial,” he said, raising his voice.

  Huh. This seemed kind of intense for a first-time introduction of a girlfriend. I was no expert, but I was pretty sure these things should be a little more relaxed.

  “You’re endangering her as well as yourself,” Fionn snapped as he spun around.

  Endangering! What? I looked up nervously at Adam, but he was glaring at Fionn, his jaw rigid.

  “I specifically told you to keep your distance and not to engage with her,” Fionn said.

  Well, I reflected, at least now I know who warned Adam not to “consort” with me.

  “Your judgment is impaired, Adam. You should have listened to me,” he growled.

  “I tried to keep away, but I couldn’t,” Adam said. “I explained this to you; you just wouldn’t listen. And you of all people should understand what I’m going through.”

  “The forces drawing you together are more powerful than attraction, Adam. You know that. And we decided as a family not to involve her,” Fionn said through gritted teeth.

  I stood there, red faced. “Adam, what’s going on?”

  “Megan, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you here,” he said gently, still staring at Fionn.

  “Forces? Is this about … magic?”

  Fionn turned to me with a stunned expression. My scar was burning, hotter and more intense than ever before. I began to feel sick.

  “What does she know about the powers?” Fionn snapped.

  “I swear I told her nothing,” Adam shot back, looking from me to Fionn.

  The atmosphere in the room was smothering me. I could hardly breathe. I needed to get out. I stumbled toward the door leading to the yard, but it was too late. I slumped to the ground.

  “Megan!” Adam called out, but I couldn’t respond. Everything seemed muffled, many voices rolled into one dull roar. As I started to come around the voices got a little clearer. Adam and Rían were standing over me, shouting at each other.

  “You idiot! What the hell were you thinking?” Rían yelled.

  “Rían, shut up. Just get out of here.” Adam’s voice was sharp, and I heard footsteps pounding out of the room.

  “Is she going to be okay, Fionn?” Áine asked. “She’s as white as a sheet.”

  Something cold and wet dabbed at my forehead. My fingers and toes had pins and needles. They stabbed at me, my limbs numb and aching. I could feel the blood start to flow back into them. I groaned aloud and tried to sit up.

  “Whoa, there,” Fionn said. “Now just lie down for a few minutes. It will pass.”

  Adam started rubbing my hand and turned nervously to Fionn. “Is she going to be all right? I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have let this happen. I just couldn’t help myself.”

  “Stop blaming yourself, Adam. I would have done the same thing,” Áine said, rubbing Adam’s hunched shoulders.

  “It’s nothing. She’s just had a growth spurt. Having you all here together must have triggered it.” Fionn sighed. “I guess we were going to have to face this sooner or later; I would have liked some warning, though!”

  “You knew how I felt,” Adam replied, his eyes downcast.

  I still had no idea what was going on—and what was all this about growth spurts? It was time to muster whatever dignity I had left and peel myself up off the floor.

  “I’m okay now,” I said, grabbing Adam’s hand. “All that’s been bruised is my ego … and maybe my neck. Ouch.” I rubbed my stinging scar.

  “Megan, I’m sorr
y about this,” Fionn said. “But you must tell me: How do you know about the powers?” He indicated that I should go sit on the bench beside him.

  Áine looked a little sheepish. “Um, I think that might have been me,” she muttered, and put her hands up. “It was an accident, I swear. I didn’t know she was there.”

  “It wasn’t just you, Áine,” I said, glancing up at Adam apologetically. “I saw what Adam did to the water, and with the wind on Halloween.”

  “That wasn’t me,” Adam said, smiling softly. “Wind isn’t my thing.”

  “But I saw it with my own eyes. You were standing right behind me.”

  They stayed silent, looking at me sympathetically.

  “If Adam didn’t make that wind, then who did?”

  Fionn looked me square in the eye. “You did.”

  Ten

  ORIGINS

  What? That’s not…” I gave Fionn an uncertain grin. “Ha, ha. Very funny.”

  Fionn sat down across from me. “I wish I were joking. Listen, Megan, before we go any further, you need to know the story that has brought you to us.” I suddenly saw that behind his tough exterior there was a deep sadness. What could have happened to him to leave such memories in his eyes? I scratched my neck in thought.

  “Megan,” he began. “That scar on your neck. It tingles when you’re nervous, scared, or under pressure, right?”

  I looked at him, surprised. How did he know about my scar?

  “How did you get it?” He held my gaze.

  Tears sprang into my eyes. “In a car accident, eleven years ago,” I whispered. Adam moved to stand behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders reassuringly, but stayed silent.

  “The twenty-sixth of June?” Fionn asked.

  “How do you know that?” I gasped.

  “That was the day Adam, Áine, and Rían lost their parents and their unborn baby sister.” Fionn faltered over the word “baby.”

  “That was also the day my mom died,” I said.

  Fionn nodded. “Áine, come over here, will you?” he said, still looking at me.

  Áine walked obediently to his side and turned her back to me. With her right hand she lifted her hair off the back of her head, revealing her neck. “Look at this.” Fionn indicated a spot on Áine’s neck.

  I peered closer. Then I saw it. A mark—it looked almost like a birthmark, but it was made up of three interlocking circles, with an arc to one side that looked like the beginning of another circle.

  “Rían,” Fionn called into the hall, where Rían had retreated.

  Rían didn’t look at me as he strode into the room and walked over to Fionn. He turned to the side, pulled down the collar of his jacket, and pushed back some of his dark, wavy hair from his neck. The birthmark on his hairline was plain to see. It looked just like Áine’s.

  I looked at Adam. He turned his head to the side and pointed to the mark in exactly the same spot as the others. I knew I still must be missing something. “What does this have to do with me?”

  Rían stalked back to the hall and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. Áine perched herself on the end of a bench, curling her long legs in under her.

  “Megan, like Adam, Áine, and Rían, you are Marked,” Fionn told me. “You are intrinsically linked to this family and have been since the day you received your Mark. The day your mother died. The day their mother died.”

  My eyes flicked from one to another, trying to grasp what Fionn was saying. “But I just have a scar.”

  “Look again,” Fionn said, pointing to a mirror above the fireplace.

  I got up slowly and stood on the tips of my toes to see into the mirror above the giant fireplace. I craned my neck around and pulled at my skin to look at my scar. There it was, the slightly raised semicircle. But then I did a double take. Surrounding it and interlocking through it was a very pale mark, just like the one on Adam’s neck.

  “That was never there before, I swear.”

  Fionn rubbed his hand down the side of his face. “You didn’t get your scar in an accident; it’s the scar of an activated Mark. The remainder of your Mark only started growing when you came into contact with the other Marked. These guys.” Fionn pointed at Adam, Áine, and Rian. “When the fourth arc of their Marks started growing we had no idea what was going on. We just knew that it was a reaction to you. We thought you might be a threat, and I made these guys promise to keep a safe distance until we could be sure. And I admit, I wanted to stop the growth. But nothing I did could stop it. Once it takes hold, there is no going back.”

  Shaking my head, I turned back to them. “… I’m Marked? But what does that even mean?”

  Fionn exhaled heavily. “The Marked Ones are vessels for the four elements that create equilibrium and balance on Earth. The four elements have existed in human form for thousands of years, passed down from generation to generation through a royal bloodline.”

  I couldn’t help laughing out loud. “Wait, what? This makes no sense. First of all, trust me: I’m not royal.”

  “I’m sorry, Megan; I know this is a lot to take in, but let me try to explain. Have you ever heard of the Celtic goddess Danu?”

  I shook my head and leaned forward on the bench.

  “She predates all histories. She was the divine creator, and she embodied all the main elements: air, earth, fire, and water. She managed the elements, keeping them aligned to maintain the perfect balance. Now, Danu loved humans above all things on Earth, so she created her Tuatha de Danann, her children of human form, and gifted each with one of her powers—”

  “One of her powers meaning each child got one of the elements?” I interrupted.

  “Yes, exactly.” Fionn smiled at me and continued. “Danu raised her children carefully, training them in the ways of their powers and making sure they understood the importance of balance and the delicate nature of the earth. Then in their eighteenth year, she completed the transfer of power to them during the summer solstice.

  “But what Danu had not accounted for was the weakness of the human mind. Surrounded by corruption, greed, and jealousy, the Tuatha de Danann started misusing their powers.”

  Fionn’s deep voice had a hypnotic effect on me. I wondered what exactly they did to misuse their powers, but it was much easier to sit and let Fionn tell the story in his own way. And I figured I’d have plenty of time to ask him questions later.

  “Danu was angry at her children for succumbing to the weakness of the human mind, and she left the earth and returned to the realm of the gods, vowing not to return until her children could learn to live in harmony. Until they learned to set aside their differences and come together, the four elements would not be united, and Earth would remain imbalanced. However, even though they had disappointed her so gravely, Danu didn’t want to abandon her children entirely. So she gave them a Sidhe—a spirit guide of human form—who would help them on their path to the elemental alignment.”

  Fionn paused and looked up at me with sadness in his eyes. “But that never happened. The Tuatha de Danann fought endlessly with one another, and the more they exposed their power, the more others hungered for it. Battles were fought; many died. Only one Tuatha de Danann survived the first wave of aggression. She became known as the Carrier of the Mark.”

  “So let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you’re descendants of one of Danu’s children?” I stared at Fionn in disbelief. “How is that even possible? And what does my mom’s dying have to do with any of this? And … hang on, we’re not related, are we?” I turned to Adam, alarmed.

  “No, no, the bloodline is complicated,” Fionn reassured me. “Thousands of years separate you all from the original bloodline. Megan, what you have to understand for now is that you are a Marked One. We had three before. Earth in Áine…”

  Áine picked up a sunflower seed that the crow had dropped by the cereal bowl. She held it in her fist for a few seconds, then turned her palm up and opened it. Nestled there was a tiny green sprout. M
y mouth fell open as it grew before my eyes.

  “Water,” Adam said softly behind me. He raised his hand from my shoulder and grabbed at the air. A perfect sphere of water made its way from the sink like a delicate bubble and hovered over the table.

  “Fire,” growled Rían.

  Before I could turn to look at him a flame shot through the air, engulfing the sphere of water and evaporating it with a loud hiss. I slowly turned in my seat and looked at each of them in turn. Áine and Adam smiled reassuringly, but Rían just stared at me with eyes that burned like embers.

  Fionn spoke again after a moment. “The forces that guide the Marked have brought you to us, which leaves us with an interesting and unprecedented situation. A situation I’d hoped to avoid. We have the fourth element.”

  “Air,” Áine said with a flourish.

  “I’m air? Are you telling me I have magic too?”

  Rían thumped the wall. “This is crap. If she was the real deal, the Sidhe would have guided her to us years ago,” he growled at Fionn. “And even if she is the fourth, her power would be weak—and let’s not forget her time is nearly up. If we bring attention to her now we draw attention to ourselves. We can’t put ourselves in danger for her sake.”

  “Shut your mouth!” Adam shouted.

  “Why don’t you make me, little brother?” Rían shouted back, squaring up.

  “Enough!” Fionn roared. “The significance of this cannot be ignored, and I am bound to protect the Marked Ones. All four of them!” He glared at Rían.

  “Rían,” Áine said gently, “her power is strong. Adam and I have seen it.”

  “That was a fluke, a one-off. She didn’t even know she did it.”

  “Rían, she found us. She must have been guided,” Áine said.

  “I’ve heard enough of this crap. I’m out of here,” Rían muttered, and stormed out.

  “Stay close,” Fionn called. “We have to be extra careful until we’re sure of the lay of the land.”

  “Don’t mind Rían. He doesn’t react well to change.” Adam rubbed my back gently. “Your head must be spinning.”

  “What did Rían mean about a ‘shee’? What is that?” I asked, trying desperately to keep up with everything. “Fionn mentioned it too.”