Heart of the Druid Laird

by Barbara Longley

  “Enough about Dermot and Sidney. I’ve something on my mind tonight.”

  She smiled and reached for his hand. “I hope it’s the same thing I have on mine.”

  “Och, lass, you’ve no idea what you do to me.” Thomas put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her. “Let’s take a walk through the park. I want to take a closer look at the angel sculpture.”

  “It’s cold out. Can’t we just head over to your hotel? We can order a drink and sit by the fire in the lobby. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” She tugged on his arm. “Then we can go up to your room and—”

  “Later.” Thomas covered her hand with his and gave her a heart-stopping smile. “I’ve a question that needs asking.” He led her across the park to the statue and knelt down on one knee beneath the benevolent gaze of the stone angel. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, blue leather box with J.B. Hudson Jewelers embossed in silver on the top.

  The tiny white lights strung in the trees twinkled like stars, and the angel looked down upon them as if blessing the proceedings. She’d fallen into a faerie tale. “Oh my God.” She could hardly breathe. A thousand objections rose to her lips. She kept them all to herself. His expression of trust and hope cut right through her meager defenses. “Oh, Thomas.”

  “Zoe, say you’ll be my wife. Make me the happiest man on the planet, nay, in the universe.” He opened the box to reveal a large diamond solitaire. She stared at the radiant cut stone glittering in the fluorescent light.

  “Say something.” Thomas gazed up at her, uncertainty clouding his handsome features. “You love me. I know you do.”

  Zoe’s heart raced, and the inside of her mouth felt like the Sahara desert.

  “Do no’ say nay, lass.” His voice broke and he lowered his hands to his knee. “Can you no’ make the leap of faith with me?”

  The million dollar question. Thomas would either die, or remain young and gorgeous while she grew old, saggy and wrinkled. Could she bear either outcome? Would he still love her when her hair turned gray, and her body became frail?

  If he remained immortal to be with her, couldn’t she overcome her own insecurities and suck-it-up to be with him? Gazing into the face of the man she loved, Zoe forced all her worries away. “I love you, Thomas. You know I do.”

  “Then say the words. I need to hear you say you’ll be my wife. I want to fall asleep every night with you in my arms, and wake each morning to your smile. I need to be with you, mo cridhe, no matter what.”

  “Okay, okay.” She blinked away the tears clouding her vision. “I’ll be your wife. I will love you forever, no matter what, but if we get through this whole curse thing, you have to promise me a long engagement. I want regular dates without curses and faeries hanging over our heads.”

  “Deal. Give me your left hand, sweetheart.”

  Zoe took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She nodded and raised her trembling hand for him. He took it, and slid the ring onto her finger. “Oh,” she sighed. “It’s the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever seen. This is an awfully big stone, Thomas.” She wiggled her fingers.

  “Two carats and flawless. I would’ve gotten something grander, except you’re such a wee thing. I was afraid you’d no’ be able to lift your hand,” he teased as he rose from the ground and drew her into his embrace. “We can pick out wedding bands and a nicer setting together.”

  “I would’ve been happy with a smaller diamond.” Zoe rested her cheek on his chest. “I fell for you before I knew you had a cent to your name. In fact, the day you walked into our store I told Sidney I want to have your babies.” She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Oh, Thomas, what if—”

  “Do no’ say it. I’ve given you my word. I’ll do whatever it takes to stay with you.”

  “I want to come with you to Scotland. I can’t bear the thought of not being there when you…when the curse…”

  “What of your wee shop? If Sidney is with us, who will be left to keep it going?”

  “Right now, I don’t give a gnat’s ass about Panache à Trois. I only care about us.”

  Thomas kissed her forehead. “I will remain cursed and immortal if that’s what it takes to have a life with you. You needn’t be concerned about the end.”

  Thomas tightened his arms around her, and for a moment, she believed everything would be all right.

  “Let’s skip the drink and head straight to my room. I’d like to seal the deal.”

  “Seal the deal?” She smiled and turned her face up to his for a kiss. “Lord, how I love you.”

  Thomas drove away, and Zoe glanced at her watch. Almost 1:00 a.m. The light shining from Sidney’s window did not bode well. Blowing out a puff of air that turned to steam in the cold November morning, Zoe headed up the stairs to their apartment. She turned the key in the lock, opened the door and almost tripped over something inside.

  Puzzled, she turned on the hall light. A large duffel bag blocked her way. Was Sidney packing for her trip to Scotland already? Zoe had thought she and Thomas still had a few days together. She hung her coat in the closet and headed for Sidney’s room. “Hey, Sid.” She knocked on the door. “You still up? Can I come in?”

  Sidney opened the door, reached out to grip her arm and dragged her in. “I need to talk to you. I didn’t think I’d see you before I left.”

  Zoe frowned. “For Scotland?”

  “No.” Sidney gave her a sharp look. “I’m not going to Scotland. I wanted to…What the hell is that on your hand?”

  Zoe stared at her. “Huh?”

  “That halogen headlight on your left hand.” Sidney pointed. “Tell me that isn’t from Thomas.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Zoe couldn’t take her eyes off the sparkling diamond as she held it out for Sidney to see. “We’re engaged.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Sidney’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t know anything about him. We don’t know anything about any of them. Thomas has been here for, what, one whole week?”

  “You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to be happy for me.”

  “I am your best friend. That’s why I’m concerned. They have some kind of scam going, and somehow we’ve become their marks.”

  “Dermot told you about the curse.” Now she wished Thomas had stayed, because she didn’t know what to say or do.

  “You know?”

  “Of course I know. Thomas is cursed too. He’s more than sixteen hundred years old.”

  “You can’t possibly believe that. The whole thing is absurd. Dermot tried to tell me I’m his reincarnated wife.” Sidney paced around the room. “He ranted about returning me to the scene of some crime that happened centuries ago. Don’t get tangled up with these people, Zoe. I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Too late.” She flashed her engagement ring at Sidney. “I’m already tangled up. Give Dermot a chance to tell you the whole story. The day you were murdered, I was too. Thomas and I were in love in that lifetime, and we still are. He proved to me it’s all true. Dermot can prove it to you too if you’ll let him.”

  “Oh, Zoe—”

  “I want the curse ended as much as Thomas does. Otherwise, how can he and I spend our lives together and raise a family? I want to grow old with him, not wrinkle up like a prune while he remains young and gorgeous.” What if Thomas was wrong, and he disintegrated into dust? She didn’t want to think about that.

  “Thomas cut his hand with a knife right in front of me. I watched the wound close and disappear in less than a minute. He told me everything.”

  Sidney shook her head. “I’m certain Dermot hypnotized me last night. Thomas probably did the same to you. He must’ve planted what he wanted you to believe in your mind.”

  “How do you explain why they’re here, Sid? What scam could they be playing, and why us? We don’t have any money. What do they stand to gain?” Zoe shrugged. “What’s the payoff?”

  “I can’t explain it.” She stopped midpace and turned toward her. “I don’t know w
hat they’re after.”

  “I do—an end to immortality.” She sat on the edge of Sidney’s bed. “How do you explain the sadness and the anger you feel toward Dermot? You told me—remember?—the first day they showed up.”

  “I can’t explain it. I don’t know why. He makes me feel things that make no sense.”

  “Isn’t it possible those feelings are there because some part of you remembers him?”

  Sidney scowled at her. “No. That’s absurd.”

  “Wait,” Zoe pleaded. “I have something that might help.” She jumped up and ran to her room for the book Thomas had given her. Maybe if Sidney read The Legend of the Druid Laird, she’d be more open to believing in the curse. She snatched the book from her end table and raced back to Sidney’s room.

  “Here.” She held the book out to Sidney.

  “What’s that?” Sidney stared at the book, but made no move to take it.

  “Thomas gave it to me. Their story is in here.” She thrust it toward Sidney. “Read it, and then maybe you’ll believe what Dermot told you.”

  “I don’t want to discuss this anymore, and reading some stupid legend isn’t going to change my mind. It only proves I’m right. They’ve used the story in that book to concoct their outlandish scam. How gullible are you?”

  “Hey.” She let her arm drop to her side.

  “I need to get some sleep.”

  “Where are you going to go?”

  “That’s none of your business. I should’ve listened to Scary Faerie when she warned me to stay away from Dermot.”

  “You call me gullible? Who is that creature, and what’s her interest in all of this? Have you ever asked yourself that? Maybe she’s—”

  “That’s enough.” Sidney crossed her room and opened the door. “There are no such things as immortals. The apparition is probably a figment of my imagination, some part of my subconscious that picks up on things that could harm me.”

  “I don’t think so.” Zoe walked slowly toward the door, unwilling to give up. “What about Panache? Who’s covering for you? How long will you be gone?”

  “My mother is working my shifts, and David is already on the schedule for Black Friday and the weekend. I’ll stay away until I’m certain Dermot and his men are gone.”

  “Please don’t do this. You’re the only way these men have to end the curse. Thomas and I deserve our chance at happiness.”

  Sidney shook her head. “In a few days you’re going to see it’s all a ruse. None of what Dermot and Thomas say is possible. It’s. Not. Possible.” She shut her door before Zoe was even all the way through it.

  She stood in the hall feeling helpless. Should she call Thomas? He’d wake Dermot, and maybe between the three of them they could convince Sidney. She lifted the book in her hand and stared at the title. No, she wouldn’t call him yet. Sidney wouldn’t leave until tomorrow, and that gave her another opportunity to change Sidney’s mind. She’d try to get her to see reason over breakfast. Maybe she’d even cook this time.

  Zoe opened the book to the page where Dermot’s story began. She dog-eared the corner and headed for Sidney’s duffel bag. She stuffed the book inside between some clothing, just in case she couldn’t persuade Sidney to stay.

  Sidney picked up the sketches she’d dropped on the floor. Her heart raced and a chill traced an icy finger down her spine. So much detail, yet she’d never seen any of these places. Had she? The young woman’s portrait had upset the apparition, and the ashes she’d cleaned up off her floor were irrefutable proof that Scary Faerie was no hallucination.

  Nope. They’re dream ashes. Any minute now her alarm clock would go off, and everything would be back to normal. It had to be a dream, because she couldn’t wrap her head around the alternative. Sidney rubbed her temples. What she needed was time alone to think. After a few hours of sleep, she’d hit the road.

  Thomas must have Zoe under some kind of spell, just like the one Dermot used on her. How else could she explain Zoe’s easy acceptance of a story so far beyond the realm of plausibility?

  The faint scent of ozone filled the room. “Crap. Talk about implausible.” Sidney covered her face with her hands. Her head throbbed. Hadn’t she been through enough for one day?

  “Leave now, Sidney.”

  “Well, hi. How are you, oh Figment-Of-My-Imagination? How kind of you to drop by. What time is it?” Sidney peeked through her fingers at the clock radio on her end table. Almost 2:00 a.m.

  “Leave now. Don’t wait. I’ll keep you hidden from Dermot as best I can.”

  “Sure. Do that. You’ve been so successful in the past.” Sidney glowered at the apparition floating in the middle of her bedroom. “What are you—and don’t tell me you’re a goddess, because you’re not. What have you got to do with any of this, anyway?”

  “Why, as you say, I’m a figment of your imagination. You’ve conjured me out of thin air.”

  “That’s what I thought. That’s all I needed to know. Now go away.”

  “I will if you will.” Scary Faerie floated closer.

  “I mean forever.”

  “Leave now. Otherwise I’ll be forced to find other ways to keep Dermot from getting to you.”

  The temperature in her bedroom dropped, and Scary Faerie’s tone set Sidney’s hackles on end. “All right. I’m leaving.”

  Sidney crossed the room and pulled clothes out of her dresser. “See? This is me getting ready to leave.” She pulled her pajamas off and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. Pulling socks on as she walked, she snatched the letters she’d written from her vanity and grabbed her backpack off the chair. She left the room without waiting to see if Scary Faerie disappeared.

  Silently cursing the creaky wooden floor, Sidney tiptoed to the kitchen. She snatched David’s Jeep keys from the hooks on the wall above the kitchen counter and replaced them with hers. Then she placed the letter she’d written her brother where she knew he’d find it.

  She crept past Zoe’s bedroom to the hall closet and pulled out her down parka, sturdy hiking boots, gloves and a woolen hat. With her arms full, she opened the door and nudged the duffel bag out with her foot. Once she was out of the apartment, she leaned against the wall and let everything in her arms slide to the floor. She put the parka on and stuffed the gloves and hat into the pockets. Breathing deeply, she tried to slow her heartbeat to normal and slipped her feet into her boots. The five-hour drive gave her five hours to think.

  Once she had her gear stowed in the backseat of the Jeep, Sidney settled herself into the driver’s seat, started the car and headed for I35. Something kept nagging at her: What did the faerie have to do with all of this? What possible reason could she have to hide her from Dermot? Man, what kind of mess had she stepped into?

  The air in the Jeep crackled with electric tension. Her skin crawled with the prickly sensation that she was not alone. Sidney put a CD in and turned the volume up. She hadn’t slept, and the entire night had been surreal. Her nerves were shot, that’s all. No wonder she imagined things that weren’t there.

  Dermot started up the stairs to Sidney’s apartment. Grim didn’t even begin to describe his outlook this morning. He hadn’t slept, his head ached and, to top it all off, Thomas had come pounding on his door to tell him what he already knew. Sidney had fled.

  Thomas stopped him with a hand on his arm. “There’s something you need to know before we go inside, Druid.”

  “Aye? What might that be? Some foolishness on your part no doubt.”

  “Sod off.”

  “I’ll do more than that. In two weeks I’ll leave this world altogether, as will you.”

  “Zoe and I are engaged. I mean to marry her.”

  “Do it quickly. That way, at least she can be your widow.”

  “Can you say for certain what ending the curse entails? Have we no’ argued the point for our entire existence?”

  “Nay, lad. You’ve argued. I’ve told you what will happen, and you persist in speculating and fantasizing, trying t
o find some way out from under the truth.” Dermot turned to glare at him. “Once again you’ve made decisions affecting others without thinking things through.”

  “Áine has never said. You do no’ know what will happen.”

  Dermot shook his head. “Perhaps she’s said nothing to you, it does no’ mean she’s said nothing to me. The end of the curse means an end to our mortal existence.”

  “I’ll remain cursed, then.”

  “What makes you think you’ll have a choice?” Dermot’s temper snapped. “Did you have any say when all this began? The Tuatha Dé Danann do no’ live by our rules. How has this escaped your notice? They are no’ human.”

  “You never should have married Mairéad.”

  “I did what you urged me to do, and for sixteen centuries I’ve listened to you tell me I should no’ have done so. I did what I believed was best for our clan.” He shook his head. “You never should have promised Zoe a future. You’ve no future to give her. Have you considered what that will do to her?”

  “I’ll find a way,” Thomas gritted out. “I should’ve been with Iselda when she needed me the most. I canna forgive myself for what happened to her.”

  “Nor can I.” Dermot rubbed his throbbing temples and closed his eyes. “I canna forgive myself for any of it.” He started up the steps again, and every century he’d lived pressed down upon him. “Come. Time runs short, and we must set our minds to bringing Sidney back to Scotland. Otherwise, we’ll be having this damned argument sixteen hundred years hence.” Dermot raised his hand to knock on the door. It opened before he made contact.

  Zoe’s anxious eyes surveyed him. “You look ragged.”

  “Aye, well, last night was no’ my best first date ever.”

  “I smell coffee.” Thomas nudged Dermot through the door. “Let’s have a cup and sort everything out.”

  Thomas took Zoe’s hand and walked with her down the hall. She glanced over her shoulder at him with her eyebrows raised. He followed along to the kitchen and glanced around for signs of Sidney. Did she cook? He imagined her standing in front of the stove, preparing a meal for him, her hair mussed and her lips swollen from their lovemaking. Gods, he had to get himself under control.