Without warning, a bolt of power slammed through Ashlynn’s body, connecting the three of them in a powerful loop of never-ending magic. It transferred through each of them like a carnival ride picking up momentum, forcing them closer to one another.
A blast of energy exploded from the center of their circle and the three bodies went flying back, landing on the ground like rag dolls. The world around Ashlynn spun and her ears rang with a loud, sickening pitch as she struggled to sit up. Breathless, she crawled toward Cian who lay a few feet, praying he was alive, terrified he was. Her heart sprang to life when she found him alive.
And himself.
She hovered over his body as he moaned and rubbed his head. Her fingers reached for his bare chest, daring to touch the tiny black vein that circled his heart. The only black vein to be found. Pulsing there like tattooed proof of poor life choices, yet not advancing.
“Ash?” he asked weakly and confused.
“Yes!” she grabbed Cian and hugged him tightly, unable to stop the tears of joy that poured from her eyes. She felt his lips press against her neck.
“Masilda?” he asked softly in her ear.
Ashlynn pulled away and turned to the girl who still lay on the ground, unmoving.
“No!” Ashlynn scrambled toward her as the child’s eyes slowly fluttered open. “Masilda, are you okay?” She glanced over her shoulder, desperate for help. “Cian go find Faith. She was out by the road calling for backup.”
“No,” Masilda murmured, her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. “Don’t leave me.”
Ashlynn slipped an arm beneath the girl’s neck and pulled her into her lap. “Shhh, I’m not going anywhere.” She began to rock in the way mothers rocked their babies. “What can I do?”
Masilda’s face turned slightly toward Ashlynn’s lap as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Just stay with me.”
The color quickly began to drain from the child’s face and Ashlynn knew in her heart that there was nothing anyone could do. The power that she’d drawn had been far too much for her little body, for her young mind to comprehend or wield.
But it had saved Cian.
Ashlynn smiled down at her and caressed her face as Cian lowered himself down next to them. “You did it, you know?” he whispered, reaching for her hand.
Masilda strained to look at Cian. “Y-you should be okay now,” she said softly. “The curse was no match for my magic.” She swallowed hard as her complexion continued to pale. “U-use it wisely.”
Cian turned his head and covered his trembling lips with his hand as he bit back emotion. It hurt Ashlynn to see him in pain as it filled her heart to know he could feel again. He looked to Ashlynn and his expression said what they were both thinking. What the both knew.
Masilda was dying.
Unable to hold it in, Ashlynn broke down and cried as she held Masilda in her arms. They sat together on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, just being with the child in her last moments on this earth.
“I’m so sorry,” Ashlynn sobbed. “I’m sorry that you never got the chance to live. It’s not right. It shouldn’t be like this.”
Skin white as a ghost and lips a disturbing shade of grey, Masilda still managed a smile as she peered up as Ashlynn from her lap. “Don’t worry, princess,” she said so quietly Ashlynn has to lean in to hear. “A life is never lost.” She slowly moved an arm to gently press her hand to Ashlynn’s stomach. “Only reborn.”
A rush of warmth coursed through Ashlynn and she felt Masilda’s little body tighten in her grasp before it relaxed with a finality that hung heavy in her arms. Ashlynn let out an agonizing cry to the skies above as she held Masilda’s lifeless form.
It as all so unfair. How a pure heart such as Cian could be tainted with a curse. How such an innocent child had to be burdened with a power far too great for her little mind.
Ashlynn refused to let go of Masilda until a sudden burning sensation on her forearm forced her to cry out and pull her arm free. Like a bullet, Cian was by her side.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his hands only hovering over her arm as if he were afraid to touch her.
The tender skin seared under her clothing and she yanked at her sleeve in a panic.
Cian gasped. “Holy shit…”
Ashlynn stared down at her arm in disbelief. It couldn’t be. How could this be real? There, on her once flawless skin, was a mark imprinted as if with ink on her arm. With the symbol that had been Masilda’s. The Pancha Mahabhuta. Ashlynn recalled the words Masilda had spoken only moments ago.
A life is never lost, only reborn.
Unblinkingly, she glanced at Masilda’s forever sleeping face and began to cry once more. Tears of sadness mixed with those of joy streamed down her face as she kissed the sweet girl’s forehead.
“She sacrificed herself for us,” Ashlynn said to Cian. “She gave her power to save you and,” she found herself mindlessly rubbing her stomach, “used her last breath to save herself.”
Cian shook his head. “What do you mean?”
Ashlynn smiled and took Cian’s hand. “I felt it, before she let go. Something…filled my body. A strange warmth.” She glanced at her arm. “And now -”
“You have her birthmark,” he finished for her. Cian traced his fingers over the symbol. “She gave you her powers.”
Ashlynn nodded solemnly and lifted tear-filled eyes to his. “She gave me access to all five elements.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The midday sun blazed, heating the country air unbearably, but no one so much as murmured in discomfort as Masilda’s body, dressed in a white eyelet cotton dress, was slowly lowered into the ground.
Ashlynn broke in Cian’s arms.
She curled into his chest and let him hold her up, unable to compel her own body to stand any longer. Cian could feel the weight of the grief pulling her under because he felt it, too. For Masilda, for the life she’d yet lived, for the sacrifice she’d made.
For him.
The ache in his chest pulsed angrily, but he kept his arms around Ashlynn. Masilda had died, yes, to save him. But her death had saved everyone, her people, Ashlynn, all the travellers. Maybe even the world. Her too-wise eyes had seen the truth when even he couldn’t, and she’d given up everything to save them all.
He’d be damned if he would dishonor her sacrifice by falling to pieces.
He would, however, honor her by tracking Serena down and making her pay.
The travellers lifted a glass to Masilda, each one of them except the small children who raised flowers instead and toasted the brave young girl. Cian sipped from the brandy someone had handed him and embraced the burn as the amber colored liquid slid down his throat. Next to him, Troy downed his glass in one gulp then held a hand out for a refill without really looking. Almost instantly, someone was there with a bottle to fill his glass.
A sea of friends and family dressed in white made their way to the too-small hole in the ground, the first grave to be dug in the land Cian had bought for their future home. They offered their respect, words of love, and said goodbye to the young girl. Then they turned their backs on the world of the dead and left it behind. There was nothing good that could come from disturbing the rest of those who’ve passed over.
Cian walked Ashlynn to a bench near the fire that burned hotter than hell in the midday heat and lowered down next to her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head then stared into the blaze, searching for some morsel of understanding into why this had to happen.
It didn’t need to, that was the long and short of it. Masilda’s death, while brave and generous, was senseless because the cause of her death, traced back to Serena, was based on greed. And in a world filled with such beauty, such bounty, such love, there was no need for the type of hateful greed that possessed Serena. But tyrants rarely saw the world through the same eyes as he.
A baleful voice lifted into the sky, fading away on the soft wind that had finally begun to stir the unrelenting heat. Tro
y stepped closer to the fire, staring almost blindly into the flames, and began a song that tickled Cian’s memory.
He’d heard it before, as a young man. He’d attended a funeral with his grandfather to bid farewell to a dear friend. Their friendship had been frowned up, his upstanding grandfather, whose legacy of leadership was well established, and Moses Holub, a quiet, unaffecting traveller, who rejected progress and lived his life the way their ancestors did. Cian closed his eyes, rested his chin against Ashlynn’s head, and listened.
And as he did, he searched his soul for any trace of the curse.
It was there, deep beneath the surface, thrumming quietly as it waited to resurface. It scared him, knowing that the thing that had nearly swept him away... no, he corrected himself, it had swept him away... was still there. Cian stroked his fingers over Ashlynn’s arm where Masilda’s mark was hidden by a long sleeve. He shuddered to think of what would have happened if that mark had ceased to exist with the little girl.
Emotion choked him as he remembered the way her tiny body had lain, crumpled in Ashlynn’s shaking arms, less than twenty-four hours ago. They’d moved quickly to consecrate her to the earth, afraid that Serena would use their distraction to attack. Even now, as they mourned her short life, a guard of his parent’s most trusted men and women watched the gathering, keeping them safe and sound.
Cian doubted he’d ever feel safe and sound again.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Ashlynn lifted her head and twisted to look at him through grief stricken, swollen eyes. Unable to speak, Cian just nodded and rose to his feet. He held out his hand to Ashlynn and waited for her to slip her fingers through his.
They moved away from the fire and the travellers who gathered there. Some of the women and a few of the men had set up an area to cook the food that always accompanied funerals and were busy peeling and scrubbing vegetables to put into the pots that already boiled in anticipation. They walked past them and just into the line of forest, leaving behind all for nature and its healing properties.
Cian needed nature. It was his access to the elements, his way of connecting to the magic that resided in his bones. He glanced over at Ashlynn, who was looking down at the ground, still shedding tears, and wondered how Masilda’s mark would change her. Becoming suddenly deeply connected to all five elements would be overwhelming. Gaining control over them would be even harder. He wanted to talk to her about it, to voice his concerns, but that would be for him, not her. She needed time to think, reflect, and grieve.
He needed time to free himself from the guilt hanging over his head.
It was one thing to know you were responsible for the death of an innocent and quite another to feel it in your soul.
Cian stopped and pulled Ashlynn into his arms. He needed to touch her, to feel the steady beat of her heart against his chest and know she was alive and his. Ashlynn pressed into him for a long moment then leaned back to look up into his eyes.
“How are you?” Her voice was scratchy from crying.
“I’m alright,” he said dully, wishing he had a better answer to give her. But with as much time as he’d spent thinking over the last few days and their repercussions, he still didn’t quite know how to feel. So, instead of trying to figure it out, he lifted a hand to her swollen cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, following the caress with a soft kiss. “I adore you,” he whispered, meaning it with every ounce of his being.
Ashlynn tilted her head back and offered him a sad smile that barely reached her eyes. “No, you’re not alright, but you’re trying and that’s all any of us can do right now.” She buried her face in his chest.
Cian released a breath he’d been holding and wondered how fate had been so kind as to bring him this woman. His eyebrows arched up. Fate had also decided to give him Serena and the curse, so maybe he’d been sent Ashlynn as a kind of counterbalance.
Fate was a bitch at times.
She was correct, though. He wasn’t alright, not in the least, but he was hanging in there.
Ashlynn pulled away and shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. “I just feel…I don’t know.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I feel responsible for what happened.”
“What?” Cian recoiled in confusion. He knew why he felt responsible but didn’t know why she should feel the same.
Ashlynn shrugged. “Just, I’m not sure how to explain it. I wonder if I didn’t let her get so attached to me so fast, maybe if I had realized what was happening, perhaps she wouldn’t have been in that clearing.”
Cian kissed the top of her head and felt his heart go out to her. “Then I wouldn’t be here right now.” Guilt pricked hard at that fact. Cian wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to fully reconcile with the unfairness of it all. “All I know is that Masilda’s sacrifice did more than just save me. She saved our people, too.” He rubbed his thumb over her cheek, wiping tears away. “And you. She saved us all and I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure her sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.”
The sounds of footsteps crunching across the dry grass caught their attention and they turned to find Faith approaching. The skin around her eyes was red and swollen. She’d lost a prodigy, the future of Travellers everywhere, and a surrogate child. Masilda’s death must have struck a chord in Faith that went beyond the confines of the present. Cian couldn’t even begin to imagine how she must feel.
His mind turned to Troy, Masilda’s uncle and her only living guardian. He’d been inconsolable since they’d gently told him what had happened. Cian could still hear his pained voice through the trees if he strained his ears.
“How are you guys doing?” Faith asked quietly as if struggling to hold herself together.
Cian took a deep breath. “All things considered, we’re okay. We’ll…be okay.”
“And the curse?” she added.
Cian pulled at his shirt collar to reveal the skin around his heart, showing how the blackened veins had thinned and receded. “Dormant. For now.”
“You let me know the second that changes,” Faith replied. She turned to Ashlynn. “And you, Princess? How are you holding up?”
Ashlynn seemed to be at a loss for words. “I-I’m not sure. I’m still reeling.” She stared down at her open palm. “Her little fingers were entwined with mine not twenty-four hours ago. Her body was full of life one moment, and then gone the next. I…” Ashlynn raised heavy eyes and sighed, “I miss her. It’s strange, I know. I hardly knew her, but I felt-feel connected to her in some odd way.”
The seer tucked rogue strands of her faded green hair behind her ears and regarded Ashlynn with tired eyes. A glint of something, confusion followed by surprise, caught Cian’s attention. He watched as Faith hesitated, then stretch out her hand and placed it tentatively over Ashlynn’s stomach. Instantly, her eyes widened, and color flushed her cheeks.
“What?” Cian asked. “What’s wrong?” His heart leapt in his chest.
Faith glanced between them. “Nothing,” she murmured with a soft smile lifting her lips. “Absolutely nothing.” Faith lifted her gaze to Ashlynn’s and whispered, “Just like magic, no life is ever truly lost...”
Ashlynn peered down at Faith’s hand, still pressed against her stomach, and frowned. Cian leaned forward, his mind whirling with the edges of realization but held back by disbelief. His eyes locked on Ashlynn’s face and watched as she moved through a sea of emotion and came out the other side with hope shining from her very soul. She moved her hand to cover her stomach and gasped in shock and wonder before lifting her gaze to Cian.
Her lips twitched hesitantly, then lifted as she finished Faith’s sentence. “Only reborn again.”
Disbelief shattered and Cian reached for the realization that had been right before their eyes. He sucked in a quick breath and let the wonder of it spread through his entire body. “You’re…”
Ashlynn nodded as fresh tears of joy spilled onto her cheeks. “With child, yes. Masilda…her essence, her soul. It’s been giv
en a second chance at life. In me.” Her eyes glittered with joy.
“You are truly blessed.” Faith grinned, lifting her hand to clap them together over her lips. A flicker of remembrance for why they were gathered shadowed her face, but it faded quickly. “A pure soul like hers will change our world,” she murmured softly. “Blessed be,” Faith turned and moved away, leaving them with their miracle.
Cian still couldn’t believe it. He took a step closer to Ashlynn and shakily held his palm to her belly, hovering there for a moment before resting his hand on her warm flesh. Closing his eyes, he opened to his magic, to the link he’d seen between him and Ashlynn, and saw it. Another thread, a soft glowing link that reached for him as if he were the center of its universe. His eyes were damp when he opened them to catch Ashlynn watching. “We’re going to have a baby,” it came out as a whisper.
Ashlynn nodded and Cian saw a flash of uncertainty fill her eyes. “I know it’s unexpected and we’re not read -”
Cian scooped her up in his arms and spun around, letting the joy stretch out his legs. He’d lived too long with fear and dread hovering overhead; he would relish this moment of happiness with the woman he loved and push the grief away for the moment. Cian kissed Ashlynn’s mouth.
“I love you,” he whispered.
Ashlynn’s hands raked the hair at the back of his head as she pressed her forehead to his. “I love you, too.”
They stood like that for a moment, inside the tiny bubble they’d created for one another. It was one of the happiest moments of his life, Cian realized, trying to hold onto every detail of it. Aside from the day a wayward Celtic princess had fallen into his life, of course. As he set Ashlynn back down on her feet, Cian heard a sharp exhalation. He whirled to see Faith, just stepping free of the treeline, waver on her feet and fall to the ground.
“Faith!” he cried out, rushing to her as she crumpled to the damp mossy earth. He called to Ashlynn and moved the green hair out of Faith’s eyes. They had glossed over with a milky white film.
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