In her mind’s eye she saw what Leo described. Other than pictures she seen in biology textbooks, she had never cared much for learning about biological systems, but she had a clear picture nonetheless.
She felt that, on the outside at least, Nana’s skin had a higher temperature from the blood underneath. “Do you feel me getting warmer? That’s because I am causing my blood to move to the surface. You are going to do the same in Alex’s body. This is going to be difficult because the blood has begun to congeal. You have to get it moving again in order to manipulate it. In order to heal the heart.
“Yes that’s it. Don’t worry. Blood welling in the open wound is a good thing. It will get messy from here on—
The living room was a bloodbath. Brenawyn snorted, “Like it’s been pristine up till now?”
“No, but I don’t want to upset you when…”
The blood spurted from the wound, and Brenawyn made a keening cry taking her hand off of his chest.
“Ah, there it is. Okay, I will keep it contained, you concentrate on his heart. Put your hand back on him.”
Brenawyn did as she was told.
“Feel for the hole. Send the vessels to repair it. This is just the same as you did for Spencer. Nothing more. Relax. You’re doing good. Just a little longer.”
Leo felt Brenawyn’s pulse. It had resumed a more normal rhythm, so she took her granddaughter’s hand off her chest, and clasped it. “See, the blood is no longer spurting. That’s a very good thing. Okay, Brenawyn, I’m going to let go of your hand to get the sutures that Maggie has prepared. I will be sewing up the wound to contain everything. Are you okay for me to do this?”
“You’re coming back, right?
“Yes, I’ll just be going there and back.”
Brenawyn nodded, and Leo returned to kneel on the opposite side of Alex. “I’ll be quick.” She bent to her task. Despite the size, Leo whip stitched the hole shut. “It’s not even worthy of a beginning quilter, but it will suffice. He won’t even have a scar.”
“Really?”
“Yes, you’ll see. Rinse your hands in the pot.” She reached for the folded crocheted afghan and placed it over the wound, “Maggie, we’re going to need your help.”
Maggie got to her feet and relief washed across her face when she saw the hideous damage covered. “What do you need me to do?”
“Get the couch cushions and prop up his feet, and wherever you feel comfortable, I need you to place your hands on him.”
“I can’t do what you do, Leo.”
“You don’t have to, you’re alive and that’s enough for this. There are no effects at all for you.”
She hesitated, hands hovering over his ankle.
“Yes, you can hold on there. Brenawyn, you’re going to place your fingers on his femoral artery, behind his knees. I will be doing chest compressions. You did a fine job at repairing the hole. The worst it over.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, you’ll see. Do you remember the feel of my blood flowing through my veins? Through your veins?”
She nodded.
“Yes? Good. Now we need to recreate that in him in order to start his heart. Okay, listen, this is very important. We have to start slow and build up, I’ll regulate the pace, but the moment I say to let him go, you must, because I have to be the one to start his heart.”
“How are you going to do that? Do you have a defibrillator downstairs?
“Yes, but its inaccessible now because of the floor’s collapse.”
“Shit!”
“Relax, all will be well.”
Brenawyn took her position, she imagined the blood moving in her own body and willed it to move in the exact same way in his.
“Whoa easy there, relax, it should be a steady increase. Yes, that’s more like it. Keep going. Okay, Maggie, take your hands off his leg and move to other side of the room. I don’t know what the reaction is going to be but I’d rather have you out of the way, just in case.”
Maggie took her hand off of Alex and gave Brenawyn’s shoulder a squeeze before moving to the corner of the room.
“Okay, now you, Brenawyn, but stay close.”
“What are you going to do?”
Leo shuddered, a sharp intake of breath, leaning back on her heels. Alex’s chest lifted off the floor leaving his head and limbs to loll lifelessly. Her hands guided him up as her interlace flared intensely bright. She exhaled, sprang to her feet despite her broken foot and arthritic joints, and bore down on his chest, sending it violently down to the floor. She gave a grunt as she released her magic into him. The interlace faded quickly into his chest, the same pattern oozing through her fingers to cover his chest. When the last had been transferred, she took a stumbling step away and fell against the couch. Brenawyn ran to her, and Leo weakly muttered, “Watch out,” pointing to the floor.
Brenawyn avoided the urine puddle, and her heart sank, panic setting in at its mere presence.
~ ~ ~
“Verra interesting, she is.” Finvarra mused.
“Aye. Tha’ she is. Command o’ th’ elements, healing, shifting.”
“But th’ most intriguing is th’ way she turned th’ Oracle’s spell against her. She shouldnae ha’ been able ta dae tha’. ”
“Because she didna invoke the Mother Goddess?”
“Shaman, has any o’ th’ order been able ta use another’s magic?”
“Nay. No’ according ta record.”
Finvarra nodded his understanding. “Listen and mark my words. Thaur will be consequences.”
Caer reached out to touch Alex and her thoughts invaded his own, “Tis dangerous haur in this time and place for her. Ye are charged with bringing her back ta train in secrecy.”
“As gifted as the gods ha’ made me, she already far exceeds my own abilities, Caer. Wha’ dae ye wish me ta teach her?”
Aerten interrupted, “Her bonds will be broken. She wants ye ta see tha’ new ones are made. She wants ye ta guard against th’ Order. Thaur are still those tha’ wish ta use her.”
Alex bowed low, “Aye. Yer wish is my command.”
“Then go, answer her summons.”
Caer stopped him to place her forehead against his as if to offer a blessing; but for Alex a stray thought seeped into his mind, which swirled and coalesced as a warning as sharp as if she spoke it aloud. “Danger surrounds. Trust neither god nor mortal.”
Chapter 25
Setting his spirit back in his corporeal body was relatively easy, but the weight of gravity was the heaviest to bear and the hardest to acclimate to once the resurrection process started. It wouldn’t be as jarring this time, thanks to Brenawyn and Leo’s assistance. He wouldn’t have to expend any energy to get his heart healed and started, plus, the flesh had already started to warm with the recirculation of blood. He could be on his feet within minutes, feeling only the slightest residual effects, but even those would dissipate soon afterward, twenty-nine minutes at last count.
It took less time each rebirth. He was thankful for that now, enough time had passed for Alex to view his longest stint in the Stalking Grounds with only mild revulsion. His lesson: don’t anger the gods. It was ninety-three years until Cernunnos relented and released him. Ninety-three turns on the wheel of time, only getting a reprieve three hundred and seventy-two days for high feast observances. Ninety-three years of being hunted and brought to ground. He went through the resurrection process dozens of times.
Alex lay on the floor, adjusting to his body, listening to the three woman quietly move about the apartment, finishing the last of the preparations. Movement to his right caught his attention. He turned his head to see Brenawyn squat to wipe something off the floor. He felt embarrassed that it was probably his own blood that she was mopping up. He couldn’t see her face from this angle so he reached out to place his hand lightly on her knee. She turned and a single tear fell to splash on the back of his hand.
Brenawyn’s eyes grew wide and filled with tears. “You’re
alive!” she breathlessly whispered and immediately started shaking.
“Shh. ‘Tis okay. I am haur.” He found her hand and pulled her close. She came willingly, turning to stretch out next to him on the floor regardless of the gore. “I told ye I would come for ye.”
She touched his cheek, sobbing, “I don’t understand how.”
Leo paused at the doorway, “Oh, good, you’re back. How much time do you think you’ll need?”
Brenawyn sat up and regarded Leo disbelievingly. “He just regained…”
“Right noo.” Alex sat up. “Thank ye for yer assistance. It cut doon on recovery time.”
“There is no time to waste. Someone will come to investigate sooner rather than later, and we need to be gone from this place.”
“Aye, we dae.” Alex put his hand on his unscarred abdomen. “Th’ athame tha’ Cormac used ta cut me, is it still haur?”
“Yes, I took it to the kitchen to clean. I’ll get it.”
By the time Leo returned, Alex was standing, with Brenawyn hovering nearby, shadowing his every move ready to spring to catch him if he stumbled.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “I ken ye doonae understand th’ how o’ it, but I am solid on my feet.”
Leo handed him the sheathed knife. “It looks important.”
“Aye, ‘tis one o’ th’ five sacred items o’ th’ priestess.” Both Leo and Alex looked at Brenawyn.
She looked at each in turn, then at the knife extended to her in his open hand. She shook her head, “What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Och, I’ll keep it for noo. Whaur did ye put th’ Oracle?”
“How did you know?”
Leo exchanged a look with Brenawyn, “She’s down in the office. Tied and gagged.”
“What are you going to do?”
Alex looked at her grimly, “All will be well. Stay up haur until I call for ye.”
Alex passed Maggie on the way down. She gave him a fierce hug and hurried past to get the remainder of the suitcases. Turning, he said, “Maggie, lass, stay up thaur until I say it’s safe. Ye kin?”
She nodded her head, holding onto the doorframe, before disappearing around the jamb.
Alex accessed the leopard’s senses and reached out to the closed office. Nothing moved within. He approached and saw the door ajar, kicked in from the look of it. The Oracle was gone. He crouched in the hallway and stalked toward the merchandise floor. The ethereal music still played on the speakers, but the effect was eerie now that the place was in shambles.
Alex approached the rubble pile and saw Buchanan, his neck at an impossible angle. There was no sign of Cormac. Shite.
This changed the timeline. They’d have to complete the Rite of Widdershins here to be safe, not in Scotland as he intended. Hopefully going back in time to reset the balance would find them at his family’s seat. If that were the case then there wouldn’t be any cause for concern, but as it was, they could wind up anywhere, anytime. How was he to train her if he knew not whether he’d have the supplies he’d need? How was he to keep her in hiding if he knew not where they’d end up? Still, it was preferable to staying in this time for any length. Cormac and the Oracle were unpredictable now that their purpose was made known, and their followers were an undefined quantity.
Brenawyn met him at the foot of the stairs when he called. She was frightened, he could see.
“Yer car is packed. I need ta get my truck and bags. I would like ye ta accompany me. Is tha’ acceptable?”
She nodded her head and was out the door without a second glance. The walk was short, a half a block and a flight of stairs. The apartment was spartan but neat, with the exception of the splintered remains of the coffee table in the center of the living room. “What happened here?”
“Cormac.”
Brenawyn panicked and scanned the room, “He was here?”
“Aye, he broke in th’ other day. We fought.”
She pulled on his arm, “Grab your bags. He could come back anytime.”
“I ken why yer afeart, and ‘tis wise ta be cautious. We ha’ some time. I ken him. He likely has gone off ta lick his wounds. He’ll regroup, make nay mistake. He’ll come back stronger next time, but it willnae be the day.”
Alex stepped around her to lock the door and push the couch against it. “Does tha’ make ye feel better? The door is solid oak, locked and bolted.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Brenawyn, I’m going to take a shower. Ye can wait haur, the bedroom, och, ye can even sit in th’ bathroom. Whaur’er ye are comfortable.
“Oh, okay, um…”
Reading her indecision, Alex took Brenawyn by the hand, and led her down the hall to the bedroom. Alex took the key out of the back of the door. “This room has a lock too. Would ye feel safer if ye locked yerself in haur while I showered? Ye’d ha’ th’ key and if ye wished ye can push th’ dresser in front.”
She stopped him and sat on the bed, “The lock on the door here will be sufficient, just hurry.”
She opened the bedroom door minutes later to Alex with a towel wrapped around his waist. As appealing as the vision was, his unscarred abdomen contradicted the hideous wound of earlier which was still fresh in her mind. She moved to touch him, but he backed up.
“The blud, it isna yers?”
She held out the shirt tail, “This? No. It’s mostly yours actually.”
“Aye, ye need ta wash th’ blud off ye, too. No’ ta scare ye, but th’ Vate will be able ta track ye from it. ‘Tis a fairly simple spell, all she’d need is a sample o’ th’ blud.”
“Oh, okay, but how?” she pointed, indicating his midsection.
“Ah, ye can inspect and question me all ye want after.”
“I don’t have a change of clothes.”
Alex winked, “Ne’er fear. I’ll wrap ye in my kilt.”
He donned jeans while she was in the shower, but he was still bare-chested when she reentered the bedroom. His kilt was neatly folded on the end of the bed with a leather belt next to it.
Brenawyn approached and put her hands on his midsection skimming the area where the damage was. “It doesn’t hurt?”
“Nay, no’ at all.”
“So when you come back… I can’t believe I’m formulating this question… there’s nothing, no remnant?”
“Just the added tattoos as ye can see.”
She reached up to trace the newest designs on his chest and arm.
“I’m changed in other ways, but that is a much longer conversation.”
Brenawyn’s hand remained on his chest. “You’re so hot, like an oven.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her on his lap, “Aye, let me warm ye then.” His lips touched the edge of her ear and she melted into him. His kisses, feather light, trailed down her neck and across her clavicle.
“Are you sure we’re safe here?”
“Aye. Tha’ we are, and yer family too.”
“For now?”
“Aye, for noo.”
She turned to straddle his hips, “Then love me now while we don’t have to worry about what tomorrow will bring.”
He pulled at the edge of the towel, “Bheadh grá agam ort riamh, dá mbeadh ach iarraidh orm,” he said, not daring to say in English that he would love her forever if she but asked. He dipped his head and suckled at her breast. He lay back, taking her with him. His fingers found her slick core, and she rubbed against him. He ripped at his fly, and as soon as he was free, she impaled herself on his engorged shaft. His hands were now on her hips, driving her down, guiding her, but it wasn’t enough. In one fluid motion he sat up, claimed her lips, and rolled on top of her as she climaxed, her moans in his ear.
The driving need to spill his seed, to make Brenawyn his, to get her with child, all came flooding in. His tremors started and he moved to withdraw, but her legs clasped his hips, “No, I want you, all of you, inside of me.”
“As ye wish.”
Glossary
Celtic G
ods, Goddesses, and Creatures
Aine: (AHN yuh) Irish goddess for fertility
Aerten: (EYER ten) Cornish, Welsh goddess of fate
Caer Ibormeith: (Keer YEW mayth) Pan-Celtic goddess of dreams and prophecy
Cernunnos: (KER noo nohs) Pan-Celtic god of the Hunt
dearg due: (DAH-ruhg DU-ah )Irish vampire
Finvarra: (VEEN varra) Irish High King of the gods
Nimue: (NIM oo ay) Cornish, Welsh goddess of the moon
Sluagh: restless spirits of the dead; in Fate's Hand, embodied as hounds
Taranis: (TA ran is) Continental goddess of death to whom sacrifices were offered.
Tir-Na-Nog: (TIER na noog) realm of the gods
Gaelic Words and Phrases
a chuisle: (a khish la) term of endearment meaning my heart.
Eiliminteach: (EE le men tie k) Elemental
Fire Feasts
Samhain: (SAH wen) Celebrated on October 31 marking the beginning of winter
Oimelc: (I melg) Celebrated on February 1 marking the beginning of spring
Beltaine: (BEY al TIN ah) Celebrated on May 1 marking the beginning of summer
Lughnasadh: (LOO nah sah) Celebrated on August 1 marking the beginning of autumn
Preview
Book 2 of the Celtic Prophecy
Reliquary’s Choice
Brenawyn covered the pictures, willing them to disappear. Though almost blinded by tears, she uncovered them again to examine them and try to determine the identity of the pretty blonde cradled in her husband’s arms on the silent glossy paper. The picture captured the woman’s reaction, a hearty laugh at whatever Liam whispered in her ear. The other picture showed her sprawled on a blanket, with a magnolia blossom in her hair. Brenawyn threw the pictures in the trashcan beside the bed. I won’t even think about it. What good would it do? Rage at the possibility? When he never gave me any reason to doubt him? Disgusted, she grabbed the can and tore into the trash, finding the glossy surfaces, and stormed out to dispose of them. She found the matches, touched it to the photos, and after watching the flame take hold, she tossed the pictures into the empty fireplace.
Fate's Hand: Book One of The Celtic Prophecy Page 19