Black Heart

by R. L. Mathewson

“There’s no use in trying, lass. We’ll just find ye,” Finn added softly.

  “If ye leave without our protection, ye won’t last another night, Lass,” Declean explained.

  “I-I wasn’t going to try and run,” Marty said, but Tristan knew her well enough to know that she was lying her beautiful ass off.

  “Every time we have this talk, ye always try to escape,” Fergus pointed out.

  “And it never works out well, lass. So do us all a favor and just let Liam tell ye what ye need to know,” Quinn said, gesturing lazily to the man.

  “How do you know that it’s a boy?” Marty asked, changing the subject, but not letting it go. There was no doubt in his mind that she was even at this moment trying to figure out how they were going to get away from these men.

  They weren’t

  Well, at least he wasn’t. The first opportunity that he had, he was sending her away and Shayne, the betraying bastard, was going to take care of her. He didn’t know how he was going to do it yet, but he’d figure something out.

  “I think that it would be best if we started from the beginning,” Liam said in a hard tone that let them know the time for asking questions was over. Knowing that they didn’t have much of a choice and needing time to figure out a way to sneak Marty out of the house, Tristan nodded.

  “As I’m sure ye’ve figured out, we’re all brothers,” Liam began and Tristan didn’t need any clarification to know that Liam included him in that group, but he added it anyway. “All of us are yer brothers, Tadgh.”

  “We were all born in Ireland a long time ago,” Liam continued only to be interrupted by Marty.

  “How long is a long time ago?” she asked, shifting until she was snuggled up tightly against his side. She sounded calm, but the slight trembling of her voice gave her away. She was terrified and it killed him that there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.

  “We’re not entirely sure of the date,” Shayne admitted with a shrug.

  “For several generations our family managed to rule our own lands and live in relative peace without drawing the attention of our king,” Liam began as Tristan noted that all the men but one either looked down at his feet or looked away as if the action would save them from this conversation. Shayne kept his gaze locked on Tristan, looking terrified and resigned to the fate that awaited Tristan as the story continued.

  “Our Da’ died shortly before ye were born, Tadgh, leaving it up to us to protect ye and Ma and do whatever it took to keep our lands. Things were different back then and it wasn’t unheard of for a lad to take over the job of a man.”

  “By the time Da’ died, most of us had already been doing a man’s work and using a sword to protect our land, but we were still just lads. That attracted a lot of unwanted attention by men that would do anything to have what we had. Without that land we would have had no way to provide for ye and for Ma so we did what we had to do to keep it.”

  Shayne smoothly cut in, taking over. “When we weren’t taking turns patrolling our land or working, we were training. Sometimes we’d get lucky and we could barter with a trained soldier needing to cross our lands or needing a meal in exchange for more training.”

  “But that wasn’t enough,” Declean explained, taking over. “We needed to keep our people loyal and that was difficult to do with only a handful of lads left to protect them so we each took a turn selling our oaths to whichever king was willing to pay and train us to be mercenaries.”

  “Three of us at a time would leave and go train while the rest would protect the land, our people and ye and Ma. When we were done we’d share what we learned and switch places,” Finn said, taking over and sounding as though he were reciting a well-learned part in a play. “By the time that ye were becoming a man our reputation alone protected our lands.”

  “No one dared to cross us or try and take what was ours,” Fergus bit out before Liam once again took over.

  “We used our skills and coins to expand our lands and make sure that our people never went a day without food. We were well respected and feared throughout the lands. As long as we minded our own business, we were left alone by our king.”

  Liam looked directly at him, a sad smile curving his lips slightly as he said, “But that all changed when he learned about ye, lad.”

  “What did Tristan have to do with it?” Marty asked softly as he struggled to wrap his mind around what they were telling them.

  “The king wanted a killing machine, someone that he could trust to put his duties and oath above all else,” Liam explained as he looked over at Shayne.

  “And that wasn’t us, lad,” Shayne said, his voice thick with regret. “We couldn’t be bought. Our loyalty belonged to our family and no amount of coin or promises of more land would change that and he knew it.”

  “Ye were the youngest of eight men who were looking to start families of their own soon. No matter what we said or promised, Ma’ was afraid that ye were going to be left without any land of yer own and back then, Tadgh, that could have easily been a death sentence,” Finn explained before Liam once again took over telling the story that was supposed to somehow explain this crazy mess.

  “Ye were about eight years old when Ma’ went behind our backs and gave ye to the king in exchange for his protection. He made promises that ye would be well settled when it was time for ye to start yer own family.”

  “Wait a second,” Marty said, interrupting them before they could go any further, “I thought you said that he was a man by the time that you were done training.”

  “Back then he was, lass,” Declean said with a shrug. “He worked as a man and trained like a man and to us that made him a man.”

  Before Marty could ask any more questions, Liam continued. “Ma’ loved ye, lad, and she did what she thought was best,” he explained as if Tristan really gave a damn.

  “By the time that we found out what she did, it was too late. Ye belonged to the king until yer service to him was completed.”

  “How long was that?” Tristan found himself asking, having absolutely no delusions about what kind of life that would have been for a child.

  “Ye were promised until ye were twenty-five,” Liam said harshly, looking pissed. “The bastard took advantage and convinced Ma to give ye what could have easily been a life sentence in his army.”

  “Were you able to get him out?” Marty asked as she shifted into a more comfortable position against him, causing his injured shoulder to brush up against the couch and forcing him to ignore the black dots that danced along his vision.

  “Getting him out wasn’t a choice, lass,” Shayne said softly as he gestured for Liam to continue.

  “Stealing from our king would have meant that we forfeited not only our lives, but that of our mother’s and of his. We had no choice but to allow it. But, we did find a way to protect him.”

  “How?” Marty demanded, not sounding pleased by this story one bit. There was no doubt in his mind that she was imagining the innocent child in her womb being forced into a fucked up situation like that and hating every second of it. Not that she would ever have to worry about someone harming their child, because he would kill anyone that even thought about trying.

  “Shayne gave his oath to the king in exchange for the right to protect Tadgh during training and battle,” Liam said, gesturing to Shayne.

  “It was a right that we all wanted, but Shayne won the honor,” Quinn added solemnly.

  “We would have all been there to protect ye, lad, if given the choice,” Aidan explained.

  “There was no doubt that Shayne would keep ye safe, lad,” Fergus said without looking at them.

  When Shayne suddenly looked away, Tristan knew that Shayne hadn’t been able to keep his promise.

  “Tell me,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on Shayne.

  Sighing heavily, Shayne shifted his gaze back to Tristan so that he could glare at him through angry green eyes that Tristan suddenly realized matched his own.

  �
�Ye got us sentenced to death on the first day, ye stubborn bastard!”

  Chapter 32 Marty waited for shock, disbelief, something to hit her with that announcement, but sadly, she wasn’t surprised, not at all.

  Tristan was pretty damn stubborn and seemed to enjoy pushing people’s buttons. So it really wasn’t at all surprising, at least not to her, that he would do something to piss someone off, even in another life, enough for them to want to kill him. Even her father, who loved Tristan like a son, had come close a few times to wringing Tristan’s neck. Not even a month ago, Tom and Denny had to wrestle a gun out of her father’s hands after he’d found out that they’d eloped.

  Granted, Tristan had led everyone to believe that it had been all his idea. It hadn’t been, not completely. After she’d agreed to marry him, she’d decided that an engagement of any kind wasn’t going to work, not once Beth got involved. Beth would have stretched it out, made their lives a living hell and made the whole experience torture as she pulled together her version of the perfect wedding.

  Instead of going through that nightmare, they snuck off first thing in the morning for coffee and a quick visit to the courthouse. Forty-five minutes later her father was being dragged away from Tristan as he swore up and down that he was going to shoot the bastard for touching his daughter. By lunchtime her father was over it and eating pizza with Tristan in their office and making plans to go fishing next month.

  “It was only by the grace of God and this one,” Shayne said, gesturing to her and confusing her even more, “that we didn’t lose our goddamn heads that day!”

  “Me? What did I do?” she asked, still having a hard time believing that they were actually talking about her and Tristan like this.

  “Ye stopped yer father’s man from taking his head when the dumb bastard didn’t have the good sense to shut the fuck up,” Shayne bit out as he glared at Tristan.

  “My father……,” Marty repeated slowly.

  “Not Hank, lass,” Shayne said with a wince. “I’m sorry. This must be really confusing for ye. Maybe we should take a break.”

  “No, no, I’m fine,” she rushed out, afraid that if they stopped now that she would never find out what was going on. “Please continue.”

  “Are you sure?” Tristan asked, giving her arm a comforting rub as he pulled her closer.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she lied, knowing that, by the end of the night, she might very well be anything but fine once she found out what they had planned for them.

  “Yer father was the king of our area,” Liam said, taking over the conversation and making it very difficult for her to focus.

  King?

  Seriously?

  “He doted on ye when ye were young, which was probably why he indulged ye when ye asked to have Tadgh’s life spared,” Liam explained as he leaned back in his chair and to the side, striking what a lot of women would probably consider a very sexy pose with his perfect muscles bulging in just the right way, but it didn’t do a damn thing for her.

  “The two of ye were about the same age when Tadgh went to yer father’s camp. Ye were already promised to another, which was probably why yer father turned a blind eye to the two of ye sneaking off to play together. He didn’t think that he had to worry about Tadgh doing anything foolish.”

  “It also probably didn’t hurt that he knew that Shayne here,” Quinn said, gesturing with a nod towards Shayne, “never allowed our little brother out of his sight.”

  “Ye had no playmates of yer own, so yer father didn’t see the harm in allowing ye to play with what would one day be one of yer personal guards,” Aidan explained.

  “He probably thought that it would create loyalty for ye from Tadgh,” Fergus pointed out before adding, “I doubt the man ever thought that he’d ever have to worry about the two of ye falling in love.”

  “I don’t think any of us expected that,” Finn said softly.

  She sneaked a peek up at Tristan to find him watching the men in the room and had to wonder if it had been love at first sight then, too. It probably had been, she realized as she looked away. She’d probably taken one look at him and fallen head over heels in love with him even as he’d pissed her off, she thought with a sad smile. She didn’t have to ask to know that this love story probably didn’t have a happy ending.

  “What happened next?” she asked when no one made a move to continue telling the story.

  After a slight pause, Liam continued where Finn had left off. “When Tadgh wasn’t training, which wasn’t often, he was sneaking off to see ye. At first yer father thought nothing of it, but as the two of ye got older he liked it less and less and made sure that Tadgh knew his place.”

  “Whenever Tadgh disobeyed yer father he was punished,” Quinn said.

  “Which was often,” Shayne added quietly.

  “I don’t think that any of us were really too surprised when we found out that the two of ye had married in secret,” Liam said with a fond smile and a chuckle that was shared by the rest of the men.

  “He was a sneaky little bastard,” Shayne said, laughing along with his brothers. “Hid it from us for two whole years before I caught the two of them.”

  “We knew that he would have never let her marry that prick,” Fergus said, grinning.

  “Nah, we’d have killed the bastard before he touched her,” Finn said with a firm nod that was quickly backed up by several “Ayes” and nods of agreement.

  “What happened then?” Tristan asked, making her wonder if she was the only one that noticed his words sounded rushed.

  “Once her father found out, he was not a happy man, but it was her choice. Back then we didn’t force arranged marriages and in theory she was free to pick her husband,” Fergus explained even as she waited for the “But”.

  “However, her father didn’t see it that way and neither did her betrothed,” Finn explained before Liam once again took over.

  “With our help, Tadgh was able to take ye onto the safety of our lands and protect ye until we could figure out a way to get ye off our lands and move ye out of his territory. We thought we had enough time, but then we found out that ye were carrying a babe right around the time that we discovered that there was a bounty on Tadgh’s head.”

  “It took some time, but we managed to get ye both out and we were taking ye up north when they caught up to us,” Liam said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

  “We would have made it, but that’s when the babe decided that it was time to make an appearance,” Shayne said with a shrug.

  “Then what happened?” she asked, already having a good idea.

  For a moment, no one answered and just when she was about to beg, Finn spoke. “The details aren’t important, lass. What’s important is that all of our fates were sealed that night with a curse.”

  “What was this curse?” Tristan asked.

  “When he caught up to us,” Liam said instead of answering Tristan, “ye claimed that Macha was yer soulmate, yer one true love, lad. He mocked ye even as he cursed ye…….as he cursed all of us.”

  “He bound us to the earth to live a life of pure hell,” Fergus bit out angrily. “We’re stuck in a game that we can never win.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Tristan asked, sounding just as pissed, which usually didn’t take much, but she had a feeling that he was in a lot more pain than she’d thought.

  “We’re stuck in this fucked up existence until we can figure out a way to beat the bastard!” Fergus snapped, his anger becoming more and more obvious with each word until he was practically shouting.

  “Calm yerself!” Shayne yelled.

  “Fuck that!” Fergus snapped back. “They need to know what’s going on and what’s waiting for them!”

  “Not like this,” Finn said evenly.

  “Ye came to kill him, didn’t ye?” Fergus said, sounding bitter as her worst fears were confirmed. “The polite bullshit never worked before so let’s just put it all out there so that he knows
exactly why we’re about to fuck him over!”

  “Oh, and why’s that?” Tristan asked, sounding calm while she was doing her best not to panic.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Quinn shouted, moving towards Fergus who looked more than willing to meet him head on.

  “Yer scaring her, ye dumb bastard!” Shayne yelled, moving to join them.

  “She should be scared!” Fergus shouted, shoving Quinn back. “She’s about to get her heart broken again and there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it!”

  “It didn’t have to be like this!” Finn yelled, getting in Fergus’ face and shoving him against the wall.

  “Enough!” Tristan and Liam shouted.

  “Cut the shit and just tell us what’s going on,” Tristan demanded even as he gave her arm a comforting squeeze.

  “We’re all bound to this earth and so are our soul mates,” Finn said, shoving his hand through his hair as he stepped away from Fergus.

  “While our soul mates are stuck being born over and over again,” Quinn said, taking over and sounding pissed. “We’re stuck in this fucked up position where we’re forced to either live this bullshit existence or to take a chance and try to win a game that can never be won.”

  “What are you talking about?” Marty asked, trying to ignore the chill that tore through her body as terror and disbelief fought for her attention.

  “Every time that any of ye die, Macha, ye and all of our soul mates are forced to come back again, living a life of pain and heartbreak. Each time we’re left with the choice of sitting back and hoping that this time will be better for all of ye, or take a chance by following after ye with the hopes that this will be the time that the curse will be broken,” Aidan explained.

  “The only problem is that the rules are set up to fuck us over. Every time we take a chance to try and end this game our memories are completely erased and we’re left starting fresh in a game that’s already in play,” Shayne added as he moved back to his spot by the wall.

  “We’re born with targets on our asses,” Quinn bit out and before she could ask what he meant by that, Liam provided her with an answer that horrified her.