by John Conroe
After that, they played a couple of ballads, slower and haunting. I’ve spent much of my life obsessed with Ireland. I’ve stalked the country through Google Earth, read everything, watched every movie, even studied other people’s vacation photos and videos on trip review sites. But listening to Ryanne sing is as close to Eerie as I’ve ever felt. I could almost feel the damp air near the ocean, smell the peat smoke in the air, see the vivid, vivid green of the countryside.
“Okay, then. I know what ‘cher all thinking. Way to dampen the mood girls, way to… how would you say it here? Harsh your mellows?” she said with a laugh and got one from the crowd. “Well, then let’s remember that we’re only here once, and what do ye say we get this party restarted?” The crowd roared their approval. “So make sure yer glasses are full. Poor old Katie can’t make a living if ye don’t keep drinking , now can she? So grab a pint and let’s go. I’d join ye, but your crazy drinking laws make no sense at all, now do they? I mean you can send a lad or lass off to war at eighteen, but they can’t have a sip before they go? That’s just cruel, it is!” she said, then laughed and started a new beat. “Okay, enough of me soapbox! Let’s have some fun!”
“Hold on a moment, would you Ry?” Gael, the redhead said. “You might be too young, but the rest of us can have a sip or two,” she said, demonstrating by taking a long drink from her pint of what had to be Guinness. The two oldest followed suit, all holding up their glasses first to the crowd, then to their youngest sister, who looked on in mock dismay and pain. After a moment, she detached her cordless mike and walked straight to our table, straight to me. She leaned down and grabbed my full glass of water and took a drink before making a face. Then she held the glass up to the crowd. “Aww, do you know how much whiskey it would take to drink that much water?” she said, getting a big laugh from the crowd. Then she smiled at me full on, patted my shoulder, and strolled back to the stage, which gave all the guys a great view. Someone at the table behind me wolf whistled, and she flipped back around with a look of disdain. “Don’t try and flatter me now. Me blood’s too alcohol starved for it,ye know,” she said, then jumped back on stage with a smile and a laugh.
The next three songs were all funny drinking songs, full of stories of drunken men, drunken women, even a drunk donkey, and the women played the crowd like the experts that they were. In between songs, they all spoke up, explaining how four sisters grew up in a music-filled family and how each got their instrument.
“Oh yeah! And when you’re fourth and last, all you get is the drums!” Ryanne said at one point, again going for a laugh. The crowd loved them—and her especially. By the looks on Rory and Jonah’s faces, they felt like I did. The band had energy, and four attractive girls who could play the crap out of their instruments were bound to be popular, but it was Ryanne who the crowd loved the most. Her sister Gael had sex appeal too, with her curvier body and long red hair, but it was the sheer energy and passion of Ryanne that mesmerized the audience. It didn’t hurt that she was hot as hell, too.
Finally, after two long sets, it was over and the audience applauded and cheered, then finally began to thin out and the band started to break down their gear.
I was trying to be subtle, trying not to get caught glancing at Ryanne, but she flat-out busted me, catching my gaze almost as soon as I looked her way. She flashed a big smile. “So what did ye think of us?”
“I think you’re amazing,” I said. Rory and Jonah stopped their conversation about the search for the Higgs boson particle to watch my exchange.
“But what of the rest of us?” Gael asked, a mischievous grin on her face.
My face flushed immediately. “That’s what I meant. I think your whole band is amazing,” I clarified. Tried to clarify.
“Un huh,” Gael said, unconvinced.
“Oh don’t mind her, she’s always a crank after a show. Old and tired, don’t ye know!” Ryanne said to her sister with a smirk.
Gael laughed and made a face back at her, then winked at me and continued to pack away her fiddle.
“Ry, dear, if you could stop chatting up the lads and run to the van for me folio, it’d be a help?” Aileen called to the young drummer.
“Ah, the grand duties of a star vocalist,” Ryanne said in a self-mocking tone and headed out the side door of the bar.
“Ah dude, way to go! That one likes you!” Jonah said.
“Nah, she’s just being nice,” I replied, wondering if he was right.
“Ah, D? What about Caeco?” Rory asked.
I think my face went red again. I had kind of forgot about her a bit. Caught up in the accents and the show.
“What about Caeco? I’m just talking with a band member. It’s not even flirting, really.”
“Hmm,” Rory said.
“Aw, leave him alone. Girls hardly talk to him in our school. It’s good for him,” Jonah said. Our table was quiet for a moment before Rory got up to make sure our bill was covered by the gift certificate. Jonah left for the bathroom, and I sat sipping the last of my soda.
Ryanne appeared with a zipped portfolio in her hand and gave it to her oldest sister. Before she could completely turn around, one of the guys from the table behind us was there. It was the bearded guy I had noted before. She smiled at him but her expression went a bit stiff when he put his hand on her arm as he talked to her. She laughed and touched his hand, even as she declined whatever he was asking. Pointing back at the stage and the pile of instruments and gear, she put on an expression of dismay, then laughed and disengaged herself from his hand, moving back to gather up more cases of drum equipment. He watched her with a dark look, then moved unsteadily to the corner of the bar, where he watched her some more. Arms full of drum equipment, Ryanne headed back out the side door and after a moment, black beard followed her. Neither of my friends were back, so after a moment, I gave into the impulse to follow them and make sure she was alright. It was probably nothing, but the twisted feeling in my stomach said otherwise.
Chapter 49 -- Declan
Outside the door, I found myself in a dark parking area with a few cars, likely belonging to employees, and a beat-up blue industrial van with its rear cargo doors open. At first, I didn’t see anyone, but then I heard two voices, one male and angry, the other lilting, scared, and pleading, coming from the other side of the van.
I was around the side in a heartbeat, finding Ryanne backed against the side of her own vehicle the black- bearded guy holding her shoulders and pressing himself against her. She glanced my way, and I saw a glint of fear in her eyes. That was all it took.
“Hey, leave her the fuck alone!” I said, continuing to move closer. In hindsight, it wasn’t the best approach for de-escalating a tense situation, but any situation involving men forcing themselves on women tends to flip my switch. Sue me.
“Fuck off, shithead, before I rip your head off…” he started, one hand pointing my way. He was interrupted by my right hand, which knocked his arm aside while my left slid around her left shoulder and pulled her away from him and behind me. Neither move was what I would call gentle; that’s not how I’ve been trained.
Anger flared in his eyes, but my forward momentum had never slowed and after knocking aside his left hand, my right palm slammed into the side of his temple, then moved past his face. My forearm came back hard against the right side of his throat, both strikes hard enough to stun him. Then my right hand came to rest on his right shoulder while my left arm under wrapped his right forearm. Controlling his upper body with my leveraged position, I next introduced my right knee to his gut. Lucky for him, my height gave me that option or he would have been talking with a high-pitched voice for a week.
His torso jackknifed forward and I pressed one hand on the back of his neck, shoving him down and around so that he collapsed on his ass with his back to me and his right arm held up over his head, clamped by my left arm.
I pressed my knees against his back and pulled his arm back a bit, hyperextending his shoulder till he grunted in
pain.
“Listen, dickhead. No means no!”
“Hey, you fuck!” a new voice screamed. I looked up to see five of his friends coming around the side of the bar. Numbers and odds ran through my head.
I’ve done a lot of stress testing against multiple attackers, all of us wearing full padding. It’s violent and scary, and that’s just practice. I’ve never done if for real, and never with someone to protect. I reacted.
Stepping to my right, I threw Beard Boy’s arm down hard to the ground, which made him fall backward fast enough to bump his head. Then I kneeled down with my knee just on his throat and brought my right hand up and began to draw power from around me. From the earth, the air, even the body heat of the idiots approaching—I let it all flow into me, filling me till the very air crackled with potential. Lights flickered behind me and went out.
“Keep coming, assholes, and I’ll start saving your parents lots of tuition!” I said, then mentally cringed at the stupidity of what I had just said… what I just did. Part of me knew this was exactly what my aunt had warned against. Part didn’t care. I was tired of hiding, tired of not fighting back. Fuck it—it was time to show the world who I really was.
They stopped: some instinct, maybe, or just the sight of my knee on their buddy’s throat.
“Hey now, what’s all this?” a new voice asked, a female voice. My peripheral vision showed three figures spilling out of the pub’s side door. Nobody spoke; the five meatheads stayed frozen, looking from me to the newcomers.
I chanced a glance at the pub door, then sucked a sharp breath of cold air. Ryanne’s sisters stood there, and I could clearly see the power they had gathered to themselves.
I jumped up and backed away—away from the guy on the ground, away from Ryanne, and away from her sisters.
Everyone was watching me until the redhead moved to the kid on the ground and gave him a hand up, glancing at me but keeping a smile plastered on her face as she spoke to them all. I couldn’t hear her words—her voice was pitched low—but the boys all stopped looking my way and focused on her. Her words rang with Craft, with tones and pitches that regular humans would never hear. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around the bearded kid and one of his friends and began leading the whole bunch around the corner and back out toward Church Street, leaving her three sisters watching me, two of them with power gathered.
“You’re witches!” I said, breathing faster… faster than I had during the fight.
“As are you,” Aileen said, her voice even and calm, yet determined.
I looked at Ryanne and noticed she was the only one without a spell ready to cast. She appeared a little shocked and maybe frustrated or even angry.
“You didn’t need my help. You never needed my help!” I stated the obvious. She shook her head but didn’t answer. “But you were afraid?”
“Listen, lad. Power down a might bit before ye explode,” Aileen suggested, still holding some spell ready but holding both hands like she was gentling a horse.
I backed away further. “Yeah, no. I’m good like this. I’m just gonna get my friends and get out of here.”
Footsteps from the side street announced Gael’s appearance. She moved quickly, but slowed when she saw me. She glanced from me to her sisters. “What’s the craic?”
“Well, it appears to be a night of discoveries, now don’t it,” Aileen said, still watching me. “We dinna know there were any of our own kind about, especially not one such as yourself… eh... what do I call you, lad?”
“Just goodbye will do,” I answered, circling out toward the street that Gael had just come down.
“Declan, his name is Declan,” Ryanne said, speaking for the first time.
“How did you know that?” I demanded, stopping in place while the hair on the back of my neck rose. How did she know my name?
She put her hands on her hips and glared at me with pressed lips. “I overheard you introduce yerself to Katie, so don’t go getting all doolally on us. I dinna ask for your help!”
“Yeah, I got that. Just because you weren’t doing a thing to protect yourself and you looked scared out of your mind, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Believe me when I say I’m sorry I ever came out here. Now I’ll just be collecting my friends and be on my way,” I said, unable to bite back the sarcastic tone.
“Here now, hang on a bit,” Aileen said. “Let’s leave off on the friends for a moment.”
“I will get my friends!” I said, pulling even more power. The two streetlights nearest us went out.
“Whoa, now! Just calm down a bit. She wasn’t trying to threaten your buds, like. She’s just trying to keep you from blasting to bits, ye see,” Ryanne said, moving herself between me and her sisters. She still hadn’t drawn an ounce of power.
“I can hold this all night,” I said, regretting the words as soon as I said them.
“Maybe you can and maybe you can’t. But there’s no need at all. Right, girls?” she asked over her shoulder.
Her sisters looked at each other, nodded and straightened up, releasing their spells, letting them flow into the surroundings.
Ryanne nodded without turning around, sensing the moment the power was gone. “See there, not a thing to worry ye. So what say ye drop some of that awful load yer carrying?” she asked, tilting her head to one side slightly as she waited for my answer.
For a moment, I just stood there, the cold wind coming off Lake Champlain whistling past me, while the air around me crackled with snapping blue arcs. Then I moved sideways four feet and placed one hand on a green metal dumpster, still watching the sister witches. I dumped some of my gathered energy into the metal, the force of it making the whole thing jump an inch off the ground before it settled back down. I held back a bunch in case things went south… further south.
All four were looking at me with wide eyes, but they recovered quickly.
“There now. That’s got to be better now, eh?” Ryanne asked, smiling slightly.
“Look, I’m sorry I interfered. I don’t want anything from you and certainly don’t want any trouble. Let me just grab my friends and you won’t see me again. Promise!” I said, thinking of how much I had screwed up. One night out and I got in a fight and revealed my nature to four Irish witches. Couldn’t have done much worse.
“There’s no need to go rushing off. We don’t bite, well, except for Gael,” Aileen said, sounding reasonable… too reasonable.
I continued my move to the side street, which was College Street, I think, pulling my smartphone as I went, eyes on the sisters. They looked bewildered, except for Ryanne, who had folded her arms across her chest and looked a bit angry. Glancing at my phone, I saw Rory’s number already up and as soon as I thought to dial it, it did it on its own. Switched to speaker mode, as well.
“Hey, where are you?” my friend’s voice asked.
“Grab Tree and meet me out front—now! We’re outta here!”
He didn’t argue or even ask questions. He’s pretty good that way. “Right. See you out front.”
The sisters never moved even though Ryanne must have been getting cold by this time, dressed as lightly as she was. As I walked underneath the streetlights, her green eyes glittered each time one came on—emeralds set in white porcelain, framed by black hair.
Two figures, one short and slight, the other ridiculously tall, waited for me out front with puzzled expressions.
“I’ll explain in the Beast. Let’s get out of here quick.”
Chapter 50 – Ryanne
“Well, that’s completely bolloxed, now isn’t it?” Ryanne asked.
“Tell us what happened,” Aileen directed, pulling her inside the warmth of the pub but hanging near the door.
Ryanne explained about the too-aggressive male fan and Declan’s rescue, highlighting his skillful use of violence.
“Well, little sister, I’m thinking you said it right,” Gael commented.
“Nah, it actually could not have gone any better,” Mary said. The
others looked at her in surprise. There was no sarcasm in her tone, and Ryanne couldn’t remember an occasion when her quietest sister had ever used any. When she decided to speak, which was rarely, the others all paid close attention.
“Explain,” Aileen said.
“The gig went perfect, what with the lads right front and center and whatnot. That boy couldn’t take his eyes off you Ry, not even when Gael danced with her fiddle. Then he follows you out to protect you from an attacker. Brilliant! Ye all remember the story that his own mum was as much as raped by that Croat fella, right? Do ye think he’s one to let any raping go by, do ye? And you, Ry, not using magic for fear of sending him running was brilliant, as well. So you dinna expect him and that’s why you were afraid… scared you’d screwed the whole show. But then the lad sees your fear and smashes the gobshite and is ready to lay waste to whole lot of them. Now he knows we’re witches, which is just perfect. If he’d found out later, he’d be thinking we were pulling one on him, but this a-way he’s thinking we’re just naturally cautious like. It’s perfect!”