His wounds were covered with the same root pulp she'd used on Winston two weeks ago. He reached out to grab her arm and stop her advance on the giant, but she eluded him and sprang to Cuttstone's right, behind Lachlan, a hand held out in warning to the intruder.
Her face was livid, her eyes inhumanly bright. The long strands of her hair flapped behind her as if she faced a gusting wind. Roan stood frozen, afraid that if he made a move, the Phantom would throw the dirk into her chest before he could stop him.
"I be Deliah o' the Kingdom Faerie. Ye have no power here!"
"He can't hear you!" Winston exclaimed, inching away on his buttocks. "Get ou' o' the house, Deliah! You can't stop him!"
"Ye o' little faith, ma love," she said in a strained tone, her fiery gaze riveted on Cuttstone's glassy eyes.
Lachlan struggled to his knees, then his feet, while Deliah hastily pulled her pale blue Cashmere sweater over her head and tossed it aside. At the same moment the Phantom thought to spring at her, she unfurled her wings, their rapid appearance causing him to jerk back in astonishment.
Put down the dirk! she projected into his mind. Now, afore I call upon the oak beneath yer feet to rise up and encage ye!
Wade Cuttstone staggered backward across the room, his maniacal eyes daring her to carry through her threat.
Her wings fluttering at her back, Deliah rose into the air and settled on her feet atop the mattress. Cuttstone advanced backward toward the windows, the dirk held out, the hand holding it trembling. With a wave of her right hand, millions of glittering specks of golden dust swirled through the air between herself and the Phantom. No sooner did they settle on the oak planks, roots sprang up, spiraling upward.
Cuttstone snarled and kicked at the manifestations with one of his steel-toed boots. Snapping sounds rent the air. He stomped and kicked with a frenzy, breaking off the roots in his immediate vicinity, unaware that the three men were closing in on him until it was almost too late. His mind forewarned him, and he swept out his left hand.
The razor-sharp edge of the dirk's blade came within a hair'sbreadth of Roan's throat. Roan fell back out of surprise, unwittingly sending himself and knocking Winston to the floor. The roots vanished beneath them a second before they hit the surface.
The Phantom whirled to look out the window in a futile search for an escape route.
Lachlan was too enraged to feel his wounds. No sooner did the Phantom turn his head toward the window than Lachlan hunched low and cast off in a dynamic launch. He plowed into the killer like a linebacker, one shoulder positioned to take the brunt of the impact.
* * *
"Alby, wait up!" Kahl panted, amazed that his younger brother could outrun him. "Alby!"
Deaf to his brothers' entreaties first for him to remain in the carriage house and now for him to wait for them to catch up, he pumped his legs in the direction of the field, then toward the golden beacon in the distance. When he reached his goal he stumbled to a stop and fell into waiting arms, the roar in his ears blocking out Reith's, "Och, lad!"
Kevin dropped to his knees when he reached Reith. His lungs ached from both the run and fear. Kahl stopped next to him and bent over, trying to catch his breath.
"Wha' be wrong?" asked Reith sharply, checking each boy for injury. When he found none, he frowned with paternal concern. "Does anyone know ye be ou' in the night?"
"In the house," Kahl panted.
"Aye, tis where ye should be."
"Him!" Alby wailed then pressed his face to Reith's chest.
Smoothing the hair at the back of Alby's head, Reith studied the two older boys. "Take yer time and tell me why ye be here and no' in yer beds."
"Lannie told us to...wait in the carriage house for you," Kevin explained. "Saw Winston but— Alby got too scared to wait for you to come back, so he took off to find you."
"Why would Mr. Baird tell ye to wait for me?"
"The boogeyman!" Alby cried.
Reith laughed, but with compassion, and wound his arms around Alby's quaking form. "Boogeymen be but creations o' our minds. Ye have yerselves worked up for naught."
"He put us in the cellar!" Kevin said indignantly. "And he stabbed Uncle Roan!"
Reith's spine stiffened as he released Alby. "Ye be tellin’ me the truth?"
Kevin stomped a foot and angrily exclaimed, "He's gonna kill everybody if you don't get up off your ass!"
A horrendous boom of glass and wood shattering blasted into the night. Shrill cries of anguish soon followed.
"Return to the carriage house!" Reith ordered the boys then lit into a run. Blinded by fear, he only knew he was headed for the woods. By the time he reached the perimeter, discordant voices rang in his ears. He was careless in his haste. One of the branches of the ground shrubbery pierced one of his pant legs and he pitched forward into evergreen nettles and dried twigs.
* * *
Immediately following Lachlan and the Phantom sailing through the window, Deliah flew after them. Roan and Winston ran for the stairs, the adrenaline pumping through their veins making it possible for them to overcome shock and injury. They went out the back door through the library and ran to where Beth, Laura, and Taryn stood, which was several feet from Deliah's kneeling position amid shards of glass and wood splinters. Between herself and the wall was a mound—Lachlan atop the Phantom, motionless.
"Lachlan," Beth sobbed, holding Broc against her. "Is he...?"
"He be alive." Deliah glanced at the others. "The ither mon be dead. His neck be bro-ked."
"Why isn't Lachlan movin’?" Beth asked tremulously. Like Laura, she couldn't bring herself to move closer. Not only didn't she trust her legs, but it was all she could do to hold in the fear gripping her.
Her wings fluttering, Deliah placed a hand on Lachlan's back and gently shook him. "Lachlan. Lachlan, come round! Lachlan!"
He moaned.
"Ye are no' bro-ked," she told him, excitement in her tone.
He moaned again, longer.
"I wouldna say ye flyin’ skills be as grand as mine," she said as cheerily as she could muster, hoping to ease him back into full consciousness, "but ye did yerself proud, ye did."
"Dinna make a funny." Lachlan grunted. "Hurts."
Deliah stood back when Lachlan started to roll off Cuttstone. Roan and Winston stepped forward to help, but stopped cold when Lachlan flopped onto his back.
Protruding from Lachlan's naked, blood-soaked chest was the dirk, embedded to the hilt.
"Oh my God!" Beth wailed.
Coughing up blood, Lachlan looked at Deliah and pleaded, "Dinna let Beth...see...me die."
"Do something," Taryn rasped, her tear-filled eyes riveted on her brother.
Deliah went down on her knees alongside Lachlan, her hands held out in helplessness and her features contorted with anguish.
"Remove the cursed dirk!" she cried, to no one in particular.
Roan was the first to step forward. He dropped to one knee and flinched with pain as glass cut through his slacks and the taut skin covering the area. Reaching for the dirk's handle, he hesitated inches away from touching it. His hand trembled so that he had to flex it several times before he felt steady enough to proceed. Lachlan was unconscious. Roan pulled a clean handkerchief from his back pocket then, staring into Lachlan's slack face, he gripped the handle and jerked it free. He vehemently tossed the weapon aside and applied pressure to the wound, using the folded cotton beneath his hands.
Winston positioned himself behind Deliah, and Beth forced herself to stand next to him. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't look away. And she couldn't bring herself to pray for his life. The only thought echoing through her mind was that she was willing to return to the grayness to be with him. She didn't think of the twins or anyone else. Without Lachlan, she did not possess the strength to stay even one day in the world of the living.
"The damage be too great," Deliah whimpered, her palms pressed to Lachlan's chest, below where Roan's were placed. A golden glow passed from ben
eath her palms, upward over his chest and seeped into his skin. "I dinna have the power to undo this!"
She balled her hands atop Lachlan and threw back her head. Her eyes closed, she wailed, "MoNae! MoNae, I need ye!"
The tormented depths of her voice broke the dams of Laura and Taryn's tenuous control. Both wept hard. Although Laura could only clutch Ciarda against her, Taryn's mind was burning with the knowledge that the dirk lay a few feet away. Without anyone noticing she inched toward it, crouched low as if unable to stand a moment longer, and slipped the bloodied dirk into the sleeve of her blouse. As yet, her mind hadn't processed the fact that Deliah had wings. The assault of the Phantom, grief over Lachlan, and not missing her chance to get the dirk, were all she could handle at the moment.
"MoNae!" Deliah repeated, quaking with sobs and vexation. "I beg o' ye to come!"
"Deliah?"
Reith's voice crashed upon the scene. Deliah shot to her feet and swayed with a wave of dizziness. Winston dumbfoundedly stepped aside as Reith elbowed his way to Deliah, who flung herself into the young man's arms.
"Deliah, Deliah," he said in a chanting manner, his tone laden with joy and bewilderment. "I thought I'd lost ye forever!"
"Reith!" Deliah choked, part in laughter, part in anguish, as she leaned back and searched his face. "I need yer help. This mon be dyin’ and I canna—"
Reith jerked as he looked down at Lachlan with horror-filled wide eyes. "No!" he cried angrily, and knelt beside Roan, whose tearful gaze looked at him with a plea for help.
"Mayhaps our combined powers can save him," Deliah said. "His spirit be holdin’ on as best it can."
Bleakly, Reith glanced up at her. "Blue stripped me o' ma powers and cast me ou'. But ye go to them! The new oak."
"The kingdom be back?" she asked dazedly.
"They all be there. Hurry!"
"I have no' a Ring O' Passage!" she wailed. "Will they hear me, ye think?"
Reith stood and swiftly yanked a cord from around his neck, over his head. "No. She cast a spell to shut ou' the sounds o' this world. Hurry, Deliah. His pulse be verra weak. I'll carry him to the oak and meet ye there." As he spoke, he untied the cord and removed what had been his father’s Ring Of Passage. He placed it on the third finger of Deliah's right hand, kissed her on the cheek, and breathed, "Hurry!"
Deliah flew into the air and out of sight.
Reith whirled about and dropped to his knees in one fluid motion. "I'll carry him," he said to Roan, determination accentuating the lines of his face. "It mayhaps be wise if ye all remain here. No tellin’ if ma kin will come if they sense mair humans abou'."
Roan rose to his feet while Reith effortlessly lifted Lachlan, stood then faced the stunned onlookers. A retched sob came from Beth, and Reith compassionately met her gaze. "Tis hard, I know, to wait here, but this I must ask ye. The Circle O' Magic can save this mon, but ma kin isna fond o' practicin’ it on humans."
Releasing a shuddering breath, Beth stated, "Then more's the reason for all of us to be there. They need to know how much Lachlan is loved. Reith, you must help us convince them. You're Deliah's brother, aren't you."
"Aye, but I no longer hold status among ma own." He glanced at Lachlan's colorless face then again looked into Beth's eyes. "But ye are right, m'lady. Twould be best if we all beseeched the Keepers O' The Circle. Follow me."
Leading them around the house to the new oak, he instructed them how far back to stand, then placed Lachlan, who came to with a moan, on the ground. Roan knelt to Lachlan's other side and again applied pressure to the wound.
"Lie still, sir," cautioned Reith, "but dinna give in to daith. Ma sister has gone to fetch the Keepers O' The Circle."
Lachlan's eyes rolled then he focused on Reith with difficulty. "Too weak."
"No, sir," Reith said firmly. "For the sake o' yer womon and younglin’s, ye must fight for yer life!"
"Tell Beth...."
"I'm here, Lachlan," she sobbed, stepping closer until he could see her. She tried to smile, but her face crumbled as she broke down into a torrent of tears.
"Beth," Lachlan murmured, his eyes growing more glazed by the second.
"Listen to me, Master Lachlan Iain MacLachlan Baird!" Reith shouted. Lachlan blinked in bewilderment, then scowled up at the face swimming above him as Reith went on, "Ye will no' die!"
"For the love of God," Taryn sobbed, "leave him alone!"
"He's trying to keep him alert," explained Winston.
Guttural sounds of misery escaped Roan's control, and he lowered his head in shame. His tears dripped onto Lachlan's chest, despite how tightly he closed his eyes to hold them back.
With life-ebbing languidness, Lachlan's gaze shifted to him. It took two attempts before he could summon the strength to speak.
"Tis all right...ta let go...Ma Beth. Ma bairns. Ma...brither."
The words only magnified Roan's sorrow. He repeatedly shook his head, gulping in air and tasting the saltiness of his own tears.
"W-we could have gotten him to the hospital by now!" Laura said angrily.
Before anyone could respond Deliah appeared, seeming to have emerged from the twisted trunk of the oak. Her features were gaunt and ravaged by confusion, sorrow, and anger, each distinctively visible. She staggered toward her brother, her wings drooping at her back as though she didn't possess the energy to lift them.
"Blue will no' listen to me," she sobbed, and sat on the ground next to her brother, draping an arm about his shoulders. "I mistakenly told her ye had sent me."
"Ye did yer best. But, Deliah, ye dinna look weel."
"I be fine," she murmured, although she was not.
Winston brightened. "Deliah, can you guide me into their minds?"
She looked at him a bit puzzled then slowly rose to her feet. "Twould no' be proper," she said dazedly.
"Screw wha's proper."
"Aye." She walked to him and laid her hands on his chest. "Aye, screw wha' be proper. But they'll no' take this invasion lightly."
"Good. Anger is better than detachment. So wha' do we do?"
Deliah took him by the hand and led him to the oak. Retaining her hold on him, she placed her free hand to the trunk. "I be ready. Channel yer message through me."
"Okay." Winston was having second thoughts. It was one thing to get inside the minds of criminals, another to trespass into the sanctuary of beings he'd only learned existed a short time ago. But knowing he had no other choice, he heaved a fortifying breath, then closed his eyes and pushed out with his mind.
Beth sat on the ground near Lachlan's head and brushed her fingers across his cold, perspiring brow. His eyes rolled up, but he couldn't make out her features through the haze of his vision. He knew it was she, though, and despite his pain and increasing lassitude her touch warmed his heart of hearts.
"I love you," she whispered, the bleakness in her tone spearing him with regret. "Don't leave me here. I can't live without a soul, and you know if you die, you'll take it with you. So hang on for us, Lachlan."
He couldn't reply. The strength required to move his tongue was more than he could manage. His world was narrowing to a space no larger than a penny, with infinite darkness surrounding it. And it was also the measure of what remained of his life.
Too soon it would blink out, as it had in eighteen forty-three. Only this time he wasn't alone, hidden behind a brick wall. He was beginning to believe that was preferable to having his loved ones watch him die.
Hold on, his Beth had said.
Wi' wha’? he wondered. Wha' is left when the body canna resist the need to let go o' the soul?
New sounds invaded the layers of his thickening daze. The boys. Somewhere in the distance. Crying as only children can cry, hard and from the depths of their emotional wells.
He tried to say, "Dinna let them see this," but no words passed his lips.
His pain grew more distant, his mind more uncaring about his fate. He didn't fear death. Second time around. He knew what was coming.
Energy sparked from the trunk. Deliah and Winston shrank back then she shook the hand that had been on the wood.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, taking the hand into his own and massaging it.
"No. Surprised me mair'n anythin’."
"Wha' happened?"
Deliah made a sickly, rueful expression. "They reacted to ye callin’ them heartless cowards."
"They are—"
A figure emerged from the trunk, swept past them, and turned to indignantly confront the couple. Ignoring the gasps and murmurs of the others she knew to be present, she lifted her chin and stated, "How dare you side with these mortals!" Her voice held barely a hint of a Scottish accent. "Have you forgotten our ways, Deliah?"
"She has forgotten naught," Reith said, the anger in his tone mocking his display of deference by going down on one knee to the newcomer's right. With his head bent low, he went on, "It be beneath ye, Blue, to take ou' yer anger for me on ma sister, or anyone else o' ma family."
"Get off your knees!"
"As ye wish, Yer Majesty." He stood and faced her, his stance as hostile as her own. "Behind me lies a mon o' immeasurable worth," he clipped, staring into her eyes with an arrogance he believed he'd long ago abandoned. "Wi’ou' the help o' the Circle O' Magic he will die, and be the shame o' tha' loss on yer conscience."
"Deliah!" Winston cried, and reached out to stop her fall. Her dead weight dragged him down into a sitting position, where he cradled her head and shoulders in his arms. "Deliah, tell me you're just faint again. Deliah!"
Her eyelids fluttered open.
"Why would she be faint?" asked Blue coldly. "She is not mortal."
"She's pregnant!" Laura bit out.
The luminescent aqua-blue of Blue's eyes riveted on Winston. "That's not possible."
"Wha' isn't possible?" Winston asked bitterly. "Tha' we could love each other enough to create a uirisg?"
Perched atop the multiple rooftops, more than a dozen peafowl squawked, as if lending their voices in support. The fluttering of their wings was inordinately loud, preternatural, and Blue tore her gaze from them and stared at Winston.
"We be dyin’ soon," Deliah said weakly. "Forgive me, but I gave Lachlan a piece o' ma life, so he could hold on."
Hope Everlastin' Book 4 Page 22