by Laura Howard
“Yes, I suppose I remember. At that point I was able to see Elizabeth every few days. Why?”
“Well, during that time, Aoife had a secret she was keeping from all of us.”
“Just one?” Liam asked dryly.
“One in particular,” Niamh said. She drew in her lips and looked at her lap for a moment. “Liam, Aoife became pregnant with your child. She didn’t want the baby, afraid you would love it more than you loved her. So she made Eithne hide her in this world.”
Liam stood. “My child?” His hands flew to his hair so fast they blurred. “That’s not possible, I would have known…”
“There’s a lot of that going on lately, huh?” I said and wished I could stick my foot in my mouth.
Niamh chuckled softly. “There’s more. Your other child, your daughter, has come looking for you. From what I’ve read of the girl’s thoughts, Aoife found her living in Thunder Bay. She knows about you and about Allison.”
He laughed, a small desperate sound. His hair stood up at odd angles from the abuse he was inflicting on it as he paced back and forth.
“I don’t know what to say.. What am I supposed to do?” His words all melted into one another.
“Liam, it’s okay. We’re going to talk to her. Figure out what she’s doing here,” I said as I reached for his wrists, trying to get him to stop before he pulled all his hair out.
“How long have you known about this?” he asked Niamh.
“Does that matter right now?” Niamh asked, neatly deflecting him. “What’s more important is finding out any information she has about Aoife, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, yes. I suppose you’re right.” He ran a hand down his face.
“Okay. She has one of Aoife’s guards with her. You remember Ciarán?”
Liam nodded, but kept his hand over his eyes. “Is he another murderous fiend now, draining humans?”
“I don’t know. I can’t get past his mind shields. But he doesn’t look haggard like Aengus does in your memories.”
The image of the guard who attacked Liam and me in Thunder Bay, like a walking cadaver, popped into my head. When Liam and Niamh imprisoned Aoife, her guards had become addicted to the small bits of magic in human blood.
“Good to know the girl isn’t traveling with the likes of him,” Liam said.
Niamh shifted in her seat next to me. “We’re going to try to get my father draw Ciarán out. After that, I’ll be going home to speak with my mother.”
“Good, good.” Liam said. He started walking toward his back door. “I’m just going to get a drink of water.” His hair stuck out like a porcupine and his skin was a ghastly white. He was spooked, discovering he had two daughters in two months.
I slapped my hands down on my thighs. “That went well.”
Niamh glanced from me to the back door. “About as well as expected.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Ethan. My insides tightened.
Just finished dinner, wish you came. You busy?
I laughed to myself. Was I busy? I was sitting in my father’s backyard waiting for him to lose it after learning he had not just one, but two grown daughters.
Despite that, I felt a little warm and fuzzy inside. He wished I came to dinner?
I replied, Just talking to Liam and Niamh. What’s up?
Nothing much. Just checking in. Text me when you’re free.
You got it.
Ethan wanted me to text him. No matter what happened, he never gave up on me.
I felt a strange feeling of inevitability, like maybe I’d always known one day we’d end up together and I’d just been a fool. I looked at Liam’s back door, thinking maybe that’s what love was. Liam hadn’t given up on my mother even after everything Aoife put him through. Maybe love meant believing in someone so much, no obstacle in this world or the next could change your mind.
“I hope you’re right,” Niamh said. She stood up and motioned for me to do the same. “Let’s give Liam a moment. We can check on him later.”
“Okay,” I said, following her out of the yard toward the front of the house. “I have tons of homework I need to finish for school tomorrow anyway.
She nodded. “I’m going up to Wheelwright to see if I can catch my father. If you need me, just call me and I can be back here immediately.”
Just as it started getting dark out, I finished my homework and laid my head down on my desk, rolling my neck to stretch the muscles. My cell phone next to my desk lamp caught my eye, so I picked it up and reread the text from Ethan.
I tried to think of something witty to say, but nothing came to me. I’d learned in psychology that people respond best to questions about themselves, so I figured that was a good place to start.
How was dinner?
Dinner was good. Would have been better if you came.
Sorry. Lots of homework.
Homework? Guess that’s better than ‘washing your hair’.
Haha very funny.
How are things?
Everything’s good, you?
Instead of texting me back, the phone rang. When I pressed talk, Ethan didn’t even give me a chance to say hello.
“I realized where I went wrong with you, you know.”
“Well, hello to you too,” I said.
“No, listen for a sec. When we were…” he trailed off. “Before, I tried to get your attention by doing what always worked with other girls. Flirting, teasing, that sort of thing. So now I know that’s where I went wrong.”
I shook my head. “Okaaaay.”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? I’ve been thinking about it. You’re not like other girls, so why would you react like them? You wouldn’t.”
“Ethan—”
“Come on, Al. I know I’m right. I’ve decided I’m going to change my approach. We’ll be friends, if that’s what you want. But you’re going to have to trust me. Do you trust me?”
“Of course…”
“Uh uh, tell me you trust me.”
“I trust you.”
“Good. Now, when I ask you ‘How are things?’ don’t give me some lame answer like “oh fine,” or try to change the subject. You trust me, so tell me how things really are. Tell me about… what you did today. Or what’s new with your mom and dad. Talk to me.”
I took a deep breath. “Well, my mom is okay. She’s been writing music. Writing songs like she did before, you know?”
“Really? That’s awesome.” he said. “What about Liam?”
I sighed. “Liam is… I don’t know. Liam’s fine.”
“You’re doing it again. What happened after we left Friday?”
“Oh, man. I don’t even know what happened with Deaghlan.” So much had happened. Seeing the girl at The Bean Counter and the mall.
“Is that normal? I got the impression you talk to Liam a lot.”
“No, you’re right. I talk to him all the time. It’s just…something else happened.” It was so strange talking to Ethan about this. I was finding it hard to put everything into words. But at the same time it felt sort of amazing to have someone I could talk to about it.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, yeah.” I licked my lips, trying to think of how to say it. “When Nic and I went out for lunch yesterday, there was this girl there. She looked so much like Aoife that I thought for a second I was done for. I mean, she could have just…I don’t know, killed me or compelled me or something.”
“Did she do anything to you?”
“What? No. I snapped out of it and realized it wasn’t Aoife. But I know she has a daughter and this was her. She was following me.” I had to take a deep breath. My heart was racing just remembering.
“Aoife is the one who put the curse on your…on Liam?”
“Yeah. I guess she had a baby, Liam’s baby, and never even told him. I don’t really understand how it all worked out. But she’s here in Stoneville for some reason. And we had to tell Liam today. I think he’s stil
l in shock. Well he was when I left his house earlier.”
“Listen, is it okay if I come over?”
“Yeah. I mean, of course.”
“Okay, give me ten minutes and I’ll be there.”
He hung up and I just stared at the phone, dumbstruck. Ethan was being my friend. He wanted me to trust him. Just last week he’d been giving me the cold shoulder and this was… My shoulders slumped. Who was I kidding? This was exactly what I needed.
I put my enormous statistics textbook and binder into my backpack. I was grateful I had this weekend off, or I’d never have been able to keep up with my homework. Maybe Gram was right, maybe I did need to consider taking some time off from work.
I went downstairs, walked into the living room and froze. Liam was sitting on the couch in between my mother and Gram.
Pop was in his recliner laughing at something Liam was telling Gram. My mother was staring at his hands as he gestured while he spoke. She looked completely at ease.
“Hey Liam,” I said, glancing between him and my grandmother.
“Oh, hello Allison. I was just telling your grandmother about the squirrel at my bird feeder. The little rascal isn’t leaving any seed for the birds.”
My brows rose. “Really? Poor birds.” I shook my head. He sure knew how to charm my grandparents. They could go on for hours about birds and what happened at the feeders.
“I’m just going for a walk, get some fresh air. I have my phone if you need me,” I said, smiling.
“I’d love a walk. Mind if I join you?” Liam stood, his hand lifting to pat my mother’s knee. Because of the geis Aoife placed on him, he wasn’t able to touch her. It was as if his hand hit an invisible force field and he dropped it before backing away.
“Lovely to see you Mrs. O’Malley, Mr. O’Malley. Elizabeth.” He nodded and spun on his heel before following me to the door.
Once the door had shut behind us, I laughed and sat down on the porch steps “They’ll try to adopt you if you talk bird watching with them.”
“Oh, that? Well, I’m glad they like me.” Liam walked down the steps and turned back to face me. “It’s…wonderful just to be near your mother.”
A feeling of calm spread over me and I felt myself smiling.
“Ethan’s on his way over. I haven’t really talked to him since Friday.”
Liam ran a hand over his hair and blew out a sigh. “Do you think he’s okay with things?”
“Define ‘okay.’ I mean, he seems to be fine. He doesn’t think I’m crazy at least.”
“That’s good. I’m sorry about my behavior earlier,” he said, sinking down next to me. As you might imagine it came as quite a shock.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it did. I just wish we knew what Samantha wants. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“I would imagine she wants what anyone would want. To know why her father was never around.” He covered his face with his hands and shook his head.
“Hey, I came around didn’t I?” I said, nudging his shoulder. “We’ll make sure she understands.”
A small, sad smile appeared on his lips. “I’m quite glad you did. I’m just so damn angry. I want to put an end to all this madness. But it seems like there’s always something more she’s done. I’m caught in Aoife’s spider web and I can’t see how I’ll ever be free.”
Headlights peeked through the night and Ethan’s truck pulled up in front of the house. The sound of his truck door opening and slamming shut echoed in the quiet evening. Even dressed in a plain white T-shirt and worn jeans he looked amazing. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to where we sat.
I smiled as I stood up and rubbed my arms. “Hey.”
Ethan gave me a little smile and I felt my heart turn over. Liam stood and they shook hands.
“What’s going on?” Ethan said, looking between us.
“Not much,” I said, glancing at Liam out of the corner of my eye.
“How are you handling everything?” Liam asked.
Ethan chuckled. “Well, I guess I’m still processing it. I probably wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
Liam jerked his chin toward his house. “Shall we go where we can talk?”
I watched Ethan follow behind Liam and I trailed a few steps behind them. Liam opened his front door, motioning for us to go in first. It was dark and quiet inside. Our steps echoed on the tiles of his foyer.
“Where’s Aodhan?” I asked Liam when we were all sitting in his living room. “I haven’t seen him around in a couple days.”
“He went for a hike at the state park Friday. He hasn’t been back since. I think he’s getting restless.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said, trying to imagine what he could be doing for the past two days in the wilderness. It was probably relaxing to be away from all of this. He didn’t have to worry about being attacked by a bear or anything. He could outrun any animal and fight off any predator.
“How does Aodhan fit into all of this, anyway?” Ethan asked, rubbing his jaw.
Liam looked thoughtful for a minute. “Aodhan and Niamh were once in love. She brought him home with her after he’d been shot by a British soldier in the early seventeenth century. He stayed in Tír na n’Óg for so long that everyone he cared about was long gone by the time he came back here.”
Ethan shifted in his seat on the couch, his knee pressing into mine. All thought left me, and my mind focused on that one spot where we were connected.
“That’s harsh. So they’re not together anymore?” he asked, meeting my eyes.
I blinked and glanced over at Liam, thinking back to the time in Thunder Bay when I’d asked him the same question. I hadn’t understood the dynamic between Niamh and Aodhan back then, not that I fully grasped it now.
Liam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “They’re not. Things between them are complicated. I’m sure you’ll figure that out pretty quickly if you plan on sticking around.”
A hot flush crept over my cheeks, spreading down my neck. I looked down at my hands clasped in my lap, peeking up through my lashes to make out Ethan’s reaction. He bumped my knee with his, amusement flickering in his deep brown eyes.
“Have you heard anything from Niamh?” I asked, trying to focus on the bigger issue at hand.
My sister. Not Ethan’s dimples.
Liam frowned. “Not yet, she sent a message that she was in Wheelwright..”
“What’s she doing up there?” Ethan asked.
“She has a house. It’s where one of the portals to Tír na n’Óg is.” I studied Ethan’s reaction. He just nodded, taking it in stride.
The front door slammed shut and, as if we had summoned her, Niamh walked into the living room. Her face was expressionless, but her posture was rigid.
“My father’s gone. He went to Tír na n’Óg without me,” she said, crossing her arms.
“What happened?” Liam asked, standing.
“Diarmuid said he came up there on Friday ranting about us allowing Ethan to keep his memories and Aoife destroying Tír na n’Óg.”
“It’s about time he starts taking what she’s done seriously,” Liam said.
“Yes. I just wish I could’ve caught him before he left. It would have made it easier to deal with Ciarán and Samantha.” Niamh tapped her finger on her lips and looked at me. “Have you seen them again?”
I shook my head. “Not since I was at the mall.”
Ethan squeezed my knee and when I looked at him, he gave me a reassuring smile.
“I’d like to find them tonight,” Niamh said, her eyes on Liam.
Liam nodded. “If that’s what you think is best,” he said, but he grew pale and his jaw tightened.
I swallowed, unnerved by his reaction. This was happening fast, it was possible we could have answers to Aoife’s whereabouts tonight. Or someone could get hurt, a tiny voice whispered in my head.
“I do.” Niamh’s gaze focused on me. “And Allison, Samantha doesn’
t mean you any harm. I know that much.”
I wanted to be brave. It wasn’t so much that I was scared of Samantha, more I was afraid of what we’d find out. What if the hope we had of setting my mother free from her mental prison was taken away?
“Okay,” I said, willing my fear away. “What do we have to do?”
“I’m going to call to Samantha, speak into her mind. Then we’ll wait and see if she responds.”
Niamh gestured to the backdoor. “It’ll be easier outside.”
I got up to follow her out when Ethan placed his hand on my shoulder. I turned and his eyes searched mine. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous,” I said with a weak smile.
“Come on, I want to see what Niamh can do,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me toward the door.
Outside, Liam sat beside Niamh in the chairs we’d been in earlier. He watched as she rubbed her temples, her eyes closed in concentration.
The minutes ticked by before Niamh sat up and ran a hand over her eyes. We all watched her, waiting to hear what happened.
“She and Ciarán are coming here now.”
Liam blinked at Niamh, and then his gaze flicked up to mine.
“That’s it? She didn’t resist you at all?” I asked.
Niamh stood and smoothed the front of her slim black pants. “She was very eager, as a matter of fact.”
Liam ran his hands through his hair and stood up. “This is good, isn’t it? She wants to meet me.” A nervous smile was on his face as he looked around.
“Try to be cool, Liam.” I said, hoping to ease his tension.
He laughed, rubbing his hands over his face. “Be cool. Right, I can do that.” The words seemed funny coming from Liam, with his old-fashioned manners.
“Remember Allison,” Niamh said. “Samantha doesn’t know our side of things yet. Let’s hear what she has to say before we tell them anything.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Just follow my lead and everything will be fine,” she said, looking between the three of us.
The sound of footsteps in the gravel driveway took me by surprise. The Danaan moved so fast and soundlessly, I’d expected Samantha and Ciarán to appear out of thin air.