“She... ?” Taran breathed in astonishment only to trail off.
“Ya said, ‘faoil-wide’,” Ciaran began in a serious tone, noting that his brother had been stunned speechless. “How many of them did ya see doing like she’d said, bud?”
“I don’t know, maybe 40 or so?” Miko offered, groaning as Ciaran helped him to his feet.
After letting out a long, impressed whistle, Ciaran mused, “The girl’s on her way. So what time are us ancients to meet in the hall?” He asked Taran.
“Around 5:00. We’re still waiting for planes to land. Once all are here, we’ll assemble,” Taran answered distractedly.
“And how long till we can go call for the... ?” Ciaran began, using a two-toned whistle and eyebrow waggle to finish that question.
“Depends how long the rest take to arrive. Should take another day to bring in all of our kind. Best guess, we should be ready by tomorrow night. Tha is if she’s nah killed half the clan by then,” Taran groaned. “I need to find her. Giving her time to clear her head was apparently unwise of me.”
“Worked out just fine for me!” Miko said with a grin. “She made Donnach apologize in front of the guys and everything.”
Ciaran howled with laughter at that mental image. ”Ya know, I’m loving the newest member of the family more and more, brother!”
Taran arched a brow and smirked. “Nah yet ya aren’t. Then again, tha’s likely to change soon enough.”
Ciaran winced at the reminder and held up a pleading hand. “Again, completely nah my fault. I swear I was just me normal charming self.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Miko asked in confusion.
“Nothing ya need worry tha tattooed head over, bud,” Ciaran said with a grin. He put his arm around Miko’s shoulders as he led him down the hall. “Great ink, by the way; takes a right cocky bloke to sport something like tha. Makes ya okay in my book. So, tell me again how Skye kicked Donnach’s ass. I want a play by play now. And don’t be afraid to use descriptive terms like ‘crunched’, ‘cracked’, ‘gushing’, and the like.”
Miko smirked over at the quirky little Irishman and gave a proud retelling of Skye vs. Donnach, after which he regaled Ciaran with the tale of the first night he had met her. He was happy to find that he was not the only one delighted by Skye’s tendency to break bones first and ask questions later.
It took a few moments to track her down, but the sight of a bloody-faced Onchu in the main hall indicated that she was nearby.
“She’s just on a roll, yeah?” Ciaran commented with a laugh.
“Onchu, I told ya to keep your distance,” Taran sighed as they approached. “Let’s have a look at ya then,” he said, motioning for the man to come closer.
Miko focused on him and understood his earlier yelping. “Dayum! I guess she decided your nose looked better on your cheek,” he said, grinning as the man rolled his eyes.
“Give it a few more minutes and it’ll be right,” he assured indignantly before pointing out the door. “She’s in the drive, got a few men trying to watch over her, but I’m afraid they’re nah fairing much better than I have.”
“How many has she harmed?” Taran asked as he watched her out the doorway.
“Five, including Donnach and myself,” Onchu confessed.
Ciaran’s laughter at those words echoed through the main hall and earned a stern look of disapproval from Taran.
“Oh ya can’t be serious, brother!” Ciaran cried. “How can ya nah find this comical? She’s breaking the faces of the very men tha are s’posed to be her ‘protection’. What good are they gonna do when they can’t even protect themselves from her? I’d say she’s doing just fine on her own.” He looked back and forth between Taran and Onchu’s scowls. “I can nah believe I’m the only one of us finding this amusing! Fine, have it your way. Least the mortal’s as tickled by her brawling as I am,” he said, motioning to Miko, who was still trying desperately not to laugh.
“You’re right, Ciaran,” Taran began thoughtfully. “Ya do seem to be the only one of our kind in high spirits aboot the matter. I appreciate ya pointing tha out. Onchu, pull your men back. Tell Latharn tha I’ve posted another as her escort,” he said, waiting for him to take off to retrieve his men before pointing at Ciaran. “As ya find this so entertaining, ya get to go on out there now and let her know you’re to watch over her.”
The way Ciaran’s face fell from a grin to a look of slack-jawed shock was priceless.
“What?” He demanded anxiously.
Suddenly, it was Taran’s turn to suppress a smile.
“Wow, Ciaran; it was nice knowing you,” Miko laughed.
“You hush up or I’ll bite ya before supper,” Ciaran warned, effectively silencing Miko, but adding to Taran’s amusement immeasurably. He peered out at her where she was currently pacing around the fountain and shook his head. “If she rearranges any part of me anatomy, brother, I do promise to find a way to return the favor to ya.”
Taran grinned. “Ah, but you’ll have to survive my wee Skye’s temper first. Now off with ya,” he said, shoving Ciaran out the door and laughing at the glare his brother gave before stalking toward her.
“She’s going to beat the living hell out of him, isn’t she?” Miko asked, stepping up beside Taran and watching expectantly.
“Great Mother, I hope so,” Taran breathed with a grin.
Miko peered up at him appraisingly for a moment. “You are an evil, evil man,” he finally observed as the other faoil eagerly returned to the safety of the castle.
“You’ve sent him out there alone then, Lord Taran?” Maon asked in surprise. His swollen eye attested to the fact that he was one of the injured-five.
“He deserved it,” Taran replied casually.
“D’ya mind if we watch?” Onchu asked and gave a beaming grin when Taran nodded that they could. After placing his fingers between his lips and letting out a deafeningly shrill whistle, Onchu began excitedly waving for others to join them. “Come on, lads! There’s aboot to be a right bleachin’!”
“Oh? Who’s going at it now?” A passerby asked disinterestedly.
“Lady Skye and Lord Ciaran!” Onchu called. “And Lord Taran says we can watch!”
The men that had been milling about inside the castle all exchanged stunned looks at that, before swiftly racing to the doorway.
Taran crossed his arms over his chest and cast an amused look over his shoulder as a crowd formed rapidly behind him. The men pushed and shoved one another, vying for a spot with a proper view of the spectacle.
“Problem with Lord Ciaran is he’s likely to enjoy taking a thrashing from her,” Maon laughed as he leaned against the doorframe.
“Aye, almost as much as she’ll enjoy giving him one. Go tell any of the others ya think might want to watch tha there’ll be a show here in a moment they’ll nah want to miss,” Taran said. Noting the way Skye’s posture went rigid, her head spinning toward Ciaran as he approached, he added, “And best to hurry, this may be over quickly.”
A few of the men took off like shots to spread the word.
By the time Ciaran was 20 feet from Skye, there was a veritable mob watching from the doorway.
27: Skye vs. Ciaran
“So we meet again!” Ciaran called cheerfully before casting a final withering glare over his shoulder at the castle.
Skye bristled at his presence at first, but decided to just ignore him. She focused all of her attention on pacing and averting her eyes.
Ciaran climbed up the fountain to one of its many levels and made himself comfortable.
“Ya know, you’re liable to carve out a gully in the drive with all tha back and forth nonsense, love,” he teased, which earned a heated glare from her. “Mind if I ask what’s bothering ya?”
“Yes. I do,” she ground out through clenched teeth. “Why the hell are you out here?”
Ciaran quirked a brow. She had not clambered up to choke him for his question, so he figured he was making
progress.
“Well, I may have laughed a bit at the ones you’ve beaten so far today,” he confessed with a smile. “And as punishment, your darling mate might have sent me to relieve your unnecessary li’l security detail.”
Skye gave an annoyed growl at the reminder and continued to pace. “You’re supposed to replace those goons?” She asked incredulously.
He grinned proudly from atop his perch. “I’d be far more protection to ya than 30 of them, me sister, of tha ya can be sure,” he said, daring a wink at her when she tried to gauge whether or not he was simply boasting. His words still were not earning him a beating. He crossed his arms over his chest as he contemplated why that might be.
“You’re nowhere near their size,” Skye finally declared dismissively. “And only one in the place of 30.”
Ciaran burst out laughing. The response brought her head whipping around in an instant, an angry scowl on her face that he was daring to laugh at her. He held up an imploring hand, giving her a pleading look as he explained.
“I’m sorry, love. It’s just tha of all people, you should know better than to make such a foolish statement,” he said, cocking his head to the side and adding. “Tha is unless, of course, I’ve missed Donnach shrinking to a third of his previous size?”
Skye eyed him appraisingly for a moment, finding his point to be valid. For some incomprehensible reason, he was not annoying her. It was just as infuriating as when Taran had snuck in under the radar. Grudgingly, she muttered her agreement that she should know better than to discount a person’s threat on their outward appearance alone.
Ciaran’s brows drew together at how easily he had managed to get that admission from her. She was not just angry, he realized – she was upset about something.
“And suddenly I’m thinking you’re nah as happy about tha little incident as I’d assumed you’d be. Care to talk about it?” He offered, holding her gaze as she stared up at him.
“Not particularly,” she grumbled.
Despite her dismissal, Ciaran kept his silence, just the same. See, he got the distinct feeling that if he did...
“This is all just really confusing, all right?” She blurted out a moment later. His compassionate blue eyes had somehow drawn the confession from her.
He nodded in understanding, his features softening as he studied her.
Poor girl, he thought, she just needs to vent to someone not treating her as a faol, mate, pup, or the second coming of the Almighty. Reasonable a need as any, he decided. She was an outsider here, unsure of her place and in need of a friend. It was an unpleasant feeling, as he recalled it. For once in his life, he held his tongue, waiting patiently for her to take the silent offer to continue.
“My mind is split in two. Do you understand how strange that is? I mean, I can’t even be sure when I open my mouth that I’ll be the one speaking,” she breathed in frustration. She cast him a worried look as she wondered why she was telling him these things.
“It’s never easy becoming – and ya’ve a lot more on your plate than any of us ever did,” he told her sympathetically. “Was unnerving when I went through it, just as it was for all of us. But ya seem to be set to fast-forward for some reason. So, in answer of your question, no – I can nah understand how strange it is in your case. Your wolf is more powerful than any I’ve seen in my time, and I assure ya tha’s a great many years,” he told her, knowing the men were likely growing restless at the door by now, wondering why she was not pummeling him.
Words continued pouring from her, despite her best efforts to stop them. Her pacing quickened as she stared up at him.
“I feel like I’m fucking losing it. Going with my instincts is normal for me, but they’re all screwed up now. Gripping that clown by the throat and telling him to watch who he disrespects would be all fine and good – but doing it in front of Miko like that?” She gave a bitter laugh and threw her hands up in the air. “I basically just told that pain in the ass that I care whether or not he gets pounded. If you know Miko, you know that’s just asking for trouble. And then there’s you. I don’t have a clue why...” she huffed before trailing off. A moment later, she shook her head and pointed up at him in annoyed accusation. “Here I am, talking to you again when I damned well shouldn’t be. I don’t freaking know you, no matter what the voice in my head is saying. Considering what happened to me the last time we spoke, I should be avoiding you like the fucking plague,” she growled.
Ciaran unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a smirk. “Ya know, tha phrase has a more profound meaning when you’ve lived through as many as I have, love. And hey, I’m real sorry about ya feeling like we know one another. Perhaps it’s just me charming –” he began, but stopped. His eyes went wide when, without warning, she abruptly turned and started climbing up the fountain toward him.
“Run, Ciaran! Run!” Miko called as the others laughed.
“Hush, young-blood. Wait... Damn, I do nah think she intends to do it yet,” Taran said with a disappointed sigh.
Ciaran had thought for sure that the beating was about to begin. To his surprise, Skye simply sat beside him and glared back at the mob in front of the castle. He arched a brow at how closely she was sitting. Apparently, she was feeling familiar again.
Hesitantly, she turned to face him. “Something inside of me insists that I know you,” she began. And it was adamantly reiterating that point to her now that his eyes were locked with hers. She felt like she could tell him anything, like he would always understand her. She exhaled slowly, deciding for whatever reason to bring up the little mind-movies. “I haven’t really talked to anyone about this, but since I was bitten, my mind has been showing me... things.”
His brows drew together at her inflection on that word. He chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, but did not interrupt, watching the uncertainty in her features until she finally sighed and continued.
“They’re vague – like dreams or lost memories, you know? I don’t understand them, but sometimes I can... see you... and hear you. Sometimes you’re there with me,” she admitted softly.
“Is tha what happened to ya in the hall earlier?” He asked as he studied her eyes deeply.
“Yeah,” she confided. “Except that one was a hell of a lot stronger than the rest. I’ve never had one hit me while I was awake before.”
“So, when ya were calling for me, ya were talking to me in your vision, yeah?” He asked curiously.
“I was talking?” She groaned.
He laughed at the pleading tone of her voice. “Nah much, love, don’t worry. It’s just... Well, for a bit ya looked real scared-like, then all the sudden it seemed as if ya knew I was there with ya. I thought ya were awake for a moment, but ya weren’t. Kept saying me name. I guess ya were happy to finally be recognizing something ya were seeing,” he offered with a self-conscious shrug.
“No,” Skye began and swallowed hard. “I was saying your name because I was in a dark place. I thought I was alone, but then you were beside me and... I wasn’t afraid anymore,” she confessed weakly. Even now, his concerned eyes were somehow putting her at ease. “From what I’ve seen, I think I understand what my wolf was saying about you. The thing is I don’t know you, Ciaran, but I know that I can trust you. I know without a doubt that, no matter how dangerous the situation becomes, you’ll be there for me.”
He smiled warmly at those words. “Well I’m happy to hear tha,” he told her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze that she surprisingly did not recoil from. “If I’m to go risking me life for something, I’m thankful it’s as easy on the eyes as ya happen to be,” he teased before flashing a charming grin. He took a deep breath as he decided it was only fair to be as honest with her as she was being with him. “And... if it’s any consolation to ya, I’ve been feeling strangely around ya, as well.”
“Really?” She asked hopefully.
“Really, truly,” he assured with a smile. “It’s nah easy to describe but I s’pose it’s like I already know ya. Lik
e I’ve always known ya. Like I –” he frowned, deciding against finishing that sentence as he had originally intended. He felt like he belonged to her, like he was destined to be hers. “Like we were meant to meet, ya know?” He finished instead.
She nodded and smiled lightly. It faded as she recalled her vision.
“I also know that you and I have something in common,” she said, looking over at him sympathetically. “I know the fògaraich took your daughter from you, just like they took my family from me.”
His grin dissolved. Twinges of sadness came to his eyes, no matter how hard he fought to hide them. He nodded and cleared his throat, taking a steadying breath at the reminder.
“Yeah, well...” he began in a strained voice. “Let us hope we’ve more in common than tha. It’s nah exactly the happiest of things to share,” he told her with a forced smile.
“I’m sorry,” she offered sincerely.
“As am I for your loss, love,” he said softly. To his surprise, he noted that she was still holding his hand tightly.
“But how can I know these things?” She whispered. “I still can’t figure out what it all means. I’m seeing things that happened in my past, in yours and Taran’s past. But I’m also seeing things that haven’t happened yet. Not that I’m an expert, but I haven’t heard anything about faoil being psychic. I mean, does stuff like this happen to any of you?”
Ciaran sighed and held her gaze, knowing he was bound to keep his silence. It was difficult to withhold the truth from her, to shake the sensation that he belonged to her. He bit his bottom lip, her expression was pleading for answers to make this all seem less confusing. After a moment, he turned and checked that no one else was nearby, ensuring that his whispered words would not travel to any prying ears.
“There are things tha will be made clear to ya soon, Skye. Things I can nah tell ya. What I can say is tha ya might want to ask Drostan about these visions you’re having. He’ll be able to shed more light on the subject than any of the rest of us,” he said, giving her a purposeful look. “But while he might be able to help ya understand some of it, ya should know tha there has never been a case quite like yours. Bottom line is, ya are nah like any of us. Ya are something more, something special.”
Darkness Descends: A Skye Faden Novel Page 37