Sword Song: The Isle of Destiny Series

by Tricia O'Malley

  “I hope she used her martial arts skills on him,” Bianca muttered.

  “I hoped she would as well, but she didn’t. She took the high road and very calmly moved on. Though he begged for her, she simply ignored his pleas. It was as though once he’d crossed that line... well, it was almost as if he had never existed for her. And yet, that’s not totally so. Because I’ve yet to see her willing to trust someone since. Though lord knows I’ve tried to set her up. Her walls are up, that’s for sure.” Maddox sighed.

  “So what was that little act she just pulled then?” Bianca asked.

  “Well, Maddox is one of her best friends. The only reason she’d be mean to him like that is if she’s trying to push him away. And based on what he just told us, there are only two reasons she’d push him away,” Seamus said, holding up two fingers.

  “Because she’s scared of being hurt...” Bianca trailed off and then snapped her fingers. “Or that we’ll get hurt. Which in turn hurts her.”

  “Shite,” Maddox said, and buried his face in his hands.

  “Psh, now, that’s nothing. We just battled a mountain of Domnua. Sasha’s no match for us,” Bianca said and gestured for Maddox to stand. “Up, up. Let’s go now. She’s got a lead on us, but we’ll track her.”

  “Aye, we will.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Sasha strode down the sidewalk, her expression mutinous, or so she surmised by the way people stepped from her path. A hint of sun poked from the clouds, the promise of spring caught in the damp wind. Not yet, Sasha thought as she sniffed the air. No, not even close to spring.

  A faint flicker of silver caught her eye as she passed an alley and without hesitation she turned to stalk it down. What better way to work off this sick feeling in her gut than to kill a few fae? After all, they were the cause of her current anger. Sasha enjoyed swift and direct justice – and in this case, appropriate.

  Three of them lurked by a dumpster, looking for all the world like some punk kids stealing a smoke, except for the faint silver glow that emanated from them. Sasha narrowed her eyes as she homed in on their movements, each fae straightening slightly but still pretending nonchalance.

  “Hey, got a smoke?” Sasha called, putting a friendly smile on her face as she pretended to fumble in her purse. “I’ve got a light in here somewhere.” She palmed a razor thin blade in her hand and smiled brightly at the fae.

  “Sure,” one of them mumbled. The other two looked delighted as they moved closer to her, fanning out a bit so they flanked her, while she rocked lightly back on her heels, her eyes tracking their every movement.

  The first one was dead before he hit the ground, his lunge having been anticipated by the way his eyes had feinted left just before he’d moved. She barely had a moment to take another breath before the other two were upon her. Sasha grunted as one punched her in the stomach, but she’d seen the move and allowed it. Swinging the blade with her as she grunted, Sasha made quick work of the second one, slicing cleanly through his heart. Both fae evaporated in a puddle of silver, leaving only one to dance lightly in front of her, moving at inhuman speed.

  Sasha’s heart pounded as the Domnua bounced about, shrieking at her in an unintelligible language. Right as he went to pounce, he disappeared in a poof of silver that left Sasha’s hand dangling in the air, her blade ready.

  “What?” Sasha exclaimed, whirling, knife up, to confront what was behind her.

  “Careful,” Declan said, snatching her wrist and stopping it inches from where it wanted to pierce his throat.

  A storm cloud raged across his handsome face as he glowered down at her, his entire body radiating anger.

  “Don’t sneak up on a girl like that,” Sasha warned, and pulled her arm back, determinedly ignoring the warmth that raced up her arm from where his fingers pressed to her skin. A touch shouldn’t affect her so, she thought dimly, as he refused to let go of her arm.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Declan demanded, still holding her arm, his tone murderous, the green of his eyes seeming to darken in his rage.

  A shiver raced through Sasha, and it wasn’t from the wind that had picked up, blowing a loose strand of hair around Declan’s chiseled jaw. She fought an irresistible urge to reach up and tuck it behind his ear, to run her fingers over the sharp line of his jaw.

  And just what was wrong with her? Sasha tried once again, unsuccessfully, to jerk her arm back. Mortified, she glared up at him.

  “That’s the second time you’re asking me that question,” Sasha pointed out, tugging again at her wrist. “You’re hurting me.”

  As soon as she said the words, he dropped her arm, cursing long and low as he paced in front of her. Sasha took the moment to palm her blade and watch Declan pace.

  Oh yeah, Maddox would faint, Sasha thought as she took in all the details she could. A fallen angel, she finally decided. His moody looks, chiseled jaw line, and perfectly muscled body made her think of a depraved angel.

  When he slanted an angry look at her again, Sasha quickly amended the thought. This man was no angel.

  “It calls to mind a madwoman, it does. One who willingly confronts Domnua? One who calls out her protector? Yes, I’ve been assigned to protect a madwoman. ’Tis the only answer,” Declan said.

  Sasha rolled her eyes. “I’m not mad. I’m quite simply someone who can take care of herself. Now that I’m aware of the problem, I’ll take care of it,” Sasha said, facing Declan.

  “You... you... you’ll just take care of it?” Declan sputtered, his hands clenching into fists as he looked at her in disbelief.

  “Yes. I’ll find the sword, hand it over, and be done with this.” Sasha shrugged.

  “By yourself?”

  “Aye, by myself. It’s a good thing you showed up, I suppose. I won’t be needing your services. You’re dismissed,” Sasha said, tossing him a haughty glare before turning on her heel to stride from the alley.

  But she let out a gasp as he appeared, as if by magick, directly in her path, causing her to slam into his muscled chest.

  “Ow,” Sasha exclaimed, attempting to bring her hand up to rub her nose. But instead she found her arms pinned at her sides by a very angry and very sexy male.

  “You are not the Goddess. I take orders only from her. Are we clear?” Declan said softly, his words deathly serious.

  Sasha found herself lost for a moment, his lips enticing her to just lean in for a little nip. What the hell was wrong with her? She shook her head and glared up at him, mustering her best angry face while being held pinned to his body.

  “Since I’m not familiar with your goddess, I can’t really say whether you should be listening to her or not. But I can tell you that you can stay out of my way. I’ll handle this on my own. The last thing I want or need is anyone to get hurt because of me. Including you, for what it’s worth,” Sasha spat. She could’ve kicked herself when she saw the tight lines around his mouth soften.

  “It’s my job to worry about you,” Declan said, reaching a hand up to tug lightly at her braid. The touch spoke of an intimacy that Sasha wasn’t comfortable with, and she once again tried to shift out of his arms.

  “And it’s my job to make sure that nobody gets killed because I’ve been dragged into some asinine mission outside my own control... Would you stop that?” Sasha demanded, annoyed at the grin that now rested so comfortably on his handsome face. When he scowled Declan held a dangerous look that appealed to her baser instincts, but when he smiled?

  She could lose herself.

  “I don’t think I realized what a tender side you had,” Declan murmured, and shocked her by running the pad of his thumb over her lip. Heat exploded everywhere in her body and god help her, she wanted to let out the softest of moans.

  Instead she did what any woman would have done in the situation – well, any woman who was her.

  She kicked him in the shins and ran.

  Chapter Twelve

  The scratchy sound that left Declan’s throat startled him. W
as he laughing? He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed. By the Goddess, what spirit Sasha had!

  His pint-sized warrior, the woman of his dreams, the reality in the flesh – Declan had been besotted with Sasha since the instant he’d laid eyes on her. Her fierce exterior belied a molten inner core that showcased a heart as pure as gold.

  Declan had watched her over the years, doing everything in his power not to beat up that worthless excuse for a human she’d once dated. Aaron had never been good enough for Sasha, and it had made Declan cringe every time he’d had to watch the two of them together.

  He wouldn’t say he was happy that Aaron had broken her trust, but at least it had taken care of that problem. Sasha had handled it like she did everything else in her life – with a steel backbone and unfailing dignity.

  Declan laughed again and shook his head, running his hand over the scruff at his jaw as he thought about her. There wasn’t a definitive point that he could identify as the moment he’d fallen in love with her. He just knew it was so – sure as the rains came to Ireland, his heart would belong to no other.

  Declan cursed again, tuning into his internal sixth sense until he could track her in his mind. In moments, he’d caught up to her, but stayed far back, knowing she would be infuriated if she knew he was following her.

  Sasha still didn’t understand how this worked. He’d follow her until his last breath, protect her at all costs, and love her through every temper tantrum or kick in the shins she delivered.

  Even if it was against the rules.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sasha bit down the emotions that threatened to rise in her chest as she all but ran toward her gallery. Now was not the time for feelings, but for thinking – strategizing. As far as Sasha was concerned, she was now at war.

  Which meant she had to protect her loved ones at all costs – and any others who might be collateral damage. This was her burden to bear and she would handle it with as little damage to others as possible.

  Sasha’s eyes darted back and forth as she stepped to the back of her gallery. Spotting no sign of silver, she punched in her code, disengaged the locks, and swung inside, quickly slamming and locking the door behind her.

  “Think. What do you need?” Sasha said out loud, surveying her gallery and letting her mind dart quickly through her mental inventory. She knew she had but minutes before the Domnua would be upon her. She might as well be a sitting duck.

  Sasha raced to the closet in her office and pulled out a survival pack. She kept one packed at all times with the bare necessities and a few weapons. Sasha had seen enough zombie movies to know that it didn’t hurt to be prepared. Maybe it was ridiculous, but she was praising herself now as she sprinted around the gallery, gathering various knives and daggers to add to her bag.

  A glimmer of light caught her eye from across the gallery, giving her pause. Slowly, she padded across the dark room and stood in front of one of her favorite pieces.

  A slim thread of light from the security camera gleamed off the hilt of an eighteenth-century Celtic embossed dagger. It was a perfectly balanced blade, with intricate designs crossing the hilt and leading to a single emerald stone centered in the middle. The stone was what had gleamed in the light. Sasha reached out, removing the blade carefully from the casing that held it affixed to the wall.

  The instant the dagger touched her hand, a current of energy ran through Sasha’s arm and straight to her core. She tilted her head at the dagger, studying it carefully as she weighed it in her hand. It felt right... almost as if it had been made for her.

  “Now you’re just being ridiculous. All this fae talk has you being fanciful now,” Sasha said. But that didn’t stop her from strapping the dagger to her leg, tucked neatly above her boot.

  With one final look around the gallery, she closed her eyes.

  “Goddess... if you are real, I only ask that you protect this space and all the antiquities I’ve worked so hard to assemble. I’m leaving now and will lead the Domnua away from it. Please keep this space safe.”

  Sasha felt foolish asking for help, even from an unknown and omnipotent being. Slinging the pack over her shoulders and buckling it to her waist, she zipped her leather jacket tight and slipped from the back door without a backwards glance.

  And stepped into mayhem.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sasha sent up a brief prayer of thanks for heavy doors that slammed shut because the Domnua were upon her the moment she stepped outside. After finishing packing up, she’d anticipated this, and had slipped the dagger from her boot in the seconds before she’d stepped outside.

  Sasha felled three without taking a breath, the dagger sliding through them and leaving silvery puddles in its wake. She had a brief moment to marvel at the slickness of the blade before she was tackled from above.

  “Damn it” was all she could think as she automatically dove into a roll. She’d watched enough scary movies to know that she was supposed to look up. It was always the dumb girl wandering in the woods who never looks up in the trees that gets nailed. And here she was being one of those dumb girls by not even scanning her surroundings.

  Not like she’d had much time, she thought, as she rolled and automatically brought her knee up between her attacker’s legs, momentarily crippling him enough to slide the dagger straight into his heart. Sasha twisted, just missing the plop of silver goo as he disintegrated before her eyes. Thank goodness, she thought as she leapt to her feet. She wasn’t entirely sure if silver goo would come out of leather.

  Then there was no time for thought as the Domnua converged on her, one line after another. Sasha’s heart pounded in her chest as she ducked, rolled, and lashed out over and over. In moments, silver dripped from every surface behind the gallery, and still they came.

  It was at this moment that Sasha finally realized how grossly unprepared she was for handling this. Perhaps she’d grown cocky, knowing she could take down a fae or two on her own. But an army?

  She was screwed.

  But one thing she’d refuse to have said about her is that she went down without a fight. As adrenaline coursed through her system, she whirled to stab another one, and gasped as he melted before her dagger had even grazed his skin. Panting, she met a pair of sunny blue eyes.

  “Looks like you’re handling this real great on your own, champ. Why don’t you let us help you out a bit?” Bianca asked cheerfully, as she turned and quickly gutted another Domnua. Sasha turned, pushing hair that had come loose from her braid from her eyes to see Maddox, Seamus, and Declan all battling the Domnua until, in moments, none remained.

  Silence filled the alley, except for their panting breaths, as they surveyed the rapidly disappearing silver blood that coated the ground.

  “So?” Bianca demanded, hands back on her hips, and a defiant lift to her chin.

  Despite herself, Sasha found herself grinning at the chubby blonde.

  “You’re all right, lass. I’ll be honored to have you on my team.”

  Bianca sniffed and idly checked her nails for any chips. “Is that you asking for our help then?”

  Sasha looked briefly to the sky, biting back the snotty retort that hung on her tongue. She deserved this.

  “Yes. Would you please help me find the sword?” Sasha said, refusing to look at Declan.

  “I thought you’d never ask! Seamus, get the car.”

  “Aye, my love, anything for you.”

  “That was some fight, wasn’t it? Do you think their blood comes out of suede? I knew I should’ve changed my boots,” Bianca chattered, looking down at a smear of silver that marred her honey-brown boots.

  In that moment, Sasha realized just how much she liked the blonde. “Most women would be having a fit right now,” Sasha said, and Bianca looked at her in confusion as they walked toward the entrance of the alley to meet Seamus.

  “About the boots? Ah, well, there is bound to be some damage in battle,” Bianca said, shrugging it off.

  “No,” S
asha said with a laugh, “not about the shoes.” She gestured to the alleyway behind them. “About all this. The battle. Killing fae. Not squealing and running in fear.”

  “Not my style. There’s a lot you have to learn about me. But the first thing you should know,” Bianca said, leveling her with a cool stare, “is that the Goddess Danu specifically anointed me to help others on this quest. When a Goddess has faith in you, well, it’s easy to go kick some ass. Now, let’s find this damn sword.”

  The blonde hopped into the front seat of the car under an approving nod from Maddox. Shaking her head just a bit, Sasha slid into the middle seat and found herself pressed closely against Declan’s muscled body.

  “You were right... he is yummy,” Maddox whispered in her ear. Sasha could have sworn she heard Declan chuckle under his breath. Biting back a groan, she closed her eyes and let her head loll back against the seat. She was asleep in minutes.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sasha awoke and immediately stiffened, internally cringing as she realized that she was curled into Declan’s side, his arm thrown loosely over her shoulder. Straightening, she met his eyes for a second, and the intensity she saw there made her mouth go dry.

  “Um, sorry. I didn’t mean to... um, sorry,” Sasha said, and pulled abruptly away from him. His arm still rested on her shoulders and the heat that slid through her body just from his casual touch on her neck was making her think about things that had very little to do with their mission.

  And everything to do with a different kind of mission.

  “Sleeping Beauty is awake.” Bianca turned and flashed her a smile, her eyes bright with a knowing look as she surveyed Declan’s arm thrown over Sasha’s shoulder.

  “Sorry about that. I tend to fall asleep in cars, but typically only need a short amount of sleep to recharge.” Sasha said as she removed Declan’s arm from around her neck with a glare. He shot her a look under heavy-lidded eyes that had her brain scrambling for a moment, then she sneered at him in response.