The Cursing Stones

by Sonya Bateman

  Either way, she wasn’t giving up. No matter how nasty Brigid got.

  “All right,” she finally said. “But it’s not going to be easy learning anything from her. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to teach me.”

  Her father grunted. “Nothing good comes easy, girl.”

  “Uh-huh.” There was another one she’d heard a thousand times from him. Usually after five or six hours of mind-numbing study or grueling practice. She decided to change the subject. “Where’s Poppy, anyway?”

  “How should I know?”

  “Um, because he lives here? The cabin’s not that big, Da’.”

  “I’m busy.”

  “Aye, that one’s all work and no play.” Poppy emerged from the back hallway and grinned at her. “Have ye taken up mud wrestling, then?”

  “Huh? Oh … no, not exactly.” She glanced down at her hopelessly caked clothes. “I’ve been cleaning. But you look sharp, Poppy.” He’d exchanged his usual tunic and loose pants for a creased pair of slacks and a cardigan over a crisp dress shirt. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Headed out for a visit with an old friend,” he said. “Some of us like a bit of a social life now and again.” With the last part, he sent a meaningful look at her father.

  Lachlan looked up. “Bit overdone for a friendly visit, ain’t ye?”

  “Might be I’m visitin’ a friend of the female persuasion,” Poppy said. “Might be that ain’t yer business either, Lachlan. Don’t wait up.”

  “Didn’t plan to.”

  Rain gave a loud sigh. “I’m going to shower.”

  “Oh. Rhiannon.” Her father gestured vaguely at the small table beside the door. “Some messenger came for ye earlier. Left that.”

  She looked. There was an envelope on the table, thick and cream-colored and familiar. She’d received one a few days ago just like it.

  It was from Aislinn Castle.

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” she said, moving to pick up the envelope. It was almost too pretty to touch with her grubby fingers, but she couldn’t exactly wipe them on her pants. They were twice as dirty. She settled for grasping the corner gingerly, and then carefully removing the single piece of paper the envelope contained.

  Dear Miss Finlay,

  Thank you for your response to my previous message. I’m grateful that you’re willing to help me with my library, and I look forward to the pleasure of your company. Are you perhaps available to begin tonight? I’d also like to discuss the terms of our arrangement, including payment for your services.

  There’s no need to send a reply this time. I’ll see you, or not, should you choose to come.

  All my best,

  Duncan Aislinn

  P.S. As requested, I’ve added “get a phone” to my list of tasks to accomplish. It will be a priority.

  She smiled as she read the note. She’d only met Duncan once so far, and it was an experience, to say the least. The man was beautiful and charming, and he exuded confidence and power despite being in a wheelchair. She’d gone to Aislinn Castle for permission to use the library so she could learn about the creature they were hunting, which no one had ever seen before — and Duncan had let her in, when everyone else on the island had been summarily turned away.

  Of course, her father didn’t like the people who occupied the castle. They’d just arrived here not long before Rain came home, and they hadn’t even tried to endear themselves to the existing population. Before them, no one had lived in the castle for decades.

  But Lachlan had been the one who suggested the library and told her they’d let her in. Because of her mother … a woman she’d never met, who died in childbirth.

  “Well?” her father said. “What is it, then?”

  “It’s a message.” She hadn’t told him what the last one said — Duncan’s initial request for her to organize his huge, old, disastrous library — and she didn’t want to talk about this one either. But she’d probably have to confess. If she didn’t, he’d find out anyway.

  The look on his face said he’d guessed already. “It’s from that castle, isn’t it?” he said. “What do they want?”

  “Not much.” She glanced at Poppy, hoping for support in the explosion to come. “Duncan asked me to organize the library. And I kind of said I would.”

  “What!”

  Okay, the roar was unexpected. “Calm down, Da’,” she said. “I thought it would be helpful. You know, since we only beat the duin’alla because of what I found there. If I do this, I can find out anything we’ll need to take on the rest of … whatever.”

  Lachlan stood from the table like an erupting volcano. “I don’t want ye up that castle,” he said in a choked voice that sounded like nothing she’d ever heard from him. “The only reason I sent ye there was the hope of saving yer Poppy. Ye did that. Now ye’ll stay clear of that place, period.”

  “What about the villagers?” she said. “What about Mary Brannon? I’ll bet there’s something in that library that could save her.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s arse about those bleedin’ twits down the village!” he bellowed. “This Duncan bastard—”

  “Aislinn,” she said as steadily as she could. “Duncan Aislinn. He’s an heir.”

  “He bloody well ain’t! The Aislinn line died out a century past, so if he says that’s his name, he’s a lying son of a mewling worm. Outside of whatever else he is.” The veins in his neck strained and throbbed. “Ye don’t go there again,” he said. “Understand me, girl?”

  “Lachlan.”

  Her father bared his teeth and rounded on Poppy. “Not a word, Ewan,” he said. “Don’t ask me to allow this. I won’t.”

  “Son … ye know ye must.”

  Rain recoiled at the strained note in her grandfather’s voice — and gasped when she saw tears standing in his eyes. “What is this about?” she said hoarsely. “Will somebody please explain what’s going on here?”

  “I’m sorry, my girl, but we cannae tell ye.” Poppy sounded so lost, so defeated. “It’s something ye must discover on yer own.”

  “Why?” She wanted to cry, or scream. Probably both. “Why does everything have to be so damned cryptic? I am so tired of all this mystic order and ritualistic crap and secrets that I’m not allowed to know about. It’s why I left in the first place!”

  Her father’s features twisted, as if he were in pain. “Ye should’ve stayed gone,” he rasped.

  “Damn it, you’re the one who asked me to come home!”

  “Aye, he did. And he’s glad ye’ve come.” Poppy took a hesitant step toward her. “He doesn’t really want ye gone, Rhiannon,” he said. “He only wants ye safe.”

  “Strangely enough, I’ve never gotten the impression that he wants me around.” She glared at each of them in turn, suddenly more furious than she was able to express. “I’m going to take a shower and change. And then, I’m going to Aislinn Castle.” Without waiting for a response, she strode across the room, wanting to be as far from them as possible.

  “Rhiannon. Promise me something.”

  She stopped and whirled on her father. “What?”

  “Promise ye won’t get involved with this Duncan.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to his castle and ignoring him while I’m there.”

  “I don’t mean ignore him,” he said. “I mean don’t get … involved. As a woman.”

  “Did you think I planned to sleep with him?” she said coldly. “I’m only doing this to help the village, and your own stubborn self. I’m not interested in him—”

  “Promise me!”

  There was an almost frantic desperation behind those words — and it terrified her. Lachlan Finlay was afraid of nothing. “All right,” she managed to say once her heart returned to a normal speed. “I promise I won’t get involved.”

  “Good.” Her father’s rigid stance relaxed a fraction as he closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m going for a walk,” he said quietly. And without another word, he crossed the room
and slipped out the door.

  Rain watched him go, so confused and conflicted that her head ached. She didn’t know what to think anymore. But she knew what she had to do, and it involved Aislinn Castle.

  Whatever might happen there, it’d be worth it if she could save people just by reading some old books.

  Chapter 21

  Aislinn Castle – Evening

  The first time Rain went to the castle, the man who’d answered the door had wanted to eat her. Not in a devour-with-his-eyes kind of way, but in a big-bad-wolf kind of way.

  This time, Bastien Loch opened the door, snarled at her, and stalked away.

  She walked inside anyway, figuring it was okay because Duncan had invited her. She’d just wait here for him. Bastien was the head of security, and the only other person she’d seen here, besides the master of the castle. There had to be more somewhere, since two people couldn’t maintain a huge place like this.

  Her father’s whole cabin would probably fit in this room alone.

  The great room was just as breathtaking to stand in the second time. She walked slowly toward the enormous fireplace on the far side of the room, hearing her footsteps echo on the polished stone floor. Like her first visit, when the overwhelming sense of awe began to fade, she felt something more disturbing — the notion that she knew this place, and knew it well.

  Which, of course, she didn’t.

  She reached the fireplace, and her attention was drawn to the wide strip of bas relief carving that ran the length of it, just beneath the mantle. The centerpiece was a large oval with an ornate frame, and ribbons of images extending from either side.

  And inside the oval was an image of a sword thrust into a stone.

  It didn’t mean anything, she told herself forcefully. The idea that this castle belonged to King Arthur — which supposedly meant that Parthas was Avalon — was one of her father’s more out-there theories. Impossible, actually. Even the existence of mythical creatures like the duin’alla, and now this curse banshee, failed to make it more believable. Arthur Pendragon and the Knights of the Round Table was entirely made-up, a fabricated tale pieced together from a dozen unrelated fictional sources.

  Besides, lots of old places used an Arthurian motif for decoration. Like this bas relief. The theme was reflected along the entire strip of carvings. She recognized Arthur and Guinevere, Merlin and Lancelot, Morgana and Mordred, the Lady of the Lake. All stories she’d heard as a child, and all of them just that. Stories.

  “Miss Finlay. So glad you’ve come.”

  She flinched as Duncan spoke behind her, and turned with a smile that she hoped didn’t look guilty. “It’s Rain,” she said. “Remember?”

  “Of course. Rain.” He returned the smile, and she melted a little. He really was a beautiful man.

  Duncan looked stronger than the last time she’d seen him. He’d been a bit haggard then, with clear signs of exhaustion marking his face and posture. Now he seemed rested and alert. He also had a different companion standing just behind his wheelchair — a pale and fair-haired man dressed all in forest green, where Bastien wore black. The new man seemed no friendlier, but at least he wasn’t aggressively trying to get rid of her.

  “I hope I’m not out of line,” she finally said. “Bastien opened the door, and then he just kind of … left.”

  “Not at all, and I apologize again for his behavior.” Duncan frowned slightly. “I’d like to introduce you to Tehgan,” he said, indicating the man behind him. “He’ll show you to the library once we’ve had our discussion.”

  Tehgan offered a bare nod, but said nothing.

  “Nice to meet you,” Rain said anyway. “So what are we discussing?”

  “Why, the terms of our arrangement.” Duncan smiled and looked at his companion. “Stop hovering, will you, Tehgan?” he said. “We’re fine here. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave us for a moment. Will you fetch me that purchase I had sent here earlier?”

  “Of course … Duncan.” Tehgan’s speech was soft and uncertain, a contrast to his imposing appearance. Unlike Bastien, who took every opportunity to glare at Rain, he didn’t even look at her as he left the room.

  Duncan shook his head slowly. “My people will warm to you eventually,” he said. “They just have a difficult time with change and new things. It worries them.”

  “I know a few people like that.” She tried to relax and focus on the present, but the unsettling conversation with her family wouldn’t leave her mind. And it was starting to make her paranoid. She was making omens out of molehills, like the Arthurian carvings and the way he’d said my people. She really had to stop seeing things that weren’t there.

  “Well,” Duncan said. “The library is no small undertaking, I know. What would you consider a fair price for organizing that hopeless disaster?”

  She laughed. “To be honest, I have no idea. So … make me an offer?”

  “All right.” He gazed at her for so long, she almost felt like a suspect he was trying to get a confession out of. Finally, he said, “Two hundred thousand.”

  “Um. Dollars?”

  “That is the present form of currency, isn’t it?” he said with a slanted smile that made her heart race. “Unless, of course, you’d rather be paid in something else.”

  “Dollars work.” She blinked a few times, trying to wrap her mind around that much money. And what kind of wealth he must have to be able to offer it so casually. “All right, I agree,” she said. “But just so you know, I would’ve taken less.”

  “And I would’ve given more.”

  “Oh.”

  She found herself staring into his eyes, and that sense of familiarity returned. But this time it was connected to him — and it was deeper. More personal. She could drown in this feeling. And she almost wanted to.

  Promise me!

  The memory of her father’s frantic declaration snapped her from the trance. She shook herself and looked anywhere but directly at Duncan. “So, should we sign a contract or something?” she said as lightly as possible.

  “No,” he said. “I’m willing to take you at your word, if you’ll do the same for me.”

  “I can do that.”

  He smiled. “It’s settled, then. But I do have one more condition, and it’s a bit … strange, so bear with me.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

  “I’d like you to work in the evenings,” he said. “You see, we’re on an unusual schedule here. We have a project of sorts that requires our attention during certain hours of the night, so most of the castle sleeps through the day.”

  “You’re not vampires, are you?”

  He gave a soft chuckle. “No, nothing like that,” he said. “Is this acceptable to you?”

  “Actually, it’s perfect,” she said. “I’ve just started working on something myself that takes up most of my day, but my evenings are free.”

  “Wonderful. We have a deal, then.” He held out a hand.

  When she took it, a tremendous warm shock traveled through her body and impacted her core.

  She thought Duncan’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as if he’d felt it too. But it happened so fast that she couldn’t be sure. He released her hand slowly and looked as though he’d say something.

  But just then, Tehgan returned and approached them at a fast clip, a look of mild concern on his face.

  “Ah. Thank you, Tehgan.” Duncan accepted a small velvet drawstring pouch from him and smiled at Rain. “We are nothing if not dedicated to presentation,” he said, drawing the pouch open. “By the way, my friend, this really isn’t necessary. It’s meant to be used.”

  He reached inside and pulled out a cell phone.

  She couldn’t help laughing. “Guess you really did make it a priority,” she said. “Trust me, that’s going to be a lot easier than sending a messenger out every time you want to talk to me.”

  “Yes. I’m sure Kirby will appreciate the break from all that traveling.” He hel
d the phone toward her, and said, “Would you do me the honor of giving me your number?”

  “Well, since you asked so nicely.” She smiled and took the phone, found the address book, and programmed her number in. “There you go,” she said. “I’ll just save yours once you call me.”

  “Is that how it works now?”

  “Mostly.” She glanced at Tehgan, who still had his chaperone face on. “I should probably get to work,” she said. “That library isn’t going to organize itself.” She wouldn’t mention it, but cleaning and cataloguing weren’t her only goals tonight. She wanted to look for something on curse banshees, in case the protections she and Kincaid had placed for Mary weren’t enough.

  “Of course. Tehgan will show you down. I’d bring you myself, but…” Duncan patted his wheelchair with a wry smirk. “Stairs and I aren’t the best of friends.”

  “Understood,” she said.

  “Thank you for your help, Rain.”

  That feeling of personal connection tried to surge back, but she pushed it away. “I’m glad to,” she said. “See you soon, then?”

  “Yes. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Duncan.”

  She watched him turn and wheel himself across the room, and wondered just what she was supposed to discover on her own. Whatever it was, this strange case of déjà vu must have something to do with it.

  But she was almost afraid to find out any more.

  Chapter 22

  Aislinn Castle – The Library

  Tehgan was a disconcerting escort. He didn’t say a word the entire way down, despite Rain’s attempts to talk to him. She gave up early and focused on trying to keep track of where they were going, so maybe next time she could find her own way to the library.

  It didn’t work as well as she wanted. Before long, she was once again hopelessly lost.