Ascent: Book 3 of the Scorched Trilogy

by Lizzy Prince

  All of this was almost beyond comprehension. How was something like this even possible? When Munro didn’t respond—just looked at me with the same curious expression—I rushed on.

  “I didn’t want to tell everyone before I got the chance to tell you. It just felt too personal or private or something. I don’t know.” I shrugged, feeling like my skin was too tight to hold all of the emotions bubbling beneath its surface.

  “Annie.” Munro tipped my head up so that I was looking at him instead of the ground. “Why do you seem so nervous all of a sudden?”

  “I just… what if this weird soul thing is the only reason we’re attracted to each other?” I let my head flop back, eyes glancing over the barren branches of the trees as I blurted out the question, my cheeks flaming with the words.

  The warm pad of Munro’s finger traced over my cheek, landing on my chin and guiding my head back down so I was looking at him.

  “Wait, you’re attracted to me?” Munro asked, his voice playful as his eyes narrowed gleefully.

  “Gah. Don’t be an a-hole,” I groaned, relieved when our laughter dissolved the tension bunching up my shoulders. I felt more relaxed now that the secret was out in the open. Munro’s finger was still on my chin, but he let it slide around to cup my neck, his thumb landing on the pulse in my throat.

  “Annie, I don’t know how much control my soul has over these things, but what I do know, is that you worked your way into my heart despite all my efforts to keep my distance. You love the people in your life with a fierceness that I’ve never experienced before. And after all of the horrible things that have happened to you, you keep getting back up and fighting. You are resilient and strong. Some might even say stubborn.”

  I glared at him, pressing my lips together to stifle the smile that would have ruined the effect.

  “Some, not me of course,” Munro said with a chuckle.

  “Of course,” I replied.

  “I don’t care what brought us together. That’s not the important part. I just know that what I feel for you is more real than any other feeling I’ve ever had. Maybe we have pieces of someone else’s souls inside of us, but that didn’t form your sense of humor or loyalty. It didn’t give you your horrible taste in music.”

  “Hey!” I laughed outright, amazed by his words and his ability to trust in myself and my feelings. “I think there must be a cultural divide thing going on there, because I have excellent taste in music.”

  “Mmmhmm. And you’re an amazing photographer.”

  “Alright, was this supposed to make me feel better or worse?” I pretended to be offended, but couldn’t contain my laughter when he grabbed me and swung me around, holding me so that my eyes were level with his.

  “I only ever want to make you feel better, Annie.” This time all joking was gone from his voice, and there was only sincerity in its place.

  I searched his face, drinking in the soft gray eyes that were peering down at me. Lifting my hand to his cheek, I felt the rough whiskers there. They just showed how long we’d been running around with little to no sleep and time for things like shaving.

  “How are we going to stop Cailleach?” I whispered, fear spearing through the wonder of this little clearing.

  Munro’s hands grasped my hips, pulling me closer before his arms wrapped me tightly in a hug. He leaned down and rested his chin on my shoulder speaking softly against my neck, making me shiver.

  “We’ll find the lia fáil, and I might have another idea, but we’ll need to talk to everyone about it. Are you okay sharing what you just told me?”

  I didn’t want to. This thing with our souls felt too personal, too intimate to share with a room full of people, but I’d tell the others if it would help stop Cailleach. “Okay.”

  “We should get back inside.” Munro sighed, sounding like he was as thrilled about the idea as I was.

  I took one more moment to look around the small clearing with the bright green grass and crisp air. “I want to come back here sometime when we can lay around and not worry about anything.”

  Munro tugged my hand forward and grinned at me over his shoulder. “Deal.”

  Chapter 10

  When we got back inside, the activity in the library had settled. Butch and Mari were back in the living room sitting on the couch, both flipping gently through books. Mari had her feet propped up in Butch’s lap, and he was rubbing the top of her foot gently, even though he didn’t appear to notice he was doing it.

  A quick peek in the library found Estell in there, hunched over a table, with several old books open on top. Her head lifted when she heard us come in, and she smiled warmly.

  “Any luck finding anything?” Munro asked Estell as we approached the pile of old, musty books.

  She nodded and picked up a book from the table. “Here we found a reference to the two sisters, and there is mention of the scattering of the lia fáil. It says that they were sent to the four points of fairy for protection.”

  “Four points of fairy?” The question practically popped out of my mouth as I interrupted Munro’s grandmother. I tried not to cringe as I realize how rude my words came across, but Estell just rolled with it, waving away my grimace with her hand.

  “They are more like well-known landmarks surrounded by superstition. But,” she held up her finger like she was giving us a lecture and wanted us to pay close attention, “all superstition stems from a source. If we take what we know about the four points of fairy, we have a good starting point. We know the Hill of Tara is one, obviously.” She squinted at a map in one of the books on the table, taping her finger at a spot on the drawing.

  She was so short and fiery that I wanted to hug her, but she was also way too intimidating for that. “Ryan said Roark was hunting down the sword, so we’ll have to try to mark that off the list based on what we know. As for the cauldron and the spear, to find those, we’ll need to examine the possible four points of fairy. From what we’ve pieced together, the four points of fairy refer to the portal, the granting place, the Queen’s seat, and the King’s stone.”

  Estell’s excitement was increasing the longer she spoke, and her cheeks were rosy with little blotches of color. There was a glint in her eye that told me this was her happy place, her sweet spot, to be talking about Irish folklore and mythology. Meanwhile, I was completely lost, because nothing she was saying was making any sense to me. I snuck a look at Munro, and his face was focused and serious as he listened to his gran explain her findings. I wanted to interrupt again and pepper Estell with a million questions, but I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from talking so she could finish first.

  “The King’s stone is obvious,” she said, shaking her head as if it was foolish to think otherwise. I managed to keep the frown off my face as I tried to remember the King’s stone. Then I recalled that Butch had said something about the stone at the Hill of Tara also being known as the coronation stone. The legend being that when a true leader stepped on the stone, it would cry out in joy.

  “And obviously the stone itself is the lia fáil, so no need to look any further down that road.” She flipped another book closed. A little puff of dust expelled as she did. “The Queen’s seat, I believe, would be Navan Fort, where Queen Medb ruled.” Estell went back to the map and pointed to a spot to the north. “And the granting place was always thought to be the wishing steps at Blarney, and the portal, Poulnabrone Portal Tomb.” Her finger moved gently from place to place over the map, drawing an invisible cross as it moved from north to south, west to east.

  Estell stopped her recitation and tapped her finger on the map, appearing lost in thought, as if she’d forgotten we were in the room with her. Her hands slid over one of the book’s cover as though she were caressing it.

  “The rumors of these places have been passed on for centuries, but I have no proof that these are in fact the spots. I know that the four places of fairy were supposed to represent the four corners of Ireland, or at least north, south, east, and west. W
hat I don’t know is how you are supposed to find the lia fáil once there. It’s not like they are in plain sight. Someone would have snatched them up years ago during an excavation or just some tourist popping round for a visit if that had been the case,” her voice tapered off, and her head fell forward in thought.

  Munro exhaled quietly beside me but somehow Estell heard because she looked at him and cocked her head. “What is it?” she asked softly.

  “I think we might have a way of figuring out how to get the lia fáil. Let’s go sit down with the others and talk to everyone about it.”

  Munro’s fingers threaded through mine as he moved into the living room where we’d left Butch and Mari. Walking into the room, I noticed they were no longer cuddled up reading but leaning forward with tense shoulders as they watched the small screen of an ancient television sitting on a table in the corner. I was about to ask why things were so tense in the room when a news anchor’s voice caught my attention.

  “Over fifty people have been stricken by this deadly, unknown virus within the last twenty-four hours. Our reports indicate that it is a wasting disease that severely dehydrates before it kills. The virus appears to be moving at a rapid pace through towns, starting with Bective before moving into Baltrasna and most recently affecting Kilmessen. At this time, we do not have any additional information on what has caused this outbreak, nor does there seem to be any warning symptoms. For now, travel to these areas is discouraged.”

  The anchor quickly moved into another story about a pet squirrel, as if they hadn’t just talked about the extinction of dozens of people. I knew to the very marrow of my bones that this was the work of Cailleach. A wasting disease that severely dehydrated? Yeah, more like she was sucking the life out of people just like she’d done with Hattie. My stomach churned knowing that in some way we were responsible for this. We hadn’t stopped Hattie in time, and we hadn’t done anything to stop Cailleach.

  Mari looked over her shoulder at me, worry etched on every fine line on her face. She looked as tired as the rest of us, and the guilt that we’d involved all of these people, Mari, Theo, Butch, and even fricking Lola, assaulted me.

  “Un-uh. I know that look. Do not start feeling guilt over something that is totally not your fault.” Mari frowned at me as she turned around on the couch so she could look at me without craning her neck.

  I tipped my head back and rolled it over my tense shoulders before I lowered it again and looked back at Mari with a shrug. “I can’t help it. It’s like there is something in my DNA that makes me feel personally responsible for this stuff.” I waved at the television.

  “Are you Catholic, dear?” Estell poked her head around Munro’s other side, and I almost jumped in surprise at her presence and the question.

  “Um…”

  “Don’t answer that,” Munro said with a low chuckle and pulled me around the couch and nudged me gently until I sat in the corner while he perched on the arm. Estell sat down in one of the chairs and looked at her grandson curiously, but she didn’t press for answers, just waited for Munro to tell her what his pan was. I was pretty interested myself.

  “We’ll have to fill the others in when they wake, but I don’t want to waste any time,” Munro started, before running his hand through his hair. “Annie and I need to make a memory spell.”

  “A memory spell?” I was pretty sure all four of us spoke at once with different levels of understanding, or in my case confusion, coloring our voices.

  Munro looked down at me with a slight smirk on his face and a raised brow as if to say, really. I just frowned back at him, not sure what exactly he was asking for and for what purpose. I decided to keep my mouth shut so he’d get on with telling us the rest.

  “Last night when Annie was taken back to the tomb, she learned some… interesting things.”

  I almost snorted at his phrasing but nothing about this was remotely funny, and I didn’t want anyone thinking any of this was a joke.

  “What exactly does interesting entail?” Estell asked, as she steepled her fingers, bumping them against her mouth in thought.

  “When Áine put Cailleach in the ground, she performed another spell, one to ensure that if Cailleach was ever raised, there would be a way to stop her.”

  Estell’s eyebrows rose considerably while Mari and Butch wore identical frowns.

  “She created a spell that would ensure a piece of her soul was reborn in the time when Cailleach would rise.”

  Three sets of eyes darted to me, and I could feel my cheeks color under the scrutiny, even though I knew their reaction was just shock. Trust me. I’d been shocked too.

  “Annie?” Mari’s voice was shocked but quiet as though also afraid. I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I was certain it came out as a poor man’s wavering imitation. Munro plowed on with his explanation.

  “Her love, the man who has no name,” Munro turned to his gran with an admonishing smirk, “well, part of his soul was reborn as well, because it belonged to Áine. And where she went, he followed.” Munro turned softer eyes back to me with those words, and I knew somehow that Munro wasn’t just talking about Áine and Connall, but about me and him as well. He was telling me that we were in this together. Wherever I went, he would follow.

  I was grateful that Munro didn’t just blurt out that he was the reincarnated soul, because saying that to a room full of people made it sound so totally nuts. But then again, what in all of our recent events hadn’t been nuts. Everyone understood what Munro was implying if their shocked faces told me anything. Estell was the only one who didn’t look shocked, just like she was assessing me. As though she was judging my worth, and I wasn’t sure if she would find me lacking or not. Considering she knew me for all of a handful of hours, I wasn’t holding my breath. But I still had this need for her to grant us some symbolic approval of our newly minted relationship.

  Estell rubbed her fingers over her lower lip before she stood and left the room. My heart sank. Was she upset about the hitchhikers hanging onto our souls? Or that my soul was linked with Munro’s? Before my brain could crank out anymore doubts, Estell was coming back from the kitchen with a bottle of whiskey, not wasting time before pouring herself another glass. I was relieved to see that she didn’t slam it back at least and only took a small sip. She pursed her lips, and then she sucked them in until they were just a flat line. I didn’t know her well enough to interpret her actions. Was she disapproving? Considering?

  “What is it you need us to do?” she finally asked, her voice neutral. It was killing me that I couldn’t get a lock on her emotions. Although, I did feel like I had new insight into Munro. His own uninterpretable face when we’d first met popped into my mind, and it made so much sense. Munro dropped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently.

  “We need to do a spell of remembering. To see if we can tap into the memories of the souls within us.”

  My eyes dashed up to Munro. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but this wasn’t it. I was still so new to magic that I had no idea what was and wasn’t possible. Munro’s eyes stayed on his gran’s, so I darted mine to Mari, and she gave me a weak but encouraging smile. She was the one who spoke up first.

  “I’ve never done one before,” she started laughing and shaking her head as if stupefied, “I mean, of course I haven’t. I didn’t even know this was a thing.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “But I think I know a spell that we can modify. It’s worth a try.”

  Estell and Munro were still staring at each other, but I couldn’t get a good sense of the mood between them. Estell finally broke her gaze away first, looking at Mari. “I likely have any ingredients you’ll need. I also have spell books in the library.”

  Butch pushed himself off the couch with a groan and held his hand out to Mari, helping her up. “Estell, if you’ll point us in the right direction, I can find the book, and Mari can start gathering up the ingredients.”

  With a brisk nod, Estell stood from her seat, her eyes almost skipping over
me, but then they briefly met mine. They were gray, like Munro’s. I don’t know why that shared feature made me want her approval that much more, but it did. I needed her to know I wasn’t reckless or fickle. I cared about the people in my life and gave them all of myself, and that included Munro. She’d lost her only son to a witch. I was sure she wouldn’t be all trusting and on board with her grandson being with me, but I just wanted to make sure she gave me a chance.

  She passed in front of us, and my arm shot out, and I laid a hand on her wrist, halting her. She stared down at me, but it wasn’t spiteful or accusatory, it was fearful. I opened my mouth to say something, to try to reassure her in some way, but what words would do that in our current situation? She must have understood my problem because she offered me the smallest smile and patted my hand before pulling herself from my grasp and leaving the room.

  I slumped back on the couch, feeling like I’d just fought a dragon, even though I’d barely moved. Munro leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “She likes you.”

  A bark of a laugh escaped my throat, and I looked up at him like he was insane. “Were you in a different room than the rest of us?”

  Munro just smiled. “Trust me, she likes you.”

  I just blinked at him and shook my head.

  “Let’s go get a little sleep while they work on the spell. I’m shit at mixing up potions, and you blow stuff up. No one’s going to want our help anyway.”

  I laughed and then groaned when I stood up, sounding frighteningly just like Butch. I was stiff like I’d ridden a horse to Estell’s instead of riding in a car. My stupid legs almost tripped me going up the stairs, and Munro ended up holding my elbow like an old lady.

  “Are there enough rooms in this house for all of us to sleep?” It really didn’t seem that large from the outside.

  “No, but you can crash in my room,” he said, leading me all the way down the hallway to the last door on the right.

  “What about you? Aren’t you going to get some sleep?”