Нора Робертс - Blood Magick

“I’m not going to think of misses.” Meara handed off the peas to Boyle. “Near to a year now that evil bastard’s been dogging us—longer I know for the three, but in this year he’s taunted and attacked with barely a respite. Third time’s the charm, isn’t it? I’m believing in that—and thinking that every time I see him when I’m out on a guided.”

“Today?” Branna asked.

“Today, and every day now, lurking in the woods, even keeping pace for a time. A little closer to the track, it seems. Close enough that twice now, Roibeard’s flown in and taken a dive at him. It. Whatever the bloody hell.”

“He does it to rattle us,” Boyle pointed out. “It’s best not to rattle.”

“True enough.” With the chops severed, Connor took two for himself. “He’s getting stronger or bolder, or both. I’ve seen him skulking about when out on a hawk walk. But today, our Brian mentioned he’d seen a wolf cross the path.”

“As Mrs. Baker saw him,” Branna added.

“Indeed. Now with Brian, who tends to think an errant wind may be a sign of the apocalypse, it was easy enough to convince him he’d only caught sight of a stray dog. But it’s a concern he’s showing himself to others.”

“Would he hurt them?” Iona demanded. “We can’t let him hurt an innocent.”

“He would.” Fin kept his calm. “It’s more likely he’ll keep whatever he has for us, but he would and could hurt others. Someone else with power might tempt him, for that would be a kind of feeding.”

“Or a woman.” Boyle waited a beat, then nodded when no one spoke. “We all know he has needs in that area. So would he take a woman, and if we think he may, how can we stop it?”

“We can spread the protection farther than we have,” Branna began. “If he decided to slake that thirst it would be with the young and attractive. The vulnerable. We can do what we can.”

“It’s not how I’d go about it.” Fin sliced lamb from the bone very precisely. “He can shift his times, he can go when and where he likes. Why draw more attention to where he is, and what he plans here? In his place I’d go back, a hundred years or more, take what I wanted, do what I wished, and set no alarm around here.”

“So, we can’t do anything about it, can’t help whoever he’d hurt,” Iona said.

“We’ll destroy him,” Branna reminded her. “And that’s doing all there is to do.”

“But it’s a month before the anniversary of Sorcha’s death.”

“He’s had eight hundred years to do his worst.” Boyle laid a hand over Iona’s. “We can only deal with now.”

“I know it. I know, and still we can only do so much. There’s so much power here, but we’re helpless to stop him from doing harm.”

“I look through the crystal every morning,” Branna told her. “And every night. Often more than that. I’ve seen him working, and seen some of the spells he conjures. There’s blood, always, but I’ve yet to see him bring a mortal or witch into his cave. I’ve yet to see or hear anything that would help us.”

“It’s all we can do now.” Connor looked around the table. “Until we do more. It’s a month, and that feels long, but in fact, we’ve more things to gather before that time’s up. We need the brew and spell for the cauldron to destroy the stone. With light, as Branna prophesied.”

“I’ve a fine one for that,” Branna assured him. “And only need you and Iona to finish it with me. It’s for the three to do,” she explained to all.

“And so we will,” Connor responded. “But we don’t yet have the name, and without it, we can’t finish it off, no matter the poison, no matter the light.”

“Lure out the wolf,” Branna considered. “Long enough for me, or Fin come to that, to search its mind and find it.”

“We can’t know, in that form, if he’d have the name in his mind,” Fin pointed out. “Cabhan sleeps, at some point he must sleep.”

“You think to go into his dreams?” Connor shook his head. “There’s too deep a risk, Fin. And more for you than any of us.”

“If Branna watches the crystal, and we know when he sleeps, I might join with him with the rest of you ready to pull me out.”

“I won’t be a part of it. I won’t,” Branna said when Fin turned to her. “We can’t, and I won’t, risk you, and risk all, and for this last piece we’ve weeks yet to find on our own, another way. You barely pulled yourself away the last time.”

“It’s not the same as that.”

“I’m with Branna on this,” Boyle put in. “He’d twist you more than any of the rest of us. If it comes down to it, and we have only that way, it must be someone else. Any one of us here.”

“Because you don’t trust me.”

“Don’t play the donkey’s arse,” Boyle said coolly. “There’s not a one at this table who doesn’t trust you with their lives, and the lives of those they love.”

“You’re valued.” Scowling, Meara leaned toward Fin. “And that’s the why of it. And it’s too late not to play the donkey’s arse, as you just did.”

“Apologies, but it’s fact what you see as risk is also advantage, as I could get into his dreams, and out again, quicker than any of us.”

“It’s off the table.” Connor deliberately continued to eat. “And shoving it on again only spoils a fine meal. In any case, I’ve a thought on all this, if anyone wants to hear it.”

“He has thoughts.” Smiling now, Meara gave him an elbow nudge. “I’ve been a witness to the occasion.”

“And my thought is, we might try Kathel. We might have Kathel go along with me, or with Meara or Iona during the walks or guideds. It may be Kathel can find what’s going on in the mind of the wolf, and then Branna could find it from Kathel.”

“That’s not as foolish as it sounds,” Branna considered.

“Thanks for that.” Connor helped himself to another chop.

“I can give him leave to go, then we can see. I’ve been wondering about the vision I had, the words I spoke that weren’t my own when we finished the brew. Three and three and three.”

“Well, the three here, the three in their own time,” Connor said, “and Fin with Boyle and Meara. It seems clear.”

“It felt more. It’s hard to say, but it felt more. And even if it’s so simple, we’ve got to bring Sorcha’s three together with us, at the time, in that place. It’s our time, that was clear. Not theirs, but ours, so we have to keep Cabhan closed in to that.”

“Bell, book, candle.” Iona pushed peas around her plate. “Basic tools. And the need for our guides to be there.”

“Blood and death follow.” Meara picked up the wine, topped off her glass, then Iona’s. “We’ve known that all along. Witch, demon, or mortal blood and death doesn’t change it.”

“You’re valued.” Branna looked from Meara to Boyle. “Sister and brother, for the choice you’ve made for love and loyalty, for right, and for light. We’ve always known your worth, but it’s clear now so the fates do as well.”

A thought wound through her head. Branna drew it back as Connor leaned over to kiss Meara and make her laugh. She kept it there, twirling it like a ribbon as her circle finished the meal.

• • •

OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS SHE STUDIED AND TWIRLED THAT ribbon over and over. She saw how it could be done, but had to be certain it should be done. And in the end, whatever her own decision, it had to be a choice for all.

She slipped out of bed, on impulse taking her violin with her. Leaving Fin sleeping, she went down to her workshop where she kept her ball of crystal on a stand. After carrying it to the table, she lit the fire, and three candles. Then she sat, quietly playing while she watched Cabhan sleep in a sumptuous bed of gold in a dark chamber of his cave.