Unknown Magic Page 12

  “Before you ask, let me explain a bit more to you about our people. Then I’ll tell you just how old I am.”

  Megan panicked at Roarke’s anticipation of her question. “How’d you know what my question was? Can you read my mind?”

  Laughing at her, he replied, “No my child, I cannot read your mind. I am very good at reading people themselves, so I can usually tell what they are going to ask long before they ever say it.”

  Relieved Megan said, “Good, you scared me there for a second. I just don’t want anyone digging around in my brain without my knowledge or permission.”

  Roarke smiled. “Not to worry, we are a magical people not psychic. Now just how much have you learned about the Tuatha from Donovan and Seamus?”

  “I do know we can change shape, travel at will. I’ll come into power in a few weeks, oh, and I’m destined to be mated to Seamus.”

  With that, Roarke threw back his head and laughed, which reminded Megan of how Seamus laughed. She had to admit that was one of the things she loved about him.

  “You are not at all thrilled with that fact are you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t like him or anything. It’s just I would like to make my own decision on who and when I marry and not be told this is the way it is and I have no choice.”

  “That is one of the unfortunate facts of being Tuatha, although you will find that even without the choice you will be very happy with each other. This would not have been so hard on you, if you had been raised knowing all about your people instead of growing up and then being blind-sided with Seamus being your mate, at the same time you are just getting used to the fact that you are not what you thought you were all your life.”

  Megan was amazed how insightful Roarke was toward her feelings. “Are you sure you’re not psychic? You seem to understand more than anyone how I’m feeling.”

  “Megan, I do not have to be psychic to figure out you are distressed with all this new knowledge. Then having this group of whatever they are, chasing after you, well, anyone in his right mind would be a bit stressed out. I will tell you this: You are handling it better than average. To tell you the truth I think I would more than likely be babbling to myself by now.”

  Megan could not help herself as she started laughing. When she finally caught her breath, she asked, “How is it, not five minutes ago I was feeling sorry for myself and now everything seems okay again?”

  Roarke shrugged. “Life is made for enjoying, if we cannot laugh even in the worst of circumstances, why would we want to stay?”

  Smiling, Megan said, “Thanks for making a horrible situation funny. Now I’d like to know more about the Tuatha. But my biggest question is just how old you are? And how old was my mom?”

  “Fair enough. We are a race of very powerful and magical people. We have lived in Ireland for over five thousand years. There have been many mystical legends about us. Some of which are true, many, of course, being just folklore. As you know, our children come into power at the age of twenty-five for our females and thirty for our males. Prior to that time, they can telekinetically move objects and speak to each of our family members through mental telepathy. At their coming of age, they will be able to actually transform into any animal of their choosing and transport to any destination they wish. During that particular birthday, we must transport to Brú na Bóinne before midnight in order to complete the empowerment.”

  Roarke glanced at her and she nodded for him to continue. “Brú na Bóinne is where we learn most of our heritage and strengthen our powers. It holds a great deal of magic and healing powers in itself, as you will experience firsthand soon. At that point in our lives, our aging process slows down to a crawl. For every three years we live our bodies will only age about a month, which gives us great longevity.”

  Roarke stopped talking. At first Megan thought something else was amiss, but then she realized he was giving her a few minutes to digest what he had said.

  He started once again. “We are very hard to kill, but not impossible. If we are seriously injured, all we have to do is transport ourselves to Brú na Bóinne and within hours, we would never know we had been injured in the first place. There are only a few things that can cause us to die, those being decapitation, total destruction of our bodies, or loss of a major organ. Fire will not kill us as long as we transport out of it before we burn too severely. Failure to transport to Brú na Bóinne by midnight of our empowerment birthday or for our females during childbirth are the only other causes of death in our species.”

  Roarke was telling her what most people would think of as a fairy tale, only for her it was real life. It was so far from anything she could have ever imagined. She had to wonder why her father or her uncles, for that matter, had never told her the truth about herself long ago.

  Roarke gave Megan some more time to digest the new information he had given her. Then he continued. “Now to answer your earlier question, I am seven hundred and twenty-five years old and your mother at the time of her death was two hundred and five.”

  Megan sat in stunned silence. Roarke did not look much older than fifty. Her mother was almost two hundred when she gave birth to her. This was going to take some time to get used to.

  “No, your father did not know how old your mother was or much of what I just told you. These are things only known to our people and must never be told to non-Tuatha.”

  “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

  “After what I just told you, it would be logical that you would have to wonder that.”

  “Okay, but why didn’t my uncles tell me?”

  “It was your father’s wishes to wait to see if you would remember on your own. He also thought that being he was your father you might not have the magical part from your mother. He should have been more receptive to allowing your uncles to tell you the truth earlier, but I think he was afraid that you might regress back into a coma if you knew the truth. He does not know how strong you are. Now are there any other questions you might have that I can try to answer for you?”

  “How old is Seamus?”

  “He is almost three hundred.” Roarke answered.

  Megan calculated his age. “So that makes him about thirty-seven body age wise. I guess I can live with that.”

  Roarke laughed so hard tears ran down his face.

  Seamus had been surprised how easy it had been to take care of the twenty men all passed out between the cave and the cabins. The five men that had been closest to the cave were dead when they had gotten to them. They had been bleeding from their noses and ears. Whatever Noel had done, it had been more than effective. Thank the Goddess they had shielded Megan. What would have happened to her if they had not, was anyone’s guess. Judging from these men…he mentally shook himself. That was one scenario he would rather not even consider.

  Even Noel looked unnerved at seeing the effects of what he had done. In no time they disposed of the bodies. They found five more over by his cabin that were unconscious, killed them, and disposed of the bodies as well. Another five were by the O’Shea cabin, these they tied up at Conor’s insistence. He said he needed to have them to test out the removal of the microchips. They confiscated all weapons and other devices the men carried.

  When they had everything under control, Seamus said, “Colin, Noel, and Paddy, you come with me to the cave.” To the rest he said, “You can safely return to the cabin; by now Sean, Dono, and Jim should be coming around. Kevin, ward the cabin once you are in and work on those tracking devices. Even though we are not detecting anyone around, I still do not trust our sensing abilities with all the strange technology this group has.”

  When Seamus and the others arrived back in the cave they found Roarke and Megan testing her powers again. This time instead of trying to bring objects to her, Megan was trying to move from one place to another within the cavern. Much to his surprise, she was actually able to jump small distances.

  In unison, Patrick and Noel said, “How can you be doin
g that when you have not come into power yet?”

  It was the question Seamus had but could put no voice to.

  Megan looked up, grinned, and the next second was standing beside them. “I don’t know how I’m doing this, but it’s great fun. Roarke suggested I try it after I was able to have things materialize in my hand.”

  Seamus glanced at his father.

  Roarke held his hands up and spoke, “She seems to be gaining power even before her birthday, which in itself is highly unusual, but what is the most fascinating is the fact that her magical aura is not even fluctuating during use. Normally, this does not occur until one reaches fifty to seventy-five years.”

  “So what does this mean?” Seamus asked without taking his eyes off Megan.

  “That I could not tell you, but one thing is for sure I want to be around on her birthday. If she already has this much power now, I am guessing that when she actually turns twenty-five she is going to be phenomenal. I only hope we can teach her how to control it over the next few weeks.”

  Megan whipped her head around to Roarke and asked, “What do you mean?

  Smiling at her, Roarke said, “Do not worry child. All I am saying is you have much more power than I have ever seen in my time.”

  “Roarke, that’s not what I asked. What could happen?” Fear radiated off her in waves. Seamus could feel them.

  “Megan, I truly do not know, as I have never experienced anyone with your kind of power before they become of age. You have learned much about focusing in just the few lessons we have worked on today. That is a major hurtle. If you keep practicing, I feel you will have no real problems during your empowerment.”

  Seamus walked over to Megan and took her into his arms. He whispered to her, “Do not worry a ghrá, I will be with you. And so will all your family. None of us will let anything happen to you.”

  “Thank you. This really frightens me. My whole life has been turned upside down. Of everything, this is the scariest. What if I can’t control my magic? Why can’t I just go back to living a normal life, as boring as it might have been? I don’t think I like this adventure at all.”

  Smiling, Seamus said, “Trust me. I would like nothing better than to just live a normal life with no great adventure either as long as I have you in it. Hopefully, within the next few weeks everything will settle down and we can see if we can give you a boring life again.”

  Laughing, Megan said, “Somehow I don’t think life is going to be boring around you.”

  Seamus asked, “Is that a compliment or are you trying to tell me you do not want me in your life?”

  “Actually, I’m telling you I’m kind of looking forward to having you in my life. As much of a pain in my ass as you are, I’m beginning to enjoy having you around.”

  With that Seamus brought his mouth to hers, kissing her until she had to hold on to him for support. He broke the kiss, but still held her close, and then addressed the rest of the group. “Now what we need to do is secure this area from any more intrusions. I would like to ward the top of this mountain with a very strong spell, but for this I will need the four of you to help.”

  Noel asked, “What do you need us to do? I know a great deal of spells but have never done one of this magnitude.”

  Seamus shook his head, “From what I saw you do earlier, I would have to disagree. You have quite a bit of power. Anyway, we need to go to the most central location. Then I will need one of you to stand at true north, another south, and so on. We will invoke a circle spell of protection encompassing this portion of the mountain. You will each amplify the effects so the spread will be much greater. Anyone trying to enter with malice in his heart toward us, or any intent to cause us harm will be unable to cross the boundary. I will engage the wolves’ help in the unlikely event someone would somehow get that close. They will also act as an early warning system.”

  They all agreed that it was a sound plan. Colon switched on his device to disable any shielding mechanisms remaining before they left the safety of the cave with Megan.

  When they arrived at the clearing Seamus, Patrick, Noel, Roarke, and Colin immediately started setting up for the protection spell. Megan sat in the middle and watched with great interest. She had many questions on what they were doing but decided she would ask Seamus once everything was completed. Colin, Noel, Patrick, and Roarke went to stand forming a circle about twenty feet out.

  Seamus started walking around them, speaking in a language Megan did not understand, yet sounded familiar, as he held an ornate knife pointed toward the ground. He walked the circle a second time sprinkling salt, then again with incense. Upon the fourth walk as he passed Roarke, Patrick, Noel and Colin, the candles each held sprang to life. Finally, he completed the circle sprinkling water. Almost at once, Megan could feel the energy around her change.

  As Seamus walked to the center of the circle, still chanting, Megan could feel the energy growing stronger. She did not know the exact words he was saying yet somehow they came to her. The others were now also chanting in the same language. Megan stood, opening her arms to the heavens. As if someone was whispering to her, telling her the words to say, she also started to chant. The energy grew stronger and seemed to push out encompassing the mountaintop.

  When the spell was complete, Seamus began opening the circle once more by walking the opposite direction around the circle extinguishing the candles as he went. He then walked a second time holding the knife he had started with. Once he finished Megan could feel the energy dissipate. Fascinated by the whole ritual but also intrigued that somehow she had participated as if she knew what she was doing—she wanted to ask how.

  It seemed she was not the only one curious about how she knew what to say.

  Roarke spoke first, “This is amazing! How is it you knew how to work a spell even though you have never been taught?”

  Megan ran her hands up and down her arms as she said, “If I could tell you I’d be thrilled. It was as if someone was whispering the words to me in my mind. How is this possible? How am I doing the things I’m doing without understanding any of it?”

  “Well, we will have to do a bit more investigating over the next few days. It is most interesting to see how quickly you are gaining your power even before your birthday. You will have to stay close to one of us at all times so we can help you if you get into any trouble.”

  Megan gasped, “Could I do something that could hurt someone?”

  Seamus was at her side in an instant. “Now a ghrá, do not get upset. Da is just voicing his concern over the fact that you seem to possess a great deal of power even before you come of age. We do not know what other things you can do yet and neither do you, nor do any of us want anything to happen that you do not know how to deal with. You have to remember you did not even know you possessed any of these powers a few days ago.”

  That eased her fears a little, but she was still quite anxious over the fact they all seemed on edge.

  Patrick walked over to Megan, put his arm around her and said, “Megan, your mother was very powerful as well, I am sure you have inherited some of her talents. Maybe she taught you some of this before you lost your memory. It is just locked away in your subconscious. Now as you are coming close to your birthday it is coming out without your conscious mind thinking about it.”

  “I hope your right, because this really gives me the willies.”

  Seamus looked at Patrick and gave him a nod. “The four of you pop on back to the cabin and make sure everything is settled there and let them know what we have done here. I will walk back with Megan. We will meet you there shortly.”

  They all nodded and were gone.

  Megan looked at Seamus; she was so unnerved by all the things that seemed to be happening to her over the last few days that she just wanted to sit down and cry her eyes out.

  As if he knew her feelings, Seamus put his arm around her and pulled her close. She melted into him and held on for dear life.

  “I know this seems so overwhelmi
ng to you at the moment. I cannot say it is going to all disappear, but I can promise that I will be here for you and so will the rest of your family.”

  They started toward the cabin. Megan tried to sound strong but her voice came out in a whisper. “Why is this happening to me? How can I do all these strange things when just a few days ago I didn’t even know I was anything other than a normal human being?”

  “Love, you were never just a ‘normal human being’, just because you did not know you had special talents did not mean you did not possess them. You have been a Tuatha all your life. As Paddy told you, this knowledge has always been there locked in your subconscious. The closer you get to your birthday the more this knowledge is coming to the forefront.”

  “Maybe that’s true, but everyone, you included, keeps telling me that I shouldn’t be able to do many of the things I’m doing.”

  Seamus squeezed her shoulders. “I cannot argue with you on that subject, but just because you seem to possess stronger power than most does not make it a bad thing. It may mean you are going to be much more powerful than most Tuatha.”

  “But what happens if I do something that I shouldn’t and hurt someone?”

  Seamus took Megan by the arms and held her away from him. “Megan, listen to me. You are not going to hurt someone by accident. You would have to deliberately make an effort to cause someone harm.”

  “Are you sure? What if I made something fly through the air like I did in the cave?”

  “Aye, there is no way you can harm any of us. You might knock someone out with flying objects, but it would not cause any permanent damage.”

  She could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. “Seamus this isn’t funny, you didn’t see, when I got so upset in the cave, the way I made most of my mother’s crystals and things fly around the room.”

  However, the more she thought about it, she could not control a giggle of her own.