Unknown Magic Read online

  Looking around the room as if they might appear somewhere else, Seamus said, “I have no clue.”

  Seamus removed his hand. The crystals reappeared as though they never left. He reached for them, and, once again, they disappeared. “I must say, I knew your mother had great power, but this beats all. How can she have spelled these so no one else could take them?” He paused and then said, “Put them down on the altar and let me try to touch them then.”

  Megan did as he asked. He reached to pick them up only to have them evaporate once more. Megan laughed. “She told me that as long as they remained in the cave no one else but me would be able to touch them. I guess she meant that literally.”

  “So, you will be able to activate them once you come of age?”

  “I guess. That’s what I was talking about when you came in.”

  “Did your Mum give you any indication as to what is in these crystals of memories?”

  Megan concentrated so hard her brows wrinkled.

  “No, all she said was that if anything ever happened to her, I would know the truth. It seems every time I dream of her she is trying to tell me something important, but I’ve yet to figure out what it is.”

  “That is quite strange indeed. Perhaps you should talk to Dono and see if he knows anymore about these crystals. He may also be able to give you more insight into what your mum is trying to tell you.”

  Megan smiled at Seamus. It seemed to her the more she was around him the more she enjoyed his company. He always said just what she needed to hear. Just looking at him now made her want to reach up and kiss him. So, going on instinct, she went up on her toes putting her arms around his neck. “Thank you.” And she pressed her lips to his.

  That was all the encouragement he needed. He pulled her closer and took over the kiss. His hand came between their bodies and he found her breast and gently kneaded it. Her nipple hardened as he flicked his thumb over it. Her breath caught and as she opened her mouth to inhale, he took it as an invitation to explore her mouth with his tongue.

  “That will be enough of that! For Goddess sake, you would think you two were a couple of teenagers. You will both have plenty of time for it after the Deasghnáth.”

  They jumped apart as if a bolt of lightning struck them.

  Seamus turned toward the voice ready to unleash his fury at being stopped again from making love to Megan He came up short at the sight of Sean almost doubled over with laughter. When he looked back at Megan’s face, he almost started laughing himself. She looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, but then her expression changed to one of fury. Seamus knew if he did laugh, he would also become the recipient of her anger. Unfortunately for Sean, he did not seem to notice.

  Seamus watched as Megan glanced around the room, and he knew what she had in mind even before she acted. He debated about letting her clobber Sean with something or trying to prevent it. To hell with it, the little cus deserves what he gets. The next thing Seamus knew a clay pot careened across the room and hit Sean with enough force to knock him flat, as it broke into a million pieces.

  Seamus turned back to Megan and they both dissolved into fits of laughter. As he caught his breath, Seamus said, “That should teach him not to mess with you in the future.”

  Megan was still having trouble catching her own breath as Sean stood up, shook pieces of the pot from his clothing, and glared at her.

  Seamus thought now would be a good time to intervene. “So, Sean, what is it that brought you in?”

  Sean looked at Seamus, started to say something, stopped himself, and then said, “Aye, I came in to tell you that your Da wanted you, and I said I would get you since I needed to talk to Megan anyway. Now I am not so sure I want to speak to her at all.”

  Megan put on her most innocent look, walked over to her uncle, and gave him a big hug. “Come on, Uncle Sean, it’s your own fault I smacked you with that pot, and you know it.”

  “True enough, but you better behave yourself from now on.”

  “Okay, I’ll try to be good.” She didn’t quite manage to keep the smirk from her lips. Seamus knew she would be a handful for the rest of his life.

  “You do that now.” Sean could not hold back the laughter any longer. He threw his head back and roared. Megan joined him.

  Seamus could see that they had both decided to let the little bit of anger they were carrying go, so he left them to it and went to see what his father needed.

  Seamus found his father looking over Colin’s shoulder as they talked about something on the screen in front of them. He walked up and peered down. “Da, what is it you wanted to see me about?”

  “Seamus. Good. You are here. I wanted you to take a look at this and see what you thought. Colin and I have been going over the images from the night Brian and Noel were shot. We noticed that the men that made it past the barrier came in here. Colin has enhanced the picture as much as possible. Take a look and tell me what you see.”

  Seamus looked at the images on the screen more closely. In fact, he stared at it for some time. “There is someone else there. Whom? Can you get that part any clearer?”

  Shaking his head, Roarke said, “That is what we have all seen, but no matter how Colin works it, the image will not come in any clearer. Whoever it is, they are purposely blurring themselves, and therefore, it has to be one of our people. Whoever it is was able to break through your spell and let those men in. Worse is whoever it is has a fair bit of power to be able to do both at the same time and figure out how to breach your spell.”

  Seamus turned and smacked the cavern wall with his fist so hard a portion of it crumbled. “Bloody Hell.”

  Roarke put his hand on Seamus’s arm. “Quinn has gone back to the council to inform them of our findings and find out how they want to proceed with this new development. As for us, I suggest we go ahead and complete the Deasghnáth immediately. If whoever is behind this is determined to get Megan, you have to be able to track her. Why any of our people would want her and to what end, none of us know at this point. So I hope she will not balk at doing it tonight.”

  Pointing toward the screen Seamus said, “This changes everything. I am sure once I explain this new development to her she will not disagree with going ahead. Does any of her family know this yet? Last time one of them decided to tell her something, you know how that went, and I do not want any of them getting her back up again.”

  “Aye, I do. However, it might be too late, Sean knows and I think he planned on telling her.”

  “Shite, just what I need. Excuse me so I can see if I can head him off.” Seamus took off at a run toward the cavern.

  After their laughter died, Sean hugged Megan. “I am very proud of you and the progress you are making in your control of your magic.”

  “Thank you, but since you so rudely interrupted Seamus and me let me ask you something first before you tell me why you are here.”

  “Go ahead, Pet, ask away.”

  “Do you know anything about the crystals Mom placed here?”

  “Aye, I do. Which one would you like an explanation on?”

  Megan picked up the memory crystals and showed them to Sean.

  Staring at them, Sean said, “I have never seen those before.” When he went to take them from Megan, they disappeared as soon as his hand touched them. Scowling at Megan, he asked, “What the hell? Is this some kind of joke you are trying to play on me?”

  Megan shook her head. “They did the same thing when Seamus tried to take them.” Then she proceeded to tell him of the dream explaining what her mother had said about the crystals.

  “Bern was amazing, I will give her that. If you would like, I will check with the rest of the family and see if anyone knows anything about this.”

  “Thanks, that would be great. Now what did you want to talk to me about?” When she caught the look on Sean’s face, her stomach started to flip-flop. She looked away, gathered her thoughts, and whispered, “It’s not going to be something I want to hear, is it?
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br />   “No, Pet, it is not. It seems that we got a picture of the person who is helping these people try to kidnap you. It is definitely a Tuatha, and he was able to blur himself so we could not get a good look. At the same time, he was able to cut a hole in Seamus’s spell boundary and let in those men. Therefore, whoever it is, is powerful.”

  Megan felt numb. Someone was selling out her people and now trying to kill more of her family to get to her. Numbness gave way to anger so strong that a vase careened into the cave wall, startling Sean into silence.

  Getting her anger under control Megan said, “Sorry Uncle Sean, go ahead.”

  “My concern is that they will somehow get to you before the Deasghnáth, so I wanted to see if you would consider doing this immediately. I do not want to be like Dono and try to order you to do anything, so I am going to beg you to do it. Pet, I lost my sister years ago to this group and almost lost you. Please consider this so I do not lose you again.”

  Megan could tell Sean was having a hard time dealing with this and she understood his concern. She knew that a few days wouldn’t make much difference one way or the other so she thought it best not to argue.

  “Uncle Sean, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep myself away from these people. I don’t want to stress anyone out and I’ve already resigned myself to mating Seamus. So, yes, I’ll do it whenever. I know you would never force me into doing something even if Uncle Donovan would. I also know Uncle Donovan wouldn’t have even tried to if he had not been so worried about this, so I’m trying very hard to forgive him. I’m glad you came to me instead of him.”

  Sean smiled. “Dono does not know about this yet. I wanted to talk to you first, so he would not get on his high horse again. I am sure Seamus will try to tell you this as well once he finds out about it. Roarke is probably filling him in as we speak.”

  “Well, I know he’ll try to reason with me about it. Maybe I should give him a hard time just for the fun of it.”

  Sean started laughing. “I think you just like to see him squirm.”

  “Well, it’s an awful lot of fun to see him try to persuade me when I say no to something.”

  “You sound more and more like your mum every day. She was just as obstinate when she wanted to be, and I think she enjoyed making us all beg just to see how much she could get away with.”

  Astonished, she asked, “Did she really make you guys beg her to do things?”

  “Aye, all the time, and she was very good at catching us doing things we did not want Da and Mum to know about. She used them against us all the time. I think she just had a talent for getting her way and used any means possible to achieve her goals.”

  Aghast, Megan asked, “Was she really that bad?”

  “Aye, but it was all in fun. She did not have a mean bone in her body. She was one smart cookie and I loved her dearly, even if she was a brat at times, just like you are.” He said the last part with a grin and she knew he was trying to bait her, so she just ignored him.

  “Well, I promise I’ll do what’s necessary to stay safe so you won’t have to worry, but I’m going to make Seamus squirm a little in the interim.”

  With a glint in his eyes, Sean said, “You do that, Pet. I have always enjoyed seeing him work instead of having people just say yes to him. I think you are good for him, as he is for you. The Fates always know who belongs to whom. I do not know how they figured it out, but I have never seen a mismatch, ever.”

  “Shannon told me about one. His name was Conall or something like that.”

  “Aye, but he went against The Fates and mated with someone who was not his true mate.”

  “Did you know him?”

  “Not very well, I think Seamus and Dono did though. You might talk to either of them about him. All I know is he mated with this woman even though she was not his true mate and then a few years later he was murdered.”

  It always amazed Megan that no matter what she asked her Uncle Sean, he never seemed to hedge on anything. He always gave her a straight answer no matter how insignificant the question might be. “Thanks for being such a great uncle. You never try to blow me off. You always answer all my questions when I need reassurance.”

  Sadness crept into his eyes as he said, “I know that we all blew it by not telling you long ago about your heritage. Therefore, I am bound and determined to make it up to you. But I do have one bone to pick with you.”

  Megan knew where he was heading and she was not going to try to explain why she threw the clay pot at him because it would make her mad all over again.

  “Don’t even go there if you know what is good for you.”

  Just then, Seamus came barreling in the room. Megan knew he had heard her last sentence when he looked at Sean and said, “Do not tell me you are trying to bully Megan into…”

  She stopped him with a wave of her hand. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now I want some lunch. I don’t want discuss anything with either of you for a while.” She gave her uncle a pointed look letting him know he better keep his mouth shut so she could play with this for a while. Sean just smiled and said, “I have already eaten, so I will see you both later.” Then he left.

  Seamus walked up to Megan, pulled her into his arm, kissed her, and then conjured up lunch for them. Megan smiled beneath their kiss. This is fun.

  As they ate, Megan let Seamus stew over how he was going to try to get her to agree to do the ritual right away. She enjoyed watching him try to keep the conversation light. When she figured he suffered enough, she to let him off the hook. “So tell me what you were so fired up about when you practically flew into the room earlier.”

  “I was hoping to ward off Sean trying to tell you what to do, but from the part of the conversation I caught I think I was a bit late.”

  “Yes, I’d say you were a lot late.”

  “Damn, why your uncles cannot just give you the facts and let you make your own decisions is beyond me. Do they not think you have the brains to be able to reason things out for yourself?”

  Megan could not help but feel she and Seamus were going to make a great team as her Uncle Sean had said earlier. She could see that Seamus wanted her to make up her own mind, knowing she was astute enough to understand what needed doing.

  She was beginning to wonder why she had ever been worried about their union in the first place. She now knew Seamus would never force his opinion on her and would value her opinions as well. The more time she spent with him, the more he made her feel as though he cherished her. If this was what being his mate was going to mean, she had no qualms about it at all. In fact, she did not think she had ever been around anyone who made her feel this wonderful about herself.

  As much as she would have liked to see him try to convince her to go through with the ritual immediately, she decided she could not be cruel to him any longer. “Before we go any farther let me tell you Sean didn’t try to tell me to do anything. He actually did what you would have done. He gave me all the facts and asked me, no I take that back, he begged me to consider going through with the ritual now. So, before you try to undo something that doesn’t need undoing I’m going to tell you, yes, I’ll go ahead whenever you think we should do this.” Megan watched Seamus sag with relief.

  “Thank the Goddesses. I was so worried that he would pull the same stunt Dono had with you a week ago.”

  “I agree, because I’d have gotten angry and told all of you to forget it, even if it put me in danger. Although, you always explain things to me instead of trying to bully me, so maybe I would have given you a chance to try to change my mind.”

  “Love, you are a very intelligent woman and I see no reason for you not to be able to figure things out for yourself. I know I came on pretty strong myself when we first met. Nevertheless, that was because I did not know you well enough. I can promise you this. I will always give you the choice in what you need to do. If I ever get a little overbearing sometimes, it will probably be because I am worried about something, or about you. All you have to do
is let me know, and I will back off. I never want you to be unhappy about us being together.”

  Seamus reached across the table and took Megan’s hand. “Having you around makes me feel whole and I do not ever want to feel anything less again. I never realized how much was missing in my life until I found you. So whatever it takes to make you happy and stay in my life, I will do.”

  Megan couldn’t stop the tears that rushed from her eyes. She didn’t know how anyone could express a greater love for her than the way Seamus had in what he had said.

  “Aw, a stór, do not cry. I did not mean to upset you.” He pushed his chair out, came around the table, and gathered her into his arms.

  “You didn’t, in fact you made me feel wonderful. No one has ever made me feel more cherished.”

  “You will always be cherished by me. There will never be anyone in my life that will mean as much to me as you.”

  She sniffed and whispered, “If you don’t stop, you are going to have me flooding this whole cave in no time.”

  Seamus took her in his arms and kissed her. She went boneless in his arms. He wanted nothing more than to take her to bed and make love to her until they both could not move. Unfortunately, they had more important things to consider.

  Seamus had trouble thinking when he ended the kiss. “As much as I would love to continue what we are doing, we need to decide when to complete the Deasghnáth.”

  “If it means we finally get to finish making love without interruption, then tonight isn’t soon enough.”

  Seamus could not help but smile. It was almost as if she was reading his mind. “Then, shall we go and get the final preparations done so I can make love to you the way I have been wanting to since the day I saw you across the lake?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Deasghnáth commenced outside the caverns late that evening. Megan was astonished to see so many people, even all of her family. Everyone was dressed in outfits befitting royalty, including a full-length hooded cape that carried his or her family colors and crest. She dressed in a dark green one with the Tully crest. She wondered how they were able to produce such things so easily. Then again, when you could create everything out of thin air she figured her cloak could not be very hard.