Unknown Magic Page 23

  Seamus felt the vice surrounding his chest grow tighter. His breath labored. His soul cried out for Megan. He sank to the ground in a heap as he whispered. “Come back to me a chroí, for I cannot live without you.”

  Shannon and Conor ran to him, helped him to his feet, and guided him back to the bed Megan was in, laying him down.

  Megan woke to find herself in a grassy field next to a pond filled with fish as colourful as a rainbow. Birds sang as they flew from tree to tree. The breeze blowing through the leaves sounded almost like bells tinkling. Megan never in her life remembered seeing a place so exquisite; it seemed magical.

  “Megan, my little one, you have grown into such a beautiful and powerful woman. You make me so proud.”

  Startled by the voice, Megan turned to see a striking woman walking up to her. Her deep reddish hair cascaded over her shoulders in stark contrast to the flowing white gown she wore. The woman’s eyes were a piercing gray-blue that gave Megan such a feeling of recognition. “Mom?”

  “Yes, little one, it is me.”

  Not yet understanding what was going on, Megan whispered, “How? Am I dead now as well?”

  Shaking her head, Bernadette said, “Oh no, you are just visiting as you did so many years ago.”

  “I remember nothing from when I was young.”

  Sorrow marred her mother’s elegant face. “I know, my little one, and I am sorry we could not allow you to remember back then. You were in such pain, and they had damaged your young mind so much, that we thought it best you did not remember any of it.”

  “Why can’t I remember the years before I was kidnapped?”

  “Unfortunately, even as a young child, you had a powerful mind and would not let us be selective. In order for you to forget your ordeal, the Sidhe had to suppress all your memories. Even before now, you started breaking them loose. You have great powers.”

  “Why didn’t I just die back then?”

  “It was not your time, nor is it now. Yet, you need time to heal from what they have once again tried to do to you, but more importantly, you must learn the truth. You are not who you always thought you were and there is someone you need to meet. Your full memories from your childhood and the time you spent here will be restored to you. Then there is the fact that you and your mate are meant for great things. The greatest of them is saving our people from a tremendous evil that has been trying to destroy us now for many years.”

  Stunned, Megan stared at her mother.

  Bernadette reached out her hand and said, “Come, we have much to discuss and there is a great deal you need to learn, but time is of the essence as I am sure you are also feeling the distress from your mate.”

  Megan could feel Seamus’s anguish and his sense of failure at the possibility he did not find her in time. “I have to do something for him. He is torturing himself over me being unconscious.”

  Smiling, her mother said, “Just open your heart and send him your love. He will feel it and he will know you are all right.”

  Seamus felt a sense of peace come over him as if Megan were telling him she loved him and not to worry because she would be with him soon. His body relaxed and he felt he could breathe once more. He reached over, gathered her into his arm, and held onto her like a lifeline.

  Fiona placed her hand on Seamus. Her insightful pale gray eyes meeting Seamus’s jade green ones over Megan’s head and said, “She is not lost to you my son. Just give her the time she needs to heal.”

  Seamus acknowledged his mother insight and asked, “What have you seen?”

  Smiling Fiona said, “I only received a glimpse of what is to come. All I can tell you at this moment is that Megan is ‘The Child of Prophecy’. She will be a force to reckon with and you are to be at her side. Together you will defeat this malevolence that has been creeping in for the last thirty years.”

  Seamus could hardly believe what his mother was saying. As he looked around the room, he saw both Shannon and Conor staring at Fiona with dumbfounded looks.

  “You will both understand it in time. I cannot give you any more information than I have at this moment. I can say Megan is going to awaken soon and will be able to explain it to us all then.”

  Seamus asked, “But what is this great evil you are talking about?”

  “I have felt it for many years now. It is like a blackness creeping along the ground getting closer every year.”

  Shannon shook her head as if coming out a trance and asked, “Why have you never mentioned it before?”

  Her mother sighed. “Simply because there was nothing that could be done about it, until the prophecy was fulfilled. The hardest thing was knowing you were a part of that prophecy. And when you were lost to us, it almost destroyed me. I thought somehow someone had successfully changed the prophecy, going against what I had seen at your birth.”

  Seamus felt as if someone had just smacked him in the head. “You mean to tell me you have known about this for three hundred years and this is the first time you have mentioned it to me?”

  Shaking her head, Fiona said, “You know better than to even ask such a thing. I could not tell anyone, as someone could inadvertently change what is to come.”

  Feeling chastised, as he rightfully should, he said, “Sorry, Mum, I do know better. It is just a bit of a shock to know you have known of this for so long and had to keep it secret.”

  “That is one of the burdens of being a seer.”

  Seamus hugged his mother and said, “Thank you, Mum, for everything.”

  Squeezing his shoulder, Fiona said, “We will leave you to rest with your Megan for a while.”

  Conor, Shannon, and Fiona then turned and walked from the room.

  When Seamus woke, again, he tried to rouse Megan, only to be disappointed once more. “Come on, Megan my sweet, it is time to come back to me.” She still lay as unmoving as she had hours before. Even with his mother’s words earlier Megan’s stillness scared him.

  Donovan and Patrick, followed closely by Sean, Colin, and Brian took that moment to appear. Looking up, Seamus saw five grim faces and said, “I gather you did not find the head of Golden Enterprises?”

  Donovan answered. “The man is as slippery as an eel. There is not a single thing in that lab that has given us even the slightest clue as to whom the man might be. No wonder you could not track him down over the years.”

  Sean had walked over to see Megan. “Should she not be up and about by now?”

  Heavyhearted, Seamus replied, “Aye, she should have hours ago. I can feel her energy, but her soul seems very far away.”

  Sean looked from Seamus to Donovan and Patrick, “This should not be happening again. I could understand it when she was young and did not have her power. Now that she has come into power and is here in Brú na Bóinne, she should not be in this state.”

  Donovan looked pained and said, “We cannot dictate how she or anyone else deals with what she went through. You saw what was happening to her through Seamus. You do not know how you would have reacted in the same circumstances. I am not looking forward to having to explain this to Jim.”

  Seamus sucked in a breath. “Dammit to hell and back, I have been so wrapped up in all this I forgot to find out how Jim is doing. He was hurt pretty bad when they attacked you, was he not?”

  “Aye, he had to go into surgery to remove three bullets. Shannon said it was touch and go, there for a bit, but he is recovering very well. He is still dopey from the drugs they are giving him for pain. I can only hope this news does not set him back in any way. It was very hard on him when Megan stayed in that coma, but at least he was able to be with her. If she does not come out of this soon, and he cannot see her, I do not know how it will affect him.”

  Patrick spoke for the first time since he arrived. “It might be a good thing he is still on so much pain medication, as he has no real conception of time. Perhaps if we can make him believe he has been in the hospital for less time than he really has been, we can let him think she has not come
into power yet and is still on the run. I hope that by the time he recovers more Megan will be back with us. Then we will not have to worry about him having any setbacks. I know Megan would be devastated if anything should happen to her father. If she does not return quickly enough, then we will have to explain it to him truthfully, but I can guarantee it is not going to be easy on him.”

  “But what about Jim’s doctor?” Seamus asked

  Paddy shrugged. “We will tell them Jim’s daughter is in another hospital, recovering. Which she is, sort of. We will convince Jim’s doctor it would be in his best interest to let Jim believe only a few hours have passed.”

  “You are a devious man, Paddy O’Shea, but I could not agree with you more,” Sean said just as the rest of the families came waltzing in.

  Liam then turned to Patrick and said with a gleam in his eye, “Your brother is right about you, Paddy my boy, but I must say I like the way you think.”

  With that, everyone burst into laughter.

  After catching his breath, Roarke said, “Well, now that we have settled that and since Fiona has told me she sees Megan waking soon enough, I think we should discuss this problem we have with Golden Enterprise while we all keep watch over our dear Megan.”

  Time crawled. Both his family and the O’Shea’s stayed until well into the night. Finally, Conor told everyone Seamus needed his rest as well and they all departed. Shannon said she would check on Jim and would let Seamus know how he was in the morning.

  Exhausted from the stress of everything that had happened in the last weeks, Seamus crawled into bed with Megan, speaking to her constantly with his mind as he held her until he slipped off to sleep himself.

  As Megan walked with her mother through the enchanted land of the otherworld, she could understand why some would be happy to let go of life to be here. She, however, was not one of them. She wanted nothing more than to get back to Seamus and be held in his arms, as that was the only paradise she wanted now.

  “Mom, what did you mean when you said that I’m supposed to be saving our people from evil?”

  “I will explain it to you shortly. It will be a bit easier for you to comprehend if we wait until you have had your time in the place of understanding and knowledge. You would have gone there upon coming to Brú na Bóinne if you had arrived upon your own accord during your empowerment. Since that did not happen, I am going to take you there first and then we will finish this conversation.”

  Megan blinked and found herself in a large room with inscriptions lining the walls. “How did we get here?”

  “My little one, you have so much to learn. Take the time to walk the room and touch each wall of knowledge. After you have absorbed that, most of your questions will be answered for you. At that point, I will be able to give you any information you need.”

  Megan did as her mother asked. When she touched the first wall, information flooded her mind. Walking to the next, she began to understand more of her people. She moved to the third and fourth wall. More and more knowledge bombarded her; it overwhelmed her. She sank to the floor giving herself the time to assimilate all she had learned.

  When her mother touched her shoulder, she jumped. “We have little time left, and there are still things that you must be told.”

  Nodding, Megan stood on shaky legs and followed her mother.

  Next, they arrived in another room; this one had orbs spinning unaided in space. As Megan looked around, she was drawn to one in a far corner. She was ready to walk toward it when her mother said, “No, Megan, you must call it to you.”

  Megan reached her hand out and the orb was instantly in her palm.

  “Now we will need to leave this room before you try to activate it.”

  Turning, they entered what reminded Megan of an elegant sitting room. Sitting, she proceeded to say the words to activate the orb. A flash of bright light encompassed the orb and traveled outward to include her, and within seconds, she had every memory from before she awoke from her coma seventeen years previously. Grabbing her head, she screamed from the shock.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The next day crawled as slowly as the one before. Pacing the room, Seamus wondered if his mate would ever regain consciousness. He had gained his full strength back and needed to have her with him. Once again, he talked to her, “Come back to me, a chroí, I need you.” Though he got no response verbally, his spirit eased as he felt a stirring of her energy. Yet, the dread he carried did not completely leave him.

  When Donovan materialized at his side, he knew something was up by the look on his face. “What is it?”

  “Jim is up and about and is asking for Megan. We cannot keep him in the dark as we originally hoped. It is almost as if he already knows something is amiss.”

  “It does not surprise me as he does seem to be very in tune with Megan. It is a shame there is no way to bring him here, for it would ease him.”

  “Aye, that it would. We can only hope Megan will awaken soon as it would not be good if this lasts as long as it did the last time.”

  “If it even lasted one-tenth as long, I will lose my mind.”

  “No matter what happens you must stay strong for her.”

  “I know that she is going to come back to me soon, but as each day passes I am getting more restless.”

  Before Donovan could say another word, Megan screamed and brought her hands to her head. Instantly, Conor, Fiona, and Shannon materialized beside her. Seamus collapsed on his knees with his head in his hands. A pair of strong hands gripped one arm and a moment later someone else took hold of his other arm. He looked up to see Donovan and Conor helping him to another bed. Donovan asked, “What is it, man?”

  It took Seamus a few moments to catch his breath from the shock before he said, “Megan has somehow recovered her childhood memories quite swiftly, and it was a shock more than anything.”

  Conor stared at Megan. “Now that is an interesting occurrence. I just cannot conceive how she could be in a coma and yet have complete mind activity to the point of triggering her memories. It should not be medically possible, but then neither is the fact that she is in a coma, so I would have to guess anything would be possible.”

  Seamus looked around to each of them and then said, “She is not in a coma, nor was she back then. She is in the otherworld and having a conversation with her mother. I cannot comprehend what they were saying by any means, but she had her memories suppressed magically when she was a child and now she has recovered them. It would seem she was there the last time because she had been so young and the damage of what those bastards had done to her was so harsh the Sidhe suppressed her memories.”

  Shannon turned to her mother and said, “Have you ever heard of such a thing? Is it possible to actually be in the Summerland and not be dead?”

  Fiona smiled. “Never have I heard of such a thing, but with Megan it seems there are many things that occur out of the ordinary. She has more power than any of our people, or even lore has ever mentioned. If it is possible to go between both worlds it would be an extraordinary feat.” She then looked from Megan to Seamus and said, “If I am not mistaken the prophecy states something about walking in between both worlds. How that is possible, I do not know, but if you are getting the conversation straight, it would seem Megan has once again done the impossible.”

  Shaking his head, Seamus said, “Aye, it would seem she is far beyond any of our people. What is being said is a bit muffled, but the gist of it is clear enough. I seem to have been mated to one exceptional woman. I can only hope we did not interpret the Fates’ wrong, when we figured Megan and I were meant to be together. If she were to be taken from me now, I would be lost forever.”

  Fiona came up to Seamus, hugged him, and said, “No, my son, I saw you were to be mated to a great woman even as I carried you in my womb. It was a difficult thing for me when everyone insisted you were dead, because I knew you had a very important part in dealing with a great evil that is trying to infest our people and your m
ate was one of great power that will be important in conquering it. I never saw you being taken from us, yet it was hard when we could not contact you. I, even at one time, almost gave up hope. So do not worry about Megan not being meant for you, for the gods have deemed it so. Of that I am sure.”

  Conor checked Megan out because she once again lay as still as death.

  Then Seamus spoke to them all, “We might as well all try to get a little more rest as I think she will not come back to us for a little while yet. As for what needs to be told to Jim, maybe it would be best if I went to him and explained what I know.”

  Donovan nodded and said, “That might be best. I will go with you, and we will try to ease him the best we can.”

  Seamus smiled. “Aye, it would be smart for you to be there as well as I am sure Jim will be upset with me for not keeping her safe as I had promised to do.”

  “Dammit, Seamus, if you had not been mated to her we would never have been able to find her at all. So do not try to take the blame for it,” Donovan said as he stalked over to Seamus. “You could have died trying to keep her safe and almost did. None of us did a very good job of it when they attacked us in the cave. If you had not taken her for that walk she would have been taken from the lot of us.”

  “You are forgetting, Dono, she was the one who felt something was amiss as we returned to the cave.”

  “Aye, but you were the one who got her out of there once you knew something was wrong and kept her safe for hours after that. You almost died trying to protect her and in the end found her and brought her home.”

  Fiona spoke up and said, “You two go talk to Jim while I stay and watch over Megan. If anything happens I will contact you at once.”

  Seamus went to Megan. “I have to go speak with your Da and ease his mind. I will be back soon.” He bent and kissed her.