“The baby doesn’t have a chance.” Reese struggled with those words, but she caught her breath and pushed on. “The baby will grow to full term then ... ” She choked and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears pooled in her eyes. Voice cracking, she said, “I’ll lose the child. That will be hell to go through again, but even worse if something happened to Quinn or Phoedra. I want your word you will help me protect them by keeping them away from me when the time comes if I can’t get to Phoedra’s guardian again.”
Lanna had never been handed such a difficult task. She lived to make things better for her family and friends. Tears burned her eyes. “Please let me try to help you, Reese.”
“You will help me if you do as I ask. Your word.” Reese’s voice hardened. That strong woman shoved her emotions deep and stood with the steel backbone she’d shown time and again.
Struggling to get the words out, Lanna whispered, “My word.”
“Great. I need to get out of Treoir and vanish. That’s the best way to keep everyone I care about safe.” Reese pinned Lanna with a look that caused her to swallow hard. “I’ll convince Phoedra to stay here to wait for her dad. Maybe those two can finally live together.”
“What will you tell Phoedra?” Lanna twisted her hands, frustrated she couldn’t use her powers for the ones she loved.
“I have a plan,” Reese said, sounding determined, but not offering more.
“Lanna?” Garwyli called out. He stepped aside as Phoedra rushed past him carrying a glass.
Handing the water to Reese, Phoedra glanced at Lanna with an expectant look. Quinn’s daughter wanted encouragement that Lanna would make everything right for Reese and Quinn.
Rather than lie, Lanna smiled and winked at her. She turned to look up at the old druid standing on the top landing and froze.
Energy surged and pulsed around Garwyli. Lanna couldn’t pull her eyes from the druid’s turquoise aura now charged with a fiery red.
Reese and Phoedra chatted comfortably behind her.
How could they not see or sense the power gathering around Garwyli? His eyes burned with a fury she’d never witnessed.
What was going on?
Chapter 16
Casidhe shifted the packed backpack and stopped to tighten the strap. The three heavy books in it along with a change of clothes and a few toiletries, plus the sword felt as if she carried a person on her back. She would have liked enough time to shower and change out of this soiled white shirt, but every second she’d spent in her cottage she’d feared some deadly being showing up.
Her hand trembled when she released the strap.
She’d barely escaped from the ancestral centre today before an unknown being entered. She had just opened the secret doorway to the tunnel exit and changed her mind, deciding to wait a little longer for Cavan.
A blast of energy that swept through the building sent her scurrying through the opening and pulling the bookcase door shut.
She’d closed it as softly as she could, but it still made a soft snick sound. Holding her breath, she’d watched through a peephole to see if Cavan had been the one to arrive.
No. It had been that damned giant stranger again. He’d barreled into the back room incredibly fast.
Well, that had solved her dilemma.
Cavan had clearly been watching the building when she left yesterday to go home. If he’d arrived and observed the centre this morning, he would have seen her intruder. When she got her hands on Mr. No Name who broke into her cottage, she’d throttle him for screwing up her meeting with Cavan on top of everything else.
What if Cavan entered the centre next and ran into her late-night intruder?
Cavan had captured the guy’s friend. Could he kill her intruder? Worry stabbed her.
Why? Maybe that guy should stop breaking and entering. She didn’t have a back door to her cottage. How had he entered her cottage and the centre without making a sound?
Logic hit her between the eyes.
Had her intruder teleported?
Probably. What other explanation could it be?
She blew out a loud sigh.
In that case, good thing she hadn’t slowed down since leaving the centre again. She made her fastest trek ever through the tunnel.
Her toe caught on a root and she lunged to maintain her balance. She scraped her hands grabbing a tree no thicker than her wrist to keep from faceplanting.
Now would be a good time to pay attention.
She’d hiked about four miles since hiding the boat on this side of the river.
She couldn’t risk being seen going to the airport she’d just traveled from recently or she’d take a faster route.
With Cavan searching for her, and now the dark stranger, she had to be careful and not make a mistake that would lead any of these beings to a Luigsech family.
If she managed to reach the one she had in mind without any incident, she’d hide out a day to be sure no one had followed her. Then she’d stay with them a couple more days while she researched that grimoire and tried to track down Fenella.
Miserable majik book.
Had Cavan really intended to meet with her? If so, why hadn’t he been at the ancestral centre early this morning?
Had he been around to see what happened at her cottage last night?
Did he have Fenella?
If he didn’t, then where had that woman gone?
Casidhe had to stop piling questions on an already difficult situation.
She hoped Fenella would find the tiny paper message Casidhe had left under a wadded-up rag and realize they had a problem. Then Fenella could go to one of her squire families and send word to Herrick. Fenella was no fool and had a crafty streak. She could get out of County Galway without notice, too. She knew far more of the squire family connections than Casidhe.
All those thoughts should have quieted Casidhe’s fears, but they didn’t. Fenella could just as easily be dead.
She struggled
