Page 75 of A Celtic Memory
Bile rose in her throat. Her chest squeezed in anguish. Yet she pressed on. Hoped her blade would help her. Prayed that the endless death and destruction that flashed in her mind wasn’t a premonition but born of everything she had just witnessed.
She held her blade at the ready and rounded the corner only to stop short when Siobhán turned her hateful gaze Madison’s way.
“Ah, there ye are, at last, wee one.” Siobhán’s gaze raked over her with amusement. “Such a babe. So pitifully new into your gift.”
As far as she could tell, she and Siobhán were around the same age, so she had no idea what to make of that.
“Who are you in all this?” She might be terrified, but she inched forward regardless. “Are you an Unnamed One or just a druidess? Because you’re definitely one of the two.”
“I’m your worst nightmare.” Siobhán’s eyes turned to oil slicks. “Your king’s worst nightmare.” A sickening grin curled her lips. “Death to him and his pitiful brothers.”
Shewastoo.
Madison sensed it clearly.
Siobhán had been the darkness closing in on her for the past six months. Seeking her out. Eager to destroy her. It took everything not to lean over and throw up at the waves of evil coming off the other woman. She tried to keep moving, but her feet felt glued to the floor. Fear was paralyzing her, and the dark druidess knew it. Chuckled at it.
“Not so brave now are ye,peacach trua.” Siobhán tossed her head back and laughed. “No braver now than ye were then.”
She startled at the wordspitiful sinner. So Siobhán knew what Madison had done in another life. And she got the sense it was firsthand knowledge which meant she had been there. Reborn just like Madison and her sisters.
“Whoareyou?” she tried to ask again, but her vocal cords closed as Siobhán squeezed her fist from afar. Going off pure instinct, Madison squeezed her fist as well, then opened her hand, relieved when her airways opened.
Her relief didn’t last long, though.
Not when Siobhán thrust out her hand, and Madison was tossed back. She landed with a heavy thump on her back, and the wind whooshed right out of her.
“Get out of there, mo dhraoi,”Cian roared into her mind.“She’s far too powerful, and ye’re new into yer magic.”
“I won’t run,”she ground out and managed to stand.“I can’t.”
Siobhán hit her with another pulse of magic so strong that she slammed back against the wall, and her vision dimmed around the edges. Like a dark angel come for her soul, Siobhán strode her way and thrust her palm out again.
She gasped at the sensation of being pressed back. It felt like a rock wall closed in on her. Squeezed every last organ. Her blade dropped from numb fingers. Dragging in air became harder and harder. Her vision grew darker.
“I’m sorry,”she whispered into Cian’s mind. It didn’t matter how much she tried to draw on her magic, Siobhán was stronger.“I thought...”
The other woman was nearly to her when a black fireball slammed into her back, and she dropped to her knees.
“Go!”Cian’s dark side had been in every inch of that fireball. His internal roar turned deafening.“Now, dhraoi!”
Notmy druidessthis time, but simplydruidess.
As though he were releasing her from his heart.
This go around, when freed from Siobhán’s evil grip, she didn't mess around fighting back. Instead, she gasped for air, grabbed her blade, and stumbled down another narrow set of stairs. Cian’s magic would only hold the dark druidess back for so long.
“I just need to regroup,”she assured him.“Tap into the magic I harnessed at the tree.”
He offered no reply, but she knew he was there. Felt his darkness in her mind as he fought. Felt the bloodshed and endless death that had all but snuffed out the light inside him.
She stumbled down the remaining stairs and around the corner, only to fall over Deirdre at the back side of the stables.
“Oh,no,” she whimpered, cupping her friend’s cold face. She closed Deirdre's eyes to death and bit back a sob. She should have been here sooner. Saved these poor people somehow.
Though tempted to stay and protect Deirdre’s prone body, she had to keep moving, so she stumbled into the stables. What few horses remained in their stalls were eerily quiet as they watched her lean against the wall. She tried to sheath her blade for a moment and gather herself, but her hand shook too badly.
“I’m sorry,” she half whispered, half croaked. She felt like she had let them down every bit as much as she had everyone else. What kind of Unnamed One was she that she couldn’t protect Cian? Protect their people?
