Page 75 of A Celtic Secret
“I do.”
Madison headed to the front of the castle while she headed for the rear, encasing those possessed in their light along the way. Making them immobile with magic.
“Siobhán’s building ladders,”Madison warned.“We need to move faster.”
“We are.”She smiled into her sister’s mind.“The extra exits that appeared yesterday are doing exactly what Declán and I had hoped. They’re expanding our magic even faster. Further. Not just that, but protecting everyone against Siobhán’s damn fireballs.”
She was about to say more but fell speechless when she soared as high as the tallest battlement and witnessed her very first dragon. Huge and jet-black with golden catlike eyes, Aodh was beyond terrifying as he flew over the castle and roared again, setting everyone into the frenzy she had hoped wouldn’t happen.
“Holy shit.”She didn’t usually swear, but this called for it.“Do you see him, sis?”
She tried to reach out to Aodh telepathically. Pled with him to remember who he was. Stop what he was about to do. Hopefully, get through to him because she had healed him, and they had a bond.
But she was only met with silence.
“I see him,”Madison confirmed. There was no missing the fear she felt for everyone. Most especially Cian, who stood vulnerable in his dark robes.“Cian’s determined to fight him, but I feel his and Declán’s hesitancy. They didn’t think it would be this hard to battle their own brother. To kill him if they have to.”
“Can’t say I blame them.”She kept working her magic as Aodh swung around and headed back toward the castle.“I’d feel the same if it were you or one of our sisters, whether we were close or not.”
“Aodh’s flying lower this time,”Madison warned.“And he looks...different.”
Madison wasn’t kidding. He flew much lower, the look on his face ferocious. Beyond angry. And he soon expressed that anger in a way that brought people to their knees, cowering in fear when he flew over and roared down a huge stream of fire.
“That’s what it’s for.”She watched in awe as flame lit the animals’ eyes in the totem and repelled his fire, keeping everyone safe.
Yet she felt something in the totem. A weakening. One solely due to the connection between her and Aodh being used against her in the worst way possible.
It was allowing Aodh and, in turn, Raghnall to overcome its magic.
Hermagic.
“Did ye really think that would hold me back?”Aodh roared into her mind, the sound so different and intense she cringed and snapped back into her body.“Nothing will hold me back.”
That’s when she realized so very much.
She hadn’t been the only one with a plan.
While she hated to leave her sister alone to handle the possessed warriors, she had no choice and couldn’t tell her in case Aodh overheard what she’d just figured out. To that end, she could only hope Madison sensed what she did.
This wasn’t going to work.
None of it.
Not since the moment Raghnall made sure Aodh was injured when she traveled back in time. Do that, and she was bound to heal him. How could she not when it was in her nature? Once she did, she became every bit as connected to Aodh as she had been to Raghnall in their previous life after she healed him.
Which, she saw clearly now, was his goal from the get-go.
After all, had Raghnall possessed Aodh before that, he would have lost the ability to defeat the totem. Lost the ability to take over Declán's kingdom. A stronghold that would lend him not only a strategic location but countless men to topple other kingdoms.
Suffice it to say, this was why she could sketch people hearing Aodh but not hear him herself. He could hide himself from her to a degree.
More to the point, hide his intentions.
So shewasthe enemy’s Trojan horse, just not in the way she had thought. Aodh would break past the totem's defenses thanks to his connection with her. When that happened, she suspected all their defenses would fall like dominoes, including the ability to keep possessed warriors safe.
So she sidled out of the tunnel as fast as she could and eyed the sky as Aodh roared overhead again, and her totem weakened even more. It wouldn’t be long before he broke past its defenses and laid ruin to everything in his path.
Declán and Cian might be able to hold him back for a time, but something told her it would mean their end. They were already throwing everything they had at the men climbing Siobhán’s ladders. Warriors targeting their weakest areas, no doubt, thanks to Imag. Worse yet, they appeared fueled by Siobhán’s magic. Now Riona only had one choice, one course of action, and it broke her heart.
