Page 29 of A Celtic Vow
“Come on,” her little self called over her shoulder. “Hurry up!”
“They seem excited.” Constance smiled as the children faded as quickly as they had appeared. “Is King’s Fall really that much fun for kids?” Curious, she wondered at its name. “Why is it called that anyway?” She shook her head in confusion. “And why, when I know we’re close, can’t I hear the waterfall?”
“You’ll soon see.” Aodh pulled her after him until a tall, jagged opening appeared in the side of a towering boulder. “This way.”
She eyed the unusual opening warily as he led her into a pitch-black tunnel and then stopped to light a torch. “’Tis a bit of a walk from here, but I suspect you will enjoy at least part of it.”
“Part of it?” she murmured. “What do you mean by....”
She trailed off when she felt what he meant rather than saw it. A sense of kinship with her surroundings that made little sense, considering they made their way down a craggy path in an ever-cavernous tunnel.
“Dragons tend to be cave dwellers,” he explained. “So your inner beast would feel more at ease here.”
“Ah.” That made sense. “I finally hear the waterfall.” She was perplexed yet taken aback all at once. “It doesn’t sound quite right, though. More like...” She blinked, startled. “Why does it almost sound more like an inhuman roar than gushing water?” She narrowed her eyes. “Like what I imagine a dragon roar might sound like?Didsound like in my nightmare?”
“I don’t know other than to say ‘tis how the water echoes off the stone here.” Aodh made sure she watched her step as they traveled downward. “But I’ve always thought the same.” He gestured at the tunnel they traveled through. “Not just about the sound, either, but the rock around us. There’s something telling about it, but I’ve never been able to figure out what it is.”
“I agree.” She eyed it as well. “Really telling.” She slowed as if just saying the words meant something.Ledto something. “I know this spot,” she managed, barely able to speak. Hardly able to get the words out. “I’ve been here before, and I’m not talking about as a child who traveled through time.” She stopped short. “Here, Aodh.Righthere.”
He frowned and shook his head. “There’s nothing here but rock.”
“But there is.” She looked at him, never more certain. “Far more than meets the eye.”
Chapter Ten
AODH WASN’T SURE whatto make of Constance’s conviction that there was something worth noting in their current location in the tunnel. She seemed positive, though, as she took the torch from him and studied the stone on the right-hand side.
“Can’t you feel it?” she insisted. “This is the way.”
“The way to what?” He shook his head. “I feel nothing.”
Or did he? Because he swore his dragon responded to hers. Urged him to pay closer attention.
“The way to King’s Fall.” Still studying the wall, she stepped back and held the torch up higher. “Most definitely the way.”
“Nay.” He gestured down the tunnel. “That’sthe way to King’s Fall.”
