Celtic Evil
A Fitzgerald Brothers Novel
Ian
Sierra Rose
*****
Published by Sierra Rose at Smashwords.com
Copyright 2010 Sierra Rose
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*****
Prologue
A Circle of light, a circle of five, five into one, one becomes five to unite the circle and protect the light.
Centuries ago, the prophecy foretold the coming destruction of the evil Warlock Sebastian by five warriors united by blood who must face their own demons to prove their worth.
Sebastian has fought to destroy that prophecy with every generation of his ancient foes, and after a fifteen-year banishment has returned to finally succeed in his goal for he has many plans set in motion to defeat the sons of his most hated rival, the late Toryn Fitzgerald.
The silver haired Warlock knew that he had underestimated his foes the first time and had failed to kill the fourth born son of the Fitzgerald clan for a second time.
Now, with a better grasp on what makes them tick and what makes them weak, he knows what he must do to either kill or turn just one of the remaining four.
However, his plan will also work if anything happens to any of them, which is a plan that his current accomplice is still willing to see happen.
Lightning crashed through the dark stormy skies over a well-kept manor in the Irish city of Waterford and it mirrored the dark mood of one of its occupants.
“It should have been easy to claim his life.”
Sebastian had still not grown accustomed to being out of his unearthly realm, yet the richly decorated home of Kathleen Murphy Fitzgerald suited him well.
However, at times the woman’s incessant complaining grated on his last nerve. “We both underestimated your grandsons the last time, Katie,” he turned from watching the storm to see the well-trimmed silver/black haired Irish woman frown. “Neither of us expected the lads to bond that quickly and I certainly wasn’t expecting the little trick that Roarke pulled from his hat. I still intend to burn him and his whore for that.”
The memory of being made a fool of by Roarke Fitzgerald still grated almost as bad as the pain he suffered from the wound and the scars that still showed on Sebastian’s otherwise perfect face.
“Assure me Roarke’s death, Sebastian and I will still deliver what I promised.” Kathleen remarked, sipping a glass of wine and pouring him one. “I’ll give you your freedom and the end of the prophecy so long as you give me what I desire most.”
Smiling, Sebastian took the crystal wineglass and lightly tapped it against hers. “Katie girl, I vowed that you would regain control of Fitzgaren manor and that I’d give you the death of your grandson and I will do both,” he assured her then scowled. “However, Kerry will be on guard now so getting close to them won’t be easy.”
“Aye, Kerrigan has his mother’s ability there but there is a way to get close to one of them.” Kathleen tapped a nail on her glass. “It hurts a grandmother’s heart to think of using Ian in such a way but he’s the easiest to handle at this stage and if we follow my plan, the lad won’t even suspect the danger he’s in or from whom,” She smiled as an evil look entered her eyes. “My beloved Toryn didn’t have the time to teach Ian not to trust everyone and he believes that he’s safe from her.”
Sebastian chuckled, clinking glasses with her again. “You, Katie, are a woman after my own heart,” he decided proudly. “A toast to a successful plot and to the death of your foe as well as my own. May we each get what we desire most.”
“Aye and we shall,” Kathleen promised as lightning scored the night sky again. “I’ve plotted well these past fifteen years for occasions such as this and now promises made will be called in and my grandsons will learn that they should not have spurned my advice.”
“As I said, a woman after my own black heart,” he laughed, letting himself imagine. “The Circle of Five will soon be no more and once again my power will reign supreme in this land and it will only take one simple betrayal of the most innocent.”
Laughter echoed in the manor as the weather outside echoed the evil plans being hatched inside.
****
Chapter 1
Savernake Forest, Great Britain:
One mile southeast of the historic town of Marlborough in Great Britain lies 4500 acres of deeply mysterious and beautiful Savernake Forest, one of England’s oldest woodlands.
While mainly privately owned, some of it is open to the public but on rare occasions, the locations with the best spots for study are opened to Professor Jonas Brighton’s class from Trinity University up from Dublin.
This was the case on one afternoon when the class had been camping in the woodlands for several days while exploring the woods, viewing the different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and trees.
While his major was acting, Ian Fitzgerald had long ago accepted that he couldn’t count on acting or singing to support him and he didn’t like depending on either his foster family or his brothers for that.
Of course, while he found Professor Brighton’s class boring as hell, the chance to explore the Savernake Forest wasn’t something he was planning to pass up. He’d long since heard the rumors of it being a powerful magic spot and those were things that he was always fond of looking into.
At eighteen, the 5’6” Ian was the youngest of the Fitzgeralds and after events a few months prior he had quickly learned that meant his brothers tended to hover over him even though he knew what his powers were capable of.
Having entered Trinity a full year before he should have, Ian was a junior but still one of the youngest on this class trip, which was why he discounted the feelings of unease that he’d been having recently.
“Nerves about being this far from home is all it is,” he decided with the Irish brogue still in his voice when he talked, though he could dispel it easily if he wanted to.
His sunny blond hair blew in the breeze that wafted through the trees around him and his trip partner.
Toby Armstrong was a native to Dublin and totally dedicated to the field of botany. An eighteen-year-old freshman, the red-haired student was sifting through some fallen foliage a few feet away from Ian.
Ian was engrossed in looking at a leaf that seemed unusually withered for this time of year and for the kind of tree that it was from. He thought he felt a change when the hair on his neck began tickling and the pain started building in his head as it had been for days but he chose to ignore it.
“So, still not going to tell me what’s up between you and the Yank that you’re always hanging out with?” Toby called in a teasing tone, looking up at his partner.
Knowing whom he was referring to, Ian pushed down the first comment that popped into his head since he knew that few people understood Molly Jackson as well as he did.
“She’s in my acting class, that’s it,” he replied evenly, rubbing the back of his neck where tension was building. “Molly’s new to Dublin and still gets lost so I show her around.”
“That lass would get lost in her own head if it wasn’t attached, mate,” Toby laughed, looking over his shoulder at a deeper part of the woods. “You could hook up with any of those hot little blondes in that class but you choose to hang with…”
Ian just shifted so that his back was to his friend to keep him from seeing the brief flash of anger that lit his eyes. “Molly’s a friend, Toby, and I don’t recall asking for your bleedin’ opinion on my life,” he muttered.
The other boy just laughed, gathered his tools and decided to go deeper into the dark woods in search of more discoveries.
Scowling at the thoughts that the normal teasing had brought up, Ian tried to shake it off.
He liked Molly and never denied that she was pretty but he refused to admit that his growing feelings for her were anything but friendship. He had to keep believing that.
“Toby, don’t go too far into the woods alone,” Ian called to his classmate, just before the first scream came from elsewhere.
Whirling, Ian’s first look told him that the other boy was not anywhere that he could see. Reacting on instinct and not considering anything else, he ran into the woods where the screams were now getting louder.
“This is not your brightest move, boyo,” Ian was telling himself and could just picture his brother Mac’s reaction to his impulsive move, knowing that Mac was always yelling at Ryan about encouraging Ian’s recklessness.
Concentrating on finding his friend, Ian didn’t feel anything else until he cleared a heavy spot of foliage and found Toby Armstrong…or what was left of him.
“Oh, bloody hell.” the boy breathed, wanting to turn away from what he found but couldn’t.
The red-haired Dublin native had wandered further into the woods to locate the other items on the Professor’s list when he found something else. Something that no one should ever have been expecting to find.
Now, his eyes were staring wide open in terror from what he had seen in his last moments, as his body was torn into multiple pieces by the snarling and frothing beasts that were still gnawing on bits of him.
Ian had seen creatures like this once, several months before at his family estate in Fitzgaren. Struggling to recall what Kerry had called them, the boy soon realized that the name wasn’t as important as surviving this.
One beast looked up from the leg that it was chewing on as if sensing its new prey, red eyes locking on Ian.
“No, I don’t think so, puppy.” Ian’s fingers glowed as he began to channel his powers when the sudden pain doubled and took his breath. “What the bloody…” gasping when it become apparent that his powers weren’t coming on and that was the first time in his memory that he actually knew fear since he had always depended on the magic that was his birthright to protect him.
He had no idea why those powers weren’t working and that caused a deeper sense of fear than he could ever recall. A fear that doubled as the beast prepared itself to lunge.
“You are the youngest of the Five, yet you have powers that have yet to be tested. What are you without your brothers, Ian?” a voice that he knew spoke from behind him but before he could turn a sharp blow like an ice-cold hand went through his head. “It is a pity that the glorious fate that was originally destined for you had to be changed so late. Now, not only will your powers be tested but the loyalty of your entire family.”
Ian fought the pain and building fear as a gentle touch to his face turned to agony as he spiraled into an abyss of darkness with only a fleeting thought of betrayal even as the demon dog bared its bloody fangs and lunged for the helpless boy.
The scream from the forest wasn’t the only one heard at that moment. As it seemed like screams echoed throughout the magical realms and in a small town in County Kerry, Ireland, a banshee’s wail sounded for those who could hear it as the ancient Irish harbinger of death sounded that imminent death was close for the Fitzgerald family.
“Ian,” Kerry Fitzgerald looked up from the book in his lap as the ancient wail tore through the quiet night in Fitzgaren and something made the eldest Fitzgerald think instantly on his youngest brother, and didn’t care for the meaning of it or the chill in the air.
“Something’s happened,” Patrick ‘Mac’ Fitzgerald spoke from the doorway of the library. “I can’t see it clearly but Roarke just woke up in agony and Ry’s bitching about pain as well. Kerry…”
“Aye, I know. The bastard’s back,” Kerry sighed.
Unknown to Kerry Fitzgerald, he wasn’t the only one who had heard the scream or felt the danger to Ian Fitzgerald.
Snuggled in her bed in her single dorm room, Molly Jackson sat straight up with a scream on her lips.
A freshman at eighteen and a native of Boston, the bright and perky black girl with a light caramel skin had become fast friends with Ian and shared many of the same interests, including an interest in magic and the occult since her own maternal grandmother was a voodoo priestess in New Orleans.
Now, she sat in her darkened room with a deep knowledge that something was very wrong and the sight of the silver owl hovering outside her window made her sure of that as she decided to find out what was happening first thing in the morning.
Trinity University, Dublin, Ireland, six days later:
“What d’ya mean, let it go?” Molly had prided herself on losing a lot of the strong New Orleans accent from being raised in the Big Easy on and off but as she listened to the Dean of Students, it came back vigorously. “Ian’s been missing for almost a damn week, what’s being done about it?” she demanded. “Has his family been notified? Did you call the police? Toby’s dead, Ian’s missing and…”
Dean Peter Quillian sat back in his leather chair and listened to the girl’s rant before finally lifting a hand to halt her mid-yell. “Miss Jackson, the faculty appreciates your concern in this matter but at this point, it’s being treated as a runaway case.
“The assumption is that after seeing his classmate tore apart by wolves in the Savernake Forest, Mr. Fitzgerald was upset and simply ran. He’ll reappear soon and contact us.” He went on calmly and evenly, his tone not brooking an argument from the American student. “His foster family has been informed and also believes this to be the case, as does Mrs. Fitzgerald, Ian’s paternal grandmother who I have just been in contact with.”
That made Molly frown even more, knowing that Ian hadn’t been very comfortable at school since he returned from Fitzgaren, a few months prior.
“What about his brothers? Have you told them about Ian’s…trivial disappearance?” she asked, hearing the sarcasm and not caring by this point.
Quillian reached for his pipe, considering his words carefully. “Miss Jackson, Ian’s brothers are not issues in this case and therefore do not need to be bothered with this matter unless his…”
“Unless his body shows up?” Molly snapped, surging to her feet and grabbing her bag. “That’s what you were going to say, right? The Fitzgeralds don’t need to be told unless Ian’s body shows up somewhere.”
Seeing how this was playing out, Molly decided that this tact wasn’t getting her anywhere. “My Granny told me that coming to school over here would teach me about my Dad’s side of the family but she was wrong.” She paused to look back at the Dean. “My Dad may have his issues but he’s nowhere near as cold blooded as some of you people are.”
Slamming the door on her way out, Molly debated on taking the bus to the part of Dublin that Ian’s foster family, the Sullivan’s, lived and then just as quickly discarded that idea, remembering that Quillian had told her that they agreed with the idea that Ian had simply run away from fear and shock.
“Screw that!” she snapped, storming from the head building and back toward her dorm to think.
Molly had arrived at Trinity University scared and alone and because of her somewhat quirky nature didn’t make friends easily. It was in her first acting class that she had met the handsome blond haired Irish boy. Ian always seemed to have a smile for everyone.
He had quickly taken her under his wing, showing her around the campus, taking her to the good places to hang out in Dublin.
The two had bonded as friends and Molly admitted to having more than a slight crush on Ian even though she knew that he rarely dated. They shared secrets with one another about their families, their dreams and Ian had shared other secrets with her that he wouldn’t with Sybil and Brandon Sullivan.
Molly had never really questioned Ian’s fondness of all things magical and he enjoyed her tales of her grandmother in Louisiana and her own family mix-ups since she came from a mother who grew up in Louisiana and a father whose own family had come from Ireland two generations before.
Striding across the campus, the sudden chilling wind nearly blew the cap off her unruly black curls until she clamped a hand down onto it.
“Ian would not run away from that crap and there are no wolves in that forest,” she muttered to herself. A sudden feeling of being watched made her turn toward the large tree that was in the center of the campus that she and Ian often studied under. “Oh…wow.”
Leaning against the tree, arms crossed and casually watching her was a tall man with piercing gray-blue eyes and thick wavy black hair.
Students passed by the tree without giving the man so much as a glance but Molly didn’t have to look hard or have a long time knowledge of her grandmother’s teachings in the occult to know that she was looking at a spirit.
“A smart lass should probably run when seeing a man fifteen years in his grave,” Toryn Fitzgerald spoke in a strong voice, his accent still evident as he watched Molly hesitate only briefly before approaching the tree.
“Yeah, well, a smart lass probably shouldn’t have just popped off to the damn dean of students either,” she shrugged, stopping a few feet from the spirit of a man that she knew her friend barely remembered. “Talking to a ghost isn’t new to me, Mr. Fitzgerald.”
A smile flitted on the rugged face looking down at her. “The gift of sight run in your family, Miss Molly Jackson?” he asked curiously, not seeming surprised that she knew who he was. “Or was it a lucky guess that you know who I am?”
“You have Ian’s eyes so it wasn’t hard to guess when a spirit shows up after he drops off the face of the earth who you are,” she shrugged, not feeling particularly silly about talking to herself in the middle of the campus.
“All of my sons share that trait though Ian, Mac, and Kerry got my wife’s looks as you will soon learn when you go to see them,” Toryn replied, amused when her eyebrows lifted.
“What makes you think I’m going down to Fitzgaren?” Molly asked even though she had already made that her next step if nothing else panned out in Dublin.
Toryn’s laugh reminded her of Ian’s when he was happy and she felt the tears that had been hiding threaten to come.
“You’re a smart lass, Molly Jackson, so don’t disappoint me now,” he chided her, looking around the campus. “I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that Ian chose to come here, though of all my sons, he wasn’t the one I expected to carry on the Fitzgerald tradition of attending university here.”
“You went to school here?” Molly wasn’t sure why she was surprised then blushed. “Sorry, I guess Ian just never talked…”
Nodding, Toryn pushed away from the tree to begin walking toward the dorms. “Ian was three when he was taken from his brothers so he wouldn’t have been told everything and what he would have been told probably were lies,” he sighed, looking around. “Brenna, my wife, and I met here but that’s not the issue.
“You’ve guessed and seen much that someone without the gifts that you were blessed with shouldn’t have been able to,” he looked over at the young woman, a serious look coming into his eyes as a feeling of dread began coming closer. “Molly, you need to go to Fitzgaren. You need to tell Ian’s brothers what you’ve seen, felt, and heard because he needs both you and them if he is to survive what he will soon face.”
“Needs me?” Molly repeated blankly, seeing the silver cat again as she had so many times in the past few weeks. “If Ian’s in trouble, then he needs people who can handle that sort of stuff. I just know a few party tricks and a couple simple spells that Gran taught me…”
Toryn must have seen the silver cat as well because he frowned more. “Your grandmother is a smart woman, Molly Jackson, as is your Da’s mother who gave you that medal you wear.” Shifting a look to the cat again, his eyes seemed to turn darker as he looked at her.
“Leave Dublin, don’t go near the Sullivan’s until you speak with my sons,” he advised, taking a firm grip of her hand. “Tell Kerry everything, Molly. Even things that Ian may have told you long ago that you found odd. Tell him, and listen to him.”
Molly stared at her hand as he released it, shocked to have felt the warmth and strength in it but also hearing the concern in the strong voice. “Ian’s in trouble, isn’t he?”
“My son has been betrayed and needs you and your love, Molly Jackson, as all my boys will soon come to learn.” Toryn stepped away as the wind lifted again. “Go to Fitzgaren, Molly, and find my sons. They will help you…but Molly?”
She looked up and saw his wry grin as he began to disappear. “You come from a family of nine siblings so you know what it’s like but my boys like to bicker and that hasn’t changed, just a warning from a father to a girl that’s going to walk into a mess if Mac and Ryan are into it.”
“I have eight brothers so I know all about…” she stopped when she realized that she was alone again except for the feeling of those glittering blue eyes on the silver cat. “Go to Fitzgaren, huh?”
A quick feel in her pockets told her that she barely had the cash to get a cab into Dublin much less clear down to County Kerry so that left her two options that she could think of.
“A call home to Barry to ask him to wire his ditzy baby sister cash or an experience that I can tell the grandkids about.” Molly considered and quickly decided against calling her brother and ran to find the dorm’s janitor to ask for a favor.
Not considering that disappearing for who knows how long could get her kicked out of school, Molly was only concerned with helping her friend. The longer it went the more she was convinced that he needed her and that meant that she needed more help than she was going to find in Dublin.
“That’s it, Molly girl as Dad would say,” she sighed, hooking her small bag to the back of the borrowed bicycle and not questioning why she just didn’t try to call Fitzgerald manor since their father had told her to go. “Just leap into the abyss and the devil take the consequences.”
Pausing to take a deep breath, Molly winced at a sudden burst of burning pain. “You damn well hang on, Ian, because I don’t plan on doing the next play without you,” she muttered, pedaling off and not aware of the glittering eyes of the cat or the watchful gaze of someone else.
****
Chapter 2
Fitzgaren, County Kerry, Ireland, four days later:
Stepping out into the early afternoon sun, Kerry Fitzgerald reached for the cigar he carried and was forbidden from lighting in the house.
At thirty-four, Kerry often felt much older these days as he handled the day-to-day matters of the manor, the dreaded images that plagued him at night and the bickering of three younger brothers.
All of which had been getting worse these past days since the night the banshee had wailed.
Stepping from the porch onto the gravel of the driveway, he felt the wind blow his well-styled blonde hair in a tousling motion but it didn’t relieve his stress.
Ever since they had forced Sebastian back, Kerry had been on edge. Knowing that the Warlock would be furious at losing and would try even harder the next time, but that time hadn’t come yet and it worried him.
As the eldest, he took his responsibility seriously. He also took his guilt seriously and he still carried a lot of that.
It had been Kerry’s success in singing that had brought his brothers into the act, which had been successful until the day Sebastian had killed their parents and things were torn to shreds, and they were pulled apart until a few months ago when the evil returned.
Lighting the cigar outside far away from Deirdre O’Connor’s watchful gaze, Kerry still recalled the events that announced the return of Sebastian and also brought his brothers back home.
The Warlock had been beaten back once but they all would have to face their demons and fears before the circle could be fully complete and Sebastian defeated.
“Plenty of time for him to pull some trick,” he sighed, hearing a shout from inside and knowing that his brother Mac must be scrapping with the small but fiery redheaded reporter that he had brought into this mess.
As he walked the roses that lined the drive, Kerry still found it odd to have his brothers back in the house after so long, and when they were fighting, he could cheerfully throttle them all.
He recalled times as boys when his mother and Deirdre would scold them for bickering since all of them had different personalities and tempers and that still hadn’t changed.
Ryan still enjoyed tormenting Roarke whenever he got the chance, though Kerry noticed that Ryan was also the one to hover first when the nights in this house still got the best of their younger brother.
It was in the past week that Kerry noticed that all of them seemed to be having issues ever since the banshee had screamed.
Ryan hadn’t said anything but Kerry, as a stronger empath, could tell that he was suffering from migraines, which was something he only had when stressed or bothered. His temper was also getting shorter, a fact that was plain when he snapped at their housekeeper just that morning and had Deirdre threatening him with a skillet.
Mac, who was the full-fledged empath in the family, was hiding his stress and problems as well as he could, which wasn’t easy considering that Mary Margaret Cavanaugh could see right through him, but even Mac was snapping and Kerry knew that was odd.
Roarke…was quiet, something that Kerry recognized as an issue since he knew that his brother was bottling things up again and only sharing them with Jessica Hadley, his British girlfriend.
Kerry knew his brother was having nightmares again, but this time even though Roarke tried to explain what they were, he couldn’t get past the black fear, and that worried his brother.
For himself, Kerry just couldn’t dispel the idea that something was wrong and that not knowing kept him awake at night, walking the halls of the house that they all had been born in and hoping that his alertness could protect his brothers…if only he could reach Ian.
“I think it’s time to send Ry to Dublin,” he muttered, figuring it would kill two birds with one stone.
Getting Ryan out of the house would keep Deirdre from killing him and sending him to Dublin for Ian would relieve Kerry’s worry since calling wasn’t working.
Just about done with the cigar, Kerry was looking to the fields when he heard the loud engine of a truck wheezing its way up the drive and a dry smile formed on his handsome, rugged looking face.
“Agnus, you were supposed to be here this morning with that meat delivery,” he chided the older red haired man who was driving. “Deirdre’s been as mad as a ton of bloody hornets when she didn’t have her black pudding for breakfast.”
Agnus McNash scowled as he hopped out of his truck, spitting into the gravel. “That woman wouldn’t be happy if she wasn’t harping about one thing or another, laddie,” he said, waving the warning away and going to the back of the battered truck to remove a bicycle. “Truck broke down first and then on the way I stopped to give the lass here a ride since she was headin’ your way and no one else in town would bother to help.”
“Just put that bucket you call a hat on before going into the…” Kerry stopped in mid-step as what the older man said finally registered. “What lass?” he asked, turning to find himself staring into the brown eyes of a petite looking young black girl with a light caramel skin who was staring around in open fascination.
Guessing what the next question would be, old Agnus shrugged as he took a box from the truck next and hefted it to his shoulder. “Don’t rightly know who she is as we didn’t talk much. She just said that she had come from Dublin and was heading out to Fitzgerald Manor to see you and the lads.”
Nodding, Kerry again focused on the young woman and tried a surface scan but was actually shocked when he wasn’t only blocked but the power pulsed back at him. ‘Well, now this is interesting.’ he mused, not knowing anyone but Jessica who could do that.
“Agnus said that you were heading this way…Miss…?” he paused as the girl turned those deep brown eyes on him while removing the bike helmet to allow a mass of unruly black hair to tumble free.
“Jackson, Molly Brianna Jackson, Mr. Fitzgerald, and I’m sorry to just show up on your door like this.” Molly shook her hair before holding out a hand to him.
If he was surprised that she assumed who he was, Kerry shrugged it away since the girl had clearly known where she was coming. “Strangers rarely come out here and as you could tell by the folks in the town, neither do they,” he replied, accepting her hand, surprised by the strength of her grip. “So, what can I do for you, Miss Jackson?”
Molly had been startled by his resemblance to her friend and by the amount of power that she sensed from him. She had a brief idea that she should be wary about doing this but the sense of urgency overrode her good sense.
“Ian’s in trouble, Mr. Fitzgerald and I didn’t know where else to turn and then your Daddy said to come here and tell you everything that’s been happening and…” Molly blurted out all in one breath but still caught the flash of energy in the older man’s eyes. “Guess I should have done that slower, huh?”
Kerry had stared hard as soon as his brother was mentioned, but when his father was brought up he began paying closer attention to this strange young girl.
“Tell me about Ian and we’ll discuss how you saw my father later,” he decided, seeing the tiredness in her eyes and leading her to the steps to sit. “We haven’t been able to reach Ian in several weeks, not since he called to say that he was going on a field trip somewhere.”
Taking a deep breath, Molly launched into a brief version. “Ian and his class went up to the Savernake Forest in Great Britain for a weekend trip about two weeks ago. One night, I woke up and knew that he was in trouble. For six days, I tried to get the school, the police or someone to tell me something and then finally I learned that a classmate who had been with Ian had been tore to shreds by something and Ian did not come back with the class.
“The Dean tried to say that Ian ran away after seeing Toby mauled by wolves but first, there are no wolves in that forest. A friend who was there showed me a picture of the…” she paused at the memory before going on “Toby was tore to pieces but no wolf would have done it that way and Ian wouldn’t have run away.”
Agitated, Molly began to pace. “The school is useless, his foster family isn’t concerned, and the Dean said even your grandmother isn’t worried and…” she stopped when Kerry’s hand landed on her arm.
“The dean spoke with my grandmother?” he questioned, little lights flickering in his eyes as a cold hand began to clench his heart.
“Yeah, he said that she figured he’d turn up but that’s not the way I’m feeling. If Ian hadn’t told me some of the things that he had then maybe I’d be less concerned but he’s my friend and…he was really uneasy before going on the trip.” She sighed, scowling. “And every damn time I see that silver cat I know something’s…hey, are you okay?”
Kerry had been frowning as he listened but at the mention of the silver cat, he felt his temper spike and barely forced it back down. “This…cat, did Ian ever see it?”
“Yeah, about a week or so after he came back to school,” Molly nodded, remembering the night well. “We’d gone to dinner before going back to his room to study for class, he opened the door and this silver cat was standing in the room just staring at him.
“Mr. Fitzgerald, Ian’s the most easy going, laid back, soft hearted fella that I’ve ever met but that night, he was shaking when he saw the cat and then he got mad.” She went on, frowning, “He kept me behind him and told the cat to get the hell out, that he didn’t want her there and that if she came back that he was calling home and then he spent the night on the floor in my dorm room.
“I asked him a couple days later what it was about, but he would get real uneasy about the cat and the day I walked into his room when your Granny was there I thought I saw fear in his eyes but…”
“My grand…Kathleen was in Dublin with Ian?” Kerry demanded, swearing at himself for not seeing this. “When was this?”
Molly had to think about that. “About a week before the trip and after that he was more than edgy, he was downright scared, and he told me that if he ever vanished or anything odd happened that I should call you.”
Thunder rumbled in the clear sky as Kerry swore under his breath, adding up the time that she had said passed. Ian’s disappearance would have been around the time they had all felt the trouble. “The night that bloody banshee wailed,” he swore to himself.
“What has Ian told you about his family, Miss Jackson?” he asked, not wanting anyone involved in this if he could keep from it but something told him that this wouldn’t be easy.
“I knew about your family’s singing act, I’ve heard the rumors around school about why the act ended and Ian’s told me more since he came back.” Molly grinned brightly at him. “I knew he was a witch two weeks after I met him, if that’s what you’re asking, sir.”
Scrubbing both hands over his face, Kerry wondered why that didn’t surprise him and decided that it was best to have this story told once. “Come into the house, I’ll want you to tell the whole story once so that will mean bringing the lads in.”
As Molly blinked, Kerry let his thoughts go out to find his brothers wherever they were on the grounds.
Sensing, he rolled his eyes and let out a quick but loud mental shout that got their attention with equally testy replies.
“Ian’s vanished going on two weeks, Kathleen was in Dublin and Ian’s little friend has come to tell us the tale. Get your damn selves into the bleedin’ living room now!” he snapped, then returned his attention to Molly who was watching him with dark eyes.
“I should warn you that my brothers probably will be loud, angry and mistrusting.” He figured it only fair to issue the warning since only Jessica and Maggie could deal with them in this stage.
Molly picked her bag up with a laugh. “Your Daddy warned me about that, Mr. Fitzgerald,” she assured him, seeing his look. “That’s something else that happened that I rank up there with the weirdness in my life recently.”
“I think you’ll see plenty more in those lines if you choose to help Ian, Miss Jackson, and call me Kerry.” He held open the door for her, hearing Ryan shouting from the back part of the house already. “You’ll soon learn that there are way too many ‘Mr. Fitzgerald’s’ here and we don’t usually stand on formality.”
As Molly entered, Kerry felt the cold clench his heart harder and hoped that what Ryan had said about Ian’s powers would protect the boy somewhat.
Elsewhere, somewhere dark:
It was the pain and the cold that brought dim consciousness back to Ian Fitzgerald.
Barely recalling events that led up to waking up wherever he was, Ian hissed as pain shot through his entire body but then he saw something else that reminded him.
Sitting a few feet away, as if on guard, and still gnawing on a bone was a large, frothing black beast like he recalled seeing before and that told him that he was far from out of danger.
Slowly moving his limbs to be sure that nothing was broken, Ian nearly screamed as fire seemed to burn his veins at his first attempt to use his smallest power.
“Shit, this is so not good,” he groaned, straining to see in the thick blackness and wasn’t certain if it was just that dark or if a blow to his head had given him a concussion and blinded him.
“Being alone in the dark, surrounded by who knows what is not an easy thing, is it, Ian?”
The voice was thin and tinny to his ringing ears but the boy still knew it, a feeling of dread curling in his stomach. “Where am I?” he demanded, hoping he sounded calmer than he was feeling as nausea warned him of injuries that he couldn’t see.
Sebastian chuckled from the darkness as he watched this boy struggle not to show fear or weakness and he had to admire him for that at least. “Let us say, that you are not where your brothers will think to look anytime soon. Do you remember me, Ian?”
Swallowing the sour taste in his mouth, Ian struggled to move a hand to grip something at his throat. “Sure, mate; I remember the night that my brother shot you. Roarke beat you and so will…argh!” the scream cut his words off as a razor like claw tore through his calf muscle.
“I control your life, boy,” Sebastian warned through gritted teeth, straining to rein in his temper. “It would be simple enough to let my pets render you limb from limb and end my problems.”
Fighting pain and terror, Ian’s finger gripped the Trinity medal he wore but frowned when he didn’t feel the Claddagh medal. “So why don’t you just kill me?”
Taking a step closer in the darkness, the silver haired Warlock tensed as the same energy again kept him from physically touching the boy, yet his beasts could.
“I have plans for you, my lad,” he replied easily, shifting tactics. “You were Toryn’s last, Ian, but far from his favorite, you know. Each of your brothers shared that spot for different reasons but you?” the Warlock clucked his tongue. “You were more for duty as my old friend knew that he needed five sons to complete the prophecy and you were ever a sickly babe that demanded Brenna’s attention.”
“Shut up, bastard,” Ian hissed, struggling not to listen to words that echoed things he’d heard in whispers as a child. “I know what you’re doing, Sebastian, and it won’t work. My brothers will…”
“Kerry and the lads are all better than you will ever hope to be, Ian, and you know that,” Sebastian spoke quietly, feeling the boy’s emotions waver. “You don’t have to die, Ian, and with my tutoring, I can teach you to be so much more.”
The inkling of doubts that had always haunted him still resided in his heart but Ian finally shot a glare through the darkness. “Go to hell,” he snapped, feeling the sharp pain strike his face and the burning poison from the beast’s claw slowly took him under again, but not before he wondered how right the wizard was about so many things.
“Molly, be safe,” he whispered before pain, fear, and his own dark thoughts pulled him under, knowing that his friend could be hurt if his foes learned all that he had shared with her.
****
Chapter 3
Fitzgaren, County Kerry, Ireland:
The throbbing pounding migraines that had been bothering him as of late hadn’t stopped Ryan Fitzgerald’s penchant for card playing, as he was sitting in one of the outbuildings with some workers playing poker when Kerry’s mental shout tore through his brain.
“Bloody hell, Kerry!” he snapped back the same way, wincing and knowing that both Mac and Roarke would be doing the same right then. “What the hell d’ya want?”
Kerry’s curt reply caused the black haired security expert to forget the cards and bolt for the main house, a knot of fear in his heart that he had only felt once and that was recently.
At twenty-eight, Ryan had always been the more outgoing of his siblings and that hadn’t changed. Wearing his thick black hair long and wavy, his gray-blue eyes changed as always with his power or temper and right then as he cleared the back door, they were close to black.
“Kerry, where the bloody hell are you?” he shouted, temper on the surface and not caring for the emotions he was getting even as he felt Roarke enter the house in much the same state.
Not only getting their dark and dangerous looks from Toryn Fitzgerald but also his temper, Ryan knew his temper would be sparking soon.
He also understood that things had suddenly taken a turn for the worse as he slammed the door of the living room to see his older brother talking to a petite looking, pretty young light skinned black woman and he instantly caught the vibes.
“What the bloody hell were you talking about?” he demanded, eyes sharp and prepared for the fight but Kerry’s own eyes just flashed in a way that had Ryan backing down slightly. “You don’t do the eye thing very often, bro,” he reminded edgily.
“No, normally only when you’re about to make a bigger fool of yourself than usual,” Patrick ‘Mac’ Fitzgerald spoke as he stepped into the room a mere step behind Ryan and only slightly more relaxed looking.
However that appearance as Kerry knew was only by sheer force of will since Mac, being the second oldest, had plenty of years to learn to hide his darker emotions.
Wearing his own blond hair cut short, it still showed signs of the sun streaking it, as he finished buttoning his shirt and got between Ryan and Kerry, looking at their guest curiously.
Shifting a look from Molly to his brother, Ryan couldn’t help comment on his otherwise neat brother’s appearance. “I expect the brat to come in looking like that since he’s been in the barn all day with Jess but little Maggie’s reporting sessions must be real…strenuous if you’re redressing after one, Mac.”
Coming from a huge family, Molly was used to the fighting between siblings so this was nothing new to her. What was new was when the vase on the mantel cracked as Mac’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Ry, knock it off before Mac lets Maggie fry you,” Roarke warned, entering the room after hearing the comment and feeling Mac’s temper war with his common sense.
Normally the one that Ryan teased, Roarke wasn’t accustomed to being the one breaking up his brothers.
Having taken the time to clean up after being in the horse barn all day, Roarke ran his fingers through his long black hair to push the front out of his face before turning to the young woman that Kerry had mentioned.
Molly had turned to watch and was now looking with open fascination as she got her first good look at her friend’s older brothers and with a low hum, she pursed her lips.
“Well, I’ll say that Ian sure as hell didn’t mention one thing to me,” she decided suddenly, eyes looking between the Fitzgerald brothers seriously before looking back at Kerry. “He didn’t bother to tell me that all four of his brothers were drop dead gorgeous members of the male species.”
Kerry bit the inside of his cheek in amusement as he watched his brothers’ reactions to this quirky girl.
“Umm,” Roarke blinked at this bold statement, shifting uneasily under the intense scrutiny of the dark eyes watching them until he felt a hand on his arm.
As Mac lifted a brow, Ryan simply laughed aloud and decided to forget his anger for the moment. “I like her, Kerry. Can we keep her?”
“You only like her because she thinks you’re cute,” Jessica Hadley spoke from beside Roarke.
The young British woman had known all the Fitzgeralds for years and so was immune to Ryan’s constant flirting.
“Drop dead gorgeous was her exact words, Jessica Jayne,” Ryan tossed back with a smirk, bending to kiss Molly’s hand when he felt the spark shoot through his fingers. “Damn,” he muttered, frowning and looking up to see Kerry’s grim look. “What’s up?”
Halfway certain that his brothers had calmed down some, Kerry shifted a look toward Molly. “Molly Brianna Jackson, meet Ian’s other brothers,” he began, shooting each one a warning silently. “Mac, Ryan, and Roarke and these are our friends, Jessica and Maggie.”
“The definition of friend depends on whom you’re talking to,” Ryan grinned, sitting down on the sofa easily and with his usual smirk. “Ask Mac or the brat and you may get a different answer.”
Mary Margaret Cavanaugh reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. “Bucko, one of these days I’m turning you into something hairy.”
“Mac tried that when we were lads and got his hide tanned for it,” Ryan shot back, seeing his brother glare at him.
Kerry closed his eyes in a mixture of temper and patience. Though he got no sense that Molly was upset by the bickering that was happening.
“What’s happened to Ian?” Roarke finally asked, sensing that his brother was reaching the limit of what he was going to take in the way of playful bantering. “Who is she and what’s wrong, Kerry?”
Figuring this would be hardest on Roarke, Kerry was grateful that he was the one who spoke up and brought this back on track.
“This is Molly Jackson, she’s a classmate of Ian’s from Trinity University, and it seems like we have a few issues,” he spoke grimly, motioning to Molly to have a seat. “You’ve traveled a long ways on a bicycle, Miss Jackson, would you like to freshen up before we get into this?”
“No, I want to find Ian before he’s hurt more,” Molly shook her head firmly, seeing the change come over the brothers.
Always an astute judge of character, she could’ve easily labeled each of these men within seconds or so she thought. At the mention of their youngest brother, she saw the change the moment it happened.
There was no easy bantering or brotherly bickering. Instead, they were steely eyed and serious as those identical gray-blue eyes all watched her.
“Start at the beginning, Molly, and tell us everything,” Kerry urged her, now sensing the girl’s unease and seeking to lessen it. “We’ll help Ian but only if we know what’s been going on.”
Taking a deep breath and forcing down the sudden nerves, Molly nodded and began.
“Like your brother said, I go to school with Ian and I guess he’s pretty much my best friend, my only real friend if you really push,” she began slowly, nerves beginning to show now that she was here.
“I met Ian on my first days of university after I stupidly ran afoul of some older students and he backed them down.” Molly still grinned at that memory.
Stretching his arms on the back of the sofa, Ryan shifted a look toward Mac. “Did we know that baby brother stood up to bullies at this fancy school?”
“You know everything else so how’d you miss that tidbit?” Mac countered, feeling a pinch on his neck. “Maggie…”
The petite pixie like redhead shook her head at both men before smiling at Molly. “Ignore the lads, Molly, it’s their way of working off the stress that normally would have them scrapping and then Kerry wants to hurt them.”
“Anyway, we don’t have time to get into the full story of all that but I should start by saying that I was with Ian the day he saw that damn talking crow, and we both saw the stage with our classmates burst into flames,” she declared, shaking her head. “I felt the difference but still had a hard time seeing through the image until Ian did something.”
As the girl from America went on to describe the events of a few months ago, Kerry met Mac’s eyes from across the room, and both instantly connected.
“She saw one of Sebastian’s images,” Mac slid a look over to where Maggie was sitting on the footstool, trying to keep Molly on track with her story. “Only those connected with us should be able to see his tricks, not a mere girl from America.”
Kerry knew this to be true but he also knew something else. “Aye, but she also pushed my surface scan back in a way that not even Jess’s power has ever done and I think something happened when Ry touched her.”
“Do you think Sebastian sent in a ringer to lure us or is she something else?” Mac questioned, frowning as his concern for his family began to show.
His brother merely shrugged before returning full attention to Molly who was just getting to events that were more recent.
“Ian was quiet after he came back to school, not interested in trying out for plays and was more cautious about his surroundings,” she was saying, beginning to tap her fingers together as she did when nervous. “The night that silver cat first showed up though is when I noticed the change in him and every time we would see it he’d get more edgy and almost paranoid.”
“Silver cat?” Ryan’s eyes glittered as he caught onto the meaning behind that and saw Roarke go rigid at the mere mention. “What the bloody hell is she trying to pull with that crap?”
“Let her go on, Ry,” Kerry urged, seeing that Jessica had moved closer to Roarke as he got tense.
Molly was catching the change in the room but chose to ignore it in favor of telling them what she needed to.
“The night we first saw the cat, Ian stayed in my room on the floor and afterward I don’t really think that he was sleeping all that good but he wouldn’t say anything…until the day I went to get him for class and his…your grandmother was with him.”
Thunder crashed in the distance despite the sun shining and it seemed to Molly that for a moment the house shook slightly. She looked around quickly but no one else appeared alarmed.
“Go on, Molly,” Jessica Hadley urged quickly, wanting to distract the younger girl even as Mac was moving around to put a hand on both of his younger brothers, more as a method of support than restraint.
“They…they appeared to have been fighting because the lady was real cold and bitter and told Ian that he’d end up regretting his choices if he didn’t choose wisely. When she looked at me, he got very defensive and told her to leave and that he wasn’t telling her again to stay the hell away…though I didn’t think that he’d told anyone but that cat to stay away.
“After she left, things began to get bad for him at school too,” Molly’s normally pleasant mixed Boston/Creole accent got bitter at this point. “He was up for a part in the lead play for the semester and had it nailed and the professor gave it to a boy with no talent whatsoever. Then his classes were changed without telling him, and his history papers were audited because a senior staff member claimed that Ian cheated, so he was on the verge of losing his scholarships.”
Roarke had gotten up to pace but turned at this, his normally handsome face angry. “That’s bullshit!” he snapped, nerves and temper simmering and this news was close to pushing him to a rare point. “Ian’s smart and wouldn’t cheat on any bloody test and his GPA was as close to a 4.0 as I’ve seen so what the hell’s going on?”
“It sounds like Kathleen or someone is trying to make a point to Ian by threatening what they think is most important to him,” Kerry mused, frowning slightly as he ran a finger over a photo on the mantel. “His schooling and by taking away the scholarships they think he has, he’d have to resort to asking the Sullivan’s for the tuition money and he’s too proud for that.”
“So if they can’t scare him or find a weakness against him, then take away the scholarships that he worked hard to earn,” Mac nodded, scowling. “Low down rotten but it could work.”
“Except for one thing that the Dean forgot and no one else but Brandon Sullivan knows,” Kerry turned to look at his brothers, anger glittering in his eyes. “Halfway through his freshman year, the committee that gave those scholarship funds to Ian disqualified him because of something that Sybil Sullivan put on his application, so he hasn’t had those since that time.”
Molly looked up with confusion “But Ian would never accept money from his foster family, so if he knew he’d lost that he’d have dropped out…”
“The Sullivan’s wouldn’t pay for Ian to go to Trinity since they only agreed to allow him to go if he got a full scholarship for not only school but also room, books, and the full deal,” Kerry told them, seeing his brothers looking at one another.
“I knew I didn’t like that woman for a bleedin’ reason,” Ryan muttered, leaning up on the couch to pin his oldest brother with a dark look. “Who is paying for Ian to go to Trinity, Kerry?”
His brother simply turned to look out the window silently for a long time. “A friend of Da’s is still on the faculty and called me when this all happened so I arranged to pay all of Ian’s expenses, including his full tuition, room and board, books and his monthly expenses that he believes comes from Brandon and Sybil. They haven’t paid anything for Ian since he was sixteen and Da’s lawyer opened his first trust fund so he supplies Brandon a monthly amount that he in turn gives Ian.” he explained, going on. “Brandon knows not to try cheat him out of that or…”
“Or he gets a visit from one of us?” Ryan finished with a meaningful look back at Roarke and there was no doubt about the thoughts that they shared.
“Later, perhaps but right now, we need to allow Molly to finish her tale,” Kerry nodded to the young woman, smiling to reassure her. “We often fight but the bonds our parents instilled make it hard for us not to fight back if one of us is threatened.”
Molly shifted a smile that lit her deep brown eyes. “That’s what your Dad said when he talked to me in Dublin,” she assured him.
“Ah, excuse me?” Mac nearly twisted around to stare at that. “She saw Da?”
“Later. Molly, tell us about the trip Ian went on,” Kerry urged, a sense of urgency filling him.
Nodding as she tried to blank out her own feelings of dread suddenly. “Professor Brighton’s botany class took their annual trip up to Savernake Forest. He had a cancellation late so he chose Ian to go with them even though Ian was wary since he’d never been that far from Ireland before. I thought when he saw that silver owl the morning of the trip that he wouldn’t go but he did.