Chapter Eighteen #4
“If you thought for one single minute that I was going to let my man do this alone, you’ve forgotten for better or worse, or for cave spelunking or body finding. The copping a feel was for my pleasure, and my pleasure alone. I like your ass, husband.”
Michael snorted.
“Well, thank God for that.”
Scanning the room with the flashlight, he pointed it at the shore inside the cave.
“I mean, this would be a good place to put a body,” he said. “Who the fuck is looking here?” Michael asked.
Graham agreed.
“And better yet, this is an excellent escape route out of the castle. It’s a good place to hide. If someone came for Duncan and he had to escape, this might have led into the castle at one time.”
He had a point.
There was a suspicious wall not far away, and it was heading back toward the castle.
Well, that was what he believed.
At that moment, he couldn’t tell what was North, East, West, or South. There were no markers to use.
As they swam to the shore of the cave, the two men climbed out. Not far from the water, they found three boxes. They were up on rocks, so they didn’t get wet.
“Want to bet that those are coffins?” Michael asked.
He shook his head.
“No bet,” he said. “What is freaking me out is that small one. It’s baby-sized.”
Yeah, he was aware.
As he moved closer, one of the boxes had the family crest of Duncan Granndach. Blowing the dust and debris off of it, he touched the top. It was nailed in with old iron spikes.
Using all of his strength, he pulled it up, and the lid disintegrated in his hands.
Well, so much for that.
With the light, they shined it in the opening, and there were definitely bones.
And a bottle.
With delicate fingers, Michael pulled the bottle out, and uncorked it.
Inside, there was a rolled-up piece of paper.
As he opened it, it was in decent shape. It had been sealed away, safe.
“What does it say?” Michael asked since it wasn’t in English.
Graham read it.
‘Here lies my beloved Ciarán.
He was murdered, and we were betrayed. I placed him here so that one day, I could put him back with me. We live in a time where our love is a sin.
He died protecting me, and I will protect his bones until the end of time.
Never will I forget the love we shared here and how perfect our love was, until it wasn’t.
I still seek out the one who betrayed us, and one day, I will make it right. Ciarán, I love you, and I will join you soon. I have no desire to live without you.
When Callum is old enough to take over, I will join you. I will end my life to be with you. Forever was our vow, and at death we shall be reunited.
May God allow your soul rest.
Your husband at heart,
Duncan.’
He whistled.
Well, they found Ciarán.
That was one mystery solved.
“So Duncan didn’t die of natural causes. When his son could take over, he offed himself.”
Graham nodded.
“That’s so sad. We must have reminded them of each other,” he admitted.
On that, Michael agreed.
“It’s probably why they helped me fight to save you. They didn’t want to see me crumble like Duncan, and I would have.”
Michael kissed him on the cheek.
“I love you.”
As he shared his heart, Graham held his hand in his.
“I love you too.”
Going to the next box, they figured it had to be Oison, so they left it alone. They’d get it back to Tony, and he could have his people find his face.
They knew what he looked like from the archives so they could match that with a little science help from Doctor Blue Bennet.
It was the little box they were curious about, and so, they had no choice but to open it.
When Michael pried it open, they both heard the scream of pain, and they knew it was Catherine. It echoed off the walls of the cave.
Inside, there were little bones, and a skull.
“That’s sad,” Graham said. “That looks to be a child around four,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I could have killed a child.”
Michael wasn’t here to judge.
“It was a different time back then, and remember, Duncan had witnessed his true love stabbed over him, and die. We don’t know what else happened. Anger makes you do stupid things, and for all we know, so could a curse. He probably had nightmares every night about it.”
Yeah, Graham knew he would too.
“Now, how the hell do we get the bones out of here?” Michael asked. “The only way out is the water.”
Well…
That was until they stood up, and heard it.
Not far from there, there was a loud smashing sound like a bulldozer coming through the wall.
They had just enough time to jump back when the cave wall came crashing down.
And there stood the bulldozer.
It was Gryphen with a sledgehammer.
“Oh, hey. Uh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked, pointing at the two men in their skivvies.
Graham shook his head.
“I wish. This is our honeymoon.”
Michael slapped him on his wet, boxer covered ass.
“We had to come in through an underwater opening,” Michael said. “Trust me, no fun is being had here.”
Gabby giggled.
“Is that so?” she asked.
“Har-har, Gabriella,” Michael said. “My idea of fun isn’t being in translucent underwear in a room full of people. By people, I mean you guys, Ciarán, Oison, and a dead child.”
That had their attention.
Gabby and Ian went to look, as Gryphen shared what had happened.
“We followed the corridor and hit a wall. This had to be Duncan’s escape route. It also had to be the way Catherine got the church haters into the castle. They had to have dove under the falls, in here, and into the castle.”
Yeah, that’s what he thought.
“Well, this took care of the ‘where is Ciarán’?” Michael admitted. “Duncan left a note. We can have him moved back to the crypt, but the other two…I think Tony needs them.”
“They are property of the Scottish government, Laddies, and it is still my job to ensure that the remains are respected by the Americans. They can’t leave here.”
Michael was to the point.
“Do you want to see how much power Elizabeth Blackhawk has?” he asked. “Because I’m betting she calls the president who gets the Scottish government to cave.”
He sighed.
“I don’t like that at all.”
Yeah, well, no one blamed him. Finn was just trying to do his job, and his boss had tied him to this.
They waited for him to make up his mind.
“Do it lowkey,” he finally stated.
Well, if he insisted.
“Graham and I will dive back, get dressed, and meet you back in here. We’ll put Ciarán with his man in his crypt. Then, we’ll deal with the rest.”
Gabby pointed.
“What are you going to do with the little one’s bones?” she asked.
That was a damn good question.
One that he didn’t have answers to.
“We’ll figure it out,” he admitted.
Would they?
He didn’t know, but he needed time to think about this to make it right.
Michael was big about fixing what was broken.
Finn held out his hand.
“Thanks for your help,” he admitted. “It looks like we’ve about kicked the whole mystery and Ravensmire’s curse might just be broken.”
Oh, they weren’t sure about that.
Sarah had said they needed an heir.
There was still that.
But this was a start.
Most of the dead at Ravensmire would have peace.
For once.
* * * The Ravensmire Castle * * *
After Midnight
Tuesday
Way Too Early
It had been an eventful night. Ciarán was with Duncan in the crypt. They even put a few of his bones in with his lover, and vise versa.
They were back together.
Ceit was in her crypt, and resting at peace.
The baby’s bones…
Well, Gabby scanned them, and they made the decision to soothe the savage lake beast.
They tossed the child’s remains into the water so the mother and child could be together.
Well, some of the remains.
The skull was packed up to be transferred to Doctor Magnus back in DC to see if they could give the child a face before it went into the water, too.
Oison…
Well, Christopher Leonard took one look, and he noticed that there were stab wounds to the man’s chest. The bones had knicks, so he was betting the man met the sharp end of a blade.
A few times.
Since he’d killed Ceit, no one was feeling sorry for him.
After the dirty and messy job, they all had dinner, which was pizza they had delivered. Then, Gabby and Finn crashed there since Bark Twain was with Maisie at her flat for the night.
And they all hit the hay.
HARD.
No one had any energy or inclination to do anything other than sleep.
And that was until about one in the morning.
Oh, it wasn’t the dead who woke Graham, but his phone buzzing on the nightstand beside him.
In their rush to put the bodies back where they belonged, and the exhaustion that followed, he’d forgotten to put the phone on silent.
Reaching over, he saw a text had come in, and he wasn’t sure who it was from.
As soon as he opened it, his heart bottomed out in his chest, and he wanted to be ill.
It was from one of the men he’d slummed with in order to self-destruct—before Michael came back.
Oh, shit.
This was bad.
‘Word around the village is you have a new man, Laddie. We need to talk. Bring cash, and you can buy the photos that I took of me fucking that ass of yours. There’s also video.
You know, just in case you ever tried to deny what a filthy whore you are.
If you don’t show, I’ll make sure that video of you begging me to fuck your ass is on everyone’s phone.
You’ll never have a moment of peace here.
Come alone. Meet me in your favorite alley. Don’t make me angry.’
Oh, no.
This freaked him out.
He knew what Michael had said, but he was afraid to lose him and his job here.
There was no way the Blackhawks would keep him around if they heard about this. It was foul and disgusting, and he knew exactly what he’d done in that alley.
COUNTLESS TIMES.
Glancing over at his husband, he was out cold in bed. The long day and no sleep the night before had worn him out. Add to it they’d consummated their wedding night a couple of times.
What was he supposed to do?
Jesus.
This was his mess, and he needed to clean it up. It wasn’t fair to make Michael face this each time they went into the village.