Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Tighe had a wonderful time and learned so much about blending, steeping, and serving tea while Silas and Nelson were away. But he dropped his tin and ran from the kitchen as soon as heard the front door.
“Did you find him?” Tighe asked and Silas gave him a hesitant wince.
“Yes and no. The FBI is aware of the Ossors and they have a lot of intelligence about most of the active members and former elders. The FBI wasn’t sure what they were looking at—a radical paramilitary group, extreme survivalists, a cult, wild Mennonites…
—so they’ve been watching and recording as much as they can from a distance. ”
“That’s about all they can do. Ossors won’t talk to outsiders,” Tighe said but Silas grinned, gesturing for Tighe to follow him and Nelson into the study.
“The FBI still managed to put together a thick dossier on your brother. We have pictures.”
“Pictures!” Tighe’s voice cracked, he was so surprised and elated. “You have pictures of Eoin?”
In the study, Nelson began taping photos and reports to Tighe’s board. “Eoin Ossor came out of the woods four years ago and married a woman named Deirdre O’Reilly.”
“He’s married?” Tighe felt lightheaded and worried he might faint. “We don’t— Ossors don’t marry. And why did he leave the pack so early? He should have been with them until there was gray in his beard.”
A wide smile spread across Silas’s face. “Eoin was an elder but it looks like he gave up the Ossor way of life and left the pack. He took several of his brothers with him and most of them married and started families.”
Tighe’s eyes stung as they blurred with tears.
“He made it! He’s free!” he mouthed as he studied the pictures on the board.
They still looked like they could be twins but Eoin was a burly beast of a man.
There was a photo of Eoin in a parking lot, carrying a little girl and walking and laughing with a woman.
“Is that his…” Tighe couldn’t even bring himself to say it, he was so overcome.
“That’s Eoin’s daughter, Fiona, and his wife, Deirdre,” Silas said as he stepped behind Tighe, kneading his shoulders and kissing his hair.
“They have a small organic dairy farm and he meets with a handful of former brothers at the pub every Friday night to play music and share stories. He plays the flute,” he added and Tighe nodded.
“Aye, like an angel.” He swiped the tears away from his eyes, laughing at the picture of Eoin with his family. “Aren’t they beautiful?” he asked, so proud of his brother and filled with love for a sister and a niece he had never met. “He looks happy.”
For Tighe, it was a miracle and put to rest years of doubt and worrying.
Everything had happened so fast and the final decision had been made for him, but Tighe had wanted to go and was relieved to be free.
He cherished the peace and freedom and told himself that Eoin was better off without him, yet Tighe could never shake the nagging feeling that he’d failed his brother and disappointed their mother.
Nelson frowned as he held out a report. “We’d like to confirm that for ourselves. No one’s seen Eoin Ossor for two days and his wife has gathered the other former Ossors and Eoin’s friends to search for him.”
“We’re remaining optimistic,” Silas added quickly.
“Your brother was a highly respected elder, even after he returned from the woods and started a family. He’s still a leader because he’s strong and wily, but he never stopped being a wild man and is known to wander off for a few days if the mood takes him.
He could be tracking a bear that got too close to his farm or gone inland to make contact with a pack of Ossors,” he offered cautiously but Tighe shook his head.
“Trust his woman,” he said as he tapped the picture of Eoin with his family.
“If she’s worried, she has good reason and I know my brother’s heart.
He’s a savage at his core but nothing means more to him than his blood.
He loved me more than our pack and he left it so he could have them.
” Tighe nodded at the photo. “She would know if Eoin went off to track a bear or see the other Ossors.”
Silas nodded, turning to Nelson. “Alright, let’s see what we can do to expand the search. They’ve got plenty of people on the ground up in New Hampshire, but let’s get the FBI and the parks involved.”
“On it,” Nelson said as he opened his laptop and started typing.
Merlin hummed in agreement. “I’ll check with our intelligence apparatus and see if anyone’s heard anything,” he said and raised a brow at Nox. “Perhaps Smoak could send his spies again,” he suggested.
“I think I can convince him,” Nox replied, turning toward the study door as the twins, Everly and Fletcher entered.
“Any news?” Fletcher asked, earning stoic nods from Nelson and Silas.
Nelson gestured at the board and held out the latest report. “We located Tighe’s brother, Eoin. He has a wife and a child but Eoin has been missing for a couple days. They’re mounting a search for him in New Hampshire and we’re going to do what we can to help from here with our resources.”
“We might see if Tony has seen or heard anything,” Merlin told Nox and he nodded slowly, eyeing the new photos on the board.
“I’ll message him but Tony would have already been in touch.
You know how he is,” he said, turning from the board and pointing at the twins.
“Why don’t you take Shelby for a run? He’s been climbing the walls since we got back and his trip to the Hoover Building with Nelson wasn’t as productive as he was hoping. ”
“I told you to stop reading my mind,” Silas muttered but Nox waved it off.
“I didn’t read your mind, it’s written all over your face and I’d be frustrated too. We were on a roll, thanks to your sketch, and now we’ve hit a wall. It’s a game of ‘wait and see’ now and you’d rather be hunting,” he said with a knowing wink.
Silas nodded. “I want to find this warlock and settle this business so Tighe can go back to the Trail, where he feels safest. He’s not happy here.”
“I’m happy with you,” Tighe said quietly to Silas and he smiled.
“Me too. We’ll find someplace perfect, together,” he added warmly but Tighe got chills, it was so similar to the promise Silas had made in his dreams.
“We’ll find it together,” Tighe said and tamped down his delight so Nox or any of the others wouldn’t pick up on it.
They were all a team and a family and while Tighe admired and appreciated their bond, he was only in it for Silas and would follow whatever path he chose for them.
But like Nox, Tighe sensed Silas’s frustration and disappointment.
“But you should go, again.” He rolled his eyes.
“I survived the morning without you, what’s a run? ”
“Are you sure?” Silas asked hopefully. “I’m sure you feel cooped up too but there’s a lot of cars out there and you’re safer with Nox and Merlin.”
“Go ahead,” Tighe insisted. “At least one of us will be getting some fresh air and exercise.”
Nox put an arm around Tighe. “Want to go back to the stream from the vision? I’ve checked since we found you and you aren’t there anymore, but it might be fun and you might notice something we missed,” he said and Tighe nodded quickly.
“You can show me?”
“Sure!” Nox said. “It’s just focused meditation, for me, and tapping into your subconscious so you can come along,” he explained as he turned them toward the stairs. “Enjoy your run,” he told Silas and the twins.
“Enjoy your run!” Tighe waved back at them as he went up the stairs with Nox.
Tighe was shown to the chamber at the end of the hall and led to a bright white bathroom with a massive skylight.
For Tighe, the sunshine was soothing and Georgetown faded as they sat on the tile floor opposite each other.
Nox held Tighe’s hands and guided his breathing until he was utterly relaxed and drowsy.
“That’s it. Let go and come with me,” Nox whispered, then touched Tighe’s forehead softly.
Tighe nodded faintly but snapped his eyes open when he smelled and heard fresh, running water and trees stirring with a cool, mountain breeze.
“I’m home!” he said as he looked around, amazed at how real the sandy bank and the trees were.
“We’ll send you back as soon as we can,” Nox said soothingly, putting an arm around him. “You feel like a fish out of water with us, like you’re lost and suffocating. I’m sorry for that and I promise I wouldn’t put you through this if there was any other way.”
“I understand and I do trust you,” Tighe said, making Nox chuckle.
“Not as much as you trust Shelby and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
I had hoped that you would adjust and choose to stay with us, but the two of you belong together and you belong out there.
” He gestured around them and smiled. “Just like Tony belongs on Pooles with Ronan. You’ll still have a place with us and we’ll keep looking out for you and Shelby. That’s what friends do.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Tighe said. “I’ll always be grateful and owe you for bringing me and Silas together and for saving me from whatever Dùbhghlas has planned. If there’s ever any way I can help, I’ll come. Even if I have to go in a car.”
“I appreciate that but I’ll do my best to inflict as little car travel on you as possible.
” Nox laughed and gave Tighe’s arm an affectionate squeeze before releasing him.
“Knock it off with this business about owing me. It’s my job to stop Dùbhghlas and to protect the innocent from dark magick.
Saving you put a big kink in his plans—you’ll see—and it was the right thing to do. ”
“I’m still grateful,” Tighe replied, then winced as he checked the shore and the trees for anything out of the ordinary. “I wish I could do more to help the cause but all I see is pristine, peaceful nature.”