Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SELENE
Icontinued the argument with Bren in my head the entire way back to the castle. I was well aware of how dangerous wraiths could be. But wasn’t it better if I learned to defend myself?
I paused a few feet from the castle’s massive door and filled my lungs with cold Irish air, hoping to cool my emotions. Then I expelled it in a cleansing whoosh and steadied my expression.
Bren could say whatever he wanted. How I responded to that was up to me, and I refused to allow him to ruin the rest of my day.
I glanced back to see how close he was and couldn’t spot him.
Good. Maybe he’d go home and leave me alone.
I managed a smile to cover my irritation and stepped inside, allowing the familiar hum to soothe me.
Rian had already returned and sat at the long worktable with his laptop open and Maeve sitting next to him. She glanced up and smiled. “There you are.”
He looked up and gave me an easy smile. “I thought you’d be here already. In fact, I told Maeve we should go look for you, but she said Bren had already gone.”
I snorted a soft laugh. The sound came out smoother than I expected, given how my past hour had gone. “Yeah, he found me. We were looking at things in the cemetery.”
Maeve cocked her head as she watched me. “Everything okay?”
I nodded. The door opened behind me, and I glanced back to see Bren step inside. He said nothing as he closed the door and made his way to the old oak table, where he sat and lifted the lid on a vintage wooden chest.
Maeve met my gaze and held it. I pursed my lips, and she nodded in understanding. Then she waved me over. “Come see these amazing photos Rian took. He’s got an eye for it.”
I ignored Bren as I unbuttoned my jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. Then I joined Maeve to see what Rian had captured with his camera. The photos showed the abbey from different angles, each capturing something unique.
He pushed back his hair that had fallen forward. “There are more from the far end of the ruins. The masonry out there is older than the castle, or it reads older. I’d love to know which came first.”
Bren spoke without looking at us. “It is older.”
The three of us shared a look, and Maeve commented in a low voice meant for our little group. “We should all go back together sometime. You see things differently than I do, Rian, and I appreciate that.”
I nodded. “Me too. I think you’ll be great for our team.”
Rian grinned. “I hope so. This place is fascinating, and I truly want to contribute. I know my uncle pulled strings to get me this job, but I promise I won’t be dead weight.”
Maeve patted him on the shoulder. “We can already see that you’re not.”
The sound of a car on the gravel outside caught our attention, and we all turned toward the windows, including Bren.
He stood, glancing outside, and then headed for the door. If we hadn’t just sparred, I would have asked who’d come. Instead, I followed him, with Maeve trailing behind.
She caught up to me, slipping her hand around my elbow. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I hope it’s not that Margaret woman again.”
I managed a small chuckle and crossed the threshold, narrowing my gaze at the unfamiliar blue sedan that approached. An older woman with white hair sat behind the wheel, and when her gaze connected with mine, she dipped her head in greeting.
“Gran.” Maeve’s breathless reply echoed with excitement.
My friend pushed past me and then Bren, rushing to the driver’s side of the car. She pulled open the door and reached in to help the woman from the seat, gushing, “What on Earth brought you to Killarney, Gran? If you had needed me, I would have driven home.”
The woman who stepped out was small and wide-shouldered, with white hair cut close and a wax coat that had weathered many Irish seasons.
Maeve’s grandmother hugged her and then pulled away, her eyes smiling as much as her mouth. “You know I’d go to the ends of the Earth if you needed me, but I’m not here for you.”
The older woman lifted her gaze to the castle, staring at it for a long moment, and then focused on me with an intense look. Then she nodded, the motion slow and certain. The wrinkles near her eyes deepened as she smiled. “I wanted to meet this new friend of yours.”
I didn’t turn to Bren, but I sensed the weight of his gaze on me as well. I suspected Gran had come after Maeve had asked about ward witches and had likely mentioned the other oddities I’d encountered.
The woman slipped from Maeve’s grasp and approached me, closely studying my face as she held out her hands.
I met her halfway and took her fingers in mine, surprised at the warmth I found there. “It’s wonderful to meet you. Maeve always speaks of you with great affection.”
She squeezed my hands. “I would have come sooner, Selene. But my old bones ache more on some days than others.”
I tilted my head toward the castle. “Would you like to go inside where it’s warmer?”
Gran slid her gaze to Bren and nodded, acknowledging him. Then she focused on me. “In a moment, perhaps. I’d hoped to have a few minutes alone with you. And Maeve. I’ve heard the lake is lovely to see.”
Bren cleared his throat. “I’ll make some tea to warm you once you’ve come in then.”
A genuine smile lit her face. “That would be so lovely. Thank you.”
He glanced at me briefly with an unreadable look and turned toward the door.
Maeve and I both linked arms with her, and the three of us walked the short distance from the castle to the lake shore, the grass damp and bright under the afternoon light.
Gran moved at a deliberate pace, taking in the grounds without rushing, her gaze moving along the tree line and back toward the castle before we reached the water.
She glanced up at me as we walked. “I do want to see inside the castle, but I’ve heard it may have ears. What I have to say isn’t for others, whether they’re of this world or otherwise.”
I nodded, happy to know Maeve had ultimately believed what I told her.
At the edge of the lake, the older woman stopped and turned to me. Her gaze dropped to the silver pendant I never removed. “Is that from your family?”
I instinctively reached up to touch it. “From my aunt. It’s a good luck charm.”
Gran nodded thoughtfully. “It looks very old.”
Her gaze turned gentle and inquisitive. “Maeve tells me you’ve no family left that you know of and that you’re like a sister to her. It would please me if you’d consider me family too and call me Gran.”
Her offer was a kindness I hadn’t expected, and my throat tightened in response. “I would love that.”
Gran smiled in return. “And now, the other reason I drove hours to meet you. Maeve talked of your interesting experiences. I’d like to know what you’ve seen.”
The need to open up to a trusted person led me to tell her nearly everything. The Veil breaches and creatures that slipped out of them. The disturbances I’d felt before they formed, the pressure changes, and the odd blips in time that I’d experienced my entire life.
She widened her eyes when I spoke of the slits in the Veil I’d sealed and the ones that I’d only helped contain. When I detailed the thorn wraith in the grove, Bren’s sword, and the creature I’d encountered that afternoon in the abbey, a touch of fear entered her eyes.
Gran said nothing as I spilled my guts. Maeve stood beside me, quiet and still as she listened too.
The older woman’s expression gave away little else, but her attention shifted and sharpened as I spoke. When I finished, the wind had stilled, and the surface of the lake was glassy.
I caught her gaze and held it. “I’ve been told I’m a ward witch. Is that what you think?”
Gran arched a fuzzy gray brow and reached for my hand. She took hold of my wrist and turned it over, pushing my sleeve out of the way. She bent to look at the mark, at the open circle with a line at the top.
“Cailleach,” she said softly. “The mark of a witch.”
Gran tilted her head, studying it. “Yours is a little different from others I’ve seen. But I’ve never met a ward witch before.”
She shifted her grip from my wrist to my hand and held it between both of hers. The warmth that moved through the contact was gentle and deliberate, like stepping from shade into sun. The wise woman looked up at me. “My Maeve told you to keep quiet?”
A tiny tremor raced through me as I held her gaze. “She did. Could you tell me more about why?”
Gran was still for a moment. The lake sat flat and dark behind her. A sad look overtook her as she shook her head. “Ward witches were practically hunted out of existence hundreds of years ago.”
An unimaginable ache filled me. “Hunted? Why?”
The older woman lifted her gaze briefly toward the sky. “I can’t say for certain. But some whisper it was the gods who hunted them. And as for the reason, some feared what they could do.”
I couldn’t imagine anyone being afraid of me. “I don’t understand. I have some ability, especially with spaces, but I’m nothing to fear.”
Maeve nudged me with her elbow. “That you know of, Selene.”
The breeze ruffled the older woman’s hair as she nodded. “You must be cautious. We don’t know what remains from that time, what lingers in the hearts of the Unbound’s descendants.”
My heart dropped. “The Unbound?”
Gran nodded. “That’s what they called those who didn’t want the Veil, who wanted to come and go freely between realms.”
Maeve drew her brows and scoffed. “Isn’t that taking things too far, Gran? I think you’re mixing stories with reality.”
“No,” I said, defending Gran’s claim. “I think she might be right. People like Margaret.”
My friend widened her eyes as Gran continued. “As the stories go, some relied on the help of others to hide or flee. That included my family.”
Maeve gasped. “Our family?”
Gran tutted. “Have you listened to nothing I’ve told you over the years?”
My friend blinked and then shook her head. “I thought they were all stories you made up.”
The old woman snorted. “Well, good luck to you then. I’m not sure I can remember it all now.”
Maeve’s expression grew distant as she glanced across the lake. “I’m going to write down everything I remember. Then I’ll come for a long visit, and we’ll go over it all. That might jog your memory.”
Gran’s cheeks pushed out as she grinned. “I look forward to it.”
She turned to me with a solemn look. “As I was saying, those who were able to do so ran and hid. Like your family. If any ward witches remained in Ireland, they never came out of hiding. Not to this day. Your family didn’t leave Ireland by choice, Selene.
They left because staying had become too dangerous. ”
I thought of Aunt Kit and her careful deflections. The way she’d dismissed my instincts so consistently and so gently, over so many years, that I’d eventually learned to dismiss them myself.
The three of us stood at the edge of the lake. I caught Gran studying me, and she dipped her head. “There may be more to you, Selene.”
My muscles tensed. “What do you mean?”
She gave me a kind smile that worried me more than it eased. “I’ve heard of ward witches managing spaces. But closing active breaches? Feeling them before others? Working alongside a guardian?”
The older woman released a slow breath. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing those things.”
I forced a breath in. “No?”
She shrugged. “I’ve carried these stories my whole life. My mother carried them before me. Her mother before that. I suppose maybe no one talked about it, but that seems unlikely given the circumstances.”
Maeve reached over and took my hand, and I breathed into the connection, absorbing her steadiness.
Gran looked back toward the castle. “Stay close to that guardian. If you’re helping him, I suspect he’ll protect you as best he can.”
I followed her gaze. The castle stood solid against the gray sky, and I spotted Bren watching from a window.
I thought of the abbey and our argument over the wraith. He’d barely controlled his anger because I’d contained it instead of running.
But now I wondered if he’d known, or suspected, or feared something about what I was and what that might mean.
Gran turned back toward the castle. “Let’s head inside. I’m chilled, and I want to meet this guardian and size him up.”
Maeve snorted. “And I’ll bid you good luck with that. He’s a closed book we’ve yet to crack open.”
I allowed the two of them to walk a few paces ahead as I pondered.
My gaze returned to the castle window, but Bren was gone. I was certain the man knew things I needed to know, and my instincts told me his silence wouldn’t protect me.