Chapter Six
Killian grumbled about his defeat at the hands of his brother Jaxx.
He had left his team back in the cave’s hot springs, splashing and carrying on.
He needed some alone time. As much as he loved his team, loved his brother and admired his brother’s team, he was looking forward to a few private moments in his favorite hot springs.
As he moved closer, he was brought out of his inner musings by the sound of a woman’s husky singing voice.
“I heard them promise, ‘Til death do us part
Each word was a pain in my heart
Oh, all I could do was cry
All I could do was cry
I was losing the man that I love
And all I could do was cry…”
Killian paused for a moment, tilting his head and listening as the voice continued the song.
His feet moved forward without him consciously telling them to.
He stopped again just short of breaking through the trees.
From where he stood on the edge of the forest, at the far end of the pool, he could just make out a figure standing behind the waterfall on the other side.
It looked like whoever stood back there was rinsing their hair with the falling river while using the acoustics of the stone wall to practice their vocals.
Just as his brain caught up with him and he realized it was Bréagha, she stepped out from behind the water, and he got a full view of every inch of the new Sentinel.
He would have liked to say he turned away instantly but his gaze lingered on her curves.
She wasn’t model thin, and she wasn’t what humans called chubby.
She had curves in all the right places; hard and soft where she needed to be.
He saw the strength in her, the fire, but just for a moment, listening to her voice and watching her move, he saw the vulnerability too.
He saw the loneliness in her then, the kind born from never truly belonging anywhere.
There was a brokenness in the way she looked at this moment, completely open with all the walls she normally carried stripped away while she thought she was alone.
Back in the Record Keepers library, he'd seen it too. The desire to belong to something permanent. Something ancient. He felt a stirring in his chest he had never felt before, an empathy for another human being, a need to comfort and protect, which was even deeper than his natural instincts as a Sentinel. He took another long look as Bréagha bent to wrap a towel around herself, sufficiently blocking Killian’s view of her body and he could see the walls being slowly put back in place.
He turned and walked back towards the caves to give her the privacy she deserved.
Bréagha was a puzzle he didn’t think he would ever fully understand, and he knew she was going to bring chaos to his team, and his sanity.
“Bréagha! Are you decent?” Bréagha smiled and finished tucking her towel across her breast.
“I’m covered if that’s what you mean!” She hollered back then grinned wider when Roz popped into the space right in front of her.
“Come on! We don’t have much time to get you ready.
Your dress is waiting for you.” Roz grabbed Bréagha’s hand and portaled them both into the treehouse.
A screen had been placed in the corner to offer Bréagha some privacy to change, and a small table had been placed next to it with hair and makeup stuff organized neatly on top. Roz pushed Bréagha toward the corner.
“Hurry and get dressed and then I can help you do your hair. Mary and Kat sent some make up for you, but you don’t have to wear anything if you don’t want to,” explained Roz as she continued to guide Bréagha toward the screen.
“A lovely smokey eye, might be nice,” mused Bréagha as she finally got behind the screen and Roz left her alone. There was a bag hanging on a hook that she assumed was holding the dress she was supposed to wear. She unzipped the black bag and gasped.
Inside was an exquisitely made sapphire gown.
She didn’t wear dresses often, and rarely wore colors, preferring her graphic tees, and jeans.
She pulled the dress out, being careful not to get the delicate fabric stuck on the bag’s zipper.
She dropped the towel she still wore, then stepped into the gown.
It was made of a fabric that was incredibly soft against her skin, silky like the coat of a brand-new puppy.
Once she had the dress settled around her, she stepped out so she could look in the full-length mirror set up beside the screen. She sighed and ran her hands down the front of the gown.
The dress started out as the deepest blue at the top, then slowly lightened to a sky blue, almost white, where it hit the floor.
It was cut into an A-line style with a deep plunging V-neck, it didn’t have sleeves but instead there was fabric that draped behind her giving the perception of a cape.
The back was open all the way to her waist with the draped fabric flowing into the skirt.
Delicate filigreed flowers were sewn into the edges of the V-neck up front, as well as the edges of the dip going down her back.
Moonstones had been sewn into the embroidery, so they sparkled as she moved.
This was the most daring dress she had ever seen, let alone worn.
“Let’s do your hair and makeup, then we can get the full effect.
” Roz led Bréagha to the small table she had set up, then pushed her to sit on the little bench in front of it.
There was no mirror, so Bréagha would have no idea what she looked like until Roz let her go back to the full length one.
Roz pulled and tugged and poked Bréagha until she wanted to scream.
Just as she was about to lose it, Roz moved on to the makeup.
She wasn’t any gentler applying that either as she poked, swiped, and moved Bréagha’s face up, down and sideways to get the angle she wanted.
“Roz! Are you done yet?!?” Bréagha was at the end of her patience.
Now she remembered why she never got all gussied up.
It was painful. Roz gave her eyes a couple more swipes then stepped back to survey her work.
She tilted her head one way and then the other, really scrutinizing her art.
She finally nodded and smiled, satisfied she had done the best she could.
“Whoa…damn Bréagha. You clean up pretty well.” They both turned to where Aiden was sitting at the small table, munching on some fresh fruit.
He was wearing a black suit, a silver shirt, and a blue tie.
He had brushed his normally unruly hair back off his face which was clean shaven, showing his chiseled good looks.
“We can’t all look like the village troll like you, Aiden.” Bréagha stuck her tongue out at him when he winked then moved to the mirror to see what Roz had done.
She stood staring at her image for a few minutes, not sure who she was looking at.
The vision before her couldn’t possibly be her true reflection.
The woman in the mirror had clear, glowing skin, her hair was pulled up into a fancy updo with braids and twists, a few pieces strategically pulled out to curl around her face and neck.
The blue of the dress brought out the fiery highlights in her dark auburn hair.
Roz had done an impressive job highlighting her natural look with perfectly applied eyeshadow, mascara, a dash of blush, and red lipstick.
She never wore red lipstick, but she swore from this day forward she would only ever wear it.
“Roz, you outdid yourself. You’ve turned an ugly duckling into a swan.” Roz giggled at Aiden’s statement and her wings fluttered at the compliment.
“Bréagha, don’t listen to this fool; I only brought your natural beauty out.
Just wait until the team sees you!” Bréagha’s stomach flipped a little, thinking about Killian’s silver eyes roaming over her.
She pressed her hand against the fluttering and took a deep breath.
What did it matter what anyone thought? She felt and looked badass; everyone could kick rocks.
They jumped when there was a sudden bang on the treehouse door.
“Bréagha and Aiden get your asses out here! It’s almost time and we have to get you to the Spirit Grove.
” Roz flew over to the door and opened it to let Killian in.
His stride faltered as he caught sight of Bréagha, and Roz covered her grin with her hand.
It took him longer than he would admit, to drag his eyes away from her and to look over at Aiden who just grinned and tipped his chin at him.
He growled then turned around and went back outside.
“Hurry up, we don’t want to be late unless you don’t want your animal soul. ”
A slow smile pulled at one corner of his mouth when he heard the scrambling behind him.
He walked over to where Liam and Cathal stood, to wait for the trio.
They had plenty of time, especially since they had Roz who could portal them.
The clearing where the ceremony was held could only be reached by portal.
It lay in the heart of the Garden with several layers of protection surrounding it.
No one could just walk up to it, and only portal keepers who have been granted permission from the Garden could portal people in.
Roz and Mary were the only two in the Garden right now with that clearance.
He heard the intake of breath from both Cathal and Liam so knew Bréagha had stepped out of the tree without looking in her direction.
“Don’t you two look handsome.” Killian gazed at the sky and sighed deeply as Cathal and Liam stood straighter and puffed their chests out.
Just what those two needed, a boost to their egos.
Both wore a black suit like him, though Liam wore a dark green shirt to match his eyes, and Cathal had gone with a deep purple to make his brown eyes pop.