Echoes of Magic (2 page)

Many
bana
‐
bhuidseach
let the anger and
resentment turn their gifts to hate, souring everything around them
until finally death took them, their magic lost to the
wind.

The women were all
cautioned to accept their fate if they gave in to the desires of
men for, once you gave in, there was no turning back.

Adrianna hadn’t wanted to live her life
alone, never having a child or knowing any kind of joy. She thought
it would be worth the pain, worth being alone for the rest of her
days.

Until she lost both her
lover and her child.

C
hapter Two

The first thing Grayson noticed when he
opened his eyes was the swaying and gentle music of the chimes
above him.

He licked his lips, craving
water for his parched throat. Almost instantly, there was a cup at
his mouth and a small hand lifting his head. Grayson drank deeply
and sighed as the cool liquid eased him.

When he was able, he
turned his gaze to find a woman with the most amazing golden hair
that trailed over one shoulder to fall into her lap. Her
heart
‐
shaped face
held a gentle smile as her kind, pale blue eyes returned his
stare.

He had seen those eyes
before, but he’d thought it a dream. He’d thought her an angel come
to ease his passing to death. He was more than pleased to find she
wasn’t an angel but a woman with full lips that would tempt any
saint.

“
My name is Adrianna,” she
said, her voice soft, musical. “I found you wounded in the
woods.”

Grayson closed his eyes as the memories came
rushing at him. The blood, the pain...and the knights meant to kill
him. He tamped down his anger and took a deep breath before opening
his eyes to look at Adrianna.

“
Thank you,” he said, his
voice coming out sounding more like a frog than a man. “I’m Grayson
of Wolfglynn.”

Was it his imagination or had her eyes
widened at the mention of Wolfglynn? He continued to claim
Wolfglynn as his home until he could shrug off his secrets and live
in the present. He’d been hiding for too long to ruin things
now.

“
What happened to you?” she
asked.

Grayson raised his right
arm and sucked in a breath at the blinding pain that ripped through
him. It was several moments before he could breath again, and once
more form thoughts. Saints, what had happened to him? He remembered
the sting in his shoulder, how it made it impossible for him to
lift his sword and defend himself. An injury for sure, but he’d had
many injuries, and none had ever felt so damned awful.

“
Don’t break open the
wound,” Adrianna said tersely as she touched his shoulder to still
him. “It took me quite awhile to stop the bleeding. You’ve lost a
lot of blood and are weak and feverish. You need to hold
still.”

Never one to want to be confined, Grayson
found it difficult to not get up and find the men responsible for
his wound. “Where am I?”

“
On the road west toward
the coast. I’m traveling with a band of gypsies.”

He inwardly chuckled. While he’d been lying
on the ground bleeding, all he could think about was Hawksbridge.
And even now he was on his way toward the castle that could give
him all his answers.

With gypsies of all
people
.

The cup was once more placed at his lips.
This time she let him drink until it was empty. He swallowed the
last of the water and watched as she set aside the cup.

“
The last I remember was
being surrounded by a group of knights.” He wasn’t sure why he told
her the truth. He hadn’t spoken so plainly since...well, never.
Yet, she’d saved his life, she deserved some truth.

“
Knights?” she asked, her
head cocked to the side.

He snorted. “Aye, knights. There were nine
of them, but I managed to hold my own before I was wounded.”

“
You got away,” she said.
“And hid well enough that I almost didn’t see you.”

“
I’m glad you found me. I
don’t know how long I’d been lying in those woods.”

“
The knights wanted to kill
you then?”

“
Aye, though I’ve no idea
why. Their helms were down so I couldn’t see their faces, but I’ve
never fought any of them before. I’m sure of it.”

“
Did they know who you
were?”

He paused at her question and recalled one
of them had shouted his name. “Aye.”

She licked her lips, drawing his gaze to
them. “What will you do now?”

“
I was on my way to
Hawksbridge. This time I’m going to reach the castle.”

He didn’t miss the way her hands shook when
she clasped them in her lap. There was something about her,
something in the way she held herself and the way her eyes seemed
to see far beyond the here and now, that made him think of Serena.
Wolfglynn’s very own witch.

Had you asked him a month
ago if witches existed, he’d have laughed, but now he knew better.
Witches did exist, at least a certain type of witch. He’d meet
Serena while he was still commander of Drogan of Wolfglynn’s
castle.

That’s the first time Grayson had
encountered evil so intense even the air seemed to darken around
them. The evil had been after Drogan, intent on slaughter. Yet,
Serena had stepped between the man and Drogan. She saved Drogan but
nearly lost her life in the process.

Thanks to another witch
living just on the isle across from Wolfglynn, Serena had been
saved. Even now, knowing two such powerful
bana
‐
bhuidseach
lived in Wolfglynn made
Grayson a little uneasy. It wasn’t just the witches though. It was
the evil. Some thought the man dead, but Drogan, Grayson and the
others knew differently.

“
You seem lost in
thought.”

Grayson turned his gaze to
Adrianna. “My apologies. A lot has happened over the past
month.”

“
Tell me. Sometimes
speaking of it will help to work out the problems.”

He hesitated. Opening up wasn’t something
Grayson did. Ever. The fact he was considering it instead of lying
was enough to give him pause.

“
Grayson,” she said and
leaned toward him. “Whoever was after you isn’t finished. They’re
going to return. I’d rather be prepared.”

He regarded her with narrowed eyes. No mere
woman would know of such things. “What do you know?”

“
Nothing specific,” she
said and lowered her gaze as she sat back. “It’s just a...feeling I
have.”

Though he longed to rise from the bed and
find his weapons, even now his body cried for sleep. The wound and
the fever had weakened him considerably. He wouldn’t be in any
condition to fight his enemies for weeks yet. And by then it might
already be too late.

“
Rest,” Adrianna murmured
near his ear.

He didn’t fight the pull of
sleep. Her small hand rested on his forehead a moment before her
fingers trailed down his cheek, her touch feather light and
entirely too pleasant.

Grayson wasn’t done analyzing his situation
or the men who ambushed him, but his brain was fuzzy and in need of
rest. If the knights who attacked him discovered he wasn’t dead,
they would return.

And he’d just put the
entire camp of gypsies in danger.

Chapter Three

Adrianna waited until
Grayson’s breathing evened into sleep before she dropped her hand
and forced herself to move away. The more she touched him, the more
she wanted to touch, to feel all of him. It was disconcerting to
say the least.

It didn’t take a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
to look into Grayson’s
haunting silver gaze to know he had secrets locked deep within his
heart. It was those secrets that would get him killed. She didn’t
need to peer into the future to know that fact.

For the next hour, she let her mind wander
over all she remembered of Serena and Drogan and the evil tracking
them. When there still were no answers, she rubbed her hands down
her face and let out a loud sigh.

She turned and picked up
the arrowhead to sniff it. A wave of wickedness and pure evil
engulfed her. There was no mistake. It was the same scent she’d
smelled when she had told Serena and Drogan they were being
followed.

Why would the same evil be after Grayson?
Unless he was somehow connected to Serena and Drogan. She glanced
at the sleeping warrior and wondered at his secrets.

She’d hoped Grayson would
be willing to share the events of his travel to Hawksbridge, but
she should have known better. It was secrets that led him down this
path, secrets that had shaped the way he lived, and he would live
by those secrets until the day he died.

A man like Grayson didn’t share his past
readily. But without the knowledge of his past, she couldn’t help
him. Too bad she didn’t have the gift of seeing into his past. She
could save herself, and Grayson, a lot of trouble.

She rubbed her hands down
her face before she lifted the thick, heavy fabric that covered the
cart to see the sun sinking into the horizon. She hadn’t realized
how long she’d spent healing Grayson, and he had no idea how close
to death he’d come.

Weariness crept over her. What little
healing she could do had sapped her strength. All she wanted was
sleep, but she didn’t dare, not until she knew for sure Grayson
wouldn’t succumb to the fever once more.

Of a sudden, she heard the gypsies calling
out they were stopping for the night. A moment later her wagon
pulled to a halt. She glanced at Grayson before walking to the back
of her cart. Just as she was about to step down, Milosh
appeared.

“
Drina? How is your
warrior?” he asked, his gaze darting behind her to Grayson sleeping
on her bed.

He’ll never be mine. No
man was meant to be mine.
“I was able to
break his fever, but he’s still weak.”

“
Will he
survive?”

“
I believe he will,
aye.”

The Romanian’s dark gaze settled on her.
“What do you know of him?”

“
His name is Grayson of
Wolfglynn, and he was on his way to Hawksbridge before he was
attacked by a group of knights.”

Milosh sighed and ran a
hand through his long dark hair. “Is it safe to have him
here?”

Adrianna took his hand and
stepped down from her cart. She faced Milosh with a heavy heart.
“Nay. The same evil I sensed a year ago, I sense again.”

“
I
thought you said that evil was after the other
bana
‐
bhuidseach
,” Yoska said as he
stepped out of the growing shadows.

“
It was,” she answered
softly. She glanced at her cart before she faced the brothers.
“Somehow Grayson is connected to Serena.”

“
Which will bring the evil
here.” Milosh’s voice was soft, too soft.

Adrianna shook her head. “There’s a chance
it won’t.”

“
It will,” said a voice
behind her.

She whirled around to find
Grayson standing at the entrance to her wagon, his face was pale as
death as he held his right arm across his chest in an effort to
minimize movement of his wounded shoulder.

“
You shouldn’t be out of
bed,” she said and rushed to him.

“
Your people need to know,”
he argued. “You should have left me.”

She paused and glared at him. “You were no
more ready to die than I was to leave you there.”

He shrugged then grimaced. “That isn’t the
point. I refuse to allow anyone to be in danger because of me.”

“
It won’t matter,” Milosh
said. “Whether you leave now or not, whoever follows you will find
us.”

Adrianna looked from Grayson to Milosh,
watching how the men sized each other up. “Grayson, please,” she
begged. “Get in the bed before the fever returns. You aren’t strong
enough.”

“
Yet,” he whispered and
reluctantly turned around.

Adrianna glared at Milosh and Yoska before
she followed Grayson inside the cart. He stumbled before he reached
the bed, and she rushed to him, putting an arm around him to give
him support.

“
Easy,” she said. “I’ve got
you.”

He chuckled. “I’m nearly twice your
size.”

“
I’m stronger than I
look.”

“
Apparently.”

He gave a grunt when they
reached the bed. Though she tried to release him, her arm got
caught in his, and she ended up falling with him in the bed,
cushioned by his muscled chest. Her hands braced against the sinew,
his heat engulfing her, calling her.

Tempting her.

As she looked up into his
silver eyes, all she could think about was the awakening of her
body, the yearning she hadn’t felt in so long. She remembered the
hunger, the need. And the overwhelming desire. It had been too many
years since a man had made her blood heat and her heart
pound.

His gaze met and held hers.
For a moment she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of a man such as
Grayson beneath her. She wondered what his weight would feel like
on top of her. She wanted to move her hands down his chest and
explore more of him and his wonderful body, to open her legs and
have his cock slide inside her.