Echoes of Magic (6 page)

Grayson shrugged. “I’m not
sure that’d be wise. Some memories are better left
forgotten.”

“
But you aren’t forgetting
yours. You’re reliving them.”

It amazed him how intuitive she was. Was it
her magic? “Reliving those memories helps me remember my
mother.”

She ran her finger over the bark of the
tree. “What did she look like?”

“
I remember she was very
beautiful,” he said. “I know all children think that of their
mothers, but to me she was.”

“
I’m sure she was. Tell me
more,” Adrianna urged.

“
I recall sitting before
the hearth while she embroidered and putting my finger through her
curls. I would stretch the curl out then release it and watch it
spring back into place.”

Adrianna grinned. “Sounds wonderful.”

“
It was. Her hair was as
black as midnight, and she had the most amazing dark eyes. She
loved to hum as she embroidered.”

He hadn’t thought of his mother and their
quiet moments in front of the hearth in years, mostly because it
was too painful to recall such happy times and not know where his
mother was.

Adrianna turned her face toward the group of
gypsies around the fire. “I would like to have met her.”

Grayson looked at her profile. “She would
have liked you.”

She smiled as her eyes shifted to him. “How
do you know?”

“
Because I like
you.”

For several heartbeats they simply stared at
each other before Grayson broke eye contract, praying his blood
cooled enough for him to think clearly. “Tell me of your
mother.”

“
There isn’t much to tell,
I’m afraid,” Adrianna said. “She tried to keep her bitterness from
my father leaving hidden, but I saw. She would cry at night
sometimes.”

“
That must have been
difficult for you.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “It was for a
while. Until I realized exactly what she was crying over. She was
lonely. She had loved my father dearly. I think it might have been
better had he died instead of leaving. At least then she wouldn’t
have still held out hope he would return someday.”

Grayson frowned. “Do you know where your
father is now?”

Pale blue, cold and hard, eyes met his.
“He’s dead.”

Chapter Seven

Adrianna shifted. She
always became uneasy when she spoke of her father. “He died a year
before my mother. When she received the news of his death, I think
she gave up. Every last shred of hope withered and died. It was
lucky for us I inherited the magic of our people, so she had
something to turn her mind to while teaching me.”

“
You mean not every female
has your abilities?” Grayson’s eyes widened, his surprise clearly
visible.

“
Nay.
Before the curse, and even some time afterward, the
bana
‐
bhuidseach
would marry
another
bana
‐
bhuidseach
, but when the men began to leave or die very young, the
women thought if they mated with non
‐
magical men they might have a
chance at happiness.”

“
Not so,” he
guessed.

Adrianna shook her head.
“Every time a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
mated with a non
‐
bana
‐
bhuidseach
it diluted our magic
until a woman never knew if her daughter would have the magic or
not. All males stopped having magic all together.”

“
I think that’s sad. Your
people have so much history, so many wondrous abilities. I’d hate
to see them gone.”

It was more than sad. It
was horrific, but she wouldn’t go into her worry over her people.
As far as she knew, there were only three
bana
‐
bhuidseach
left in Britain. It would
only be a matter of years before there was none.

“
Have you tried to end the
curse?” Grayson asked.

Adrianna rose and looked
at the clear, blue sky. “I think every
bana
‐
bhuidseach
who has ever married has
prayed they would be the ones to break the curse. Spells were cast,
futures looked into, and even reverse curses, but nothing has
stopped it. Nothing.”

She heard him stand as he moved behind her.
His heat surrounded her, and she had the urge to lean back against
his strong chest and have his arms wrap around her comforting her,
protecting her.

Her breasts swelled and her sex throbbed
with need every time he was near. It was driving her insane, but
the need, the hunger, only made her want him all the more. But she
couldn’t allow herself even that small measure of weakness.

“
What are you thinking of?”
he murmured, his voice low and husky. He was only inches from her,
challenging her resolve with every heartbeat.

“
Happiness,” she finally
answered. “Some people dream of riches and titles. I dream of
happiness.”

“
Do you think you’ll ever
find it?”

She briefly closed her
eyes. “Nay. Happiness has eluded my people for generations. Maybe
it’s best if we die out. Our magic will be gone, but we might be
able to rest instead of carrying such a heavy burden.”

Large hands gently turned her to face him.
“I think happiness is what you make of your life. Have you been
unhappy with the gypsies?”

“
Not at all. There is a
difference in what I’ve had with the gypsies and what I could have
if the curse never was.”

“
I’m not disputing that,”
he said softly. “I’m merely stating that you can choose to be
happy, or you can choose to be melancholy and lament over what you
don’t have.”

She laughed. “You make it sound so simple.
How I wish it were. Tell me. Have you made the most of your
situation, Grayson?”

One side of his mouth lifted in a wry grin.
“I’d like to think so. Part of it was because I was keeping who I
was a secret, but another part of me realized I only have this one
chance at life. Why not make the most of it while I can?”

Adrianna swallowed. His words reverberated
in her head like a drum, making her wish for...him. How she wanted
to throw caution to the wind and give in to her temptation to step
into Grayson’s arms.

She knew exactly where it would lead and,
though she liked to think she was strong enough to survive
anything, the truth was, she wasn’t sure. She would be left with
another child, but would that be enough? She somehow knew deep in
the pit of her soul that one taste of Grayson would never be
enough.

“
You speak such grand
words, yet you are willing to ride alone into evil and sacrifice
yourself.”

He chuckled. “I’m a warrior, Adrianna. What
can I say?”

“
Aye. What can you say?”
She walked away from him before she said something she might later
regret.

As she made her way to the
stream, out of the corner of her eye she saw Milosh watching her.
In her quest to aid Grayson, she was hurting a man who had offered
her shelter, a family. Yet, she could find no way around
it.

“
Stay close, Drina,” Yoska
cautioned as he passed her.

Adrianna gave a nod that she heard him and
grabbed her soap from the cart before she continued on her way to
the water. The gypsies always tried to camp near water, though
sometimes it wasn’t possible. When they did, Adrianna took full
advantage of her opportunity, and she wasn’t about to let one pass
by.

Her feet quickened as she heard the gurgle
of the brook. She had unbraided her hair by the time she reached
the water’s edge. It took her no time to remove her clothes and
step into the stream.

She sighed and glided into deeper water. The
stream wasn’t large and could barely be called a river, but it was
deep enough for her to be able to enjoy a nice swim before she
bathed. The water was cool and the sun warm as Adrianna dove
beneath the surface. The water current pushed against her, making
her body strain as she swam.

She broke the surface with a laugh. A swim
always managed to revive her and clear her head, much as walking
among trees did. Since she knew Milosh and Yoska would come and
check on her soon, Adrianna lathered the soap and began to
scrub.

* * * * *

Grayson managed to borrow a knife from Yoska
so he could shave off his irritating beard. He had taken off his
bandages since he planned to bathe, but he was sure Adrianna would
scold him for it.

He shrugged out of his tunic and tossed it
on a low branch of a tree before he bent down to tug off his boots.
It wasn’t until he began to unfasten his pants that he glanced at
the water and saw her.

His body stilled as every ounce of blood
rushed to his cock. Even breathing became difficult when Adrianna
lifted one slim arm from the water and watched the droplets trail
down her arm.

Her wealth of golden hair was slick back to
her head and floating around her like gold in the dark blue water.
She dove under, giving him a view of her shapely bottom before the
water claimed her.

Grayson turned and put his back to a tree,
his chest heaving as he struggled to calm his racing heart. If he
watched her any longer, he would join her and be damned the
consequences. He shifted his aching rod and vowed as soon as they
found a city he would relieve this need that had taken over his
thoughts—day and night.

He didn’t move, not even when he heard her
leave the water and begin to dry off. With his eyes squeezed shut
and his hands fisted at his side, he remained still as stone,
afraid to even breathe lest he give in to the hunger. Only when her
footsteps faded as she walked back to the gypsies did he let out
the breath he’d been holding.

With curses mumbled beneath his breath, he
jerked off his pants and walked to the water, calling himself ten
kinds of fool for not taking a peek at Adrianna when he’d been
able. It was likely the only glimpse he would ever get, and he had
let it slip through his fingers.

Not even the continued pain of his wound
could drag his mind away from Adrianna and her elegant beauty. He
tried to clear his mind as he dunked his head. The cool rushing
water rejuvenated him and cooled his lust, but the need didn’t go
away.

Grayson surfaced, sat near the edge of the
river, and raised his face to the sun as the water rushed around
him. Memories of his mother flooded his mind. As young as he’d been
when she was taken, he didn’t know if his memories were true or had
been distorted over the years.

The thought of possibly finding her, of
seeing her again, would be worth his death. How he regretted not
being older and able to defend her against the men who had dared to
rip her out of his arms.

Which was why he had trained with the finest
knights in England. He knew if he ever went after those men, he
would need to be one of the best. Drogan had seen to that. Grayson
wouldn’t be where he was if it hadn’t been for Drogan.

Many times he’d wanted to confide his
secrets to his friend, but Drogan had his own demons to deal with.
And those demons had followed him to Wolfglynn.

Drogan had assured him all would be fine,
but now Grayson wondered if he shouldn’t have stayed. Yet, if the
evil tracked him as Adrianna said, it took the danger away from
Drogan and Serena. For a while anyway.

He wiped the water from his face as he
smoothed back his hair and reached for the knife to begin
shaving.

* * * * *

Adrianna wrung out her hair and began to
comb it when she realized she had forgotten the soap. She whirled
around to retrace her steps and nearly ran into Yoska.

“
What’s your hurry, Drina?”
he asked with a brow raised.

She tried to move past him, but he blocked
her. “I forgot the soap.”

“
I think your warrior can
return it once he’s finished.”

Her lips parted as her mind pictured Grayson
swimming the same water she had just left. Maybe she should have
taken longer.

Don’t be a fool!

She couldn’t let herself be tempted by him,
no matter what her body said.

“
I didn’t realize Grayson
had gone to bathe,” she said and leaned against the cart. She
continued to comb out her tangles, hoping Yoska would leave well
enough alone. She should have known better.

“
Are you sure you didn’t
know?”

She met the tall Romanian’s gaze. “I saw no
one when I left the river.”

Yoska grunted and folded his arms over his
chest. “Did he see you?”

A thrill shot through her at the thought of
Grayson watching her. The mere idea of it sent her blood pumping
wildly through her, and a deep, soulful throb went through her
sex.

“
I wouldn’t know,” she
finally answered.

Yoska gave another grunt before he turned
and walked away, but Adrianna didn’t pay him any heed. Her mind was
on Grayson and the river.

A small smile played about her lips. She
couldn’t help but wonder if Grayson liked what he had seen. Her
very next thought was why hadn’t he joined her in the water?
Adrianna closed her eyes and said a prayer of thanks that he
hadn’t. She was hurting Milosh enough already.

But once you leave? Will you be able to
resist the temptation Grayson offers? Do you even want to?