Echoes of Magic (8 page)

“
Then how are you going to
get a horse and sword?”

He grinned. “I’ll find a way.”

Chapter Nine

Grayson didn’t mind riding in the cart quite
so much as he had thought he would. It gave him an opportunity to
learn more about Adrianna. And he greatly enjoyed being near her,
even if it made him have a constant cockstand because he could do
nothing about it.

“
How long have you been
with the gypsies?”

She played with her sleeve as she surveyed
the land around them. “Almost three years now. As a child I
remembered them coming through our village a few times. With their
bright clothing and laughter, it seemed like such a grand
adventure.”

He could understand that. “What made you
decide to join them?”

“
I’m not sure,” she
confessed with a small smile. “They rode through the village in
need of a healer. I did what I could, but the woman was old and
wasn’t able to fight the fever. She died and, when they were going
to leave her cart behind, I asked if I could have it.”

Grayson lifted his brows. “This was
hers?”

“
Aye. The gypsies normally
don’t welcome strangers into their family, but my skills with
healing proved I could be useful.”

“
Do they know of your
magic?”

She licked her lips. “Milosh and Yoska do,
and I think others suspect. I told Milosh and Yoska because I felt
they had the right to know since it was their decision whether I
could join or not.”

“
Strange. Had you told most
anyone else, they would have burned you at the stake.”

“
True,” she agreed. “I knew
they wouldn’t speak of it since they are outcasts in most villages
anyway.”

He glanced at her long, slim fingers as they
continued to play with her sleeve. “Are you happy with the
gypsies?”

“
They are the family I
never had.”

He heard the pain in her voice and
recognized it for what it was—loneliness. He knew it all too well.
What made it worse was that he remembered what it was like to have
the love and comfort of his mother. She had been his entire
world.

“
What about you?” she
asked. “Were you happy at Wolfglynn Castle?”

Grayson thought of his men and Drogan. “As
happy as a knight can be, I suppose. Drogan is a good man. I’ve
been fortunate to be able to lead his knights into battle and fight
by his side.”

“
Are you close to
Drogan?”

“
I consider him a
friend.”

Her gaze burned him as she stared, waiting
for him to continue. “Not as close a friend that you would divulge
your secrets?”

“
You know the answer is
nay,” he said and looked at her. “It’s because of my friendship
with Drogan that I wouldn’t bring war to his steps.”

Her lips turned up into a
smile. “And that’s why you’ll always have him for a
friend.”

“
I count myself lucky to be
able to call Drogan friend. He doesn’t have many, and the few he
does, he would readily die for.”

“
Which is why you didn’t
tell him.”

He gave a small jerk of his head. “Drogan
has Serena now. He has a chance at a future bright with love and
happiness. What kind of man would I be to take that away from
him?”

“
You aren’t giving Drogan
enough credit. I’ve heard tales of his exploits. His reputation
precedes him throughout England. Having him by your side would have
given you a distinct advantage. Not to mention Serena. I imagine
both of them would like to destroy the evil for good.”

Grayson shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe
I will regret not confiding in Drogan, but I’ve made my decision.
For good or bad, my path is before me, and I’ve already taken
it.”

“
You can turn
around.”

There was something in her tone that made
him hesitate in answering. He glanced at her to see her looking
straight ahead, her face impassive. But he wasn’t fooled. “You’ve
seen my future.”

She sighed and turned her head to him. “I
looked into a part of it. I wanted to see if my leaving the gypsies
would keep them alive.”

“
Does it?”

“
Aye.”

Grayson clenched his jaw. He knew he
shouldn’t ask, knew he was better off without the knowledge, yet he
couldn’t help himself. “What else did you see?”

“
You will battle him,
Grayson.”

“
I assumed I would.” Still,
assuming and now knowing it for a fact were two different things.
Though he longed to know if he died at the man’s hands or not, he
couldn’t bring himself to ask.

And thankfully, Adrianna didn’t volunteer
the information.

“
Has your magic always come
easy to you?” he asked in way of changing the subject.

Adrianna chuckled. “There
was a time I purposefully didn’t use my magic. I didn’t want to be
like my mother. I didn’t want to be a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
. So, I did the only thing
I could. I pretended not to have magic.”

“
I imagine that caused your
mother great distress.”

Adrianna leaned forward and
rested her elbows on her knees. “I thought if I didn’t have magic I
might have a chance at a normal life, and then my mother could be
happy. I didn’t realize until later that I had only made things
worse.”

“
What did you do
then?”

She looked into his silver depths and saw
genuine curiosity. Few people rarely asked about her past and, now
given the chance to talk of her mother, she found she wanted to
share it with someone.

“
As soon as I realized what
I’d done, I confessed to her. The look of relief on her face had a
profound change to my life. I focused on my magic like never
before.”

“
In other words,” he said
softly. “You made her proud.”

“
I’d like to think I
did.”

He gave her a lopsided smile before he
turned back to the road. Adrianna let the silence stretch. She was
too lost in memories of her time with her mother to want to
talk.

Was Grayson correct? Had she made her mother
proud? She wasn’t so sure.

Her mother had cautioned her about giving
her heart to a man and bearing his child. For years Adrianna had
weighed her options, and then she’d met James.

“
Do you believe in love,
Grayson?”

He jerked his head to her, his brow knotted
in a frown. “I beg your pardon?”

“
Love. Do you believe in
love?”

“
I suppose,” he answered
with a shrug. “Drogan and Serena claim to love each other, and I’ve
seen what each will do for the other. If that’s love, then aye, I
believe in it.”

“
That’s love,” she
confirmed.

“
Why do you
ask?”

She propped her chin in her hand. “My mother
told me that if I chose love, then my life was doomed. If I chose
to be against it, I would be alone.”

“
Seems like either way you
weren’t going to live happily.”

Adrianna chuckled. “It’s
true.”

“
Did you love your
husband?”

She licked her lips and lowered her head.
“James wasn’t my husband,” she confessed and waited for the deluge
of insults she was sure would follow.

When none came, she slowly lifted her face
to him.

“
You’ve never told anyone
that, have you?” he asked softly.

She shook her head.

“
Why tell me?”

“
I don’t know. I’ve told
you more about myself and my past than I have anyone.
Ever.”

He reached over and put his hand atop hers.
“Thank you.”

“
Do you not think badly of
me?” She knew she should leave well enough alone, but she had to
know. It was suddenly very important he not look down on
her.

“
Life isn’t easy, Adrianna.
Sometimes the choices we make aren’t the wisest. We learn from them
and move on. No one should have to carry the weight of those
mistakes forever.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Is it that
simple?”

“
It is,” he said with a
wink. His expression then grew serious. “If you don’t mind me
asking. Why didn’t he marry you?”

Should she lie or give him more of the
truth? She decided on the truth since there was no use in lying.
Not now. “Actually, he asked. Several times. I’m the one who
refused.”

“
Because of the
curse?”

“
That was part of it. It
would also allow him to marry someone else should he so
choose.”

“
And your son? You were
willing to let him be labeled a bastard?”

“
Aye.” His comment stung,
but she wouldn’t let him know how much. “I knew as soon as James
left that I would as well. A different village, a different
life.”

He nodded at her explanation. “It would have
worked. No one would have been the wiser. Would you have told your
son the truth eventually?”

“
I’d like to think I would
have,” she said. “In truth, I don’t know. I’ve seen what living
with the label of bastard can do to a person. I wouldn’t want that
for my son. I suppose I should be thankful I don’t have those
decisions to make now.”

Their gazes locked. His silver depths didn’t
look at her with censure or anger, but with acceptance and
understanding. She would be forever grateful to him for that.

He raised a brow. “Do you believe in
love?”

“
Oh, aye.”

“
Did you love
James?”

She opened her mouth to answer then
hesitated. “Before, I would have answered aye but, after seeing
Drogan and Serena, I’m not so sure. I enjoyed James’ company and,
though it wounded me greatly when he left, I wasn’t steeped in
despair as my mother was.”

He flicked the reins to keep the cows
moving. “Have any of your people ever loved a second time?”

Her heart raced at his words. She refused to
look at him for fear the hope in her eyes would give her away. “I
don’t know,” she finally answered.

“
They were too distraught,”
he said. “It’s understandable.”

She drew in a shaky breath. Up until the
moment she had first seen Grayson, she had thought her body blind
to the desires men offered.

Suddenly, he turned and
looked at her. “Do you think you’ll find another man you might
someday want to be with?”

Her mind swirled with
possibilities. She had never even thought to take another man to
her bed, never had expected to
want
to. Except, that’s all she’d been able to think
about lately.

“
Anything is possible,” she
said and forced her gaze away.

She tried to swallow but found her mouth
dry. Grayson was the temptation her mother had always warned her
about. He was the man who would haunt her dreams, waking and
sleeping.

He was the one man she would do anything to
be with.

And she’d been fool enough to put her fate
in his hands.

Chapter Ten

After Adrianna’s response,
Grayson lapsed into silence. He’d expected her to answer with a
firm ”never”. Instead, she’d said there was a possibility. It had
him reeling. He refused to put himself in the same situation Drogan
was in. There was nothing in heaven or on earth that could bond him
with a woman who was cursed.

He had never thought to have a family of his
own but, if he ever did, he would damn sure be around to see the
children grow. Besides, he didn’t expect there to be a woman whom
he could want to spend the rest of his life with.

Not that it mattered. He would die soon, of
that he was certain.

When they stopped at noon to eat, Milosh
motioned him over. Grayson jumped from the cart and reached for
Adrianna. There was no way he was going to miss holding her for a
few moments, even if he was torturing himself.

His hands spanned her small waist as his
gaze met her pale blue eyes. The sun broke through the clouds to
shine upon her golden locks.

“
You’re being summoned,”
she said with a grin. “Best not keep Milosh waiting.”

Grayson grunted and set her
down on the ground. He was sure Milosh wanted to have another talk
with him about Adrianna. The big Romanian wasn’t going to let
Adrianna go easily.

“
Aye,” Grayson said as he
walked to Milosh.

Milosh leaned against his cart. “We will
come upon a village before nightfall. Usually we continue on.”

His gaze narrowed on the gypsy. “Why are you
telling me this?”

“
In case you wish to
stop.”

Grayson ran a hand down his face. “Indeed, I
do. Since I’ve lost my horse, weapons and armor, I’m in need of
more.”

Milosh nodded and moved to walk away.

“
Wait,” Grayson stopped
him. “Why are you asking my opinion?”

The gypsy looked over
Grayson’s shoulder. “Because it’s what Drina would want me to do.
You cannot battle these men without weapons, and we have none to
give you.”

“
Thank you.” Grayson was
cautious by nature, but maybe he needed to learn to give a little
trust sometimes.

Milosh bowed his head. “No need. I do this
for Drina. I want her safe.”

“
And she will
be.”