Gift of the Realm (11 page)

“I
never said I didn’t know about the dreams.”

She
stumbled on the path. “What!” His hand on her arm kept her moving. “Stop!”

He
ignored her.

“I
mean it, Quinn,” she declared, skirting a boulder and struggling to control her
breathing. “I’m one hysterical breath away from a complete freak out. And if I
end up going over the cliff, it’ll be your fault!”

His
chuckle sounded behind her. “I’ll keep you on the path, darlin’. We’re almost
there.”

She
could hear Donovan barking not far ahead, and realized he was right. Topping
the rise, the Door came into view. She spun around and pinned him with a glare.

“You
knew about the dreams?”

He
didn’t pause, surprising her by scooping her up in his arms to hold her against
his chest as he would a child. He headed for a low boulder several yards from
the ring, ignoring her struggles.

“Put
me down,” she insisted. “This is a conversation I intend to have while standing
on my own two feet.”

He
sat on the stone and settled her on his lap. Only inches from hers, his cobalt
eyes were calm in the face of her agitation.

“How
long have you known about the dreams?” she demanded.

“Since
the summer you came to stay with Morna.”

“And
you didn’t tell me?” she shrieked.

He
wrapped his arms about her more tightly when she tried to squirm free.

“We
just spent the last hour—” she cut herself off. “I’ve lived for the past ten
years, afraid I was going insane. Why didn’t you
say
something?”

“For
the same reason you didn’t mention it, I imagine.”

Okay,
he had a point. But still!

“And,
before you ask,” he continued, “no, I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. I
simply didn’t see it as anything odd.”

“Then
you’re
the one who’s insane.”

He
grinned. “I’m Irish, Keely. It’s in my DNA to be more accepting of the strange
and magical than the average person,” he reasoned.

“And
having fairie blood would only increase that acceptance?” she added,
sarcastically.

“So,
you’ve decided to believe in our fairie heritage?” he asked instead of
answering.

“I
have no idea what I believe, anymore. Nothing in this situation is what I
thought it to be.”

A
grunt was his only response.

She
studied him for a moment and wondered at the subtle wariness that had seeped
into his eyes before asking, “Are the dreams one of your gifts, Colin?”

His
gaze narrowed. “Gifts? Have you been talking to Sean again? Tread lightly
there, Keely. Nora may look like a lady, but she has a vicious, jealous
streak.”

Keely
rolled her eyes and took advantage of his loosened hold. She scrambled from his
lap and turned on him. “Sean happens to be one of the few people I consider a
friend,” she scoffed, “as does Nora. And, for your information, I haven’t been
talking to him. I spoke to Kathleen yesterday.”

“Kathleen?”

“Yes,
Kathleen. I’ve had a lot of unbelievable stuff dumped in my lap since I’ve been
back in Dunhaven, and I needed to talk to someone about it before my head
exploded. Unlike you, I can always count on Kathleen to speak truthfully, even
if what she has to say is unpleasant.”

Disgruntled,
he pushed to his feet. “Like I said, I didn’t keep my knowledge of the dreams
from you in order to hurt you, Keely. When you’ve embraced the fact that you
carry the blood of the realm,” he ignored her sharpened glance, “you will find
that, while never mundane, your gifts will become a normal part of your life.
It will be up to you whether or not you share the details of those gifts with
others. I choose not to, and it works for me.”

“Why
did you put it that way?” she wanted to know. “When I’ve embraced the blood of
the realm?”

He
shrugged. “A figure of speech.”

“It’s
almost the exact figure of speech Saraid used,” she said, glancing over her
shoulder at the ring.

He
grabbed her elbow and forced her to face him. His eyes narrowed intently. “She
spoke to you?”

“You
know she did. You were there last night.” The words spilled out as a
disgruntled complaint. “Remember?”

“Fairie
gifts, if you can call them gifts, work differently for each of us. I’m aware
of the dreams, Keely, but not in the same way as you’ve described. For me the
awareness is more abstract, a kind of sensing rather than seeing or hearing.
You witness. I feel.”

“If
that’s so, then how did you know I... that I’d...” she trailed off, unable to
admit she’d thrown herself at him and kissed his lights out.

His
slow smile was pure seduction. “With as much as I’m wanting you, darlin’, I’d
hardly miss the feel of your lovely body pressed close, or the taste of your
soft mouth on mine.”

Wanting,
not wanted.
Pleasure coursed through her at his words. He pressed a kiss to
her forehead then leaned back to meet her gaze.

“Now.
What of Saraid? What did she say?”

“She
said, ‘Embrace the blood of the realm, daughter of daughter. Let it lead your
heart. For if two from the two join together at last, destiny shall be found,
and misguided bonds will be broken.’”

“Two
from the two,” he murmured contemplatively.

“She’s
only spoken twice, and both times the two of us stood together in the ring. I
went back and checked the genealogy more closely. The split in our ancestry
began with the twins. Your line came down from Ryan and mine from Regan. That
has to be what she meant.”

“I
agree.”

“What
I don’t understand is the ‘letting the blood lead me’ part. Lead me where?”

“You’ve
already been led, Keely. To me. To the Door. Maybe it’s your fairie blood you
should be focusing on.”

“Please.
I’m having a hard enough time accepting the idea fairies are real, never mind
that I might have descended from one.”

He
snorted. “This from a woman who admits to hearing mystical voices and sharing
her dreams with a handsome Irishman?”

“Now
you’re just trying to charm me,” she grumbled.

“And
it’s working,” he said with a grin.

“Maybe,”
she had to admit.

He
tapped a fingertip to her nose with a laugh, and, taking her hand, led her
toward the ring.

“What
did you mean when you said focus on the blood?”

He
paced around the edges of the pillars, but didn’t enter, saying absently,
“There are many fairie gifts, Keely, other than sharing dreams. If we’re to
break a curse, we need to understand and apply any and all the abilities at our
disposal.”

“But
I don’t have any other gifts,” she insisted.

“That
you know of.”

“Do
you?”

“I
do.”

“What
are they?”

“That’s
a conversation for later.”

“Why
not right now?”

“Because
right now,” he said, using his grip on her hand to tug her into the ring,
“there’s this.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Keely
ducked at the blinding flash of light, her startled yelp automatic at the
earsplitting crack of thunder.

“What
was
that
?” she gasped. Deep blue was all she saw when she glanced up.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Colin
didn’t answer, and she followed his intent gaze to a point in the center of the
ring. She could only gape at the sight before them. Not four feet away stood
her prince from
Into the Mists.
As real as the stone pillars surrounding
them, Prince Rory appeared exactly as he had in her dreams. Tall, blond, and regal
in dark slacks and a flowing blue tunic that seemed to glow. His haunted green
gaze was locked on the rosebush with its single red bloom.

“We
had a deal,” Colin protested beside her.

Rory
waved off the accusation, his eyes never leaving the bloom. “I was invited.”

“No,”
Colin barked, “you weren’t”

“Events
overrule any deal we’ve made, young Quinn.”

Keely’s
gaze darted between the blond fairie from her childhood dreams and Colin. To
have made a deal between them, Colin had to have been in contact with the
spectacular looking fairie. She found her voice.

“Deal?
What kind of deal? What’s going on, Colin?”

Colin
didn’t answer, his blazing eyes never even turned her way.

“A
good question,” a sultry voice mocked and had Keely whirling about.

Recognition
made her eyes widen. Across the rosebush from Rory was the most beautiful woman
Keely had ever seen, a woman she’d watched as a child, leading a band of
fairies in their
céilidh
dance. Blonde hair, so pale it appeared like
polished silver, fell to the woman’s tiny waist in waves. Her large, exotically
tilted eyes, as blue as the sea beyond the cliffs, gleamed from a face that
would have been right at home splashed across the silver screen. High
cheekbones, delicately arched brows, and a wide, full mouth, complimented the
woman’s perfect, porcelain skin, as did the flowing white gown covering her
willowy frame.

Fairie
power pulsed around her like a living force.

“Princess
Fiona,” Prince Rory snarled. “I’ve come for my wife.”

His
wife
? It was too much of a coincidence for him to be speaking of anyone
other than Saraid. Keely didn’t have the opportunity to congratulate herself on
having her suspicion, that her prince and Owein were one in the same,
confirmed.

Princess
Fiona scoffed at King Owein’s demand, the cold smile curving her lips ruining
the perfection of her face when she spoke. “Have you now?” She nodded her head
toward Keely and Colin. “And you believe these two are the key to having your
way? Hah! The girl, maybe.” A chill ran down Keely’s spine when Fiona’s blue
gaze raked over her before moving to Colin. “But I’ve ensured
that
one
will never do your bidding. Unlike his da, your pretty Quinn will never be
swayed, not by human plea nor fairie enchantment.”

“Enchantment?”
Owein’s eyes glittered with heat. “I should have known you were behind the
man’s foolishness.”

Fiona
laughed. “You know as well as I humans need no push to act the fool. I barely
had to whisper in Michael Sterling’s ear to have him rushing back to answer the
demands of his greedy family.”

Keely
gasped at hearing fairie interference was behind Michael Sterling’s abandonment
of Colin and his mother. Her gaze flew to Colin to find him looking, not at
Fiona and Owein, but at Keely herself.

“What
is she saying, Keely?” he demanded, sharply. As he spoke, his gaze scanned the
ring as though searching, and Keely realized not only couldn’t he hear the
fairie princess, he couldn’t see her, either.

Before
Keely could answer, Fiona pinned her with a harsh look. “Look at him,
Halfling,” she hissed, “ordering you about as though it’s his right. Your lover
is no different from all the others. Like all men,
his
will is all that
matters.”

Owein
snorted his disdain while Keely’s heart quivered in her chest at the fury in
Fiona’s eyes. She didn’t bother asking how the fairie princess knew she and
Colin were lovers. It was obvious from her remarks Fiona knew much more about
this situation than either she or Colin. In fact, it appeared that, like a
marionette, Fiona had been pulling the strings all along. The question was,
why?

“What
is
his will?” Keely asked simply.

“To
escape his destiny.”

“And
what is that?”

“
You
are his destiny, as he is yours. And if you accept it, you’ll suffer for it.
Mark my words.”

“Leave
off the girl, witch,” Owein barked. “She’s nothing to do with what is between
the two of us.”

“Is
she threatening you, Keely?” Colin asked softly, closing the small distance
between them and grasping her arm as though he could protect her from the
unseen danger.

Keely
didn’t answer, her eyes on Fiona. Color suffused the fairie’s perfect features,
and her eyes spit fire at Owein. “Nothing to do with it, you say? Liar! She’s
everything to do with it, and why you’ve spent young Quinn’s entire life,
pressing him to take her, and do his duty.”

Shock
had Keely holding her breath at Fiona’s assertion.
His entire life? Take
her? Duty?
Mortification replaced shock and had Keely stepping away from
Colin, tugging her arm free until his fingers slipped their grasp.

Thunder
rumbled as shards of lightning crackled within the ring.

Fiona
scoffed. “Your little sparks of anger don’t impress me, Owein.” She turned on
Keely, pointing an accusing finger at Colin. “Like his ancestor before him,
that greedy, cheating Fitzgerald Quinn, building his fortune is your lover’s
only concern.”

Keely
blinked at the erratic swing of subject. “What does Fitzgerald Quinn have to do
with any of this? According to legend, he won your heart, but your father
wouldn’t approve the match, so you laid your fortune at his feet in place of
your heart. Why would you do that if he was a greedy, cheating man as you
claim?”

Fiona’s
eyes blazed and the ground beneath her feet rumbled. “
I
wouldn’t, and I
didn’t! And he didn’t
win
my heart. He
stole
it. Then he sold it
back to my father for baubles and riches. All men lie and manipulate,
whispering love words and toying with a woman’s softer heart to get what they
want. Ask your bonny Colin,” she purred. “See if he denies he’s known all along
how to break the curse. Owein too. They’ve been playing you for a fool, Halfling!”

Keely
blanched and her gaze jerked to Colin. He’d known all along how to break the
curse and stop the dreams?

“What
is it, Keely?” Concern cooled the impotent anger in Colin’s eyes as he took a
step toward her.