Chapter 26
Clare was handcuffed and shoved into a plastic, tarp-covered back seat of a limousine. Her sequined wedding gown was a mass of muddy shreds and torn rags, and she had a network of welts and scratches on her bare arms and legs.
Seamus pulled off her hiking bootsand put them in a plastic bag.
“Can you at least throw me a blanket?” Clare asked, still shivering from the cold March weather.
“You need to get cleaned up.” He hefted a coat over her and opened the divider to talk to the driver. “Call Pierce and tell him to get the bedchamber ready.”
“Buh-bedchamber?” Clare gasped and stared at the driver. “He left Griffin behind in the tunnel.Aren’t you going to rescue him?”
“Shut up,” Seamus said. “We don’t have time to deal with Griffin. Call in an anonymous tip to the abbey that someone’s been trespassing underneath their cistern, and let’s get moving.”
“Why aren’t you helping Griffin?” Clare demanded. “We can’t just leave him to an anonymous tip.”
Seamus closed the partition. “You’d better get some rest. Youhave a big role to play tonight.”
The driver started the limo, and the car bumped and grinded its way down the rutted road away from the abbey. On the way out, they passed by Griffin’s convertible.
Seamus glanced up at the full moon, and Clare realized what the hurry was all about. It was the night of the Spring Equinox, and there might be some special significance dealing with resurrection.
“I don’t trust you as far as I can spit my eyetooth,” she said. “You locked me out of our fundraising accounts. What did you do with the money?”
Seamus plowed his hand through his thick head of dark hair and laughed. “I didn’t need that measly pile of money.”
“Then give it back,” Clare said. “Let me go, give me the money back, and we’ll forget about this kidnapping charge.”
“I didn’t kidnap you.” Seamus pulled the Heart of Brigid from his pocket and dangled it in front of Clare’s face. “You stole this from Griffin and agreed to give it to me. We’re in cahoots. Once I restore Brigid from the dead, I will be ahead of the other Guardians.”
“You’re insane and off your rocker. What’s this about the Guardians and you being ahead?”
“There are four treasuresor hallowed objects. The stone, the spear, the sword, and the cauldron.” Seamus hung the Heart of Brigid around Clare’s neck. “My goal is to get them all.”
“I know about the four hallowed objects,” Clare said. “But this is not the Lia Fáil, the Stone of Destiny, which stands to this day on the Hill of Tara.”
“Does that stone do any magic or does it just stand there and let touriststake selfies with it?” Seamus yawned and finished with a disdainful smirk. “The common masses have been deceived by legends and fables. You, my dear, are wearing the real treasure of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Tonight, you shall see it work, or at least see as much of it until it actually works.”
He leaned back and stretched out his long legs, seeming supremely satisfied with himself.
Clare couldn’t help shuddering at the veiled threat. She would see it up to a point, and then her life would be snuffed out.
Why had she been so stupid as to get involved with the Heart of Brigid? She should never have taken it from Griffin. Even after she felt guilty about stealing it, she should have simply mailed it back to Gallagher Castle.
But then, an alarm bell jangled in theback of her mind. Pierce, the traitorous butler, could have intercepted the package and given it to Seamus.
“Why would Pierce help you?” Clare asked, figuring if she was going to die, Seamus wouldn’t mind telling her.
“Pierce wants to ally himself with the winning Guardian.” Seamus cracked his knuckles. “The Gallagher family has been a spectacular failure all through the centuries.It’s time for the O’Tooles to rectify the balance of the universe.”
“You’re not half as honorable as the Gallaghers,” Clare said. “I’m sure Griffin would have given me my money back.”
“If he remembers,” Seamus said. “Don’t worry. You won’t be around for him to remember or forget you.”
Clare shook with anger, but the handcuffs cut into her wrists. She gritted her teeth andsnarled. “He’ll never forget me. We have a special bond.”
Seamus leaned toward her and touched the Heart of Brigid. “He’ll forget all about you when Brigid reappears.”
“You’re crazy if you believe that myth. There’s no Brigid, no restoration of Ireland, no Tuatha Dé Danann, and no chance of taking Ireland back to the twelfth century.”
