Incredibly, her voice was accompanied by tiny petals of music scampering like dancing leaves across a windblown meadow. Was he supposed to be hearing this? Had he already time-traveled back to the realm of the Tuatha Dé Danann?
He perked his ears to more fully embrace the hauntingly pretty musical fairies flitting and darting in accompaniment to her cooing.
The woman’s beautywas mesmerizing enough, and her voice hypnotic like a well-played chord. It lingered without fading, and he let his attention focus on nothing and everything without trying to understand.
He was. She was. They were. In the moment.
A long moment without time.
Her song ended, and he was no longer bothered by the raw scrape of his pulse or the hammer marks of his heart. Instead,a chorus of balmy voices bathed over his bruised and aching body, lifting his mind and consciousness over a horizon of splendorous colors and lilting shapes.
The redheaded goddess was singing in the old language. The one which had been lost in the hills and vales of old Éireann, in the mist of time when fairy and humans lived together in harmony.
Ripples of water strolled over glassylakes and brightened dark pools. The ancient knowledge filtered through both of their hearts. They were destined by faith and fate to be together—joined by a stone, to bring back wonder and love from beneath the depths of time.
Griffin put the knife down on the bed and took the woman’s hand. “Where is the stone which joins me to you?”
The corners of her mouth stretched slowly intoa smile. “I’m wearing it over my heart. It is bright and radiates with our love. It holds my fairy essence.”
She pulled a chain from between the cone-shaped armor which covered her breasts.
Griffin palmed the egg-shaped stone and lifted it to the diffuse, lambent light in the chamber. “How do I free you to become what you’re meant to be?”
“Believe it is my heart,” the womansaid. “Believe I am the one meant for you. The one who loved you before time existed. The one who waited for you through the long, dreary centuries. I was once yours, and together we rode over green hills, crossed sparkling streams, climbed craggy mountain peaks, and sailed rough and angry seas. We loved, we lived, we burned with the fire of love, but we were unlucky. We lost the Heart, this diamondin the rough. We allowed it to be taken from us, to disintegrate its crystals, to darken and hide its meaning. We let ambition and lust overpower our love.”
“How do we get it back?” Griffin placed the stone against her cheek. “I want to believe you because what you paint sounds so glorious, so tempting, so lulling, so false.”
“False? Why?”
He pointed at the skeleton lyingon the bed behind her. “Who is she? How long has she been lying here? Something must have gone wrong with her.”
“She is not me,” the woman declared. “That’s why she’s all bone and no life, and I’m here with you, Griffin, in flesh and blood. I’m the one you want. The one you need, and I’m the one who gives you luck.”
He once again had a flash of vision. “Will you at this point restoreIreland?”
“Ireland has always been restored. It may be the land of many people, but it is vibrant, alive, full of vigor and energy. The songs of many voices rise over her hills, and the beating of many hearts rejoice around her enchanted lakes.” She took his hand. “Why don’t we walk out of this chamber of death and see the real Ireland?”
“Who are you? What’s your name? Can I believeyou?” His heart wanted to take that leap, but the entire line of Gallaghers was counting on him. He could not shame them.
“I could tell you I’m Brigid O’Brien,” the woman said. “And you might believe me because I sang to you, and we dreamed together on top of your castle walls. I could tell you I’m the Morrigan, the keeper of your nightmares and the one who’d burn your heart like a lumpof coal. I could even give you a bunch of blarney on how I’m the changeling possessed by the goddess Brigid, but I would only be feeding into your delusions, so no, I won’t tell you anything but the truth.”
“Then I’ll believe the truth.”
“Kiss me, and the truth would come to you without my telling you.”
He let the stone drop on the chain until it rested against her chest whereit belonged.
Her mouth was as alluring as a blooming rose, and starlight shone in her gem-green eyes. A sprinkling of freckles danced on her upturned nose, and her cheeks blushed pink.
Griffin leaned in and kissed her. It was like inhaling sweet nectar. He lightly sucked on her lower lip, then exchanged pecks with her, darting his tongue around hers.
A lightness overcame him,and he felt like he was floating on a cloud with her. He let his fingers glide through her hair, and his hands caress her smooth skin. She was definitely solid, enticing, flesh, and her veins pulsed with life.
And suddenly, he needed to know her name. Needed to feel he’d always known her. He needed her to acknowledge him, but he couldn’t let her know he’d forgotten.
He kissed herwith all he had, and he closed his eyes, letting go of all fears and doubts, distilling the moment into a series of leisurely kisses, knowing that he’d never let this moment pass.
And then.
He heard the music.
