Chapter Eight
“Come with us, Darach.” Emily grabbed his hand and tugged him along the shadowed gallery corridor. “We haven’t explored this side yet.”
“I’d love tae, lass,” he shot a quick glance at Tess, “but yer aunt has asked me tae remove the window boards.”
He was desperate to stay with them since he had no idea where the resident ghost had disappeared to, nor what the scoundrel might try. But Tess had just given him a second chance and he dinnae wish to press his luck and be booted out for good.
“Pleeease?” Emily begged, tugging harder on his hand.
“I think the boards can wait until we’re through looking around up here,” Tess added, surprising him.
“Yay! I’ll be the leader,” Emily announced, skipping ahead, her flashlight beam bouncing with every hop.
“Remember what I said about staying away from the bannister until we’re sure it’s safe,” Tessa warned.
Darach followed as they explored the rooms off the right side of the U-shaped balcony, ending with a surprisingly large room at the front of the house.
“This is an exact replica of the room on the other side,” Tess commented, studying the fireplace and the angled ceiling. “Perfect for a honeymoon suite.”
A what?Darach’s gaze flew to her, but she was transfixed with what he assumed were visions and ideas for the place. At least he hoped that soft, faraway look was for the house and no’ someone she intended to bring to it.
Was the lass promised to someone? He glanced at her hands. The only ring she wore was on the little finger of her right hand.
The depth of his relief was so jarring, he turned away. Why would he expect a woman as lovely as Tessa to no’ be involved with someone? ’Twas daft to think she wouldnae be. And he was daft to think her availability mattered one whit in his situation. He should be happy if she had someone to love and care for her. And for Emily.
He’d been in such a hurry to get to Hell and begin paying for his transgressions, that the two days Soncerae asked him to spend in mortality had seemed an enormous burden. A waste of time and energy. Now he dinnae want to leave here, leavethem. At the most he only had one more day.Oneday to convince their ghostly inhabitant to leave and go…anywhere else.
Darach shifted, uncomfortable with the thought of the ghost wandering through eternity looking for his family. But, it couldnae be helped. Tessa and Emily’s safety had to come first.
Mayhap there was a way to help him. Mayhap Soncerae kenned something of the process, and she, or the elderly twins who’d attended his own leaving—if they were indeed, witches as well—would ken a spell that could guide the poor lost soul home.
But, Soni wasnae due for another day and the apparition must leave immediately. The stubborn wretch had made it clear he wouldnae quietly bide his time with Tessa and Emily in the house.
Nae. He couldnae wait for Soncerae. He had to take matters into his own hands before something grievous happened. Destroying the ghost’s chance of a happy eternity with his family to ensure that Tessa and Emily had a chance at theirs, was the only choice he had. ’Twould be another grievous sin against his soul, but he couldnae do otherwise.
The pain and heartache he’d brought to both his, and his friend’s mithers, was shameful and wrong, but ’twas never intentional. The harm he planned to bring to the ghost, however, was deliberate. Calculated. The consequences would last for eternity. How did one atone for that?
Tessa’s muttering broke into his thoughts and he turned to see her strolling the perimeter of the room, eyebrows scrunched and frown lines creasing the edges of her pretty mouth. Lost in concentration, she tapped a finger against her chin.
“…and if I moved some walls to make extra bathrooms, I would maybe end up with six guest rooms. But Emily and I still need rooms. Perhaps downstairs there’d be...”
Darach smiled at her complete concentration as she continued to mutter her thoughts and calculations to no one in particular. Her lips, animated one moment, puckered in thought, another, captured his attention. The palpable yearning to feel them beneath his own was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
’Twas another unfulfilled desire, he’d take wi’ him. He’d no’ do anything to destroy his chance of staying here as long as the fates, Tessa, and Soncerae, would allow.
“Aunt Tess, come see what I found,” Emily entered from another of her forays into some of the other rooms. “That little room you peeked into, that you said was maybe for storage? Wait ’till you see what’s inside.”
Tess, Darach noted, still paced, still oblivious to anything outside her head. With a frustrated sigh, she shoved her fingers through her long, raven hair, lifted it away from her lovely face and let it fall in an ebony cascade down her back.
“Aunt Tess—” Emily repeated, impatiently.
“Mmm?” Tess muttered, distractedly. “What is it, Em?”
“I want to show you what I found.”
“Okay, but unless it’s a pot of gold, it probably can’t help us much.” Her shoulders drooped with discouragement. “There’s just so much to fix. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to make this place work, honey. I don’t know what made me think I could take on something like this!”
Emily’s face fell and Darach felt her disappointment pierce his chest.
