Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (19 page)

The petite redhead whirled
as the back door slammed open, bombarded with both emotion and
sounds as Cameron Young quickly took his employer from
Kerry.

“Ryan, don’t snap at
anyone,” Mac was rolling his eyes as he followed his brother. It
was good that he was close because both brothers nearly went down
when Roarke suddenly began convulsing again.

Grabbing quickly before
Ryan lost his grip, Mac knew this was going south fast. “No time
for his room. Lay him on the floor in the office,” he ordered,
seeing Maggie’s concern. “He’s bad.”

“What do ye need?” she asked, knowing that
Deirdre was preparing in the wrong room.

“Get the water and towels
from Deirdre and have her tell Ian where she put the satchel our
father used,” Mac replied, frowning as Kerry entered. “Those things
should not have been able to cross the border.”

Kerry understood that but before he could
say what he suspected, they were all interrupted a low
vibration.

“Was that an earthquake?”
Maggie blinked feeling Mac’s hand on her arm.

“No, that’s Roarke’s
powers,” Kerry murmured even as Ryan shouted for them.

Mac had picked the office
for this since it had the most floor space, and he was hoping it
still had some energy left from his father.

Right then as Maggie and
Ian went to get the various things required, and Mac and Kerry
entered the room, it wasn’t clear if they weren’t already too
late.

“I swear, if he makes me
bleed one more time this week alone, I’m hurting the brat,” Ryan
was scowling as he fought to keep his injured brother from doing
himself more damage as his body convulsed.

“Get his damn shirt off,”
Mac ordered, having no time to set up, as he would have liked.
“Whatever infection these wounds have caused is killing him, just
like Sebastian wanted.”

Kerry was moving to open
the windows that surrounded the room to give them fresh air. “I’m
not sure Sebastian sent them this time,” he sighed, turning when he
heard the awful sound of his brother trying to breathe and be sick
at the same time.

“I’ll ask when I can afford
to split my attention,” Mac scowled even as he was literally moving
Ryan aside. “I can’t cope with him and your temper. So check it or
leave.”

This order came as Ryan
began swearing in their native language after removing their
brother’s torn, bloody t-shirt and for the first time saw fully the
massive amount of scars and other injuries he had gathered since
childhood on his back, chest and arms.

Mac’s hands shook despite his best efforts
to keep them still as Maggie came in with towels and a bowl of
water while Ian had a worn leather satchel.

“Kerry, talk to him and see
what’s in the bag,” he instructed, feeling the depths of the pain
his brother was feeling. “Ry, getta grip and light the fireplace
because we need heat. Ian, I need you to help Ryan hold him still
because this will hurt.”

Maggie laid the towels down but didn’t move
away from Mac as she knelt beside him, a feeling in her heart
telling her to stay.

“Will this hurt you?” she asked, seeing him
frown but understanding that he’d do this anyway even if it did
hurt him.

As the pain increased,
Roarke’s powers were trying to protect him and the threats his
fevered mind perceived, but he was too weak to do anything but
cause the low vibrations that were often an aftereffect of his
abilities.

“Sshh, quiet” Maggie
shushed gently, knowing she should leave, but the voice in her
thoughts was still speaking.

Kerry knelt by Roarke’s head, careful to
keep his hand on the top of his head while he spoke quietly to
him.

“Just remind me to hurt
someone when this is over,” Ryan complained, doing one thing before
doing what Mac told him to, and that was to light candles around
the room in a certain pattern. “Alright, brat, listen up. I got
more to do than deal with you, so let’s heal you up and get things
moving.”

Maggie wondered if he was
really so hard core that this wasn’t bothering him, but then she
watched him kneel down to hold onto their brother and saw his
fingers brush his face gently.

“Hold onto him and watch
his powers,” Mac warned, hoping he could do this.

Taking a deep breath to
cleanse his thoughts and center himself, Mac opened the channel of
his powers, but this time centered them on healing his little
brother.

Kerry knew the danger this
posed to all of them but focused his powers on soothing his
brother’s pain so he’d be calm through the worst of this. “Rest,
Roarke,” he spoke mentally but felt the pain and fear
grow.

Laying on his stomach on the floor so Mac
had full access to the worst of the wounds, Roarke twisted in pain
and fear but strong hands held him still as Mac’s gentle hands
touched the wounds and things sparked.

Mac Fitzgerald felt the
nauseous feeling of just touching these wounds but fought to push
that down. “With the power I was granted, I ask those who have gone
before to guide me to heal what were stricken,” he spoke lowly in
his Irish; his eyes going dark to full smoke as his powers built
and a soft glow began forming under his hands.

Roarke groaned in the pain
as the healing spell slowly worked on the now festering wounds.
“No… don’t hurt...” his voice strained as he moaned.

“Yuck,” Ian muttered after
looking to see his brother’s wounds but tightened his grip to keep
his hold. “It’s almost over, Roarke,” he promised, using the tone
he’d heard Sybil use when soothing him as a child.

Ryan wasn’t so sure of that
when he saw how Mac was struggling to contain the now boiling
injuries, and their brother was getting paler.

Increasing his hold
slightly since he didn’t want to hurt his brother more, Ryan placed
his other hand over Mac’s, meeting his eyes silently.

“He needs you all,” Maggie
was quiet as she gripped Mac’s arm, finally understanding. “Your
strength, the strength of the Five, has always been in your
unity.”

“That was broken when we
were broke up,” Ian saw her point, shifting his position so he
could free one hand and lay it on his brother’s, feeling the
warmth.

Kerry watched this, pleased
that his brothers were realizing this as he reached into his
father’s worn leather satchel.

He had seen his father use
various herbs and other things in this bag to help others when sick
or when he needed to cast a spell. Right then he was hoping it
would have something to use to help heal his brother.

Reaching in, he felt for a
second, then his fingers touched a small round tin, which he
brought out. The salve can looked old but something told him it was
vital as he opened it, took some on his fingers and rubbed it on a
large oozing bite on Roarke’s shoulder.

The black haired Irishman’s
body bucked violently as the salve seemed to hiss on his wound, but
once they got him calmed again, the wound wasn’t oozing again. In
fact, it seemed to be closing.

“Hold him,” Mac snapped
voice tight as he strained to heal. “Kerry, whatever that is, use
it on the rest of them then we can finish healing.”

Maggie held a hand out for
the tin, knowing it would take all four of them to control their
brother and do the final healing.

Ignoring the awful smell, she began laying
the salve on the bite marks and claw marks on his shoulders, back
and arms where she could reach, watching as the boiling wounds
began to heal with hissing pain.

“C’mon, brat, it’s fine.”
Ryan ignored the pain he felt and struggled to keep his brother
still.

Kerry caught Mac’s eyes and
understood as he placed a hand over Ian’s. “We are of the Five,
born into the power from the power of generations long gone,” he
recited the words easily.

“We seek to protect one of
our own as he was protected years gone by, by those who sought to
protect us.” Mac’s eyes flashed as his hands spread the warm glow
over his brother’s back, allowing it to spread over him.

“As is our right from birth and blood, we
use the gifts given to us to heal and protect this boy from
injuries suffered from evil born of darkness.” Ryan felt the breeze
coming in the window pick up and the power connecting them
increase.

This was new for Ian but as
he paused to think of what he was supposed to say, the words seemed
to come to him. “Heal our brother so the Five can be formed as we
protect what is ours now and what will be,” he quoted, eyes
changing as the power grew.

Maggie had seen magic in
use since she’d been a child but nothing prepared her for this
sight as she kept silent, watching as the candlelight around the
room grew into a wall of blue flame.

“Blessed be.” With the
closing quote to end the spell, the blue flames busted into pure
white light, Roarke’s final cry of anguish stopped and he went limp
from exhaustion and exertion.

Mac felt Maggie’s gentle
hands on him when he let himself fall backwards as the winds and
light dimmed. “It’s like I said once before, Doc. You do show a
girl a good time,” she whispered in his ear, resting her head on
his shoulder.

Kerry was gentle as he ran
a hand over his brother’s back, pleased to see there were only
slight marks from these wounds, but not liking that none of the
other scars had faded even a little.

“Some of those should have
been taken away,” Ryan muttered, eyes slitting. “Why weren’t
they?”

“Possible they can’t be
until he deals with the guilt and shame and anger he has,” Kerry
replied, easing Roarke onto his back on the floor to see his face
had relaxed some and the claw marks on his arms had
gone.

Ian had gone to get a
pillow and blanket from the leather sofa in the room, but Kerry
shook his head to wait as he and Ryan got their brother onto the
sofa.

“Roarke, wake up,” Kerry
spoke quietly, sitting next to the younger man on the sofa and
letting Maggie and his brothers deal with getting Mac onto his
feet.

“I think Young’s mystic is
still here,” Ryan smirked at his brother but reached for a small
shot glass to pour whiskey into. “Better have him look at
you.”

Mac took the liquor with a
single hiss then let his eyes cross as it burned all the way down.
“The day I need a bloody O’Malley brother to look at me is the day
I retire from practicing,” he shot back, looking up as Maggie sat
on the arm of the chair. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she
seemed surprised by the honest depth she saw in his
eyes.

“You did more than you
think,” Mac replied quietly, looking as Ian nodded to the
sofa.

Waking up after being hurt
or getting knocked out was not one of Roarke Fitzgerald’s favorite
things ever. This time was worse since the last thing he could
recall was pain and terror, but mixed in with those memories were
other things.

“Mum…don’t go,” he murmured
sleepily, trying to reach out to grab his mother’s dress as she
left him that last day. “Mummy, I’m sorry…”

His brothers exchanged
looks as they realized what was happening. “Ah, hell,” Ryan
muttered, starting to move when a single burning look from Kerry
stopped him.

“It’s not your fault,
Roarke,” Kerry assured him quietly, lightly touching his shoulder.
“You couldn’t have stopped what happened that day. Mac, Ry and I
should have been with you.”

Twisting violently,
Roarke’s eyes suddenly snapped open to stare into Kerry’s. Gasping
to breathe, he recalled the attack at the stables, the pain
and…

“Where’s Jessica?” he finally got out,
recalling her scream and remembering seeing her on the path.

As Ryan rolled his eyes at
the first question, Ian sat a glass of water on the table in front
of him. “She’s upstairs with Deirdre and Cam’s medic.”

“You’ll see her soon, lad,”
Mac spoke without looking since he was trying to get the room to
stop spinning.

Looking around the office,
Roarke fought to place things in order then realized the wounds
from the beast were gone, and then slowly realized his shirt was
off.

“Roarke, listen,” Kerry’s
tone was soft but even as he felt his brother go rigid. “It’s
alright. You’re safe.”

Jerking a sudden look at
his oldest brother, Roarke saw what he hadn’t before. Kerry wasn’t
asking how he got the scars because he already knew.

“I…I need to see…” he tried
to stand but fell back on the couch and recoiled when Kerry went to
steady him, as his memories and emotions were still high. “Don’t
touch me.”

“Roarke, stop and listen to
Kerry,” Mac really didn’t feel like this right then but halted as
Kerry held up a hand.

“Ian, help Maggie get Mac
up to his room or into the kitchen so he can get some rest,” he
made the tone sound like a request but none of them doubted the
firm command, especially as he shot a hard look at Ryan. “Go check
and see if Cam and Peter need help.”

Expecting some resistance,
Kerry was slightly surprised when he didn’t get any. Waiting until
the door closed, he finally stood to give his brother
space.