Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (29 page)

This caused Ryan to frown
at his older brothers. “How bad is it?”

“Physically, he molested
her,” Mac sighed, suddenly too tired to argue. “Mentally, we’re not
sure.”

“Sebastian’s cruel, so it’s
a safe bet he hurt Jessica badly,” Kerry felt the mild tension and
quickly ran his finger over her forehead to ease it. “Roarke fought
him back once but it’s not over.”

Ryan rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, we each have to go through this. Joy,” he muttered, and then
glared when he felt his brother smack his head. “I
wouldn’t.”

“While that’s true, we also
have to do something else.” Kerry’s eyes were serious as he looked
between his two brothers. “We need to recast our
circle.”

Knowing what that meant,
Mac looked at his left wrist and the small scar it held. A scar
that shared by all five of them.

“It won’t matter if we’re
not all on the same page,” Ryan slid an even look to Mac who
finally nodded.

“I’m a doctor and healer so
I jumped when I saw my brother shoot my friend. Sue me,” he
muttered, looking at Maggie. “Sure you don’t want to skip that
interview?”

Laughing slightly, Maggie
just shook her head. “Nope, I’ll stick it out just to see what
other surprises you have,” she looked when the door opened and her
fingers closed on his arm. “There’s that leprechaun I told you was
digging in your dresser.”

Mac’s eyes narrowed
dangerously as his grandfather laughed. “Didn’t Gram teach you not
to snoop?”

“Well, since you were
always fond of it yourself as a lad, I thought it only fair,”
Lorcan returned, stepping up to smile down at Maggie. “Boy got me
in so much trouble with his Gran it wasn’t funny.”

“Oh, did he now?” Maggie wasn’t sure who
this older man was but decided to play along.

Knowing it wouldn’t take
much prompting to get his grandfather talking, Mac cut in. “Mary
Margaret Cavanaugh, meet Lorcan Kerrigan, our maternal
grandfather,” he introduced.

“I knew who the lass was,
boyo,” Lorcan rolled his eyes then winked at Maggie. “Boy’s a bit
slow, lass so you may have to…”

“Gramps, shut up!” Mac cut
him off, seeing Ryan smirk and shooting his brother a look of
warning. “Why are you here?”

Lorcan waved that away with
a snort. “Your Gran is here so I thought I’d take the opportunity
to see my grandsons and what all this fuss is about.”

The agile older man could
read his grandsons easily and felt the tension between them. “Now,
you three take yourselves to bed and let those rowdy lads outside
with the guns protect the house. Fi and I will see to the
magics.”

“No, I should redo the
protection spell,” Kerry sighed; smiling at the short look he got,
which reminded him of his mother. “Alright, I’ll check on Roarke
and…”

“Lord but you lads got your
Da’s hard-head,” Lorcan complained, shifting an exasperated look at
Maggie. “My girl was stubborn as can be since she got that from Fi,
but these five got that from Brenna and they also got Toryn’s
hard-head.”

“Gee, thanks Gramps,” Ryan
scowled at him, grinning at the scowl he got in return. “These two
can fight with you but I’ve taken in way too much from Roarke
tonight, so I’m crashing.”

Kerry was about to say
something when that simple comment sank in, but a look from his
grandfather had him staying silent as Ryan left the room. “Ry’s
never been much of an empath.”

“He hasn’t been close
enough to Roarke to be much help either,” Mac muttered, wincing as
he felt the mild slap.

“He’s taken a lot tonight
and you’ve both used too much power recently, so off to bed,”
Lorcan shooed as Peter left to report to his leader. “Off with you
before Fi starts yelling at me.”

Maggie couldn’t help but be amused at the
wiry little man trying to physically move two grown men who were
both a good foot or so taller than he was.

“C’mon, Doc let’s go,” she
urged, laughing. “Let’s get you washed off and maybe I’ll tell you
a story,” she offered, using the same bribe she often tried with
one of her brother’s children.

“I’d take her up on that if
I wasn’t so tired,” Mac yawned, shifting a final look back at his
patient to be sure she was resting well before leaving the
room.

Leaving Mac in Maggie’s
hands, Kerry paused to look at his grandfather. “I can’t thank
either of you enough for coming or…”

“You’re of our blood,
Kerry,” Fiona spoke from beside him as she had come from checking
on Ian. “You only had to ask sooner.”

Knowing this, Kerry nodded
as he finally took his grandmother warmly into his arms, but
something nagged him. “Did you… I mean…”

“Kathleen’s power was
strong back then, plus the grief of losing Brenna,” Fiona had
guessed what he was going to ask as she brushed a hand over his
light hair. “Lorcan and I had no idea what she had done or what was
being done to your brother.”

Lorcan Kerrigan’s light
blue eyes seemed to darken in temper at that. “Had we known, that
boy wouldn’t have spent a single night in that place,” he vowed,
still angry over the abuse his grandson suffered and still
suffered. “You should have let me deal with that
treacherous…”

“Lorcan, that’s enough,”
Fiona’s tone was mild but her eyes held a warning that she waited
until Kerry had gone down the hall to speak of. “We don’t have to
like or approve of what’s happened, but Kathleen Fitzgerald is
still their grandmother.”

Huffing a little at that,
he shook his head. “Maybe, but I doubt if she’s done
yet.”

“I fear you‘re right,”
Fiona sighed, feeling the house settle for the night.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The singing of his mother
and his father’s laugh is what Roarke Fitzgerald woke up to,
sitting up quickly and falling back as his head pounded.

Having been on the receiving end of
hangovers, tranquilizers and sleeping aids, Roarke knew which one
he’d been given and swore to make Ryan hurt the next time he saw
him.

Looking around, he was
surprised to see he was in his old room, but it was clear that the
remodeling in here had been sparse. Mainly updated furniture,
curtains, etc., but the memories still were clear if he thought
about them.

Glancing at the clock told
Roarke it was barely dawn so he doubted if any of his brothers were
up yet, and a part of him wasn’t sure if he was ready to see them.
But it was something else that drew his attention and
fear.

“Calm her down, Mac,” Ryan
was short-tempered since he hated being woken up at any time and
especially if it was before the sun was even up fully.

“Kind of what I’m trying to
do,” Mac shot back, sitting next to Jessica as she twisted in her
sleep.

The girl had begun to move
in her sleep an hour before and by the time Peter thought to get
help, her fears had grown to the point where Mac was having a hard
time.

“Her mind isn’t always open
so calming her down isn’t like it is with someone else,” Mac
complained, feeling her panic and pain grow as she struggled past
the most recent memories. “New plan, mates?”

“She’s scared,” Roarke
spoke quietly from the door, not stepping in since he didn’t want
to scare his friend more with any fighting. “Jess gets like this
when hurt real badly.”

Kerry looked between them,
sensing the same thing but also sensed his brother’s unease again.
“She’s closed herself off to us.”

“She needs you to do for
her what she did for you after Athens,” Ryan spoke directly to his
brother, seeing his eyes jerk.

“How did you…?” Roarke stared hard at Ryan,
not understanding how his brother could know about that when only
Jessica and Cam knew what he did.

Ryan had stretched out on a
sofa in the room with his eyes half closed, but he looked at his
younger brother from under his lashes, serious fully. “Because I
was with Jessica the whole week and a half you were comatose,” he
replied, not liking to admit that or to recall the emotions that
dredged up. “I stayed with her as she talked to you, held your
hand, and hoped you’d forgive her for letting you get hurt, and
then when the doctors assured me you’d live, I paid a visit to the
back-stabbing little traitor who blew your cover.”

Mac had turned to stare
between his brothers even as Kerry’s mouth was thinning, a sure
sign he didn’t like what he was hearing. Ian wondered which would
speak first.

“I want medical records on
you,” he told Roarke without a beat as he narrowed his gaze as if
looking to see for himself.

“You never told me any of that, Ryan.” Kerry
knew why even before his brother smirked.

Roarke still hadn’t stepped
into the room but his gaze had lowered slightly as what his brother
said penetrated. “It wasn’t her fault. I took the job and let my
cover go in order to shield her,” he paused. “Why were you
there?”

“Brat’s supposed to be
smart but at times he’s an idiot,” Ryan muttered, sitting up on the
sofa. “I was there because some group of racist Neo-Nazis decided
to use my little brother as a guinea pig and despite it all, I
loved you enough to know that no one but me gets to hurt
you.

“Now get your bleedin’ ass
in here and talk to the lass,” he finished with a growl, throwing
Ian a look. “Don’t grin at me like that, lad.”

Still surprised, Roarke was hesitant until
Jessica’s cry took them all by surprise and Mac found himself
across the room.

“Well, her powers are
working again,” Ian noticed, smiling at the dark look Mac gave him.
“You were worried if the spell that bound them was gone,
right?”

“Shut up, Ian,” Mac growled
as Kerry held out a hand to him but then stopped when they saw that
Roarke had responded on instinct.

Seeing his brother shoved
away in the girl’s panic, Roarke went with his heart and moved to
the bed, sitting next to his friend and gently reaching for her
hands.

“A gra,
you’re safe
,” he spoke
softly, hoping she’d respond to his thoughts as well as his voice,
but knowing his friend would be wary of their link since she’d been
controlled so violently. “It’s Roarke.”

Jessica’s body jerked suddenly at his voice
causing a frown to form on his handsome face.

“This is bad,” Mac murmured
upon seeing the rapid flickers of images from the British girl.
“When Sebastian first approached her…” closing his eyes, he shook
his head. “That’s how he breached her defenses.”

Roarke had gone still when
he also saw the flashes and felt her fear growing. “Damn.” He
twisted to stare at his brothers. “How can I do anything when
she’ll be afraid I’m another trick to hurt her?”

“She’ll be scared for
awhile but Sebastian could fake the image and your voice, but he
couldn’t have faked the feelings of the link you share with her,”
Kerry replied, stepping closer to lay a reassuring hand on his
younger brother’s shoulder. “Talk to her but let her feel you’re
here.”

“Tell her what you told me
last night, brat,” Ryan stated, meeting the wary gaze. “It’s time
to let go of the fear and shame, Roarke. If you love her then fight
for her or the bastard will have won because he knows she’s your
greatest strength.”

Mac couldn’t help it as he
stared at his brother. “Did you get replaced by an alien or
something recently?”

“Shut up or I could tell
the perky little reporter some other things about you,” Ryan
countered, smirking.

Roarke had stopped
listening to his brothers by this point and despite his nerves and
angst, began focusing on his friend, letting his thoughts and
emotions flow fully between them in a way he hadn’t
before.

“It’s alright, luv,” he
spoke carefully, keeping his voice even and not wanting the anger
to show as he saw fully what the events of last night had caused.
“You’re safe, and just ignore them. Kerry.”

Knowing what the younger
man wanted, Kerry shot both Ryan and Mac a sharp look. “A little
emotional support would help him,” he decided but knew they were
just trying to relieve stress.

While Kerry dealt with
their bickering siblings, Roarke knelt on the floor by the bed so
he’d be closer to eye level with her, but his fingers were gently
stroking her hair as he recalled Athens and his
injuries.

He didn’t recall many of
those but his biggest memory was waking in the hospital, and his
first feeling and sound was hearing Jessica’s soft voice, feeling
her hand on his face and knowing he was safe.

It was those feelings that he wanted to give
the girl back but wasn’t sure if he could since it would be his
face and voice she’d very nearly be afraid of.

“I love you so much, Jess,”
he whispered, letting his head lean on the side of the bed and
closing his eyes. “For so long when we were kids I adored you.
Before Mum and Da died, I always thought you were so pretty, but
knew Ry would bug me if any of them knew how I felt.

“After that all happened,
you were the only thing that saved me. I would have bloody well
died in Mayo if you hadn’t come that day. So many days or nights
afterward when I wanted to die rather than face the memories, or
knowing I could never go home or let those events hurt my family,”
Roarke gently let his fingers run over her face and down to her
fingers where he held her hand.