Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (32 page)

Swallowing hard, Roarke
stared at his father. “I never wanted you to be ashamed of me or
hate me because I caused you to die.”

“Saints, boy!” Toryn gave
him a slight shake. “Your Mum and I have never stopped loving you
and we’re not ashamed of you,” he assured him. “I wish I could say
things would get better overnight but there’s still much pain you
all will need to handle, but Sebastian will never be able to hurt
her this bad if you give her your protection.”

He let go to walk away
slightly, as if looking around the room. “I gave Brenna a silver
hair comb to protect her but our protection can only do so much,”
he warned, looking back. “You need protecting too. As each of your
brothers and those who are involved with you lads will
also.”

“You mean Maggie,” Roarke
snickered, seeing his father’s familiar smile. “Mac’s got really
possessive without knowing it.”

“Perhaps, but that will
come as it comes.” Toryn came back to him to take both the lucky
stone and the Trinity medal his son wore in his hand. “These will
protect you as my power is still in the stone, but you will need to
finish the closure with your brothers so you all can begin the
healing.”

“I know, Da,” Roarke
sighed, blinking when he felt his father’s arms close around him as
solid and firm as when Ryan did the same. “I…love you,
Da.”

Toryn let the embrace hold
longer than he had planned when he felt his son holding on. “I know
you do, son,” he returned, giving one final squeeze before letting
go. “Listen to Kerry and love that girl as I did your
Mum.”

Roarke blinked suddenly
when he realized he was alone again. “I will, Da,” he whispered,
quickly wiping the tears he hadn’t known were there when he heard
the quick knock before his brother stepped in.

Kerry started to ask if he
was all right when he caught the feeling in the room and knew he
wouldn’t be.

“I wanted to give you
this,” he held out the small black velvet box. “It’s better to
bless this for Jessica than to lessen your protection by giving her
your stone.”

Not understanding, Roarke
took the box and felt his pulse jump when he saw the lovely rose
quartz heart necklace he had once given his mother. “This is…this
was Mum’s.”

“Yes I know, but I think
she’d like it if you gave it to Jessica,” Kerry replied, feeling
his brother’s emotions falter and knowing he was recalling when
he’d given it to their mother. “She’d want this to go to someone
you love and unless you really don’t…” he left the rest unsaid as
sharp eyes snapped up to pin him. “That’s what I
thought.”

Looking back at the
necklace, Roarke nodded his thanks. “Kerry, I still don’t know if I
can do this.”

“We’ll all get through
this, lad,” Kerry assured him, pausing at the door. “Can you do
this alone?”

Knowing he meant the spell,
Roarke just shot him a dry look. “I may be a failure at a lot of
things but even I can handle a simple protection spell on a
necklace,” he assured him, waiting until the door closed to add a
quiet “I hope.”

Gathering the items, he
knew he would need to cast the spell over the trinket; Roarke
slowly began adding things to the small caldron his father had in
the fireplace.

Doing simple spells like
this was second nature to him as they had been the first time his
parents had taught him, though fire had actually been the first
spell he’d done on his own.

Taking a few strands of his friend’s hair
that he’d taken from her brush, he let them drop into the now
boiling liquid of fragrant herbs and crushed powder before removing
the rose quartz necklace from the box and slowly lowering it in and
taking a deep breath.

“I am born of the Five and
I ask those that have come before me to guide my hand as I cast
this spell to protect what is mine for all time.” Roarke spoke the
words in Irish as he took the small silver-coated dagger and sliced
it over his palm to allow several drops of his blood to mix
in.

“Blood to blood, life to
life, I cast my power and love into this given item so the wearer
will know no harm from my enemies. All shadows, all-evil, no
darkness will harm this girl as she wears this charm and ask that
no harm shall come to any. As I will, so mote it be. Blessed
be.”

Flames and energy shot from
the cauldron as he closed the spell, making him waver a bit under
the intensity, yet when he looked in, only the rose quartz necklace
remained.

“Thank you, Mum,” he
whispered, picking up the necklace and feeling it seem to pulse in
his hand a few seconds before he placed it back in its box, and
went about the task of placing everything back in its proper spot
in the room. “I’ll try to make you proud of me this time, Da,” he
spoke this as he closed the door and didn’t see the shimmering
form.

“You already have, my boy,”
Toryn spoke to the empty room.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“The man is charming one
second and bloody frustrating the next,” Mary Margaret Cavanaugh
complained as she paced the former master bedroom, tugging on a
strand of her fiery hair as she did when frustrated. “Plus, do any
of them have the same traits or anything in common?”

Jessica Hadley had woken up
to find Maggie sitting in the room, muttering about stupid,
hardheaded Irishmen.

Having been around the
Fitzgerald brothers for years, the girl was more accustomed to
them, their ways and little habits than Maggie was,
clearly.

“Are we picking one in particular or just
all five as a general rule?” she asked through a yawn, sitting up
against the headboard to sip the orange juice Maggie had brought
with her.

“I’m speaking of Patrick
MacKinley Fitzgerald for the most part,” Maggie replied, rolling
her eyes at the thought. “He’s keeping things from me
and…”

“There’s your common
trait,” Jessica replied. “All five of them are protective. Mac and
Kerry feel the most responsible since they’re the oldest. Ian has
the same traits but hasn’t really had a chance to get annoyingly
overprotective. Ryan can be but you need to catch him in the right
mood, though he is about the others.”

Maggie stopped pacing long
enough to stare at the British girl. “What about
Roarke?”

While there was a small
smile, there was also some concern in the girl’s blue eyes. “Roarke
can be protective if he gets past his own doubts and
guilt.”

“Oh, I think he’s past
those in some regards,” Maggie murmured, watching the girl try to
stand. “The Doc probably wouldn’t like that move.”

“You probably drive Mac
nuts by calling him that,” Jessica grinned, knowing that Mac had
always been the most serious of the five, but wanted to be up and
moving.

That made Maggie laugh as
she turned when the door opened. “Well, hello there, handsome,” she
greeted Roarke cheerfully, already sensing that he seemed more
relaxed than he had before. “Have ye come to tell me that your
brothers are bickering, drinking or gambling with your dear old
Grandda?”

“Hell, that could happen at
any given time on any given day with my brothers, lass,” he
returned easily with a smile and he could see why his brother would
be attracted to her, assuming they didn’t kill one another. Then
his gaze moved to the bed. “Bucking to give me or the lads a bloody
stroke, Jessica Jayne?”

“I feel well enough to get
up,” Jessica countered, managing to stand on her own but feeling
her legs still shake slightly, even as his hand was holding her arm
to steady her. “Roarke, I feel fine.”

Shifting a look over his
shoulder, he saw Maggie only nod her understanding and slip out of
the room, leaving them alone.

“Did she eat anything?” Mac
was waiting in the hall when she stepped out, and he saw her jump
at his unexpected voice. “Nervous are we, Mary
Margaret?”

Glaring, she slapped at the
hand he extended. “No, I am not nervous. A bloody body should be
expected to jump in this house when you blokes seem to pop out of
thin air anytime you want to,” she snapped at him, then seeing his
eyebrow lift slightly, she sighed. “Sorry. Not enough sleep last
night. She drank the juice.”

Reaching out more easily,
Mac placed a hand on her shoulder and felt the tiredness and stress
the young woman had. “You should get some sleep,” he encouraged,
but did ease some off her.

“No, I told Deirdre I’d
help her today, plus I’m interested in speaking with your
grandparents since my Gran always spoke so highly of Fiona
Kerrigan,” Maggie saw him roll his eyes and she laughed, patting
his cheek. “Don’t worry, Doc. I won’t ask about you as a
toddler.”

Placing a hand over the one
she had on his cheek, Mac looked down in to her eyes. “I want to
apologize for how I’ve been acting the past day or so,” he saw her
surprise but went on. “It’s been awhile since I had to deal with
this much emotion and stuff, and it’s hard to handle all that plus
concern for Roarke protecting himself, etc., that I get
cranky.”

“Doc, you’ve been more than
cranky,” Maggie replied with a grin, leaning up on her toes to wrap
her arms around his neck. “But you’re still cute, so I’ll let it go
this time.”

“Gee, that makes me feel
better,” he returned dryly, tightening his arms as he lifted her
off the floor into his arms. “Give me time, Maggie,” he requested,
letting his mouth touch hers softly.

Returning the kiss fully,
she drew back to look him in the eyes. “Don’t wait too long, Mac,
‘cause I could take Ryan up on his offer to sail away to
paradise.”

“He’s been making that
offer since he was old enough to talk and proposition his nanny,”
Mac snorted, setting her back down, and walked downstairs with her.
“Gram’s in the living room with morning tea,” he told her, feeling
Kerry’s thoughts. “Don’t drink anything my grandfather gives you
since he spikes his drinks.”

“That’s nice to know,”
Maggie sighed.

Back upstairs, Roarke
Fitzgerald had gotten his friend to sit down again as he sat next
to her on the bed, and saw she’d only picked at the
food.

“You need to eat,” he
winced as he could recall his own mother and Deirdre saying that to
them.

“I’m not hungry yet,”
Jessica Hadley replied, seeing his fingers spread through hers.
“You took too much.”

Taking the time to look at
their meshed fingers, Roarke slowly met her eyes, then used his
other hand to push hair out of her eyes. “I took what was needed to
help you,” he told her then slowly moved his shirt up so she could
see. “You did some healing yourself according to Kerry.”

“Bloody hell, Roarke, where
did they…?” she whispered upon seeing some of the many scars were
gone and those that remained seemed less severe.

“The going theory is
through our link when I healed you, your powers came on and healed
some of these.” He felt the light touch of her fingertips where his
wounds had been. “When I used to say that you saved me all those
years ago, that wasn’t fully a joke.”

As her eyes lifted to his,
Roarke gently leaned over to kiss her; careful this time to keep it
light as he reached into his pocket for the velvet box. “This is
for you,” he told her when he eased back.

Looking at the box he’d
pressed into her hands, Jessica frowned at it then up at him. “You
and Ry didn’t kill Cam and this is a bribe, is it?” she asked
suspiciously.

“That’s cute, Jess. You’re
very funny,” he laughed dryly then turned more serious. “Open
it.”

“What is it?” Opening the
box, she blinked upon seeing the rose quartz heart necklace. “It’s
beautiful.”

Roarke slowly took the
necklace from the box so it could dangle in the light coming in the
window. “I’ll be honest from the start, luv,” he began slowly,
wanting no secrets between them. “I wanted to give you something as
a token of my love but I also want you to wear this for
protection.”

Looking from the necklace
to his eyes, she could feel his concern, but also wondered if he
was aware of the vibes the necklace was giving off. “This was your
mothers’.”

“Yeah, but like Kerry said,
I don’t think Mum would mind if I give this to you,” he shrugged,
adding, “I love you, Jess, and that will never change now that I
told you.”

Considering, Jessica
finally nodded. “Can you put it on?” she asked, not certain how
sore her arm would be on the side where the gunshot wound had
been.

Gently easing her hair
aside, Roarke slipped the necklace on and fixed the clasp,
surprised by the sound of the wind chimes outside the window
ringing even though there was no breeze.

“I told you Mum would
approve,” he whispered, letting his forehead touch hers as the
chimes sounded.

Looking at his eyes,
Jessica saw the emotions he wasn’t speaking. “Love you, hotshot,”
she whispered back, surprised when his arms slid around her from
where he sat.

“There is one more thing we
need to do that will leave you in the house alone, even though Gran
and Gramps will be here” Roarke told her, hoping the recasted
protection spell on the property could keep any danger away. “So I
need you to promise me that you’ll stay inside no matter what you
see, hear or feel.”