Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (36 page)

Blushing slightly at the intensity of his
gaze, Jessica met his gentle kiss then let herself fall to sleep;
knowing Roarke would be there when she woke up.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Deirdre O’Connor was
preparing dinner in the kitchen as she did every day, but this time
it felt different.

Hearing the voices of her young Lords
reminded her that things would never be as silent as they had been
the past decade or so.

After the events of the
prior night and early morning, none of them had seen a Fitzgerald
brother until late in the afternoon, then Ian came stumbling into
the kitchen looking for chocolate, his favorite after-power
snack.

“You’ll be ruining your
dinner, boyo,” Deirdre chided, clucking her tongue only when he
inhaled a whole piece of cake in less than five seconds and went
for more.

“Remind me to x-ray his
stomach,” Mac decided when he entered and saw what his youngest
brother was eating. “I think it’s lead.”

Maggie Cavanaugh, who had
been up all morning, sat drinking coffee and watching the boy. “He
eats anything coated with sugar, yet won’t drink tea or
coffee.”

“There’s way too much
caffeine in that junk,” Ian replied, lifting an eye at Mac who had
stopped to lay a casual hand on Maggie’s shoulder. “I thought there
was an earthquake earlier.”

Mac saw Maggie’s cheeks
turn a light pink, knowing she must have figured out what was
behind it. “No, Roarke just needs a little more practice
controlling his emotions.”

“Huh?” Ian blinked then
nearly choked. “That’s gross when I’m eating,” he
muttered.

“What you’re eating is
gross, kiddo,” Ryan shot at him, entering the kitchen with damp
hair from his recent shower. “Where’s Kerry?”

Deirdre looked up from
tasting her sauce. “He’s saying goodbye to your grandparents, who
have decided it’s safe for them to leave for now.”

Mac and Ryan both knew that
was probably far from the truth, but knew it was up to them to face
this matter.

“What about Da’s Mum?” Ian
asked curiously. “Will she come back after Roarke?”

“I figure she will since
it’s him she hates the most, but I’m guessing we’ll all be targets
now that she won’t have what she wants,” Mac sighed, sitting down
and drinking the tea Maggie gave him.

Kerry stepped into the
kitchen. “We’ll handle Kathleen and anything else that threatens us
because we won’t be separated again,” he vowed firmly.

“Deirdre will be kicking us
out within a week because you know that the five of us cannot
coexist without fighting,” Ryan replied with a sneer that turned to
a smile as he looked at Maggie. “Though I could make an exception
in…Shit!” he snapped as he jerked his fingers away from his cup as
electricity shot through it.

“Don’t play like that,
Ryan,” Mac’s tone was mild but his eyes weren’t as he looked over
his cup at his brother.

Ryan moved his fingers
carefully then glared at his brother. “I said the next time the
brat made me bleed I’d do the same,” he growled, standing slowly.
“I can change targets since I don’t feel like having Cam put a
bullet in me.”

“You can try, little
brother,” Mac returned, meeting the glare and the silent challenge
fully. “You were older than Roarke when we were kids and you
cheated to win, but you never could take me in a fair
fight.”

China snapped as Ryan’s
temper sizzled after all the recent things, and this time it
snapped. “So take me now then.”

“I suppose I should have
been expecting this scene sooner or later,” Kerry sighed, seeing
Maggie’s eyes were wide. “We fight. It’s rare for Mac to fight
since he was usually the peacemaker but he can and will. He will,
especially if Ryan pushes him too far.”

The red-haired reporter
stared as the eldest brother and Ian followed outside. “Men are so
bloody stupid,” she huffed and picked up her tea.

Upstairs, Jessica Hadley
stirred slowly, stretching, and felt the gentle fingers rubbing her
back. “Hello,” she opened her eyes to see Roarke’s smoky gray eyes
were clear and alert, a sign he’d been awake awhile. “You should
have woken me up.”

“Liked watching you sleep
in peace for once,” he replied, smiling as he brushed a kiss over
her forehead. “Besides, I just wanted the peace being with you
gives me.”

Jessica was about to reply
when a loud, shot-like noise came from outside and lights exploded
along with shouts and curses.

“What the bloody hell…?” she started to get
out of bed to look but his arm eased her back.

Roarke had sensed the
growing tension in the kitchen. In fact, it had been that which had
woken him up, yet he remained in bed until he saw which way it
went.

Now he slowly stood to
dress, going to the window while pulling his t-shirt back on. “Yep,
this looks real good,” he muttered, seeing Ryan and Mac facing off
in front of the house, next to the huge fountain.

“Stay here, Jess,” he
lightly kissed her before heading for the door. “Ry’s picked a
fight.”

Blinking at that, she
frowned. “I thought he only did that with you.” She quickly sought
to dress to see what this was.

“I don’t see your issue,”
Ryan was complaining as he stepped outside, shooting his brother a
look. “Half the bloody time you act like she doesn’t exist. Why
should my flirting with her make you mad?”

Mac Fitzgerald was
simmering, knowing he was usually calmer but this just bothered
him. “Maggie’s not like the tramps you play with in the casinos,
Ryan,” he stated. “She doesn’t need you to play your games like you
did with…”

“Mac, stop!” Kerry snapped
sharply but it was too late when his brother found himself hit with
an invisible fist that shoved him into the fountain.

“Don’t say her name,” Ryan
gritted, eyes going to black instantly instead of the slow turn as
he glared at his brother. “Don’t you even think about her, you son
of a bitch!”

Ian was staring at the sudden change as the
fight went from a playful, brotherly argument to something far more
volatile.

“Ry, I’m…” Mac had started to say but the
physical fist hit almost as hard as the other had as Ryan was
beyond hearing now.

Kerry had been choosing a
method on breaking this up when a hand suddenly grabbed Ryan’s
wrist. “Oh, bloody hell.”

“Yep, this is bad,” Ian
closed his eyes as he sat down in a chair to wait for
blood.

Roarke Fitzgerald tightened
his grip, stepping between his brothers but making sure he stayed
facing Ryan. “I’m not supposed to be the one who stops this kind of
crap,” he spoke easily but his eyes stayed on Ryan’s and felt his
anger, pain, and more of a surprise, his guilt.

“Mac didn’t mean what he
almost said, Ry,” he spoke carefully, feeling his older brother’s
eyes shift to his and finally recognize him. “You come off all fast
and loose with the ladies but not a one of us could ever doubt your
devotion to Annie or how her death hurt you.”

Breathing raggedly, Ryan
slowly started to calm down as he felt his younger brother’s hand
on his arm. “I know, I know,” he muttered, closing his eyes as he
took a deep breath. “It just rubbed the wrong way.”

“We each have issues that
still need sorted out, but tearing out each other’s throats won’t
help,” Roarke replied, then shifted agilely to push Ryan into the
fountain with Mac. “It helps to cool off some too.”

Ryan had almost been
expecting that move and had grabbed his brother’s belt at the last
second to bring him in too. “If I’m getting soaked then so are you,
brat.”

“Guys, these don’t dry
well,” Mac complained as he looked at his soaking wet slacks even
as Roarke was twisting away from Ryan’s grip with a
laugh.

“I should have thought of
that before,” Ryan shot over his shoulder, deciding to have fun
with dunking his younger brother now that he didn’t feel like
fighting with Mac anymore. “Damn brat is like a fish,” he
complained.

Kerry sighed, stretching
his legs out before deciding to go closer to the fountain. “One
splash and I drown all three of you,” he warned, holding a hand out
to Mac.

“You’re still a
fuddy-duddy,” Ryan snorted, noticing but not commenting that this
was the first time that Roarke hadn’t tensed when one of them had
touched him.

“That’s the curse of being
the oldest,” Kerry countered, turning at Ian’s sudden gasp to see
that the boy was staring out toward the grassy, rose-covered
path.

Looking to see what their
brother had seen, it was Roarke who first saw the couple walking
hand and hand down the path as they had every day at this time
while their sons played.

“This fight’s over,” Mac
murmured, seeing his parents walking and knowing they had gained
some peace finally.

“And we’ll make sure the
fight stays over,” Ryan shrugged out of his shirt as he looked to
see Roarke’s eyes were on their parent’s shimmering spirits. “Is
this okay with you, brat?”

Roarke’s eyes stayed locked
on his parents but heard his mother’s voice in his mind.

“Trust and love those
closest to you, my beautiful little boy,” Brenna spoke to him alone
as she waved slightly. “Your Da and I will always be there for you
boys, but now is the time you accept others in.”

Blinking, he finally nodded
and looked at Ryan, then the others. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he
whispered, seeing Jessica come out of the house and he smiled fully
for the first time in a long time. “And I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe, at least until Cam
thinks too hard about you seriously dating little Jessica, that
is,” Ryan snorted, grinning as his brother rolled his
eyes.

“Roarke? What the bloody
hell is going on?” Jessica had come down the steps just as Roarke
reached for her. “Is everything alright?”

Looking at his brothers,
Roarke nodded before drawing her fully against him and kissing her.
“I love you, Jess,” he whispered, surprised to feel at peace even
though he knew there would still be dangers for them as well as his
brothers.

Hearing Deirdre shouting
for them to quit playing in the fountain, the brothers turned to go
back to the house to face the next turn of the wheel, as fate
decided who would form the next point of the Circle.

Epilogue

Sebastian still smarted
over his defeat this time and the scars he had as he glared into
his mirror and at his enemies.

So perhaps they wouldn’t be
as easy to defeat as he once thought, but as he had learned, they
each had weaknesses, and it would be those that he and his allies
would exploit when next he struck, focusing on his next target and
smiling as he moved a hand over his looking glass. There was more
than one way to skin a cat, kill a witch or break a
circle.

It would just require
calling in old favors a little early, even though he still had
plans for all of his hated foes’ sons and those allied with
them.

THE END…FOR NOW

Sierra Rose is a penname for the author who
is a local resident of the Upper Ohio Valley in Eastern, Ohio

Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio
in 1974 she moved to Rayland, Ohio in 1980 with her family and
still resides there today. She is a 1993 graduate of Buckeye Local
High School.

She began writing while being tutored due to
illnesses and has continued writing. She enjoys writing in many
genres that include paranormal, romantic suspense and also
action/adventure stories. She also has a published book of poetry
with poems written during an incredibly emotional time of loss.

As of today, she lives in rural Rayland with
her family, three spoiled cats and a semi-fierce Beagle that likes
to think he’s a Pitbull.

To contact the author or for more
information on the author, this book or the others in the Celtic
Evil series, please see her webpage at:

http://sierra-rose-books.webs.com/