Chapter Twelve
Macgrath
When I was certain that Ava was asleep, I gently moved her weight off of me and climbed off the bed. I grabbed a blanket from the back of a chair by the window and covered her with it.
I stared down at her, studying the serene lines of her profile as she slept. With a whisper soft touch, I gathered her hair and pulled it back away from her face and neck. I loved her hair. It often looked like molten gold when she stood in direct sunlight, as though the fire of her spirit had to escape the confines of her body. But the strands were sleek, soft, and warm.
Satisfied she would remain asleep for a while, I exited the bedroom and left the door open so I could hear her if she made a sound.
The image of her clutching her head and falling to her knees would haunt me for a long time. Maybe even the rest of my life.
I walked downstairs and found Kerry waiting at the base of the steps, an unreadable expression on her face. I stopped on the last tread and waited.
When Kerry spoke, I sensed that she was choosing her words carefully. “How long have you and Ava had a…” she trailed off, clearly unsure how to continue. Finally, she firmed her lips and asked, “relationship?”
My brows arched at her audacity. “I don’t believe that’s your business.”
She laughed briefly. “No, it’s really not. I just ask because you might be able to—” She paused again before sighing heavily. “To help her.”
“What exactly is wrong with her?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall to my left.
“A very long time ago, she was cursed.” She studied me closely. “Her curse was similar to yours, in fact,” she continued.
I nodded. “I’m aware that she doesn’t remember anything about her life before she woke up one morning two thousand years ago.”
“Just like you, right?” Kerry prompted.
I bit back a growl. How did this witch know so much about me? Briefly, I wondered if Savannah shared the information with her, but doubted it. Savannah knew how to keep secrets, as did Rhys. Neither of them would have betrayed my trust like that, though I didn’t deserve their discretion.
“Are you psychic?” I asked her suddenly.
She shook her head. “Not exactly. But I am in a unique position because I know things about her past. I want to help her, but I also don’t want to risk interfering with the natural order of her life.”
I scowled at her. “Fuck the natural order. If you know something, you should tell her. You can’t possibly comprehend what hell it is, this not knowing who you are. Where you come from. She could have descendants. A mate.” My chest burned as I said the last word.
If Ava had a mate, I wasn’t sure how I would stop myself from destroying him. A wave of possessive rage filled me, without logic or compassion. My instincts screamed that she belonged to me. She was mine.
Kerry studied me, sympathy in her eyes. “I’m sorry you’ve had to endure that, Macgrath,” she said sincerely. “But if I try to tell her what I know before the curse has weakened, it could cause irrevocable harm. I can’t risk it. You saw what happened today. If I thrust that knowledge on her, it would be worse. Much worse.”
I wanted to rage at her. To argue with her, but I couldn’t. I never wanted to see Ava in that sort of agony again.
Kerry’s eyes were shining with understanding and compassion as she slowly approached me and laid a hand on my arm. “I wish I could, Macgrath. I wish I could tell her everything. That I could give you back your memories. You’ve both suffered for far too long and you deserve to know. But I can’t.”
I relented, letting my arms drop to my side. “I understand, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
She smiled. “That makes two of us.” She stepped back. “Now, Savannah said something about making an early lunch. I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that I’d been upstairs for longer than I realized. It was after ten now. I followed her into the kitchen. Savannah looked up from where she was stirring something on the stove and her expression said she wanted to give me a hug. Instead, she just waved. Finn nodded to me and Rhys glared. Like Ava, it was improbable that he would forgive me for taking Savannah all those months ago.
Any time I saw the male, he stared at me as though he were trying to figure out the easiest way to murder me and dispose of my body without Savannah’s knowledge. I was nearly certain that only Savannah’s attitude and affection for me prevented me from disappearing one night, never to be seen again.
“How’s Ava?” Savannah asked, her expression worried.
“Sleeping,” I answered, “But no longer in pain.”
She visibly relaxed. “Good. Good. That’s good.”
I felt the corner of my mouth tick up in a half smile. Savannah was cute as hell and she didn’t even realize it. It was part of the reason I’d recognized I needed to cut ties with Rhiannon. She’d somehow reminded me that there were some things in this world worth more than my past and my retribution.
We ate the stir-fry Savannah cooked in near silence. Kerry and Finn asked questions and carried the conversation for a while, but my mind was upstairs with Ava and Rhys was too busy glowering at me to speak much.
Finally, Savannah had enough. “Rhys, will you please stop staring at Macgrath? He’s trying to eat.”
Rhys turned to her. “I’m not doing anything,” he disagreed.
Savannah huffed. “Bullcrap. You’re looking at him like you know exactly where to hide the body.”
I choked back a laugh, trying to hide my amusement behind my water glass, but Savannah’s eyes narrowed on me.
“Don’t provoke him,” she admonished me. “He needs to let this go.”
I shrugged. “I don’t blame him.”
Now, Rhys looked surprised. “You what?” he asked, speaking to me directly for the first time since this morning.
My eyes met his. “I don’t blame you. If someone took my mate from me, I doubt I could show the same amount of restraint you have. I would have killed him the first time I saw him.”
The look in Rhys’ eyes shared that he desperately wanted to do that but only Savannah’s insistence had prevented it.
“But I can help you protect her now,” I continued.
“Like you protected Ava yesterday at the coffee shop?”
His question was a direct hit. It was a knife in my gut, twisting viciously to achieve the maximum amount of damage.
Savannah smacked his shoulder. “Rhys!”
His eyes moved to her and when he saw the expression on her face, he sighed. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled. “That was uncalled for.”
“You’re darn right it was,” she said. “It’s obvious that he’s torn up about what happened and about the fact that he didn’t know Rhiannon was right next door. Even Ava didn’t know and she’s the most powerful witch I’ve ever met.”
“He’s right though,” I commented, drinking more water, hoping that the cool liquid would ease the fire in my gut. “I didn’t protect her. Rhiannon managed to nearly blow up The Magic Bean and then steal the grimoire right out of Ava’s house.” In fact, it had been Ava who had protected herself at the coffee shop, not the other way around.
Something changed in Rhys’ face as he stared at me once again. “You covered her body with yours at the shop,” he stated, shocking the hell out of everyone at the table. “You were willing to die for her.”
“That doesn’t mean shit if I can’t keep her from getting killed in the process,” I replied, utterly sincere.
I saw it then, the change in his eyes. He was still pissed as hell, but he understood. In that moment, his attitude toward me shifted. I doubted we would ever be friends, but this was the first time he wasn’t looking at me as though I was the enemy.
He nodded, just once, a silent agreement to a ceasefire in his wordless war against me. It wasn’t an end, but it was the first step.
There were other, more important things to focus on now.
I turned to Kerry. “Rhiannon has Gaius’ grimoire,” I stated.
She flinched and I knew she understood the gravity of the situation.
“Would she be able to recreate his spell? The one he used to change Rhys?”
Her eyes widened. “Did the grimoire contain the spell?”
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “But why else would she come after it?”
“Shit,” Kerry whispered. “This is bad.”