Echoes of Magic (3 page)

“
I know that look in your
eyes, Adrianna, and, if I were able, I’d take you right
now.”

She jerked, her desire
cooled by his words. “Arrogant enough to think I want you,
aye?”

He smiled a slow,
devilishly wicked smile that made her stomach flutter. “It’s not
arrogance but awareness. If there was time, I’d seduce you
properly.”

“
I’ve no need of being
seduced. I enjoy my life just as it is. Now please. You must
rest.”

He sighed, and she saw the
sweat that dotted his brow. She quickly rolled off him. “Let me see
your wound.”

“
It’s fine,” he
grumbled.

“
Shall I call Milosh in to
help you roll onto your side?” she asked in way of a threat. She
knew the kind of man Grayson was, and he wouldn’t like anyone
knowing just how weak he was.

He cursed beneath his breath, but did as she
asked. When she had inspected the wound and found he hadn’t
reopened it, she let out a sigh.

“
I told you,” he said as he
shifted to his back.

Adrianna shook her head, but couldn’t stop
the smile from her lips. “Are you hungry?”

“
Famished.”

“
I’ll get you something to
eat. Rest while you can.”

Grayson let out a deep breath and threw his
good arm over his eyes. He hadn’t realized how much effort he would
need just to rise from the bed and walk to the entrance. It had
taken everything he had not to fall flat on his face in front of
the two men Adrianna had been speaking with.

From what he’d heard, at
least one of the men, Milosh he guessed, was leader of the gypsies.
The other looked so much like Milosh that he had to be related. But
what had turned Grayon’s blood to ice had been Adrianna mentioning
Drogan and Serena. How did she know them? And what exactly did she
know?

He’d meant to ask her but,
when she’d fallen on top of him, all he’d been able to do was get
himself lost in her pale blue gaze and sink into her soft curves.
Despite his weakness and wound, his cock had roared to life,
begging for relief. If only Grayson could give in to that need and
taste the tempting morsel Adrianna was.

It was the smell of food that made him lift
his arm. Adrianna smiled as she climbed into the wagon. His stomach
rumbled at the smell, his mouth watering for a taste.

While Adrianna settled herself, Grayson sat
up and leaned against the side of the cart.

“
Careful. It’s hot,” she
said as she handed him the bowl.

As hungry as Grayson was, he didn’t really
care. Though he craved roasted boar or pheasant, he wasn’t about to
turn away the stew before him. Any food right now would help
strengthen him.

And he had to be ready when the evil
arrived. For it would return.

“
Tell me,” he said between
bites. “How do you know Drogan and Serena?”

She hesitated so long he wondered if she was
going to answer. Finally, she tucked a golden strand behind her ear
and said, “How well do you know Serena?”

“
I know what she is, if
that is what you’re asking.” He closed his eyes and savored the
delicious taste of the stew. Though it was most likely because he
was starving, it had to be one of the best meals he’d ever
eaten.

“
You know
she’s a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
?”

Grayson met her gaze and nodded. “She’s not
the only one at Wolfglynn either.”

“
What?” she asked and
nearly came out of her chair. Her eyes had grown large with
excitement and disbelief.

He nodded and took another bite. “Her name
is Francesca. She lives on the isle across from Drogan’s
castle.”

Adrianna sank back into the
chair and closed her eyes. “Another one,” she murmured. Her eyes
flew open. “Are you sure she’s like Serena?”

“
Aye.” He continued to eat
and waited for her to admit to him that she was also a witch. He
wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did.

She bit her lip, her mind
occupied for a few moments before she came back to herself. “As for
how I know Drogan and Serena, I encountered them on their journey
from Hawthorne to Wolfglynn.”

He met her gaze and kept silent as he
ate.

After a moment she blew out a breath. “I
shouldn’t tell you.”

“
What?
That you’re also a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
? I knew almost from the
moment I saw you. You have a look about you.”

“
A look?”

“
Aye. I cannot see the
magic, but it’s there. I can sense it.”

Her gaze lowered slowly. “How much do you
know of my people?”

“
Not much. I saw what
Serena and Francesca could do and know your secret must be kept
safe.”

“
Thank you.” She rose and
turned her back to him. “I wish I could meet Francesca. I wasn’t
able to spend much time with Serena. I gather she and Drogan made
it to Wolfglynn in one piece?”

“
They did. The evil
tracking them nearly succeeded in killing Drogan.”

Adrianna whirled around, her brow furrowed
with concern. “Serena sacrificed herself didn’t she?”

“
She did, but Francesca’s
healing knowledge and Drogan’s refusing to let her go saved her
life. I’m still not sure how they did it, even though I saw it with
my own eyes.”

“
Magic is like that,”
Adrianna said. “You never know just how powerful it can be until
it’s tested.”

He finished his stew and set aside the bowl
feeling better. He wasn’t up for a battle, but he was ready for
some answers.

“
Serena saw people’s
deaths. She said it was her gift. What’s your gift?”

Adrianna’s lips softened into a smile. “I
see the future.”

He raised his brows and whistled. “A nice
gift to have.”

“
Not really. People always
want to know what the future holds for them but, once you tell them
and it isn’t what they want to hear, it ruins their
lives.”

“
I can understand that.
Have you looked into your own future?”

She shook her head. “I would never chance
that. Only rarely do I look into the future unless lives are at
stake. Some things aren’t meant to be known.”

“
I agree. How many more are
there of you?”

She sighed softly and lowered herself into
the chair again. “As far as I know, only the three of us.”

Grayson studied her to see if she lied or
not. “What do you mean?”

“
We were cursed, Grayson.
Serena, Francesca and I are the last of our kind.”

Chapter Four

Just saying the words made a chill race down
Adrianna’s spine.

“
Cursed?” Grayson repeated.
“How?”

“
By one of our own
actually. At one time Britain was covered with us. People sought us
out, and we eagerly helped. Until the curse.”

Color had returned to Grayson’s face, and he
sat forward. “What is the curse exactly?”

“
It began with Helen. She
was said to be the most beautiful woman the world would ever know.
As with most things that hold such beauty, Helen knew herself to be
striking and became vain. Every man or boy who looked upon her fell
in love with her.”

“
Most likely fell in lust
with her. It’s two different emotions.”

She shrugged. “Regardless,
they felt something at the sight of her. There was one man who
declared to win Helen’s love for himself. He managed to succeed and
earned her favor.”

“
I’m guessing it would’ve
been better for all if he hadn’t?”

“
Aye. Everyone was happy. A
marriage was set to take place until a man from the king came to
the village. He had great wealth and a title.”

Grayson snorted. “Let me guess. Helen
decided she wanted the coin and title over her love?”

“
Aye. The man she abandoned
was so devastated that he threw himself into the river and drowned.
Great distress ran through our people but, to make matters worse,
the man’s mother was one of the elders.”

“
She’s the one that caused
the curse?”

“
She did. He’d been her
only child, and she was so hurt and carried such pain that when she
set about the curse, she cursed our entire people instead of just
Helen.”

Grayson shook his head and blew out a
breath. “Why would she do that?”

“
I don’t think she meant
to. I think it was her anger over the loss of her son. It was said
she regretted her curse almost immediately, but nothing she did
could undo it.”

“
And the curse? What is it
exactly?”

Adrianna shifted in her
chair and looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. “The curse
is for any man of a
bana
‐
bhuidseach
to leave after we have
his child.”

“
Holy mother of God,”
Grayson cursed.

She smiled ruefully. “You
will understand then why so many of us would rather go through life
alone than to see the one we love abandon us.”

“
But you would still have a
child.”

“
True. And some sacrifice
their happiness to make sure the line continues as my mother did.
However, not all women can handle having her husband leave. For
some, the women become bitter and hateful. Their magic leaves them,
making their anger grow. Their child sees this, and it makes it
difficult for those girls to open their hearts to any
man.”

“
Is that what happened to
you?”

For a long moment Adrianna stared at the
warrior sitting opposite her. She had shared her tale with Serena,
but not even the gypsies knew of it. Yet, there was something about
Grayson that told her she could trust him. .

“
Actually, nay. I opened my
heart, willingly accepting my fate when I grew with child. As
predicted, he left.” Adrianna couldn’t hold his gaze any longer. “I
wasn’t prepared when my son died a month later.”

A large, tanned hand
covered hers. She lifted her eyes and found Grayson at the edge of
the bed, his silver gaze watching her. “I’m sorry.”

She inhaled deeply and shrugged. “Such is
life.”

“
It’s pain no woman should
feel.”

She happened to agree with
him. The loss of her lover she had accepted into her heart and body
had hurt, but it was nothing compared to having to bury her
child.

“
Do the males also carry
magic?”

Adrianna was grateful for the change of
subject. She didn’t like thinking of her son for it only brought
her into a deep depression she had a difficult time crawling out
of.

“
Nay,”
she answered. “Only females are able to carry the magic. Most of
the
bana
‐
bhuidseach
will have females over males. It is a way to carry on our
magic.”

He tapped a finger on the edge of the bed.
“No wonder you were excited to learn of Francesca.”

“
Knowing there is another
of us out there is joyful. When I came across Serena, I almost
couldn’t believe she was one of us.”

Grayson laid down, a hand behind his head.
“I understand the curse, but I also know Drogan. He loves her.
There is nothing that could take him away from Serena. Never would
he ever leave her.”

“
Sometimes the men leave on
their own accord. Other times, death takes them.”

“
Drogan is a powerful
knight. It would take much for death to bring him down.”

“
The evil nearly did
it.”

Grayson couldn’t dispute that. “Aye.”

“
Did you see the
evil?”

“
Briefly,” he admitted. “He
was in armor, and Drogan knew him. I thought him a man, but no man
could have survived what Serena did to him.”

“
What happened?” Adrianna
asked.

“
The evil and Drogan had
been fighting, but the evil had the strength of twenty men. As
skilled as Drogan is, he couldn’t combat that.”

“
And?”

Grayson rubbed his eyes with his thumb and
forefinger. He wished to God he hadn’t seen the battle. He wished
he didn’t know.

“
Serena rushed out to save
Drogan, but the evil didn’t take her bait and plunged his sword
into Drogan’s chest.”

“
Nay,” Adrianna whispered,
a look of pure horror on her face.

Grayson grinned wrly.
“Serena had given Drogan an amulet, which apparently was protected
by magic. It saved his life but, in the process, Serena was
injured. She lost much blood before Drogan got her back to the
castle so Francesca could heal her.”

“
And the babe?”

He narrowed his eyes on
Adrianna. How had she known of the babe? “Serena still carries the
child.”

Adrianna sighed. “Thank the saints.”

Grayson turned his head and looked at the
ceiling of the cart. Herbs of all sorts hung from above, drying. He
hated talking about the evil, but worse was not knowing why it was
after him.

Unless it had something to do with his
mother.

“
Grayson?”

“
Aye?”