Page 67 of Beer & Broomsticks
“Cian O’Malley, I swear by all that—”
“Careful! You’re in a sacred space, and you’re a witch, Bridg.” Roisin pointed to the pentagram on the floor, inside which they were all standing with the exception of Ruairí. “You could conjure a spell and not be aware of it. It’s dangerous to let emotions come into play in a ceremony room, to be sure.”
Frustrated beyond measure, she faced Ruairí. “And I suppose you think I should just hide out, too?”
He took an extraordinarily long time answering. Finally, he shook his head. “No,mo ghrá.I think you should be in the middle of the fray. This leg of the prophecy is yours, and you need to finish it like your brothers did before you.”
All her rage evaporated, and she rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck. He caught and held her to him as if he never wanted to let her go.
“Thank you,” she gushed. “I needed one person to have faith in me. Just one.”
“We all have faith in you, Bridget,” Carrick said from behind her. “But you’re the one who keeps us together. You’re the one we all rely on to make things better, to make us better.” He ran an affectionate hand down the back of her head and settled on the middle of her back. “We love you, and if something were to happen to you, well sure, and we’d all fall apart.”
“It doesn’t mean you can keep me caged for what you believe is my own protection,” she said, giving him a half smile. “I’ve more to contribute than cooking and cleaning our places.”
“We know that, Bridg.” Cian, not to be outdone by their brother, stepped forward and hugged her. “Sure, and we do. But you’ve no magic, and Loman O’Connor is a madman.”
“But I do have magic.” She held up the amulet. “Between this and the Sword of Goibhniu, I’m a right badass.”
Thunder boomed overhead, and they all glanced up.
“The clash of the twins, I would expect,” Ruairí murmured.
“I’m assuming Loman and Alexander are who you’re referring to, but I’ve no idea what you’re talkin’ about,” Bridget said.
“My uncles are to duel to the death, it seems. It’ll make for grand entertainment as long as Castor wins and we don’t become casualties of their fight.” He mock shuddered. “One is almost an exact copy of the other, and yet they are vastly different, they are.”
“A copy…” She tried to recall what the Aether’s daughter had said to them. “What was it Sabrina said to you, Ruairí? About the swords.”
“You will need to help her make the new sword to fight your uncle. You will hold the true one for her and be the arm that strikes the evil man down.”
“That’s it then! We need to conjure a matching sword!”
“You think her prediction was meant for you and me to fight Loman together?” The disbelief in his voice was comical.
“Aye.”
With a resigned sigh, he nodded. “Sure, and I’m the feckin’ eejit you’re always calling me, but I’ll do it if that’s what you want,mo ghrá.” He caressed her cheek. “This is foolish, all the same. But I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you, and I’ll love you until the day I take my last breath. Let’s pray to the Goddess today is not that day, yeah?”
“And I’ve loved you, Ruairí O’Connor, from the moment I saw you, and I’ll love you until the day I take my last breath.”
The sconces on the wall lining both sides of the room, flared to life, and the pentagram at their feet lit as if it were illuminated from beneath. The grimoire on the wooden altar shuffled its pages and stopped somewhere around the first fifth of the book.
The tingling she’d experienced before was nothing like the burning in her veins now. She cried out and looked at her brothers, who both seemed to be hit with a similar infusion of magic. The atmosphere around them crackled and snapped and the torch flames danced on the breeze from some unknown air source. Atop the altar, her black cat, Lucky, watched intently, and she’d have sworn he had a look of smug satisfaction on his furry little face.
“You broke the curse, Bridget!” Carrick shouted over the roar of the wind. He lifted his arms and stared at his hands in wonder. Blue flames snapped and crackled from his fingertips. “Ya did it!”
“Look, and I’ve never felt anything like it before,” Cian hollered with a hearty laugh. “It’s incredible, it is!”
Bridget was too enthralled with what was happening to answer. The sheer power flowing through her body was heady, and she could understand why the Loman O’Connors of the world wanted to amass all they could.
When she faced Ruairí, ready to share her excitement, she saw him sitting on the ground, his back to the wall, with Roisin bending over him. Fear took the joy of her family regaining their ancient magic, and she ran to where he sat, crashing to her knees beside him.
“Ruairí!”
He waved her away with a weary smile. “I’m grand. Don’t fuss.”
“What happened?”
