Page 77 of Black Heart

“When you’re ready, we’ll be downstairs waiting for you, Macha,” the large man who’d helped her to the bathroom said softly from behind her, making her realize that she wasn’t alone after all.

“That’s not my name,” Marty found herself saying as her mind struggled to grasp what just happened.

“Everything will be okay, Macha,” he promised softly with a sympathetic smile that struck her as vaguely familiar.

She wanted to point out that everything had been fine before he’d showed up, but at that moment, her stomach decided that everything definitely wasn’t okay.

* * *

“What’s she doing?”Liam asked as Quinn materialized in the kitchen, his glare never leaving Tristan, who sat slumped forward in the kitchen chair with his hands cuffed behind his back.

“Still getting sick,” Quinn said with a sneer of disgust. Shayne knew that if they’d still been human that Quinn would have been joining Marty. He’d always had a weak stomach, something they used to tease him about when they were alive. It was a pity that he couldn’t use that against Quinn right now, Shayne thought with a sigh.

“Find something to settle her stomach,” Liam ordered as he folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter.

“What were those things that she liked the last time she was pregnant?” Declean asked as he moved into the kitchen.

“Apples?” Finn suggested with a frown as he moved to join his brother in the search for something that would settle Marty’s stomach.

Aidan nodded as he joined them. “Aye, the lass has always been partial to apples.”

Connall shook his head as he left Shayne’s side to help with the search. “She doesn’t like the green ones, lads.”

Shayne rolled his eyes as he pulled up a chair next to Tristan, who was still unconscious, and said, “She can’t stomach raw apples when she’s pregnant. They have to be cooked.”

His brothers stopped mid-search to look at him.

“Are ye sure?” Connall asked, frowning.

“Aye. Don’t ye remember the last time that she was pregnant? We had to take turns stealing pastries from the baker after Tadgh was killed,” Shayne reminded them. In retrospect, that was probably a bad idea considering the fact that he’d broken their agreement after that incident and helped Tadgh, again…and again…and this last time would make three times he’d helped Tadgh since he’d promised not to.

“You mean when we were all forced to watch Macha die from a broken heart…again?” Liam asked, his glare moving from Tristan to him.

“He tricked me this last time,” Shayne bit out, which was true.

Tadgh had tricked them all into believing that he’d finally had enough and was going to leave Macha alone and give her the peace that she deserved, but he’d lied. He’d led them all to believe that he needed time and space to finally let her go and they’d all foolishly given it to him. Not that they’d quite believed him.

They’d kept watch on Macha’s soul as best as they could and when they’d felt that she was ready to be born again, they’d followed her soul. Once she’d successfully made it into the unborn fetus, they’d searched for Tadgh. They’d expected him to try and follow after her, but they never found him. For a couple of years, they’d watched over Macha until they felt that the likelihood of Tadgh trying anything was slim.

The last time they’d checked on her, she’d been three years old. They all loved her and agreed that the temptation to interfere in her life and protect her was too much. To be honest, none of them had been able to stomach the idea of seeing her with someone else. She belonged with Tadgh. The problem was this goddamn curse that kept them all trapped in this never-ending cycle of bullshit.

Somehow, they’d managed to walk away from Macha, wishing her the best and praying that Tadgh wouldn’t do something stupid like torturing himself by watching over her. Shayne couldn’t imagine being forced to watch over his soulmate and not being able to touch her, take care of her, and having to be forced to watch as another man took his place. Then again, he avoided his soulmate like the plague, so he really didn’t have to worry about torturing himself. Tadgh on the other hand…

Couldn’t stay away from Macha and they should have realized that their younger brother would have found a way to get past them. Shayne still wasn’t sure how Tadgh managed to pull it off without any of them finding out. It was only by pure luck that Shayne had discovered Tadgh living across the street from Macha all those years ago.

He still couldn’t believe how fucking stupid Tadgh had been to do it. What the hell had he been thinking? He knew what waited for him and he still did it, uncaring about the hell that he was going to put himself through. Eleven years without any type of protection or buffer from spirits too desperate for the lives that they’d lost to care about what they put a young child through was a dangerous way to live. To be honest, Shayne was still surprised that Tadgh hadn’t been killed or found himself locked up in a mental hospital by then.

“I’ll get her some apple pastries,” Declean offered, stepping away from the counter to do just that.

“She’s partial to apple fritters,” Shayne suggested absently as a thought occurred to him. Then, with a sigh and a muttered, “I’ll be right back,” he left the room.

When he materialized in Tristan’s room a few seconds later, he wasn’t exactly surprised to find Marty dressed, armed, and seriously pissed off. He wasn’t even surprised when she raised the gun in his direction and aimed it directly where his heart had once beat.

What did surprise him, and apparently Marty as well if her high-pitched squeal was any indication, was the bloodied spirit of a man stumbling through her bedroom wall.

With a muttered, “Oh, shit,” Marty swung the gun in the direction of the spirit.

“Oh, my God! Don’t shoot!” the man cried, throwing his hands up into the air as he stumbled back, making Shayne shake his head in disgust.

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