Page 31 of Whiskey & Witches

“Wait!” It was Piper who grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving. Begrudgingly. “Here is what we have.”

He read the spell from the Byrne grimoire and cast an eye around the setup. “You didn’t create a circle? If you’re going to do a proper spell, that’s what ya need for safety’s sake.” He gave her a considering look. She was a Thorne. He’d have thought knowledge like this was standard issue, but maybe not. “I’m surprised you don’t know this.”

“Listen, Professor Dumbledweeb, I don’t go around trying to heal people at every turn. We’ve family healers for that shit. And besides, some of us don’t mind a hard day’s work instead of playing at being a Harry Potter wannabe all day long.”

He barked an incredulous laugh at her cheeky attitude. “Ya think I don’t work, do ya?”

“I don’t know anything about you other than you have the morals of an alley cat and prefer another man’s wife. I know you don’t give a fuck if you leave a girl without a mother.”

Tears burned bright in her honey-gold eyes as her body trembled with her building fury, and it bothered him to see Rebecca’s daughter so. But Ronan couldn’t defend himself against Piper’s rightful anger. “Look, I’m not sorry I fell in love with Bec, Piper,” he said quietly. “I am sorry you and your da got hurt. But she chose you. And him. And I was a stupid boy at the time. No more than twenty-five and full of piss.” He approached her and gazed down into her hate-filled eyes. “It was over two decades past, and I did a lot of growing in that time. I’ve never again poached another man’s wife. It’s a firm rule for me now, it is.”

She compressed her lips and shifted her attention to the floor.

“I’m sorry you were hurt,” he said again. “I’ve no way to prove it. But I’d like to help Roisin if that’s all right with you.”

She lifted her chin and met his calm gaze. He imagined he saw a lessening of her anger, but time would tell. With an abrupt nod, she stepped away from him. “For the record, I know about casting a circle. This entry didn’t mention one was required.” She shrugged. “I thought it might be like smaller magical spells and wouldn’t need a circle.”

“Fair enough. But for future spells, you may want to assume you need a protection circle, yeah?” He gestured to the bed. “Each of you grab a corner. We need to move it out from the wall.”

Carrick immediately jumped into action.“Don’t scrape the wood floor, or Roisin will kill us all when she wakes.”

Ronan chuckled.

Carrick didn’t know what to make of the man. His timing was suspect, and Piper certainly didn’t trust the guy, with good reason. But looking a gift horse in the mouth wasn’t smart. Although if history was to be a lesson, the Trojan-horse incident certainly encouraged caution.

Roisin would’ve laughed and said she was no beauty like Helen of Troy was reported to be, but Carrick would beg to differ. To him, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever encountered. And all the Helens in the world combined would never measure up to one Roisin.

He and Cian stood back while Ronan and Piper cast the circle. They repositioned the candles and copper bowl, then Ronan stepped in to work the spell, preventing Piper from risking herself and her baby on an unknown enchantment.

Roisin didn’t respond immediately, and they all shared a concerned look.

“Maybe I should get GiGi or Alastair?” Piper chewed on her nail as Cian brewed a pot of tea.

With a hearty yawn and a rub of his hands over his face, Ronan was the one to urge them to be patient. “Her mind needs to knit back together. Give it a little time.”

“What’s considered a little, or for that matter, a lot?” Carrick asked.

A small smile twisted the other man’s mouth. “I’ll stick around and let you know when you should worry. How’s that?”

With a sharp nod, Carrick sat on the bed beside Roisin. He stroked her wild hair back from her temple. “Ro, this is too similar to the time spent after the accident. I’m going to need you to wake, pet. Save me the heart failure.”

“Why hide who she was?” Ronan asked softly.

What exactly it was about the man that inspired confidences, Carrick didn’t know, but he couldn’t be cagey when the guy was only trying to help. “A number of reasons. Mainly because Aeden was terrified when he first saw her face. He believed he was looking at a ghost, and he screamed his fecking head off whenever he came within a foot of her.” He closed his eyes against the painful memories. “Ro also told us someone was in the road right before it happened. Though she never said who or why, I have the feeling she suspects and was worried about bringing trouble to our door. It was easier to let the world believe she was Meg for her own peace of mind.” Carrick grimaced. “Here, if I’m being honest, I thought the person was someone she dreamed up. No witnesses came forward. But we couldn’t dismiss somebody had taken her to hospital.”

“That’s the reason for the rumor ‘Meg’ couldn’t remember the entire thing,” Ronan concluded with a nod. “Makes sense to hide what she knew.”

“Yeah, for all the good it did us. She was abducted tonight by Seamus McLeary—or we think she was.”

“You don’t know?”

Carrick shrugged. “He tried to use my head as a sliotar earlier. Ro disappeared shortly after and was gone for hours. We found her in the garden, like this.”

Ronan’s mouth tightened as if he were fighting anger, but he nodded slowly. “I’ll see her healed, O’Malley. I’ll promise that.”

“And how can you make such a promise?” Cian asked as he handed off a cup of tea to Carrick and turned to Ronan. “And why would you involve yourself?”

Both great points. They all faced Ronan, awaiting his answer.

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