Page 65 of Love Beyond Words
“Okay, Kate. You’re going to need to explain everything you’ve read from the beginning. I’m just going to sit back and listen. I’m feeling slightly lightheaded.”
My sister laughed and as I settled into my spot on the floor, I could hear Mr. Crinkles purr in the background.
“Okay, I can’t blame you for that. It’s a lot, and some of it’s not so great.”
“I’m ready.” I was anything but.
“So, I read the book first, start to end. You know how history gets twisted throughout time and then you throw in a few ancient legends and things get even worse, so I have no idea how much of what I read is true, but I’ll try to explain the gist of it to you.”
I nodded as if she could see me. “Okay, shoot.”
“The documentary told us about the legend, right—about The Eight and how they were bound to protect the Isle from the darkness that would threaten it if The Eight were ever broken? The book was much more specific. According to this text, the evil the documentary mentioned is a faerie. While she may gain strength, she poses no real threat with just seven men.”
I interrupted to give her some context.
“The book is right. It is a faerie.”
“All right, then. That makes me even more confident about everything else. Anyway, as I was saying, if The Eight become seven, that’s not necessarily good, but nothing too bad will happen. Six is the magic number. Six is what she’s aiming for. If The Eight lose two men without replacing another, she can break free from her prison.”
I thought of Calder’s disappearance. It was a good thing Marcus’ powers had revealed themselves when they did. It was possible that Calder could find a way to break his bind to the men at any time. If he’d managed to do that before Marcus had joined them, Machara would’ve been free.
Kate paused for a moment, and I assumed she was waiting for me to react.
“That coincides with some things that have already happened here. Continue.”
“Okay. What’s the name of this faerie? Do you know?”
“Yes, I do. I met her. Her name is Machara.”
I could hear Kate’s smile in her voice.
“This is all just too flipping cool. The book got that right, too. So, the book alludes to a prophecy given to Machara by her father as punishment for something she’d done to anger him. It doesn’t say what. He claimed that a time would come in Machara’s life when she would be chained by the magic of men, but her life would end at the hands of mortal women.”
Freya’s prediction came to my mind. “How many women and when?”
Kate sighed. “Nine women, and there is no date listed in the story.”
Of course it didn’t.
“Okay, does it say anything about these women. Who are they?”
“That’s where you come in, Laurel. You’re one of them, and I’m pretty sure, so am I.”
The hairs on my arms rose, and I was suddenly very cold.
“Explain.”
“Your name isn’t mentioned specifically. It only refers to a Laird Allen’s wife, which is beyond annoying, I know. Women shouldn’t be defined by their husbands, but I’m pretty sure this book was written in the sixties, so we’ll just have to forgive it and move on.”
My heart beat quickly in my chest.
“I’m not Laird Allen’s wife.”
“Maybe not yet, but if the rest of this book is to be believed, you’re going to be. The woman’s description matches you exactly.”
It was a real struggle to keep from giggling like an idiot. It was too soon for me to dream of such things with Raudrich, but there was some part of me that knew it was inevitable.
“Okay.” I tried to keep my tone calm. “For theory’s sake, let’s say that it is me. What does it say?”
