Page 31 of The Irresistible Warrior
She took a step forward, shadows trailing behind her like mist, her eyes bright like fire. “And you didn’t stop her. And why? Because your first thought was about you and the wish, not her safety.”
His eyes narrowed. “I kept her safe. Nothing happened to her.”
“Are you sure of that?”
“What do you mean?” he demanded, a feeling of dread tightening his chest.
A look as cold as ice spread over her face. “You will pay dearly if dark magic touched her.”
And in the blink of an eye, she was gone—no sound, no wind, no trace. Just emptiness where she’d stood and the lingering scent of cold earth and old things.
Declan’s pulse still pounded in his ears. For a moment, he stood frozen, staring at the empty corner as if the witch might reappear. The only sound was the faint pop of the fire and the steady breath of the woman sleeping in the bed.
He crossed to the bed in two strides and spotting the hag stone on the chest beside the bed, he picked it up. It felt warm and heavier in his hand, then he recalled.
“If you are as strong as my wife claims that you are, then you will let no harm touch my wife. She is innocent in all of this, and I will not see her suffer because of my foolishness and… make certain she is never taken from me,” he whispered and squeezed the stone tightly in his hand.
A crack of thunder struck outside so loud and strong that it felt as if it shook the keep.
“Declan,” Aura said softly, her eyes fluttering open, hazy with sleep, and focused on him. “Was that thunder I heard?” Concern etched her brow after her eyes fully opened and she saw his face clearly. “Declan, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“The witch was here,” he said, and cast a quick glance to the corner, thinking his words might summon her, but nothing more than a shadow danced there.
Aura’s full attention sharpened instantly as she sat up. “What did she say? And why didn’t I wake?” She shook her head. “She cast a spell on me to keep me asleep. She only wanted to speak with you.”
He hadn’t given that thought, and that she could so easily cast a spell on his wife unsettled him. “She told me that I wasa fool for taking you to the ring of stones… that if dark magic touched you, I would pay dearly.”
Aura frowned, drawing the blanket around her shoulders warding off a chill that lingered in the room. “She worries that dark magic might touch me, but not you? I wonder if your wish somehow protects you.”
“That would be a change,” he scoffed, slipping into bed beside her, though not before placing the hag stone on the chest and doing so in a way she didn’t take notice. “My wish may finally help me.”
Aura tilted her head slightly, studying him in the firelight. “You’ve always said the wish was simple, but perhaps it wasn’t. Words can bind tighter than chains if they’re caught by the wrong ears. And if the stones hold any old magic…” She let the thought trail off.
Declan’s gut twisted. “You think something happened there?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe the witch showed up in time to prevent anything from happening.”
“Or maybe not.” He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. “Do you think it’s possible that finding love with you and our marriage could end this cursed wish? I no longer care about other women finding me irresistible.” He turned to his side, his smile wicked. “I only care that you find me completely and utterly irresistible.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” she teased, then chuckled.
He slapped his hand to his chest. “You wound me, wife.”
Her chuckle faded as she studied him for a long moment. “We need to find out if your cursed wish has ended. Then not knowing if anything happened at the stones, I need to gather some plants that can offer us protection against dark magic. If the witch thinks something reached me there…” She trailed off,her brow furrowing. “Why did she say you would pay dearly if dark magic touched me?”
His grip tightened. “Because she knows I would rather suffer myself than see harm come to you. She would use that against me.”
Aura’s mind raced, threads of the conversation weaving together. “Dark magic could be worse than any cursed wish.”
The thought lodged like a stone in his chest. He remembered the way the clouds had gathered over the stones, how the air had shifted, heavy and watchful.
“I don’t like the way this feels,” she admitted. “We’re tangled in something neither of us fully understands.”
He reached to brush a strand of hair from her face, his touch lingering. “Then we’ll untangle it together. Whatever this is—wish, curse, or dark magic—it won’t take you from me.”
CHAPTER 14
The morning light spilled across the floorboards of the Great Hall, though Hamish looked as if it were stabbing straight through his skull. He sat slumped at the table, muttering into his hands about “evil drink.”
