Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke Read Free Page B

were
in Gaelic, a language she only knew a few words.
    “The wolf…” The horse’s
scream was ringing in her ears but then so was something else, like
the taunting laughter of a child. “It’s not real.” She slowly came
to realize, grabbing at Mac’s arm. “It’s not real, is
it?”
    Not hearing her, Mac
focused fully on the wolf as he shook off the blow. Leaning on the
wall, his eyes sharpened to stare at the big black wolf tearing
into his horse but he could hear above the noise the words in the
winds coming from what appeared to be a boy on the fence
line.
    “You were born of the five.
Five into one, one to become five but it only takes one to fall and
break the circle,” the taunting child crooned from somewhere.
“Which will it be? Who is the weak one this time? Will you fall,
Patrick MacKinley Fitzgerald? Will you fall like your whore mother
and coward of a father?”
    Mac’s eyes flashed but
Maggie’s grip on his arm held him back as she threw something from
her huge bag into the tree line.
    “You can’t enter here,
monster!” she shouted defiantly, eyes dark with anger that whatever
this was that was happening would use what this man loved to hurt
him. “Get away or…”
    “Hush.” Mac’s tone was
quiet but firm as he edged her away from the wall to face the now
snapping wolf, but it hadn’t come any closer. “You won’t win by
taunting someone who grew up with the brothers I did, demon. Go
away and try that on someone else.”
    The wolf seemed to sneer
but the boy on the fence looked straight into Mac’s eyes. “Three
have refused my master, two there are to go and two with the temper
of your father. Which of your brothers will accept the offer that
your despised father spurned? It only takes one to fall to break a
circle.”
    It was several seconds of
uneasy silence after both wolf and boy had vanished did Mac breathe
fully, and then it was a harsh Irish oath. “Shit.” He muttered,
slumping down in a chair, when he remembered the reporter. “You saw
that?” he asked, wondering how hard it would be to get her to
forget.
    Maggie was staring at him
in plain shock but just as Mac was about to pour a glass of
whiskey, she sat down. “You’re one of the five.” It wasn’t a
question but a statement in almost awe.
    “What?” Mac blinked, hoping she wasn’t
catching onto too many things.
    “What that thing said,
about the five into one and all that.” She gestured. “You’re one of
the five that forms the circle said to shield the world from
evil.”
    Knowing his day couldn’t
get much worse; Mac poured himself a glass of whiskey and drank it
with a hiss. “What’s a nice Mayo reporter doing knowing about such
paranormal things like that?” he tried to make light but his chest
was hurting too much and his head was pounding.
    “My Gran’s Book of Shadows
had a whole section in it about ‘the five,’” she replied, still
shocked at everything she’d seen.
    “Yeah, well most of…” Mac
stopped in mid-sentence to stare at her. “Book of Shadows?” he
repeated warily. “You’ve seen an actual Book of
Shadows?”
    Maggie shrugged. “My Gran
on my Mum’s side had a Book of Shadows which came to me after her
death. She also kept this big book on you and your brothers,” she
smiled slightly with dimples that winked. “Always said ‘those dang
Fitzgerald lads were of the five.’”
    “Your Grandmother on your
Mum’s side?” Mac stared hard, for the first time actually looking
deeper, and again started muttering under his breath. “Oh, this is
just bloody great.” He slumped back and closed his eyes, “You’re a
bloody witch.”
    “I prefer the term ‘user of
everyday practical magic,’” Maggie shot back with a sniff then
blushed as he just lifted a brow at her. “Alright, but I haven’t
really practiced seriously. I mostly know enough to know which
spells to use to not blow my brothers up from time to
time.”
    “Well isn’t that just fine
and dandy