Devil's Shore Read Free Page A

I found a large leather-bound book. On its cover was a raised crown of thorns. I threw the book in the burn pile.
    I went into the kitchen and made myself another cup of tea. I’d made great progress, and hopefully could leave in the next day or two. After my tea, I attacked the kitchen cabinets and boxed and labeled the old dishes and bits of pottery. They weren’t much, but a women’s shelter back in Dublin could probably use them.
    By ten o’clock I was shattered, both emotionally and physically. Prepared to crawl into bed, I was surprised and annoyed to find my piles had been tampered with. Three red robes along with three white sheaths and the book had been shifted to the save pile.
    “I don’t want these, Roisin. I’m not bringing this rubbish into my house.”
    Roisin appeared beside me. “You will need them, love.”
    “No. I won’t.”
    “Take them with you. Sure, what harm could it do?”
    “You may not believe this, dear grandmother, but unlike the rest of you heathens, I am a Catholic. And I’m raising my boys as Catholics. I don’t know what you were all up to on this Mountain and I don’t want to know. But I do know I don’t want this in my house.”
    Her cold hands lightly touched my cheek, numbing my skin. “You will need them. To help Kathy.”
    “I’m not helping anyone. I told you. Besides, Caroline and Conor Griffin are moving to New York. They’re leaving next week, to live off my brother’s insurance money no doubt. She should be safe enough from whatever this thing is.”
    “Maybe. She might be safe. For a while. But what if He can travel? We don’t know if He can travel.”
    “Well, why don’t you ask someone on your side and leave me out of it?”
    “The time will come when you will need to face Him. To fight Him.”
    “I am going back to my boring life in Dublin. Boring and ordinary and just the way I like it. I’m never setting foot on this Mountain again, do you hear me? Slanaitheoir or the faeries or the devil, or whoever else you think is wandering around, is welcome to it.”
    “Ah, love, it is not only the Mountain He wants. He wants His children as well.”
    “I’ve heard enough.” I walked over to the nightstand and lifted up my mother’s tablets.
    Roisin grabbed the pill bottle out of my hand. “No, Orla, it is not good for you to take these. It will only weaken your mind. And your power. I will leave you now. But I will be with you, watching, and whenever you need me, call for me and I will come.”
    “I won’t be calling you.”
    “Maybe. But I am here if you need me.”
    For some reason I laughed. “You’re ‘here for me’ then. Just like Caroline. Fantastic.”
    Her cold hand touched my cheek again, stealing away my laughter. “Know this, Orla. Whether you like it or not, you will be a powerful witch, a powerful Devlin witch. And with power comes responsibility. And danger. You will need this book and the sacred garments. To protect yourself and those you love.”
    I held up the pill bottle. “Goodnight, Roisin.”
    She looked sad then. “Goodnight, granddaughter.”
     

 
    Chapter 3
    Two years later
     
    “I told you. I’m not leaving this house!”
    A mug flew off the table, missing Declan’s head by only inches. Its handle lodged in the plaster wall.
    “Dammit, Orla. Not again.”
    “You know I can’t control it.”
    Dec pried the mug from the wall. “Well, there are enough holes I’ll have to patch before we let this place out.”
    “I’m not letting strangers live in my house and I’m not moving to America!”
    Declan put his arms around me but I was still so angry, the glasses in the cupboard rattled. “Calm down, love, calm down.”
    I swear, whenever he told me to calm down lately, it had the opposite effect. The sugar bowl slid off the table, crashing to the floor.
    Declan took me by the shoulders and shook me, hard. “Snap out of it, Orla. Stop it!”
    As I stared into his pale blue eyes my heart rate slowed. The glasses