“A whole person?” he challenged.
“What, you think I’m not whole now?” Her voice rose. “You think I’m wasting my life?”
She turned from him, but he grasped her by the shoulders. “I think the real you is hiding, waiting for release. I would see that…”
Her hands were on his chest now, pushing, as if trying to put him from her. But the secret, unspoken things her hands told him were exactly opposite. In reading her, he felt an arousal of things he, too, was trying to push away. A wanting as frenetic as what he read from her.
Suddenly Ella was in his arms, and Tiernan wasn’t certain if he pulled her there or if she threw herself against him. All he knew was the rightness of the close contact—of the certainty that this was meant to be. That he was meant to hold her. Kiss her.
And then he was.
Her lips were soft and dewy and flush with emotion. A cry deep in her throat signaled her need and, without thinking, he responded, deepening the kiss until he tasted her soul. Mouths linked, bodies pressed together, he imagined them joined as one, unfettered by anything but pure emotion and raw desire.
He spread his fingers wide and smoothed the bare flesh of her back. His hands wandered lower, cupped the fullness of her hips and then of her derriere.
As his desire grew in intensity, so did his doubts. He fought them, tried to make his mind go blank.
…sorrow in love… act on their feelings… put their loved ones in mortal danger…
So ingrained was Sheelin O’Keefe’s prophecy in his soul, that, unbidden, it entered Tiernan’s thoughts and then spread like a cancer until it crowded out all else and shattered the moment.
Breaking the kiss, he pushed Ella away from him. “I’m sorry. I never should have—”
“You’re sorry you kissed me?” she choked out. Blinking as if trying to get her thoughts together, she then shook her head and backed off. “Well, don’t worry about it, McKenna. It was only a kiss, after all. It didn’t mean a thing.”
With that, Ella turned and marched away.
And Tiernan, who had spent half a lifetime avoiding such a moment, felt as if he’d been brought to his knees.
***
When Tiernan had caught up to her after saying he never should have kissed her, he’d appeared apologetic, but no words of apology actually crossed his lips. They’d both kept up a polite facade with each other for the rest of the evening, but Ella had been relieved when they’d arrived back at refuge headquarters and she could close her door on him and hide what she was really thinking—that she had feelings for Tiernan and was certain he did for her.
Only this prophecy he’d spoken of was so very real to him, they would never work it out.
The bedroom was suddenly claustrophobic, but if she left it, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him, not unless she actually left the house. Quickly, she put on a light sweater. After waiting to hear Tiernan enter the bathroom, she cracked open the bedroom door and slipped out and through the reception area, then into the still night.
She’d always loved to be alone with the Black Hills after dark, and as a kid had often sneaked out to take solitary walks, so this was like old times. The dark sky still sparkled with diamondlike stars. The balmy air exuded a familiar spiced scent—the resinous odors of the evergreens. The hills continued to spew sparkling rivulets of clear, icy water tumbling down from the sides of the mountain.
Not that she was going to go far enough to find the streams she used to wade in or drink from. Content with feeling the night air gently lave her, Ella walked only as far as the closest pasture, then quietly wound herself into the board fence for a ringside seat.
The moon shone over a small band of mustangs gathered nearby. They grew restless with her presence, one whickering softly, another answering in kind, but as she remained silent and became one with the night, they settled down and dozed.
Seeing them reminded her of the not-so-sick horses. Had someone really cast a spell over them? Or had something in their food made them sick for a short time? She doubted the lab had checked for anything beyond the obvious virus or bacteria. What if those horses had ingested some plant or drug that made them seem sick? Was such a result even possible?
Or was someone with dark powers really at work?
It was all too much for her to deal with alone, and at the moment that seemed to be the case. She needed guidance. In the past, she’d been able to find it by communicating with the elements, making them sing and sway and whirl in return.
The People incorporated nature into their belief systems, honoring it with multiple annual dances to ensure not only rain and plentiful food, but fertility in the clans. All things animate and inanimate—like the earth and rock of the surrounding mountains—had a place in the cosmos. Life must be harmonious, and the mind must be free of evil thoughts.
But apparently at least one member of the tribe was going against the beliefs he was raised to respect, and in doing so, had brought the tribe fear.
Searching the heavens, wishing if she tried hard enough, she would find her father in the stars, Ella thought she saw his face for a few seconds, but as quickly as she imagined it, he was gone.
Are you there, Father? I need your help.
In order to find that help, she would have to journey, that was clear. Even though her father had begun her education at a very young age, the very thought of executing that knowledge now made her stomach knot. If she never tried, never gave it her best effort, she would never know if she could do it. Perhaps now was good. No one to see her fail.
Not that Ella was really prepared—she had nothing but herself, no tools of magic—yet she knew it was possible if more difficult to manage.
Closing her eyes, Ella freed herself and opened her mind. Though she tried expanding her reality, tried breaching the place where her father’s spirit dwelled, she felt empty inside, just as she had for the last fifteen years. The few times they’d connected, it had been an unconscious thing. Or it simply had been her imagination.
A nearby howl sent the flesh along her spine crawling and Ella dashed open her eyes and looked around wildly. She seemed to be the only one affected—the mustangs hadn’t moved. Had she really heard the sound or was her imagination at play?
Calming herself by focusing and taking slow, even breaths, she tried again.
With eyes closed once more, she sought to explore the elements—she could feel the pulse of the earth, could hear the whispers along the wind, could visualize the sky expanding around her. Imagining taking flight, she raced, her feet cushioned by clouds, and moved through star-strewn fields slowly at first, then faster and faster, all the while searching.
Father, find me… speak to me… tell me what to do….
The laugh that echoed back at her in answer wasn’t at all familiar.
Wasn’t Father.
Heart thudding, she stopped short.
Who is it? Who’s there?
No voice answered, but she felt a presence… no, a force. She wanted to believe this could be her father, trying to get through to her, but she knew otherwise.
What then, was she to do?
A confused Ella didn’t know.
The force grew stronger… darker… and she grew more aware and more afraid. Her pulse jagged in warning and she sensed that just beyond some invisible barrier, the man who’d set up her father awaited her.