Nora took my other hand, and I allowed myself to be led from the cavern. My feet slowed at the very edge. Looking back, I saw Tom and Cate sitting side-by-side, his arms around her as she leaned into him for support.
Please let this work...whatever it was that Cate and Ailish had planned when binding my grandmother’s freedom to an immortal’s death.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A Tribe of Gods
We shuffled through the tunnel, Sean gripping a lantern in the lead with Marin close to his side. I kept hold of Nora’s hand as we were tugged back into the mortal world, and the stone and dirt of the dolmen appeared. We moved forward quickly to give Henry room, who was the last of our diminished group to leave.
Stepping from the entrance, I pulled my cloak tight in preparation for the storm that continued to rage. Gray light streaked the sky with the first hint of dawn. Deidre had labored through the night, and judging by the continued lightning, had yet to be delivered.
My feet came to an abrupt stop as my grip clamped on Nora’s fingers. She yelped from surprise, then stopped with the same suddenness. Justine and James stood unharmed near a clump of trees whose branches hung listless around them. Marin, Sean and Ailish remained huddled together at the dolmen’s edge.
Four figures formed a line across from us, each surrounded by a soft swell of light. They were unusually tall and stood with unnatural stillness. Skimming their faces, my eyes latched onto Brigid, and her last words came back in a flash.
“Till we meet on the other side...”
At the time, I had no idea she meant this side, nor so soon.
Henry came behind me, his body near enough for me to feel the weight of him. Without seeing his face, I knew he was studying the figures and would have seen Lugh by now. The other two figures were unfamiliar, a goddess pale as death and a god with a darker complexion and brown hair that fell to his shoulders.
Cailleach and Nuada. I would have bet my last shilling on it.
“The witch is dead?” Nuada asked.
“Yes,” Henry said. “Murdered by her son two days ago.”
Lugh narrowed his eyes. “Yet we still sense her power. How is that possible?”
“It remains trapped in the cavern. Her two living descendants have been defeated and will never bring her power into the human world.”
The sun god smiled and looked over our small group. “You have done well.”
The pale goddess stepped forward, and her frigid stare hardened on my face. My breath froze and frost formed on my eyelashes. Slowly, she shifted her gaze to Ailish.
Ailish squeaked next to me, but there was nowhere to hide from those cold blue eyes.
Cailleach lifted her chin. “Come to me, child.” Ice sounded in her voice, beautiful and lethal.
With a heavy breath and an equally heavy gait, Ailish walked the few steps to meet her first mother, the goddess of death and disease.
Pulling her hand from mine, Nora also moved, though toward the dark-haired god, who had stepped away from the others. I stayed and waited.
Cailleach skimmed me with another look, and I pressed closer to Henry. His arm moved around my waist, his chin resting on my head.
“You disobeyed me,” she said to Ailish.
My knees swayed from the beauty of that voice, as pinpricks scratched at my skin.
“I altered the curse just like you ordered, but Catria Ni Brid agreed to take Selah’s place.”
Surprise transformed Cailleach’s face. “Catria...” My great-grandmother’s name fell from her tongue, a hiss and a byword. “Is it possible?”
“Aye, she loves the girl and wouldn’t have her suffer so.”
Lightning flashed overhead. Thunder boomed in the same instant, and I glanced up at the heavily clouded sky. Wind and rain continued to lash the trees, yet none of the elements reached us below. Even the sounds were muted. I blinked from the phenomenon, as though we were standing beneath a glass dome.
“Did you seal it unto death?” the goddess asked with fevered excitement.
“Just as you ordered me.”
While they spoke, Lugh and Brigid moved to either side of Cailleach. Nora stood away from the group, her head bent toward Nuada in hushed conversation. James watched at a respectful distance.
“I would know everything,” Cailleach pushed.
Ailish widened her stance and drew in a deep breath. “Once I pricked me finger, I used your voice to say, Theorannú mé tú go dtí go bás...an Cailleach.”
Silence reigned. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath high above in the treetops.
“An Cailleach?” the goddess asked. Ice crystals formed around her. They hung weightless for a moment before falling to the ground.
“Aye, that be it.”
The air snapped like a whip around Ailish, and she staggered back a step from some unseen force.
“Idiot, child!” Cailleach screeched. “What do you mean sealing it unto my death?”