They didn’t mind the walk.
The moonlight was upon them, like a gentle beacon.
And while they might appear to be part of the realm of the dead, they were alive.
Very much alive.
Epilogue
Nothing stopped St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland.
And so it was that the church service came first, and then the church parade, with Father Flannery bearing the relic said to contain a fragment of the saint’s bone. Then there was music and dancing and a fine flow of spirits and delicious food.
Devin and Rocky found themselves part of the “fool’s” parade that followed, carried in chairs of honor by costumed performers playing the giants of Ireland’s legends.
Kat—who had discovered that Collum’s body bore no trace of the medication he should have been taking—was pleased to be there simply on vacation.
Will was thrilled to have downtime with the woman he loved.
Brendan had come to during the night—Kelly had told Devin that it was exactly at midnight, when the clock at the castle would have chimed.
When Gary Duffy had set off his “banshee” wail—and made his demon-banshee surprise appearance, wielding a great sword. Brendan would have battled him, he swore fiercely, if his mind hadn’t played tricks. If he hadn’t...fallen to the false banshee. The thing had come at him waving an old battle-ax; he’d gone for his own weapons, felt the wind of the banshees battle ax—swirled and fallen and hit his head, felt a seizure in his chest...
And seen stars.
If they hadn’t come, he was certain, his brother’s killer would not have counted on another heart attack; he would have done Brendan in with the battle-ax. They’d arrived back in just the nick of time.
Brendan was allowed to leave the hospital for an hour of the festivities—time to hear the cheers of love he received from the crowd gathered for St. Patrick’s Day.
And from his family, of course.
He was whisked back, and Kelly, begging their forgiveness, went back with him and her father.
Michael and Aidan played hosts. Aidan explained that his credit card had been stolen in Dublin. Gary had most probably gotten it—and used it quickly to cast suspicion on him when the time was right.
“If he meant for them to die and then he wanted to marry Kelly, he was going to need a scapegoat,” Aidan said.
Devin agreed.
Siobhan wasn’t talking. She had lawyered up.
It was suggested, though, that she was going to use insanity. All she’d done since she’d been arrested was mutter about the banshee that had come for Gary.
Somehow, the day was everything it should have been. Proud, just, and filled with love for Ireland. That night, many people gathered outside the castle walls by the cliff.
Devin stood, smiling, feeling the wind in her hair.
Castle Karney was magnificent.
She could hear Aidan—he was telling visitors about the castle.
It was impossible to attack by sea. The rocks below where they stood were as treacherous and lethal as bullets. The castle itself sat up on a high tor at the edge of the water—landside, attackers could be seen from the parapets before they so much as neared the stone bastion of the outer walls.
Indentations marred those walls—indentations from dozens of guns and arrows and cannons. But the walls were more than ten feet thick and the time of medieval war had come to an end before even the most deadly of cannon balls had managed to do real damage. The castle had never surrendered; the Karney family had, upon occasion, negotiated. Due to the canny bargaining on the part of the lords of the castle, it remained a great structure, a living museum, and a testament to history.
She was all that and more, Devin thought.
She was where a family held together, through war, through trial, through whatever came.
She was where a family really loved one another.
Rocky’s arms came around her.
“It’s still our honeymoon, you know. Do you long for a white sand beach and warm seas?” he asked.
“I thought we’d stay right here—maybe take a few side trips. But, I know of this particular place where I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun. I think you have, too. Wondrous fun.”
She turned into his arms, came on her toes, met his eyes, and then whispered in his ear. “It’s a tub. A big old claw-foot tub!”
“I’m feeling the need for a bath, I must say,” he told her huskily.
Devin smiled. The eclipse was coming.
But, she knew, everything in her world was light.
They were who they were. Hard times would come again.
But for now…
There was that glorious old tub.
“Lead the way, my love,” she said.
And he did.
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1001 Dark Nights story
The First Night
by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose
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