Bronwyn opened the door to the healer’s hall and walked inside. The astringent smell of herbs comforted her. What fun she and Deidre would have had in there. She trailed her fingers over the worn wooden surface of the big central table.
Her power rested like a slumbering dragon within her. In the two days following her waking water and bonding herself to Goddess, she had only begun to explore her gift.
Piled up in the center of the table was the stack of books Roderick had carried in for her. Some of them ancient with their covers embossed in precious gems. She was almost afraid to open them, but she would open them and discover all the knowledge of her craft. So many healers had come before her and written their knowledge in these books. Her family had died not knowing anything about Baile, or the cré-witches or their blessing as healers. She owed it to them to be the healer they hadn’t been able to be.
Maeve had told her the healers had been fascinated by all aspects of healing and had been as interested in making cures as they had in using their abilities. These books would only open for another healer.
She reached for water—its response was instantaneous and sweet—and touched her hand to the top book. The clasp released on a soft click, and Bronwyn opened the book.
A Study of the Persistent Problem of Warts.
“Hey.” Alexander stood in the doorway.
She’d left him in the kitchen, trying to weigh in on the raging argument about which element they woke next.
Roderick’s assertion that Goddess would decide had done nothing to quell the argument. Maeve and Niamh were fighting for fire to be activated, Sinead and Alannah going for earth. Mags sat in the middle smiling mistily into a mug of tea, like she knew what came next, which she probably did.
“Hi.” She felt awkward around Alexander. So much had happened between them that she was confused, pulled in so many different directions.
Strolling in, he looked around him. “So this is the healer’s hall. I heard about this place.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “It used to make Rhiannon froth at the mouth. The first healer, Deidre, and Rhiannon never got on well.”
Her Deidre would have gotten a kick out of her name being the same as the first healer. Bronwyn kept her tone light. Rhiannon squatted like a steaming pile of offal between them. “Who would have thought anyone could disagree with your mother’s winning personality?”
He winced. “It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of her as my mother.”
“Sorry.” She did understand, but she couldn’t pretend the connection between him and Rhiannon didn’t exist. “Will you stay in Baile?”
“If I want to keep breathing, I don’t have much choice for now.” He shrugged. “Baile is the only place I’m safe from her.” He looked so melancholy, staring out the large window to the sea.
“Is that what you want?”
“I want many things, little witch.” He looked at her, his eyes holding the wisdom of his hundreds of years of life. “For the first time in longer than I can remember, I want something badly enough to wait for it.”
The truth of their feelings for each other sat unacknowledged between them. “Even if you can’t be sure you’ll ever get that thing?”
“I have time.” His swaggering smirk appeared, and he cocked his head. “And I’ve been assured I am an extremely persuasive and patient man.”
Maeve found Roderick standing in the central cavern, examining the sigils. He sensed her there through the bond.
“Water is awake.” She stood beside him and shared his appreciation for the gentle blue glow of the water crystals. “Any change to Goddess or Baile.”
“Alexander tells me Goddess will strengthen as our witches use more magic.” He grimaced. “I cannot credit that I just spoke thus of Alexander.”
His disgruntled expression drew a laugh out of her. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“I would have said impossible.” Turning, he looked down at her, his gaze warm. “Baile feels more alive each day.”
“Good.” The look in his eyes disconcerted her and made her shy. She could peer into his heart through the bond, but that felt intrusive and wrong. “What happens next?”
Raising her hand, he kissed it. “Take a stroll with me, Blessed?”
“Why?” Had she missed something important that he needed to tell her? Her hand still tingled from the imprint of his mouth.
Laughing, he placed her hand on his arm. “Because the day is beautiful and balmy, and I want to take a stroll in the sunshine with a lovely woman.”
“Oh.” When he put it like that, it made perfect sense, and there was nothing more she’d rather do.
Arm in arm they left the caverns and took the stairs down to the beach. With the tide out, the sliver of sand, golden in the warm sun, invited them to join it.
The sea was languid and the air still. Gulls swooped and dived from the boulders, arguing noisily with each other. Beneath her feet, the sand was warm and the sun gentle on her head.
Where the tide reached its highest point, Roderick stopped and tugged her in front of him. Wrapping her in his arms, he pressed her back against his chest.
Matching her breathing to his, Maeve let the welcome warmth and comfort of him surround her.
In the day’s beauty and peace, it was almost possible to forget the still looming threat. “What happens now?”
“Now we enjoy the sunshine.” Roderick’s voice rumbled through her. “When we return to the castle, we will have to find the cardinal point for fire and discover how to wake it.”
She nodded but stayed where she was. “Fire as the next point makes sense. I need to spirit walk, find what answers and help I can amongst the witches past.”
Waves frothed closer to their feet, and a playful breeze tugged at her hair.
“I regret Edana,” Roderick said. “But I cannot change the past.”
“I know.” She sighed because she hadn’t been fair to him about that. When he and Edana had been bedfellows, none of what they now knew had yet revealed itself.
“You were not my first witch.” Roderick’s deep voice blended with the whisper of the waves. “But you will be my last, Maeve.”
“How can you know that?” Her heart beat erratically as he came closer to acknowledging what lay between them.
Roderick chuckled. “You know how I know that Maeve, because you can see into the deepest part of me.” He rested his cheek atop her head. “But for now, let us be a man and a woman together on this beautiful day. Nothing more.”
“Just a man and a woman on the beach,” she said. “Nothing more.”
Roderick tightened his arms about her. “For now.”