Hope Everlastin' Book 4 (32 page)

"Deliah, get ou'!" Roan
thundered.

His wounds were covered
with the same root pulp she'd used on Winston two weeks ago. He
reached out to grab her arm and stop her advance on the giant, but
she eluded him and sprang to Cuttstone's right, behind Lachlan, a
hand held out in warning to the intruder.

Her face was livid, her
eyes inhumanly bright. The long strands of her hair flapped behind
her as if she faced a gusting wind. Roan stood frozen, afraid that
if he made a move, the Phantom would throw the dirk into her chest
before he could stop him.

"I be Deliah o' the Kingdom
Faerie. Ye have no power here!"

"He can't hear you!"
Winston exclaimed, inching away on his buttocks. "Get ou' o' the
house, Deliah! You can't stop him!"

"Ye o' little faith, ma
love," she said in a strained tone, her fiery gaze riveted on
Cuttstone's glassy eyes.

Lachlan struggled to his
knees, then his feet, while Deliah hastily pulled her pale blue
Cashmere sweater over her head and tossed it aside. At the same
moment the Phantom thought to spring at her, she unfurled her
wings, their rapid appearance causing him to jerk back in
astonishment.

Put down the dirk!
she projected into his mind.
Now, afore I call upon the oak beneath yer feet to rise up and
encage ye!

Wade Cuttstone staggered
backward across the room, his maniacal eyes daring her to carry
through her threat.

Her wings fluttering at her
back, Deliah rose into the air and settled on her feet atop the
mattress. Cuttstone advanced backward toward the windows, the dirk
held out, the hand holding it trembling. With a wave of her right
hand, millions of glittering specks of golden dust swirled through
the air between herself and the Phantom. No sooner did they settle
on the oak planks, roots sprang up, spiraling upward.

Cuttstone snarled and
kicked at the manifestations with one of his steel-toed boots.
Snapping sounds rent the air. He stomped and kicked with a frenzy,
breaking off the roots in his immediate vicinity, unaware that the
three men were closing in on him until it was almost too late. His
mind forewarned him, and he swept out his left hand.

The razor-sharp edge of the
dirk's blade came within a hair'sbreadth of Roan's throat. Roan
fell back out of surprise, unwittingly sending himself and knocking
Winston to the floor. The roots vanished beneath them a second
before they hit the surface.

The Phantom whirled to look
out the window in a futile search for an escape route.

Lachlan was too enraged to
feel his wounds. No sooner did the Phantom turn his head toward the
window than Lachlan hunched low and cast off in a dynamic launch.
He plowed into the killer like a linebacker, one shoulder
positioned to take the brunt of the impact.

* * *

"Alby, wait up!" Kahl
panted, amazed that his younger brother could outrun him.
"Alby!"

Deaf to his brothers'
entreaties first for him to remain in the carriage house and now
for him to wait for them to catch up, he pumped his legs in the
direction of the field, then toward the golden beacon in the
distance. When he reached his goal he stumbled to a stop and fell
into waiting arms, the roar in his ears blocking out Reith's, "Och,
lad!"

Kevin dropped to his knees
when he reached Reith. His lungs ached from both the run and fear.
Kahl stopped next to him and bent over, trying to catch his
breath.

"Wha' be wrong?" asked
Reith sharply, checking each boy for injury. When he found none, he
frowned with paternal concern. "Does anyone know ye be ou' in the
night?"

"In the house," Kahl
panted.

"Aye, tis where ye should
be."

"Him!" Alby wailed then
pressed his face to Reith's chest.

Smoothing the hair at the
back of Alby's head, Reith studied the two older boys. "Take yer
time and tell me why ye be here and no' in yer beds."

"Lannie told us to...wait
in the carriage house for you," Kevin explained. "Saw Winston but—
Alby got too scared to wait for you to come back, so he took off to
find you."

"Why would Mr. Baird tell
ye to wait for me?"

"The boogeyman!" Alby
cried.

Reith laughed, but with
compassion, and wound his arms around Alby's quaking form.
"Boogeymen be but creations o' our minds. Ye have yerselves worked
up for naught."

"He put us in the cellar!"
Kevin said indignantly. "And he stabbed Uncle Roan!"

Reith's spine stiffened as
he released Alby. "Ye be tellin’ me the truth?"

Kevin stomped a foot and
angrily exclaimed, "He's gonna kill everybody if you don't get up
off your ass!"

A horrendous boom of glass
and wood shattering blasted into the night. Shrill cries of anguish
soon followed.

"Return to the carriage
house!" Reith ordered the boys then lit into a run. Blinded by
fear, he only knew he was headed for the woods. By the time he
reached the perimeter, discordant voices rang in his ears. He was
careless in his haste. One of the branches of the ground shrubbery
pierced one of his pant legs and he pitched forward into evergreen
nettles and dried twigs.

* * *

Immediately following
Lachlan and the Phantom sailing through the window, Deliah flew
after them. Roan and Winston ran for the stairs, the adrenaline
pumping through their veins making it possible for them to overcome
shock and injury. They went out the back door through the library
and ran to where Beth, Laura, and Taryn stood, which was several
feet from Deliah's kneeling position amid shards of glass and wood
splinters. Between herself and the wall was a mound—Lachlan atop
the Phantom, motionless.

"Lachlan," Beth sobbed,
holding Broc against her. "Is he...?"

"He be alive." Deliah
glanced at the others. "The ither mon be dead. His neck be
bro-ked."

"Why isn't Lachlan movin’?"
Beth asked tremulously. Like Laura, she couldn't bring herself to
move closer. Not only didn't she trust her legs, but it was all she
could do to hold in the fear gripping her.

Her wings fluttering,
Deliah placed a hand on Lachlan's back and gently shook him.
"Lachlan. Lachlan, come round! Lachlan!"

He moaned.

"Ye are no' bro-ked," she
told him, excitement in her tone.

He moaned again,
longer.

"I wouldna say ye flyin’
skills be as grand as mine," she said as cheerily as she could
muster, hoping to ease him back into full consciousness, "but ye
did yerself proud, ye did."

"Dinna make a funny."
Lachlan grunted. "Hurts."

Deliah stood back when
Lachlan started to roll off Cuttstone. Roan and Winston stepped
forward to help, but stopped cold when Lachlan flopped onto his
back.

Protruding from Lachlan's
naked, blood-soaked chest was the dirk, embedded to the
hilt.

"Oh my God!" Beth
wailed.

Coughing up blood, Lachlan
looked at Deliah and pleaded, "Dinna let Beth...see...me
die."

"Do something," Taryn
rasped, her tear-filled eyes riveted on her brother.

Deliah went down on her
knees alongside Lachlan, her hands held out in helplessness and her
features contorted with anguish.

"Remove the cursed dirk!"
she cried, to no one in particular.

Roan was the first to step
forward. He dropped to one knee and flinched with pain as glass cut
through his slacks and the taut skin covering the area. Reaching
for the dirk's handle, he hesitated inches away from touching it.
His hand trembled so that he had to flex it several times before he
felt steady enough to proceed. Lachlan was unconscious. Roan pulled
a clean handkerchief from his back pocket then, staring into
Lachlan's slack face, he gripped the handle and jerked it free. He
vehemently tossed the weapon aside and applied pressure to the
wound, using the folded cotton beneath his hands.

Winston positioned himself
behind Deliah, and Beth forced herself to stand next to him. She
couldn't breathe. She couldn't look away. And she couldn't bring
herself to pray for his life. The only thought echoing through her
mind was that she was willing to return to the grayness to be with
him. She didn't think of the twins or anyone else. Without Lachlan,
she did not possess the strength to stay even one day in the world
of the living.

"The damage be too great,"
Deliah whimpered, her palms pressed to Lachlan's chest, below where
Roan's were placed. A golden glow passed from beneath her palms,
upward over his chest and seeped into his skin. "I dinna have the
power to undo this!"

She balled her hands atop
Lachlan and threw back her head. Her eyes closed, she wailed,
"MoNae! MoNae, I need ye!"

The tormented depths of her
voice broke the dams of Laura and Taryn's tenuous control. Both
wept hard. Although Laura could only clutch Ciarda against her,
Taryn's mind was burning with the knowledge that the dirk lay a few
feet away. Without anyone noticing she inched toward it, crouched
low as if unable to stand a moment longer, and slipped the bloodied
dirk into the sleeve of her blouse. As yet, her mind hadn't
processed the fact that Deliah had wings. The assault of the
Phantom, grief over Lachlan, and not missing her chance to get the
dirk, were all she could handle at the moment.

"MoNae!" Deliah repeated,
quaking with sobs and vexation. "I beg o' ye to come!"

"Deliah?"

Reith's voice crashed upon
the scene. Deliah shot to her feet and swayed with a wave of
dizziness. Winston dumbfoundedly stepped aside as Reith elbowed his
way to Deliah, who flung herself into the young man's
arms.

"Deliah, Deliah," he said
in a chanting manner, his tone laden with joy and bewilderment. "I
thought I'd lost ye forever!"

"Reith!" Deliah choked,
part in laughter, part in anguish, as she leaned back and searched
his face. "I need yer help. This mon be dyin’ and I
canna—"

Reith jerked as he looked
down at Lachlan with horror-filled wide eyes. "No!" he cried
angrily, and knelt beside Roan, whose tearful gaze looked at him
with a plea for help.

"Mayhaps our combined
powers can save him," Deliah said. "His spirit be holdin’ on as
best it can."

Bleakly, Reith glanced up
at her. "Blue stripped me o' ma powers and cast me ou'. But ye go
to them! The new oak."

"The kingdom be back?" she
asked dazedly.

"They all be there.
Hurry!"

"I have no' a Ring O'
Passage!" she wailed. "Will they hear me, ye think?"

Reith stood and swiftly
yanked a cord from around his neck, over his head. "No. She cast a
spell to shut ou' the sounds o' this world. Hurry, Deliah. His
pulse be verra weak. I'll carry him to the oak and meet ye there."
As he spoke, he untied the cord and removed what had been his
father’s Ring Of Passage. He placed it on the third finger of
Deliah's right hand, kissed her on the cheek, and breathed,
"Hurry!"

Deliah flew into the air
and out of sight.

Reith whirled about and
dropped to his knees in one fluid motion. "I'll carry him," he said
to Roan, determination accentuating the lines of his face. "It
mayhaps be wise if ye all remain here. No tellin’ if ma kin will
come if they sense mair humans abou'."

Roan rose to his feet while
Reith effortlessly lifted Lachlan, stood then faced the stunned
onlookers. A retched sob came from Beth, and Reith compassionately
met her gaze. "Tis hard, I know, to wait here, but this I must ask
ye. The Circle O' Magic can save this mon, but ma kin isna fond o'
practicin’ it on humans."

Releasing a shuddering
breath, Beth stated, "Then more's the reason for all of us to be
there. They need to know how much Lachlan is loved. Reith, you must
help us convince them. You're Deliah's brother, aren't
you."

"Aye, but I no longer hold
status among ma own." He glanced at Lachlan's colorless face then
again looked into Beth's eyes. "But ye are right, m'lady. Twould be
best if we all beseeched the Keepers O' The Circle. Follow
me."

Leading them around the
house to the new oak, he instructed them how far back to stand,
then placed Lachlan, who came to with a moan, on the ground. Roan
knelt to Lachlan's other side and again applied pressure to the
wound.

"Lie still, sir," cautioned
Reith, "but dinna give in to daith. Ma sister has gone to fetch the
Keepers O' The Circle."

Lachlan's eyes rolled then
he focused on Reith with difficulty. "Too weak."

"No, sir," Reith said
firmly. "For the sake o' yer womon and younglin’s, ye must fight
for yer life!"

"Tell Beth...."

"I'm here, Lachlan," she
sobbed, stepping closer until he could see her. She tried to smile,
but her face crumbled as she broke down into a torrent of
tears.

"Beth," Lachlan murmured,
his eyes growing more glazed by the second.

"Listen to me, Master
Lachlan Iain MacLachlan Baird!" Reith shouted. Lachlan blinked in
bewilderment, then scowled up at the face swimming above him as
Reith went on, "Ye will
no'
die!"