“You’re set.”
“Okay, handsome. Make like a dragon.”
“In a moment. First, I have something for you, and I want to give it to you here, in front of our circle. One of the symbols of Geall is the dragon. One of our symbols as well, you and I. So I want you to wear this, for our betrothal.”
He drew out a ring of bright gold shaped like a dragon.
“Glenna drew a picture of it when I told her what I’d like. And the goldsmith used it to make the ring.”
“It’s perfect,” she murmured when he slipped it on her finger.
“And to seal it.” He framed her face, kissed her warmly. And shot her a grin when he eased back. “Now let’s go thumb our noses at this bitch.”
He flashed into the dragon. Leaping onto his back, Blair lifted both swords high.
“They rose into the sky,” the old man said. “Across the moon and stars and the dark behind them. And over the world of Geall, those swords flashed flame for all to see. With them, the demon hunter carved these words into that sky.
“Bright blessings on Geall and all humankind. We,” she wrote in fire, “are the future.”
The old man lifted the wine that sat beside him. “It was said that the queen of the vampires stood below, cursing, shaking her fists as those words shone bright as the sun.”
He sipped the wine, held up a hand when the children spread around him protested that couldn’t be the end of the tale.
“Oh, there’s more to tell. More indeed. But not tonight. Go on now, for I was told there’d be gingercakes in the kitchen for a treat before bedtime. I’ve a fondness for gingercake.”
When he was alone, and the room quiet again, he sipped his wine. He nodded off with the fire warming his bones, and his mind drifting to the last of the story.
To the time of knowing.
Glossary of Irish Words,
Characters and Places
a chroi (ah-REE), Gaelic term of endearment meaning “my heart,” “my heart’s beloved,” “my darling”
a ghrá (ah-GHRA), Gaelic term of endearment meaning “my love,” “dear”
a stór (ah-STOR), Gaelic term of endearment meaning “my darling”
Aideen (Ae-DEEN), Moira’s young cousin
Alice McKenna, descendant of Cian and Hoyt Mac Cionaoith
An Clar (Ahn-CLAR), modern-day County Clare
Ballycloon (ba-LU-klun)
Beal (Bale), name Blair uses when acting as bait
bi istigh (vee-ISHtee), Gaelic term meaning “come in”
Blair Nola Bridgitt Murphy, one of the circle of six, the “warrior” a demon hunter, a descendant of Nola Mac Cionaoith (Cian and Hoyt’s younger sister)
braes (BRO-sh), underdrawers or trousers, worn by the people of Geall
Breda (BREE-da), mother of family with overturned wagon
Bridget’s Well, cemetery in County Clare, named after St. Bridget