Blood Magick (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy 3)

“It’s good to know.” Iona spread some cheese on a cracker. “So how do we destroy the stone, the demon?”

“Blood magick against blood magick,” Branna decided. “White against dark. As we have been, but perhaps with a different focus. We have to find the right time, and be sure of it. I’m thinking it must be Sorcha’s cabin, as before, to draw what she had into it, but we need to find a way to trap him, to k

eep him from escaping again so it can be finished. And if we can do that, it would be Fin who needs to destroy the stone, the source.”

“I felt the pull, of the demon, of the witch. And the far stronger one when they united. I felt the . . . appeal, the lust for what they’d give me.”

“And feeling that, risked yourself to shield me. It’s for you to do when the time comes,” Branna said briskly. “We’ve only to figure out the hows and the whens. Mary Kate, are you certain you have to go back to America, for it’s a joy to me to have someone else fixing a meal around here.”

Understanding the need to shift the conversation, Mary Kate smiled. “I do, I’m afraid, but I’ll be back for Iona’s wedding, and before it enough to help with some of the doings. And it might be, I’m thinking, I’ll stay.”

“Stay?” Iona reached around the table, grabbed her hands. “Nan, do you mean you’d stay in Ireland?”

“I’m doing some thinking about it. I stayed in America after your grandda died for your mother, then for you. And I love my house there, my gardens, the views out my window. I have good friends there. But . . . I can have a house here, and gardens, and pretty views out my windows. I have good friends here. And I have you. I have all of you, and more family besides.”

“You could live with us. I showed you where we’re putting on the room for you to have when you visit. You could just live there, with us.” Iona looked at Boyle.

“Of course, and we’d love that.”

“You’ve a sweet heart,” Mary Kate said to Iona, “and you’ve a generous one, Boyle. But if I come to stay, to live, I’ll take my own place. Close by, be sure of that. In the village most like, where I can walk to the shops and see my good friends, and visit with you in your fine new home as often as you please.”

“I’ve a cottage and no tenant,” Fin commented, and had Mary Kate lifting her eyebrows.

“I’ve heard as much, but it’s some months till April.”

“It’s easy to rent it to tourists for short spells who want something in the village, something self-catering. You might have a look at it before you go back to America.”

“I’ll do just that, and should confess I’ve already had a peek in the windows.” She grinned. “It’s cozy as a kitten, and so nicely updated.”

“I’ll see you get a key, and you can go in, look around whenever you like.”

“I’ll do that. I should go. Margaret will start worrying if I’m much later.”

“I’ll drive you in.” Boyle started to rise.

“I’ll do it.” Fin stood instead. “I’ll give you the key, and drop you round your friend’s. I need to be home myself.”

“I’ll get my coat. No, the lot of you stay where you are,” Mary Kate insisted. “I don’t mind being escorted from the house by a handsome young man.”

When they’d left, Iona got to her feet. “I’m going to draw you a bath.”

Branna’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you?”

“A bath with some of your own relaxation salts, and Meara’s going to make you a cup of tea. I’d like to send Connor and Boyle to Fin’s to do the same for him—”

“I’m not drawing a bath for Fin Burke,” Boyle said, definitely.

“But the two of them are going to clean up in here, just the way you like it. So you can get some rest, good rest, and put all this out of your mind for the rest of the night.”

“I wouldn’t argue with her once she gets the steam up,” Boyle advised.

“I wouldn’t mind a bath, or the tea.”

“That’s settled then.” Iona walked out.

“And I wouldn’t mind you leaving the kitchen as it is if one of you would go check on Fin,” Branna said. “This was more of a strain on him than it was on me, and I’ll confess, I’m worn through from it.”

“I’ll give him a few minutes, then go over,” Connor told her. “I’ll stay if that’s what he needs, or stay till I’m sure he’s settled. We can still see to the kitchen. Go on up now, don’t worry.”