“’Tis,” he whispered, seeing what she saw. Thinking thoughts she already understood simply by being in the tree’s presence. The harmony and balance it offered nature. Sheer strength. Rebirth. How it guarded the land every bit as much as its great kings.
She saw even more, though. Understood more when she finally reached out and touched it. Felt its warmth and vitality vibrate beneath her fingers. This tree wasn’t just alive but a magical being in its own right. More than that, a doorway to the spirit world. Its great roots stretched down and its branches high, connecting mankind with the gods.
Not just that but her with her sisters.
So said Riona’s distant voice.
“Madison, is that you?” She heard the snap of her sister’s camera. “Can you hear me?”
One moment she was touching King’s Heart. The next, the old oak in front of the colonial in New Hampshire. She blinked, trying to see clearly, but everything looked blurry. Colors sharper.
“I hear you, Riona.” She tried to make out the shadowy figure of her sister standing nearby but couldn’t. “Where are you? Where am I?”
“I think you’re sort of halfway here like Cian had been.” Riona kept snapping pictures. “Because I can hear you but can’t see you. Are you all right? What’s going on?”
Feeling safe in this place, certain the brothers had effectively blocked Raghnall from this tree, she filled her sister in on everything that had happened in as few words as possible in case she wasn’t here long.
“You’reengaged?” Riona asked, shocked. No doubt not just by the news of her engagement but by all of it.
“I am.” She switched topics before Riona asked a million questions. “Is Liam with you? Is everything okay on your end?”
“He’s here.” She heard the amusement in her sister’s voice. “And creating all sorts of unintended havoc.”
Madison had worried about that. “Tell me he’s not being too inappropriate.”
“I suppose that depends on what you consider inappropriate.” She chuckled. “I think he’s fabulous, but Shannon, not so much. Constance hasn’t shown up yet.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear that about Shannon. Especially if Liam was flirting with her.
“Who’s that?” Riona asked curiously. “I just heard a man's voice.”
“I don't know. Nobody spoke on my end.”
“So you didn't hear him?” Riona kept snapping pictures, then stopped as if listening. “He’s asking me something, but I can’t quite catch what it is.”
“Is it Cian?” He wasn’t talking, but who knows what this tree was capable of? He stood relatively close, so maybe it caught his thoughts?”
“No, it's not Cian, but he sounds a lot like him.” She heard the tentative tone of Riona’s voice. “He’s saying something about a secret...that he’s going to get it out of me.”
She felt something orsomeonefamiliar nearby but couldn’t place who they were.
“Secret?” Madison frowned. “What secret?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Not sure sounds like you might.”
“I don’t...I mean, I don’t think I do....”
She kept talking, but Madison didn't catch what she said before the tree in New Hampshire faded, and she returned to King’s Heart.
“Madison,” Cian exclaimed.
Before she could adjust to her surroundings, she was wrapped up in his arms.
“I thought I was losing you,” he rumbled.
“No.” She pressed her cheek against his chest and breathed in his scent. “I’m right here.”
