CHAPTER 25
“It’s a long story, lass,” Shayne said, sighing as he placed his hands on her hips.
“I seem to have plenty of time at the moment,” Ashlyn said, wondering why she wasn’t freaking out only to realize that for the first time in her life that things were starting to make sense.
“Where should I start?” Shayne asked as he absently ran his thumbs over her hips, which she allowed at the moment since it soothed her.
“I’m fine with the beginning,” Ashlyn said, gesturing for him to get on with it.
“A very long time ago, my brother Tadgh, ye know him as Tristan now, ended up falling in love with the king’s daughter, Macha, who ye know as Marty today,” Shayne began as Ashlyn found herself thinking about the dream she had of a young beautiful woman surrounded by guards, smiling at something that Shayne said and-
“My half-sister,” she said hollowly.
“Aye,” Shayne said, leaning in to kiss her forehead before he continued. “Her father promised her ta another man, one that would have given him everything that he wanted, but she fell inlove with Tadgh instead. They wed in secret and were able ta hide their union until Macha started showing.”
“Around that time, yer father came ta me with a job. He wanted me ta hunt down a young woman with beautiful blonde hair named Lasarín, who’d somehow managed to escape his men the first time. It was then that I realized the real reason that ye were there.”
“That’s why you sent me away,” Ashlyn said, thinking back to her dream earlier.
Nodding, Shayne said, “I knew that he would send all his men after Tadgh and Macha. So, I paid Bécc ta take ye safely up north since it was yer only chance. I knew if he caught ye that he would kill ye.”
“But he caught up with you instead,” Ashlyn guessed, watching as his gaze hardened.
“Barely two days later. I’d delayed leaving, giving them a chance ta catch us,” Shayne said as everything started to make sense.
“You were delayed because you were trying to keep me safe,” Ashlyn said, watching as he swallowed hard.
“I failed,” Shayne said as his expression became pained.
“The curse?” she said when it didn’t look like he was going to say anything else.
“He caught up with us and took his anger out on Tadgh and Macha while we were all forced ta watch. He then cursed us all, which we thought was bullshit, but it was too late by then to stop him. Tadgh ended up killing him before slowly dying of his wounds. It wasn’t until he took his last breath and suddenly appeared healthy and whole by his body that we realized that we’d all been doomed to hell.”
“After that, we began ta die one by one of our wounds. I died first, then Connal, Declean, Quinn, Aidan, Finn, and finally, Liam and found ourselves stuck among the living. Theycouldn’t see us, but we could see them, exist among them, as though we were still alive. All of our needs were gone, we didn’t need ta breathe, eat, drink, or sleep and we could remember everything.”
“But we weren’t alone. We began ta attract ghosts, restless spirits, who needed something from us, whether that was help, revenge, or just someone ta take their anger out on,” Shayne said as her gaze flickered to the cuts on his arm that were almost completely healed.
“The day in the elevator?” Ashlyn said, meeting his gaze.
“He showed up as the elevator doors were closing,” Shayne said as she thought about the way that he’d caged her in, the pained expression on his face, and the cuts on his arm afterward.
“You protected me.”
“Always,” Shayne said, his expression becoming tender as he reached up to gently caress her cheek.
“What happened next?” Ashlyn asked, needing to know the rest.
“It wasn’t until Tadgh felt the pull to return that we realized that our soulmates had been cursed along with us. They’re forced to return over and over again, living out a curse that they have no idea existed only we get the choice to join them. We can either follow them into the next life and hope for a chance to break the curse or stay trapped as a spirit. Tadgh immediately gave in to the pull, desperate to return to Macha. He had no memory of the curse, of his past life, of any of us, or any idea why he could see ghosts.”
“We quickly realized just how dangerous the curse really was and took turns watching over each other, making sure that those of us who were reborn were protected,” Shayne explained as he dropped his hand back to her hip.
“And you protected Tadgh,” Ashlyn said, already knowing that she was right based on everything she knew about him from her dreams.
“Every time but one,” he said as she watched a muscle in his jaw clench.
“Thomas,” she said, watching as he nodded.
“My one and only time I tried ta break the curse,” Shayne said as he met her gaze. “Until now.”
