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She turned and strode past Malcolm, who turned one of his rings contemplatively. “I’ve always heard that prisoners reveal the most incredible information under duress. I’m delighted to see it’s true. I was right to bring your aunt. This visit was most enlightening. We’ll talk again.”
The door slammed shut, and overhead, the lone light bulb shook. Liam cleared the space with more light, and then spent a few minutes breathing deeply to center himself. He was human. There were a few moments when he’d felt shaken toward the end, especially when his aunt had threatened Sorcha.
Anyone who knew the old ways would know how to bind a ghost—whether to a tree or a rock or even the earth itself. Liam didn’t like that kind of power, although Ireland was riddled with its use—had been since the beginning of time. He could feel the dark energy when he came upon it. Sometimes he could even hear the bound ghost crying out as he went by, especially in the bogs, the most cursed of lands. But without knowing why it had been bound, he didn’t interfere. He didn’t dabble in the dark. If he had to banish a ghost or a being full of malice, as he had with his aunt’s wraith, he did so with light.
Now he would need to bring in more light than ever before.
“Sorcha,” he called, wanting to warn her. So far she hadn’t appeared.
He waited for a time, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth in meditative sets, doing his best to clear the negative energy remaining from Malcolm’s grip around his neck. When Sorcha didn’t appear, he grew concerned, and he did the one thing he hadn’t done since three months after they’d buried him.
He called his father to him.
Unlike their last encounter, he wasn’t wearing the last outfit he’d been wearing when his heart had given out—his well-washed navy pants and green waterproof jacket along with his black wellies whose heels were caked in mud. Liam studied his father’s new garments. They were silver, so bright they blended with his thick hair. His whole being glowed, and it gave Liam happiness to see him as such. His father’s light had grown stronger since they’d last met like this, and he looked more at peace than he’d ever been while alive.
“Hi, Dad,” he said, allowing his full emotion to rise at last. He didn’t grieve his father anymore. He’d gone the distance on that—the journey the hardest he’d known. But he still missed him.
“Hello, Liam.” He cocked his head the way he used to do when he was ready to listen. “I hoped you would call me.”
Liam lifted his shoulder ruefully. “That’s nice to know. I stopped trying, knowing I needed to let you go.”
“And you have… Which is why I can return to you now.”
That made sense somehow. “You have a new look, I see.”
His father gestured to the close-fitting shirt, pants, and boots. “I do indeed. These are the garments of a guardian. We don’t call it that among ourselves, but it’s the easiest way to explain it. Now, how about I help your neck? It’s bruising fast.”
His father had taught him how to hold his hand over hurt things, whether it be a plant, an animal, or a person. Later, Liam had traveled to Bali and learned how to use his mind simply to heal, a ladder up of sorts. “Thank you. Your touch is stronger. Dad, I need your help. I can’t feel Sorcha, and usually she comes to me when I call.”
“True,” his father said with a nod, “but the powers that govern us have decided she’s made her work with you all a little too personal at the moment. She’ll be sitting out for a time.”
He wouldn’t ask how long. Time worked differently on the other side. All the Irish myths said so. It was also probably for the best, given what Aunt Mary had said. Liam sensed they already knew of his aunt’s threat, and he wondered if that was the other reason Sorcha could not come to him. “Then I need you to look after someone for me.”
“Since I always look after you, your mum, and your brothers—in my own way—this must be about Taylor.” The light from him grew brighter. “Oh, you’ve picked the best apple in the barrel with that one, son.”
His heart expanded with love as he thought of her, his bold, direct warrior. “Yes, I have. I want to add her to the family, as she’s mine.”
A flash of light appeared around his father as he said, “It is done.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to hear you’re looking after all of us, of course, although I’ve always felt it. Mum, especially. She must be wrecked by me being in here.”
He gestured grandly. “Of course she is, but she has the heart of a lion. You should know. I’m glad she’s found love again. Lincoln Buchanan is a good man, a true partner in a way I wasn’t, something I’ve done my best to make amends for. He sees the truth of her better than I did, and he encourages what she holds in the deepest sanctuary of her heart. She had a lot to give, and it gives me joy she’s finally expressing it all.”
“It’s a wonder to behold.” He found himself not wanting this moment to end, and he smiled sadly as the old vulnerability of longing caught him. “I still miss you, you know.”
“As I do you,” his father said, his green eyes filled with love, “but despite current circumstances, you’re doing rather fine for yourself. I’m proud of the man you’ve become, Liam.”
Suddenly, he couldn’t swallow over the emotion in his throat. “That’s good to hear. Because, you know…prison.”
They both laughed for a moment as he gestured to the bare room.
“You know,” his father said, “you told my sister the right of it. There are more forces on your side than just Sorcha. You have me and more angels and spirits and other Irish beings than you can know. The light is strong with your Taylor and so many others in our beloved village of Caisleán. Remember that when your spirits fall. And call on me if you need a friendly visit.”
He couldn’t keep the tears from falling and didn’t try. He gazed up at his father, wishing they could embrace. Then he remembered all he needed was to share his heart. He focused on doing so then, and he could feel the change in himself, the warmth and peace that came through him, along with the purest surge of love as his father returned it to him.
“I know you feel it, but words are important too, as your mother always told you.” His smile was radiant then. “I love you, son.”
“I love you too, Dad,” he said as his father disappeared.
