Disclaimer: Ahhh ... new chapter ... finally! I missed writing this story so much! I hadn't had a chance to access this file on my other computer because the hard drive is unresponsive to the keyboard ... long story. Anyway, please review and remember that this story does, in fact, exist and has not been abandoned. You guys know what to do, so give me feedback and I'll keep writing! BTW, this chapter is kind of long (7500 words! Ack! It took forever to write ... but then, what with living in a new house that is completely unfurnished, using the computer is the only thing to do. Literally). I recommend reading it in two installments. BTW, the song is Jem's "Maybe I'm Amazed".

Summary: Sky's ex-boyfriend arrives in Ireland and causes an argument between her and Raven.

Part XI: Dragon in Paradise

Jealousy is the dragon in paradise; the hell of heaven; and the most bitter of the emotions because associated with the sweetest.

-A.R. Orage

MORGAN'S P.O.V

I would be lying if I said that I was not having an incredible time in Ireland with my friends. True, I hadn't managed to get our discoveries in the basement of the inn out of my head and I was still worrying in the back of my mind about the repercussions of living in a place that a dark coven had both lived in and practiced dark magick in, but as Hunter and I strolled down a forest path about a mile out of Portrush, our hands interlocked and marveling at the beauty of the river that was less than fifteen feet from us, those less than happy thoughts were far from my mind.

"It's so beautiful here," I said quietly, afraid that speaking too loudly might disrupt the calmness and serenity of the scene before us. I couldn't help but think that returning to New York would be disappointing, scenery-wise, after having spent a few weeks in Ireland. "I don't get how Maeve could have ever left."

"Evil black force summoned by pissed off witch coming to kill everyone?" Hunter suggested, a rare note of humor in his voice.

He did have a point.

"Well, I suppose, but still ..." I fingered a bright green tree leaf; it felt fuzzy like a peach, and I was sadly reminded that boring old pine trees were pretty much the only trees in the backyard of my house. I pouted slightly. "Do we have to go back to New York? We could just stay here and plunge into denial that the outside world even exists."

Hunter just smiled. "As nice as that sounds, we do have lives."

"Well, maybe some of you do," I sighed. Looking out over the distance of the water, I picked something up out of the corner of my eye that made me look back again. I smiled. "Hey, look over there."

I had noticed the outlines of two people on the other side of the river, distinguishable by the completely opposite hair colors that the two occupied: black and very light blonde. I had assumed, and according to my witch senses was correct, that Raven and Sky had an idea very similar to Hunter and mine: take a walk along the river on a gorgeous summer day. Though it was barely noticeable, I felt the traces of their words floating along on a stream of magick:

"I've never seen anything so beautiful." Raven was admiring the river, into which flowed a little stream by where they were walking.

Sky's voice was softer. "Neither have I." It was quite obvious that she was speaking not about the river, but about her companion.

"I guess they've recovered from England," Hunter said with an indulgent smile.

"Thankfully," I added, after a moment proceeding down the forest path with Hunter at my side, enjoying the comfortable silence.

HUNTER'S P.O.V

I had not felt nearly as relaxed as I had when walking down the path in the forest with Morgan in a very long time, most notably since we had arrived in Europe to begin with. I was basking in the silence, as my life had been quite busy for the past few weeks, only to have it broken when Morgan insisted on making me question her sanity.

"I wish that I could fly."

I wondered whether my expression was more amused or pitying. "A common desire among mankind, as I understand it."

She suddenly sounded defensive. "Oh, come on. Like you never wished you could fly."

"I prefer to think that I have always been more grounded in reality than in a world of fantasy," I said with a purposeful air of refinement and great finesse.

"Says the witch," Morgan said in a teasing tone. "But it's okay for you to parade around in front of a huge dog wearing a Batman costume, isn't it now? And to refuse to acknowledge someone speaking to you unless they addressed you as 'Hunter the Great'?"

I can't believe that ... "That's not even –" I cried, my voice unwillingly high-pitched. I sighed when Morgan laughed triumphantly. "I'll get Sky for this ..."

"Oh, please don't," Morgan said earnestly. "It's quite fun learning embarrassing childhood stories about you."

Suddenly seeing a plan for revenge, I grinned devilishly. "Oh, I'm sure that it is, but you just wait until I start pumping Bree and Robbie for information about you."

Morgan's eyes widened proportionally. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," I said in all seriousness. I was feeling quite proud of myself for coming up with such an ingenious plan of revenge when a voice that spoke from behind us, regrettably, made me jump from surprise.

"Hunter Niall?"

Goddess, I hate it when people do that. I turned around, prepared to be sarcastic and indignant with whoever had just spoken my name out of the blue, when I was greeted by the friendly, warm face of a woman that I happily recognized.

"Brighde?"

"The very same," she smiled. I couldn't help but grin broadly; one thing that I loved about traveling was that it ensured that I would always meet up with old friends again.

"Wow, this is amazing," I said. "It's so great to see you again! How is everything going?" I was thinking about her coven, Moonrise, which had previously had trouble of the dark magick variety with over half of its members. I had done my duty as a Seeker and aided Brighde's calls to the council for help when the members of Moonrise who did not practice dark magick began to receive threats and warnings concerning their well-being and that of their families.

"Wonderfully, thanks to you," the old woman said with a proud smile. Her eyes glanced over at Morgan. "And who might this be?"

Trust Brighde to be interested enough in talking to you to ask about your friends. "Oh, Brighde, this is my girlfriend Morgan. Morgan, this is Brighde Lachlan. She's with the council office here in Portrush."

Morgan looked surprised. "There's an office in Portrush?"

Brighde nodded. "Oh, yes. It's that building over there." She motioned a large three-story brick building in the middle of the main road. It was quite conspicuous against the landscape, and Morgan looked slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah ... I've seen that place," she said, clearly trying to sound casual.

"Am I correct in assuming that we may expect both you and Athar at the briefing this afternoon?" Brighde asked, speaking to me.

"Absolutely."

"What briefing?" Morgan asked, looking between the two of us in confusion.

"It's a meeting with Kennet Muir, my mentor. He flew in this morning to meet with Sky and I about something."

"What does he want to talk about?"

"I have no idea," I said honestly.

"He's being very secretive," said Brighde with a smile. "You know, I do believe that our annual town music festival is on Thursday at the square. Why don't the both of you attend? It's open to the public."

Ooh, this was news. I had heard many good things about Portrush's annual music festivals. Welsh and Irish musicians usually traveled from wherever they were touring abroad to attend and play. Chances were, the Fianna would be performing. I knew that Morgan would jump at the chance to see them again.

"Sounds fun," Morgan said enthusiastically.

"Sure," I said with a smile. "Count us in."

Brighde, bless her heart, looked confused at the speech that teenagers today used. "Pardon?"

"We'll be there."

My good mood disappeared soon after, however; Sky, in my opinion, could not have picked a worse day to get caught up in the wonderful world of romance. I had headed back to the inn, changed into a suit and tie, returned to the council building for our meeting with Kennet, and still found my cousin noticeably absent. As I sat in Kennet's office room, he pacing around the room in frustration and I watching in amusement, I couldn't help but stifle a snort of laughter.

"I'm very sorry, Kennet," I said apologetically, attempting to turn my laugh into a cough. "I don't know what's keeping her." Yeah, right, I thought.

"Well, she had best arrive soon," Kennet said irritably. "Not everyone here is as patient as I am."

That was news to me. "You're patient?"

Kennet just sent a death glare towards me. "Funny," he said, clearly thinking that I was not funny at all. "That's funny. However, the supervisor of the defensive magick department may not think so."

"I'm sure that she'll be here soon," I said seriously. "She's probably just lost track of time."

However, then, as if on cue, Sky hurried in through the open office door, looking very flustered.

"Kennet, I am so sorry I'm late, I just lost track of time ..."

Score one for Hunter.

Kennet just ushered her outside into the hall again, this time with me included. "Of course, of course. Now if we can please get to the meeting ..."

He hurried past us in the hallway, walking very quickly. I heard him mutter underneath his breath, "Kids ... no respect for timetables, none at all ..."

I was too amused at my cousin's state to be offended by that. "You have a leaf in your hair," I muttered in a low voice, then laughed and followed Kennet as Sky looked horrified and desperately began searching her hair for the invasive leaf.

Kennet was correct in assuming that the other members of the council would not be as forgiving of our late arrival; several nasty glares later, we sat down at the long table in one of the council's multiple conference rooms and proceeded, much to my great boredom, to fall victim to one of Kennet's long-winded lectures.

Lectures aren't all that bad. He just uses way too many statistics. It makes it kind of boring.

"As I'm sure that most of you are aware of, dark magick abuse has been on the rise in not only Ireland, but parts of England and Scotland, as well," he began bluntly. "According to Omduil O'Connor in statistics, a twenty percent rise in England and Scotland and thirty-two percent rise in Ireland is occurring as we speak." Sky and I exchanged curious looks, neither of us able to remember a time when the numbers of dark magick cases had increased so rapidly. "We have been unable to find a precedence for such an increase in abuse, and that is why you have all been called here today."

"What is the department of dark magick control planning to do about this, Mr. Muir?" a council member in the back spoke up.

"We've started summoning Seekers from several other posts around the world and removing them from their tasks to arrive here. However, rest assured that those that arrive were stationed where they were for security reasons and not because of heavy dark magick abuse in their respective areas. We must be cautious about upsetting the balance of Seekers in the world."

With a gesture, he yielded the floor to a man who I assumed was the supervisor of the defensive magick department. Everyone else's attention switched over from Kennet to him, but Sky and I leaned in to talk to Kennet at the end of the table as he sat back down.

"Kennet, you know that I can't ..." I began quietly.

"Relax, Hunter," he said. "We're not asking you to come back to work. You deserve a vacation after that case in England. We're just asking that you ..." He gave a deep sigh. "maybe ... keep your eyes open?"

Huh. The council's definition of 'keeping one's eyes open' is definitely different from the literal meaning of the expression. However, as I couldn't see a way to get out of having to at least follow Kennet's instructions, I nodded.

"All right."

Everyone in the conference room jumped slightly as a message over the public announcement system suddenly sounded very loudly.

"Attention, please," came a woman's cool, calm voice. "If Sky Eventide is in the building, would she please come to the front offices and check in at the desks? Once again, if Sky Eventide is in the building, would she please check in at the front desks? Thank you."

Kennet and I both looked at Sky in surprise, who looked equally confused.

"I guess that I'd ... better go check in at the desks?" she suggested uncertainly.

I nodded. "Yes, you'd better." She was about to leave when I called out to her. "If they don't let you out before I leave, I'll message you."

Sky nodded and left the conference room, still with a slightly confused look on her face. I turned my gaze to Kennet.

"What's this about?"

"I have no idea. They most likely just need her to wear a visitor's pass."

SKY'S P.O.V

I've never been paged on a public announcement system before.

It's kind of cool. That's all I have to say.

"Um, the announcement said that I was supposed to check in here," I said to the witch behind the main check-in desk. I started pulling out my purse. "Do I need a visitor's pass, because I have identifi –"

"Actually, I asked her to make the announcement," came a voice from behind me.

I jumped slightly and whirled around. What I saw was shocking. Or rather, who I saw. I'm fairly certain that my brain almost shut down from shock at seeing the familiar sandy hair and blue eyes of ...

"Oh, my God ..."

HUNTER'S P.O.V

I couldn't help but wonder why Sky had been called down to the front desks, but more pressing matters were occupying my mind at the moment. Kennet's revelation about the increase in dark magick abuse was intriguing and yet frightening at the same time. I had sensed his disappointment when I had said that I would not come back to work and attempted to ameliorate the situation.

"What can I do to help, Kennet?" I asked. "I don't want to give up a vacation, but I'm not going to shirk my duties as a Seeker. I want to help."

"I know that you do, Giomanach, but ..." He sighed in frustration. "I just don't know what to do anymore. We've never had so many cases in our inbox before. Things are going to get ugly ... fast."

Clearly, this did nothing to alleviate my worries.

SKY'S P.O.V

I could just see the deer-in-the-headlights expression that I probably had on my face at that very moment.

"Ryan?" I whispered. I cringed internally; my voice sounded completely stunned.

He smiled. Goddess, why did he have to smile? Why?! Out of all the things he could have done, why did he have to smile? He always had a gorgeous smile, I remembered it from years ago. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts ...

"Well, it's nice to know you recognized me."

Huh. Like I could ever forget you. "Like I could ever forget you."

Wonderful. Just wonderful. Then suddenly we were hugging ... he smelled really good ... Goddess, what the hell was I thinking?

I still sounded shocked when we separated. "What-What-What are you doing here?"

"Um, work."

Oh, yes. And the embarrassment kicked in. "Oh, that's right. You work for the council." I laughed slightly. "Yes, Sky has memory problems. She's not proud of them."

"But you remembered me," Ryan said with another of his blindingly white smiles (those damn things). "So call it an upside."

"Ryan, how did you know that I was –" I began, but he interrupted me.

"Well, I was posted in Mexico City until Kennet called me back here. I heard that you were here with Hunter, so I just thought that I'd ... come and pay you a visit."

Oh. Kennet will pay for this, yes, he will. "Um, don't think that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but ..." Goddess, I'm such a coward. "I-I really have to go." I was close to backing towards the door when his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Great. I've hurt his feelings.

"Well, wait. Um ... would it be okay if I invited you out to lunch tomorrow, or would I just be making a complete fool of myself?" He looked so nervous that I felt turning him down would be like a stab in the back. Literally. But ... this couldn't be a good thing, it just couldn't be ... it could only end in disaster, just like things had before.

"Um ..." I sighed internally. "Okay." A nod. "Okay. Tomorrow."

And then I ran. Well, not literally, but I sure got out of there as fast as was humanly possible. This wasn't good, I was getting a headache, and I had just ... made a date with my ex-boyfriend? Nope, it wasn't a date. Couldn't be a date. I'm already seeing someone. Ryan sure wanted it to be a date, but ...

Hunter, I'm going back to the lodge. -

His reply was almost instant.

Why? –

Expertly avoiding the question, all that I answered with was 'see you later'.

MORGAN'S P.O.V

The day had dulled extremely quickly after Hunter and I arrived back at the lodge and he had run off again to the council building for his briefing with Kennet. Sky arrived back earlier than Hunter, looking very distracted and turning down my and Bree's offer of a cookie dough sample from where we were preparing oatmeal cookies in the kitchen. Hunter had not arrived back by the time that we had made risotto from scratch for dinner (it didn't turn out too well, but I digress). In fact, the rest of us, getting tired of waiting for him, had retired to the abandoned lobby, plopped down in front of the miniature TV that Hunter had managed to get working a few days earlier, and immersed ourselves in a very old episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'. For some reason, it was showing on BBC.

From his position next to Bree on the loveseat, Robbie, with an air of incredulity in his voice, commented on the actions of the current just-made millionaire, a sixty-year-old man with three PhD's (in history, Greek literature, and physics, respectively).

"What a doofus."

Bree looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Robbie, the guy's a Harvard graduate who just won two million dollars."

"Well, yeah, but if he hadn't used 'ask the audience' on the second to last question ..." He sighed in disgust. "I mean, how can you not know that Marge and Homer's only son is Bart?"

Sky spoke up from where she and Raven were curled up on the couch. "Well, he did know everything else. Including that one about how many neutrons are in an element of Francium."

Raven looked at her skeptically. "But you knew that one, too."

Sky shrugged modestly. "I took AP Biochemistry. It was a question on the midterm."

Hunter chose this moment to make his entry; he walked in through the front door of the lodge, his face weary, looking exhausted and very irritated.

"Sky," he said firmly. She didn't look at him, but nodded to let him know that she was listening. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Too comfortable. Not moving," was her reply.

Hunter glared daggers at her, his last reserves of calm clearly breaking. "All right, then," he said angrily. "How about you explain to me what Ryan McGowan is doing in Ireland?"

Sky twisted her neck around to stare at him so quickly that I was surprised it didn't snap. "Oh, yes, that ..." Her voice had lowered very quickly.

"He says that he saw you this afternoon," Hunter said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Is that why you ran out in such a hurry?"

Raven gave voice to what Robbie, Bree, she, and I were all clearly thinking. "Who's Ryan McGowan?"

Sky looked highly uncomfortable. "Um, he's ..." She was clearly trying to sound casual. "He's just a friend. We're just friends." Her voice was slightly too high to be completely believable. Coupled with Hunter's snort, we all saw through that lie.

"Yeah, friends with benefits," he had muttered slightly under his breath. Unfortunately for Sky, everyone heard him. She glowered at him, obviously unable to believe that he had just said that. Meanwhile, an uncomfortable look had appeared on Raven's face as well.

"Oh," she said softly. "Ex-boyfriend. Right."

Sky was now on the defensive. "He works for the council. I just saw him for the first time today in two years, I swear."

Raven just held up a hand. "It's not my place to ask. I get that."

"You're really okay?" Sky asked, surprised.

Raven was clearly not telling the truth. "Yeah." She paused. "Yeah ..."

The rest of us were silent, perhaps worried that saying anything might upset the scene before us further.

"Hey," Sky said quietly, forcing Raven to look at her. "I'm not interested in him anymore. I promise."

She leaned in to kiss Raven's forehead, but Raven, having a different idea, leaned up so that their lips made contact instead. Robbie blushed and Bree grinned, but none of us looked away. When the two broke apart, Hunter, from his position behind my chair, smiled.

"Well, now that that's settled, who wants some of the ginger cake that I picked up from the bakery last night?"

Ooh, dessert! "Me!" I cried, unfortunately sounding quite like a five-year-old.

"Yes, please," Bree said primly, setting the pillows on the loveseat in the correct places again before standing up.

"Abso-positive-lutely!" Robbie said enthusiastically. He paused slightly as everyone in the room turned to look at him strangely. "Let's be clear here: that was a manly abso-positive-lutely."

As Robbie, Bree, and I followed Hunter into the kitchen, I couldn't help but look back at the living room, where Raven and Sky hadn't gotten off the couch yet. As Sky mouthed 'I love you' to Raven and Raven back to her, I couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. Whether Sky was willing to see it or not, Raven still didn't look completely happy with the situation at hand.

SKY'S P.O.V

Laughing with Ryan over lunch felt so familiar and comforting the next day that my mind was far from the less than comfortable lobby conversation with Raven last night. I was having lunch with a friend. What was wrong with that? Of course, if she were here, she would say that I was over-rationalizing the situation. Supposedly, I do that a lot when I'm worried.

However, Café Portrush had a really good mixed seafood salad. I wasn't about to let anything spoil that. Even Ryan's description of a five-legged, rabies-infected Doberman-Rottweiler mix wasn't enough to take away the experience of the best salad in the entire western world.

Nearly choking on a shrimp, I exclaimed, "That's disgusting ... and unfortunate for the dog. What did it look like?"

He just shrugged. "Well, if I didn't hate dogs beforehand ..."

Hmm. "And this was after the invisibility spell gone awry?"

"Yep."

"Wow ..." Things had certainly gotten interesting around the council since Hunter and I had gone off on our own adventures to Widow's Vale. "I'm gone for just a few years ..."

He grinned suddenly. "I think I forgot to mention the magickally mutated chickens."

Showoff. "See, now I know you're just trying to make me jealous."

We both grinned, enjoying the comfortable, pointedly friend-like banter, as I ate another forkful of the salad straight from heaven.

"So ..." Ryan asked suddenly, leaning forward. "Is the lovely and beautiful Sky Eventide currently dating anyone?"

If I hadn't stopped chewing so abruptly, I probably would have needed to have someone well-versed in the Heimlich Maneuver close by. "Um ..." was my ingenious response. This question was unexpected.

"Because ..." He looked worried and refused to meet my gaze. "The reason that I tried to find you was ... um ..." He looked up. "I want another chance with you."

Oh, Goddess.

In retrospect, I knew that I'd probably wish that I had a camera with me. I'm sure that the expression on my face was hilarious.

He spoke quickly, clearly thinking that the look on my face could not mean that my love of the idea was great. "I know that, when we broke up two years ago, we said we'd give each other space. I was just wondering if now ... we might be able to have what we had back then?"

It's suddenly rather difficult to breathe.

"Ryan ..."

"Hey, no pressure," he said quickly, holding up his hands. "It was just a ... just a general wondering."

Internally, my inherent babble-mode somehow switched on. "I just ... I-I don't know if ... I don't know if I can ... this is a lot to ask, Ryan, and –"

"I know," he said hurriedly, obviously sensing my transition into babble-mode. "I know, I just ..." He looked me in the eyes, and I had to look away. They're way too blue for such close contact. "I want you, Sky. I always have. I just need to know if you still feel the same way."

I looked away, finding the menu hanging in Café Portrush's window extremely interesting. "Ryan ..."

No, this isn't fair! Why does this have to happen now? Why now, of all times? Why couldn't this have happened last year, earlier? When I went to Widow's Vale with Hunter, I was still hurting over my breakup with Ryan. That's not to say that Raven was a rebound, but she helped me get over him. And I was over him, I really was, but now ... why now?

My answer to him was a lot less rant-y. "I don't know if I could do that again, Ryan. Because ... getting over you was one of the most difficult things that I've ever had to do in my entire life." He just looked at me solemnly. "I don't know, Ryan. I just don't know."

After a long moment that seemed like a painful eternity, Ryan nodded slightly and looked down at his untouched soup and salad.

"You already paid, right?" he asked quietly.

I nodded. "Yes. You?"

He nodded. After a moment, reaching a silent agreement, we both got up and left the café.

HUNTER'S P.O.V

I could have really used Sky's help that afternoon, and I still wasn't over the internal anger that I was harboring towards Ryan McGowan for stealing her away for the afternoon. All that I had to say was that Sky had better hope Raven didn't find out she had gone out to lunch with him.

A vendetta against my cousin, however, quickly dispersed itself as Kennet and I stepped into the ruins of a dilapidated house in the old town of Ballynigel, keen on exploring it for ... knowledge geek purposes. When I said dilapidated, I meant dilapidated: all four walls of each room of the five-roomed, single-level house were in various states of disrepair, the roof, which I could tell due to shingles lying on the ground had once been made from very nice orange tiles, was missing completely, the floors were split and grass was growing tall in between the cracks, and all signs of human life had been erased by the thick layers of dust and plaster powder that covered everything.

True, it wasn't the most fun way to spend an afternoon, but it'd do.

"For what purpose are we here, again?" I asked Kennet as we climbed over a section of the wall that was missing into the ruins of what was once apparently a kitchen; the only indication that food had once been prepared in it was a rusty sink sitting alone on a cracked, broken counter.

"I've been told to investigate this house for signs of magick use in the past few weeks," Kennet replied, examining the rusty sink with great interest. I didn't know exactly why a tarnished kitchen appliance was so intriguing to him, but I had long since learned to stop questioning his actions and take them in stride.

"What happened here?" I asked, curiosity rising within me.

"Dark wave from a few decades ago," my investigative partner said as he kicked the three-legged table, which had clearly lost a leg and was leaning against the wall pitifully. "This was one of the houses destroyed in the night that Ballynigel fell."

For some reason, that didn't sound right to me, but I couldn't pinpoint the reason why. "What? Are you sure?" Wait. I could almost remember seeing something recently ... but what was it? "Kennet? What house is this?"

He consulted a small note card that he pulled out his pocket, on which he had messily scribbled the house name and number. "Um ... 14 Ingalls Road."

Oh ... "Well, wait ..." I began to fumble in my jacket pocket, searching for what I hoped would explain the strange feeling that I had about this house. "This isn't a dark wave home."

That came out so suddenly and without warning that I was surprised that I had said it; however, somehow, I knew that it was right.

Kennet looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, this home wasn't destroyed by the dark wave," I said, finally finding what I was looking for: a small local newsletter from a few weeks ago that I had picked up from the brochure rack in the council office. I flipped through it, through housing advertisements, someone's ad for their missing dog, and an announcement for the town music festival. Finally, on the last page, I found a small article no longer than 200 words. Skimming through it, I realized that my suspicions were correct.

"Kennet," I said, "this newsletter says that this home was mysteriously destroyed several weeks ago. No one knows how or by whom. All of the people living here, an elderly couple and their three grandchildren, were killed ... according to their autopsies, by ..." I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "one single stab wound to the heart."

Kennet did not look fazed by this information. "They must have told me the wrong address, I suppose. I expect that ..." Suddenly his voice broke off.

I raised my eyebrows. "You expect that ...?" I asked leadingly.

His attention had been diverted to the far wall of the kitchen. "Hey ..." He kneeled down in front of it and began to rub the plaster powder away.

"What are you doing?"

"They're runes."

Intrigued, I leaned down next to him to examine what, true to his word, turned out to be runes etched into the wall with, I assumed, a sharp rock or knife.

"Mannaz ..." I whispered, recognizing the M-shaped rune. "othel ..." Wait ... there were more ... They were letter runes. "gebu ..." This couldn't be right. "Neid." I looked up at Kennet in shock. "Kennet ... they spell 'Morgan'."

All that Kennet could do was look back at me in stunned disbelief.

Nothing happened later in the day to allay my worries concerning that dilapidated house's ruins in the broken town of Ballynigel. As Kennet and I stepped into the lodge, both deeply lost in thought, I burst out suddenly:

"I just don't understand what her name was doing there!"

"Maybe we were wrong, Giomanach," Kennet said smoothly. "Maybe it was another alphabet, another rune set. It most likely does not refer to her, in any case."

Of course. Of course. If it was Kennet's girlfriend that was being questioned, I knew he would be as worried as I was. "Oh, please! Who else could it refer to?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kennet said sarcastically. "Perhaps another of the millions of girls in the world named Morgan?" His tone softened slightly as I just cast him a desperate, worried look. "All I'm saying, Giomanach, is not to get too worried about this. Of course, it's a little strange, but I'll take it up with the council and see what we can discover, all right?" He grinned slightly. "I'm sure that it will all turn out well in the end.

"I really don't believe you," I said simply.

His small grin grew into a full-fledged smile. "Of course you do. You're just reluctant to admit that I'm right." He stopped suddenly and looked around the empty lobby, confused. "Where's Athar?"

I sighed in frustration. "Oh, that's quite another thing. If she weren't so busy concerning herself with Ryan McGowan, perhaps she'd have been able to help us at the –"

"Ryan McGowan?" Kennet interrupted, looking surprised. "She's ..." Ah, the epiphany. "Oh, Goddess ..."

"Yes!" I cried, glad that he had finally realized his mistake. "Yes, and apparently, you're the one that told him to come to Ireland!"

"Well, Hunter, we're short on employees with the international situation growing steadily worse!" he said, his voice rising. "What other choice did I have?"

"Oh, gee, let's think ..." I said, my voice growing in scorn. "How about the one that keeps my cousin's ex-boyfriend as far away from her as possible?"

"It's not as if he's a bad man," Kennet said, going for reason. "Although ... I must admit that I'm surprised that she's allowing herself to be around him, considering how difficult it was for her to recover from ..." He sighed, and I knew that he was reliving the events of over two years ago in his head, as well. "well ... their failed relationship."

"Yes, she was a wreck," I admitted. "I just ... I don't want her to be around him anymore. She's moved on, she's seeing someone else ... I don't want her to have to relive the past where he's concerned."

At that moment, I realized that I had an internal craving for that ginger cake from the bakery, which had tasted absolutely divine last night. I started to head for the kitchen, and Kennet followed me.

"Well, hopefully she won't allow herself to fall in love with him again," he said with a concerned but thoughtful expression. "We both know what sort of disasters would arise from that situation."

MORGAN'S P.O.V

Bree and I had nearly left the inn and were standing right in front of the front door when we saw Raven stand up from the couch in the lobby. From the door, it was completely impossible to tell that she had been sitting there.

"Oh, hey, Raven!" Bree said, surprised to see her there.

Raven didn't say anything, just looked at us and then away.

"We were thinking of going into town for something to eat. Up for it?" I asked cheerfully. "There's an Italian eatery on Eastmire Road that supposedly has the world's greatest breadsticks. They've won awards and stuff."

My thoroughly convincing speech didn't seem to help her make up her mind as to whether or not she wished to go with us. She was still staring off into space as she had been when we first spotted her. Bree and I exchanged quizzical looks.

"Um ... are you okay?" I asked tentatively. "You look like you just swallowed an entire bottle of horse liniment." Bree gave me a weird look, and I purposely buried that embarrassing memory of Mary K at my grandparents' ranch in Arizona. "Um, long story."

"Really, I'm fine," Raven said, her voice slightly heavy. "I just want to be alone for a while."

This excuse did nothing to stop Bree, who just shook her head, grabbed Raven's shoulders, wheeled her around, and marched her towards the door.

"Nonsense," she said matter-of-factly. There's nothing that ice cream can't cure, and there's a private parlor next to the eatery."

"It'll do you good," I said reassuringly.

Raven still looked apprehensive. "Do I have a choice?" she asked reluctantly.

"No," Bree and I both said at the same moment.

Raven sighed in resignation. "Fine. Lead the way."

Victory ... such a sweet experience.

However, as the three of us walked down a main street of Portrush, talking and occasionally examining items for sale in antique shop windows, and Raven shared with us what she had overheard Kennet and Hunter saying, I could somehow understand her position. I knew that Hunter had been in relationships before we had gotten together, and I knew that he was with me now, but that didn't mean that I'd be willing to listen to someone else recounting the tragic ways that they ended and about how much in love he was with his past lover.

"Don't be so upset about it," Bree said comfortingly. "Sky has had relationships with guys before, yes, but now she's with you."

"Yeah," I agreed, still eating my small vanilla ice cream cone. Ice cream was surely the food of the gods. "She might have been in love with Ryan at one point, but I doubt that she still is. She loves you now."

Raven was still looking miserable. "I don't know about that."

"It's true," Bree said simply as the river came into view around the corner of a rug importer. "What you need, Raven, is self-confidence." Raven raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't comment. "You need to believe that Sky loves you for who you are and stop being so insecure all the time. If you don't, you're going to drive yourself crazy."

"She's right," I said, finding it easier to just agree with Bree, the resident romance expert, than try to come up with my own ideas, which would probably be shot down by the said resident romance expert anyway. "Do you love her?"

Raven looked stricken. "How can you even ask that? Of course I do."

By now, we had reached the railing separating the riverbank from the street leading out of the town. Bree leaned on it and looked out over the water. "Then you, in turn, need to accept the fact that ..." Suddenly, her voice grew much quieter. "That ... she ..." Even without seeing her face, I could tell that her eyes had widened enormously. She sounded shocked. "Oh ... oh, my God ..."

"What?" Raven and I both asked.

Bree, looking quite desperate now, began to pull Raven away from the railing and back towards the street.

"You know what I think would be fun?" she asked, her voice unnaturally high. "We should go back to the lodge and –"

My curiosity and unwillingness to be left out of the loop came to the surface. "Bree, what are you talking about?" I looked out over the water myself, scanning the surface and looking towards the small island in the middle. "What did you –"

Oh, crap.

I saw what she had seen.

"Oh, God ..." I whispered as Bree cast me a desperate look.

Raven was now looking between the two of us, slightly unnerved. "What's going on?"

She followed my gaze, which was regrettably still pointed towards the wooden bridge that connected the mainland with the island in the middle of the river. She froze almost instantly.

Very, very unfortunately for all five involved in the situation, and especially for the speech that Bree and I had just given Raven, we had looked to the bridge to see none other than Sky and a guy, who I immediately assumed must be the Ryan McGowan that Raven had told us about, kissing on the bridge.

So much for our lecture.

Bree and I both heard a small, whimpered "no ..." and instantly whirled around. Raven's eyes were wide with horror, and she backed away slowly in disbelief.

"Raven –" Bree said quickly as the girl in question's eyes started to fill with tears.

Oh, no, I thought. "Raven, wait!" I called after her as she quickly turned and ran away down the street, disappearing around the corner, the echo of her crying reaching Bree and I back at the bridge.

We stared after her for a moment, then at each other, and then back to the bridge, both still trying to process what had just happened.

SKY'S P.O.V

Goddess, it felt so familiar. It was something I hadn't felt in ages. I used to want it so much, but now ...

Pulling away from that kiss was difficult, but I was surprised to feel relieved when I did. "Ryan, I ..." I could hardly breathe. "I ... I can't do this."

He looked towards the ground with a deep sigh, and I spoke quickly, desperate to undue the damage. "I ... you asked me if I was seeing someone, and the truth is ... I am. And I don't want to cheat." My flip-flops suddenly looked quite interesting. "I've been through enough of that as it is."

I chanced a look at Ryan, who was still silent and refusing to meet my eyes. However, after a moment, he looked back at me. The pain in his gaze was almost unbearable to see.

"Do you ..." He sighed. "Do you love Raven?"

My answer was instant. "Yes." Wait, did he just ask if I loved Raven? "But wait, how do you ..." This was strange. "You asked me earlier if –"

"I talked to Hunter," he said quietly. Oh. Then it was my turn to feel embarrassed. "Before, I wanted to see if you would be honest with me about it."

"Oh." Sometimes, I have such a way with words that I could just kill myself. "Ryan, I ... I love her." It hurt to look at him, but I did. "I-I can't explain it, and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to leave her."

After a minute that seemed to take an eternity to pass, he nodded slightly. I took in very little of the next part of the conversation, but basically what I understood was that Kennet had offered him a position at the council office in Scotland. If I wanted him to, he'd take it. I did want him to take it. It seemed selfish at first, but considering it, I knew that it would be best for both of us. Best for his career, and best for my mental state.

I realized then that I would probably never see him again. He was letting me make my choice, and I had. I hadn't chosen him.

MORGAN'S P.O.V

Bree and I found Sky trying to open her and Raven's lodge room door with very little luck, as it was locked from the inside. Sensing that she was about two seconds away from unlocking it magickally, I decided it best to intervene.

"She doesn't want to see you right now."

Sky jumped slightly, having been too distracted with the mysteriously locked door to sense us approaching, and looked slightly confused.

"Okay, what's going on here? Why doesn't she want to see me?"

Before I could stop her, Bree burst out accusingly, "Ryan. Bridge. Making out. Ring a bell?"

I, as inconspicuously as I could, stomped on Bree's foot as icy cold realization flooded Sky's face. She turned, if possible, even paler than her normal complexion would allow.

"Oh, God, no, that-that wasn't –"

"Save it," Bree said coldly. "If you're choosing your ex-boyfriend over her, at least be honest about it and stop leading her on."

Now Sky looked indignant. "I never –"She sighed. "I'm not getting back together with Ryan. He started it, I ended it. He's going to Scotland."

Bree and I exchanged glances. Why was it that the situation was always black or white enough that a little bit of gray couldn't sneak in?

"I don't want him, I swear," Sky said desperately. "I want Raven, not him. Can't I see her and explain?"

"We can't make her come out," Bree said plainly.

Sky's insistent calls through the wooden door clearly did not move Raven enough for her to wish to see Sky at the moment, and even Sky's innumerable apologies and declarations of love did not seem to be enough.

"Why don't you give her some time, Sky?" I asked softly.

Sky gave a little noise in her throat between a whine and a tearful cry and gave a slight nod before looking back at the door sadly.

HUNTER'S P.O.V

The strange sight of Sky lying on the couch in the lobby on her side, looking very depressed, greeted me as I walked into the main room of the lodge from the kitchen, sorting a few envelopes that I had gotten from the council's main office in London. I looked at her perplexedly, turning my head to the side slightly.

"What are you doing?"

She sighed deeply. "Oh, thinking about how much I just screwed my life up."

That didn't explain things very clearly. "What do you mean?"

She sighed again. "Raven saw me kissing Ryan and –"

What the – "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait!" I held up my hands in shock. "You were doing what? You were kissing Ryan? Ryan?"

"Did I stutter?" she asked shortly.

Hmm. That was a new development ... and quite a disturbing one at that. "Wow ..." I reached my formal decision. "You suck."

She whined. "I know, I know!" She rolled over onto her stomach and rested her head on the fluffy green couch pillow. "And now she's never going to speak to me again."

Raven's communication habits were not my main concern right then, I'm sorry to say. "Well, you're not ... you're not getting back together with Ryan, are you?" The thought is almost as frightening as a new global ice age.

Sky sat up with a disgusted expression. "Ick! No! Of course not! He's going to Scotland tomorrow."

I made a mock prayer gesture. "Well, that's a relief. I mean, it only took you, what, two or three years to get over him?"

"You're not helping," she said sharply. I had realized that earlier on and sat down on the coffee table across from her. Her eyes narrowed slightly; using the coffee table as a seat was, back at our house in Widow's Vale, a crime punishable by death.

"You're choosing Raven over him," I stated.

"Of course I am." She paused for a long moment. "I loved Ryan, I really did. And I think that part of me still does, but ..." She looked at me with teary eyes. "I love her so much more."

"I know," I said sympathetically. "Make her understand that, then. The music festival is tomorrow. It seems like the perfect opportunity."

MORGAN'S P.O.V

The next morning found Bree and I seated at a table set up by the local town committee at the music festival, listening to a Welsh musician singing slowly and soulfully and sampling some delicious potato salad.

The festival committee had clearly worked its butt off to create such a wonderful atmosphere in the town square; real fifteen-feet-long strands of ivy were curled around the streetlamps surrounding the square, flowers and green bud sprigs were tossed haphazardly around the dance floor, seating, and buffet areas, and the whole square was resonating energy, not just from the music, which worked its way through the town due to several strategically placed speakers, but from the presence of so many witches and Wiccans. It was clear that Portrush's main demographic group, religiously speaking, practiced Wicca.

Bree nudged my elbow, and I looked up from my potato salad in time to see Raven walking towards our table, looking much happier than when we had seen her last.

"Well, look who dragged herself out of bed this morning," I said teasingly.

Raven just smiled enigmatically, pulled up a chair, and sat down at the table. "Have you guys seen Sky?"

"Not yet," Bree said. "She was still asleep when we left the lodge."

"Are you going to talk to her?" I asked softly.

"I suppose I have to," Raven said, heaving a sigh. "I mean, what she said last night through the door was ..."

"Sorta convincing, huh?" I asked with a slight grin.

"Look, Raven ..." Bree began, leaning forward slightly. "I know that what she did was horrible, but ... she feels really awful about it."

"I know," was all that Raven said.

"Maybe you should hear her out," Bree suggested.

HUNTER'S P.O.V

My enthusiasm at wondering whether Kennet had managed to discover anything about the mysterious house at 14 Ingalls Road was destroyed with the mournful look on his face as he sat down across from me at the table that I had claimed at the music festival.

"Did you find anything out?"

"Not a thing," he said glumly. "No home ownership records, no rent or mortgage records ... nothing. Apparently, no one even knew that people still lived out in the old Ballynigel area."

This information was slightly disturbing and mystifying, but ... "Do you think maybe we should just let it be for a few days?"

A smile split Kennet's features. "Yes." He looked around at the myriad of people enjoying themselves by the buffet, on the dance floor, and in the seating areas. "Yes, I agree. This is a day for enjoyment."

I grinned as well.

Looking over towards the table where I had seen Sky sitting before, I was about to go drop in on her when, stopping, I saw that Raven had beat me to her.

"Aww, look at them," Morgan said, coming up behind me and watching them, too. "So happy."

"Yeah," I said, smiling and turning to look at her. "And now ..." I heard the slow strumming of a ballad beginning to waft over the speakers. "Dance with me."

She smiled and took my hand.

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out in time
Hung me on a line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl
Who's in the middle of something
That she doesn't really understand
Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man
Who could ever help me
Baby, won't you help me understand?

SKY'S P.O.V

I can't believe that I almost lost her. Moreover, I can't believe that she granted me forgiveness. I'm not going to ever, at least not purposely, endanger our relationship over something so stupid again, that's for sure. I know I was over Ryan. I was maybe just a little afraid to accept that.

Raven and I are strong enough to face the challenges presented to us, be they normal or magick-related.

But how many challenges will we have to face? Us, or with our friends?

I suppose that only time will tell.

Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl
Who's in the middle of something
That she doesn't really understand
Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man
Who could ever help me
Baby, won't you help me understand?

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong


Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you