IRISH MIST Excerpt

E-book, Books We Love Publishing, February 2012

Dear Readers,

Hope you’ll enjoy visiting the wee Irish village of Talamh an Óir, located behind a veil of mists somewhere in the southern tip of Ireland. It’s not a real town, but then again, this story is about a leprechaun, a village that can only be seen by the worthy, stolen treasure and, of course, love. If you’ve read my Mists of Ireland books, you might see some familiar names within these pages.

There are three stories in the Love, Lore and Wee Bit of Larceny series. Each can be read on its own but to see the full scope of the story from start to finish, you’ll want to read all three: Irish Mist by Erin Quinn, Irish Heat by Calista Fox, and Irish Kiss by Mary Leo.

To learn more about me and my books, go to www.erinquinnbooks.com where you’ll find news, contests and other fun stuff. Also, be sure to keep reading—there’s an excerpt from HAUNTING WARRIOR, Book Two in my Mists of Ireland series, at the end.

All my best,
Erin Quinn

CHAPTER ONE

Delaney Ballagh looked up from the spreadsheet open on her computer and frowned.

The feeling that her name had been shouted loudly and from a great distance sent shivers cascading down her spine and uneasiness churning in her stomach.

She should be used to the signs that preceded a vision by now. The Sight—the ability to peer into the future—flowed through the females of her family like red hair did through the genes of the Walshes. It sometimes skipped a generation or a branch of the family, but mostly it ran as true as the River Liffey.

Delaney’s first vision had come to her when she was thirteen. It had been brief and she’d been anticipating it for years—like a foolish child awaiting a birthday surprise—but nothing could have truly prepared her for the experience or for the aftermath that followed. And no matter how many times since that first time, she still felt disconcerted by the power of her visions had to descend without warning and overlay reality completely.

But, of course, gifts like the Sight came as they pleased. Like now.

Uneasy, she stood and moved to the doorway. Outside the air was brisk and pungent with the stench of sheep and the pervasive scent of salt and sea. Clouds scudded over an otherwise blue sky and the sun made a valiant—if unsuccessful—effort to warm the March day.

As she stepped outside, a gale rose from the stillness—sudden and fierce. It whipped and whirred around her, howling a warning she couldn’t heed. Delaney faced it bravely, but inside she quaked.

The Sight rarely brought good tidings.

Her vision tunneled, until the particles in the air separated and came to life before her eyes. Her skin grew cold, her mouth dry. A hard, clapping sound reverberated in her head and suddenly the vista of her home vanished like water sluiced from a window, and she stood on a busy, churning street outside of a dank and smelly shop. The buildings here towered high over her head. Steel and glass, stained by exhaust fumes and vandalized by graffiti. The sky appeared segmented between the skyscrapers, and the streets, darkened by shadows, looked ominous beneath the brown smudge of smog. Winds whistled through the alleys and passageways as people huddled in their winter coats and hustled by without greeting. Only the honking horns spoke to one another.

Slowly, Delaney turned, taking it all in, wondering where she was. As she came full circle, she faced a shop with a sign lit above it. Chicago Gold Exchange. Chicago? It was where so many people from the small Irish town of Talamh an Óir had migrated over the years, friends and relatives alike.

Why was she here?

Even as the thought formed, she saw a familiar face moving toward her in the bustling crowd. Tommy. Her cousin, Tommy. He hurried forward, casting furtive glances all around him. What was he doing here? This was not one of Ireland’s thoroughfares. This was America. She’d never been there before, but she’d seen enough movies and pictures to recognize the ebb and flow of its land and people.

Tommy stopped in front of the gold exchange shop, his face pale, his eyes wide and fearful.

“Tommy, what are you about?” Delaney asked. But of course he didn’t answer. He couldn’t see her. She wasn’t really here—not as flesh and blood.

He carried something in a bag clutched tight to his chest. It looked heavy and cumbersome. A very bad feeling settled around her as he gripped it more securely.

No, surely that wasn’t what she thought it was.... He wouldn’t have brought it here, would he?

Tommy reached out to open the door and suddenly a man stood blocking his way. Delaney sucked in a startled breath. The man hadn’t approached Tommy—he’d simply appeared in front of him.

With horror, Delaney stared at the little man. He wore a strange red coat and ugly green trousers. His red hair stuck out in odd places and his beard looked scruffy and unkempt. He had a fetid odor that she’d recognize anywhere and a mean glint in his eyes. ‘Twas no ordinary man, this. No, not a man at all.

She knew Adhamh One Shoe, just as she knew that his being here with Tommy could only mean tragedy and disaster.

Run, Tommy! Run!

Tommy stood rooted to the spot, shaking his head, his lips muttering silent words as he stared at Adhamh with fear. The dreadful little elf had been terrorizing Talamh an Óir for so long, none of the residents could recall a time when they hadn’t been afraid of his wrath. They did what they could to appease the twisted leprechaun, but he took delight in their misery and only his greed surpassed his wicked temper.

As Delaney watched with helpless dread, Adhamh lifted his finger and pointed at Tommy’s face. “Did ye think I’d never find ye?” he asked in a voice so horrendous it made Delaney wanted to clap her hands over her ears. “Did ye think ye could steal from me?” He jabbed his finger into Tommy’s chest and, in a voice that echoed with the sickening promise of doom, he muttered, “May ye fall and never rise again.”

“No!” Delaney shouted as Adhamh clapped his hands. Instantly, anguish contorted Tommy’s features. He dropped the bag he held and clutched his heart.

Delaney rushed to his side, but he couldn’t see her, couldn’t feel her frantic touch. There was nothing she could do for him. Adhamh laughed and bent to scoop the bag from the ground. Delaney saw the brief glitter of gold coins within before he tucked it against his body.

From above, the brown smog seemed to bear down on her, squeezing between the towering buildings until it banked at their feet, obscuring everything behind its walls. The rotten fog conquered the bleating horns and angry sounds of traffic and swallowed Tommy and Adhamh whole.

As they disappeared, Delaney stood in the unsettling and repellent quiet, cut off from sound and sight. Soon the vision would end and Delaney would be back at her home, but now she stood stranded between revelation and reality. Her heart raced and panic tried to take control of her senses.

She heard a sound to her left and turned suddenly to see the silhouette of a tall, broad man standing in the distance. In the way of The Sight, the space separating them seemed to warble and suddenly he’d moved without actually moving, until he stood direct in front of her, only a whispered breath separating them. She took in his dark hair, shadowed jaw and powerful build in a sweeping glance, but it was his eyes that captivated her. Eyes the color of denim. Eyes that watched her through the murky gloom.

Silent, he stepped closer until a deep breath was all it would take for her breasts to brush against his chest. He lifted his hand, reaching out as if to touch her.

She realized then, that he saw her. Impossible, when she wasn’t really there. No one in her visions ever saw her. And yet she read the confirmation of it in the darkening blue of his irises as his gaze roamed her face.

Stunned, she waited unmoving while his long, graceful fingers skimmed over her skin before his palm settled warmly against her cheek.

He’d touched her.

He saw her and he touched her.

She tried to speak, but couldn’t find words strong enough to overpower her shock. From somewhere far away, the sound of a single car approaching broke through the trance of the moment, bisecting the murk and her astonishment, becoming a line in the frigid sea of confusion.

The man shook his head, sensing that her time there had come to an end. He spoke, but she couldn’t hear him over the roar of the lone engine hauling her back to Talamh an Óir.

Back to her home and what was real.

She fought the insistent pull, wanting to stay just a moment longer in the enigmatic man’s company. But in a heartbeat, she found herself in her yard once more, not a dozen feet from her own backdoor. Shaking. Trying to process what she’d seen.

Tommy.

The horrible, wicked Adhamh.

The stranger with his blue eyes.

She remained unmoving, overwhelmed by the vision. What had happened to Tommy? Had Adhamh killed him with his ancient death curse? A silent gasp caught in her throat. Not Tommy. His troubled life had led him into dangerous situations before and yet he’d always managed to escape unscathed. But she knew what she’d seen—Adhamh using his twisted powers to hurt Tommy. And she knew that no matter how she wished to unsee it, she could not. Her horrible gift had delivered the truth.

Grief doubled her over. Tommy had been family. Her parents had taken him in when he’d been fourteen and orphaned. They’d be devastated when they learned what had happened.

And what of the stranger she’d seen in the vision? Where did he fit into this terrible certainty?

She brushed her cheek, remembered the warmth she’d felt from his fingers. He’d seen her, he’d touched her—he’d known she was there when no one else before him had ever done so. Not even Adhamh who had magical powers.

The man’s eyes had been so blue and they’d seemed to look right into her. She took a deep breath as another memory poked to the surface—one of a boy who’d had blue eyes just like the stranger. She hadn’t seen the boy in decades, but something told her, he’d grown into the man who walked through her vision as if he belonged there.

And their meeting had been more than chance.

As that realization shivered down her spine, the mists that kept Talamh an Óir hidden thickened all around her. Pure and white—unlike the brown cloud that had obscured Adhamh and Tommy. The mist frosted the cold earth and glistened in the air. Delaney stood in its chilly caress, head bowed until the sound of the lone engine that had pierced the buffering wall of her vision revved again. Suddenly, she knew who drove that car and that he searched for a way in.

Delaney turned toward the sound and ran.

 
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