Looking Back

Chapter 68

Axel

After lunch, Avery led us to a rather remote area outside of the small village. There was what looked like a rocky knoll with a small opening. It reminded me of a burial mound without the grass. She stepped to the opening and placed a small cloth and a wooden saucer. She poured what looked like milk into the saucer, then laid berries and fresh flowers on the cloth. She spoke a few words in Irish too low for us to hear, then stepped back and motioned for all of us to sit.

"Legend has it that this is one of the passage tombs the Tuatha Dé Danann used to pass between this world and Tír na nÓg. My mother and eventually my Maimeó would bring me here as a child. When we were children, Victor came with his Maimeó as well for various festivals. Looking back now, I can see that their silly dances and stories were their way of teaching us to honor our ancestors. The older I got, the more I understood, but now, well now, it's like I can feel it in my veins." Her expression was pure light.

The longer we were around her, the more I found myself drawn to her. Marc and I had discussed it at length. We can't even remember how we learned about Sean's disappearance, but we came running, knowing what was wrong and that she needed us.

"After I lost my family, this became a place to feel connected, and I wanted to share it with all of you." She gave a sly smile, "I also wanted to see if anything would happen now that I've been officially outed as a sídhe."

"I think you mean now that both of us have been," Victor grinned. "Hey, wait. If I'm part sídhe, then why did I keep getting lost on the moors that day?"

"So the two of you would meet," a woman's voice said from the knoll.

"Grandma," Victor gaped as he stood shakily and walked toward her.

"Ó, mo bhuachaill luachmhar," she whispered as she pulled him to her. She was tiny just like Avery, and had to reach up to hug him.

"Uh, not to be disrespectful, but aren't you dead?" Marc asked quietly.

The old woman let out a raucous laugh and nodded, "I like this one, and yes young man, I'm dead. You happen to be sitting in front of a cairn, so that makes it easier for those of us who know how to cross the veil briefly. Now, we have much to discuss and not much time."

She sat between Victor and Avery as she greeted each of us by name then started, "Sorry Victor, but it was me that kept blocking your path that day. You were meant to meet Avery long before that day, but your idiot father kept interfering." The woman rolled her eyes, then sighed, "But then again, the Morrigan had other plans, and if you had met before the right time, she wouldn't have found all of the rest of you." She bumped Avery's shoulder and gave her a sly wink, "You've got your hands full with this bunch. Lots of babies in your future, milsean."

Avery blushed, "I did tell my husbands we would have our own sports team."

Victor's grandmother eyed the group, "Hmm, did you tell all of them that?"

"What?" Avery asked with a confused expression. "Of course I did, just ask them."

The old woman met my gaze, "Did she tell you that?"

My mouth went dry. "I...I'm not her husband, ma'am."

She smirked and laughed, then changed the subject. "So, now that your identity has been revealed, you need to be prepared for those who want to influence you. Be careful you don't open the gate."

"Wait, that's what the woman told me at our wedding, but what gate?" Kota interjected. "Is it a real gate, how are we supposed to know?"

The woman laughed, her eyes dancing with mischief, "I can't tell you exactly. What I can say is that Avery will know it when she sees it, just as I knew and so did Maggie. It looks different to each of us."