Free When Irish Eyes Are Haunting: A Krewe of Hunters Novella by Heather Graham Page A

she did have flowing black wings that moved her.
    When Devin could see her at last, she inhaled sharply; her breath caught.
    The being before her was stunningly beautiful, tall and lean, and her hair was one with the black cape about her and the long black gown that fell to the floor. Her face was fine, like that of a porcelain doll. She was pale as the snow, with red lips and deep, dark, haunting eyes.
    “Let me help you,” Devin whispered. “Who are you?”
    “Deirdre,” the image said.
    “What can I do?”
    The woman lifted a hand, as if reaching out to her.
    “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I don’t understand. I have been with the Karney family through time and now…now, something is happening. I’m not scheduled to be here, and yet I am drawn again and again and…there is evil afoot, as it was in the time of Declan.”
    “Declan? Declan Karney? His wife was murdered by Barry Martin and all died in the chamber that day.”
    “Death—as it is not supposed to be!” Deirdre said.
    “You’re…a family member?”
    “Aye, in a sense.”
    “You’re…”
    “I come in darkness, but to bring those I embrace to sweet light. I am the gentle change from mortal coil to what lies beyond,” Deirdre said.
    “You’re a—banshee?” Devin asked. Her knees were going to give. She grasped for the iron bars of the gate, definitely not wanting to fall.
    Pathetic! She had known the dead before—why not a banshee?
    The woman smiled slightly as Devin said the words. “I am Deirdre, called to help man, and my family is the Karney family. I am saddened, deeply saddened, lass, for ’tis not me making the horrible sound ye’ve heard with the wind at night. And I am called when ’tis not the proper time, and I know not what to do.”
    “Collum Karney did not die a natural death,” Devin said flatly.
    “He was not yet to be taken; still, I was summoned, and too late, for he floundered in fear and I wept for him, I tried to embrace him and ease away his anguish and…he is now at peace,” she ended. “Then yet again, I am swept from the wind and the sea to the castle…I was there, there with you today, for it seemed that Brendan would join his good brother.”
    “But he’s alive; he’s stable,” Devin said.
    “Still, I know the need to hover—to stay,” Deirdre said.
    “He remains in danger—or others are in danger?” Devin asked.
    “I don’t know; I greet the dead. What men do before they are called, I cannot see. Sometimes, we are called when a battle rages. We see the fight. But now…I don’t know what is going on.”
    “Did Collum Karney tell you anything?”
    “Only that the Devil sent Barry Martin back to finish off the Karney clan,” Deirdre said.
    “Barry Martin! A ghost returned to slay Collum?” she asked.
    “I know only what he said,” Deirdre told her. She lowered her head, a picture of strange beauty. “A fine man, and taken too soon.” She looked up. “Someone comes,” she said softly.
    Devin turned quickly. Someone was coming. She heard hurried footsteps coming close to the vault and saw a figure in the long, dark robes of the Church.
    Father Flannery.
    He seemed to be frowning, worried.
    Concerned that she was there?
    She looked back; she could no longer see Deirdre. She wasn’t sure if she’d disappeared into the shadows, or if she was just—gone.
    “Devin, lass, is that you?” Father Flannery called.
    For a moment, Devin felt uneasy. She was halfway in the shadows.
    In the vault .
    The way he was moving forward, he could push her, all the way in—to the back, the far reaches of the vault and whatever might lie in the shadows.
    And then she chastised herself.
    Father Flannery was the village priest.
    Right! It wasn’t as if men hadn’t used religion to hide evil deeds before in history!
    “Are you all right, Devin?” he called to her.      
    He stopped just outside the vault. He peered in almost hesitantly.
    He meant her no harm.
    Devin felt like a