Free Cursed by Aubrey Brown Page B

his
long-lost love. Fearing he would lose her, he had pushed himself
into a corner and could not see a way out.
    He looked upon her in repose after she lay
back down and decided that he would not tell her now. He could not
lose her, not again. He could not stand to live without her another
two centuries.
    It may have been selfish and arrogant, but he
was unwilling to let her go. She was the very breath within his
body, the food to soothe his hungry soul, and the other part of his
broken heart.
    He loved her, possibly more fiercely now than
he had before. Being apart from her and living in a joyless state
showed him thus. He was arrogant before and during their courtship,
but now he was humbled. He knew the agony of being without his
soul-mate, and he would not allow it to happen again!
    When he saw the pup walk into the home he
knew immediately that there was something wrong with him. It was
something that he could not put his finger upon. The man was too
confident, in addition self-assured that he would win fair Addie’s
heart. Conall would assume to-just kill the man than to let him
anywhere near his wife, for Addie was his wife in all the
conventional ways, but legal.
    He would wait for midnight and speak of love
and devotion to her. Beg her to marry him, even though he was yet a
man made of flesh and bone.

Chapter Eleven
    Addie sat at the table with all the old women
and sighed in dismay. The third time she tried to cast a spell it
sputtered and dimmed.
    “Donna’ worry, gel, ye will cast yer spells
an' in time, 'twill comes tae ye,” Ina stated.
    “Thank you for reading my thoughts, Ina.”
Addie sighed.
    Everyone remained silent for one moment and
then Nessie chimed in, “Sometimes me find that emotions move me
spells inta workin’, with strong feelin’s an' other powerful
thoughts. When yer moment comes ye will ken, lass. Jest remembers
yer lessons an' ye will be fine.”
    Addie did not feel better. After hours of
hard practice, she finally saw a spark and movement and then
nothing. She could succeed at everything else she did and now this.
She could not do this. She doubted her ability.
    They had made potions in the beginning of the
evening and were now onto her trouble area, spells. Determined to
succeed she tried again.
    She placed her hands on the table and closed
her eyes focusing on the words tumbling from her mouth, the strange
tongues she was speaking. Then she thought of Conall, the man she
loved and was practicing for.
    Feeling the wind whirl in her hair, a
surprising jolt ran through the air, and the women exhaled
together. Addie opened her eyes and saw the ark of her power slash
through the air. The colors were brilliant and stunning.
    Then out of the colors came a flash of red, a
deep red, that turned the tent warm and pleasant.
    “The gel be thinkin’ o’ her lo’e. So ye be in
lo’e with the MacLaren.”
    Addie looked at the woman who spoke and knew
she was not asking a question, but making a statement.
    “Yes. I love him so much that my heart aches
with it. I barely know him, but I want to bring him into a living
state again by lifting the curse. I want to stay with him, for as
long as I can. I need you to help me lift the curse,” she
pleaded.
    “Ye kens him better then ye ken, gel. We will
help ye as much as we can, bu' the curse liftin’ is up tae ye. Ye
'ave instincts born inta ye. ‘Tis in yer blood, lass. Ye needs to
find the McIntosh an' remove his curse by sending him inta the next
realm. Ye will ken him from his talisman fer he will be concealin’
his true form. Ye must find him, reveal his genuine person, an'
then destroy his talisman. Only then will yer Highlander come from
the living dead an' the other spirits be set free.”
    Addie wished she could decipher their cryptic
ways. She wanted desperately to save him, and as her spell died
away she felt a renewed sense of vigor to set Conall free. However,
something was still bothering her.
    “I never did ask you ladies why