Morrigan by Laura DeLuca Read Free Book Online

Tiarn
interrupted. “But as for your prophecies, old man—I have little
time for make believe.”
    “Still the eternal pessimist, Tiarn?” Condon
laughed good-naturedly as he looked Morrigan over. She saw kindness
in his dark eyes and his gentle smile. It made his ragamuffin
appearance less intimidating, if not more appealing. “Well, I see a
great light in this girl. She may surprise us yet. I suppose either
way it matters little what I believe. I am just a Gatekeeper, and
that is all I shall ever be.”
    “You are much more than that, my friend, and
you know it,” Tiarn said, giving the man a pat on the shoulder.
    Morrigan stood back silently, listening to
the exchange and making a mental list of questions to ask Tiarn
later. It seemed the more she was told about herself, the less she
knew. Her destiny was turning out to be much more complicated than
she had realized. Lycans, Gatekeepers, mysterious prophecies—it was
a lot to digest in a single night.
    “Well, well, well . . . I do believe we have
met before.” Danu and Dagda were no less opposed to the smelly
homeless man than Tiarn was. They both wound around his ankles,
purring and rubbing against his soiled pant legs as if he were
covered in catnip. “What was it now? About two years ago that you
passed through my gateway?” he asked as he stroked their arched
backs.
    “It . . . it was two years ago that I found
them,” Morrigan admitted.
    Condon raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Well,
she speaks! I was afraid she might be a deaf mute, standing there
so still and silent.”
    Tiarn laughed and Morrigan felt her lips curl
back into a frown. “Hardly,” she said and folded her arms. “I just
wait to speak until there’s someone worth talking to.”
    “Ha, royalty indeed!” Condon laughed. “No,
don’t worry, Princess Morrigan . . . I do not take offense. I am
sure a witch of your stature is aware this guise is nothing but an
illusion.”
    “Yes, Morrigan,” Tiarn teased. “Why not kiss
him and see if he turns into a prince?
    Morrigan felt like they were making fun of
her, and she didn’t like it. She had been teased enough in her
life. She thought she was finally escaping that kind of torment.
She was even more annoyed when she felt her eyes stinging with
tears.
    “What about the cats?” Morrigan asked, trying
to change the subject. “You said they came through your gate before
I found them?”
    “You found them?” Condon laughed again. It
made him seem even less vulgar, and made it hard to stay angry with
the old man. “Oh, no, my dear—they found you. They were sent to you
for protection.”
    That piqued her interest. “Sent by who? My
mother?”
    Tiarn snorted. “That is doubtful.”
    “I cannot answer that question,” Condon said
with a shake of his head. “But I am sure once they are home, your
pets will find a way to answer it for you. Now, are you ready?”
Tiarn nodded and so did Morrigan, though she wasn’t nearly as
certain she was ready. “Then let me call my brother, Dunham, and we
shall have you two children on your way to Tír na NÓg.”
    He was so casual in the mention of calling
his brother, Morrigan half expected him to pull out a cell phone.
Instead, his features went instantly blank, and he fell into a
strange, almost catatonic state. The air around him seemed to buzz
with energy she could almost see, like an aura of silver-white
light all around him, and she knew he had much less conventional
ways of communicating with his brother.
    “His twin brother is in Tír na NÓg,” Tiarn
explained in a soft whisper. “They both need to open their ends of
the portal in order for anyone to cross over. Identical twins are
the key to opening the gateways between worlds. Even here, some are
born with the power. That is why twins were often separated at
birth and sometimes killed in ancient times. Too much power always
scares the people of this world. Twins have little to fear now,
since few people here believe in magic