Page 38 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

“Ceit and that same shadow that went after her before. It’s chasing her. It’s trying to keep her from talking to us.”

Well, shit.

“We need to figure out who that is, and do it tomorrow,” Finn admitted. “Because that feels like a big piece of the mystery. That shadow doesn’t want the truth to come out.”

On that, they all agreed.

Honestly, they had no choice.

Gabby picked up the journal they found in the tower, and flipped to the last page. When she handed it to Tony, he read over it.

“Okay, well, at least we know that the family survived, and the ghost thing is a legit issue. These dead have been going to war for a long time.”

That seemed to be accurate.

“Well, Ceit was killed. She’s a vengeful spirit. She has every right to be cranky.”

They guessed.

“What’s the plan?” Tony asked. “I know that my work here is almost done. I was sent here to put Ceit back, and analyze the victims. I’ve done all the photographs and scans. Oh and I sent a scan of Ceit’s face to Blue,” he said.

The other man was confused.

“Who is Blue? Or what is Blue?” he asked.

Gabby explained.

“Doctor Blue Bennett is a forensic artist. She gives people their faces back. She’ll print out a three-D model of the skull, and with markers and clay, give us an image of Ceit.”

That was nice of them to do.

“There are no pictures of her,” Tony said. “She’s been erased from the castle, and buried outside of it. Someone didn’t want her in here. She deserves to be seen, and maybe that will help calm the energy here.”

They all agreed there.

When Finn’s phone chimed, it lit up, and they could all see it on the table.

On the screen saver, there was a pretty woman, and he was up close and personal with her as he was grinning.

Both Tony and Gabby saw it.

“Uh, trying to get murdered?” he asked, as the man was cuddled up with Gabby the same way.

He looked over.

“What?”

Tony pointed.

When Gabby said nothing, but her body tensed, he glanced at the phone and saw the smiling brunette.

“Uh, it’s not what you think,” he said, picking it up. “That’s Catherine. My oldest sister. We have the same eyes. I swear.”

Gabby’s body relaxed.

He made her look at him.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Gut reaction.”

He stared into her eyes.

Yeah, he needed to marry this woman. The last thing he wanted was to see their relationship crumble because of her ex and what he did to her. They didn’t need a third person in this relationship when it should only be him and her.

The ghosts of their exes needed to stay away.

Opening his phone, he handed it to her.

“Go into the photos and texts. Explore. I swear to you, Gabriella, that I will never cheat on you. I won’t hurt you. That’s not me.”

She protested.

“I don’t need to…”

He stopped her.

“Yes, you do. You need complete transparency, and I understand that.”

Taking the phone, she flipped through pictures, and more than not, they were work related. It was a good thing she wasn’t squeamish and worked for Elizabeth.

“See?” he said. “Now the texts.”

When she opened them, they were all from women, and she recognized the names. He’d mentioned all of his sister’s names earlier, and they matched up.

Then, in each text chat, they were more or less of them bitching about him not having a personal life, and calling him an old cat man.

They were definitely from his sisters. There wasn’t hide nor hair of any women he wasn’t related to.

Finn was to the point.

“I don’t lie. I mean what I say, and I keep my word to the person I’m in a relationship with. That’s my promise to you.”

Gabby knew he was a good man, and even better was that he understood how she’d react, and he anticipated that.

“I’m finally happy, and believe me, my sisters are going to piss themselves when they find out that not only am I not going to be an old cat man, but I’m now a dog dad with an amazing woman at my side.”

She apologized again.

“I’m sorry.”

He hugged her.

“It’s okay, mo ghràdh. I’m not upset. I know he did a number on you, and I promise I won’t be like him. I can navigate the wounds he left behind.”

She handed his phone to him.

“Your sister, Catherine, wants to know if you want to meet for coffee.”

He opened the text.

“I have a breakfast date tomorrow. I’ll meet her another time,” he said. “As much as I love my sister, I have a woman in my life that I love more.”

That was sweet.

So, she had an idea.

“She can join us, if you’d like. I’d love to meet her and talk to her.”

From where he sat, Tony was watching them, and he knew that they’d be okay. You could tell when a relationship was going to pan out. They were already a strong couple, and he was happy for his friend.

“I can do that if you want to meet her. If not, there will be plenty of time when we come back from packing your things in the States.”

She was honest.

“I want to meet the women who my man loves so much. I can see it in your eyes in that picture, and how you talk about your sisters. They matter to you, so now, they matter to me. I do have a question.”

He waited.

“Are they all as pretty as her? I hope I can blend in with your family.”

He wasn’t having that.

Instead, Finn lifted her chin and kissed her softly on the mouth. Then, he stared into her eyes.

“I picked you because you stood out. Don’t be a wallflower. Be the whole field.”

She smiled.

“Now, you get to look in my phone,” she said, handing it to him. “I suggest you check the wallpaper,” she offered.

When he did, he gasped.

It.

Was.

Him.

Somehow, she snuck a picture of them at the waterfall. He had stood up, and Finn was buck naked. The picture was of him from behind, as water fell from his body.

Tony laughed.

“My dude, if I was gay…”

Finn stared at her.

Was that how she saw him?

No one had ever made him their wallpaper. Well, his sisters had, but that was different.

That was a sexy shot of his behind, and in that moment, Finn wanted to celebrate.

Someone found him sexy!

Someone wanted him.

“He’s gorgeous,” Gabby said, admiring the picture. Then, she gave him a gift. “A thasgaidh.”

His heart skipped when she called him her darling, and he loved how they used this country’s native language.

She was learning for him, and that said everything when it came to their relationship.

Yeah, his family would love her.

As he was about to tell her so, they all heard it.

There was a blood curdling scream.

Bark Twain jumped up, and he went wild at the sound, and they jumped too.

They were the only people in the house, and none of them had shrieked like that.

What?

The?

Hell?

Well, now, they had no choice but to go investigate, and NONE of them looked happy about it either.

Finn took Gabby’s hand, and kept her close as they left the library and raced toward the crypt. As they got closer, they heard the soft sobs of the dead woman, and the lights swung and flickered.

Uh-oh.

There was no wind inside the castle to make them do that.

“Someone pissed her off,” Tony admitted. “That was one hell of a scream.”

That it was.

As they went to go past the storage room, Gabby stopped.

“I didn’t close the door,” she said. “When I left, I raced out of there. I didn’t close it.”

Oh, shit.

Tony hadn’t been down here since before dinner, so he hadn’t closed it either.

That worried them.

“We’re going to have to go in there, aren’t we?” Tony asked.

Finn nodded.

Had someone told him that he’d be doing this three days ago, going on ghost patrol, he would have thought they were daft.

And yet, here he was.

“Let’s get it over with,” he suggested, and no one looked happy to be on this little adventure.

Could ghosts hurt them?

They didn’t think so.

Was it still scary?

Hell, yes.

Finn moved in front of them to offer some protection, since he was technically the cop, and they were scientists. With the toe of his boot, he shoved the door open and flicked on the lights.

When they came on, they saw it.

The skull that Tony had left on the table was on the floor, and it was smashed.

Ceit’s skull was decimated.

Well, that explained the scream. He would have freaked out about that too.

Only, what had done it?

Finn doubted Ceit’s ghost would trash her own skull out of anger.

Not far away, there was a painting of a young man, and it was leaning against the table.

They all stared at it.

Finally, Tony went there.

“I didn’t put that there,” Tony said. “Did you before you left the room?” he asked.

Gabby shook her head.

“No. I didn’t touch anything in here by way of art, but Ceit had pointed toward the rows of art. I think she wanted us to see that painting.”

Yeah, this was too much.

It was freaky and creepy.

“Someone, or something smashed that skull,” Finn said. “Anyone want to take a guess at who it could be?” he asked.

And honestly, they knew who it would be.

The odds were that it was the mysterious shadow that was tormenting Ceit, and it had struck again.

Their suspect list was small.

Was it Duncan?

Was it Ciarán Begbie?

Or was it someone they hadn’t considered yet?

What they did know was something was hell-bent on haunting her and this castle.

And someone was PISSED .

They really needed to find out who.

And fast.