Page 235 of The Defiant Curse

“Cathal. I’ve never heard that name before,” she said. “But it feels…Irish.”

Well, they all knew that Ceit was from Ireland, and her father married her off to Duncan to get money and an alliance. They might have to go back to that moment in Ceit’s past to see if something came up.

Not far away, Gabby was making notes on her phone, and she was hanging on every single word from Sarah’s mouth.

It was clear she bought into this.

Now, though, Elizabeth was curious.

“Since you’re tapped into Ceit, can you ask her where her heart is?” she asked. “We suspect we know, but we aren’t sure. ‘In his grave’ is kind of vague. Can you give us more?”

It would save them time if she could tell them.

Then again, Elizabeth was still going to dig up Oison because there was no way on God’s green earth she was taking the word of a psychic as law.

NOT.

HAPPENING.

Sarah was curious, and before she answered that, the ghost with her wanted more time with her daughter. Only, Elizabeth was giving her the, ‘it’s over’ vibe.

“First, you don’t wish to talk to your mother?” she asked. “Because she is still here if you want to.”

Elizabeth was honest.

“My mother died a long time ago. What I remember of her is far and few memories between. Yes, I miss her, and I love her, because she was my mother, but I don’t have anything to say to her. She’s been gone a long time. I’ve moved on, and I want her to be at rest. I’m going to put her and my father some place safe, and then, she can be at peace.”

Sarah could hear both the woman and the spirit, and they wanted the same thing.

Still...

“You’re an odd bird. You feel like you’re surrounded by the dead, and you walk with them, but you don’t want to talk to them.”

Elizabeth didn’t argue that.

She was an odd bird.

Unfortunately, she had to be around the dead. That was what happened when you solved homicides for a living. She waded through bowel and blood on a daily basis.

That was her curse to bear.

“That’s my job. Now, though, I’m focused on something else,” she said, as Ethan ran his thumb over her wrist, comforting her.

He knew that she didn’t want to deal with this, and that it was something that hurt her more than helped her. Elizabeth might look tough on the outside, but her heart…

It was tender.

“I suggest we close up that avenue of conversation,” Ethan stated. “Move on, Sarah.”

It was sternly said.

“You will make the right decision,” she said to him. “You know what you need to do.”

Oh, he did.

It was protect his wife and family for a change, and not make her carry the burden or his demons. If that meant giving up his dream of carrying on for Timothy, so be it.

He’d rather be Elizabeth’s husband than a Shaman to people who hated him.