The Hidden Legacy

archaeology nerd, and would have it on display at a museum.” I rolled my eyes thinking of my younger brother who was in Missouri working on his Masters Degree at William’s Ford University. “Well.” I smiled at her from over my shoulder. “Seems like I’m going to have a little adventure whether I like it or not.”
“Don’t be afraid of this, Hannah.”
“I’m not afraid,” I argued. “Only cautious, and I’ll admit it, a little curious.”
“You use your gifts to solve mysteries and crimes every day,” she said. “It only makes sense that you are the current keeper of the legacy.” My mother crossed her arms, pleased with her own conclusions.
“Mom, you’re making it sound like a television show. I don’t solve crimes. I run the office and occasionally consult with Edmund on his investigations, if he asks for my help.”
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. A large black and yellow butterfly had flown in through the open window. It circled my head once, fluttered over, and landed on the lid of the carved box.
My mother gasped, and pressed her hands to her lips. “Do you still doubt the ring was meant for you?”
I stared at the Black Swallowtail butterfly. Tears welled up, and my throat felt tight.
“That’s a sign. You know it is,” she insisted. “Your grandmother found a way to make contact with us.”
I held out my hand, and the butterfly fluttered over and landed on my outstretched fingers. “Hi, Grandma Oz,” I whispered.
The butterfly flapped its wings once and sailed straight out through the open window. “Blessed be,” my mother whispered.
***
A hidden legacy and priceless emeralds aside, I still had a preschooler to wrangle, laundry to do, dinner to fix, and then I had to scrub my son and toss him into bed. I ended up stashing the box in my nightstand drawer under a few pairs of underwear, and a box of condoms that—tragically—hadn’t ever seen any use. I added a layer of protection to the ring’s hiding place by casting a concealment spell my father had taught me.
Still, knowing the heirloom was in my house made me a little nervous.
Eli hadn’t gone to bed without a fight. He was overly wound up from the day and the mock-battle with my father. The typical bedtime routine of bath, book and bed hadn’t worked that well, and he’d been pouting when I closed his door with a stern warning of what would happen if he didn’t stay in bed.
I folded a few loads of laundry and tried to watch some television, but my mind kept circling back to the carved box in my room. I put away the freshly folded bath towels, and then I held my breath and crept into Eli’s room to see if he’d finally fallen asleep.
The night light illuminated the blue walls. My baby boy lay sprawled flat on his back, his arms over his head with his tricorn hat over his face. I crept in and carefully lifted the hat off. I set it on his dresser and snuck out as carefully as I’d gone in. I didn’t breathe again until after I’d shut his door.
A short time later I’d washed my face, tossed on a nightshirt and headed off to bed myself. Sam the cat followed me into my room and made himself at home on the blue quilt spread over the white painted wrought-iron bed.
Knowing this might be my only chance at alone time, I shut my door and sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed. I carefully pulled the carved box out of the nightstand and set it in my lap. I opened the lid, took a deep breath and picked up the ring by my fingertips. “It’s heavier than I thought.” I said to Sam, who ignored me. I set the ring in the center of my palm, waited to see if anything would happen, and was a little disappointed when it sat quietly.
I held up the ring to the light and read the inscription. I tried to sound it out. “Cuirle mo croide.” I frowned over the Gaelic words, made a mental note to do some research and translate it. The emerald glowed in the soft light, and unable to resist, I tried it on. As soon as the ring dropped heavily into place, the emerald seemed to pulse with a brighter green light, and to my surprise, my surroundings began to completely fall away.
I didn’t fight it. Instead I tucked my thumb over the back of the poesy ring, closed my fingers in a fist, rolled back on my pillows and let the vision crash over me...
I was still in my bedroom, but everything was different. The light was misty, the sound was muffled and the air was heavy and expectant. In the vision, I felt a pair of strong muscular arms wrap around me from behind. I was held firmly but gently, and there was no fear. Instead I felt desire, passion, and excitement.
A man’s mouth dropped kisses in the spot between my shoulder and neck. I felt whiskers rub across my skin and I shivered. I didn’t recognize the voice that murmured in my ear, but what he said had my heart racing and my muscles quivering in anticipation.
“Yes.” I heard myself whisper.
In the vision I tried to see his face, but he was wrapped so tightly around me that I couldn’t turn my head far enough. He pressed up against my naked skin, and I felt a moment of fear at the sheer size of him.
My head was pulled gently back as he arranged me to his liking. I was held in place by one of his hands on my hip, and the other that was tangled in my hair. He slid in deep and I moaned. My hands gripped the familiar quilt on the bed, and the emerald on my finger seemed to glow in a bright, clear grassy green.
My lover wrapped his arms across my breasts, and