Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (27 page)

Kaitriana neither faltered nor displayed any
outward sign of emotion. Calmly taking the last few steps down and
beginning a deliberately slow walk across the long hall, she would
not deign to rush to his side as though he were the mighty warlord
and she his servant. Kaitriana also would not break her gaze and
she refused to cower from his. Tossing her head to send her curls
back from her shoulders, she tilted her chin an arrogant notch as
she approached. The cavernous room had grown eerily quiet; the
steady tap of her heels to stone was the only sound as it echoed
against the stone walls.

Lorcan was livid, the steady tick in his
clenched jaw indicative of it. He had hastily rallied his men, not
knowing if he would be in time to save the girl and fearing he may
be too late if she had been engaged by forces from the Dark. In a
show of strength with his finest warriors he had shadowed into his
former home prepared to battle only to find Kaitriana hosting a tea
party with the Witch. She had the nerve to fill the castle walls to
the brim with all of her kinfolk, in blatant disregard of the
dictate that forbid their presence.

Seeing his female dressed in her warrior’s
garb that put every appealing inch of her on provocative display,
preparing to take the contingent of Witch to battle, had his blood
boiling. That the girl did not have the sense to look either
remorseful or even slightly intimidated by his presence did nothing
to defuse the situation. Kat was merely sauntering his direction
with no sense of urgency in her presentation. At the moment he
would have no problem slaying every witch in attendance if it
provided him the opportunity to bend her disobedient behind –
albeit sexy, encased entirely too tightly in black leather behind -
over his knee and give her the thrashing she deserved. His
restraint was already near end, before she adopted a
no-care-in-the-world smile and offered him and his men a cheery
wave in greeting.

Lorcan gave her a sneering growl in response
that sent the desired reaction through the gathered Castes.
Peripherally he witnessed a flickering light in the palms of some,
though the majority were set to twittering with apprehensive
speculation about his arrival. Kat swallowed hard over his outward
expression of anger and had his eyes not been trained on her he
might have missed it.

She was uneasy. That assessment was confirmed
when she began worrying her teeth against her lower lip. His beauty
was not quite the study in confidence that she was projecting. He
was pleased with the realization that she was actually apprehensive
when faced with his anger, but he begrudgingly had to give her
credit for not belying that fact to her Faction. Her composure
under the circumstances and in her leadership of the hundreds of
Witch gathered was a credit to her character.

Still, it did nothing to alleviate his ire.
His darkly forbidding gaze intensified on Kaitriana when she
stopped a good ten feet from him. Noting it, she obviously thought
better of forcing him to meet her and hastened to close the
remainder of the distance. Foolish on her part, he thought, since
she had put herself within reach of his hands and they were itching
to wring her gorgeous neck.

Kat extended her hand forward but caught
herself before she laid it on his arm. It hovered there for a brief
second before lowering to her side. Her eyes held an imploring look
now that her back was to the Witch and he was her sole audience.
Finding a bit more of the false bravado she had presented on her
approach however, her words were to the point and devoid of any
emotion, “Lorcan, I did not expect that you would seek me here, in
this
place, if at all.”

He did not answer her immediately, allowing
her time to grow uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his blistering
stare. Finally, Lorcan took a single step to remove the space that
separated them. His chest brushed hers. The blatant challenge in
his eyes taunted her to retreat from him. His words were
dangerously soft, so low that they would only be caught by her and
his Vampire followers, “How could I possibly come to you? You were
so well hidden by your magic until now,
little witch
.” He
snarled those final two words, definitely a slur on her breed
rather than an endearment.

Lorcan had no care whether the Witch Castes
heard him or not when he continued, “Imagine my surprise when
Jortha finally located you here…in
my
home!” His voice boomed in his anger and he found pleasure watching
her jump in reaction. Raking his eyes scathingly down her body,
they were filled with annoyance by the time they once more touched
hers, “You need to put some clothes on, Witch.” A couple of his
Elite had the nerve to guffaw loudly over that.

Kat shot the offending guard members a
glowering look before giving Lorcan the same with glittering blue
eyes. Her finger jabbed into the wall of his chest accompanied her
retort, “I
am
dressed, Warrior. If you
intend to insult me then I invite you to make your exit. I have
plans for this night and they do not include arguing with a
pigheaded vampire.” She was spinning on her heel, preparing to
leave him in a flourish after her insult, only to have him catch
her arm and bring her to a jolting halt.

Her shift in position had allowed him full
view of the spike of heel on those black boots that melded into the
stretch of leather pulled tightly over her backside. Lorcan exhaled
a barely audible groan that ended in a growl of frustration. If her
plan was to distract her enemy to make the task of relieving them
of their heads easier, she might well succeed. The sensuality she
was exuding in her battle attire, coupled with that Ancient war
paint decorating her eyes, had his senses reeling. He noticed, with
arrogant satisfaction, that she was decorated in his colors yet
again, right down to the metallic flecks in the designs on her
face.

Lorcan stroked his fingertips lightly over
her arm in his distraction before repositioning his hold more
firmly. His tone was calmer, but edged with steely resolve, “One
more slur on my character Kaitriana and I promise that you will be
unable to sit for a week.” In truth, he was wavering between
throttling Kat or taking her back to his keep and tearing her out
of that leather.

The touch of his hand on her skin once more
was wonderful, so she did not immediately pull free even though she
was mightily pissed at his overbearing treatment. The past week
without his presence had been difficult. He was near an addiction
to her and she was definitely suffering the pains of the
withdrawal. Kat raised a regal brow at him and remained silent. She
had a feeling he had a few more choice words to deliver.

While he would forgive her eventually for all
of her affronts, Lorcan was unwilling to let her off easily at this
time. The underlying threat in his tone was ominous, “The Witch
need to leave this place, Kaitriana. Their presence here is
forbidden.” When he surveyed the gathered trespassers, his
attention was pulled to their surroundings. He was amazed at the
complete restoration of the place. It appeared as though no time
had passed since his family had taken their final leave; the
details down the design of the furniture and the tapestries on the
walls were perfectly recreated. Kaitriana had not made Laverock
into
her
home, she had restored it as it
had been when
his
. All evidence of the
ravages from neglect was gone. An unexpected wave of sentimentality
swept him and the hostility left his voice, “Did you do all of this
Kat?”

Kaitriana had noted his distraction and
rather than offer argument over his dictate about leaving, she
shrugged nonchalantly. Waving her hand to indicate the castle as a
whole, she explained quietly, “It was in need of repair Lorcan.”
She hesitated, worried that the statement might set him off
further, “It took but a bit of…magic…to restore Laverock to its
glory.” She tugged her eyes away from him, giving the room an
absent study to avoid maintaining contact with his gaze.

Lorcan noticed and his grip tightened on her
arm, “Have you been here this whole week Kat?”

Kat sighed slowly. Her witches were getting
restless and she was ready to move onward with their plans as well.
She could hear the voices beginning to rise in the crowd and the
shuffling of bodies, indicative of their impatience to be off. “I
was, as I was for the five hundred years prior. Myrrdyn had put me
here to rest during that time. This was the only place that I was
familiar with outside of your home and the only place that I knew
would be safe when I left you.”

She gave him her gaze back, hoping he would
find some understanding for her need to return to Laverock. “I have
had much time to think Lorcan, to understand my role and
purpose…and you and yours. I also had much time on my hands while
doing so and these improvements are the result of that.” Hoping
this next truth would mollify his anger towards her somewhat, Kat
actually turned fully back to him and closed the gap between them
this time. Her curves pressed into the unyielding strength of him.
She lowered her voice to a level that she hoped would be for his
hearing alone and raised her fingertips to brush lightly over his
neck, “I had intended to return to you after this night,
Lorcan.”

At his disbelieving look, she nodded evenly
to reinforce the concession she was willingly giving to him, “I
will always be drawn to you and will always come to you Lorcan. You
are my heart.” Lowering her lashes to shield her eyes, she was his
sweet lass once more and no longer the haughty Witch Queen. She
confessed, “We may disagree over many things but I cannot be
without you. An existence apart from you would not be worth
having.” Her fingertips drifted over to play at his shoulder and
the sincerity in her words rang true to him. She glanced upwards,
“I want to come home to you, Lorcan. Will you allow it?”

Lorcan stared at her, his expression
enigmatic, before issuing a slow nod. He believed she still held
her breath, so he confirmed his answer with words, “I will permit
it, Kat. After you dispel the Witch and instruct them not to
return, you will leave with me.” He was surprised that her
countenance was immediately forlorn and that she was shaking her
head.

Kaitriana did not want him to think her
toying with him and she rushed into explanation, “I cannot come
home until after this eve Lorcan. As you lead the Vampire, I now do
so with the Witch. Tonight I take them against the Dark. Tis my
duty; this one thing, I
must
do.” For the
second time in the space of a few minutes her eyes were pleading
with him for understanding but also for his blessing. She could
tell almost immediately by the narrowing of his that he was not
pleased and she would be hard pressed to gain his approval.

Lorcan slipped his arm around her waist and
locked her frame flush against his. He gave his explanation in a
hushed whisper, “You too are Vampire. You took my mark and accepted
my Coven as your home. Because of this you cannot move against the
Dark without my agreement and you should not be so foolhardy to do
so without my protection.”

Upon viewing her mutinous expression, he
offered, “If you wish to bring the leaders of the Castes to
Breslein, we can discuss this and determine the best course, but I
will not allow you to go into battle this night.” He had no wish to
humiliate the girl in front of her people but she needed understand
the order of the Vampire society and her place in it.

Kat was dismayed at his refusal and
simultaneously infuriated at his high-handed tactics. Her vampire
remained unwilling to offer her any concessions while she had
offered him everything. Her fingers stiffened and released the
light hold from his arms then her hands dropped woodenly to her
sides. He should understand this well and she resented even having
to waste the time to explain, “I cannot abandon our plans or these
warriors Lorcan. It would be viewed as a sign of weakness.
Requiring that we hold off on engaging the Dark will undermine my
position and render me powerless to fulfill my role.”

He offered no reaction, so she continued, “We
have already developed a solid plan of attack and it will be done
tonight. If you will have me after, I will return to you.”
Kaitriana broke free of his hold by stepping back before he could
put forth any argument. Turning to face her people, a smile that
masked her upset was fixed on her face, “It is time…we take
Shadowmere this night.”

Over their answering warcries, the witches in
attendance did not hear Lorcan’s biting tone, “Shadowmere? Are you
completely mad, Witch? Shadowmere has long been a stronghold of the
Dark and a battle for its taking is not one to be entered
lightly.”

Kaitriana did not spare him a glance, keeping
her back to him as she gritted out angrily, “I am aware of this
Lorcan. You might display a little faith in me; I said our plans
are solid.”

Lorcan dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder.
The witches took it as a show of solidarity from the Warrior of
Light and their excitement escalated. The ruckus in the room was
now deafening. Dropping his lips to hear ear, he spoke forcefully,
“I might display a little faith in you when you act like you have
some sense, Kaitriana. I said
no.
Before
you took my mark you agreed to certain conditions and foremost was
my absolute authority to forbid you from engaging in any activity
that exposed you to harm. I
forbid
this
Kat.” Grasping her nape, his thumb raked heavily over the mark on
her neck as a reminder, “Do you understand me, Kaitriana? I forbid
it! You will dismiss the Witch from Laverock and return with me to
your home. Immediately!”

She shot him a rebellious look over her
shoulder and her eyes were beginning to sparkle, “I fully intend to
come home…
after
I am finished tonight. I
agreed to abide by those conditions as your
mate.
When I have given you my vows, you may hold me
to them.” Shoving his hand off irritably, Kat strode away into the
crowd before he could make another grab for her.