Embrace Me At Dawn (27 page)

“
Where is it hidden?” Morganna barked impatiently.

“
I’m still searching for that information. Merlin’s notes are not always helpful, you know.”

“
Pompous lout,” Morganna grumbled, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Three things, you say? What are they?”

She must play this very carefully. Talking to Morganna was a bit like fencing on landmines. One misstep and… “Well, I can’t tell you
everything
now, can I? I must keep something to barter with.” Anka pretended to pace and think, giving Morganna’s impatience time to grow and hopefully overcome a bit of her better sense. A long shot, but the witch had never been known for her restraint.

“
You must tell me something, else I’ll be hard pressed to believe you know anything of use.”

“
I understand.” Anka couldn’t give up the information about Bram’s or Mathias’s bloodlines. She would likely hunt them both down and imprison them for her purposes. They needed Bram for this war. And Mathias… No one was taking that revenge away from her, least of all a witch who should have been dead long ago. “One of the things you’ll need to retrieve the potion is a banshee.”

“’
Tis simple enough.” Morganna shrugged as if that presented no problem at all.

“
Perhaps you’re not aware that finding one these days is somewhere between incredibly difficult and impossible.”

Morganna’s thundering frown almost set Anka back on her heels. “’Tis clearly a lie, as I am now looking at one.”

Anka couldn’t stop her eyes from widening with horror. “How did…”

The words slipped out before she could stop them. She clapped her hand over her mouth, knowing there was no way to undo the damage she’d already done. Dread slid sickly through her stomach. Had she already ruined this entire ruse?

“
How did I know?” Morganna rolled her violet eyes. “Silly girl, back in my era, banshees were well known. Certain bloodlines left telltale signs. If none of the useless younglings now know what to look for, ’tis their stupidity at fault. But I knew what you were the moment you approached.”

Anka’s head spun with ways to save this plot before it fell down around her. She leaned in as if to confide in Morganna. “It’s my secret. No one knows.”

The witch shrugged, as if her confidences were of no consequence. “Your signature says you were once mated. He knew not of your banshee ancestors?”

Anka shook her head, having no idea how to answer without digging a deeper hole. This ploy had become desperate and dangerous. Her heart drummed, and she wondered how she could have been so careless as to give Morganna any information to use against her. But it was too late now.

“
No one knows. Being a banshee now will likely get a woman killed.”

“
Foolish men, always desperate to make war with what they fail to understand. Your secret is safe. After all, I need you. Perhaps you should just come with me, sweet girl.”

Morganna reached out for her. Anka barely managed to dance out of her grip, but she knew absolutely that she escaped only because the other witch allowed it.

“
Well, there is one problem if you wish to use me to help you unlock the potion.”

“
What is that, pray tell?”

“
Of the maiden, mother, and crone, the banshee you require must be a mother. I am not.”

“
Aye, ’tis clear from your signature that you have no children. Can you bring me a banshee who does? In return, I can grant you a wish or two.”

“
I know of no other banshees. Most have been killed or entrapped forever.”

Morganna sent her a considering stare. “They were not terribly popular back in my age. Idiots. ’Tis creative I will have to be. No matter.”

With a shrug, she grabbed Anka’s arm. That surge of power burst through her body, making her shiver once more. The blast jolted her body. She lost sight and the ability to breathe. Her thoughts raced preternaturally fast. Her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. The charge tensed every muscle and nearly made her hair stand on end.

Suddenly, Morganna released her. “That should do the trick.”

Anka flopped to her knees and forced her eyes open so she could look up at Morganna. In the Land Rover behind her, she heard the screams of the hostages, all terrified that the blonde witch would hurt them as she’d been hurt. In truth, her body felt devoid of most energy, each limb limp, her bones as fluid as water. She fought to find her breath enough to ask, “What happened?”

“
I like to think we’ve just done one another a favor, dear. This shan’t take long, so I suggest you make your way to your man quickly.”

“
What…do you…mean?” She could barely gasp the words out.

Morganna laughed, a light, tinkling sound that rang with mischief. “And spoil the surprise? Nay. Run now. I will send for you when I am ready. You can give me the rest of the information I want and thank me then. Off you go.”

Anka shifted one foot to the flat grass beneath her and braced both hands on her knee, forcing herself to her feet. Unsteady, she wavered for a moment. A wave of dizziness nearly sent her onto her backside, but she parted her feet and held out her arms to steady herself.

“
The hostages…they play no role here. You’ll only expose magickind to the humans.”

Morganna gave a disapproving frown. “Aye, ’tis worried you all are about that. In my age, magic was common knowledge, and the inferior ones feared us. But that battle is of no interest to me. I merely want that potion.”

Just then a van rolled up with the BBC logo emblazoned on the side. Anka stiffened. Failure pummeled her. She was too late. Hadn’t saved anyone. Done everything wrong again.

“
Horn-swined louts, these human insects. But I will release the screaming annoyances in the contraption and wash away their memories of this, if you do my bidding.”

Hope percolated inside her, a slow bubble among the scattered mess of her thoughts. “What do you require of me?”

“
Go to your man.” Morganna grinned widely. “I have seen to the rest. Do what comes naturally, sweet girl. Good-bye.”

Chapter Ten

Stunned, Anka watched with wide eyes as Morganna made a sweeping gesture with one hand. The people in the SUV seemed to shake their heads, blink, then stammer in confusion. The driver peered about suspiciously, then blustered at the passengers before starting the Land Rover again and rolling over the grassy landscape, growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the gray sky. Morganna had wiped their memories clean, and without even looking at them. Who knew what she’d done with the dead? That kind of power made Anka quake.

The potent witch disappeared a moment later, leaving Anka alone on the windswept landscape with a BBC reporter scrambling from her van and grabbing her cameraman’s arm, urging him to run straight for her.

Bad, bad idea, talking to the reporters. And the urge to go home—her real home with Lucan—struck her with more force than lightning. But fear could do that to a person, make them want the gentle comforts of the familiar. Now wasn’t the time. That time might never come again.

She climbed over the low row of stones remaining from the Roman wall once meant to keep the Scots from invading Roman Britain, then quickly ducked behind it. Once crouched behind the ancient stone, she teleported back to Bram’s manor—and, disoriented, she promptly tumbled onto the hardwood floor in a heap.

The whole group of warriors closed in on her, each wearing concerned expressions. Their worry pressed in on her like a vise, squeezing from every direction. Having so many people crowd around her rubbed her wrong. No, it was having so many males close. Uncomfortable. Frightening.

A dizzy wave threatened to take her down. She shook her head, but it wouldn’t clear. When she moved to her feet and stumbled, Lucan reached out to her. Shock got there faster and dragged her against his massive, leather-clad chest.

“
What happened?” Bram demanded of her. “Did you see Morganna?”

“
Are you all right?” Lucan looked desperate to get his hands on her, reassure himself that she was unscathed.

“
Why the fuck did you go to Morganna?” Shock squeezed her tighter. “Bloody barmy.”

Yes, probably.

“’
Tis hardly a witch with whom you should toy.” Marrok’s face thundered with both disbelief and disapproval.

But she didn’t really hear him. Someone here smelled good. Scrumptious. Her mouth watered. She moaned softly as blood rushed to her sex with a pleasant tingle. She swelled instantly as she dragged that musky male scent into her nose again. Her folds moistened quickly, pulsing with need. The compulsion to feel
his
mouth over hers made her want to crawl along each and every one of these warriors until she found the one currently making her senses sing.

She licked her lips and tried to clear her head. Answers. They wanted answers about her encounter with Morganna. Whatever this wave of longing was, to feel the heavy press of
his
body shoving her to a mattress, driving between her legs, and feeding the inferno suddenly raging there…yes. Please. Who was he? Which male? She whimpered, then stopped herself. No. Morganna and the war and everything that had happened was far more important today. She must focus.

“
I saw Morganna.” She couldn’t help herself; she sniffed at Shock. Hmm, that was nice. Her nipples perked up. But was he the man lighting her body aflame? She ran her tongue up a sliver of his chest, bared between the leather jacket, and he shuddered against her. Maybe.

Behind her, Lucan cursed, something low and dirty. Something her body very much wanted to do with him again. Something that made everything feminine in her pulse with need.

Bram wrapped his fingers around her arm in a gentle squeeze and tugged her around. His touch sent pain searing down every one of her nerve endings. She cried out with agony and nearly fell to her knees. “Don’t!”

He released her instantly. “Anka? Are you all right?”

Lucan steadied her, brushing stray hair from her flushed cheeks. “Is your arm hurt, love?”

That delicious scent wafted into her nose again, and she leaned closer to Lucan. She blinked up into his blue eyes, feeling so very hungry. Her vision wasn’t quite working. Everything looked out of focus. But all of her senses urged her to tear off her clothes, strip him down to the skin, and rub against him until she enticed him to cover her with his body and—

“
Back the fuck off, MacTavish,” Shock growled and jerked her back against his hard chest, cradling her head against him with a big, rough hand. The zip of his jacket pressed uncomfortably into her ear. But it didn’t hurt nearly as much as her own clothes.

She squirmed, trying to remove the rasp of the fabric from her oversensitive skin, but that only chafed more, like wearing head-to-toe coarse wool. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to endure the pain of the harsh material scraping her hypersensitive skin over and over.

“
Please…” She spoke the words to anyone who would listen. “Hurts.”

“
Let go, Shock,” Bram ordered. “I fear Morganna has done something to her. She’s flushed, as if she’s feverish. She’s not— Anka?” He shouted her name as Shock eased up on his hold.

She grimaced. Bram didn’t smell right to her at all. When he tried to take her cheeks in a gentle grip, she cried out and tried to turn her face away. His light touch shouldn’t hurt…but it caused her untold pain. She shuddered and curled into herself.

“
Don’t!” Tears welled in her eyes.

“
Anka? Love…” Concern rang in Lucan’s deep voice, and she wanted to tell him that she was going to be all right. But it didn’t feel that way.