Fire on the Island (37 page)
He stalked her.
His predatory smile was as gruesome as it was foolhardy. He stood in front of
her where she knelt, head down with her bangs obstructing his view of her eyes.
That was the one thing that could give away her intentions.
Evil incarnate,
Alastore fisted a hand in her hair and jerked her head back to force her to
look at him. Before he had a chance to see her eyes, she reached up and plunged
the knife deep into his heart—the knife covered in her own blood.
Releasing her,
he stepped back and stared at the knife protruding from his chest. He gave a
weak laugh, because normally if his corporeal form was injured or killed, it
wouldn't affect him.
But his face
began to show panic as his veins began to stand out black, in contrast to his
pale, thin skin. Gasping for breath, he staggered backwards, gripping his
throat. Suddenly his entire body was engulfed in his signature blue flames, and
he began to burn.
Oh, how he
burned. Skin and muscle peeled away and turned to ash, revealing a bloody
skeleton underneath. Screaming like a siren, Alastore's corporeal body began to
disintegrate before Isla. It seemed as though her blood inside him had locked
his essence to his body, so that if the body was destroyed, so he shall be.
Finally, with a
burst of sulphur and smoke, he exploded into a cloud of dust that floated away
in the October breeze. Not sparing a moment to revel in her triumph, Isla
returned to her
càirdean
tuislichte
. Her fallen friends.
Isla sat on the
cold ground inside the stone circle that no longer vibrated with vortexical energy.
She was between the bodies of her greatest love and her loyal protector, both
barely clinging to life.
She was still
unsure what Alastore had done to Jeremiah but knew that it had to have been
severe to hurt such a strong and vibrant force of a man. Sitting with a hand on
each of them, she channeled all of her remaining energy into them, aiding their
hearts to beat and their lungs to breathe.
Using her
power, she searched through them, looking for any damage and repairing what she
could. She stopped briefly to call Drew, knowing that if they didn't get help,
they would all die out there.
She made the
call and a sleepy Drew answered. "Yeah?"
"Drew, I
need you to come get us."
Drew came
instantly awake and alert. "Where are you? Are y'all okay?"
"Listen
carefully. You need to take my pickup truck because we're all injured and, as
of now, only one of us is conscious. Marduk will need to go straight to Jack,
and Jeremiah and I need a doctor."
"Got
it," he answered calmly, though she heard the worry in his voice.
Isla dug the
handheld GPS unit out of her pocket that she had brought as an afterthought,
and read off the coordinates to him.
"Plug that
into the GPS in the truck and it will lead you to us. Hurry."
"Hold on,
I'll be there soon!"
Dropping the
phone, Isla returned to focusing her powers to heal Jeremiah and Marduk. She'd
never tried this before and had no idea if it would work at all, but she to do
something.
Suddenly, the
ground started to rumble and Isla looked above her to see hundreds of ghostly
figures rising up from the circle and floating off into the sky.
"All of
the souls Alastore trapped," she murmured. "They're free now."
Startled by a sound behind her, Isla turned to see several people walking
around the stones, looking confused and disoriented.
They were dirty
and their clothes were torn, but they looked unharmed. They seemed to be
unaware of her presence, too confused by their surroundings to notice, so she
left them alone. Those must have been the people Alastore hadn't gotten to yet,
and among them were the missing from the island. They were freed as well.
Hearing a
groaning noise, she turned back to Jeremiah and was met with cloudy hazel eyes.
They were unfocused but open. He gave her a weak smile, showing one wolfish
canine. "Hey there beautiful," his gruff voice cracked, but it was
music to her ears.
She flung
herself on him and sobbed, finally let go of all of the worry and fear she had
been consumed with since she'd found him gone. "Don't you ever scare me
like that again," she scolded.
Jeremiah
gingerly sat up, rubbing at his temple. Feasting his eyes on his brave
warrioress, covered in blood and dirt, hair knotted and clouded around her
head, he'd never seen a more beautiful sight.
He leaned
forward to capture her lips in a searing kiss and allowed his hands to roam
over her skin
—something she never thought she'd get to feel again
. When his hand brushed over her shoulder,
she winced and pulled back.
"Easy
there, tiger. I have a few battle wounds." He inspected the stab wound in
her shoulder and frowned at her. "Isla, this is really deep. We need to
get you to a hospital!"
She shrugged
her good shoulder, and told herself it could have been much, much worse.
"I'm fine, love. You need to get checked out too because you were
unconscious for a long time. And Marduk needs to get to Jack. He'll never be
able to take human form to go to the hospital, so he needs a vet."
Both of their
heads turned when they heard an engine roaring and saw headlights cut through
the dark night. Jeremiah gave her a questioning look.
"I called
Drew. We needed a ride," she said. As the truck neared the circle, Isla
realized that they were all safe, for the moment anyway. The overwhelming
relief mingled with an adrenaline crash, combined with blood loss, caused her
to see spots in her vision. Just as Drew parked the truck and rounded the hood
to come help them, her world went black.
It was a chilly
November day on the Isle of Arran. The wind was high and the sky was cloudy.
Isla sat on top of a huge boulder that jutted out of the sea. There was a group
of them that formed a line from the shore, like giant stepping stones.
Jeremiah pulled
her closer and wrapped his coat around her, and she leaned back against his
chest, and they watched the waves violently crashing against the rock. Jere
knew this was one of her favorite places.
Resting his
chin on the top of her head, he took a deep breath. "So what happens
now?"
"What do
you mean?" she asked, turning her head.
"Well, I'm
kind of wide open. My family is in New Orleans, and I'd love for you to meet
them someday, but I can live and work anywhere. I don't care if I'm on this
island, in the States, or on a boat in the middle of the ocean, as long as I'm
with you. Where's home to you?"
"You
are," she said, tilting her head up to kiss his chin. "You are."
"You have
your house here and your business. Maybe we should just stay here."
"Callum
can run Expeditions. I'm more of a silent partner, really. I just enjoy
working. Gives me something to do."
"Okay...so
you want to travel? See the world?"
"You
really want me to meet your family?" she asked shyly.
"Of
course, Isla. They'll love you. And Mama 'n them would kill me if I didn't let
them meet the woman I'm going to marry." He became suddenly unsure of
himself. "You're going to marry me, right?"
She laughed,
and the tinkling sound was one that he would never get tired of. "That was
a hell of a proposal, but yes, I'm going to marry you."
She fell silent
and Jeremiah could practically hear the wheels turning. "What are you
thinking about?"
"You know
how, when you met me, I had no idea what I was, or what I could do?"
"Yeah..."
"What
would have happened to me if you had never come? If I had never learned about
my powers?"
"But I did
come. Where are you going with this?"
"What if there
are other people out there like I was, with no idea what they are or what
threats they are facing? How many
embulibruixi
are out there? I feel
like I need to help them. If any good is to come of what happened here, I need to
track down others like me...especially other
Praedos
. We've got to teach
the
bruixi
to defend themselves."
"So you
want to travel around the world, searching for witches and teaching them how to
use their powers? Just the two of us?"
"Three."
Two heads swiveled around as Marduk leapt up on the rock behind them, looking
as fit and hearty as ever after his ordeal. "I would go with you,
domina
,
if you'll have me."
"But,
Marduk, you're free. You made your sacrifice. I'm not your
domina
anymore. You can maintain whatever form you like. You can go where you want and
make a life for yourself."
"You may
not be my
domina
anymore, but you are my family. You and Jeremiah are
all I've got. Plus, you could use my expertise."
Isla looked at
Jeremiah and he shrugged. Turning back to Marduk, he slapped the young man on
the back. "Welcome aboard, dog-breath," he said, ducking as Marduk
swung at him playfully.
"That's
wolf-breath to you, buddy! So where shall we go first?"
"Believe
it or not, I think we need to go to New Orleans. Not just to see my family and
plan a wedding, but to do some research. The
bruixi
book was nearly
stolen from Drew in New Orleans, which means there is someone out there that
knows something. That seems to be as good a starting point as any. How 'bout
it?"
Isla nodded,
smiling. "I think that's a great idea." They stared at each other for
long moments until Marduk cleared his throat. "I'm going to meet up with
Drew to make travel plans. Don't be long, you two."
The two of them
stood there on a rock in the middle of the sea, the wind whipping through their
hair and the waves crashing around them. Isla couldn't think of anywhere she
would rather be, than with the man who had saved her life and her heart.
Looking into
his warm, hopeful eyes, she didn't need the power of clairvoyance to see her
future. It was laid out before her, and all she had to do was hang on tight.
About
the Author
J.K. Hogan
has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, beginning with
writing cast lists and storylines for her toys growing up. When she finally
decided to put pen to paper, magic happened. She is greatly inspired by all
kinds of music and often creates a “soundtrack” for her stories as she writes
them.
J.K.
resides in North Carolina, where she was born and raised. A true southern girl
at heart, she lives on a farm with her husband and young son, a cat, and two
champion agility dogs. If she isn’t on the agility field, J.K. can often be
found chasing waterfalls in the mountains with her husband, or down in front at
a blues concert.
In addition to
writing, she enjoys training and competing in dog sports, spending time with
her large southern family, camping, boating and, of course, reading! For more
information, please visit
www.jkhogan.com
.
Fire On The
Island
