Goblin Moon (2 page)

Shayla saw Tearach's expression change, from anger to extreme pain. Not about to give him time to contemplate further, she quickly continued. “The faction leaders have agreed that bringing an outsider here may be the only way to save your race, so I'm making an exception to the law."

"And what if this backfires and the child from such a union still dies? Then what happens?"

"You'd better pray to Herne this
does
work, Tearach. There's no medical reason for your children to die.” She pointed to his chest. “The problem lies in here, and if one more baby perishes, I'll hold you responsible for not helping your people relinquish their hatred long ago. It's poisoning you as horribly as that water ever did. The fear from this situation has pushed Mabb to the point she would never allow an outsider near you, and she isn't even living in reality most days. She speaks of having a child with you when I know you've tried to tactfully dismiss her feelings on numerous occasions. She has told others that she's planning your handfasting and has expressed a hatred for outsiders that's quite dangerous.” Shayla sadly shook her head. “The entire outside world is
not
responsible for the deaths of your friends and family. It was three men."

"They'll never hurt anyone else,” he declared.

"No, you killed them, and your revenge should have stopped there. But you and your people insist on keeping the incident an open, festering wound,” she admonished.

"Should we turn the other cheek?” he sarcastically responded.

"I'd have thought you'd realize how very precious life is, and that each day should be celebrated. For you, every sunrise brings the Goblin race one step closer to extinction. That's the way you see it, so that's the way things are. And your babies die because the adults have no hope. This mating must take place. It's a new chance."

He glared at her, clenched his hands into tight fists and said lowly, “You of all people know how vulnerable my race is when we mate. You're aware of what happens to us, and yet you'd still expose that secret to an outsider who could use that knowledge to advantage? Is such a highly personal moment to be exploited on your whim, and on a hope that this insane idea will actually work? How much indignity must I and my people suffer?” He dragged his hands through his hair, wanting to scream in fury.

Shayla watched him closely, but she let him vent. His anger was almost tangible, and she knew her command to send Mabb away was for the best. The girl had a romantic desire for her leader that bordered on obsession. It would be difficult enough to control Tearach, never mind a lovesick Goblin woman.

Finally, Tearach dropped his head, closed his eyes and spoke slowly. There was no use trying to keep the disbelief and outrage from his voice. “You've commanded me to do this and I will obey. But I'll never forgive you, Sorceress. Never! I can only hope we don't live to regret this decision."

"Uncle Tearach, one of the Fairies brought these from Shayla."

Tearach watched as his niece placed a stack of files on the table, and then he continued to sharpen the blade of his boot knife.

"Aren't you even going to look at them?” she asked.

"No, Cairna, I'm not."

She was silent for a moment, and then she ran a slender finger across the top file. “I'll bet these are the women you're supposed to choose from."

By now, everyone in the Order was aware of Shayla's edict. They'd expressed every emotion from absolute revulsion and pity to congenial acceptance and encouragement. For some odd reason, his niece fell into the latter group, and that infuriated him. He loved the eighteen-year-old with all his heart, but her own parents had died in Exmoor eight years ago.

"Will you hand me that other knife?” He waited for her to retrieve it from the farthest end of the table and deliberately ignored the files next to him.

"At least she's giving you a choice.” Cairna smiled at him and handed him the blade.

Tearach remained silent, refusing to be drawn into a discussion about the hateful subject. Cairna moved up and down the length of the table, staring at the files as she did so.

"Sit down, girl. You'll wear a hole in the floor,” he ordered, annoyed. But the command lacked bite. He always kept his tone soft when speaking to her. She complied by pulling a chair to where the cursed files were stacked and sitting directly in front of them. He sighed wearily and shook his head.

Cairna's father, his older brother, had practiced the same annoying habits. If there was a subject about which they disagreed, Traed would provoke him by staring straight at him. That usually resulted in a fight. He almost smiled at the memory of some of their silly, boyhood arguments. How he wished his older brother was alive again.

Then there had been Furlon and Tressa, his younger brother and sister. The twins were never far from each other and always in trouble. But it had been fun to watch his parents’ attempts at figuring out which of them had committed some minor offense.

His mother and father had loved them with fierce devotion. But they had all died on the same horrible day. His heart had been so badly broken he lost the ability to love anyone. Anyone but little Cairna. She was only ten when her world collapsed. She'd cried for days, wanting her parents. But they were gone, and he hadn't known how to explain what the outside world had done. And there had been no time to learn to become a parent.

He watched her finger the edge of the top file and tried to continue being annoyed with her. As usual, he couldn't. The girl had him firmly wrapped around her little finger. He stood, walked across the room and placed a pot of water in the fireplace. “Would you like some tea?"

She shook her head and looked down at the documents in front of her. She was going to be a beauty like her mother. Long black hair framed an elfin face, and her eyes were black as midnight. Fairy and Goblin men already vied for her hand. Sometimes, two would come calling on the same day, and he'd have to separate the suitors before a fight broke out. When she finally decided to take a mate, she deserved more than to watch her newborn children die.

"Hand me those damned things.” He sighed and motioned toward the files.

Cairna grinned, jumped up and brought the entire stack to him. “It'll be all right, Uncle Tearach. Shayla has never made any decision that didn't turn out for the best. And maybe one of these women will be different from most outsiders."

"They're
all
the same, Cairna. I've tried to understand them, but I always come back to one conclusion. They're careless, insensitive beings who'll do anything to get what they want. Be it animal, plant or man, they hurt whatever gets in their way. They even kill each other with such ease that it's horrifying."

She placed a consoling hand on his arm. “Surely, not all of them are like that. Shayla wouldn't give you a choice of women who were so terrible. I simply can't believe every one of them is evil."

He looked down at the files for a long moment and remembered his dead family. “If you think that, why don't
you
choose one for me? It doesn't matter which one.” He handed her the stack and walked out of the cottage.

Cairna watched him go, tears clouding her vision. “All right, then.
I'll
pick one,” she whispered. “Someone who'll make you smile again."

She placed the folders on the table, sat down and began to read.

"This is your choice, Tearach?” Shayla placed the file on her desk, sat and perused the contents.

He shrugged, unwilling to admit he hadn't even looked at the papers. Cairna had given him the file, informing him the woman described within it was “perfect.” Ecstatic, his niece had begged him to look at the woman's information and picture, but he'd steadfastly refused. It was enough that he was giving up his freedom and pride to lie with this outsider, forced to breed like a prized bull. And there wasn't a remote guarantee this sick experiment would even work. If that happened, what would they do with the outsider?

He glanced around the library, wishing he were anyplace else in the world. “How did you plan on getting this woman here? Since their kind doesn't even know about us, I assume you have a plan?"

For the moment, Shayla ignored him and smiled as she read the file. “I must say, this woman is a
marvelous
choice. Outstanding, really. Our researchers have outdone themselves. I must remember to reward them properly."

"Shayla?"

"Yes.” She finally looked up.

"I asked how you plan to get this woman here. And what makes you think she'll go through with this, especially when she sees me?"

Her gaze scanned his perfectly honed body and she grinned. “Why, what's wrong with your looks, man? A number of women, myself included, believe you're quite ... acceptable."

He stared pointedly at her. “I'm
green
... for starters."

"Well, what possible difference does
that
make?” Shayla asked indifferently.

The Sorceress wasn't fooling him. The woman was far too intelligent not to have given this entire matter some very serious thought. The safety of an entire compliment of magical creatures was at stake. Nothing quite like this had ever been attempted, and the consequences could be devastating.

He leaned upon the desk and looked down at her. “When she sees me, she'll run from this forest screaming. Every farmer, shopkeeper and law enforcement officer from here to Scotland will know about us. Now, I'll ask again. What are your plans?"

She stood and stared into his black eyes. “The women we chose as possible mates all had a number of things in common. First, they were all near your age and in excellent physical condition. Second, they've no one in the entire world who'll come looking for them if they went, shall we say, missing. Finally, they all have some skill or ability that will be useful to the Order and the temperament to handle a challenge. I don't think the particular woman you've chosen would run away screaming, as you put it, unless she felt very threatened. Her personality profile indicates otherwise.” She walked around the desk to stand in front of him. “If you'd
read
the damned file, you'd have known that.” She threw the documents in question on the table in front of Tearach.

He didn't bother addressing that particular accusation. “Your researchers had better be very sure about their facts. We could end up on the front page of every major newspaper in the world."

He turned to leave, but he stopped when another thought occurred to him. “By the way, what did you mean by no one will come looking for her if the woman went
missing
?"

"You're going to bring her here."

He felt his jaw sag, and then he recovered enough to speak. “How am I supposed to do that?"

"During their daily lives, people often fall into a routine. We're going to find out what hers is and ... intercept her."

"
Herne's blood!
” Tearach gasped. “You want me to kidnap the woman."

She waved her hand dismissively. “Kidnap is such a harsh word. I prefer to look at it as ... as an assisted change of environment."

Up until the last minute, Tearach believed there
had
to be some other way of saving his people from extinction. He'd spent days attempting to change Shayla's mind, as well as those of the other faction leaders, but his efforts fell on deaf ears. That they had decided to allow an outsider among them was proof of how seriously they took this whole crazy scheme. It had all been planned down to the smallest detail. Now, the final step was up to him, and he detested it.

He sat silently in the front seat of the parked sedan and waited. “This can only lead to tragedy,” he muttered. “The whole thing is insane!"

From the driver's side, Cairna placed her small hand over his larger one. “You wouldn't be so apprehensive if you'd just take a look at her file."

When she attempted to hand it to him, he threw it in the back seat. “It doesn't matter who she is, what she looks like, or her background. She's an
outsider
."

Cairna sighed in disgust. “By the Goddess, you're stubborn! You don't even know the woman's name."

They sat in angry silence, and Tearach stared out the windshield. The parked car ahead of them was driven by the Fairy Leader, Lore. Shayla, and her assistant, Hugh, sat in back. The London jogging trail they watched was empty. An occasional, early morning delivery van drove by. Other than that, there was no one in the park. The trees on either side of the road offered concealment. A thick fog hung in the air and matched Tearach's foul mood. He was about to get out, approach the occupants of the other car and tell them to take the entire idea and put it somewhere daylight never entered. This whole idea was preposterous. The very idea of sleeping with an outsider made his skin crawl.

"It's time, Uncle,” Cairna breathed as she saw Lore step out of his sedan.

He heaved an angry sigh as he and Cairna exited their own vehicle. Shayla nodded at him from within the first car, and Hugh stepped out of the front passenger side.

"Go, Cairna!” Lore urged, keeping his voice low.

As she'd been instructed, Cairna entered the tree line and found the nearby trail. She began to jog. Tearach watched her go and his throat tightened. The girl was dressed in blue sweats and, in human form, she looked like any other city dweller out for an early morning run. If any part of this plan backfired, his niece would be the first one in danger. But no one had wanted to listen to
that,
especially since the girl had been so insistent about participating.

Lore took his position on one side of the trail. Cursing beneath his breath, Tearach took his position opposite the Fairy. Because the trail circled their location, Cairna passed them twice without any sign of their quarry. On the third pass, she was being followed by another jogger. The tall, slender figure in gray was about a hundred yards behind. When Cairna reached Tearach's and Lore's position, she pretended to fall.

Kathy Parker saw the dark-haired girl go down and grab her left ankle. The trail was full of ruts and could easily trip a careless runner. The fog wasn't making it any easier to see. She picked up her pace in an effort to reach the other jogger and help. Panting, she slowed and stopped beside the girl. “Are you all right?” she asked.