Midnight's Promise (20 page)

“I look terrible, I know,” Larena said and tried to smile. “Fallon keeps telling me I look the same, but I’ve caught a look at myself in the mirror a time or two.”

Britt smiled while Fallon walked around the back of the chair and placed his hands on Larena’s shoulders before leaning down to kiss her head.

“I’ve found the antidote,” Britt said. “I’ve tested it on Charon, but it might take several doses for you.”

“You’ve pushed yourself too hard,” Larena said. “I think the dark circles under your eyes are almost as bad as mine.”

Britt found herself laughing. Larena was trying hard not to let the melancholy get to her. “I admit, I’m eager for about a week of sleep.”

“Sleep?” Aiden said with a snort. “There willna be sleeping, love.”

With the mood less stilted, Britt walked to the female Warrior. Larena’s golden hair was dull and limp, her smoky blue eyes muted.

Larena pushed up the sleeve of her white shirt and looked at the floor while Britt rubbed the alcohol on her arm before giving her the antidote.

When Britt was finished, she stood and walked back to Aiden. “I think we should leave and give them some privacy. I’ll have another syringe ready and waiting just in case.”

“I agree,” Quinn said and ushered everyone out.

Just before the door closed, Britt saw Fallon lift Larena into his arms and carry her to the bed. Britt hastily blinked the tears that gathered. She wasn’t a crier, but there was something about that scene that pulled at her heart like nothing before.

“You did good,” Marcail said.

Britt licked her lips while Marcail rubbed a hand up and down her back. “We shall see.”

“You’ve done what no one else could,” Cara said. “Not even with magic.”

Lucan gave her a wide smile. “Exactly. We’ll stay near in case Fallon or Larena needs you. Until then, Aiden, take your woman somewhere she can rest.”

Britt wanted to protest being treated like an object, but she knew Lucan didn’t mean anything Neanderthal about it. It was just a Highlander’s way, a way she’d come to like quite a lot.

Aiden didn’t give her time to say anything as he steered her down a flight a stairs to their room. He sat her on the bed and removed her shoes and socks. Then he gave her a slight push to her shoulders to lay her back on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

Britt’s eyes slid closed on their own. She briefly heard Aiden say something about food, but before she could respond, sleep claimed her.

*   *   *

Larena knew how much Fallon was counting on Britt’s antidote to make things better, but she feared the
drough
blood had done too much damage and she would never be the same person she’d been.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that however. She also didn’t press him about Malcolm. It all became clear how much Malcolm had suffered—how he was suffering still.

There was an emptiness inside her she imagined was the same for her cousin. The difference between her and Malcolm was the way her goddess was trying to take control.

“Stop thinking about it,” Fallon said.

She snuggled against him. He always had an uncanny way of knowing exactly what she was thinking. “You know you’re the only reason I’ve not given in to Lelomai. If you hadn’t been with me, I would’ve granted her control long ago.”

“Had you no’ been with me, you wouldna be in this predicament.”

Larena lifted her head to look at her husband. “Don’t you dare do that. This isn’t your fault, Fallon MacLeod. What happened to me could’ve happened to any of us. I’m lucky enough to have you by my side to help in all of it.”

“It’s a fact I doona like feeling so damned helpless. I can only sit and watch you bear something I can no’ even begin to imagine.”

A teasing comment sprang to mind. As Larena opened her mouth to say it, she stopped, surprise making her body jerk.

“What is it?” Fallon asked, concern filling his green eyes.

For several seconds she could only stare at her husband, the words locked in her throat. Finally she ran her fingers through his dark hair and said, “It’s working.”

She laughed as she cried. Fallon smiled, his own eyes filling with tears as he kissed her. Larena parted her lips and welcomed his kisses. The voice of her goddess lessened, and it no longer felt as if she was being crushed by the weight of the world.

It was Fallon who pulled back, his breathing ragged and his eyes dilated. “Has the antidote worked completely?”

“I feel as if I’ve just come into the rays of the sun after a lengthy illness. As Britt said, I may need more than one dose.”

“But it’s working.”

Larena nodded, then laughed when Fallon leaped from the bed and threw open their door.

“It’s working!” he shouted from their doorway.

Cara and Marcail rushed past Fallon who tried to keep them out, but Lucan and Quinn diverted his attention. The Druids climbed on the bed, both women talking at once. Larena looked to Fallon to find him staring at her while listening to his brothers.

They shared a secret smile.

Larena, having stayed in the chamber for too long, rose from the bed and walked through the door onto the balcony. She looked over her shoulder at Fallon and held out her hand.

He didn’t say a word to his brothers as he strode to her. Together, hand in hand, they leapt from their balcony onto the cliffs below.

“Well,” Lucan said as he looked at the now empty balcony. “I’d say they want some time alone.”

“I think they have a great idea,” Quinn said as he took Marcail’s hand and pulled her out of the room.

Cara laughed and rose from the bed to walk to her husband. “You’re not going to take my hand?”

“I rather thought you might want to take the lead this time,” he said with a teasing light in his green eyes.

“Oh. I like that. Tara gave me a pair of fuzzy handcuffs. I think we should try those tonight.”

Lucan groaned as desire shot through him. “Lead the way, wife. I’m all yours.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

Malcolm watched from behind the rose bushes at the back of the house. He spotted the man and woman through the window. The woman was rushing through the lower floor calling out names as she did. There was an answering shout from the second floor, and then a teenage girl with short, spiky red hair came bounding down the stairs with a bag over her shoulder.

When the man came outside, Malcolm’s attention was diverted to him as he opened the back of the SUV and began stuffing luggage in.

“We’re going to be late!” he shouted.

The woman called out names again as she grabbed her purse and ran through the kitchen door outside. Malcolm watched two younger boys with identical ginger hair and freckles pushing each other as each tried to reach the bottom first.

“Hurry, you two!” the mother shouted.

The boys tossed their bags at the father and fought to get in the SUV first. The man slammed the back hatch closed before he closed the house door.

“We’re never going to make the flight,” he mumbled as he walked past Malcolm to get in the SUV. “Twenty-five hours on a plane. To see my in-laws. In Australia. Bloody hell.”

He didn’t try to hide his groan from his wife as he got in the vehicle and drove away.

Malcolm watched their fading taillights. When he was sure they wouldn’t return, he came out from behind the roses and ran back to the Druid.

He found her just as he’d left her, though she now had both hands flat against the stones. Her eyes were closed and her head turned so that one ear was close to the megalith.

“What are they saying?”

She jumped, her eyes flying open. “I thought you left.”

“Nay.”

“Where did you go?”

“To find a place for you to get out of the weather.”

She glanced at the sky. “They’re only clouds. We have them all the time. Besides, the storm is past.”

“There’s another coming. I can smell it in the air.”

She rolled her eyes in response.

“You doona believe me.” He shouldn’t have been surprised by the revelation, but he was. And hurt as well. He hadn’t lied to her once.

The Druid faced him, her gaze narrowed. “It’s pitch black out here. How can you see me?”

“I’m a Warrior.”

Evie bit back a sigh. Malcolm could be so frustrating at times. She wished she could see his face, but all she could make out was his silhouette somewhat. “That doesn’t explain everything.”

“The god inside me … enhances my senses.”

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

She took that in. “Just how well can you see in the dark?”

“As well as in the light.”

Evie let out a low whistle. “Impressive. So now that you have an unfair advantage and can see me, why are you still here?”

There was a long pause as if he were debating what to say. Finally, he said, “I felt the terror in your magic. I returned to Cairn Toul to find you gone.”

“I see.” Evie wanted to sit. Her legs hurt, but it didn’t come close to the pain in her feet. She’d thought the boots would be decent to walk in. And maybe for a day meandering around a city they would, but certainly not hiking all over Scotland.

“We’ll talk about this later. You’re about to collapse.”

“I’m not,” she said defensively, even though he was right.

A shot of something electric and needful raced through her when his hand wrapped around her wrist. His touch was firm without hurting. By the way he tugged her to follow him, she knew there would be no getting away.

Not that she wanted to get away. Malcolm was with her once more. The strength he carried and displayed was within reach, and she wanted to lay her head upon those wide shoulders of his and let her burdens fall away.

His warm hand didn’t just give her a measure of calm, it reminded her of how skillful those hands had been on her body, how easily he had brought her to orgasm.

Evie winced when she stumbled over an indentation in the earth. She righted herself only to feel Malcolm’s hard body against hers as he lifted her in his arms.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she wished she could see him. Was there any emotion on his face or in his azure eyes now? Was that lock of blond hair in his eyes once more? How she wished she could see him and get the answers to her questions.

“I can walk,” she said around the need being so close to him caused.

He made a sound at the back of his throat that she wasn’t sure meant that he agreed or not. Evie decided it was easier not to talk.

His warmth soaked through her jacket and sweater into her aching muscles. As she relaxed in his strong arms, she recalled why she was out in the middle of nowhere. It was thoughts of Brian that made the backs of her eyes prick with tears again.

“I’m going to need a car,” she said.

“It’d be better than you walking Scotland. I’ll find one.”

She frowned. “You don’t want to know why?”

Evie felt him shrug when he lifted his shoulders. “My concern is for your safety.”

Evie looked back in the direction of the stones. She wanted to see them. They were calling to her. Not just the stones—but their magic. The answer to keeping the necklace and having Brian returned was in the center of those stones if she dared to take the answer.

If she did, she would be the only one to pay the price for her stupidity. If she didn’t, Brian could be hurt, or worse, thousands of innocents. Neither of which she could live with.

She didn’t want to give up her soul, but it seemed only fair that she be the one to pay the price for her screw up.

“Take me back to the stone circle.”

“No’ now. You need to rest. Whatever you want with it can wait.”

“Actually, it can’t.”

Malcolm stopped walking. She could feel his gaze on her. Evie could well imagine his blue eyes intent and fierce as they stared at her. She had seen desire in them once.

In that instant she decided Malcolm couldn’t know of her plans to become
drough
. He hated them, and he would try and stop her.

“Explain,” he demanded.

Evie blew out a breath. “Someone has kidnapped my brother.”

“And you think the answer to your problem is in the circle?”

“Yes.”

“This is what sent you racing from Cairn Toul?”

She nodded and fiddled with her purse strap. “It is.”

“You doona want my help?”

Evie squeezed her eyes shut. The hurt she heard in his voice was nearly her undoing. “I didn’t say that.”

There was no response as he began walking again. Evie opened her eyes when a light appeared from over the top of the rise. A few steps later and she spotted the house. It was a decent sized house made of brown stone and brick. The back of the house had a large sunroom that overlooked the stones.

“Whose house is this?” she asked when he set her down by the back door, light flooding them from the lamp above.

“They’ve gone on an extended trip. You’ll be safe here tonight.”

“And where will you be?”

She wished she could have hidden the desperation in her voice, but she was barely hanging on to her sanity. Malcolm’s strength gave her strength whether he knew it or not.

He asked how he could help, and he’d been doing it without even knowing.

Evie looked up into Malcolm’s face to find him watching her. His eyes were in shadows, and his face once more unreadable. His hands, however, were still touching her. Warmth spread through her, settling low in her belly as desire flared and spread.

“I shouldna have left you,” he said slowly. “You’d be better with someone else watching over you.”

“You’re here now. Don’t leave. Please.” She wouldn’t make it if she had to do it alone.

His hands fell away from her. “I willna.”

He turned away to open the door. Evie stepped inside to find a homey kitchen that reminded her of her grandmother’s. There was an old iron stove and a beautiful tea set visible in a glass cabinet.

Rows of plates sat in their places in a rack next to the sink while pots hung on hooks near the stove. On the far side of the kitchen was a fireplace and next to it a round table and five chairs.

Evie sank onto a chair and pulled off her boots. She rose and started for the stove to make some tea when she spotted Malcolm rummaging in the fridge.