Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters (11 page)

Chapter Eight

Three days later, Kate climbed the circular staircase
in the castle tower to survey the countryside. It was quite a climb, but the
view from the battlements was magnificent. It was a clear day, and the sea
pounded against the rocks of the island on three sides. On the fourth side was
the causeway to the village.

Mallochbirn Village was a quiet place, even on market
days. She had learned that only about 400 people lived there, and even fewer
populated the cottages and farms on the rest of the Mallochbirn estate. According
to Mrs. Dumfries, many young people of the village left for a few years to
pursue their educations and careers in other parts of the country, but some of
them eventually returned. “No one loves you like your family and friends,” she
explained. “Besides, life is good here. Calm. Pleasant. Not stressful the way
it is everywhere else in this cruel world.”

Kate was inclined to agree. She had felt unusually tranquil.
The library was full of fascinating books and documents, and she had already
discovered a great deal about her ancestors, the Buchanans and the Grahams. The
Mallochbirn library possessed far more interesting documents than the parish
record room.

Genealogical records revealed that she was distantly
related to several of the other families in the area. She was making a list of
the families in the village whom she wanted to visit, in order to compare notes
on their histories.

She hadn’t actually made any visits, though. Perhaps
she should do so today? She recalled that Hamish had told her that her car was
parked over at the inn. She ought to go there and start it. She’d rented the
car for a week, but she’d only used it for a couple of days, driving up into
the Highlands.  

She realized that she hadn’t left Mallochbirn Isle for
three days. That was odd. But why leave? The castle still had some unexplored
areas, and besides, the hot Scot was here. She really didn’t have the slightest
inclination to go anywhere.

Maybe if Ross had to go out on another emergency
veterinary call, she would ask if she could accompany him. Daisy the pig had
been safely coaxed through her labor. She’d given birth to several fine
piglets. Yesterday, when Ross had held his clinic in his office in what had originally
been the castle stables, Kate had stopped by to watch. He quickly noted that
she was a calming presence around the animals—mostly pets coming in for
their shots—so he allowed her to help out. She was glad to do it.

Ross was gentle with the animals, and she could see
that they responded well to him. Animals were good judges of people. They all
seemed to adore Ross.

That evening was warm for June, and Kate wandered
around the garden after dinner. The sky was clear and the moon was nearing
full. For a change, there was little wind off the sea, so she didn’t need a
sweater. The garden was in full bloom and the scents from the various flowers
were lovely. Hamish had told her that many of the plants were blossoming
earlier than usual this season.

As she approached the tall hedges marking the outer
boundaries of the maze, she ran into Ross, who rounded the hedgerow from the
other direction. They both stopped. She felt that instant pull of attraction
that always struck when they encountered one another. He was so tall and
commanding. So purely and compellingly male. She could easily imagine him
stripped of his casual elegance and clad instead in rough leather and a kilt.
The warrior of Mallochbirn, barely civilized and ready to leap into battle.

She wasn’t accustomed to men like Ross Malloch. She
had never encountered his like. Although he was able to mask his elemental
nature with courtesy and fine manners, he could not hide it entirely. In London
or Boston or New York, at a party or a club, he would have set the women on
fire and the men on edge as he prowled among them, seeking out and marking his
prey.

“Lovely evening,” she said, giving him a big smile. He
always warmed to her smiles.

“Aye, it is that. Taking a turn about the garden?”

Mischievously she said, “I was about to enter the
maze.”

“Better take a snack. That maze is fiendish. You’ll be
wandering in there all night.”

Since she still had the map of the maze firmly in
mind, she countered, “Race you to the center?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You clearly possess a reckless
desire for adventure. Do I look like someone who’s likely to get lost in his
own maze?”

“All things are possible,” she said breezily. “I think
I deserve a head start, though, don’t you? At least a couple of minutes.” As
she passed him, she allowed her hand to brush his arm. He gave her a roguish
smile. His eyes were merry, his mouth had an agreeable curl to it, and his
black hair was shining in the moonlight. And there was something in his aura—or
in the aura generated between them—a sensual force that tugged at her.
She had felt a hint of it as soon as they’d met, and since then it had built
relentlessly.

“You’ll probably beat me,” she said. “But in the
unlikely event that I win, what do I get as a prize?”

 “What would you like?”

A thought came to mind, and she voiced it without
considering why she was asking. “I want to hear about your sea dragon. The
whole story, I mean. And I want to visit that old cavern beneath the castle. I
know you said it was unsafe, but perhaps you could accompany me?”

He looked surprised. And somewhat alarmed. “Those old
caverns are dangerous, but I’ll be happy to tell you about the Zrakon.”

“I found an old book in your library that claimed that
something in the cavern was the key to the mystery of Mallochbirn.” She paused,
adding, “You could show me your dungeon on the way.”

“I don’t actually have a dungeon,” he said, but she
had caught the flare of desire in his eyes. “I mean, it’s just an old chamber,
where they used to do god only knows what.”

“No whips? No chains? I’m disappointed,” she teased.

For a moment, she thought he was going to seize her,
kiss her, maybe even throw her down on the ground and sensually assault her. She
felt an intently focused desire that sent a bolt of fire down her spine. He
leaned a bit toward her, sending another thrill surging through her. It left
her brains scrambled and her innards churning, because the thought of his
seizing her made her wet.

“Suppose I’m the one who solves the maze puzzle first?”
he said. “Would you like to hear what I want?”

“I think I can guess,” she laughed.

“I want you. Naked and spread out for me. The heart of
the maze would be a nice spot for it. It’s grassy, cozy and sheltered.”

She could feel her pulse pounding in her throat.
Naked
and spread out for me.
Whew! The appeal of losing had just zoomed upward.

“Done. But don’t get your hopes up. I’m good at mazes.”

With that, she darted through the narrow opening in
the hedgerows, and set off quickly down one of the paths that opened up before
her, hoping she would indeed remember the twists and turns to come. It was
dark. She hadn’t expected to find her way through at night, and she wondered if
she could.

“Two minutes,” he called to her. “Then I’m coming in
after you.”

“You’ll never catch me, m’laird. See you in the heart
of the maze.”

“You’re going to regret this, Kate. One minute.”

“Hey, no speeding up time!”

“Fine, I won’t cheat. But you’ll soon be wandering
helplessly in there.”

“Ha. We shall see.”

Ross did not attempt to hurry through the maze.
Although it had been years since he had last tried to reach the center, the
maze was tricky and he doubted a newcomer would easily solve it. He quickly
found that he didn’t remember it as well as he thought he did. He followed
several frustratingly false trails, one of which led him deep into the maze
before dead-ending. He would have become lost were it not for his excellent
sense of direction. He was good at this sort of puzzle. Although he could not
discern in advance which paths through the maze were false, he could retrace
his steps without error and test new paths without becoming confused.

“Are you lost yet?” Kate called. Her voice had a
flirtatious lilt that he was coming to love.

“I’m not sure. Are you?”

“I made a wrong turn or two, but I’m making good
progress now, I think.”

“It’s damnably dark.”

“Look up. The stars are out, the moon is nearly full,
and the night is warm and beautiful.”

 “Agreed. Did you know that when you’re in the maze,
sheltered on all sides by the hedgerows, the stars shine more brightly here than
anywhere else?”

“I gather that you are very fond of your island.”

“I am indeed. But I’m beginning to fear that I might
be doomed to wander these hedgy pathways forever.”

“Take heart—I will come to your rescue before I
allow you to suffer that fate.”

He smiled. Nothing was going to prevent him from
reaching her.

A few minutes later, he heard her cry out in triumph. “I’m
here at last! In the center. I have defeated you, Ross.”

He was astonished. How the hell did she do that? Shit!
“Seriously? How do you know it’s the center?”

“Well, it’s round, there’s a Pan fountain flowing, and
an old stone bench.”

“Damn.”

She laughed. “Do you need assistance yet?”

“Not likely. It’s just a case of eliminating various
possibilities.”

“You could spend the entire night doing that.”

“I would never keep a lady waiting so long.”

She laughed.

Now that she was in one place instead of moving
through the maze, finding her was an easy matter. He permitted himself the
luxury of focusing his senses upon her. It was like unfastening a floodgate—she
flowed to him like water, her scents, varied and full of sweet, feminine
mysteries; and, even more exciting, her sounds—from the tiny almost
imperceptible rustlings of her garments, to the in-out movements of her breath
and the slow, steady beating of her blood.

With these perceptions to draw him, it was only a few
minutes before he silently rounded the last turn and saw her sitting on the low
marble bench in the heart of the maze. Her head was thrown back, and she was
gazing at the sky. Moonlight silvered her fine features and made her hair shimmer.
She looked almost ethereal—an unearthly creature lurking there.

His lips twisted. He had conquered the maze, hunting
her to the heart of it with the single-minded efficiency of the dragon of Mallochbirn,
and his blood was up. The urge to swoop down upon her and bend her to his will
blazed through his body. It would happen anyway, sooner or later. He would have
this woman. She was his.

He made no sound, but her own senses must be acute,
since she turned to meet his gaze. She appeared startled, and then she smiled. “Bravo!
Still, I did get here first, so you will have to pay your forfeit. I want to
hear about the sea dragon whose existence you keep denying.”

“You might regret such a wish,” he said, sitting down
beside her on the bench. He did not touch her, but he could feel her body’s
warmth. Fearing that such proximity might destroy what little self-control he
was able to command, he bobbed up again, and paced back and forth in front of
her instead. “But if you insist, I’ll tell you a tale of my ancestors and their
sacred duties here.”

She gave her full-bodied, amiable laugh. “I’m a great
admirer of folktales, as you know.”

“We do have a dragon. You heard about him in the
village the other night. He’s called the Zrakon. Would you like to know where
he came from?”

“I’d love to.”

“It is said that in ancient times this island was a
sacred place of pagan veneration and worship.”

“And human sacrifice, I suppose?”

“Naturally. Along with wild orgies.”

“We mustn’t forget those.”

“The veil between the worlds is fragile here, and
beings like the Zrakon can go back and forth.”

“Back and forth to where?”

“To a place of magic and mysticism. At one time,
before human memory, there was only one world. All creatures, magical and
ordinary, dwelt there. But a cataclysm caused a deep rift in creation,
resulting in two separate worlds.”

“And magical creatures were consigned to the other
realm?”

“Aye. But from earliest times there have been reports
of dragons, sea serpents, mermaids, fairies, large predatory birds and other
strange creatures in the mountains and seas around Mallochbirn.”

“Ah.” Her eyes were sparkling.

He paused in front of her. “Deep in the heart of the
oldest part of Mallochbirn—that would be the cavern, I suppose—is a
place where the barrier between the worlds is thin. The original keep was built
to guard this rift. In every generation, the laird must vow to protect the
barrier. In return, he is granted some special powers. In due time, after
mating and producing children, he turns his sacred responsibility over to his
heir.”