Reign of Mist: Book of Sindal Book Two

by D. G. Swank

  “Jesus, Rowan. I’m sorry.”

  To my irritation and frustration, tears filled my eyes. “It’s not your fault. There’s no reason for you to say you’re sorry.”

  “Maybe not, but I’m still sorry you had to see that.”

  “I don’t know what kind of magic Arthur has,” I said, relieved to share my concerns, “but something about it feels familiar.”

  When I didn’t elaborate, he gently prodded, “What does that mean?”

  “I feel like I’ve met him before.”

  “Have you?”

  “That’s the weird thing. He said he was good friends with my dad. I don’t remember him…yet he knows a lot about my dad and even some stuff about me when I was a kid. Maybe I did meet him and just forgot.” I glanced down at him and realized he was still naked. “Let’s get you dressed.”

  I finished cleaning him up, then slid on his underwear and pants over his feet. He lifted his butt off the bed as I tugged them up over his hips. After I pulled his shirt back over his head, I snuggled into his side.

  “I wish I could hold you, Rowan,” he said, his words heavy with disappointment. “I want to reassure you.”

  “Just being with you is enough,” I said, glancing up at him. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re here, although I feel guilty for being so thankful for it.”

  He adamantly shook his head. “No. We’re past that. You have no idea how relieved I am to know you want me with you.”

  I shot him a grin. “As though you couldn’t tell from the way I jumped you.”

  He grinned back. “For all I knew, I was your boy toy. Good to know I’m more than that.” His smile fell. “I know I told you this yesterday afternoon, but I’m not just in this for sex. I want to be with you, Rowan.”

  “Me too,” I said, scared to say much more. I had never let myself be this vulnerable before, not even with my sisters, but Logan made it feel natural.

  He turned to look into my face. “I’ve been totally infatuated with you since I saw you on the side of the road that day. I’ve never felt like that with a woman before.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “This is real, Rowan, and I intend to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Shock zipped up my spine. The look in his eyes said he meant it. “You can’t say things like that, Logan. It’s too soon.”

  “Maybe so,” he said calmly. “But it’s true.”

  “It’s not possible to know something like that.”

  “What if it were?” His lips curled into a smile as he said it.

  “What do you mean?” I scoffed. “We don’t live in some sappy movie, Logan. The only way you can tell for sure is time. And that’s one thing we don’t have, in case you hadn’t realized.”

  He just sat there, hands bound behind his back, and stared at me with eyes full of emotion. “There’s something I haven’t told you,” he said. “My aunt, the witch, she set up my parents and half a dozen other couples. We called her our good luck charm, but we didn’t realize what she could do. She told us the truth when she was dying. All those couples she’d set up? She knew they belonged together because of her witch talent.”

  Matching. A love magic. It was considered one of the weaker specialties, like glamour.

  “Before she died, she gathered my sisters and brothers around her bed and told us to link hands. This pink light flowed out of her and into us. I’d never seen anything like it. She said she wouldn’t be around to help us like she’d helped our parents, but we’d know when we met our match because we’d see that same pink light inside them.”

  His gaze still held mine, unwavering.

  “We didn’t believe at first. Then Billy met his wife, and it happened to him. The same thing happened to Dan, but I still didn’t buy it. I figured they were imagining it because of what Aunt Lina told us. And then…”

  My heart fluttered in my chest. Fluttered like I was a teenage girl with damn butterflies. I knew what he was going to say next, and I didn’t know if I wanted him to or not. Once he said it, there’d be no unsaying it.

  Because even if he doubted his aunt’s power, I believed in it.

  “I saw that light in you Rowan, that night we met. When I first touched you, pink light poured out of you—your fingers, your hair, your feet. It faded, but I knew what it meant. I knew because of the pull I already felt toward you.” He fidgeted a little, uncomfortable, then said, “I could have called you to warn you about that guy asking around town about you, but I was dying to see you again, so I used it as an excuse to drop by.”

  “You only wanted me because of the light?” I asked, sounding tougher than I felt.

  “No,” he said adamantly, leaning toward me. “I want you because Aunt Lina was right, Ro. Your voice soothed me before I met you. I’ve never been interested in cooking, but I couldn’t stop listening to your show. And talking to you that night, walking beside you—everything about you made me want more. I’ve never felt so drawn to a woman, and it’s stronger every minute, even in this room where there is no magic. That’s how I know.”

  He held my gaze, and I couldn’t look away. Every word he’d said felt true.

  “I’m not telling you that I love you, Rowan.” He grinned. “Not yet. But I know it’s in our future. We’re meant to be.”

  No smart-ass comments rose to my lips, nothing to deflect the fact that he’d poured out his heart to me. Maybe, for once, I didn’t have to say anything. I kissed him, losing myself in the rightness of it.

  And then I made myself pull away.

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever have a normal life after this, Logan. If we escape, I’ll be on the run from the Dark Set. Donall thinks I can read the book, and he’s not going to just let me go. Even if he finds someone else, he seems the vindictive type. He’s not going to forgive and forget. He’s going to track me down and make me pay. Even if you’re right—even if your aunt was right—you should stay away from me.”

  “I’ve had normal,” he said. “It’s incredibly overrated. I’m looking for a sexy witch to liven up my life and heat up my bed.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “I’m not usually this exciting. I work from home. I wear sweatpants to the grocery store.”

  “And I bet you look sexy as hell in them,” he said. Then his face turned serious again. “Both of our lives have been turned upside down, Ro, but we’ll figure it out together.”

  I wanted to tell him no, that I could do this on my own. That I’d lived twenty-seven years without a man and I sure didn’t need to be tied down by one now, but I couldn’t make myself do it.

  I didn’t want to lie to him.

  Chapter Twenty

  The door suddenly opened and two guards walked in, their hands on the grips of the guns holstered to their sides. “Rowan, time to go.”

  My first thought was to panic. We hadn’t even made a plan. We hadn’t even talked about making a plan. We’d been too busy thinking about a future we probably wouldn’t have. Now our only hope was for Brandon Cassidy to come through for us.

  Shit.

  Logan got to his feet, nearly falling over when he put weight on his bad leg. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  I hopped up next to him and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back down. “Logan. You can’t stop them.”

  “The fuck I can’t,” he snarled, his focus on the bigger man. He was an inch or two smaller than Logan, but he looked like he could put up a fight, especially since Logan’s hands were still cuffed behind his back.

  The larger guard leered at him. “Come and get me, big boy.”

  To my shock and horror, Logan lunged for the guard, his shoulder catching the man in the upper chest. Logan’s momentum sent the guard flying into the wall hard, and both of them went sprawling onto the floor.

  The second guard seemed to come to his senses and whipped out his gun, striking Logan in the head with the butt of his weapon.

  I screamed, grabbing at his arm as he pulled back to hit Logan again. He elb
owed me hard in the stomach.

  I couldn’t breathe. I started to crumple, but before I hit the floor, two more guards rushed into the room and grabbed my arms, dragging me from the room. I tried desperately to draw in a breath, but they were holding me at an angle that made it difficult. My head turned fuzzy, and I realized I was about to pass out.

  Don’t you wuss out, Rowan Whelan! I shouted to myself, then drew in a gasping breath.

  The guards didn’t seem to notice, intent on dragging me to the staircase. I regained my footing on the first step down, not that they seemed to care, and continued down the stairs until we reached the first floor.

  They headed straight toward the cafeteria, and I wondered what new tricks Arthur had in store for me this evening. I hadn’t had anything to eat since the bagel at breakfast, and I suspected my dinner was dependent on my cooperation, or more likely my progress.

  One of the guards shoved me into the room, and my worst nightmare stood before me.

  Donall stood by the window, looking out into the darkness, but he turned dramatically to face me. “Rowan. I’m eager to see what progress you’ve made.”

  Arthur sat at a table, trying not to look worried and failing miserably.

  We both knew Donall wouldn’t be happy with what I could—or more accurately couldn’t—do.

  Donall gave me a tight smile, the picture of forced patience. “Why don’t you give me a demonstration?”

  I hated that he knew everything in my head. “Can’t wait.” Then I purposely thought, I hope he’s not too mad.

  He watched me with what looked like a leer. “I hear you didn’t get very far working with one of our kitchen staff. You need to practice with someone with more skill.”

  “But Marni loved working with me,” I said with my best smart-ass attitude. “Who’s going to break the news that she’s been replaced?”

  Donall’s jaw twitched and it looked like it was taking everything within him to keep from striking me.

  I lifted my eyebrows in expectation. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Who do I get to work with next?”

  But I suspected I already knew.

  “Don’t test my patience, Rowan,” Donall said, then called out, “Send them in.”

  The door opened seconds later, and a middle-aged man I’d known since I was eight years old entered the room along with a guard carrying a box containing the Book of Sindal.

  Sweat broke out at the nape of my neck. Donall had apparently lost patience with Arthur’s methods and was ready to try a new tactic.

  “You’re correct,” Donall said. “I need that power sphere, and I’m tired of waiting. You either find out how to free the thing I want, or I’ll start taking the things you want.”

  My head grew fuzzy and I pressed my shaking hands to my sides. “I’ve been trying, Donall. I swear.”

  “Then let’s hope stronger motivation makes you try harder.”

  Sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

  “You can set that on the table beside Arthur,” Donall said to the guard then gave the older man a grim smile. “Peter, thank you for joining us this evening. I’m sure you remember Rowan.”

  Peter Savage’s eyes landed on me. “Of course. I had no idea you were so talented. I was astounded when I studied your handiwork.”

  Fear raced through my blood, but I wasn’t about to cower before any of them. “And I was equally astounded when I studied yours,” I said in a smug tone. “I expected someone of your supposed caliber to pay more attention to detail.”

  His face turned red and he looked like he wanted to strangle me with his bare hands, but Donall said, “Enough bickering. Peter, you said you studied her magic. What did you find?”

  “Complex glamours that very few mages or witches can achieve,” Peter said, making it clear he didn’t like admitting it. “She’s obviously been hiding her talent.”

  “Her mother hid her talent,” Arthur interjected as he got to his feet and rounded the table.

  “That’s no excuse for her hiding it from the Small Council,” Peter countered, shooting me a dark look.

  “Linnet hid it from Rowan,” Arthur insisted. “Then she kept the girls sequestered to the farm so that no one would know.” He held out his hand toward me. “She made Rowan believe she was weak.”

  “She’s far from weak,” Peter said. “Her talent is extraordinary. How could she not realize that?”

  “Again, that was Linnet’s doing. She didn’t want anyone to know. She was fully aware of the Whelan family history. Whelan women with glamour in the past have exhibited the ability to see through glamour as well, a fact Rowan was unaware of. She knew that Rowan could likely read the book. Not only did she not want the Small Council to know, she kept it from Rowan herself and convinced the girls they needed to stick close to the land and stay away from other witches and mages. Linnet fooled us all.”

  I stared at him in shock, shaking my head. He was talking nonsense. “She would never do that. She would never hide my magic from me.”

  Arthur’s mouth turned down as sympathy filled his eyes. “I’m so sorry, but it’s true, Rowan. I was shocked myself when I discovered the truth.”

  I took a step backward. “How the fuck would you know? You claim to be a close friend of my dad’s, but I never once met you.”

  Donall started to laugh. “For fuck’s sake, you still haven’t told her?”

  I jerked my gaze to Donall. “Told me what?”

  “That Arthur is—”

  “I’ll tell her,” Arthur said in a rush, lifting up his hands in surrender. “Just not yet. She has to read the book first. She must fulfill her destiny.”

  What in seven hells was he talking about? “I’m never going to be able to read that book, so just tell me now.”

  Donall sighed. “Arthur. Just tell her already.”

  “No,” Arthur said with an authoritative tone that caught me off guard. Did he have a death wish?

  Donall turned to him. “I’ll concede to your wishes for a little while longer, but you know we need results by the end of the night.”

  Arthur nodded, keeping his gaze down. “Peter, I’ve considered what you said earlier about needing an extreme emotion to unlock her hidden magic. I’m ready to try it, but remember the rules.”

  Fear burrowed in my gut, and I took a shaky breath. What extreme emotion were they going for?

  “What rules?” I asked.

  Peter turned to me with a sadistic smile. “Rowan, have a seat.”

  I shook my head and took a step backward. “I’d rather stand.”

  His grin spread. “I insist.”

  Donall grabbed my arm and held me still as Arthur carried a chair over and placed it behind me.

  “Sit,” Donall said, then jerked my arm to pull me down onto the seat.

  I tried to resist, but thick green vines shot out of the floor, wrapping around my legs and binding them to the chair. Donall and Arthur held my arms to the metal chair frame as the vines twined up my arms, holding me firmly in the chair.

  Panic swamped my head, but I fought for control. I couldn’t afford to lose it.

  Peter moved closer. “What are your worst fears, Rowan?”

  “Missing the semiannual shoe sale at Macy’s,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. “Who wouldn’t recoil in horror after missing out on a pair of Kenneth Cole boots at twenty-five percent off?”

  Peter held out his hand and a tarantula crawled out of his long shirtsleeve, scrambling onto his palm.

  Terror stole my breath. How had he known that spiders were my greatest fear? Either it was a lucky guess or Donall had found it during his romp in my head.

  This isn’t real, I told myself. It’s an illusion. A glamour. It can’t hurt me.

  Donall chuckled. “Are you sure it’s not real? I can feel your terror, Rowan. That’s real.”

  “Does it not frighten you?” Peter asked as he held his hand in front of my face. The spider’s legs balanced on his fingers. The minute
hairs on them twitched, the illusion perfect.

  “It’s a glamour,” I said, trying to convince myself just as much as I was trying to convince them. “It can’t hurt me.”

  “You’ve perfected three-dimensional glamours,” Peter said, tilting his arm to one side and letting the spider crawl onto the back of his hand. “I’m pretty good at them as well. Would you like to test it out?”

  “No… I’m good.” I gave a slight jerk of my arm. “Looking at it is enough.”

  “See, I don’t think it is.” Peter sounded rational, but the gleam in his eyes looked sadistic. “You need abject terror to push you out of your comfort zone.” He held his hand a few inches from my face, letting those all-too-real hairs on the spider’s leg bristle against my face.

  It’s not real. It’s not real. I chanted the words inside my head, but I couldn’t control the panic building in my chest and my breath hitched.

  Donall squatted next to me, brushing my cheek with the back of his hand. “It’s very real,” he said in a deceptively soothing tone. “Give in to your fear.”

  The last thing I wanted to do was freak out, but I was dangerously close to breaking down. What else had Donall seen in my mind?

  “That’s not how I know,” Donall whispered in my ear as he reached his open palm out to Peter. “Someone else told me. Someone close to you.”

  I didn’t have time to focus on the implications of that. The spider was crawling onto Donall’s hand now, and my panic was building.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. If I didn’t see the illusion, then it wouldn’t be there. But I felt the hair on the spider’s legs brush my cheek again. Trailing down to my chin.

  No. No. No.

  I needed to focus on something else. Anything other than the illusion on his hand. Celeste. Phoebe. My sisters needed me to be strong. They needed me to hold out. To protect the world from Donall’s madness.

  “Look at me, Rowan,” Donall said softly. “Look into my eyes and tell me whether I’m crazy.”