by Kiki Howell
“Thank you.” She sighed as she resisted the urge to touch him in any way.
He nodded, stood, and left the room, closing the door behind him.
She listened for his door to open and close, confirming his close proximity. At least she could sleep like the dead if her mind would allow it.
Thoughts of her birth mother in this same house gave way to an exhausted sleep.
In what seemed like seconds later, an anguished cry woke her. The horror of the sound had her tense and chilled under the endless layers of warm blankets. Her fingers clenched around the top quilt. It fell even with her nose and left only her eyes to peer out into the dark room.
With only the scratch of greenery on the window, she attempted to tell herself she’d dreamed the hideous wail. Then, it came again, cut through the wind like a sharp blade. If witches existed, then maybe werewolves did, too, here in crazy country. She shook away the bizarre thought from her sleep-rattled brain. Even without any verifiable sound as proof, she knew someone lingered just outside her room. Sensed it. Assuming the person to be Aedan, she flew from her bed and flung open the heavy door with a strength she never knew she had.
No brown-haired, scruffy-faced, ex-SEAL stood there, though. Instead, piercing blue eyes formed from the shadows. With the man’s Sherpa-lined denim jacket hanging loosely over a slim, sculpted bare chest with a trail of dark hair down the middle, he looked as if he’d just awakened, too.
Clad in only a nightgown, a sudden rush of warmth within her contrasted with the chill of the air against her skin. While the garment covered most of her, she resisted the urge to look down and see if the dark circles of her areolas showed through the light colored fabric.
As he drifted closer to her, a slither of cold snaked down her spine even as her nipples hardened.
“Kyna,” this wild beast of a man half-purred and half-growled. A glint in his eye made him look as if he recognized her to be a long lost lover or something. She fought the urge to stare at his hair. It hung long past his shoulders. The fringed edges just teased his dusky nipples. Dark auburn, with copper highlights and blackish lowlights, it matched his dark, full moustache and beard. The color combination looked unnatural, as if created in a beauty shop. Although, oddly, it fit him to perfection. Various layers fell disheveled around his face and over his shoulder, gave him an unkempt look, like one the fashion magazines worked so hard to achieve. She doubted he spent any time on his appearance. The windy weather probably accounted for the current state of his looks.
“Yes. And you are?” she demanded.
The sinister squint of his eyes and an intense, chilling gaze pierced through the dim lighting of the hallway to meet her. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling chilled, exposed.
“I’m Darcaryn. I’m sure your aunt mentioned me. I’ll be in charge of the majority of your training. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to greet you earlier.”
Funny, nothing about his brash tone encouraged her to believe his words of apology to be forced.
“Thank you. Wait, training? You mentioned something about training?” She spoke out loud as she searched her brain, trying to remember if her aunt had mentioned training earlier in regard to this man.
“Yes. I’m a sorcerer. I’ve been a friend of the family forever."
“Ah, I see,” she managed. “Right, friend. I think my aunt said that.”
Although, she had to admit some unexplainable energy sparked off this man and ignited something inside her. Different from the intensity of of attraction she had toward Aedan, he created a more animalistic attraction within her. From this man, she swore tiny strings of electricity connected them. Her sleep-blurred eyes actually saw the faint threads of light wiggling in the shadows between them. He touched her without his fingers, probed every fiber of her being with just a glance. She felt exposed, naked, even with clothing on.
“And, you came to my room at this hour of the night to introduce yourself?” she continued.
“No,” he boomed, his face tight, giving a greater definition to the cut of his set jaw.
Is every man in Ireland to possess such rugged good looks? If so, maybe I’ll stay longer after all.
An agonized cry cut the night again displacing the thought. A sizzle of lightning slashed through the darkness of the room, its energy feeling like it shot through her body. A clap of thunder followed. leaving her trembling. She grabbed the doorframe to keep herself upright against the heady sensations of power and fear. How she embodied strength amidst such rising anxiety unsettled her even more, if possible.
“What is that?” she asked.
“A banshee keening out a death call. No one here is safe. She foretells the death of someone in this house.”
“Right? Cause it couldn’t be a wolf, or fox, or whatever wildlife you have here,” she spat.
An ominous feeling, a dark premonition of sorts, left her heart beating wildly in her chest. When the sound reverberated through the night again, just seconds later, her hair bristled and a tingling in the back of her neck gave way to a gut feeling. She needed to see her aunt.
“What the hell is going on here?” echoed a voice from the dark. Aedan suddenly stood beside Darcaryn. “I heard voices. What the hell are you doing in this part of the house, Darcaryn?”
“Checking. I heard the banshee cry and needed to check on those in the house.”
“Banshee?” Aedan questioned.
“Still have a lot to learn, huh, SEAL?” Darcaryn grumbled, followed with a deep sigh.
The two men stood in fight stances with their fists all but raised toward each other. Despite the current situation, and the now audible beat of her heart, the two of them squaring off made for quite a sight. Lightning lit up the hall again, highlighting tousled hair and sharp eyes along with the hills and valleys of abs and slick, firm muscles. Kyna remained the only one with a shirt on, much to her own amusement and dismay at the moment. One bulky and one slim, they both were cut. What woman wouldn’t want to press her soft breasts against the hardness of one of them as something wild cried out in the night? Aedan, while much bulkier in build, didn’t rival the cut of Darcaryn’s six-pack. She entertained herself to a wonderful distraction from the concern that rattled her insides.
“Nice to meet you, Kyna. See you tomorrow. Sleep safely,” Darcaryn growled.
He then turned on his heel and disappeared into the black of the hallway.
Looking back at Aedan, she expected him to disappear into thin air as well. Instead, he peered down his nose at her. He reached out his hand and stopped to hover inches above her shoulder before pulling it back and letting it land on the doorframe. Vibrations shot through her already shaking body.
“Banshee?” Aedan said again.
“Please tell me you have a better explanation,” she sighed.
“I have none, actually, but some witch that foretells of death wasn’t even on the list of possibilities. You look like you’re freezing. You should crawl back into bed.”
“I guess, but that eerie cry isn’t very conducive to sleep, especially when added to this fierce storm. I thought it had died down until the screeching started. If I didn’t have such a rational mind, I’d swear the temper of the animal, or whatever is out there in mourning, was fueling the storm.”
“Luckily, storms here, the rougher patches of them, tend to come in and out fast. Really, you’ll need your sleep to deal with tomorrow,” he warned with a rising gruffness to his tone.
“Great. Can’t wait,” she huffed.
“You’re strong. You can handle it,” he countered with a wink that melted her calming heart.
She accommodated, “So I’ve been told many times.”
She nodded as he pulled her door shut. Then, she turned to see her bed illuminated in another round of lightning. The sensation of having caught a ball of it settled over her hands. She turned them until her palms faced up. The way they shook wasn’t exactly fear, or flight, but all fight. She curled her fingers in, let her nai
ls bite into her palms. Angry, she made a few stiff and heavy strides back to bed. Not only did everyone here baffle or betray her, as did her ominous surroundings, but her own body took cues from the vivid imaginings of those she’d encountered today.
As she closed her eyes again, she swore the power in her body built with each bolt of light flashing outside her window. Her skin crackled with some sort of electricity of its own, frying what was left of her brain as she tried to force it into a fitful sleep.
The sudden awareness of being watched courted with the sensation of having her life energy pulled from her body. As she opened her eyes, weak and dizzy, a streak of lightning backlit a black form at the edge of her bed. Kyna scrambled until her back hit the wooden backboard with a breath-stopping thump. Her muscles ached in earnest, almost as if small cramps had taken over her body. Small figments of light, burning silver threads, extended from herself to the shadowy person.
Fear, the kind that freezes time, makes every bone in a body cold, gave way to anger, red-hot and resilient. In a cold sweat, she sprang from the covers. She extended her arms with her palms out in front of her as if signaling 'stop'. Pushing against the dark energy that seemed to suck her very life from her, she sliced, in her mind, the cords that bound her to the dark force. Imaginary or not, nightmare or pure horror, the glowing threads broke and fell. Tiny shards of light hung in the air for a second before they disappeared.
Finally, a scream ripped from her lungs. The shriek was outrage laced with angst. The shadow at the end of her bed deteriorated to black smoke, which seeped into the wooden floor. Running to her door and throwing it open like it weighed nothing, she ran, brought up short as she smacked into Aedan in the hall.
Suddenly, though still shaking, she became aware of her soft breasts throbbing having hit the solid muscle of his chest. He'd wrapped his strong arms around her, his fingers pressing firmly into her back. She closed her eyes, the shadow image reappearing in her mind’s eye.
“I got you,” he whispered as her body went through some mini, fear-induced seizure for a moment.
She released her pent up breath , hot and fast. Kyna panted herself past calm into aroused. However, the house wouldn’t allow her attention to be diverted. Thunder rocked the walls. Once she opened her eyes, she observed, wide-eyed as shadows formed and unformed around her.
“Can you see them?” she whispered to Aedan.
“See who?”
“I’m going crazy,” she growled.
“No, your aunt warned me of this type of magic. The group after you, they use dark magic that forms some sort of mystical hauntings. Nothing should hurt you, though they may give the appearance of it. Your aunt can explain it better in the morning. For now, let’s get you back to bed.”
“It took from me. It pulled something from me with these bright cords. Don’t leave me,” she begged and then winced.
Uncharacteristically weak, she wondered if her courage all these years came so easy due to nothing real eventful having happened in her life. No. No way. She promised herself to be brave, to make her mother proud, no matter what they threw her way.
“I won’t leave you this time,” Aedan promised. “I’ll sit in the chair and watch you sleep. I’ve probably slept more than you already at this point. There’re only a few hours left, now, until morning. But, he, or it took what?”
“It felt like the shadowy image was draining my life from me, not blood, just energy or something. My life force, maybe. It felt so real. Like my heart slowed and my mind became fuzzy. I got so weak.”
“I’m sure it is all part of the haunting, some magical images and feelings projected onto you to scare you.”
She bought the explanation, had to in an attempt to get any sleep at all with the shadows that still lingered. She challenged them with her thoughts as she stood at the foot of the bed.
“Silly,” she scoffed.
“What? Because I see nothing silly about being afraid of something you don’t even understand. Sometimes fear is good. That is, if you let it fuel you rather than make you quit,” Aedan advised.
“I meant it was silly that I was trying to threaten them with my mind. As if, because they are shadows, they can hear my thoughts. Seen too many ghost movies, I think.”
“You’re not silly at all. Most women would have run from this place screaming, demanding to be driven to the airport in her beautiful, white nightgown,” he soothed, voice deep and gravely. “Now, off to bed with you, my brave woman.”
Comforted by his praise, she obeyed. Yet, Aedan in the same room also made sleep not come easily. Just for a whole other set of reasons entirely.
Chapter Three
IN THE MORNING she showered and dressed in another simple outfit of jeans and a heavy sweater. Feeling semi-refreshed, she let Aedan lead the way to a dining room of sorts for breakfast. The walls, rough stone of various colors of gray with highlights of mossy greens and earthy browns, called her to touch them. Nothing new, she’d had this touchy-feely relationship with nature all her life. Her mother had always complained she never could just look. She had to get her hands dirty in the investigating of it.
Images of people she didn’t know, yet felt familiar, flickered in and out her mind, going at the rate of a fast-paced music montage. When the heat intensified, she pulled her hand back and rubbed her palm. Frowning, she walked closer to the three windows, evenly spaced in the semi-circular room. They had to be in one of the towers. The table sat exactly in the middle of a bartizan. Each window had a large sill made from reddish and black bricks. The wooden frames, painted an intense royal blue, were the same color as the blue and gold rugs which hung down the walls in between the windows. This blue, which reminded her of an ocean at dusk, complimented the blood red, velvet seat cushions on the dark brown, wooden seats perfectly. If all that wasn’t gothic enough, in the middle of the heavy wooden table sat a wrought iron candleholder, three-tiered, with nine, fat, squatty cream candles burning on it.
Stunning. Ornate. Like nothing she’d ever seen. She bet she wouldn’t be eating a sugary-coated cereal out of the thick, black ceramic bowls sitting before her. Bone-colored goblets awaited juice, she assumed. Her stomach rumbled as she turned to the sound of Aedan pulling out a chair for her.
“In your job description, too, along with in-room security?” Kyna exclaimed, her cheeks heating with a blush.
“What, being a gentleman? No, my mom instilled that trait, working or not,” he confessed in his usual deep tone, the edginess of last night sounding softer somehow this morning.
His forced attempt to smooth her rattled edges this morning, she’d bet. Peace flooded through her, calmed the tempest of raging emotions inside her. A prince among protectors, she thanked her lucky stars for this man. A stranger she’d already call friend, consider as a lover, and feared she could lose her heart to in seconds if she’d let herself go. But, those seconds remained a selfish luxury right now. With so much up in the air and at stake, she reminded herself she needed her wits about her. She needed to face this new part of her life. Still, she marveled over the possibility that amidst all this upheaval her soul mate would appear. If so, would this be a blessing or a curse? She giggled privately as the thought struck her of having the inability to discern either of those in any of this.
“Look, I’m so sorry about last night,” she shook her head as she stared at her empty place setting.
Everything on the table looked bigger, chunkier than it needed to be, from the plates to the silverware. Yet, she found it aesthetically pleasing, again, in line with a style preference she didn’t know she possessed.
“No apologies. I actually require very little sleep. A side effect of having been a SEAL, I suppose. I got more than enough and was happy to help you get some yourself. I can’t imagine what yesterday had to be like for you. Or last night for that matter.. Hell, your past week had to be horrendous. I want to help,” he soothed.
He touched her shoulder lightly, and then let his hand drift across h
er back. The pressure sparked soreness in her muscles just as his touch initiated a sensual response. An electric shock shot through her body to her toes.
“Really,” he promised, his breath a a whisper in her ear.
“A bad night, huh?” Her aunt Saoirse sighed as she entered the room.
Aedan moved with haste and pulled out her aunt’s chair as well. With patience, he stood and waited while the woman hovered over Kyna, ringing her hands. After several moments when it seemed her aunt could finally move, as indicated by small jerks of her muscles, she sat in the chair Aedan had ready for her.
, A servant immediately entered the room with a wheeled cart of food and drink. Soon after, two fried eggs, a round sausage, two rashers, some sort of boxty- Irish soda bread, baked beans, and fried mushrooms and tomatoes arrived on her plate. In the bowl went black pudding, not a favorite of hers due to the whole idea of having pork blood in her oatmeal. Then, as a woman poured orange juice in her goblet, a man suddenly appeared through another door and filled her mug with steaming tea. Left dizzy from watching the process, she blinked her eyes a few times while deciding what to stick her clunky fork into first.
“Hearty enough to keep the winds from the cliffs from cutting through you,” her aunt said as she smiled and nodded to each servant.
They vanished at her silent command.
“So, tell me what happened last night,” her aunt continued in a shaky voice that seemed out of character.
Even Aedan had cocked his head and raised one eyebrow slightly as she’d spoke. So, apparently, Kyna’s notion wasn’t far off.
“Was it the storm that kept you awake, or dare I ask, more?” her aunt inquired, her voice having stumbled over a few of the words.
“Ah, not sure,” Kyna said as she still held her fork above her plate in a stomach-growling state of indecision. “Even your breakfasts are overwhelming.”
Her aunt looked to Aedan as if Kyna hadn’t spoken.
“We had some issues, as you warned me about,” Aedan offered with a courteous nod of his head. “First though, Kyna had a run in with Darcaryn. He claimed to be investigating that horrid sound coming from outside”
