Midnight's Promise_Dark Warriors

by Donna Grant

  “Thank you.”

  His nod was wooden but words wouldn’t come. He looked over her head at the doorway. It was just steps away. If he could get away from her, he could calm his heated body and right his thoughts once more.

  “Do you feel anything?”

  Her question surprised him enough that he met her eyes. “What?”

  “You heard me. Do you clamp down on your emotions to keep them hidden?”

  “Nay. I have no emotions.”

  “Don’t be a wanker,” she said testily. “Of course you have emotions. It’s up to you whether you show them or not.”

  Malcolm leaned down so that his face was even with hers. He blew out a harsh breath and glimpsed a small ringlet near her face billow out. “Doona pretend to know me, Druid. You know nothing of my life, nothing of what I’ve done. I’m dead inside.”

  He straightened and walked around her. Four more steps and he was out the door.

  Just as he reached it, she said, “If you didn’t feel anything, then you wouldn’t be here trying to keep me from becoming what Deirdre was. And you wouldn’t have saved me from falling just now.”

  His steps slowed, but he refused to stop. She was wrong. He knew what was inside him. A hefty measure of nothing.

  And desire he couldn’t shake.

  Malcolm didn’t stop until he was in the darkened room that had once been a prison. He threw off the soaking wet shirt and then came to a dead stop when he saw the opening that was now three times the size it had been.

  No more did he have to sit in order to view the scenery. He knew exactly who was responsible. The Druid.

  But why? He’d been nothing but testy and rude since he first woke her and demanded she leave. He didn’t want her kindness. What did a man like him do with kindness?

  He’d been hardened by a brutal attack, life-altering debilitation, and a drough who made sure his soul was knotted with hers.

  Malcolm sighed and walked to the opening before stepping onto the ledge. The storm still raged, the wind lashing him like a whip. Rain pelleted him viciously, obstinately. He lifted his head to the sky and closed his eyes.

  Above the storm, he heard the distinctive sound of wings. The beat was long and deep, which meant it wasn’t Broc. It was a dragon.

  Was the dragon here for him or enjoying the few seconds of freedom he got by taking to the skies? It didn’t matter why the dragon was there. Nothing would change.

  The Druid.

  Malcolm didn’t want to be concerned over her, but she was his responsibility. He had been quick to judge her. The others would likely do the same. He’d given her a chance—though a slim one—to change his mind, he wasn’t sure if any of the others would.

  His decision made, Malcolm released his god and jumped onto the side of the mountain. He used his claws to anchor him to the rocks as he jumped higher and higher up the mountain until he reached the top.

  He let loose a bolt of lightning that extended from his hand to the next mountain. That’s all it took for the beat of wings to come closer and the form of a dragon to be seen in the clouds.

  A heartbeat later and the gleaming scales of a crimson dragon dove from the sky. Malcolm watched, mesmerized, at the ease of the dragon’s body cutting through the rain and wind.

  He was beginning to wonder if the dragon would spread his wings to land when the beast rolled into a ball as it sped closer and closer to the mountain.

  Just before he would’ve crashed, the form of the dragon shifted and Guy landed with his legs bent and hands upon the ground. He lifted his head and shook the long hair out of his eyes before his gaze pinned Malcolm.

  “Guy,” he said. “I should’ve known.”

  The Dragon King stood, seemingly oblivious to the fact he stood naked in a storm. “I’ve been charged with babysitting you, Warrior. And I take my responsibilities seriously.”

  “So I see.”

  Guy looked around and grimaced. “Cairn Toul. This is unexpected.”

  “Cut the shite. You’ve known I’ve been here.”

  “So I have.” The Dragon King crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you here, Malcolm?”

  “No’ to reminisce, if that’s what you think.”

  “Then why?”

  Malcolm glanced down at his claws. They looked as dark as blood in the flashes of lightning. He should tamp down his god, but he couldn’t think of a reason why. “I’m checking this vile place to make sure there’s nothing of Deirdre’s that Wallace can get his hands on.”

  “You think there could be something here?” Guy asked, his brows drawn together.

  “With Deirdre, anything is possible. Wallace is already stronger than we expected. I doona want to leave anything to chance.”

  Guy’s chest expanded as he took a breath. “Why no’ tell the others? They’re concerned for you.”

  There was no need for Malcolm to answer that, and Guy knew it. Malcolm ran his tongue over his fangs as he regarded the Dragon King. “Who requested I be watched? Con or Fallon?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Aye. Who?” he demanded.

  “Con.”

  Malcolm absorbed that for a moment. “Why would he be so interested?”

  “The Warriors have always been of interest to us. We kept to ourselves for so long that I think Con is trying to make up for it now.”

  “By acting like an older brother? We Warriors can take care of ourselves.”

  “Oh, sod it, Warrior. We know that,” Guy said, his voice laced with a thread of anger. “Con didna send me tonight. I needed to take to the skies. I learned you were here and wanted to have a look around.”

  Malcolm turned to the side and tamped down his god. It didn’t matter who spied on him. It was the same as Phelan and Larena calling and texting as they did. Or the way Larena used to.

  “Something on your mind, Warrior?” Guy came to stand beside him as he spoke.

  Malcolm kept his gaze forward as he said, “You’ve been alive much longer than I.”

  “Aye. Do you want to know how to get through the years?”

  “Something like that.”

  Guy held his hand out so that rain could gather in his palm. “Think of the years like this water. Some will stay in your memory forever. Others will be forgotten as soon as they occur. It’s knowing which ones to cling to and which ones to let go that’s tricky.”

  “Have you mastered it?”

  “Nay. Just as looking at the years stretching ahead can be daunting. There were times I wanted everything to stop. I didna want to be here anymore. I wanted to give up. But I was charged with something important, Malcolm, and I couldna just let go.”

  “It would be easier if I did.”

  “Larena needs you.”

  Malcolm looked at him and comprehended that Guy was trying to be a friend. Odd that he only now realized it. A friend. The Druid asked that of him, but he hadn’t given it a second’s thought.

  “Why?” Malcolm asked Guy. “Why are you trying to help?”

  Guy smiled wryly. “Because you remind me of where I had been headed at one time.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “We dragons can sleep for thousands of years. I took that option, and it helped to sort me out.”

  “I doona have that opportunity.”

  Guy threw back his head and laughed. “Nay, Warrior, you doona.” The laughter stopped as he peered closely at Malcolm. “Something has changed.”

  Malcolm wasn’t going to tell him about the desire or the way the Druid had him feeling things he’d forgotten.

  “You can tell me,” Guy urged.

  “You answer to Con.”

  “I answer to myself. Con is my King, but I’m a King as well, Warrior. Doona forget that.”

  Malcolm faced the Dragon King. “No need to get riled on my account.”

  “You need something kept a secret, then I’ll make sure it’s done.”

  For just an instant, Malcolm considered telling Guy abou
t the Druid. As much as he might like Guy, it would be better if no one knew about her existence until she was out of Cairn Toul.

  “There’s nothing.”

  Guy made a sound at the back of his throat and leapt into the air. When he did, his body shifted back into dragon form. Rain sluiced over the dark red scales as Guy’s huge wings beat against the air to take him up through the clouds and out of sight.

  Malcolm made his way back inside the mountain and the chamber. He sat with his back against the stones, staring out through the darkness surrounding him to the storm that raged.

  * * *

  Jason sat at his desk and saw on his tablet that he had a new message from one Evangeline Walker. He couldn’t contain his smile as he opened it. Already he was one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy.

  He’d known he had her captivated when she answered his second e-mail. Luckily for him she had no contact with anyone from MacLeod Castle. But just in case, he would tell her his name was Jay, or J for now as he signed his e-mails.

  The rate at which she answered his messages and her hunger to learn more about magic meant he would have her on the hook soon. After that, it would take nothing to get her to meet him.

  He gave her more tidbits about his book of magic. Jason even sent her a spell she could use. Not once had she hesitated in trusting him. It was almost too effortless. In this day and age to have someone trust so easily was too much.

  “Like candy from a baby,” he said while typing his next message.

  She soaked up his woe-is-me role as he’d expected. Just as he fed her lies about being lonely to make her feel sorry for him.

  The one thing he didn’t like was how cagey she was about herself. She eagerly corresponded with him when he spoke about himself, but if he asked questions about her family or past, she closed up tight as a clam.

  He tapped his desk as he waited for her to respond to his fourth request that they meet. When the reply came, he wasn’t shocked at her decline.

  Instead of inviting her again, or demanding as he wanted to do, he asked how the spell had gone. Her response had him rethinking things.

  “She hasna tried it yet.”

  This Jason hadn’t expected. Perhaps she was more cautious than he’d taken into consideration. Of course, his hacking into her site had frightened her. But it was meant to lead her to him, not away.

  Evangeline was meant to fulfill the prophecy, and she could be used as a pawn against the MacLeods. She wasn’t supposed to take a long time to convince to join him. If she didn’t change her tune soon, he’d have to take more drastic measures to ensure that she did.

  Jason shut off the tablet and leaned back in his chair as he propped his feet up on the desk corner and crossed his ankles.

  Evangeline Walker was going to be pivotal in his conquering of the world. The destruction of the interfering Warriors and Druids would be an added bonus.

  CHAPTER

  SIXTEEN

  Evie stared at the small refrigerator that sat in her sitting room against the back wall. Next to it was a generator that ran so quietly she almost missed it.

  She opened the fridge to find it empty except for a quart of milk and some eggs. Evie laughed as she closed the door and stood.

  “And what does he expect me to do with those eggs? Fry them with my magic?”

  That’s when she looked on the other side of the fridge and saw a coffeemaker and an electric skillet. Evie was so surprised that she could only stare at the gifts as if she were a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

  She turned and started to go find Malcolm to thank him when she drew up short. He liked his privacy. It was difficult to remember, but she couldn’t intrude upon his sanctuary every time she wished to.

  As much as she wanted to thank him, she was going to wait. Evie reached for a plastic cup to pour some milk and found the coffee.

  “I’m in heaven,” she whispered and hurried to make some coffee. She’d been caffeine deprived for days and she needed a fix.

  Once the coffee was in the cup and the first sip slid down her throat, she let out a contented sigh. Since she enjoyed the comforts of the city life, this was as far as roughing it as she’d gone. It wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be.

  Of course it didn’t hurt to have someone as handsome and appealing as Malcolm around. It would be better if he had even a smidgen of charm in him, but then he wouldn’t be him.

  “At least he could ask my name,” she grumbled.

  It irked her that he didn’t care enough to even want to know. She could just come out and tell him, but she was determined to make him ask. There was a stubborn streak a mile wide within her, and he brought it forth.

  “He’ll ask for my name. I’ll make sure he does. Then I’ll decide whether to give it to him or not.”

  The caffeine chased away the grogginess and made her more alert. Which might not be a good thing for Malcolm since she found she focused on him.

  She glanced at the doorway hoping to find him there thanking her for expanding the opening so he could see out better. Even as she knew he wouldn’t.

  Malcolm didn’t seem the thanking sort. By the way he went about his day without so much as a look in her direction, he was used to being on his own.

  She was as well, but the difference between them was that she had Brian. Brian needed her. Because of that, she made decisions with him in mind.

  Evie glanced at her mobile looking for a text from her little brother. The simple fact of the matter was that he needed her less and less as the years went by. Soon he wouldn’t need her at all.

  What would she do then? She’d railed against the fates for putting him in her life. Her nights had been spent corralling a youngster when she could have been out partying with her friends.

  Looking back she wasn’t sure how she survived those first years. Somehow she’d managed to get her degree at university. Those days were one huge blur. Between her classes and trying to find a school that Brian didn’t get expelled from had been a nightmare.

  There had been a point where Evie expected the government to come in and take Brian away from her. Yet, they had survived it. Somehow they had not only gotten through it all, but grew close in the process.

  “Oh, Brian, what have I gotten myself into?” she whispered forlornly.

  Suddenly the coffee didn’t taste as good as before. Evie glanced at her computer and frowned. She needed something to do, something besides trying to keep hackers out of her Web site.

  The walls were closing in on her. She missed her life, her friends, and her favorite restaurants. She missed her job, her boss, and his practical jokes. She missed her flat and having people to talk to.

  Evie touched the pendant. She could destroy it. Though she didn’t know if it would keep anyone from looking for it. The spell inside had to be important or her family wouldn’t have kept it secret for so long.

  It might be better if she knew exactly what spell was hidden in the pendant, but somewhere in her family line someone had decided not to pass it along.

  How she wished she could go back in time and change the decision about putting up the necklace on her site. That seemed to be what drew everyone. A simple necklace that looked like an heirloom but nothing more.

  Evie rose from the couch and walked into the bathroom. A long soak in the tub sounded like just the thing. She said the simple spell for fire and waited as it heated the water stored above the flames.

  It was a more primitive way of heating the water from what she’d known, but hot water was hot water.

  The stones hollowed out a boulder with enough water that would fill the tub. Once the fire heated it, all Evie had to do was remove a rock the size of her fist that was jammed in a hole. The water poured into the tub while she stripped out of her clothes.

  In no time at all, Evie stepped into the water and let out a sigh as she leaned back and let the heat surround her.

  * * *

  The storm dispersed before dawn, but the rai
n continued in a steady downpour that didn’t show signs of letting up anytime soon. Malcolm could feel the restlessness in the Druid’s magic. It put him on edge and made him uneasy.

  She stayed in her chamber, but it didn’t stop the force of her magic from barreling into him as if he were standing next to her.

  He then found himself wondering if she had used the coffee machine yet. Before the thought finished running through his mind, he sucked in a breath at the force of her magic.

  Malcolm used the wall and climbed to his feet, his teeth gritted together. The only thing that could send that kind of magic was when a Druid did a spell.

  Her magic felt too good to even consider. He wanted it around him, needed to feel it against his skin.

  And that’s what stopped him cold.

  To his surprise, it was anger that began to well up. Anger because he didn’t want to feel anything, anger because he certainly didn’t want to need the Druid.

  Malcolm straightened, intent on ignoring the rush her magic gave him. He stalked from his hideaway to the Druid. Each step closer brought her magic stronger and headier.

  His body tingled with the feel of it. With all his blood centering in his cock and his heart drumming in his chest, Malcolm couldn’t stop the desire. His mind was screaming nay, but his body pulsed with a longing that wouldn’t be denied.

  Malcolm’s strides ate up the distance separating him from the Druid. Another wave of magic slammed into him, doubling him over it felt so good, so … right.

  He shook his head to try and clear it, but there was no getting away from such hunger. With a hand on the wall, Malcolm palmed his aching cock to try and give himself some relief.

  It wasn’t enough. His body wanted the Druid, needed her.

  The Druid’s chamber was steps away. He could stand before her and have her against the wall as he plundered her mouth with a kiss as fiery as the blood that pumped in his veins.

  The thought appealed to him so much that he took a step toward her before he realized it. He drew up short. With a growl, he straightened and turned away. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt such desire.