by M. L. Briers
“But if she was… yours,” she bit out, remembering my earlier words.
“Not truly mine- there’s a difference between Moira and you that we’ll get too-”
“Now,” she demanded and I considered it for a moment. In for a penny…
“You might want to sit down for this one,” I grinned, she shuffled her feet, changed her stance, but made no effort to move from the spot that she was standing in.
“Now,” she repeated and I nodded on a shrug.
“Moira wasn’t my mate…” I left that hanging in the air between us. Her expression didn’t change a great deal… more confused, a little curious, but no recognition for that word. So Moira had done me no favours in that department and paved the way…
“The supernatural world, much like the human world, consists of soul mates, some people never find their mate, some turn their back on them, and for some- it’s too late…” I left that hanging- wanting her to take it all in and devour it word for word, which is what she seemed to be doing- that frown was back on her forehead.
“Wait- so you’re saying that I’m…” she stopped talking and scowled at me, what could I say?
“Bingo!” I grinned wider and saw the disbelief and some horror on her face, in those green eyes…
“That’s not…” she shook her head again. “I’m leaving now.”
“We’ll see each other again, Maggie mine,” I offered and those words seemed to hold her in place like quick drying cement.
“No, we won’t.” she glared back at me.
“Unfortunately, after waiting two hundred years for you to come along, do you really think that I’m going to walk away from my soul mate?”
Maggie’s jaw slacked open. I wasn’t sure if she was shocked by the fact that I was two hundred years young or the fact that I’d finally stated that she was my soul mate.
She shuffled her feet again, unsure of everything as her world slipped away from underneath her and was replaced by this alien universe where she was a star player and the evil monster was claiming her for his. I could understand it if she felt the need to scream- headbutt a wall or two…
“But on the plus side- that means that I don’t want to kill you. That must make you feel better,” I smiled- she curled her top lip in disdain.
“I’m not sure what’s worse- dying or being your… mate.”
“Ouch, ego crusher. You wound me, Lass.”
“I’ll try my best if you don’t stay the hell away from me,” Maggie’s temper certainly did match her kin’s.
My attention was snatched away by the sound of the front door opening and the heavy footsteps of Shamus coming towards us. That was bad timing to say the least… what the hell did he think he was playing at?
I got to my feet and put myself between Maggie and Shamus.
“What are you doing?” she muttered from behind me.
“Wait for it,” I offered as I raised a hand to silence her.
Shamus appeared in the doorway and the first thing that I noticed was the dark look in his eyes, but that seemed to be washed away for the second when he took in the sight of Maggie with the sword- yeah, I’d have probably cracked up too…
“This is going well then?” Shamus’s tone was full of amusement- not something I shared right then.
“Whoa, another one…” I heard her whisper.
“There’s not been any screaming yet,” I offered back. “But now that you’re here…” I made my feelings known with the acid tone of my voice.
“We’ve got trouble-”
“Not my favourite words to hear- what did you do?”
“Eat someone…” Maggie mumbled and I had to chuckle. Shamus’s shoulders bobbed in silent laughter too.
“Red haired women…” Shamus left that sentence open to interpretation. I grunted in response.
“I’m leaving,” Maggie announced and I winced. Now was not the time.
“Give me a moment,” I turned my eyes on her briefly. I trusted Shamus, but only so far- she was my mate, after all.
“That’s not a good idea- I just ran into another of us in the town square…” His eyes flicked towards Maggie, and from her stance he’d guessed that I’d been explaining myself to her, but still he couldn’t bring himself to label our kind in front of her.
“Another one?” Maggie breathed hard.
“Do we know him?” I asked and Shamus shrugged his shoulders.
“Bruce…” I groaned at the recognition of that first name. Maybe there were a handful of Bruce’s in the vampire world, but this was Scotland, and the Bruce I knew considered the whole of it his domain.
“His timing is worse than yours,” I grunted again- trying to think past the image of Maggie behind me- still wielding the sword, and all wide eyed with wonder and horror at her world falling apart.
“I’m guessing he’s here to piss and mark his territory, but what about…?” he nodded a few times towards Maggie. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and kept them there for a long moment as I considered what Shamus was telling me…
“I have a name,” Maggie’s disgruntled tone snapped me out of my musings and I had to frown as Shamus’s deep laughter rolled towards me.
“And a pretty one to match your temperament, I’m sure,” he offered back to her with those smiling Irish eyes and that easy charm. I felt my anger rise within me, but the sound of her snort of disdain squashed it just as easily.
“Irish charmer,” she grunted and I grinned at Shamus.
“Well suited,” Shamus offered me his opinion and I chuckled.
“And what does that mean?” Maggie grumbled.
“Just that in this case- opposites didn’t attract,” Shamus offered with a large dollop of charm concealing his acid tongue.
“I’m not attracted to him,” Maggie hissed back.
I felt the need to groan; so I did so inwardly- but the look of pure unadulterated amusement on Shamus’s face made me want to put my fist there.
“I can see why you wouldn’t be,” Shamus offered with a small bow towards her.
“I’m sorry, shall I step out of the room while you two vipers rip me to shreds?”
“No!” Maggie’s answer was quick and panicked. My eyes locked with Shamus’s and he grinned in a different way- her answer proved that she thought of me as safer than him, and that was a start. “I’ll step out of the room- the house…” she added, but it was too late to conceal her initial response.
“Another moment,” I offered back over my shoulder to her and heard her push out a huffed breath in response.
“Some of us age…” she muttered, catching me by surprise, and I had to turn to look at her… “Just saying.” She added innocently.
Shamus’s roar of laughter made me snap my head back around to him, and the sight of the big Irishman splitting his sides eased my tension- somewhat. I took comfort in the fact that Maggie was now coming out of her shock- and using sarcasm was always a good sign of someone’s mental wellbeing.
“You need to get…” he nodded in Maggie’s direction again.
“Maggie,” I offered.
“Maggie, out of here. You know how Bruce feels about humans, he’d kill his own Granny- probably did,” he grunted and Maggie sucked in a breath. Damn it, I didn’t need her scared again…
“We should talk alone,” I said, taking a step towards him…
“Wait,” just that one word brought me to a complete stop, “if this is about me then don’t I have a right to know?”
“No,” I replied and Shamus backed me up.
“Is that sexism or racism?” Maggie responded and my eyes locked with Shamus’s. The big man shrugged his shoulders on another chuckle- his eyes were dancing with amusement, and I closed mine for a second on a shake of my head- this woman was unbelievable- how quickly she had found her feet, but could it last?
“Both,” I offered back; turning to look at her. She narrowed her eyes on me and I could actually see the cogs turning within her mind as she mulled th
at one over.
“My God, you’re such a throwback to a bygone era,” she muttered on a scowl.
“I was born in a different age,” I felt the need to defend myself, but I wasn’t entirely sure why- maybe because I didn’t want my mate thinking badly of me.
“And then some,” she turned her nose up at that, “but it isn’t like you missed the sexual revolution and equality.” I opened my mouth to speak but she’d rattled something in my brain and I was lost for a moment.
“She got you there,” Shamus chuckled. I wished the man would shut the hell up.
“Whose side are you on?” I shot a look at Shamus and the big man chuckled.
“Hers, it’s more fun that way.”
I almost told him to go get his own damn mate, but remembered Naima’s fate just in time. That brought it home to me that fate might put mates together, but there was no saying that there would be a happily ever after.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Maggie answered for me.
“What she said,” I grinned.
“That’s because she met you first and now she doesn’t trust any of us, even the best- like me,” Shamus grinned at Maggie not me and that urge to punch him in the face was back- maybe more- maybe I wanted to rip his damn smile of his face…
I took an involuntary step towards him and his eyes snapped to mine. He assessed my mood in a heartbeat and took a step backwards, putting his hands up in an easy surrender as amusement played across his face.
CHAPTER FIVE
~
“Easy, Brother. I know the boundaries,” Shamus assured me, but still I didn’t lose that urge to kill him easily.
“Then honour them.” I bit out.
“What just happened?” Maggie asked and I grimaced.
She already thought of me as a monster, if she only knew what lurked beneath then she would run and never stop. I couldn’t let that happen.
“I stepped out of line,” Shamus answered for me.
I shot a look at Maggie over my shoulder- she was still clutching that damn sword, but she must have been buckling at the weight of it by now. I sighed inwardly- made a decision and strolled across the room towards the oak chest that sat on a shelf by the window seat.
Flicking open the lid; I pulled out an old favourite- a well carved stake made from the wood of a rowan tree that I’d taken off a witch back in the day- I tossed it in the air and caught the handle, leaving the pointy end sticking out towards her as I turned back.
Her eyes snapped downwards and her lips parted in surprise as I started back towards her. Her hands tightened around the handle once more, and she shuffled her feet a little as if she was ready to swing at the pitch…
“This is lighter, and if your aim is true, easier, and a cleaner kill,” I walked towards her, but I stopped a little short and placed the stake down on the seat of a chair. “Less of that icky blood.” I teased.
“You’re… strange,” Maggie looked at me as if I’d just cut my own damn head off. I heard Shamus’s chuckle once more- like he would have done anything different.
“Well, that would depend on who you are comparing me too, no?”
Maggie looked suitably gobsmacked. I backed off, walking over to Shamus, who was watching her over my shoulder.
“Don’t run off now, Maggie,” I didn’t turn back to look at her, but Shamus’s grin widened; so I expect she made some sort of face or gesture like a petulant child pushing against her boundaries.
~
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~
“The man seems to think he’s Robert the Bruce and all of Scotland is his.” Shamus dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shook his head in disdain.
I’d tangled with Bruce in the past, but that was over a hundred years ago. What he was like now- I had no idea- he could have been even more insane than he had been back then.
I had only one problem this time and as Shamus had pointed out that was Maggie. A human mate was the biggest complication that a vampire could have, but what could I do? Turn her? I’m sure she’d agree to that in a damn heartbeat…
“If he’s here- then he knows I’m back, probably has some minion watching the house.” I was thinking aloud.
“If that’s true then he knows about Maggie,” Shamus scowled.
“At the moment she could pass for a snack,” I winced when I said it. The idea didn’t sit well with me.
I might not have had much of conscience in the past about having a takeaway and then wiping their memory and returning them back into their life, but Maggie was different… it didn’t sit right within me.
“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Shamus chuckled.
“You think?” I rolled my head on my neck- tension had crept up on me and seeped into every muscle, every sinew. It might do me good to go a few rounds with Bruce- just to relieve the tension.
“You need to come up with a plan,” Shamus said.
“State the obvious,” I groaned back.
“Well, right now your little head is probably messing with the big one,” he grinned, a sparkle of amusement back in his eyes.
“This amuses you?”
“You finding a mate,” he made a meal of considering it, “yeah, kind of.”
“Asshole,” I bit out.
“Look, I’m here for you, brother,” Shamus suddenly turned serious, “you want me to go and take Bruce out, just say the word.”
“This is my fight, not yours,” I informed him- not sure if my ego and pride had taken a hit then or if I was itching to take Bruce out myself- end the threat to Maggie.
“You know me…” he left that hanging.
The Irish and Scots were made from the same cloth. We drank too much, loved too hard, and we were always ready to put a fist in someone’s face. It made life… interesting.
“Too well.”
“You know your mate has just opened the back door, right?” Shamus smirked and I sighed.
“Yeah, like a butterfly testing her new wings.”
“What are you going to do about her?”
“Keep her close, keep her safe, and then give her the chance to walk away.” I liked the first two ideas, the third one I wasn’t keen on one little bit, but I had no choice, there was no way in hell that I could force her to choose me if her heart wasn’t entirely in it.
~
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~
I wanted to laugh aloud at the way that she was trying to stealthily sneak away from the house. Considering that she had prior warning that vampires existed- I would have thought that she might have put a little more effort into thinking what she would do if she ever encountered one of us… trying to walk as quietly as possible wasn’t exactly going to help her any…
“I did ask you to stay in the house,” I said as I appeared in front of her.
The look on her face was priceless. Shocked horror at first, closely followed by righteous indignation- classic.
“You said I was free to leave,” she challenged me with her words, her eyes, and her stance. It was sort of cute in a lamb to the slaughter kind of way.
“I said that before we knew that another vampire was on the prowl.”
“I have a stake.” I’m not sure if she was reminding me of the fact or trying to threaten me- either way I held onto the chuckle that was brewing within me. It would be rude to laugh in her face when she was trying her best.
“But do you know what to do with it?” I watched her eyes flared and then narrow on mine- that look sent a damn jolt to my libido like no other. I could image her soft body lying beneath mine as I pushed inside of her, taking her deeply, and bringing that look into her eyes… that thought was tantalising…
“S-t-a-b,” she even motioned the action with the stake in her tight fist. Ok, so that did make me chuckle… I was right, she didn’t appreciate it.
“Come at me,” I offered and watched her head snap back on her neck. You would have thought that I’d opened a vein and offered her a drink by the way that she looked at me.
“I don’t think-”
“Don’t think. If you think then you’re already dead or at a vampire’s mercy. You need to act, it needs to be natural, fluent, like a reflex,” I strolled towards her, not taking my time this time. Not wanting her to feel soothed or comfortable. I wanted to shake her up, rattle her nerves. I needed her on the defensive, scared, in fear for her life…
Maggie took a step backwards. In her defence it was a little one, but I closed the distance slower than I would have had I been truly attacking her.
When she lifted the stake, her eyes widened, her brain froze- then rushed to thought. I hated the fact that she was so damn vulnerable, it twisted my gut at the thought of someone other than me coming for her.
“Wait…” she went to take another step and I deliberately reached out- showing her my hand, informing her mind of what I was about to do, even knowing that she wouldn’t see it coming had it been Bruce in front of her…
For a long moment I thought that she was going to drop the stake, back off. I’m sure it had crossed her mind to do it- to try to run- escape me… but then her hand came at me- that sudden flash of the stake aimed at my body sparked my natural reflex to kill her, but it was easily doused.
I caught her fragile wrist in my hand, closing my fingers around the soft skin, knowing to be careful, gentle. I could have snapped her wrist like a twig, but I’d rather have used that stake to impale my own heart.
With one movement; I brought that hand down, pointing the stake away from my body, and with the other I spun her around. I slammed her back against my chest and locked my arm down against her body, holding her there. Then I raised her other hand and pointed the stake at her chest…
I think I made my point, and the sound of her breath being swallowed down fast told me that she got it. I could have let her go then, but I didn’t have the heart to do it. I dipped my head and whispered against her ear.
“Stab won’t work unless you catch me off guard.”
Maggie was still in shock. Her muscles were tense and that kept her locked in place. Fear was mixed in there somewhere too- I could scent it coming from her, and that was a good thing- not being over confident might just keep her alive if push came to shove.
