by Donna Grant
“I became a part of it the moment I agreed to study the blood samples.”
“You didna really know before. Now you do.”
“I’m not running away, am I?” she asked him, narrowing her eyes. “And don’t think this gets you out of another dinner. You owe me.”
She couldn’t keep the grin from her face as she teased him, but there was no smile on Aiden’s lips.
“You should run. Far away from me.”
Britt leaned forward and rose up on her toes so that they were nose to nose. “No. What you’re looking for, what you brought to me, is important. I saw that firsthand tonight. You asked for my help, you can’t change your mind now.”
“Stubborn woman,” he growled, but his lips had begun to pull up at the corners.
“I like her,” Galen said with a chuckle.
Britt ran her hands over Aiden’s chest, stopping just short of touching the ripped and bloodied section of his shirt. “I don’t understand your world, but I want to.”
“Do you like danger that much?” he asked with a frown.
“No. I like you that much.”
Aiden hadn’t been prepared for such a response. If his father and Galen weren’t in the room with them, he’d have Britt underneath him in less than a heartbeat.
Instead, he covered her hands with his. “I doona know how long this war will rage, or if I’ll come out of it alive.”
“There are always wars. So what that this one has magic and immortals.”
He cupped her face and looked deep into her blue eyes. “You’re a verra special woman.”
“And don’t ever forget it,” she said, and gave him a quick kiss before she walked to the microscope.
Aiden knew he wore a goofy grin, but he didn’t care. Britt wanted to stay with him. How had he gotten so lucky?
“Well done,” Quinn whispered as he moved to stand beside him.
He shrugged. “I didna do anything.”
“You’re a MacLeod, son,” Quinn said with a wink. “That’s all it took.”
Aiden pulled off his ruined shirt and walked to the sink to wipe the dried blood off when the mobile phones started to go off.
Galen was the first to answer his, and Quinn second. Aiden’s gaze locked with his father as dread filled him. By the furious look on Galen’s face, and the desolation on his father’s, Aiden braced himself.
“What is it?” he asked when Quinn ended the call.
Quinn sighed. “Jason wasna happy that we escaped him. He retaliated.”
“By giving the people of Edinburgh a fucking epidemic,” Galen ground out as he paced the room.
“Epidemic?” Britt repeated. “How is that possible? The authorities would check this out immediately. There’s no way he can get away with this.”
Galen snorted. “Oh, but he will. I’ve no doubt Jason has spent the last few months buying members of parliament as well as the authorities. If he’s anything like his cousin, he’s blackmailing the ones who didna join him. But it’s no’ just that. This is a medical crisis. No one will know it was done with magic.”
“How do you know it was done with magic?” she asked.
“It began in the area we fought.” Quinn raked a hand through his hair. “I didna expect him to take this battle to innocents.”
Galen leaned his hands on a table and blew out a breath. “We should have.”
Suddenly Aiden’s mobile rang. He pulled it out and saw the number was blocked. After a glance at his father, he put the call on speaker.
“Aye?”
“Well, Aiden, that was a nice escape,” said a male voice. “Needless to say, I’m no’ happy. And when I’m no’ happy, people get hurt.”
Aiden clenched his jaw as blind fury filled him. “Wallace. Too bad I didna see you tonight.”
Jason’s disembodied evil laugh came through the phone. “You doona stand a chance against me. None of you do. You keep trying to save the innocents and those who mean the most to you, but that’s what’s going to win me this war.”
“We’ve taken down two droughs before you. We’ll bring you down as well,” Quinn said.
“Ah, Quinn. I knew you wouldna be far from your lad. How much do you think it’s going to hurt when he’s dead after you kept him immortal for four centuries?”
Quinn and Aiden exchanged a look. “Never going to happen.”
“Doona be so sure,” Jason said with a knowing laugh. “Tell me, how is Laura doing? Is Charon trying to convince her who he is?”
Aiden shook his head at both Quinn and Galen. He didn’t want to give Jason any information. Whether Laura was working with Jason or not, the less Jason knew, the better.
“You tell us?” Aiden said. “We’re worried about her. What have you done with her? She’s an innocent.”
“As are the people suffering in Edinburgh!” Jason yelled. “Those ‘innocents,’ as you call them, are writhing in agony. You can stop it. All you need to do is give yourself and the sweet little blond that’s been by your side these last few weeks to me. Tonight.”
Aiden knew in his heart they could win against Jason, but could he live with himself if he sacrificed all those innocents? But he couldn’t turn Britt over to Jason either.
“You can have me,” Aiden said.
Quinn roared over his words and knocked the phone from his hands. “Never!”
“Dad,” Aiden whispered urgently as Jason’s laughter drifted through the phone. He hurriedly put the call on mute. “Listen to me. It’s the right thing to do. Britt is needed. I’m no’.”
“You’re my son!”
Aiden took a deep, steadying breath. “I can no’ live with myself if all those people die.”
“Wallace will never agree,” Galen said.
A muscle worked in Quinn’s jaw as he stared at Aiden. “Wallace will torture you, and though you’ve heard us talk about being tortured by magic, you’ve never experienced it.”
“I’m a Highlander, a MacLeod. I’ll get through it.”
“Holy hell,” Quinn said as he turned away.
Aiden looked to Britt. She was shaking her head, her beautiful eyes pleading with him. He took the phone off mute to hear Jason still chuckling.
“Where do I meet you?” Aiden asked.
Jason tsked. “Did you no’ hear my instructions? I said you and Britt. No’ one without the other. Both.”
“You can have me.”
“Oh, I’ll have you, Aiden.” Jason’s voice had gone cold with anger and malice. “I’m going to make you suffer unbearable pain. And all the while, your father is going to be helplessly watching.”
Aiden couldn’t look at his father. He knew Jason meant every word, but Aiden couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
“Two people are already dead, Aiden,” Jason said, his voice calmer. “Those deaths are on your head. How many more will stack up before you and Britt come to me?”
Galen’s phone vibrated. He glanced at it, then looked up at Aiden and sliced his hand back and forth across his throat for him to shut off the phone.
Aiden immediately ended the call. “What is it?” he asked.
“Isla, Larena, Sonya, and Reaghan are in Edinburgh, trying to combat the epidemic.” Galen swallowed, his blue eyes troubled. “If that bastard so much as touches a hair on Reaghan’s head, I’ll have his balls for dinner.”
Aiden pocketed his phone. “This could all be a trap. Wallace would know we wouldna stand by and do nothing. He knows Druids will go to Edinburgh.”
“Fuck,” Galen said as he hurried to dial his phone. “Fallon, get here now!”
In the next moment Fallon was standing beside Galen. “What is it?”
“Get the girls out of Edinburgh. It’s a trap.”
Fallon put his hand on Galen’s shoulder, and in a blink they were both gone.
“Well,” Britt said as she used a dropper to get a sample of blood. “I hate to point out the fact that Jason stayed on the phone with you for a bit, Aiden. The trap could ext
end to here, since he was so adamant about getting us.”
Quinn snorted. “You say it so calmly, lass.”
“Just pointing out a fact. That doesn’t mean I’m not scared,” she added before she bent to look in the microscope.
Aiden turned his head to his father, and he was sure the grim expression Quinn wore was the same one on his face. It seemed Jason was at least a step ahead of them at every turn.
“He doesna know where Laura is,” Aiden said suddenly. “He was hoping we’d admit to it.”
“That could mean she isna in league with him,” Quinn added.
Aiden wasn’t sure of anything anymore, but it was a gamble they had to take. Jason changed the game each time they played. It was time they took control.
He took out his phone and dialed Charon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lacy Black walked down the street of the small village she had stopped for petrol and food. Magic hummed through her veins once more.
She hadn’t realized how much she had gotten used to it until Laura managed to snap the syphoning spell in two. Leaving Lacy with no magic.
It was fortunate for Lacy and her mother that they used their magic to discover where Laura had gone months before. Luckily for them, Laura was still in Ferness.
Lacy held up her hand as magic raced along her skin, making the ends of her fingers buzz with the strength of it. Even with Laura’s magic split between Lacy and her mother, the sheer amount of it was staggering.
What would it feel like to have all Laura’s magic? Lacy smiled as she thought of everything she could do with her sister’s potent magic.
“Oh, the fun I could have,” Lacy said to herself.
She was just a block away from her car when something invisible shoved her into a narrow alley. Lacy called up her magic, and though she could feel it inside her, she couldn’t use it.
With her mouth opened to scream, she found herself behind the building before she could blink. She dropped her purse and held up her hands in front of her as her magic answered her call.
Before she could launch the first blast into the unseen assailants, the air began to swirl around her. Particles the color of ash encircled her until she had to shut her eyes to protect herself.
She didn’t dare to open her eyes until the wind had died down. And when she did, she let loose the scream from before.
The tall ash-colored monsters with their long, stringy white hair closed in on her quickly. Her scream was cut short when the first one sank its fangs into her arm.
Soon, the rest were on her. The pain from their bites was unimaginable, but it was nothing to the feel of her blood and magic being drained from her.
The magic she had worked so hard to keep for herself—the magic she would have killed for—was no match against the monsters on her.
There were so many they blocked out the sky. It became impossible to keep her eyes open. She knew she was dying. A single tear fell from her eye as she realized no amount of magic could have prepared her for the vicious beasts that were killing her.
The buzz of magic faded from her fingertips just before the last drop of blood left her body.
* * *
Charon rested his chin atop Laura’s head as she snuggled next to him. He was still rocked with the knowledge that her mother and sister had ruled her life and syphoned her magic.
“What does your family have to do with magic? Are they Druids?” he asked.
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I didn’t know they had magic until today. I … I can’t really explain what happened when I watched you dying in the forest. I was so angry and felt so bloody helpless. And then suddenly there was something inside me, some power I had never felt before. It consumed me.”
Charon didn’t move or utter a word as he silently begged her to continue.
“It was magic. I know that now,” she continued. “It built inside me until it exploded from my hands. When I opened my eyes, the cabin was demolished and everyone was on the ground. I went to you, but you weren’t breathing. And then Jason moved.”
“You ran,” Charon whispered.
She nodded and turned in his arms so they were face-to-face. “I ran for hours or days. I don’t know. I just knew I had to get away from him.”
Charon smoothed back a strand of her dark hair from her face. “What happened?”
“I ran until I couldn’t move. I slept, I guess.” Her eyes took on a faraway look. “I heard drums and chanting, and I thought I heard voices. It was all around me.”
“Your magic.”
She blinked and focused on him again. “When I woke, I knew I wasn’t alone. Jason was there, and I was surrounded. I already told you how he used magic to convince me what he said was the truth.”
“Aye.”
“I feel so damned violated,” she ground out. “His magic didna last long, though. I was able to use mine to knock everyone unconscious. I was lucky enough to make it to Ferness. When I walked into my flat, Lacy was there. She told me she and Mum had been the ones taking my magic. Before I could deduce what she was about, she threw an apple at my head. Then I woke up here. Without my magic.”
Charon wanted to ignore his phone when it rang, interrupting his conversation, but he knew he couldn’t.
He rolled away from Laura and got to his feet. He frowned when he withdrew his mobile from his pocket and saw Aiden’s name on the screen. “Aiden?” he answered.
“Charon, I need your help.”
He was instantly on alert, his gaze locked on Laura, who still sat on the bed. “What is it?”
“I doona think Laura is working with Jason. He just called, asking about her. His questions make me think he has no clue where she is, but he wants her.”
“That’s no’ going to happen.”
“I thought you’d say as much.” Aiden paused. “Jason will call off the epidemic upon Edinburgh if Britt and I give ourselves up.”
Charon ran a hand down his face. “That means he knows you’re on to something. You can no’ stop.”
“I know. Yet, I can no’ allow innocent people to die in our war.”
“Damn,” Charon muttered, and sank into a chair. He braced his elbows on his knees and squeezed his eyes shut. “What else did he say?”
“He’s angry. He thinks he’s one step ahead of us, and he is. He always has been.”
Charon opened his eyes to see Laura staring at him. She was part of his war now, a Druid. Jason would be coming for her, but Charon would be waiting. “We have another option.”
“What?”
“I doona want to say yet in case it doesna pan out. Give me a couple of hours.”
Aiden sighed. “Is there any way Laura can help?”
“Nay. Maybe. I doona know,” Charon replied. He wanted to trust Laura, but he couldn’t put his friends in jeopardy. At least not more than they already were.
“Hurry, Charon. I’ve already got two deaths on my conscience. I’d rather no’ have more.”
Charon ended the call and returned his phone to his jeans pocket. “I have to leave.”
“To go where?” Laura asked with a frown.
He didn’t want to lie to her, so he didn’t answer.
“I see,” she said. “I told you of my magic. I told you why I didn’t have it before. I’ve nothing in which to harm any of you. Why won’t you believe me?”
Charon frowned, hating the situation. “I want to, but there is so much at stake that I can no’ chance it.”
“Because you think I’m working with Jason,” she said flatly.
“I believe what you’ve told me. I just need some time.”
“Meanwhile, you want me to stay here?”
Charon stood and put his back to her. Jason was a thorn in their side. The fact Laura had gone with him only added to the irritation. He was glad she hadn’t fought them, because he knew all too well what Wallace would have done.
Yet, it rubbed him raw that she had gone with Jason. Magic or not.
; It’s that she began to wonder if you told her the truth.
Charon hated when his conscience was right. Wallace had put doubts in her head, and Charon hadn’t told her everything when he had the chance.
“You can’t get past that I went with Jason. What was I supposed to have done?” she asked angrily.
He heard the bed creak and knew she had risen to her feet. Still he didn’t face her. He refused to see the pain and frustration in her beautiful green eyes anymore.
“They outnumbered me, Charon,” she said. “I was alone and scared. I was trying to figure out what happened at the cabin as well as why I all of a sudden had magic. What choice did I have?”
“You could’ve fought him. You have the magic to do it.” He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that wasn’t what he would have wanted for her.
She laughed wryly. “I don’t know the first thing about magic. I don’t even know how I used it the two times I did.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you so angry with me? You know I did the right thing.”
Charon fisted his hands at his sides to keep from turning and pulling her in his arms. “You believed him, Laura. After I told you what a monster he was, after I fought him to make sure you were kept safe. You believed him.”
“You didn’t tell me the entire truth.”
Charon whirled around to face her. “I didna know you were a Druid! If I had, you’d have known everything without me having to tell you.”
She raised a dark brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve worked for you for two years. We were friends. I trusted you. Yet at the slightest mistake, you turn your back on me.”
“I’m no’ turning my back on you.”
“The hell you aren’t,” she ground out. Laura dropped her arms and took a deep breath. “You won’t admit you did wrong.”
“Because I didna. We have a code. No one who isna a Druid or a Warrior is to know about our world. It’s to keep everyone safe.”
She rolled her eyes. “And the fact Jason tried to kidnap me to get to you, and you knew he was coming after us, didn’t warrant me knowing the entire truth?”
“You wouldna have believed me.”
