by Denise Agnew
Lachlan cleared his throat. “Like we told you last night, the ancient one wants her and if she doesn’t have my protection day and night, he’s sure to try and hurt her again.”
Lachlan handed flashlights to Clarissa and Erin.
Though she didn’t ask for an explanation, Jared turned to Clarissa and said, “Lachlan, Sorley, Micky, and I can see in the dark.”
Remembering the startling glow present in Ronan’s gorgeous eyes, she wasn’t surprised by Jared’s confession. Sure enough, a subtle glow started in the men’s eyes and in Micky’s gaze almost immediately.
They left the car and went through the gates. The rescue party headed straight to where Clarissa had seen Ronan in her dreams.
While crusted snow broke under her booted feet, she was once again grateful for her hat and gloves. Her breath frosted as freezing air touched her. An uncanny sensation crawled its way up her spine, forcing Clarissa to take a deep breath to control her nerves. She could do this. For Ronan she would search this graveyard tooth and nail.
A crow cackled from a nearby tree and she started. A breeze ruffled through the trees, icy and almost as strange as the bird’s call. The wind seemed to whisper to her.
Wearehereweareherewearehere.
Micky stopped cold and Jared put his arm around her shoulders.
“What is it?” Jared asked.
Micky smiled. “I heard the shadows. The ones that protect me.”
Amazed, Clarissa said without hesitation, “I heard them, too. They said they are here.”
As she turned toward Clarissa, Micky’s eyes widened. “You heard them?”
“There are a lot of strange things I can see and hear,” Clarissa said as she stepped forward and they renewed the pace toward the crypt on the hill.
“This is happy news,” Sorley said, “that the good shadows are here.”
His sardonic tone made her glare at him, and when he turned those yellowish eyes on her, a shiver rolled up her spine. He might be on the side of good, but the fact he could drink people’s blood gave her second thoughts about trusting him.
The crypt, outlined in the smallest light from the moon, loomed up before them. Standing stark and framed by the leafless trees, it looked as ominous as a monster movie set. She had to remember reality. Everyone hesitated at the bottom of the hill and stared at the monstrosity. Night seemed to speak with murmurs and guttural obscenities. She shivered as slithering dread radiated up and down her body like a mild earthquake.
“This place.” Clarissa rubbed her arms, her coat no longer keeping her warm. “It’s infected by that evil. The one that comes from the tunnel and tried to harm Micky. I feel it in my gut.”
Sorley and Lachlan insisted on walking ahead, while Jared took up the rear behind the women. Sorley went inside the crypt first. After he gave an all clear, they stepped inside one by one. Clarissa allowed her flashlight beam to illuminate the structure and the hole in the middle gaped like the maw of some great, awful monster. Her throat felt tight with anticipation, with panic that they’d find the worst.
Sorley said, “I’m going scouting now we’re here. I’ll be back in a flash.”
He popped out of their sight and a rush of wind accompanied his departure. Dust floated up from the floor.
“Damn him,” Lachlan said. “I told him we should stick together.”
As they waited in the crypt, Clarissa felt a strange sensation she hadn’t experienced in some time. Her vision started to dim.
Oh, damn. Unlike her dreams, a vision could strike her at any moment and the physical consequences could be either mild or violent. When she’d seen what she believed to be Ronan’s past lives, she’d had no physical reaction to the event.
This time, regrettably, that didn’t seem to be the case. The flashlight started to slip from her fingers, so she tightened her grip. Her breathing quickened as a sickening wave of nausea punched her in the stomach.
She placed one hand over her midsection. “Oh, great.”
She felt a hand gripping her arm and then Erin’s voice near her right side. “What’s wrong?”
Clarissa’s eyes fluttered shut.
The vision hit full force.
She saw the gargoyle-headed creature. He walked Main Street, passing by several women who walked together for protection. He grinned at them and they all gawked at the tall man with the ugly mask and huge cape fluttering around him almost like bat wings.
“No,” Clarissa said, her hands going out, the flashlight slipping from her hand and crashing to the floor. “Don’t get near him.”
“What’s happening?” she heard Jared ask.
Then the ancient one kept walking, leaving the women alone. Weakness swept into Clarissa as she watched him traverse the street, passing by unsuspecting people who believed he wore a mask.
“The ancient one walks the streets of Pine Forest in full view of others,” Clarissa said through her aching throat. “He has no fear any longer. He just passed a group of several women walking down Main Street and even though they saw him he didn’t seem worried about it. The women sensed something wasn’t right, but they don’t understand he’s evil. They just think he’s dressed up for the holiday.”
Before she could see where the ancient one planned to go next, the vision snapped to the group of women. They started bickering. They stopped in front of a bar and argued, their voices rising in a miasma of sudden hate and uncontrollable emotions.
“The women are fighting. Their emotions are out of control.” The vision blinked out. Clarissa felt her knees tremble as she opened her eyes. “It’s gone. The vision is gone.”
“Damn it,” Lachlan said harshly. “He’s getting bold and it means he’s fully recovered. The women are feeling the effects of evil. We’ve got to find Ronan.”
“Why would you have the vision now?” Micky asked.
Clarissa explained. “It’s not predictable how or when I’ll get the visions or why I even have them. They just come or they don’t. I have no control over them.”
Not a minute went by before Sorley popped back into the crypt, his eyes wide and his words jumbling together. “Hurry! Ronan is lyin’ there at the end of the tunnel, and he’s white as mortal death. I swear to all that’s holy, he actually looks dead!”
Fear slammed Clarissa. Tears spilled into her eyes as she put a hand to her chest. “Oh, God. Please no.”
She couldn’t even glance around to see everyone’s reaction to the stunning news. She’d feared this from the moment she had the dream.
Ronan could be dead right now because of that stupid camera. Dead.
She felt Erin pressing her shoulder. “He’ll be all right.”
“Come on,” Jared said. “Let’s get down there.”
Sorley popped out of sight again.
Slowly, one by one, they traversed the rope down through the hole and into the tunnel. As Clarissa shimmied down through the aperture, she felt out of breath with anxiety for Ronan, a staggering recognition that she cared about the vampire far more than she could have imagined on short acquaintance. While she once wanted to kick his ass into the stratosphere, now she couldn’t wait to put her arms around him.
Please, oh please, let him be alive.
They headed down the tunnel. It didn’t take long to see a pair of glowing eyes at the end of one tunnel. Lachlan came to a dead stop and Erin almost ran into the back of him.
“Is that Sorley?” Erin asked.
“Aye, I think it must be,” Lachlan said.
Sorley’s voice echoed down the long stretch. “Come on!”
They broke into a trot, and despite her uncertain footing and the uneven surface of the tunnel, Clarissa ran. Their flashlight beams bounced along, the light hardly enough to see by.
When Erin’s flashlight beam illuminated Ronan lying on the floor, Clarissa gasped. Blood had dried on his forehead and a large bruise had formed near his temple. His skin looked hard, pale and cold.
“It’s just like the dream only worse
.” Clarissa dropped to her knees beside him and touched his chest. “Please. Damn it, Ronan, please don’t do this to me.”
Tears rose in her eyes again and she let them fall. Trembling, she touched his face and felt the icy surface. Emotional agony far deeper than anything she could remember before arrowed straight into her heart. She didn’t care what anyone thought as her insides seemed to quake with pain.
She’d sent Ronan to his death.
Chapter Eleven
Lachlan knelt near Ronan’s head, his expression filled with stark fear. He looked up at Sorley, who stood at his fellow vampire’s feet. “Sorley, what do you think? Could he be…?”
Sorley looked shaken, bravado washed right out of him in the bleak moment. “If he fought the ancient one his body might have injuries. It would take him a little to recover. But he should have come out of it by now.”
Clarissa couldn’t speak, couldn’t believe the iced-over sensation encasing her heart. She leaned over and placed her lips against Ronan’s. She rubbed her palm over that chest, still firm and powerful. A tremendous ache centered in her heart, so excruciating she wanted to cry out. Instead she touched his lips with all the tenderness inside her. She took a shaky breath.
As she did so she felt warmth growing in the vampire’s lips. Before she could react, Ronan let out a soft groan and responded. His mouth stirred under hers and with one quick movement his hand speared into her hair. His lips opened and he kissed her deeply. His tongue plunged into her mouth and she met it with her own in dazed and growing happiness.
She wasn’t imagining this. She wasn’t going mad.
Ronan is alive.
Of course I am, darlin’ colleen.
For a few seconds she knew nothing, felt nothing but the overwhelming knowledge that he lived and his body heated by the second with immortal life. She put her palm to his cheek and his skin flushed with warmth. Alive and strong he kissed her like no one else watched them, as if he would devour her with his hot embrace.
She pulled back in stunned excitement, a smile breaking over her mouth.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Sorley’s voice went hoarse. “Feck me!”
Ronan’s eyes popped open and a weak smile touched his lips. “Sure, and I thought maybe for a moment I was dreamin’.” His accent thickened as his eyes glowed with the welcome fire of a vampire alive and kicking. His gaze centered on Clarissa. “If you aren’t the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Lachlan laughed and soon the rest of them joined in, their voices rising in the darkness and overpowering the night.
Relief made her feel weak. She put her hands over her face and took a heavy, shivering breath.
“Clarissa.” Ronan’s deep voice touched her like a warm caress. “Are you all right?”
She took her hands from her face and wiped at her tears. “Am I all right? We thought you were…” she gulped. “We thought you were dead. Of course I’m not all right.”
A broad smile broke over his mouth. “I thought I was dead. After the ancient one…” He tried to sit up and failed, sinking back to the ground with a gasp as pain flickered across his features. “Shit! I almost feel mortal.”
“What’s wrong?” Lachlan asked.
“I think my ribs broke during the fight.” He explained how he’d encountered the ancient one and quickly discovered the monster had regained his power and then some. “I couldn’t believe how quick he was. Quicker and nastier than any of the times I’ve met him before. When I hit the wall all I felt was pain. Then I was out. I woke up a couple of more times and it was bizarre…”
His gaze centered on Clarissa, simmering with something that almost looked—dare she even imagine it?—love.
Love.
“I saw you,” Ronan said as he reached up and cupped Clarissa’s face with one hand. “I thought you were real at first, then your image shimmered, as if you were a ghost.”
“It’s my dream,” Clarissa said in wonder.
“Like an out-of-body experience,” Micky said softly.
Clarissa nodded. “That’s what brought us here. It’s the reason we knew where to locate you.” She leaned into his palm and enjoyed his skin against hers.
“Okay you two lovebirds,” Lachlan said with a grin. “Let’s get you out of here. Can you stand?”
“Wait a minute, what if his ribs really are broken?” Clarissa asked, concern spiking through her.
Ronan shook his head. “Don’t worry. They’ve mended. They’re just a little tender.” He felt the skin along his forehead. “I probably had a concussion, too. I’m okay, now, though.” He winked at her. “It was your kiss that brought me out of the coma. I heard you calling my name and talking to me. Then when you kissed me—”
“Enough,” Sorley said, his grin caught between cocky and disgusted. “This is way too much information for me. Let’s get him out of here before I start to blubber.”
They all laughed again, and this time Clarissa’s heart felt lighter and happier than it had in a long time.
“What do we do if he can’t walk?” Erin asked.
Ronan grunted as he forced his legs under him. “I will walk.” Jared and Lachlan looped his arms over their shoulders so he could amble along with maximum support. “Nothing keeps me down for long.”
Clarissa felt a slow burn of anger rise up as she followed behind him. “Right. You’ve been unconscious for most of the night on top of most of the day.”
“But I’m a—” Ronan started.
“I know,” she said and her voice rose. “A vampire. So I found out. But only because your friends told me.”
“Ah, shit,” Ronan said.
Clarissa smirked. “Exactly, vampire boy.”
“I think he’s in trouble,” Sorley said. “What do the rest of you think?”
“Definitely,” Erin said.
“Without a doubt,” said Micky.
Lachlan let out a sigh. “I’d say he’s about as low as shit on a boot heel right now.”
“Well, feckin’ hell,” Ronan grumbled.
* * * * *
“You’re staying with us,” Erin said as they drove up to Clarissa’s bed and breakfast. Sorley, Micky and Jared had gone back to Erin’s home already and planned to wait for them there. “And no more arguments. We’ve got the extra room tucked away in the attic. It’s a little dusty but I’m sure we can clean it out.”
“You won’t get any argument from me,” Ronan said with a smile as Clarissa sat next to him in the backseat. “But I’m feeling better already.”
“No patrolling for you tonight,” Lachlan said.
Ronan glanced at Clarissa and winked. He reached for her hand and squeezed it quickly. “You’ve got that right.”
Clarissa smiled, enjoying the resurgence in her energy. She knew his words meant something deeper. She knew he wanted to spend tonight with her. Alone.
She still rode high on Ronan’s incredible resurrection. Whether her kiss had revived him, or he would have repaired his body soon without her help, she couldn’t recall feeling this joyful in a long time. Deep inside her soul she’d realized one thing in that tunnel. She cared for Ronan Kieran more profoundly than any man she’d known. And it didn’t matter in that moment, as she’d kissed his cold lips and wept for him, that he was a vampire.
No, not at all.
“I’ll go with you,” Ronan said as Clarissa opened the door.
She looked back at him. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not well enough. Just stay there. Erin and Lachlan will help me get my things.”
To her surprise he grinned and didn’t argue. Amazing. Maybe the powerful vampire didn’t mind having someone else take charge, at least for a smidgen.
It didn’t take long for Clarissa to gather her things and check out. When they returned to the car Ronan sat with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. For one paralyzing second Clarissa’s heart leapt with fear. What if he’d relapsed? His eyes opened immediately as they entered the car, and she sighed in relief.
They remained silent as they took the short drive back toward Erin’s home. They hadn’t gone too far when they saw a glow above the horizon.
“What’s that?” Erin asked.
“Looks like…no it can’t be,” Lachlan said as he made the turn down her street.
“Fire,” Clarissa said softly.
“Damn it.” Ronan clenched one fist.
Clarissa reached out and placed her hand over his. Tension exuded from him. “We knew fires would probably happen.”
They arrived at Erin’s house and saw Jared and Micky standing on the front lawn watching the red glow above the horizon. When they piled out of the car, Jared and Micky walked up quickly.
Jared spoke first. “We just heard on the radio that a house out in the woods close to the Gunn Inn has gone up in flames.”
“I was worried about it being my place,” Micky said, “but then the report gave the address and I was relieved it wasn’t.”
Clarissa gripped Ronan’s arm gently. “Let’s hope no one was hurt or killed.”
Ronan didn’t allow anyone else to support him as he walked toward the house. He glanced at the reddish haze in the night sky above the tree line.
Once inside the house, Ronan swayed a little. Clarissa’s worry didn’t diminish, and she kept a firm grip on his muscular biceps. “You’ve got to lie down.”
He shook his head. “We don’t have time for me to be sick. We thought we had problems with the ancient one, but its worse. A lot worse.”
Clarissa described the vision she’d experienced about the women on Main Street fighting after being in the presence of the ancient one. “It had to be his influence.” Clarissa relayed once again the information she’d discovered in the two old books in the library. “It’s possible that the ancient one was here a hundred years ago.”
“What about the other evil I encountered in the tunnel in our last fight against the ancient one?” Micky asked.
Everyone went silent for a moment before Jared said, “It would make sense. We don’t really understand much about the evil other than what Micky learned.”
