A Highlander's Destiny (Digital Boxed Edition)

by Willa Blair

  Something he needed to make sure didn’t happen in the future. His goal to find and kill Angus as well as keep Abby safe could not be derailed by anything.

  ****

  Angus viewed the photograph of Abigail Dupree one of his minions had gotten from her school. She looked a bit too boring for his taste, but then another photo fell out of the manila envelope. The woman staring back at him was a far cry from the meek woman façade. What a difference makeup could make.

  Her silver-blonde locks and blue eyes were just what he liked in a woman. Of course, he liked most women. They served a purpose, and having this woman beneath him would be a slap that Darach would never forget.

  When dealing with immortals who do not listen, remind myself not to let off steam. It tends to make the wallpaper in my office peel. Also, remember to get information on Sean Black.

  From the desk of Michael/Archangel to God

  Chapter Ten

  Abby awakened to weak sunshine creeping through her bedroom window. She’d left the shutters open before falling into bed. Normally they were locked tighter than a virgin’s knees in church, but with Darach as a houseguest she figured she’d be safe from any mortal break-ins or demons as long as she stayed inside.

  After stretching, she lay there for a moment more before jumping up. A few seconds later, a quick shower poured more life into her mentally tired brain. She should have asked Sean when Cecil’s body would be released. He and Elaine had not had any children, and as far as she knew there were no next of kin. She wanted to help plan the funeral and with expenses if possible.

  First things first, though. She needed fuel for her body’s system. Coffee and then a quick slice of toast with jelly. She didn’t have to worry about cooking lunch, not with the leftovers from yesterday’s feast.

  She barreled down the staircase in jeans and an old sweater. Her sneakers made little noise as she left the carpeted treads and traversed the hardwood floor toward the kitchen. She detoured through the living room, and stopped dead in her tracks.

  Darach lay sprawled on the floor, a blanket barely covering his naked chest and arms. A scant distance away, Sean dozed in one of the armchairs. His long legs were stretched out, and his booted feet rested on the coffee table.

  She had no idea what time the men called it quits after she went to bed, but by their comatose state it had to be pretty late. Late? Shoot, her bedtime was late; theirs must have been close to dawn.

  Deciding to leave them to their rest, she continued to the kitchen. When she pushed the door open, she was pleasantly surprised to find the evidence of their late-night gabfest was gone. The blender stood upside down in the drain rack, and the glass she used rested next to it. The antique goblets and the whiskey bottle had disappeared. Probably whisked back to wherever they came from.

  She shook her head at how easily she’d accepted the magic Sean had displayed, not to mention having a half-demon and an immortal in her home. Life had certainly taken on a surreal taint. And her solemn vow never to get involved with a man again had fallen into the hole of resolutions she repeated every year on New Year’s Day. Abby could no longer dismiss the fact Darach was fast becoming her ideal man. His lovemaking turned her inside out, and his slow appraising looks and sensual smiles simply made her want to tie him up and keep him with her forever. Of course that couldn’t happen. Darach was an immortal, and would move on when his assignment was over. She just hoped it wasn’t through death.

  Her stomach rumbled and Abby took her mind off of what would never be, and began to think an omelet would be a better start to her day. There was a lot she wanted to get accomplished. First she wanted to go back to Cecil’s and see if he left any clue as to what or who had killed him. She needed to eat quickly and get moving. No telling how long her protector would sleep.

  However, once she glanced over the fridge’s contents she remembered she’d used the last of the eggs in the dressing. The kitchen clock highlighted the hour. There was still a bit of time to go to the store before she would have to contend with people vying for sidewalk space and after-holiday sales.

  She knew Darach would have a cow if she went out, but it was broad daylight. Surely any demon would be getting their ugly sleep, and if a mortal bothered her, she’d kick him where it hurt. While she was trying to decide what to do her cell phone rang. She didn’t use it all that often, but the school had it on file.

  Abby dug it out of her briefcase and popped it to her ear.

  “Hello.”

  “Abigail?” The voice on the other end sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

  “Yes, who’s calling please.”

  “It’s me, Jim Dobbs.”

  Abby ran the name through her memory banks and then it clicked. One of the teachers at the school. She should have known him right away but he never called her. It could be he’d heard about Cecil.

  “Oh, hi, Jim. How are you?” She glanced at her watch, she really wanted to go to the store or at least the corner bakery.

  “Not good. I heard on the news about Cecil. A few of us—me, Nathaniel Chase, Meg Henderson, thought we’d see if you wanted to get some coffee. I know you and Cecil were fairly close.”

  She could hear the sympathetic tone but also the curiosity lapping at his words.

  “Yes, we were. Uh, I have houseguests, so—”

  “Please, Abby, it might help us wrap our heads around what happened.”

  Lord, she so didn’t want to rehash what happened not with everything else she had on her mental list, but she could probably do a ten-minute chat, grab something for breakfast, check out Cecil’s apartment, and be back before the men woke up. And so what, even if she didn’t, Darach’s job was to protect her, not keep her a prisoner, no matter what he thought.

  “Okay, can ya’ll meet me at the coffee shop at the end of Canal Street?”

  “Yes, that would be great. What time?” The relief was prevalent in Jim’s voice.

  “I can be there in five.”

  “All right, see you in a few, and thanks, Abby.”

  Abby said goodbye, and then backtracked to the living room. Snores greeted her ears. Good, maybe she wouldn’t get chewed out if she hurried. After grabbing her handbag, she tossed the cell phone inside, and sprinted for the front door. Thank God for sneakers, they were great for making a silent getaway.

  Exactly five minutes later she arrived at the shop, which was pretty much empty at the moment.

  “Hi Elle, can I get a latte and some beignets?”

  “Sure thing, Abby. You want me to fix up a box for you to take home?”

  “Yeah, that’ll be great. I’ve some guests, and it’ll save fixing breakfast.”

  “I heard you had a great big hunk of sex staying with you.” Elle winked as she brought the latte to the counter. “Go ahead and take a seat, I’ll bring your beignets over, and fix you up a nice box of goodies.”

  Abby’s face stung with heat. Lord, did everyone know Darach was staying at her house? And how had they found out?

  “Thanks, Elle. Oh…by the way, how did you know my guest was male and sexy to boot?”

  The owner/waitress propped a hand on her hip, leaned over just a fraction, and grinned. “Honey, everyone around these parts knows Darach. He’s the man everyone goes to when they need something. He’s not only hot but has a good heart.”

  “I guess I forgot how much our neck of the woods keeps up with everything.” Abby took a quick sip of her mocha and almost burned her mouth.

  “It’s cause we care, sugar. When Grandmere Dupree passed on, all of us natives were worried about you. Just fresh out of college and all alone. You’ve got friends, Abby, even if you don’t realize it.”

  Abby glanced up into the concerned brown-eyed gaze of a woman she’d known most of her life. Looking at her brown hair tipped with gray, the slightly stooped posture, and the tired smile, she wondered how much she’d missed by keeping to herself.

  “Thanks, Elle. I guess I’ve been a bit clueless since G
randmere died.”

  “Oh honey, you’ve just been caught up in life, and sometimes that’s enough to break anyone.”

  Abby squeezed the hand Elle held out, sniffed just a bit when the woman walked away, and then tried to pin on a smile when Jim and the rest of his entourage entered the shop.

  Abby remained silent as Jim, Meg, and Nate, as some of his peers called him, took seats beside and across from her in the booth. Jim spoke before she could get even a hello out.

  “Thanks for meeting us, Abby. I think I speak for all of us when I say Cecil’s death was a shock.”

  She tried to smile but his words brought back the upset and frustration of the last twenty-four hours.

  “I know. It was quite a shock for me too.”

  “Do you know if he suffered? We saw some of the television footage. You looked shocked.” Meg’s usually brisk transplanted northern tone was low.

  What could she say, that she’d seen the blood he’d lost, she’d seen his battered face? No, the news reports would have been bad enough.

  “I don’t know. I pray he didn’t.”

  Nate spoke up for the first time. “I wonder who they’ll get to cover his classes after the break. And do you know anything about funeral services?”

  Abby breathed a sigh of relief, this was something she could talk about. “I’m sure Principal Caldwell is already on it. As for the arrangements, I will be talking to the lieutenant today about when they might release Cecil’s body.”

  Once the other three sat nursing lattes, and Abby sipped the last of her vanilla mocha, the silence was a bit daunting. She’d worked with this group, but had never been close to any of them. Maybe that was what Elle meant. She needed to allow others in more.

  “Once I find out about the arrangements, I can let ya’ll know.”

  “Thanks that would be great. Maybe next time we could meet for coffee under happier circumstances.” Meg’s offer was tentative, but Abby grabbed it anyway.

  “That would be nice. I’ll look forward to getting together.”

  ****

  Darach woke with a pounding head, and a mouth that tasted like some of the bayou had crawled into it while he slept. An obnoxious noise hit his ears, causing him to clamp his hands over the abused appendages before looking around to see where it came from.

  Sean lay sprawled out in one of the chairs seemingly dead to the world except for the God-in-Heaven awful noise erupting from his mouth and nose. Darach pulled on his discarded shirt, caught up one of his boots from the floor, and tossed it square into the lieutenant’s chest.

  “Wha—who—”

  “Do ye have any idea how bad ye snore?”

  “I don’t snore.”

  “Trust me, ye do. What time is it?” Darach waited for Sean to check the watch on his wrist.

  “It’s about eleven-thirty. I have to be at work at three.”

  Sean sat up, rubbed a hand over his bristled brow, before standing up. “Gotta find a bathroom. After that, you think Abby would cook me something to eat? The whiskey is sitting like C-4 in my belly.”

  Darach groaned, Abby would more than likely throw a frying pan at the both of them. “Maybe, if she dinnae kill us first.”

  “Kill us, for what?” Sean stopped and turned back to face the living room.

  “For keeping her up half the night, drinking, embarrassing her, ye name it. And for pity’s sake keep your voice down. Me head is splitting.”

  Sean grunted and then disappeared. He returned a couple of minutes later with his hair shorter, a fresh suit on, clean-shaven, and looking like he’d never had a drop to drink.

  “Not fair, halfling. Ye should have to go through the rites of getting clean like the rest of us mort…immortals.”

  Sean grinned. “Not my fault you have to do things the old way. Talk to Michael and see if he can give you a bit of power to go along with your longevity.”

  “I’m rather fond of me hide, so I’ll keep that to myself.” Darach stretched to a series of snap, crackle, and pops as he straightened out his spine and stood up.

  “Getting old, Highlander?”

  “No, not that it’s any of your concern. Now move, I need to find Abby.”

  Sean’s grin turned a bit evil. “Not trying to tell you your business, but you might want to shower first.”

  Darach quickly brought his arm up and sniffed. Good, he didn’t stink. But the halfling was right, he did need a shower in a bad way, and probably a razor to his face wouldn’t hurt any before Abby saw him.

  “All right, but when you see Abby tell her I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  “Sure, take your time. I’d love to chat her up.” Sean’s smile this time was positively wicked.

  “Chat better be all you do, halfling.”

  Darach wasted no more breath on Sean, but transported himself to his house for some fresh clothes, then back to Abby’s and into the shower. He was rinsing his hair and body when someone banged on the bathroom door.

  “Highlander, your woman’s disappeared.” Sean’s voice was sharp, and a second later, Darach stood in the hallway with a towel around his waist.

  One hand reached out to grab Sean around the neck, but he sidestepped Darach.

  “What do ye mean, she’s disappeared? What did ye do to her?”

  “Chill out, MacRath, I went looking, but I couldn’t find her. I thought she might be outside, but no go.”

  Darach’s heart did freeze, as did the rest of his body with fear. Why would Abby leave? Did she leave on her own? Who had her? Was she at the mercy of Angus?

  “Ye be sure?”

  “Yes. Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll check outside again. Do you have any idea where she might go if she went out?”

  Darach cursed his ignorance about Abby’s daily activities. He knew she left for school when it was in session, but not the time, he knew she went to the club at night to sing, but he didn’t have an inkling of where she went during the day when she wasn’t working.

  “Nay, I just met her the night before Thanksgiving.”

  “Well we’ll find her, don’t worry.”

  “I have to worry. Michael believes Angus could target Abby because of me.”

  Several quick seconds later, both Darach and Sean stood on the sidewalk. If Abby didn’t plan on being gone long, she would probably take the streetcar.

  “She may have taken the trolley. I’m going to teleport to some of the shops that run up and down the trolley line.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you there.” Sean moved off at a fast clip, and Darach allowed his body to embrace the teleportation process.

  He rematerialized on a side street opening out to the main thoroughfare. He scanned the passersby and the openings to shop entrances. Nothing but clothing and Mardi Gras paraphernalia on one side. He turned his gaze to the opposite side and a door opening caught his attention.

  Abby!

  He resisted the urge to rush across the street and pull her into his arms—for all of one second.

  She stood in the midst of two men and a woman. They seemed to be mortal. He wondered if they were.

  Sean stepped into stride beside Darach. “They are not demon.”

  God’s teeth, did the halfling have the ability to read people’s minds?

  “No, I can’t read minds.” Sean’s lips almost carried a smile as they moved closer to the quartet. “Anyone could read what was on yours. Your facial expression said it all.”

  Darach didn’t argue, but he would take care in the future to keep the stony expression he’d always worn before first meeting Abby in place.

  “Abby.” He enjoyed the look of surprise and then guilt lacerating the deep blue of her eyes.

  “Darach, hi. I thought I’d be home long before you woke up.”

  “Introduce me to your friends, my love.”

  Surprise was quickly replaced with shock, a glimmer of happiness, and then sadness. What was it about his words that would make her feel sad?

  “Uh, th
is is Jim, Meg, and Nate. They’re teachers from my school, and they heard about Cecil.”

  He hooked his arm around her trim waist and pulled her to him. “Nice to meet ye. I’m Darach MacRath. Abby, it’s time to go.”

  “But we were making plans to get together before Cecil’s funeral.” Abby looked around and her eyes widened when she spotted Sean.

  “Lieutenant Black, can you help us out here?”

  Sean stepped next to the group. Darach watched as he shook hands with the teachers. Once he stepped back he looked at Darach. “I was right. No problem.”

  Abby began to look increasingly agitated. Not something he wanted, but it couldn’t be helped. At least not at the moment.

  “What can I do to help, Abby?”

  She cleared her throat. “Do you have any idea when Cecil’s body will be released? We want to plan a wake before the funeral.”

  “It’s going to be several days. The body was shipped to Baton Rouge to the crime lab this morning.”

  “I don’t understand, why was he sent there?”

  “Any time there’s a violent death, the SCL, short for State Crime Lab, has to autopsy the body. I’m sure it won’t be much more than a week.”

  “Oh… Well, thanks, Sean.” Her words were low but when she turned back to the group with her, Darach watched her square her shoulders.

  “Hey, it’s going to be a week or so before we can do anything to honor Cecil, so I can let you all know after school’s back in session.”

  “Cool, thanks Abbs.” The other woman in the group of teachers patted Abby on the arm. “I’m heading out. I promised my family I wouldn’t be gone long.”

  Her words seemed to galvanize the other two, and soon it was just Abby, Darach, and Sean.

  “Let’s go home, Abby.”

  “Actually I had another errand to run.”

  “Well, I’ll go with you.” Darach’s gaze brooked no refusal.

  “Darach, I hate this. I hate not being able to go out on my own in broad daylight without it causing a red alert.” Her words came tumbling out, and she shoved a pastry box into his hands, before spinning around and walking off.