A Highlander's Destiny (Digital Boxed Edition)

by Willa Blair

  He looked at Sean who did nothing helpful but give him a look of pure innocence. Darach in turn gave him the pastry box and barely heard his, “Oh good, I can eat now,” before he hurried after Abby.

  “Abby, please, ye cannae just go traipsing off on your own.”

  “I’m not alone, there are a lot of people out, it’s daylight, and I’ll be fine.”

  “Maybe, but maybe not. I cannae take a chance on something happening to ye.” He gently gripped her arm.

  “Why do you even care?” Her question felt like she’d stabbed him in the heart.

  “I care, all right?”

  “Highlander!”

  Darach jerked to a stop causing Abby to stop with him. Sean hurried up.

  “What is it?”

  “The PD found another body. This time it’s a woman.”

  ****

  Angus didn’t grieve over his dead bedmate. She’d lasted longer than others he’d had. So what if things had gotten a bit out of hand. She was a woman and deserved to be used. It wasn’t his fault she couldn’t take his type of bed sport.

  Michael pushed the reading glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. No, he should not have to wear glasses. After all, he was an archangel, but after millenniums of paperwork, his eyes did get a bit tired. Not that he couldn’t see twenty-twenty, he just had so much work to do. As he perused the biography of Sean Black, he marveled at how the halfling, as Darach called him, managed to survive with a sense of justice still intact. Perhaps, the man might be of some use to his immortal.

  Chapter Eleven

  Abby waited for Darach to tell her he was taking her home again, but when he didn’t she glanced up at his face. Gone were the tiny laughter lines from around his mouth and eyes she’d glimpsed in the last couple of days. His face once again resembled a piece of marble, albeit a beautiful and breathtaking vision of a conquering warrior, but she wanted the Darach she was coming to know.

  “Ye will have to come with us.”

  “Really?”

  “Aye, I dinnae like it, but there be no help for it. I willna leave ye alone.” Darach looked at Sean who shrugged his shoulders.

  “Don’t worry, between the both of us, we’ll make sure she stays safe.”

  “Thank you. Where do we need to go?”

  “Bourbon Street. You can do your thing or we can catch the streetcar,” Sean replied.

  “Streetcar, please.” Abby almost yelled her preference. Darach’s face unfroze long enough to give her a brief glimpse of a smile before etching itself back into an uncompromising visage. He gently tugged her toward the streetcar. Sean followed. Conversation remained absent. Abby’s thoughts didn’t. Someone else had died. Could it be the same person who’d stolen Cecil’s life?

  The trio that got off on Bourbon Street was subdued. Abby didn’t know what to say to break the silence and wasn’t sure she wanted to. The situation was not of her making, but she hated it all the same. As soon as Darach heard it was a woman, both he and Sean had gone on what she’d call red alert. They’d edged her in on the streetcar, and on the walk to and now from the transportation stop.

  What were they afraid of?

  “Sean, over here.” A street cop held up the yellow crime tape surrounding a Dumpster. The closer they got to the crowd surrounding the body, the more Abby wanted to go back home by any transportation possible. Sean went under the tape first, helped her under, and Darach quickly followed. She so did not want to go through this again. Her lips were open to ask Darach to take her home, when the uniform deep human barrier parted.

  Sean must be deserving of quite a status with the NOLA PD. They parted like grass in a high wind. And miracles of miracles, neither she nor Darach were stopped as they followed the lieutenant.

  “What do we have?”

  “Woman, mid-twenties or so, bled out from several wounds to her torso and upper thighs. There are bruises around her neck, like someone choked her.”

  Sean pulled on a pair of gloves and knelt by the blonde-haired woman. Thank God she lay on her side. Abby did not want to see the death mask on her face.

  She and Darach watched as the lieutenant reached out and lightly touched the abrasions. His eyes flared, his posture stiffened, and he stood up so quickly, Abby almost got whiplash watching. He ripped the gloves from his hands, tossed them into the Dumpster, and then turned their way.

  “Darach.” Sean jerked his head to the right, and Darach followed him, leaving Abby standing on her own. Something was up. Probably something she wasn’t going to like.

  “Abby.” She tore her gaze from the paramedics lifting the body onto a stretcher.

  “That didn’t take long.”

  “No, but we need to make haste.” Concern overrode his hard facial expression.

  “Why?”

  He grimaced but remained silent.

  “Are you going to tell me anything or what?”

  “We’ll talk back at your house.”

  Abby got nothing else from him until they were clear of the crowd and stood in an alley.

  “Come.” Darach held his arms out. She knew what was coming.

  “No.”

  “Yes.” His black eyes went silver.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No.”

  Abby walked into his arms and closed her eyes.

  ****

  Darach watched as Abby moved around the homey-style kitchen, warming up food for lunch. She’d been quiet since their arrival home. He wasn’t sure if she was waiting on him to explain or if she felt the emotional impact of the morning.

  She took a covered plate out of the microwave and sat it in front of him before pouring tea into a glass.

  “Give me a minute to warm up my plate, and then I want to know what you and Sean found at the crime scene.”

  He welcomed the few minutes of respite. She would not be happy when he told her what he had to in order to keep her safe.

  “Okay, shoot.”

  Darach looked up from his untouched food. Abby was now seated across from him. The expression in her blue gaze screamed she wanted the truth and nothing else.

  “The young woman that was murdered was touched by a demon.”

  Abby sat her glass of tea down so carefully, Darach knew she was trying to control her shock.

  “I don’t suppose ya’ll could be mistaken?”

  “Nay, I wish we were, but Sean is certain.”

  Her gaze speared him with its compassion and slight fear.

  “That poor girl. How awful.”

  He clamped his teeth together. Awful did not touch on what the woman had endured. Rape, torture, and finally death by the hands of one who reveled in causing harm. There was no point in telling Abby all the details if he could avoid it. Nor that he was certain Angus had been part of the crime.

  She didn’t say anything else, and so they concentrated on eating. Ten minutes later, he watched Abby push the same piece of turkey around her plate again. Her appetite seemed to disappear just like his had, only he forced the food to his lips and beyond. His body needed fuel to function, and tonight he would be out hunting the monstrosity who’d killed the young prostitute. It was a plan he and Sean had come up with while they briefly spoke at the scene, and one that would not earn him any points with Abby.

  He took the last bite of food from his plate and then pushed it back. Abby, as if waiting for a signal, got up and scraped their plates into the garbage before putting them in the sink. She ran water into one side and squirted liquid soap into the swirling depths.

  Darach wondered if she was still in shock. Her movements were stiff, not at all like the fluid grace he loved. Loved? There was that word again. An emotion he could not afford to have.

  “Abby, we still need to talk.”

  She kept her back to him as she rinsed and then placed the dishes, cutlery, and glasses in the drain-rack. Only after drying her hands did she turn to face him.

  “Finally, we get to the reason your face has reverted back into a
stone sculpture.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Come on, Darach, ever since you found out about this woman’s body, you’ve turned back into the emotionless man I first met.”

  “I dinnae think we need emotions to cloud the issue.” He wished he knew what Abby was talking about. He’d been more open with her than he had with anyone since his mortal death.

  “So you think showing feelings has no place in this situation or when you are dealing with me at all?”

  “Ye are putting words in me mouth. What I think is that we both need to remember ye could be a target. And emotions can make clear thinking murky.”

  Abby’s eyes went from a wide-eyed blue to a tempestuous indigo. He was not sure what he’d said to make matters worse, but he would need to choose his next words wisely.

  “Let me see if I have this straight. You think we need to leave off any type of emotions when dealing with one another. Or do you mean you regret allowing your emotions to make love to me, or whatever you want to call it?”

  A knife would have been better used to cut off his manhood. The blow she delivered made him want to groan. How on earth could one woman come up with such a bedlam twist to what he’d said?

  “I didnae say that, Abby.”

  “Really? Well you’ve been acting like an ass, Darach.”

  The ass had just about taken all he be going to take. First she slandered their lovemaking and then she called him names. Emotional involvement be damned.

  “Dinnae call me an ass, Abby.”

  “And what are you going to do to stop me?”

  Abby didn’t like the way his lips turned up into a smile. It looked more like a smirk to her. A promise of retaliation coated his now silver irises.

  As she tried to decide to stand her ground or run, he stood up. His delectable body looked like a piece of meat to a starving animal, and muscles rippled as he moved around the table. His legs drew her attention as they ate up the short distance between them.

  His arms slid around her waist and she almost screamed, no, make that melted, as one hand slid downward to cup her butt. No fair, he was so totally not playing by the rules. They should be in a totally satisfying war of words which would leave them both feeling like the air had been cleared—not this sensual battle of male versus female hormones.

  “Take it back, Abby.”

  “Take what back?” At the moment, she was having a hard time remembering what she’d said as his hand slid around to the front of her jeans. A flip of a wrist and the button opened like magic. The teeth of the zipper parted like the Red Sea, and she was lost to anything but the touch of his fingers grazing her center.

  “Take back calling me an ass.”

  Abby pulled her mind back from the sexual bliss beginning to mark her body as his. What harm would it do to apologize? Fight it Abby, you know if you give in, the man will hold it over your head for a lifetime. Her mind clashed with her body’s pleas and lost.

  “Fine, I take it back.”

  His low rumble of laughter caressed her ears, and made her want to climb inside his body. When Darach was a poster child for a warrior come to life, he was hot, but when he laughed he sent her desire meter to the top of the charts.

  “And…”

  His thumb found and thrummed her sensitive nub. She forced back the keening cry begging to be released and tried to think about what else he wanted.

  “And what?” Her words were a husky whisper of sound. Her frustration on being denied the pleasure she craved, as he stopped his bone-melting motion, echoed in her question.

  “Throwing aspersions on our previous lovemaking.”

  Despite the situation she was in, or because of it, Abby wanted to laugh. Men were so dense, especially when it came to matters of the male ego. Here he was making love to her again, she was a puddle of melted bones, and he continued to think she’d found fault in his lovemaking.

  “All right, if it makes you feel better, I’m sorry. You are not an emotionless clump of dirt when you touch me. Okay?”

  His laugher was full of satisfaction, but she didn’t care as long as he assuaged the need deep inside her body.

  Abby’s breath caught when he did just that. As the spirals built into a crescendo of want, she felt the arm around her waist tighten. Good thing, too, for she would hit the floor if he turned her loose. His thumb continued to work magic on her needful flesh and then her body exploded into a thousand pieces.

  She closed her eyes and barely felt when Darach lifted her off her feet. However, she was grateful he took the mortal way to her room. As he gently laid her on the bed, she opened her eyes, glimpsed the silver tone of his gaze, and held her hand out.

  Darach followed her down to the bed, pulled her body next to his until her backside spooned against his hardness. He ran his hand down her still trembling body. How he wanted Abby. To take her, make her his. Should he? Or would it be best to leave her be? Of course, if he planned to do just so, then he would never have touched her in the first place.

  His hand shook slightly as he followed the contours of her hip to below her knee. He traveled the path again, reversing his movements before resting his hand on her waist. His fingers trembled just a bit as he contemplated stripping her bare and pushing himself deep inside her. If he did would he finally be able to quench the fire just being near her always brought.

  A brief twitch of her backside, a soft snuffle of sound, and the room filled with the sounds of Abby’s soft but feminine snores.

  Darach groaned inwardly, and then relaxed his tense body. It was probably for the best. He still had to tell her about their evening plans.

  ****

  Abby slid out from beneath the warm arm holding her captive. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been down for the count, but the sun streaming into her bedroom window warned she didn’t have long, if she wanted to go out, before it became dark.

  She held her breath as she tiptoed across the room and down the stairs. Washing her face and brushing her teeth could be handled in the downstairs bathroom. She wasn’t taking a chance the water would wake up Mr. Hot-and-Sexy and please let him continue to sleep.

  Abby washed the cobwebs out of her eyes, brushed the fuzz off her teeth, and ran a comb through her tangled hair. She then grabbed her bag and headed to the front door. Hopefully, as earlier today, the safety guards were just there to keep demons out and not her in.

  The door opened easily enough and she stepped out onto the porch. When a lightning bolt didn’t send her hurtling back into the house, she let her breath escape. A few minutes later she caught the trolley to Cecil’s apartment.

  The stairs were just as tedious as before, and she stood catching her breath when she hit the landing that lead to his apartment. Abby was brought up short when she rounded the corner and spied the yellow crime scene tape across Cecil’s threshold.

  Crap. She forgotten this would be considered a crime scene. Well nothing for it, even if the police had already gone over the apartment, she wanted to search also. Abby thanked God the door opened inward and made nary a sound as it completed its arc backward. She slid carefully under the crossed yellow streamers and then closed the door almost all the way shut.

  As she looked around the living area, she decided to start with Cecil’s work desk. The police, why she didn’t know, had not taken his computer so she’d start there. Abby seated herself in the desk chair, and ignored the chill moving up and down her spine as she thought about how the last time Cecil had used this desk he’d been alive. Just maybe she could find out a timeline for what happened.

  The aged laptop with its scratches and dents booted up slowly but nicely. The welcome screen glowed blue and then she was looking at the icons. What to check first? E-mail? Documents? Did he have a schedule he kept?

  Abby gave up trying to get into Cecil’s e-mail after the tenth time of invalid user ID and password. The sky was already beginning to get darker. She needed to wrap this up. Hopefully, Darach still slept, if n
ot they would probably have another fight.

  The document folder held nothing more interesting than student papers from Cecil’s history class. Abby search and found a partial schedule denoting plans for their Thanksgiving visit, but nothing else on that day. She was on the verge of searching the day before for information when a slight sound in the hallway startled her. A second later, the door was pushed open and she stared into the blood-red eyes of Lieutenant Black.

  ****

  Darach awoke to Abby’s raised voice, and Sean’s unmistakable baritone. One moment sleep fuzzed his brain, the next he was on his feet. Something had happened.

  “Absolutely and totally not gonna happen, Lieutenant.”

  “If you don’t tell the Highlander, I—”

  “Oh, that’s great, threaten me. I should have known you’d react this way.” Abby’s voice sounded angry and frantic.

  “Abby, he has a right to know. You never should have—”

  “Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. It’s not your place.”

  Darach materialized right outside the living room. He could hear Abby’s stomping steps. She was the only person he knew who could make her bare feet slap like she was garnering for battle.

  “Be reasonable. It’s for your own good.” Sean’s tone had gone to pleading.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve done perfectly fine without a keeper, and guess what, if Darach thinks he can make love to me in an effort to get me to go along with his asinine idea, he has another thing coming and it ain’t what he thinks.”

  “Make love?” Darach heard the amusement in Sean’s voice. The halfling had better tread lightly.

  “How interesting. I didn’t think the immortal had it in him to be so devious.”

  “Well just goes to show what you know about immortals, demon man.”

  “Ouch. Abby, darling, you don’t have to take aim at me. I’m only doing my job, and I’m following the Highlander’s directions.”

  “Enough!” Darach stepped into the room and gauged Abby’s reaction. Immediately her spine seemed to turn into iron, her eyes flashed blue sparks, and her lips turned up in a snarl. Not good, but he could turn this thing around. Or at least he hoped he could.