A warm, brilliant light consumed him as he directed his travel with a thought. Flashing, Sheridan called it. He arrived at the place he’d taken her the night they first met, before they’d changed course and headed to Myrddin’s house. The place he’d often come to since for solace.
Danu’s Joy. It was the highest mountain in Riocht an Athais, his people’s home. From it you could see the glow of life, the light of the Fae. From here, he could recall all the reasons he loved his world. Loved his people. Here there was always music in the wind. The breeze smelled of ancient aphrodisiacs and caressed his flesh as a lover would. His body pulsed with its rhythm, instinctively harmonizing with the home they had made for themselves so long ago.
It was here, on this very spot, where he’d kissed Sheridan Kelly for the first and only time. And been slapped for his efforts.
She hadn’t known where she was, had barely known him. She’d just watched her cousin come under attack from the Sauros, the lizard-like hybrids that obeyed the Lord of Air. In hindsight, it hadn’t been the best moment for seduction. But then, Finn had never had to work to seduce a woman before, it just happened. He’d also never met one whose mind he could not read. Someone whose scent was so addictive.
Sheridan made it clear from the beginning that she wanted nothing to do with him, but he knew there was something between them. More than either of them had been willing to admit until it was too late.
She’d locked her heart away at the same time Finn had realized he’d wanted it to belong to him.
He thought about how his friends had found their mates. Had it been less than a year? Their lives had all changed profoundly in such a short time. The Fianna was changing. They were no longer a group of solitary male guardians defending the North portal. The women who had entered their lives had complicated matters with love and children, with new obligations and the tempting possibility of a future. A family.
Unlike Sheridan, Linnea and Meru had both pushed past their own fears and those of the men they loved. The Guardian Mother had literally chained Hawk and Val in her bedroom to make them admit their true feelings. There was a tantalizing merit to that idea, though after Sheridan’s experience, Finn didn’t dare. Look how she still suffered. He would have to find another way to convince her that she wanted him. Needed him.
But there was something he could do that those women could not. If Sheridan would not come to him, he would simply go to her. In her dreams. On her terms. Whatever it took.
Finn folded his legs beneath him and sat, his palms turned upward in supplication. He was a tracker. The best of the trackers. He would find her.
As his body absorbed the powerful energy of his mountain, he concentrated on the images of Sheridan that were never far from his mind. Images that should allow him to find the right path.
The first moment he’d met her in that bar, when she mistook him and the other Fianna for strippers she’d purchased for Meru’s birthday.
The startled desire that quickly turned into false animosity when he’d kissed her here, on top of Danu’s Joy.
Her glorious, fearless fight against the Dark when they’d found Linnea and her daughter Crystal, the lost Fae heir.
The terror in her eyes when he’d found her bound and brutalized. Her struggles as he freed her, struggles against him, not realizing he wasn’t the enemy. Not realizing his heart had only started to beat again when he knew she was alive.
Sheridan.
Where are you?
* * * * *
The black mist clung to her, a filthy film of loathing and envy and pain. So much pain. It filled the room, blocking her view of the door. Blocking all hope for escape, even if she could get out of these jagged bindings that tightened with every movement, cutting into her skin. She was trapped.
Not again.
His voice came from everywhere and nowhere. In the air. Under her skin. Pounding in her ears and scraping along her spine. “You aren’t human. Hmm. I’ll admit my disappointment. Humans taste so much better, you see, and you had me fooled for a moment. Got my hopes up. But their life force is very distinct. Their souls. Their blood. You taste like a wine I’ve sampled before. Familiar. You can’t be Fianna, I would know. But why can’t I listen to your thoughts? And where, oh where, did the tracker find you?”
It was a dream. The same dream she had over and over again. A replay of her days with Eonis. Her punishment for allowing herself to be kidnapped and used to distract the others from their mission.
“I have a question. Why are you so zombified and disgusting?” she replied through gritted teeth, knowing this script by heart. “And for the record, I am half human, thanks to my normal deadbeat dad, wherever he may be. If you don’t like mixed cocktails, blame him and let me go.”
The laughter lashed her skin—a thousand thread-like whips, drawing blood along her bare legs and back, making her keenly aware of her nudity and vulnerability. Of her precarious situation.
“Mixed cocktail indeed. You don’t even know what you are yet. That is fascinating enough to earn my forgiveness.” Eonis sounded intrigued. “I can see why he wants you now. A fighter. Delusional and immune to the usual Fae enchantments. It’s an irresistible combination.
“The esteemed and honorable Finn much prefers a challenging hunt, as do I. Perhaps because challenge is something the women of our species never feel the need to offer. Danu taught them all to be whores.” He sneered. “To give love freely, willingly and to as many creatures as possible. They spread their legs for male and female alike, regardless of species, without discretion.”
The mocking voice floating around her hissed to a whisper, the lashes turning to light pricks of pain. “But the hunt, to me, is one of my favorite parts of the meal. It is why I enjoy human women, you see? Prey I can stalk, prey I can show that no matter how cleverly they hide, I will find them.”
He paused for a moment, as though savoring his words. “I’ve spent a long time seeking out one particular morsel. I lost her for a while, but her fear calls to me, and as soon as I complete my task, I can have her. All you have to do is tell me where they will take her. Linnea and her child each have something I value. I will find out regardless, but if you tell me now, I will let yougo without damaging you beyond repair. I must hurt you, regardless. Finn and I have a history, you understand. But I can hold back. I will hold back, if you tell me all you know.”
She didn’t want to do this anymore. She knew what happened next. Pain. Unendurable pain and humiliation. By the end of his torturous interrogation, she was so broken she would have told him where they were if she’d known. A woman and her innocent child, people she hadn’t even met. She would have sacrificed them to escape consciousness. To escape Eonis and his brand of punishment. To escape everything that had happened to her family since Meru had awoken The Book of Veils.
A sudden wave of warm light infused her aching, bloody limbs, easing her pain. It reminded her of her mother, Lily. Of Meru. And it gave her strength.
No more. If this was a dream, then she could find a way to control it. Whether a remnant of the bastard was still inside her head or not, she would not play with him tonight.
She wrenched her arms free of their restraints with surprising ease and snarled into the mist. “We’ve danced this mambo before, asshole. We both know the steps. I will never tell you anything you want to know. And you? You will die horribly and almost anticlimactically in the knowledge that you failed your master. You failed. You will never touch Linnea or her child. Never wield the sword. You lose. You will always lose.”
A nerve-jangling scream made the room around her quake before it disappeared altogether, so abruptly it made Sheridan shout in surprise. She looked around and noticed she was standing in what appeared to be a long hotel hallway filled with doors.
“This is new.” But even if her dream took a turn toward The Shining, it would be better than the memory she’d finally been able to escape. She wasn’t about to question her good fortune.
S
he walked down the seventies-inspired paisley-carpeted hallway, shivering in relief as she counted each of the plain, beige doors she passed. The thrill of escape had given her a strange sense of euphoria. Giddiness. How many nights had she been trapped with that monster, only finding release when she woke? She had no idea why she’d been given a reprieve, how she’d managed it this time when she’d never been able to before, but she honestly didn’t care. The chance for a new dream was too tempting to ignore.
“Eenie. Meenie. Miny…” She took a breath, wrapped her hand around the nearest doorknob and turned.
At first all she could see was fog. Not like the darkness she’d just come from; this was more like early morning mist waiting to be burned away by the light of the sun. It cleared quickly to reveal a cavern made of crystals glowing with soft, enticing blue light. A small, clear pool of water covered what should have been a hotel room floor.
Weird.
Sheridan leaned closer without entering the room, seeing the image of a white fawn staring back at her from the reflective surface with large, sad eyes. Despite the disguise, she knew right away who it was.
“Danu? What are you doing here? Are you the one who helped me escape?”
A pebble thrown in the center of the pool made Sheridan gasp and look up. She wasn’t alone. A large, handsome man with tousled, fiery red-gold hair and eyes that glinted with a silvery sheen similar to Myrddin’s stared back at her, smiling kindly. He leaned over to pat the animal beside him. A grayhound the size of a pony.
“Since they can’t have the sword, they’ll want my spear, young one.” His voice was a rich rumble that made her feel oddly safe. “It is one of the few remaining objects that can free him. Danu cannot see all the traitors, nor can I, so it is up to you. They won’t be able to resist your arrival. The inheritance is yours by right. If the cause is just and you follow your instincts, you will prevail. Quickly now, girl, it is time to leave the Eastern Portal. It is closed to you with good reason and must be kept that way until the time is right. Come home to the North.”
Inheritance? Portal? Who was this man? Sheridan’s fear returned, and with it a powerful wind that pushed her backward. The door closed with a bang and disappeared before her eyes. She placed her hand on the wall that now stood in its place.
“Hey, guy? Buddy?” She pounded her fist against it. “What did you mean? What spear? Who are you?”
She blew out a frustrated breath at the silence that followed. “The correct answer, Sheridan,” she muttered to herself, “is strange and not remotely helpful. But harmless. So that’s good.”
She should pinch her arm or something. Try to wake up. What he’d said seemed important. At least, she was pretty damn sure Meru would think so. Maybe she’d know what it meant.
So why wasn’t she in any hurry to leave?
Another door stood at the end of the hallway. It hadn’t been there before. With the certainty that only came in dreams, she knew that was exactly where she needed to go. It could be the way out. Or maybe her answers would be on the other side.
In the blink of an eye, she was standing in front of it, biting her lower lip in anticipation. What would she find? She felt a tug at the center of her being pulling her inside the room as the door opened, then closed behind her with a definitive click. What she saw stole her breath.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
The alley was dark and wet, the wall in front of her covered with graffiti, and a man-shaped portion of that artwork was blocked from her view. The figure was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, his back to her and his hands up in surrender.
What the hell was going on?
“Spread ’em, Tracker. You’re surrounded.”
Sheridan felt her eyes widening almost painfully as she watched a policeman come forward and yank the man’s hands down behind his back, cuffing him with an obvious air of satisfaction.
The cop turned to her, for some reason reminding her of Harold Delaney from her old precinct. Without the sneezing. “You’ve done it again, Detective. Gotten your man. The boys can’t wait to see you interrogate this lowlife. He’s gonna wish he never crossed paths with you.”
“Great,” she mumbled, suddenly wishing she was back in the hotel hallway. Where was Danu? What about the spear? What did this have to do with anything?
Hooded sweatshirt guy was turned around to face her and she gasped, taking a few steps back. “Finn? What the hell are you doing here?”
Finn grimaced. “It appears I’m being arrested.” He studied her for a moment before starting to smile. “Nice uniform, by the way. No wonder I let you catch me.”
Uniform? She looked down at herself and almost groaned in despair. She was in stiletto heels, thigh-high stockings and a short leopard print dress that fell loosely off one shoulder. Was she undercover as a hooker or just trapped in some eighties cop movie that time forgot?
She raised the gun she was apparently holding and glared at him. “You didn’t let me do anything. I’m the one with all the cards now, Tracker.” She paused and shook her head. “I’m not sure why I just said that.”
The words had come out of her mouth as if she were following a script. She had a lot of experience with crazy dreams lately, but this one topped them all. “I have to get out of here.”
She spun on her ridiculously high heels and almost screamed in frustration. No longer in the alley, instead she was facing the inside door of an interrogation room, and Finn was chuckling behind her.
“I had no idea this was normal police procedure. A life of crime is looking more and more appealing by the second.”
Sheridan took a fortifying breath and turned to face him again, her knees almost buckling at the sight of her “suspect”.
Her imagination had never been this good.
Maybe it was the shock. The unexpectedness of the scene. Maybe she was hysterical. She should have been drooling. Panting. Stripping. Instead she covered her mouth with one hand, then the other, trying to hold it in, but the flood could not be denied. Her laughter bounced off the walls, filling the room until Finn was glaring from the metal slab he was currently cuffed to…wearing nothing but a small towel around his hips. “Is this your interrogation technique, Detective?”
“I have to admit, this is a first for me.” She leaned against the door, her body heating, heart skipping and starting to race with delight—just from the sight of him. He was gorgeous, even all trussed up. Especially all trussed up. “I know you’re the star of most of my kinkiest fantasies, but this scene might top them all.”
Finn looked frustrated, but attentive. “So you don’t usually have men strip-search me and chain me up for your pleasure?”
Strip-searched. Damn, she was sorry she’d missed that. “What did you expect, Tracker? You’ve evaded us for far too long. It’s time you came clean.” She stomped her foot. “Again with the shitty dialogue.”
A knocking sound made her turn her head and notice their audience through the viewing window. A line of sexy, shirtless men with badges on their belts…and her old pal Sneezy. The Harold look-alike spoke into the microphone. “Need any help in there, Detective Kelly?”
“I really do,” she muttered, then shook her head. “Watch and learn, boys. He’ll tell me where he’s stashed it if I have to work him over all night long.”
Finn sighed and banged the back of his head against the metal, drawing all her attention. “So, they’ll be watching us then?”
“I thought your people enjoyed that sort of thing.”
He licked his lower lip and she shivered. “Oh we do. I don’t mind the audience. And not that I don’t like the sound of you working me over all night, but just what do you think I’m hiding and where could I possibly put it? In case you hadn’t noticed, you have me at a serious clothing disadvantage.”
She’d noticed. God, had she noticed. She stared almost helplessly at her prisoner. His stunning face. Those long-lashed eyes, high cheekbones and lush lips. His hair fell across his forehead, soft
ening the perfection with a playful air. Too beautiful, she’d always teased him. But she could see it now in a way she’d never been able to before.
Finn wasn’t a berserker or a muscle-bound shifter—but there was no mistaking him for anything other than pure, uncompromising male. Battle-tested and sexy as hell. Beautiful and deadly and handcuffed for her pleasure.
The knowledge in his eyes alone was arousing, and she knew if he wanted to, he could have escaped the shackles without using his ability to flash away. Knew he could easily gain control of this situation. Of her.
Why hadn’t he?
She noticed scars scattered across his body like a road map. They were similar to the ones on her skin. She never noticed them before. Sheridan imagined it would be a hard thing to scar a Fae. To get close enough. To be powerful enough to cause any lasting harm.
She walked across the room and reached up to touch his bare flesh. Her hands flattened on his chest, sliding over his heated skin to touch each mark she could see.
Touching him. How many times had she dreamed of doing this? But it was different this time. It felt real. He felt real. More real than any fantasy she’d had about him before, and that fact only fueled her hunger.
Her fingers spread to skim across his rib cage and she stopped, the strange texture of raised skin making her pause. Not a scar. She leaned closer, her lips a breath away from his right nipple, to study it.
It was some sort of brand or tattoo. A dark, swirling design that would be beautiful, if she didn’t have this horrible feeling it had been meant to hurt. “What is that?”
He hissed out a breath as she touched it. “A reminder of why I left my old life and obligations behind to serve the Fianna. Of the debts I owe.”
“What debts?” Sheridan skimmed her lips against the edge of the mark, closing her eyes and savoring his delicious scent. He smelled of the forest. The earth. Magical. “Mob debts? Gambling debts? What do you owe to that con man Myrddin and his gang of misfits? You won’t get out of this room until you answer my questions. Is he behind this?”
Behind the Veil: 3 (Temptation Unveiled) Page 5
