by Leigh Morgan
“I’m Jay Minorik. Jesse flew me out here to see if we can figure out what’s happening with you. Fortunately, I was at a conference in London when the call came in. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m a toy no one wants to share.”
Dr. Minorik laughed at that. “Nothing wrong with your cognitive functioning then. Heartbeat is steady and strong. In fact, all your vitals are perfect. Your blood work shows that you’ve been drugged with a compound we can’t yet identify. Its chemical signature isn’t in any database I have access to and no one I know has seen it before. It appears to be naturally occurring and not synthetic. That alone is making it difficult to identify.”
Taryn’s face must have shown her worry because when he continued Dr. Minorik seemed to be speaking to her husband and her boss more than to her, although he continued to look into her eyes. He confirmed it when he winked at her.
“Other than not being able to identify what’s in your bloodstream, it doesn’t seem to be dangerous. If anything, it seems to have restorative properties. Your vitals are more like a nineteen year old athlete than a woman in her thirties. And the evidence of a bone fracture when you fell and broke your femur is almost gone. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’d grown new bone, as healthy as it was when you broke it as a child.”
“Can I leave? I’ve got a shoot to do.”
“I delayed your shoot. We won’t do this segment until next summer. I thought about having someone else step in, but this is your shoot, darling. We’ll simply add Scotland to the itinerary and shoot longer next summer. I have an option on filming some of the Mayan ruins that I can fill your spot with. No worries.”
“Stop calling my wife, ‘darling’, MacBain.”
Lauren MacBain, didn’t look the least bit contrite when he smiled at Taryn and brushed a lock of hair from her brow with the back of his hand. Lauren was looking at her, but his words were for the doctor. He ignored Jesse, seeming to enjoy yanking Jesse’s chain. Men were interestingly juvenile creatures, Taryn thought, charming, frustrating and endearing all at the same time.
“What are the possible side-effects? And how long do you think they’ll last?”
“The healing aspect will most probably be permanent. The heightened sensory experiences have already begun to fade. Taryn may experience some permanent heightening of her senses. It’s too early to tell. The more troubling aspect seems to be her inability to prevaricate. If that’s like the rest of her symptoms it too will fade, but how quickly? That’s anyone’s guess.”
“You mean she can’t lie?” Jesse asked, pushing past Lauren and shoving him none-to-gently away from her.
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Jesse looked at her, probing into her with those penetrating gray eyes. “Are you alright?”
Taryn sat up, feeling more than alright and more than ready to leave. “I feel great. I want to leave.”
Jesse’s gaze shifted to Dr. Minorik, silently asking his question.
“I don’t see any reason to keep her in the hospital. I can monitor her progress as well at her home as I can here.”
“I’m not going home.”
Jesse looked at her, all compassion gone from his face, replaced with cold determination. “You are.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I have a job to do here. I’m fully capable of doing it. I’m not leaving until I see it through.”
Lauren MacBain stepped up again. His voice was kind when he spoke, but the look he gave her was every bit as determined as Jesse’s. “Listen to me, Taryn. I canceled the shoot. There is no work to be done here until next June. It’s time for you to go home. Let it be.”
Did she imagine more in Lauren’s words than polite concern? He wanted her gone.
“Damn straight.” Jesse said.
Taryn flashed her anger at him. “Now you agree with him?”
“Now he’s talking sense.”
Taryn thought hard. She caught Merlin’s eye and suddenly it was like she could read his thoughts. Stay the night in the cottage. You’re too tired to travel today. You’ll stay at Sacred Springs Cottage tonight. Tomorrow is early enough to go home.
“I’ll go tomorrow. Tonight I want to stay in my cottage.” She smiled at Dr. Minorik. “The good doctor can keep tabs on me there.”
Jesse’s jaw unclenched and his shoulders dropped, visibly relaxing. He looked at the doctor. “Can I take her now?”
Dr. Minorik nodded. “I don’t see why not.”
A strange and indecipherable look flashed across Lauren MacBain’s face. Part relief and part worry, but Taryn didn’t think the worry had to do with the state of her health. She couldn’t dismiss it. The scent emanating from Lauren MacBain was worry commingled with an absolute need to protect. But protect what or who from what or from whom? Too bad she couldn’t smell or taste that, so instead she said exactly what needed to have happen.
“Get me out of here.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The cottage was everything Taryn remembered, quaint and lovely, open and fresh. The thatching had recently been redone. The ornate swirl pattern on the edging and the fresh whitewash made it look like a welcoming haven in the center of a fairytale. Taryn loved every inch of it, but it was the gardens she loved best. And with her new superpower, not only did the scents and colors come alive, she could taste the plants as well. Surprisingly, the most lovely looking plants left a cabbage taste while the more natural, daisy-like plants were all honey and earth and herb.
“I love it here.” She said, as Jesse led her up the step a hand under her arm even though she felt stronger than ever. “I can see why Aunt Olive doesn’t want to give it up.”
Jesse led her to the open kitchen that had been recently updated with all modern appliances that had a surprisingly old-world feel. The cabinetry was all made from reclaimed oak from the old forests and it shone with fresh polish.
“This is a wonderful place. When the danger to you is over, I’ll bring you back. I promise. I need to figure out what’s going on and stop it before you really get hurt. I thought we’d be safer here. Now all I want is to get you back to Potter’s Woods. I know I can protect you there.”
“At least you know now this isn’t about being a Bennett. It has something to do with this bracelet and my father’s work.”
Jesse set her at the high counter and pulled out a stool for her before checking out what was in the refrigerator. “I don’t know that. And until I know exactly what’s going on, I’m not counting anything out.”
Shannon O’Shay stepped into the kitchen with a young man who was so roughly masculine and so beautiful at the same time, he didn’t seem quite real. “As well you shouldn’t.”
Jesse seemed to relax as soon as Shay walked into the room. Shay’s bruising had faded and the butterfly bandage was gone, but his nose was still swollen. Taryn took less shame and more pride in that than she should have. It must have been the honesty still swimming in her blood. She grinned at him, no longer angry, now all full of good will.
“How’s the nose?”
Shay cocked his head at her. “I’m finally breathing through it.”
Her grin widened and she almost sang the next words. “Still tasting blood every time you inhale?”
“Not so much.”
“Pity. I was hoping that would last longer.”
A full grin split Shay’s handsome face, the swollen nose not detracting from his rakish allure at all. “I knew there was a reason I liked you. You remind me more of Red every time I see you.” Shay stopped himself abruptly, seemingly tentative with the subject of Taryn’s biological mother and his best friend in her presence.
For some reason Taryn didn’t ponder his words, she accepted that he meant them as a compliment. “Thank you. The swelling hasn’t hurt your appeal. If anything, you’re more handsome. More’s the pity that. You don’t need anything to boost your studly swagger. Your ego’s already too big.”
Shay�
�s eyebrows jammed together and he seemed to mentally question her sincerity. He quickly realized she’d meant it and he seemed to take her at her word when his old Irish charm came back in full force. “I’m going to call you Sugar Ray. You’re full of fight, not to mention more discerning since your trip to the hospital.” Then he got serious. “How are you feeling? Jesse told me what happened.”
“I’m fine.” She was more than fine but before she could spill that bit she asked what she wanted to know. “Who’s the male cover model with you?”
The kid with Shay blushed and flashed a grin so like Shay’s she knew the answer to her question before Shay puffed with pride. “This is my son, Magnus. He just flew in this morning.” He turned to Magnus. “Magnus, this is Jesse’s wife, Taryn Campbell-Mohr.” He winked at Taryn. “Who has been drugged and apparently says whatever truth pops into her head.”
Magnus nodded toward her and said, “Ma’am.”
Taryn rolled her eyes. She may have the blood of a nineteen year old, but she was still a thirty-three year old woman, ma’am material to Magnus. “I think I’ll go sit in the garden, gentlemen and let you scheme about how you’re going to try to keep me under lock and key while you run around playing gallant knights.”
Taryn went to the fridge, pulled out a root beer and went outside. She heard Shay say to Jesse, ‘She’s got you pegged’. She also heard Lauren MacBain politely excusing himself as she headed out the door.
Merlin was waiting for her in the rose garden.
…
“Leave the bracelet.”
“Why?”
Merlin looked at Taryn, willing her to trust him. “How long have I been with you?”
Taryn thought about it. “Two years, give or take. What does that have to do with my bracelet?”
Merlin had been with her much longer than two years and when she paused and thought deeply about it she’d realize that. The drug she’d been hit with didn’t yet send her into her deep unconsciousness, at least it wouldn’t while she was still awake.
“I can get us out of here unseen if that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
“Then leave the bracelet, Taryn. If you don’t, Jesse will assume someone took you and that you didn’t leave of your own volition. Secondly, if you take the bracelet it will be lost to you, and I know you don’t want that.”
“Did I ever tell you how much I hate it when you talk to me like you’re three centuries old?”
Much older dear heart, and growing tired.
“All the time.” Merlin smiled at her, knowing this woman cared about the young man she thought he was much more than anyone had cared for any of his varied incarnations in a very long time. Others may have cared, but almost uniformly they all wanted something from him. Taryn only wanted to give him protection and to share her friendship. Merlin needed her to trust him, and true to form she did.
Taryn gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, tugged a long deep red curl, a true conceit on his part in this form, and moved toward the hearty fuchsia colored shrub rose next to the bench. She slipped her silver and gold charm bracelet from her wrist and held it in her hand, obviously hesitant to part with it.
“Taryn, Jesse will come looking for you soon. The man isn’t comfortable with you out of his sight.” Merlin would have smiled at the thought, finally a mortal worthy of her, but there was too much to be done before Jesse and Taryn made their way to one another.
“We have to go now if you want the answers you seek, or your opportunity will be gone. The choice is up to you.” Merlin kept his need for someone to carry part of his weight from his words and his tone.
The choice was up to her. It always would be.
With both hands, Taryn carefully wove her bracelet through the rose bush where Jesse could find it. Wasting no more time, she turned and took Merlin’s hand.
Her choice was made, whether she fully understood what that meant or not.
CHAPTER FORTY
Remember.
The word echoed in Taryn’s head, bouncing off synapses and registering somewhere in her primal brain. The fog that plagued her after she was first hit with the drugged dart was gone, replaced with a clarity that bordered on certainty. It felt as if what had always been intuition was now fact.
“The cauldron isn’t in the coffee shop.” She said, as she and Merlin made their way back to the healing springs. There were actually two springs that flowed under the magical land of Glastonbury, separate, yet close to one another. One red. One white. For Christians, they symbolized the body and blood of Christ. For Pagans they were equally as sacred, their healing and regenerative powers so deeply entrenched as part of the Pagan mythos that it was utilized every day by locals and pilgrims of all creeds, to enhance their lives.
“Where is your heart leading you, Taryn?”
Merlin’s way with words shifted with his mood, his environment, and the needs of any particular situation. Taryn wasn’t sure her heart was leading her anywhere, but when he said the words, it felt right, so she went with it.
“I remember a standing stone in the field. Not too large, but bigger than a person. I could see the Tor from the stone. The stone was thick and angular with a spiral carved into the side. It had an image of a green man above the spiral. I remember my father taking a particular interest in it.”
“Can you find it?”
Taryn looked around. The sun was still relatively high in the sky. It was hard to believe only hours had passed since she’d been drugged outside the coffee shop. She led Merlin past the cottages and the place where the white spring fed into a spigot the locals used to fill their jugs. Up the hill, past the small group of people waiting patiently for their turn, they went. It was a steep climb, but Taryn made it at a fast clip.
When they came to an old farm access road she stopped. There was a wooden gate, unlocked. It let people in and kept sheep from getting out. It marked the gateway to the path that led to the Tor. Visitors were coming and going on the pedestrian walkway, but their numbers weren’t great, the flow of people being sporadic at best. There were signs to keep on the path, which Taryn did, until she didn’t.
There were wooded strips marking off sections of field and grazing areas. She led Merlin to a large expanse of greenery. It had been more than twenty years since she’d made this journey, but she remembered it. One group of trees in particular, an ancient oak grove surrounded by holly bushes, called to her.
No one saw them slip into the woods, or so Taryn thought.
…
Jesse had two teams of three and one team of two securing the small area around Sacred Springs Cottage, eight men outside, he and Shay inside. Ten trained men, and they couldn’t contain one drugged woman who couldn’t be silent if she tried, and her bumbling-golf-ball-throwing assistant whose flame bright flowing cork-screw curls shone like a torch, especially in the sun. As a pair, they were pretty hard to miss.
Yet, they eluded every precaution Jesse had put in place, save one. He’d managed to place a GPS surveillance chip onto one of the charms on Taryn’s bracelet. He thought he was being incredibly clever when he did it, considering she hadn’t taken the damned thing off since he slipped it over her wrist. Until now.
Jesse unwound the metal from the rose bush, oblivious to the pain as he was scraped and pricked. It took time and effort and blood to get it done.
“Well, that didn’t get there by accident.” Shay said, stating the obvious.
“Say something helpful, Shay, or shut the hell up.”
“She left because she wanted to, Jesse. What did she need to do so badly that she’d leave that-”
Shay nodded toward the bracelet in Jesse’s palm.
“-for you to find? She’s not only risking her own safety but your wrath. Must mean an awful lot to her, whatever it is. She couldn’t come to you for help because she had to know that you wouldn’t put her in jeopardy, no matter how much finding whatever she’s looking for means to her.”
Jesse swore a
nd closed his fist painfully around the bracelet, some of the jagged charms biting into his palm drawing more blood than the thorns had. He pushed her to this with his obsessive need to control her and the environment around her in an effort to keep her from harm. All he’d managed to do with the effort was to catapult her into the heart of it with no backup. Ten days of training, no matter how intense, would not save her from even one determined bad guy.
Jesse opened his hand, slid the chain he always wore off his neck, looped the bracelet onto it and put it back over his head. It lay just above his heart like dead weight; a figurative albatross around his neck until he found Taryn and placed it on her wrist again where it belonged.
Jesse pulled the Glock he carried from his shoulder holster and chambered a round. He pulled three clips from his belt, checking each one before replacing them. He pulled the six inch Ka-bar from its sheath fitted at the small of his back, checking its ease of movement out of the sheath, then secured it again. He retrieved the ballistic knife Henry had given him for Christmas a couple of years before, checking to ensure a smooth slide if he needed it. It too was replaced with cool efficiency. Lifting each pant leg he checked the smaller Ka-bars he kept above each ankle. He had two more weapons secured but he never showed anyone where those were hidden.
Jesse looked at Shay, cold determination steeling his features. “You armed?”
Shay’s grin could only be described as lethal. “Always.”
“Makarov?”
“One Makarov. One Beretta with parabellums.” He shrugged. “Why choose when I’m ambidextrous? Seven clips, fully loaded, I don’t need to check.” Shay grinned. “Only one Ka-bar, but mine’s bigger than yours.”
Jesse didn’t skip a beat. He’d argue about size versus tools in his tool box later. “Let’s go.”
When the silent team members moved to follow, Jesse stopped them. They hadn’t helped Taryn so far and he didn’t want more shooters than he could trust in an unknown environment. “You,” he said motioning toward his three-man alpha team, “stay and secure the cottage and Shay’s son. The rest of you report home. Let Henry know we’re coming.”
