Midnight's Temptation dw-7

by Donna Grant

  This work out in the world could earn her science and medical prizes, but that no longer mattered. Helping those in the castle fight evil was her priority now.

  “So, let’s see what my first test with the new marker will be.”

  Ferness

  Charon signed the last of the checks and gathered them to take to Laura. She sat at her desk outside his office answering e-mails and keeping the books for the many properties and businesses he owned around the small village.

  “Here is the last batch,” he said.

  She smiled as she took the checks. “I thought work might help ease your mind about things. Especially Phelan.”

  “A good try, and it did for a bit. The bugger is purposefully no’ answering my calls. After several texts, he finally responded with a curt ‘Talk to you soon’ response.”

  “He could be busy.”

  “I hope that’s the case. We’ve just heard nothing more about Wallace.”

  Laura rose from her chair and took his hand to lead him to the couch. With a little shove to his chest, she pushed him down. “As much as you might not like hearing this, I’m glad there’s been no sign of Jason. Because as soon as there is that means another battle.”

  “Hopefully one final battle where we kill the bastard.”

  “And then?” she asked. “When does the next drough rise up to take his place? You know as well as I that Jason has several droughs following him.”

  “Had,” Charon corrected.

  Laura crossed her arms over her chest and sighed loudly. “You don’t know if it’s past tense. They could be waiting for him. I know there was one who was his cousin. Aisley was her name.”

  “We found bodies of Druids after the last battle, love.”

  “I know who you found. I was there. There were two bodies we didn’t find, Charon. Jason and Aisley.”

  “You think wherever Jason is Aisley is as well?”

  Laura’s lips flattened into a line. “I don’t know. She was with him, but there were times I thought she wanted to help me. She did help me.”

  “So you’re saying she’s no’ with Wallace?”

  “I don’t know,” she said and threw her arms out. “If she wasn’t with Jason she could’ve run away with me. She didn’t. She stayed.”

  Charon grabbed Laura’s hand and pulled her down next to him. He hated to see her so upset. “Perhaps Aisley wasn’t at Dreagan and the last battle because she left Wallace. Family or no’, maybe she came to her senses.”

  “You could be right. It’s just … you didn’t see how he looked at her. It was as if he thought he owned her, Charon. And he doubted her loyalty.”

  Charon ran his thumb over the back of her hand. They had gone over her time with Wallace countless times, but she’d never said as much as she was now. What was it about this Aisley that concerned his wife so? “Anything else you remember?”

  Laura turned her moss-green eyes to him. “The Warrior, Dale. He put himself between Jason and Aisley, as if he were protecting Aisley. He cared for her. Deeply.”

  “But Aisley’s drough?”

  “I can’t feel magic as you can. Based on what Jason said, yes. She’s drough.”

  “There’s no turning back from becoming drough, love. Her soul belongs to Satan.”

  Laura’s brow furrowed. “I know. Why are you telling me that?”

  “Because I know you. You want to help her.”

  Laura turned and scooted until she was reclining back against his chest. “She seemed so … lost. I was that way once.”

  “Aye, but you didna become drough.”

  “We don’t know the circumstances.”

  “A drough is a drough. You need to remember that, love. Aisley is lost. There is nothing that can turn the evil from her.”

  “Isla is drough.”

  Charon ran his hand over Laura’s shiny dark hair. “She was forced. Because she didna freely give her soul to Satan, he never had a true claim. Had she given in to the evil of the black magic, she would’ve been Satan’s.”

  “Instead she’s been able to channel the strength of her black magic.”

  “Precisely. Isla is a mix of drough and mie, a first any of us ever encountered. I doona believe it could happen again.”

  Laura rested her hand upon his thigh. “If it happened once, it could happen again. We don’t know if Aisley was forced or not.”

  “You’re right, of course. I just want you to understand the possibility of what you’re saying is verra slim. You’ve got a soft heart, my love, and I doona want you hurt.”

  “I know. I don’t know what I want or how I feel about Aisley. One minute my heart aches for her because she seemed trapped with Jason. Then the next I despise her because she didn’t help me escape.”

  Charon glanced at his mobile phone sitting on the table. “I can call Broc. He’d find Aisley for you.”

  “No. I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m feeling sorry for a drough. How silly is that?”

  He chuckled and kissed her temple. “You’ve a soft heart, remember?”

  “It’s a pain in the ass, is what it is. I shouldn’t feel remotely sad for a drough. Like you said, she made her choice. She has to live with being what she is.”

  As much as he agreed with Laura, Charon found himself wondering if his wife had been right to question Aisley’s motives.

  “Did Aisley help Jason capture you?” he asked.

  Laura shook her head. “It was just Jason and Dale. Why?”

  “Just thinking. Where were the other Druids?”

  “Around me. Wait. There was another Druid with Jason. Her name was Mindy. She and Aisley hated each other. Mindy was Jason’s lover.”

  Charon recalled that Laura had mentioned Mindy’s name before. “Do you know why Mindy and Aisley didna like each other?”

  “It was pure loathing they felt toward each other. I don’t know the reasoning, though. It seemed as though Mindy felt threatened by Aisley. Whereas Mindy was always near Jason, Aisley hung at the back of the group usually by herself.”

  “Interesting. Did Aisley retaliate against Mindy with magic?”

  “No. Then again, neither did Mindy. Jason repeatedly tried to intimidate Aisley. He whispered something to her about reminding her what he did the last time she thought to do something to him. I couldn’t hear exactly what he said.”

  The more Charon heard about Aisley the more he wondered if he should have Broc find her. She was drough, but maybe she could give them information about Wallace.

  There was just one catch. Would they believe anything she said?

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-NINE

  Phelan reached for Aisley in the bed, only to find the sheets cool to the touch. It was only the feel of her magic that kept him from panicking.

  He opened his eyes to see her standing next to the window already dressed for the day. The sky was filled with low-lying gray clouds. The sadness surrounding her made his gut clench.

  They’d passed the night making love again and again. She asked him to make her forget, and he made sure she had. Through it all, she clung to him as if it had been their last time together. Every kiss, every touch had felt like she was saying good-bye.

  He wasn’t sure what to do. He might know how to make love to a woman a thousand different ways, but he couldn’t find the words to help Aisley.

  Telling her to forget the past hadn’t seemed to work. Not even when he told her he didn’t want to know about her past. She was determined to tell him whatever her secret was.

  He sat up wishing she was naked in the bed with him. Spending the day making love to her sounded like a great plan. Then he thought of Charon and the others, Wallace, and the selmyr.

  The time for sorting through what was bothering Aisley would have to wait until he let the others know what he’d learned.

  “It looks like rain again,” Aisley said.

  Phelan rose from the bed and scratched his jaw. He was in desperate need of a shave. “We mi
ght beat it.”

  “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

  The fact she wouldn’t look at him worried Phelan. “Give me ten minutes.”

  The entire time he was in the shower he kept a feel out for her magic in case she tried to run. When he emerged from the bathroom, she stood in the same spot she’d been earlier.

  “Have you eaten?” he asked while he dressed in his favorite pair of jeans and a dark-blue-and-white-striped button-down.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Phelan walked to her and took her by the shoulders so he could turn her to face him. “You know if I could take you back to the cabin I would. I’d be content to spend the rest of my days there with you.”

  A smile spread over her face. “I know. Your friends need you though. We need to let them know everything.”

  “Why do I feel like last night was your way of saying farewell?”

  She took his hand and rubbed it against her cheek. “You slept again.”

  “Aye. You’re the only woman I’ve ever done that with.”

  “You’re the only man who has wanted me for me.”

  “Who else would I want you to be?”

  She shrugged and looked away. “I miss the music.”

  Phelan realized it had been some time since she’d gotten lost in her music. He knew of a place in Inverness where he would take her. With the music blaring, she could dance and leave her troubles behind.

  “I know a club,” he said. “I’ll take you there tonight.”

  Her fawn-colored eyes looked at him. “Thank you.”

  “The sooner we get to Inverness, the sooner we can get to the club.”

  “Let’s get moving then.”

  Her smile was a little forced, and she couldn’t quite hide the sorrow in her beautiful eyes. But Phelan was determined to show her she had nothing to be worried about.

  She wouldn’t believe him. He’d have to prove it to her. And he was looking forward to it.

  They encountered a small section of rain on their way back down to the port. Their timing was perfect, however. When they reached the port, they pulled right onto the ferry.

  Five minutes into the ride and Aisley’s laugh filled the air when she spotted dolphins swimming alongside the ferry. Phelan stood beside her, but his gaze was on her, not the dolphins.

  He grinned as she tried—and failed—to contain her midnight locks from getting in her face. The wind whipped around them, gulls squawked for food, and the dolphins jumped and played in the water.

  But the most beautiful sight he ever beheld in his very long years was the woman beside him. She opened herself to him and showed him a part of life he had missed out on.

  She was pulling away from him now, but he’d be damned if he didn’t hold onto her. It had been just a few days, and he knew there was much more to learn than what she had shown him. He wanted to learn from her. Only her.

  Aisley turned to him then, her eyes dancing with delight. “Aren’t they wonderful?” she said of the dolphins.

  “Magnificent.” He was speaking of her, but she didn’t know it.

  She didn’t search out compliments, didn’t try to push him to give more than he was willing. Aisley was unique in that she offered him … everything.

  He felt it each time they made love. She readily, eagerly gave her body to him. But she’d given much more than that. He hadn’t wanted to admit it before. Even now it caused the carefully constructed wall around him to crack.

  It was the realization she had freely opened her heart and soul to him that made his breath catch in his throat.

  For the first time he wanted her to demand to spend more time with him instead of being content with whatever he gave her.

  The thought of not having her in his life caused him to become restless and unsettled. He wasn’t ready for her to leave.

  His mind raced with thoughts about how he could help his friends and still have time with Aisley. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to bring her to the castle. There was something he enjoyed about protecting her himself.

  Though he was the first to admit he couldn’t do it all. There was only one man who he trusted enough to share his responsibility of Aisley with.

  Charon.

  Phelan pulled out his mobile and sent a quick text to Charon while Aisley was occupied with the dolphins. The band that had constricted his chest loosened once Charon responded to the text. Phelan knew Laura and Aisley would get along well. If Aisley wasn’t comfortable with going to MacLeod Castle then she could stay with Laura in Ferness.

  Why hadn’t he thought of all of this sooner? Phelan was feeling rather proud of himself as they docked in Mallaig and started the drive to Inverness.

  * * *

  Aisley grew worried at how close she was to Wallace Mansion when Phelan drove into Inverness before lunch. Of course, she could be on the other side of the world and still be too close to the house.

  Instead of finding a hotel, they grabbed a quick bite to eat before Phelan drove them to an Internet café to do a search on the Hunter bloodline. At least that’s what Phelan was looking up.

  Aisley was searching for anything to do with a young prince that had gone missing in the sixteenth century. Records were sketchy from that time, but she knew if Ravyn was right and Phelan was truly a prince, there would be something about it.

  She searched every major nation during that time but found nothing. Her eyes burned from staring at the screen for several hours. It wasn’t until she did another search to find what countries existed at that time that she broadened her search to include little-known countries.

  And that’s when she got a hit.

  Her fingers were shaking as she moved the cursor to click the first link. There, among the timeline of events for Saxony, was a small notation of the king’s brother taking his family out of the region.

  There was nothing more, but Aisley couldn’t leave it at that. She did another search and found some obscure text mentioning that the people of Saxony were trying to kill certain members of the royal family because of something to do with their blood. Bathing in the royals’ blood could heal whatever a person suffered from.

  Aisley sat back and looked across the table at Phelan who was gazing intently at his screen. It wasn’t enough to tell him. She had to have definite proof.

  She took a deep breath and expanded her search. That’s when a dozen or so links popped up mentioning the legend of some Saxony royal family living in Scotland.

  No matter how many of the links she checked, nothing mentioned anything more. She was about to give up when she saw a paragraph from a student who wrote a paper on the lost Saxony royals.

  In it, the woman wrote that the family had been searching for their son who they suspected was kidnapped. No ransom was ever asked for, and no body was ever found.

  Aisley knew she was reading about Phelan’s family. They had searched endlessly for him. He hadn’t been forgotten. She didn’t know where they had been headed, but they remained to look for him.

  She knew firsthand what his blood could do. The healing properties of his blood had nothing to do with his god and everything to do with who he was.

  How many other members of his family had the same blood? It obviously hadn’t extended to the king and his children. Only to the king’s brother. Or perhaps only Phelan.

  Phelan looked up at her then. “What is it?”

  “Nothing,” she lied. She wasn’t certain if he wanted to know what she found. Nor was she sure she could tell him how she learned he was a prince. It was something saved for another time.

  “I found where the surname Hunter was changed to Johnson and MacDonald. After that, things get lost. It took too long for the common surname to take root within a family. If it had, things would be easier.”

  “It’s a start.”

  “No’ much of one.” He logged off and pushed back his chair. “I promised you a nice meal and the club I told you about.”

  Aisley didn’t have to be
prompted twice. She hurried to log off and stood. “Let’s go then.”

  At the hotel she showered and changed into a silver sequined tank top and short black skirt. Phelan whistled when she walked out of the bathroom.

  Her stomach was in knots. Not because of what she had discovered about Phelan and his family, but because she knew she was going to take on Jason and possibly die by Phelan’s hand that night.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Aisley took his arm, noting the crisp button-down of the deepest burgundy and the black trousers. His long dark brown locks were combed away from his face and secured in a low queue at his neck.

  He looked dark and dangerous. Aisley almost stopped them from leaving so she could have another night in his arms. But already she had held off the inevitable. The weight of her secret wouldn’t last another night.

  The restaurant Phelan chose was but two blocks from the hotel. There was a small smile about his lips that looked boyish, as if they held a surprise he couldn’t wait to tell.

  “What is it?” she asked with a laugh.

  He halted them outside of the restaurant and looked around. “I’ve a surprise for you.”

  “Really? What is it?”

  “I invited Charon and Laura to meet us for dinner.”

  Aisley’s stomach fell to her feet like lead. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop her entire body from shaking as realization set in. “No. I didn’t get a chance to tell you myself. Phelan, I’m a dr—”

  “There they are,” he said over her as he waved.

  Aisley turned to find Laura and Charon at the corner of the street staring at her as if she were the Devil himself.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY

  Phelan didn’t understand the way Charon and Laura stared at Aisley, or why Aisley’s nails were sunk into his arm in a death grip. He looked at Aisley to see she was as pale as death, her chest heaving as she watched his friends.

  It seemed to take forever before Charon and Laura started toward them. He wanted to reassure Aisley that she could trust Charon, but there was something in the way his friend looked at him that gave Phelan pause.