by Donna Grant
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aiden’s head lift to look at her. She wanted to reassure him that there was nothing Jason could do to get her to tell him anything about Phelan or any of the Warriors. But she couldn’t show any kind of response to Aiden for fear of what Jason would do to him.
“After all I’ve made you endure.” Jason’s voice was low, calm as he walked around her. “Even after I’ve ensured that I’m the only one who can heal your wounds. I thought you’d have broken by now. I guess I was wrong.”
Aisley remained silent. Let Jason say whatever he wanted, let him continue to torture her. She wouldn’t be swayed.
“Mummy?”
The child’s voice went through Aisley like a knife. She looked down to find a little girl of about two who had long black hair with a pink ribbon tied around her head and fawn-colored eyes.
Aisley couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move as she stared down at the image she’d always pictured of her daughter.
“Mummy, up,” the child said as she lifted her arms to Aisley.
Jason walked behind her and whispered, “What kind of mum would ignore her child, cousin?”
Aisley’s vision swam as tears poured unheeded down her face. Her heart rejoiced at the same time her mind cautioned her. But the last image of Gillian in her arms was easy to let go of when she stood before Aisley now.
Nothing, not a single broken bone, cut, or ache could stop Aisley from kneeling before the adorable child. She opened her arms, and Gillian ran into them, her chubby arms wrapping tightly around Aisley’s neck.
Aisley sobbed as she held her daughter. Her little body seemed so frail and sturdy all at the same time. And she smelled of innocence and wildflowers.
“I can give her back to you,” Jason said.
Aisley leaned back and tried to touch Gillian’s cheeks. Her fingers wouldn’t bend, so she was only able to lightly run her palm along the cherubic cheeks as her daughter smiled up at her.
“I could make it so that you forgot she died hours after her birth. I’ll give you memories of the first time she sat up, the first time she crawled, the first time she ate baby food, and her first steps. Think about all the firsts, Aisley. Her first birthday, her first Christmas.”
Aisley kissed Gillian’s forehead. Her eyes clashed with Aiden’s as he watched her with blood dripping from a cut at the corner of his mouth.
She couldn’t forget how Quinn had fought so hard to save his son from Jason in Edinburgh. Aiden was someone’s son. If she told Jason anything, Aiden would die after his usefulness was over.
Aisley held Gillian against her and closed her eyes. Ferness was near, and the Warriors would know Jason already had Aiden. The battle Jason craved would happen soon.
“Want ta go home, Mummy,” Gillian said as she wiggled against her.
All Aisley had to do was tell Jason she would take his offer. She would have Gillian again. But at what cost? How could she think to raise a child when her soul was going to Hell?
She didn’t want Gillian around black magic. Then there was Jason. She knew he had ulterior motives. He would use Gillian for his own and possibly turn her against Aisley.
“All your wounds can be healed in your next breath,” Jason said. “You can take Gillian back to the mansion and await me there.”
Aisley got to her feet and swallowed past the lump of emotion in her throat when Gillian tucked her small hand into hers.
Jason smiled at Gillian as he ran his hand down her head. “She’s such a beautiful lass. But I need your answer. Will you let your daughter die a second time?”
Aisley looked once more into Aiden’s dark green gaze. How could she let Gillian go a second time? She’d barely survived the first time. She wouldn’t survive a second.
But how could she side with evil once more?
Jason wasn’t her only choice. She could always pray to the Devil as he had told her she would. If she did, however, she would lose Gillian.
It all came down to her daughter.
“I’ll not fail Gillian again,” she whispered.
Aiden’s chin fell back to his chest.
Jason smiled widely and clapped his hands together. “I knew the child would get you. You always let it rule you. A word of advice, cousin. Doona ever allow yourself to have such a weakness.”
“You said you would heal me.”
“In a moment,” Jason said and looked around him. “We’re going to have visitors soon. I wonder how angry Quinn is that I took his son. He’ll be the first to attack. And the first to die.”
Aiden let out a bellow and tried to get to his feet, but the two female droughs held him down with their magic.
“Tell me what those at the castle have been working on,” Jason demanded of Aisley.
She licked her lips. She had no idea, and she wasn’t sure if Jason did either. He could use magic to make her tell the truth. Or torture her more. She wanted neither. If she was going to play this, she had to do it right. “I don’t know.”
“Liar!” Jason took a deep breath and forced a smile. “You were with Phelan for days. I know you got him to talk. Tell me everything.”
There was no way Aisley would tell Jason anything about Phelan. The Fairy Pool and Phelan’s royal heritage were meant only for Phelan.
Aisley looked down at Gillian as her heart broke for Phelan and their time together. She hesitated a bit too long in answering, because in the next second, she felt more blood pour down her back.
“Doona think to play me,” Jason said through clenched teeth. “I broke you once. I’ll break you again.”
“All right,” Aisley said quickly, and then in a softer voice, “all right. They’re working on a way to use their blood against you.”
“Interesting.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. As soon as Jason accepted her lie, she knew she had a chance of keeping Gillian.
“What else?” Jason asked.
Aisley shrugged and ignored the hate-filled glare from Aiden. “They’re looking for a way to contain the selmyr as they once were.”
“Those beasts that killed me? And?”
“That’s it.”
Jason snorted. “How far have they come to killing the selmyr?”
“The last I knew, not very. They were looking for a certain bloodline that would know what to do.”
“And that’s all you know?”
“That’s all I know,” she said.
Jason rubbed his hands together. “My enemies are close. Do your part, and I’ll keep my promise to you.”
“My part?”
He spared her an irritated look. “Kill Phelan.”
Aisley could no more kill him than she could Gillian. She loved Phelan, the kind of love a person could only dream about. She didn’t know why love had come to her, only that it had.
Her past choices kept her and Phelan apart, but it didn’t stop her love. Nothing, not even her death, would end her love for him.
Fortunately, Jason walked away to talk to a young lad. Aisley had a tough choice before her. She could kill Phelan and keep her beloved daughter by her side and face whatever consequences came from that.
Or she could turn against Jason and try to kill him. She’d lose Gillian and most certainly her own life. But Phelan would be saved.
It came down to Gillian or Phelan.
How could she make a choice?
Gillian wanted her while Phelan despised her. If given the chance, Phelan would kill her.
Fresh tears fell as Aisley inwardly screamed at the unfairness of it all. Either choice ended with her losing someone she loved. It was a no-win situation, and Jason knew it. The Jason that had come back from the dead had a hard edge to him, a ruthlessness he’d previously lacked.
It was clear he would do anything—and stop at nothing—to have what he wanted.
As if sensing Aisley was wavering, Jason turned to her. “Gillian, come stand beside me, lass. I’ll keep you safe.”
Aisley didn’t
have the hand strength to keep ahold of her daughter. A look from Jason silenced any argument Aisley was about to make.
Gillian ran to Jason’s side, her laughter filling the forest. The battle about to begin was going to be a deadly one. And her precious, beautiful daughter was standing next to the man who had instigated it all.
Why couldn’t Jason have stayed dead?
Why couldn’t the Devil stop playing games and end Jason now?
Why couldn’t Phelan have killed her as she asked?
Aisley sniffled through her tears. Somehow she was going to have to keep both Gillian and Phelan alive. It didn’t matter what happened to her so long as she didn’t have to watch one of the two people she loved die.
The choice Corann had warned her about was here. She just prayed she had the magic to get through it.
CHAPTER
FIFTY
Phelan’s skin tingled from the feel of Aisley’s magic. There was great sadness in her magic, but it didn’t stop him from vowing to kill her as she’d asked him to do in Inverness.
Mixed with Aisley’s magic was the cloying, sickening feel of drough magic. Phelan recognized Wallace’s magic from the rest of the droughs he sensed.
It was Wallace he’d felt on Skye. Whether or not the bastard attacked Aisley or it was some elaborate setup didn’t matter.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Wallace’s voice shouted through the trees.
Phelan nodded to Charon and walked the path his friend had told him about. It would take Phelan around to flank Wallace. Malcolm was supposed to take the other side, but they hadn’t heard from him. Whether he showed up or not was anyone’s guess.
There was time for one more try. Phelan moved silently through the trees as he sent a quick text to Malcolm. Almost instantly Malcolm responded to let him know he was already there and watching Wallace.
Phelan smiled. It was going to be up to him and Malcolm. The other Warriors would do their part, but they also had to keep the Druids safe. He and Malcolm didn’t have that problem.
Wallace was set up atop a small rise that was protected by huge oaks, alders, pines, and chestnuts. There was a steep slope leading up to Wallace’s back. The ground on the remaining three sides were gentle rolling hills.
Phelan clenched his jaw when he felt the magic behind Wallace preventing anyone from attacking there. Wallace had set up the battlefield distinctly to his advantage.
Much as they had done at Dreagan. Wallace hadn’t known what he was walking into then, but Phelan and the others certainly did.
No one knew this woodland as Charon did. As soon as they’d discovered that’s where Wallace was, Charon had drawn a quick map of the forest.
Once Broc discovered exactly where Wallace was, it was simply a matter of Charon showing where everyone needed to go to be most effective.
Phelan unleashed his god and watched the gold claws extend from his fingers as he braced a hand against the trunk of a tree. Fighting droughs was what he was meant to do.
To his left the other ten Warriors had taken their places while the three MacLeod brothers would be visible to Wallace.
Phelan peered through the foliage and spotted Quinn with Fallon and Lucan on either side of him. Quinn’s rage was palpable. The brothers removed their shirts so Wallace could see the black skin and claws of their shared god.
As many battles as he’d been in, Phelan knew this one could change everything. With Aiden being held captive, it was up to Fallon and Lucan to control Quinn if something should happen to his son.
Phelan continued through the trees until he found the protruding rock formation Charon had told him about. He lay outstretched on his stomach and peered down at Wallace. Though he wasn’t as close as he wanted to be, there was a distinct advantage to him taking the higher ground on the next hill.
He let his gaze slowly sweep the area until he spotted a young lad, Wallace, and a black-haired little girl. The toddler gave him pause, especially when she turned her head and he saw fawn-colored eyes.
Phelan continued his search until he found Aiden being held by two female droughs using magic to keep him submissive. Though Aiden was fighting it.
A smile pulled at Phelan’s lips. It was just like a MacLeod to be stubborn enough to think he could get out of a situation like that alone.
But no matter how much of Aiden’s magic Phelan felt, it wasn’t enough for Aiden to overcome his captors.
Then Phelan saw Aisley.
His breath left him in a whoosh, as if someone had kicked him in the gut. Her midnight locks were in disarray and tangled. Her clothes were dirty, and he could almost swear he smelled blood on her. Fresh blood.
She was standing a ways behind Wallace and in front of Aiden. Yet she didn’t move. Not a twitch of her fingers or quirk of her lips. Only the breeze rustling the leaves dared to sweep through her hair.
A strand tangled in her eyelashes. He waited to see her move it out of the way, but nothing happened. Her gaze was riveted on the little girl Wallace had ahold of.
Phelan made himself look away from Aisley. If he continued, he was likely to think the expression on her face was one of dejection and pain.
He knew better.
After how easily she’d lied to him, Phelan didn’t trust what his eyes saw or what his ears heard. He’d already anticipated that if he came in contact with her he would believe the opposite of whatever she said.
“Are you going to wait forever?” Wallace shouted to the forest.
Phelan peeled back his lips when he saw Wallace exchange a smile with the lad next to him. The bastard thought it was funny. By the time Phelan got done with him, Wallace wouldn’t have anything to smile about.
The MacLeods walked out of the shadow of the trees and halted. Fallon had his arms crossed over his chest while Lucan’s hung by his side in anything but a casual stance. Quinn, however, had his hands fisted and his lips peeled back as he growled.
“Put a leash on it,” Wallace told Fallon of Quinn.
Fallon quirked a brow. “Release his son, and I willna have to.”
Wallace opened his mouth in a dramatic O and glanced over his shoulder at Aiden. “You mean him? I’m afraid that’s no’ going to happen.”
“Then prepare to die, drough,” Quinn said menacingly.
In response, Wallace laughed. “You dim-witted thugs think you can walk up and kill me? After all I survived? I came back from the dead and gained more power in the process.”
“You’re no’ the first,” Lucan said. “Deirdre did it before you. Better, I think, too.”
Fallon nodded. “Deirdre did do it better.”
“I doona give a shite how many people have done it,” Wallace ground out, his vanity showing by the thickening of his accent. “I’m back, and you willna be getting rid of me so easily.”
Quinn took a step toward him before Lucan and Fallon grabbed his arms. “Keep thinking that. We’ve no’ killed two powerful droughs for nothing. You’re next on the list, Wallace.”
“And I’m shaking in my shoes,” Jason said with a chuckle. “What none of you yet realize is that I have the advantage.”
Lucan gave a derisive smirk. “With three droughs?”
“With three droughs.”
It was Wallace’s cool demeanor that got Phelan’s attention. The bastard might be a sociopath, but he had a plan. And one they weren’t prepared for.
There was no time to warn the others. Phelan called up his power and altered the forest so Wallace thought the MacLeods were gone. It was done seconds before Wallace let loose a blast of magic along with three knives that rose from the ground and aimed right at the MacLeods.
Phelan spotted blood on the knives and knew it was drough blood. The brothers got out of the way of the knives and magic and scrambled back into the forest. Only then did Phelan drop the imagery. Wallace let loose several more blasts of magic in the trees that came too close to hitting the Warriors.
If Phelan didn’t do something, Wallace w
ould get lucky and manage to hit one of his friends. Phelan got to his feet. Before he could jump in front of Wallace, lightning zapped through the forest and zinged one of the women holding Aiden.
* * *
Aisley waited for the lightning to strike her. Instead, it was only one of Jason’s newest recruits that fell to the ground, her lifeless body smoking from the zap.
Her knees were locked, which was the only thing keeping Aisley upright and still instead of running to Gillian. Out of the corner of her eye, Aisley saw Aiden elbow the other woman. She was older, and he was able to gain an advantage, even with the drough’s magic.
She wanted to see if Aiden got loose, but Aisley’s attention couldn’t be diverted from Gillian who was still beside Jason as he continued to blast his magic in the trees.
Aisley screamed Gillian’s name when the lightning came again and struck steps from her. When Gillian started to run to her, Jason grabbed Gillian’s arm to keep her with him.
“No,” Aisley said. She wouldn’t stand by and watch her daughter be put in danger.
Balls of fire, more lightning, and even water shaped like a spear hurdled into the small clearing coming closer and closer to Jason.
The teenager was taken out by a water spear to his chest. Jason paid him no heed. It was as if the droughs Jason had recruited meant nothing to him.
Her magic welled within her. She could use it against Phelan and the others. If she did, it would prove to Jason she was allied with him.
It would give her Gillian. She could rock her daughter to sleep at night, teach her about magic, life, and boys.
The world spun as Aisley’s ears rang and she found herself on her stomach on the ground, pine needles sticking into her cheek. By the smell of burnt earth, it seemed she had almost been struck by lightning.
It was the sound of Gillian screaming for her that had Aisley moving. She bit her lip and tasted blood when she moved her hands beneath her to push herself up.
The wounds on her back gushed blood. She had already been weak from lack of food and the torture. The more blood she lost, the weaker she became. How could she help Gillian then?
Aisley grew dizzy when she put pressure on her injured hands to steady her. Slowly she moved her legs so that her knees were underneath her.
