by Claudy Conn
She couldn’t stop the little snort that escaped her lips as she looked around, shook her head, and walked over to the warm fire, where she rubbed her hands by the flames. “Brr…at least you thought to start a fire. I don’t know why, but I have been feeling chilled to the bone this last hour or so.”
He was there in the instant, behind her, all around her, wrapping a warm throw blanket about her shoulders, and then even as she closed her eyes, thinking there would be more—he took a step away from her and asked, “Better?”
She nodded and sighed before going to curl up on her couch. He moved towards her and sank on the sofa beside her almost at once to ask, “So then, the good squire owns this cottage? Why would he rent it out? He doesn’t need the money.” His face was thoughtful, his gaze faraway. Then all at once, as though he had put the fact aside for later dissecting, he shrugged it off.
“Hmmm…” Shawna offered sarcastically. “Another thing the great MacFare doesn’t know? I’ll have to ask him.” However, it had been something she had been wondering herself.
He ignored her bite and threw at her, “Aye then, did the good Mrs. Carver tell you what sort of man the squire is? Did she tell you half the village believes him to be a murderer?”
Shawna’s face dropped. “Come on.”
“Do you not believe me, lass?”
“I…I…explain.”
He shrugged and bit at his full, sensuous lip before he quietly answered, “To be fair, I have to tell you it was disproved, but I have always wondered about the incident.”
“Do you think him a murderer—is that what this is all about? Do you actually believe that he is dangerous?” Shawna scoffed.
“Ah—a good question and one you shouldn’t have to deal with when ye have yer own problems.” His brogue thickened once more as he eyed her disapprovingly. “Don’t ye have enough matters complicating yer life?”
“Don’t stall, Chad MacFare. Just tell me exactly what all this fuss about the squire is really about?”
“The quiet squire was investigated for the crime of murder only last year.”
Shawna couldn’t stop from exclaiming, “I don’t believe it.” Her silver eyes narrowed, and she directed a considering look at him. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why was he investigated for murder?”
“First, let me tell you that he was completely cleared of the charges, but nevertheless—”
Shawna cut him off, “Murder…charges… Who did he supposedly murder?”
“Apparently, he walked into the townhouse he had bought for his fiancée in Inverness and caught her…er…in bed with not just another guy, but with two…”
“You are making this up.” Shawna had the warm, multi-colored throw blanket wrapped all around herself, but she was sitting on her knees as she regarded him.
He made the sign. “Cross my heart—true story.”
“I haven’t decided if you have one.”
“Oooh…doona say that, lass…” His deep Scottish brogue seemed to engulf her mind, and she felt stalled for a moment. She seemed lost in his green eyes as she heard him say, “Ye hurt me to the quick.”
She remembered herself and scowled. “I can’t believe the squire capable of hurting anyone…even after…well after finding Helene…in such awful circumstances.”
“Helene is it?” Chad barked at her. “He told you her name, but he didn’t tell you she was dead?” He shook his head. “He is playing a deep game. Aye—that he is—because there is so much more. She wasn’t just dead—”
“He couldn’t have murdered her. He is so gentle and sweet…” She cut him off.
“Aye, and some of us believe that dark waters run deep.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means the man is a mystery. Keeps his thoughts to himself—you don’t know him.”
“I know he couldn’t have killed her. He loved her…”
“There are some men that are driven by mad jealousy…and in fact, kill the ones they say they love.” He shook his head. “At any rate, although he was the number one on the suspect list, he had an iron-clad alibi for the time of her death. Truth be told, lass, even I found it difficult to believe the quiet squire would commit such a torturous murder—and it was…torturous. The manner of the kill was…perverted.”
Shawna grimaced as her imagination drew a picture. “Was anyone ever caught?”
“No. There were no other suspects in the case, so the good squire was left with a bleak cloud hanging over his quiet head.”
“Do you really believe he is capable of such a violent crime?”
“What I think is there is more to the squire than meets the eye.”
“You don’t really think he actually did it, but you don’t like him so you want me to think it.” Shawna eyed him questioningly.
“Don’t be a fool. I want you to keep your eyes open. Make up your own mind…it is what you do. Be the suspicious lass I met in New York. Be suspicious of everyone, of everything—that is what I want!”
She considered his words and him for a long pause before she changed the subject. Damn, she thought, his green eyes were mesmerizing.
She chided herself and asked roughly, “What did you mean—the manner in which she was killed was perverted?”
“The poor woman was burned over half her body and in some very intimate places as well. She must have suffered greatly…” he said, shaking his head. “Aye, I have a friend in the morgue, and he called me. I saw the body…and it is hard to believe that a man, any man, could have done what was done to her. She had been tortured with electricity. Her body had been sliced open. Her heart had been removed and dumped in the trash in the kitchen. She was left there on her white rug to bleed out, and she did. The entire scene was gruesome.”
Shawna sank back down on the couch and hugged the blanket tighter around her body. “How awful for Kenneth…and after he had lost his mother…”
“His mother? Oh, aye—that’s right. She did die last year as well—before his fiancée’s death.” Chad seemed to muse on this for a moment.
She interrupted his thoughts. “How do you know all these things?”
“As I mentioned before, I am a neighbor and have a natural curiosity.”
“What do you mean by that—you are a neighbor?”
He chuckled. “What could I mean?”
“Stop pussyfooting and just tell me.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Have you leased a place nearby?”
“No, I haven’t leased a place. Didn’t need to. My family home runs adjacent to MacDunn land.”
“Your family home—adjacent?” Shawna repeated stupidly.
“Did ye not do your homework, lass? Did ye not see that MacFare owns more than one thousand acres in Stockton County, only miles, a few miles, from this cottage?”
She was stunned into silence. MacFare? She didn’t remember seeing the name. She had been scouting around for vampires, not locals.
“Your family has a home here…in Stockton?”
“Aye, although we are not always in residence. My family traveled quite a lot when I was…er growing up…not in one place for very long.”
Shawna stared up at him. There was more here than met the eye. She made an unobtrusive attempt to scan his mind. She got the words ‘actors’, ‘parts’, and then all at once he had her wrist, and he was growling ferociously before he sneered a look at her. He said, low and threateningly, “Don’t ever try that again. Stay out of my mind and I will give ye the same courtesy.”
Her lashes brushed her cheeks as she considered the situation before she whispered, “What are you, Chad MacFare—just what sort of animal are you?”
“Shall I show you, lass?” he whispered low and at her ear. His lips traveled down the side of her neck, and she felt a shiver tickle a response from her body. How she managed to reprimand him, she didn’t know as she heard herself say, “Stop it.”
A short laugh escaped him as he released her and set hims
elf apart. There was no humor in the sound or in his eyes. “Animal, is it? No more animal than you—probably less.”
She stared hard at him and bit at her bottom lip. “There is an old English word I have rarely heard used, or heard outside a romance novel. Insufferable—you are insufferable! Now I have a very clear idea of what that word really means.” She turned away from him and immediately found his large, strong hands on her shoulders turning her to face him. He stood up and took her with him. She couldn’t understand why she allowed him to retain his hold on her, but she did. A part of her realized she didn’t want him to let her go.
“Obviously you enjoy the quiet squire’s attention and company so much more than mine.” He bent and brushed her lips with his before straightening up. “I shall leave you to dream of him. I have things to do.”
She was astonished. His light kiss had sent more sensation through her body than she had thought possible. She wanted more—was irritated that he could just walk away without trying for more. She called him to a stop. “Wait…”
“What?” He was exasperated, and it displayed itself in his tone.
She couldn’t think why she was so desperate for him to stay. She only knew that as he left her, she perversely wanted him to stay. “You needn’t leave yet…”
He grinned, and for a moment they actually smiled at once another. And then he became insufferable again. “I know that you will miss me, lass, but it is only for a couple of hours. You are a very poor housekeeper. There isn’t anything worth eating for dinner in your kitchen. I am going to pick up some supplies…and do a few…er…chores, but don’t you worry that pretty head of yours—I’ll be back before you can miss me too badly.”
“Miss you?” she snapped. “I won’t miss you. What makes you think I would miss you? I just need to know what I am dealing with, and you seem to have some answers.”
“Och…ye pinch m’heart, ye do,” he mocked, his hand on said organ.
She threw a couch pillow at him. He opened the door, and a moment later she heard the start of his engine as he left her to her thoughts. She folded her arms across her chest and realized that she actually had wanted him to do more than stay. She wanted him to kiss her, really kiss her…
And she realized that she was sincerely comforted that he would be returning.
~ Ten ~
DUSK HAD TURNED into night. Shawna picked up a book and turned on a reading light as she moved to sit on the couch, but something flickered through her blood and started clanging.
An eerie sensation took over her body, and she dropped the book on the sofa and moved towards the kitchen. She frowned as she held onto the edge of the sink and peered out the window.
It was almost too dark to see anything—for anyone else, but Shawna had better than 20/20 sight…way better. No one was there—at least not on the lawn, and not in the pasture that spread out after the cottage’s backyard.
She scanned the woods and experienced a queasy feeling just within the lining of her stomach. Oh yeah—something was definitely out there. She felt its energy grow even as she scanned. She experienced the heat of the creature’s rage before she saw the blue, razor-sharp shaft of light!
Shawna had come to think of the thing as the entity, and she made a conscious decision to speak to it. “Okay then…you are watching me. Why? Come on, have a closer look if you like—let me have a closer look at you—only fair, right?”
As though it understood her, it made a swift but threatening movement towards the cottage and then suddenly vanished. She bent over the sink and put her nose close to the window to get a better look. All at once it was there pressed up against the glass—a grotesque mass of misshapen energy, filled with red-hot hatred.
Without thinking Shawna jumped back. Her grandmother’s words, ‘show no fear’, seemed impossible to adhere to. It tapped at the window with its razor-sharp talon, and as though melting the window pane, it melded with the glass and then spun out a separate jagged blade of energy as it reached out with one intention—to maim.
She was so stunned by this new development that she forgot to get out of its way, and before she knew what she what it was doing, it slashed through the sleeve of her sweater and left an open gash down the length of her arm.
Pain shot through Shawna’s entire body and brain, and she released a howl of agony as her blood poured out of the wound. This thing could kill her, she realized at once. It could slice through her neck and decapitate her.
She had to get herself together. The human in her wanted to retreat; the vamp wanted to fight back and destroy!
However, she knew she couldn’t afford to lose too much blood, and that was already happening. Blood loss would leave her too weak to fight and defend herself. She took a step further back and reached for a dishtowel hung over the dinette chair.
She had to stop the bleeding!
She wrapped it tightly around her arm as she tried to maintain composure, even bluster at it, while its razor talons swiped the air.
She pressed the wrapped and severely wounded right arm against her body and shoved her left hand into her jean pocket. What she pulled out she held up with her good arm firmly in place. She waved a small, silver-framed mirror.
She held it to the entity and saw that the creature was taken aback. She had, at the very least, bought some time. The thing stopped in mid-swipe. Its movements came to a complete standstill (if you could call it standing) as it glared furiously into the small, arcane mirror.
Shawna whispered the ancient spell, and it turned to look at her—screeching madly. Shawna thought that it was more than just a killer—it was surely insane.
She was glad to have caught its attention, but she wasn’t smiling yet because she was in deep shit and she knew it.
She then shouted out the words her grandmother had taught her so long ago. “Bearoidh mé—coimeadam.”
The grotesque thing screeched to the heavens—a long, protracted sound of pain—and folded in upon itself outside her window. As it retreated, it gave her a long look of fury and hate, and just as suddenly as it had arrived, it was gone.
Shawna’s front door flew open with a bang, bringing her head around. When she saw him she reacted with a relief that flooded through her system and she knew must have been displayed on her face, because all at once he was taking over.
Chad MacFare stomped across towards her and demanded, “What happened? What was that? Och, lass—you are hurt…”
She was holding her arm up as she attempted to maintain the dishcloth tightly around the bloody wound. It was a mess; there was bright red blood—her blood—all over the floor, and when she glanced at it, she felt a moment’s wooziness travel through her brain.
Chad took charge at once. He led her gently to the sink, and when he took off the dishcloth he swore under his breath, washed the wound, and laid a wad of paper towels on the length of the wound before he wrapped it up tightly with yet another dishcloth.
He bent her arm at the elbow and told her to keep it up. His voice was full with confidence, and Shawna had a sensation of comfort as he spoke. “Keep your arm raised, there’s a good lass.”
Suddenly he scooped her into his arms and positioned her on the sofa. “There now, Shawna love—just lay quiet one more moment.”
She watched his movements. They were quick and disciplined. He seemed to know what he was doing as he went to the kitchen and into her fridge. There he took up her stash of disguised blood. He handed her the V8 container. “Drink this, Shawna, while I get some bandages…”
She had a moment of disbelief. He knew. He knew that she needed to drink blood. He seemed to know everything about her. She knew nothing about him. She was stunned as she lay there with her feet up on the sofa and legs stretched out in front of her, sure that she was about to pass out.
She felt him watching her as she sipped the pig’s blood and then when she drank down what was left in the bottle in deep gulps. She felt herself blush. She had no future. She would never have a man o
f her own. How could she? She drank blood…
“That’s my wee lass,” he pronounced and then went to the bathroom, fetched the first aid kit, and returned a moment later.
Shawna watched him as he dressed her wound, which had already begun to heal. She saw his expression as he noted that the wound was beginning to close.
She gauged his reaction before she said quietly, “Well, you already knew, didn’t you, that I am part vampire? Healing very rapidly, especially after…satisfying the thirst, is a part of what I am. I feel the pain of the injuries I sustain, but those injuries have always healed very quickly if I…drink what…I need.”
“Aye, I know what you are, Shawna, and I know what you are not, but even though you have healed, losing as much blood as you have will put a major drain on your—let’s call them…talents.” He put up his hand to stop her reply. “I know, yes, that you just replenished yourself, but…you will need time to recoup, which means in the interim you are at your weakest.”
She blushed and looked away from him. “It isn’t human blood, you know…”
“Pig’s blood, I know. My sense of smell is better than you can imagine. Why, Shawna, lass—you are blushing.” He shook his head. “You haven’t anything to be ashamed of—quite the opposite, in fact.”
He had been on one knee beside her while he had dressed her wound. He smiled softly and pushed away a long lock of blond hair that had fallen in front of her left eye. “In fact, you should be proud that you never gave in to the blood lust for human blood. You found a way to get past it. It shows your courage and the power you own.”
“Thank you—but I was only able to do that because of my grandparents.”
“Aye, another thing we have to talk about.”
“Why? What do you mean?” Shawna’s eyes blinked with the sudden fear that shot through her mind.
“Pentim will use them—to get to you.” He stood up and took a tour of the room before he came back to frown down at her.
She had digested his words carefully and sucked in her bottom lip. She had to be careful what she said. She didn’t know him, and while her gut was urging her to trust him—could she? “He doesn’t know who they are.” Doubt had lined her statement. Doubt lined the wave patterns of her brain. Where was Chad going with this?
