A Matter of Circumstance and Celludrones (30 page)

Instinct took over and her mouth moved with his. Her lips parted and
his tongue darted inside to stroke and play. The intimate joining pulsed hot
sensations through her veins, thickening her blood and melting her at the
corners.

She groaned softly when his mouth left hers. She’d have been quite
content to stay right there forever, wrapped in his arms, intimately invaded
with his taste, his scent, his being.

“I was going to say how beautiful you are.” He linked one hand in
hers, their fingers intertwined, before he stepped back. “I was going to tell
you how the thought of your kisses has been driving me slowly mad.”

Her stomach dipped. “You’ve changed your mind?”

“I haven’t changed my mind.” He guided her beneath the bough, his hand
settling on the small of her back to usher her ahead of him down the narrow
trail. “I was supposed to tell you all that before I kissed you. I did
everything back to front.”

She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze. “I’m not complaining.”

“Your expectations weren’t all that high to begin with,” he remarked.
“You think I’m an uncivilised Scotsman.”

“I said no such thing,” she blurted.

“Not in as few words,” he agreed. “
An uncouth lout impersonating a
gentleman
, I believe.”

Her foot came down wrong and she staggered. That might have been the
ditch she’d stepped into, or her mortification. “You threw a dagger at me.”

“I’m not disputing your right to that opinion.” The glint in his eye
was as devilish as his grin. “Merely hoping to improve upon it.”

She rather liked him just the way he was. And therein lay the problem.
She looked forward again to navigate the uneven ground, immediately irritated
at enjoying that kiss so thoroughly.

There was no future for them.

Any comfort she’d taken from being wrapped in his strong arms, any
sense of belonging she’d found, was deceptive. She should know better. She
did
know better.

Greyston didn’t fit into a normal, peaceful life. Not in London, not
anywhere else. He would always be the wild predator, prowling the edges,
seeking an opportunity to escape, to run as fast and far as he always had.

She kept a few paces ahead of him. They walked in silence, Greyston
apparently lost in thought and as for herself, she was lost in regret—no, she
refused to regret that kiss. After the handful of half-hearted attempts she’d
experienced, kissing a man such as Greyston was a revelation.

At the end of the dirt trail, she batted aside the last cluster of
overgrown bush and stepped onto the stone path. Greyston was right behind her.
They hadn’t gone much further when she heard loud rustling to her left.

She froze, peering into the dense shrubbery that stretched from the
perimeter wall and down the slope. Greyston must have heard it too. He grabbed
her hand, tugging her to the other side of him and walking faster.

“It’s probably just the wind,” she said, but her voice was a whisper
and her skin prickled.

“A squirrel, or a bird.” He didn’t slow his step.

We’re both paranoid.
And while they’d certainly earned the
right to a little paranoia, she felt the warning in her bones.

The almost imperceptible charge in the air.

The subtle scent of danger.

She glanced back and saw the bush shiver.

“Run,” hissed Greyston.

Lily grabbed a fistful of skirt, had just hiked the hem clear off the
ground, when Greyston pushed her against the wall. It took her a second to
realise they weren’t running. They were at the gate to the garden enclosure of
the old castle. The chain hadn’t been repaired, but someone had looped it
through the bars to secure the gate.

Metal rattled as Greyston yanked at the chain. Her heart hammered in
her throat and her gaze flew over his crouched shoulder.

Lady Ostrich emerged from the bushes and onto the stone path. Dressed
in amethyst from head to toe with the trademark plume pinned to her hair, there
was no mistaking the demon that stood less than ten yards from them. Her eyes
were silver ice and trained on Lily.

Icicles crackled deep inside Lily’s lungs. She couldn’t breathe. Her
muscles froze over like glacier sheets. She couldn’t move.

Greyston kicked the gate inwards and shoved her through the sludgy
resistance. The ice stayed behind. She could breathe again, move, but her
reactions were too retarded to stop her fall as her skirt caught around her
ankles and sent her toppling to the ground. Greyston came sprawling on top of
her, his weight flattening her for the briefest moment before he rolled aside
on a curse.

Lily flipped over and once again her eyes connected with that fatal
silver stare. Elbows and heels digging in the ground, she squiggled backward
and then her entire body went slack as Lady Ostrich tried to enter the
enclosure at a fast stride and bounced off the invisible barrier.

“I’ll be damned,” Greyston muttered through a ragged breath, on his
feet and holding a hand out to her. “It actually works.”

Lily waved his hand away. “Give me a minute.” Her legs were jelly. If
she stood now, she’d wobble right over.

Lady Ostrich rushed the entrance again, the classical features of her
face distorted with rage, hands raised and bolts of white fire shooting from
her fingertips. The fire hit the shield in a spray of sparks that fizzled into
nothing.

The demon couldn’t enter. Her powers couldn’t penetrate the barrier.

“How exceedingly clever,” Lady Ostrich snarled. “So, this is how
you’ve been hiding.”

Hiding, crawling, grovelling, dying. Hadn’t she decided not to do that
anymore? Lily jumped to her feet and backed away from the entrance, calling
Greyston with her. But it was a strategic retreat. “The lake is filled with sea
water.”

Greyston looked at the man-made lake, frowning. “The water is pumped
directly from the Tay. Neco followed the underground pipe to where it opens
into the bay below.”

“Kelan said…” She walked around the pump house and unlatched the
wooden door. “Ah, yes.” She reached for the steel bucket triumphantly.

Greyston moved in front of her and grabbed the handle. “Do you think
you can distract her?”

Lady Ostrich was jabbing, prodding, punching and firing at the empty
space she couldn’t pass through. She kept glancing their way, however. Had she
seen the bucket? Did she know the lake was filled with demon poison?
There’s
only one way to find out.

“Just be quick.” Heart pounding, she marched back across the courtyard
and stopped as close to the entrance as she dared. “You’ll never get inside,”
she taunted, not quite as confident as she sounded. How strong was Kelan’s
barrier? How long could it withstand the demon’s pounding?

“If you can do it, so can I,” Lady Ostrich said. She slammed a ball of
fire at the shield again and hissed at the shattering sparks. Her gaze went
over the top of Lily’s head to Greyston.

Why the blazes did the demon lady have to be so tall? “The ore in the
soil interferes with the barrier and weakens the resistance,” she said
desperately. “The trick is to breach the power along the bottom.”

Lady Ostrich didn’t drop to her knees, but her eyes turned down and
then she bent a little to prod the lower air. She flicked her fingers and a
volley of white bolts hit and spluttered an inch above the ground.

“Move,” came the command at Lily’s ear and she lunged left.

Greyston tossed the entire bucket with its contents. Lady Ostrich was
already leaping out of the way, her hands raised as if to protect herself from
the deadly salt water. But not protecting. A wave of white fire engulfed the
bucket, turning steel molten red and instantaneously combusting every last drop
of liquid to harmless vapour.

Lily speared her fingers through her hair, pressing the ball of her
palms to the throb at her temples, and stared in horror. They’d never beat this
thing.

“Now, now, that wasn’t very nice,” tittered Lady Ostrich, fluffing her
feather straight as she raised a brow at Greyston. “There’s no need to bring
out the artillery when all I’ve come for is a heart to heart chat.”

“So you keep saying,” Greyston said, his voice low and stiff. “Right
before you destroy everything in your path.”

“Don’t be petty,” she said, sounding rather irritable.

“Is that what they’re calling cold-blooded murder downstairs nowadays?
Petty crime?”

“It’s the human girl, isn’t it?” Lady Ostrich directed that piercing
silver gaze at Lily for a long moment, then looked back to Greyston. “You’ve
developed an infatuation.” She shrugged. “Well, no harm done, Raimlas. I
promise I’ll try not to accidentally snap her stringy neck again.”

“What did you call me?” Greyston said hoarsely.

1685. The tenth of September. The church declared the entire
village had been possessed by demons. It was only one demon and its name is
Raimlas.
Fury gathered inside Lily, a dense mist seeping through flesh,
muscle, veins and bone. There was no place within her left untouched.

Her hand shot out and found Greyston’s arm. She gripped tightly. “It’s
playing with you.”

It
. Always objectify a demon, Kelan had taught her. She’d
struggled to get her mind around that, looking at a woman and thinking of an
it.
Not anymore.

Lady Ostrich’s eyes narrowed on Greyston with intense concentration.
“Damn this shield, I can’t see a thing. Step outside. Come to me.”

“It’s an animal,” Lily said quietly. “Don’t listen, Greyston.” She
dragged him back a step, and another, putting distance between them and the
demon’s mesmerising influence. “It will do anything to lure you into its trap.”

She wouldn’t have been able to budge him if he wasn’t willing. But he
was, despite the loss of colour to his face and the glazed look in his eyes, he
seemed to shake loose the demon’s words and then he was the one pulling her
toward the lake. “What the bloody hell do we do now?”

She took her hand from his and wrapped her arms around her waist. “We
wait? Neco will come looking—” she cut off as she remembered why that would be
a catastrophe. “Perhaps Kelan has returned.”

“What if she gets bored and takes a stroll up to the top of the cliff
while we’re waiting? The Red Hawk won’t stand a chance. I can’t risk all those
lives and I can’t risk taking you back in time.” He scrubbed at his jaw.
“That’ll put Lady Ostrich between you and Cragloden and I don’t want you near
the Red Hawk, not when I can’t be sure we’ll get her safely launched before
Lady Ostrich strikes.”

“I have an idea.” Lily paced a short distance, bent double as she
searched the ground and collected a couple of stones that looked perfect for
the job. When she came up, she found Greyston right behind her. She showed him
the assortment of grainy coloured stones. “Most of the rock in this area is
limestone with sedimentary layers of plant and animal fossils.”

He looked at her as if she’d finally lost her mind.

She rolled her eyes at him. “What do you think I’ve been doing these
last three days?”

“Studying rocks?”

“Studying, certainly.” Kelan’s favourite lesson was ‘be prepared to be
unprepared.’ She tested each stone on a flat rock until she found one soft
enough to scratch a yellowish line on the surface. Pressing down firmly, she
etched the linked triangles bounded by a circle. Excitement whipped through
her.

“I recognise that,” Greyston said, peering over her shoulder.

“The rune to bind and keep,” she murmured. “It’s the same rune carved
into the laboratory floor.”

She’d done it. Kelan had stressed she wasn’t to attempt putting theory
to practice, that she wasn’t ready, but he didn’t know about Greyston’s ability
to buy her the extra seconds she needed to draw the rune.

Clutching the precious stone in her hand, she straightened and faced
Greyston. “To bind and keep a demon, rendering it powerless within the circle
while we banish it.”

“That’s what the rune’s supposed to bind and keep?” Greyston shook his
head. “Why would they have that inside the laboratory?”

Lily didn’t care about the why right now. “We know the exact spot Lady
Ostrich came through the bushes. If you rewind time just long enough for me to
draw the rune on the path, the demon won’t see that it’s stepping into the
circle. We can put an end to Lady Ostrich.”

Greyston looked far from enthusiastic, but they were out of choices.
They discussed the plan a little more and then he took her hand in his and
closed his eyes. “Ready?”

“I’m ready.” She’d have less than two minutes to draw the rune and run
back here to safety. He’d wanted to give her more time, but Lily was worried
about cause and effect. They didn’t know how the demon tracked them, whether it
somehow had their scent, as Kelan had suggested. The longer they were out of
place from their original positions, the more could change and Lady Ostrich
stepping onto the path at a different spot would be disastrous.

Chapter Nineteen

G
reyston
led the way in a flat-out run down the last stretch of the path to make up the
minutes between where he’d taken them back to and what Lily required to draw
the rune. He crashed through the foliage hanging over the end of the trail and
held the branches aside. Lily stumbled into his arms in a breathless tumble.

He steadied her. “Where’s the stone?”

“Right here,” she panted, showing him her fist as she grabbed precious
seconds to suck in air. “Okay, let’s go.”

The bush they’d pin-pointed was about ten yards from the gate and he
wasn’t happy about leaving her there while he sprinted the short distance. Not
with Lady Ostrich approaching from the forest, God knew how far or near. He was
at the gate, pulling at the chains. His skin prickled. What if she was already
here? What if she’d been right behind that bush all along, waiting as they’d
walked past the first time? His gaze flew over his shoulder. Lily was on her
haunches, one hand pressed to the ground for support as she leaned forward to
draw.