After The Storm (30 page)

He could detect nothing of the human in it. And yet,
somehow, it seemed familiar, must be familiar if it knew his
name?

This thing looked to be unmistakably insane, and yet,
Quinn fancied he saw purpose in its amber-lit eyes.

Would his white magic work against the beast?

Once again it attempted to slash at him. Quinn jumped
out of the way, knowing he had to call on darker magic to protect
himself.

He needed a ward, but he had no time to create one.
He had but one chance for survival.

The silver-edged short sword he was never
without
.

And then the werewolf sprang into action, and Quinn
sneered as he shouted, “Well then, beast—come and get it if ye be a
mind to!” He plunged his sword just at the right moment directly in
the center of its beating heart.

But even as the were roared and suffered excruciating
pain, even as it started to fall, even as death began to take it,
its jaws locked down on Quinn’s shoulder and bit—
bit
hard
—and Quinn’s fate was sealed.

He was able to punch and beat the creature off, and
he watched as it fell to the ground, rolled over onto its back, and
began the transformation back into man.

Quinn saw at once it was Whelan MacPoole, clan leader
of the neighboring estate.
Husband to his mother’s
sister
.

They had never been friends throughout their family’s
history. He should have known. He should have suspected. The signs
had been there all along, if only he’d noticed.

Quinn bent, pulled his silver-tipped sword from the
man’s heart, and stood to look up at the stars before closing his
eyes.

He had been bitten.

~ Prologue ~

All that glisters is not gold

—William Shakespeare

Present day, New Jersey

RAVENA MACALLISTER LOOKED at her wristwatch. It was
nearly six o’clock. It had been a hectic day. Graduation was over.
She had her BA in her hand, but she had one more night at the
fashion school where she had been taking additional classes as she
pursued her dream of designing clothes for the fashion
industry.

Todd Decker, her boyfriend of two months—a record for
her, as she rarely dated, let alone ever thought of any as
‘keepers’—wasn’t expecting her. She had thought she had one last
class at the Fashion Institute, but it had been cancelled.

She was going to surprise him.
Tonight was the
night.

He had been trying to get her into bed. She had been
resisting. Why? She couldn’t put a finger on it. Perhaps she wanted
more. Her friends told her she was nuts, that she would lose him.
She didn’t want to lose Todd, and she knew after two months he was
getting impatient with her refusal to take it to the next
level.

She liked his kisses. She was nearly sure he was the
‘special one’ she had been looking for, but she just couldn’t put a
finger on her reluctance to take it to the next step. Jump into bed
with him, her libido demanded.

At twenty-one she was old enough and mature enough to
handle what her mother had called the
consequences of sleeping
with a man who may not want you the next morning.
Would he not
want her the next morning? Did it matter? It did, but why—why
should it matter? She was living in an age when a woman could be
intimate with a man just for pleasure … just for a night. She
wanted more, that was why; something in her inner being wanted
more, and she knew with a shake of her head what that something
was … hidden, dormant …
secret.

A tall, beautifully framed mirror hung on the far
wall of her bedroom, and she moved to stand in front of it. She
blew at the wavy golden bangs that tickled her forehead. She cocked
her head, gave her waist-length silky hair another brush, and
twirled the shorter curls on either side of her heart-shaped face.
She supposed she would do.

Ravena didn’t consider herself stupid about sex and
guys. She used to laugh with her friends and say she was a
slow-blossoming flower waiting for just the right amount of water
and sun.

She knew the general male population considered her
hot, and she had to admit she liked the way she looked in the
reflection staring back at her.
Yup,
she told herself, her
dress was really eye-catching. However, insecurity nibbled at her
mind. What if her inexperience turned him off? What if she got
clumsy taking off her clothes? What if … on and on.

She sucked in air. For Rave, this was a really big
step. Guys had been coming on to her ever since she was fourteen,
but no one had ever interested her before Todd.
Her
Todd
(and he had encouraged her to think of him that way) was big, bold,
handsome, ambitious—a keeper. She liked him so much …
but
did she love him?

Her girlfriends had told her to go for it because it
was time. Her best friend Meg had told her she was crazy if she
didn’t
close the deal
with Todd because someone else would.
Meg had laughed at her and told her she didn’t need to be ‘in love’
to have a good time.

Her mother had told her to wait until she was ready.
Her father had whispered over the phone quietly that he rather
thought she should wait until she was in love.
Was she
ready?
Was she in love
?

She wasn’t sure, but she did think it was time to
find out.

Her heart wanted to do what her dad had told her—fall
in love and know it first. She sighed and wished she were with her
father roaming the Highlands of Scotland like they always did every
summer. She wished she could sit and talk to him; he didn’t get her
all crazy like her mother always did.

Another sigh followed this thought. It was because of
Todd that she had told her dad she might not be staying the entire
summer with him this year. That troubled her as well. She really
wanted to return to the Highlands and her father—even more than she
wanted to be with Todd.
Did that mean
she didn’t love
Todd?

She smoothed the low-cut black silky dress that clung
to her curves. She had designed and then made the dress herself.
She knew she looked sexy as hell and that her mother would raise an
eyebrow—so the trick was to get past her overprotective parent
without being seen.

She made it down the stairs of their Colonial
styled-home and then remembered the keys were in the kitchen. She
peeked into the kitchen. Her mother wasn’t there—nor was her
stepfather, who was probably tinkering around in the garage. Rave
scooped up her keys from the tray on the desk near the fridge and
was out the door and nearly to her pale green Saturn parked out
front when she heard her mother call her name.

“Rave—honey …
wait!”
Her mother ran
towards her.

Ravena couldn’t stop the impatient tone as it escaped
her lips. “
Yes,
Mom.” But she loved her, so she stopped and
turned, glanced archly at her, and sighed. It struck her that no
one would guess the petite, green-eyed redhead staring
authoritatively at her was her mother.

Rave had her father’s gold hair and his dark,
multi-shaded gray eyes, and although she was not tall, she was in
her stocking feet, five feet five inches and towered over her
mother’s five foot one.

Her mother gave her back the challenge with a raised
brow that said it all. Rave laughed and hugged her before holding
her shoulders. “Don’t worry.”

“Where are you going?” She looked her over and
sighed. “Wait, let me guess: to see
Todd
.”

Ravena frowned. “I know you don’t like him, but I
don’t have time now to argue in his defense.”

“No, it is more than a simple matter of liking or
disliking the young man. It is that I don’t think he is the
right man
for you. He is still a boy … and, Rave, that
will never do for you—you need
a man
.”

“And what sort of man are we talking about?” Ravena
teased.

“This is serious. You will know when you meet him,
and it isn’t Todd, who is more interested in himself and
his
needs
than yours.”

“You don’t really know him.”

“I do know him. I watch from the outside and know him
very well.” Her mother sighed. “However, perhaps it is as my Tom
says. He feels the same way as I do about Todd, but he doesn’t want
to be drawn into this. He says sometimes we each have to learn from
our own mistakes.”

Tom was her mother’s husband. Her parents had been
divorced since she was two, having married only because her mother
had found herself pregnant. Her stepfather had come into their
lives when Rave was ten. He was a good guy, and she had grown to
love him over the years.

Affection flooded her, and she smiled in spite of her
impatience. “Tom is right, Mom. I need experiences—good and bad.”
She had never called him anything but ‘Tom’ because although she
did in fact love her stepfather, she felt she had only one dad.

“Look, baby, I don’t want you hurt …”

“Like you?” Rave again arched her brow.

“Don’t be annoying to win a point. You know your
father didn’t hurt me. He and I were never in love … not
really. And we certainly weren’t made for each other. He was who he
was … and I was so different. We were friends—we still are.
But I have this awful feeling that Todd
will
hurt you.”

Ravena saw the look of helplessness in her mother’s
eyes and touched her cheek. “I am old enough to know what I am
doing.”

“We all say that at your age … ”

Irritation swept over Ravena’s face, and she grimaced
at her mother before she walked away with a wave of her hand.
“Don’t wait up.” She jumped into her car and did not look back as
she pulled away from the curb.

Guilt suddenly flooded through her. She shouldn’t
have left her mother like that. But what could she do? She would
make it up to her tomorrow. Besides, she was a college grad. She
was twenty-one. She was all grown up.

Over the years Ravena had heard her mother refer to
her marriage to her father, Daniel MacAllister, as a mistake, and
she hated hearing that. It negated all the good.

She was so much more her father’s child than her
mother’s. An odd thing to admit even to herself but so true.

For the hundredth time she thought about changing her
plans once more and just heading off to Scotland for the
summer—maybe making a side trip and visiting with her grandmother,
her father’s Canadian Indian mother, first.

She took a long gulp of air and bolstered herself.
Todd was a great guy. She was doing the right thing—
wasn’t
she?
He had committed himself to her in so many ways. He talked
about the future. It was what she wanted, wasn’t it—a normal
future?
Did she want a future with him? Was she making the same
mistake her mother had made—settling for someone who made her
comfortable? Because to date, he damn well did not make her
feel … passionate!
The sorry truth was that no one ever
had … yet.

Well, that would change tonight—wouldn’t it? She
turned the corner, pulled into the lot adjacent to Todd’s apartment
house complex, and parked. Princeton was a charming university
town, and students were everywhere. Two acquaintances waved to her
as she got out of her car and headed for the building.

She reached his door, key in hand, and hesitated. She
had never used the key before. She was here unannounced. Should she
use the key?
Don’t be silly—he gave it to me to use.
She put
the key in the lock, opened the door, and stepped into the small,
sparsely furnished living room.

She froze.

Todd and her best friend, Meg, were on the small shag
rug on the living room floor, grunting and going at it with wild
abandon.

Todd must have felt a draft on his bare butt, for he
suddenly turned, saw her, and started scrambling to his feet.
“Rave … Rave … no … this …
this is
nothing
 … Rave!” he shouted as he threw his clothing on
hastily.

Too late
—so few letters, such small words,
such large meaning. Too late.

Ravena backed up clumsily until she hit the closed
door at her back. She turned then, opened the door, and with shock
and hurt flooding through her veins,
she ran.

Through Time-Pursuit

~ Prologue ~

Present day

ALL AT ONCE—he was on her! The Dark Prince Pestale
had the death sword across her throat, and if her brother moved
another step toward her, it would only end in getting her
killed.

Chancemont LeBlanc stood rigid and filled with fear
for his young sibling, Lana.

And then, right before his eyes, the Dark Prince,
grinning all the while, slit young sweet Lana’s throat, and she was
forever lost to them.

Thunder rolled through his body then—rolled through
it still. His sword vibrated in his hands, feeling his need.

He wanted blood—the Dark Prince’s blood,
and he
wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything else in his
life.

Fury took over his despair and buried the pain of
grief with the hope that he would soon have the Dark Prince in his
grip and torture him before he put an end to the Dark Fae’s
miserable existence. Sorrow—deep, haunting sorrow filtered through
to his heart and blinded him with the all-consuming need to avenge
his young sister’s death. Guilt shouted out his faults and blamed
him for her death
—but guilt was a waste of time
. He replaced
that guilt with purpose and became centered in his goals.

Find Pestale, capture Pestale
, and drag him to
Dravo, where he and his father could inflict pain and punishment on
him before putting him out for the buzzards to feed upon.