Claire Delacroix (40 page)

Baird had a hard time believing that they weren’t his memories.

If they were, he had spent twelve hundred years going back to the same place, over and over again, undeterred by his own repeated failure to achieve his goal.

A goal named Aurelia.

A woman whom he loved against all reason.

If the visions told the truth, if he had actually gone back to Dunhelm all those times, then this would have his greatest failure of all. Baird had awakened Aurelia, he had fallen in love with her, but he still found himself unable to trust her.

And he had left her in Dunhelm.

Baird frowned and called up the bookings for Dunhelm one more time on the inhouse computer system. He had to acknowledge that they were looking good.

The place wasn’t even open yet and the reservations were more than decent all the way through to the fall. And Christmas looked very promising. Baird leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen on the desk. It was small consolation that his gut had been right about Dunhelm.

Baird missed Aurelia enough to have been right about her, too.

“Hey.” Julian lounged in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically haggard.

“Looks like Marissa’s giving you a run for your money,” Baird commented, grateful for the distraction from his thoughts.

Julian flashed a glance at him and dropped into one of the leather chairs opposite. “That would be your money.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t settled things yet. You two aren’t enjoying yourselves, are you?”

Julian’s glance was lethal. “Hardly! The woman fights like a demon over every comma in the settlement contract.”

“Careful, Julian,” Baird scanned a memo Darlene had dropped on his desk. “That’s starting to sound like admiration.”

Julian grinned suddenly. “Well, there’s nothing like a worthy adversary to make the victory sweet.”

Baird glanced up. “So, you’re close to settling?”

“Oh yeah. There’s no court case here and she knows it.” He ran a hand over his head and yawned. He feigned casualness so well that Baird almost missed the signs. “So, how’s Aurelia?”

Baird’s heart leapt, but he tried to school his expression. “I wouldn’t know,” he admitted coolly.

“Maybe you should find out,” Julian dared to say.

Baird fired a glance across his desk. “Look, you’re way out of line here...”

Julian, undeterred, leaned forward to brace his elbows on the desk. “I don’t think so.” His eyes shone with sincerity. “She’s not like Jessica, Baird. You know it and I know it.”

“I only know that she tricked me!” Baird retorted.

“No. You got your wires crossed somehow.” Julian looked out the window for a long moment, but when Baird said nothing, Julian met his glance again. “Look, you trusted my instinct on women before. Think about it - I think there could be something good between you two, if you have the balls to go back and talk to her.”

Baird inhaled sharply. “I’m not afraid of Aurelia, even if she does think she’s half-Viking Valkyrie.”

“Yeah?” Julian pushed to his feet. “Then tell me why you aren’t booked to go to Dunhelm Resort’s grand opening. This was your baby, as no other site has been.” Julian wagged a finger at his friend as he retreated. “The Baird Beauforte I know wouldn’t let the way a little blonde turned him inside out stop him from being there.”

With a grin that showed he knew he was right, Julian ducked out the door and was gone.

And he was right, damn him.

But Baird still wasn’t going. He shoved a hand impatiently through his hair and turned back to his laptop.

* * *

The moon rose round and orange, then climbed slowly in the sky. Aurelia was on the furthest point of Dunhelm from the resort, on the spot where she believed she and her mother had done their rituals long ago. It had been a strong place, but the rhythm of the land was faint now and harder to discern, even by those who listened closely.

This space would have to do.

The sea surrounded the tiny point on three sides and the land dropped from the plateau to a ledge out of view. The drop was only the height of a man but it was enough to keep prying eyes ignorant of what Aurelia meant to do.

The night wind felt strange against her skin. Aurelia felt lost without the protective curtain of her hair. As the moon rode high, she lifted the weight of her shorn tresses out of the bag she carried them in.

The braid was long and thick. A decade of growth, the hair carried the full import of her magic from the onset of her courses. It was filled with blessings and rituals, strong with the power she had learned. A priestess was to use her hair sparingly, for it was uncommonly powerful, but Aurelia had known that this moment would take no less than all she had to give.

She sacrificed the full power of her magic to ensure Baird did not lose the only thing she knew for certain that he held dear.

Dunhelm. Aurelia could not stand by and let him lose what he had built, knowing how important success was to him.

How she wished she could have summoned him for herself instead.

When the moment was right, Aurelia raised her hands to the moon. She called to the four directions to witness her spell; she summoned the winds; she saluted the elements. She raised her voice in the ancient chant she had never expected to use.

The reflection of the moon obediently slid down into the waiting chalice of water. Aurelia lifted the chalice, gazing into the glow of the moon’s light, recounted a chant and lifted to her lips.

The moon slid into her, its silver strength rolled through her and when the water was gone, Aurelia was the Goddess.

The power of infinity coursed through her veins, the dreamstone throbbed with a secret light. The elements and the winds cavorted to her bidding and Aurelia felt Gemma’s presence behind her left shoulder. When she raised her voice to chant, she did not speak alone: Gemma and countless others whispered in unison.

In her mind’s eye, Aurelia suddenly saw a child with Baird’s dark hair. She felt the faint pulse of a new life within her belly and wondered how she could have not known sooner.

Then the Goddess struck the flint and the flames leapt high at her dictate.

And she cast Aurelia’s hair into the fire.

The flames licked greedily at the hair and sparks flew in all directions as its power was consumed. It burned with a blue flame that the Goddess drew higher and higher. When the last of the hair was consumed, the Goddess bent the flame to her will, drawing it high, gathering it to direct its power...

And a shower of cold water doused it all.

No!

The magic disappeared with an audible snap. Aurelia cried out as the Goddess abandoned her and the blue flame vanished. She spun to face her attacker and her heart sank when she met the smug grin of Darian Mulvaney.

“I won’t let you call him,” he said.

The moment of magic was lost. Aurelia could have wept. A black spot on the earth was the only remnant of her glorious hair. The Goddess had come, the magic had been gathered, but its power had been dissipated before it could be directed.

She had given her all for naught! Already the moon was sliding away, the Goddess’ eye turned to other matters. Aurelia ached that her hair, the crowning jewel of her powers, had been shorn for naught.

She would not accept failure.

She rounded on Darian and let him feel the brunt of her anger. “I will not permit you to destroy him! I will fight you every step of the way, with every power I can rouse...”

“Well, then, maybe we can make a deal.” Darian closed the distance between them and Aurelia hated that she had to make any kind of bargain with the likes of him. “Marry me, Aurelia, and maybe I’ll leave Baird a crumb.”

She did not hide her animosity. “You concede little.”

He laughed. “I don’t have to concede anything. What you were doing here could be called witchcraft, and I’ve got to tell you that witchcraft isn’t very popular in these times.”

Aurelia eyed her attacker, uncertain whether to believe him. Had the role of the Goddess sunk to such lows?

Darian shook a finger at Aurelia. “Rumors of a satanic cult active here could complete destroy this resort’s credibility even before it opens.” His smile turned malicious. “That might be kind of fun, wouldn’t it, for you to be the reason Baird’s investment fails?”

“No! You cannot spread these lies! You cannot ruin him!”

Darian spread his hands. “Then, marry me.” He shrugged. “What have you got to lose?”

There was the issue in a nutshell. Aurelia certainly had nothing to gain. She loved Baird, though, and if nothing else, she would see his dream of success secure.

Her heart ached with the certainty that Baird would likely never know what she had done. Elizabeth had said that he was not even coming to the grand opening of the resort.

And Baird certainly would not come to Dunhelm because of her miserable excuse for a summoning. Aurelia already knew that Baird no longer wanted her.

She had made the oldest error known to womankind. Men, after all, seldom marry their whores. And being pregnant out of wedlock made her tainted goods by any count. No decent man would not want her now.

Although a most indecent one did. Aurelia surveyed the blackened scorch, which was all that remained of her hair, and knew that she did not have power to fight Darian’s foul intent.

She had bet everything she had and lost. All she could do now was try to save some shard of Baird’s dream of Dunhelm from the vengeful Bard. She would figure out later how to save herself - and Baird’s child - from this loathsome man.

With a heavy heart, Aurelia took Darian’s outstretched hand and nodded her agreement. Perhaps she and Baird were not destined to be together, after all.

* * *

Baird was working late - again - still trying to erase Julian’s certainty from his mind when the vision hit him right between the eyes.

Dunhelm was burning.

And Baird was there. Orange flames rose high to consume it, a black billow of smoke rose high in the air. The heat pressed against his skin, his eyes narrowed against the soot tossed through the air. He could smell the smoke.

But there was one critical difference. This was his Dunhelm going up in flames, not some old Viking hall.

Do not imagine that I will let you claim what should be mine!

Baird heard the threat again from the last dream he had had at Dunhelm.

And suddenly, it made perfect sense.

Bard, son of Erc, had pledged to make both Dunhelm and Aurelia his own.

Aurelia!

She had said she could make him dream. But what if she didn’t make the dreams themselves? What if her Dreaming had only been a way of forcing Baird to confront his own memories of Dunhelm?

Just as she had shown him the power of his own intuition.

It would be just like Aurelia to take matters into her own capable hands. She wasn’t one to sit back and let matters take their own course.

Baird sat up as understanding flashed through his mind. This vision wasn’t about losing Dunhelm. It was about losing something - or someone - much more important. And his intuition was screaming to get his attention.

Well, Baird was finally listening. He couldn’t change the fact that he had run from Aurelia like a coward, but he could go back and fight for what he wanted.

Just as Aurelia did.

Just as he had in so many other lives.

But he had never come so close to success before. He would be an idiot to let Aurelia and her love slip through his hands.

Baird was on his feet, closing his laptop and heading for the door before he could think twice about it. He snatched up his raincoat, sailed across the reception area of the executive offices and pivoted as he punched the elevator button.

“Darlene, could you get me a flight, please?”

Darlene looked sternly over her glasses. A matronly paragon of efficiency, she kept everyone at Beauforte on a tight leash.

Including Baird.

She was as stern as a schoolmistress. “And where are you off to at this time of day?”

“Dunhelm.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Tonight?”

“It’s important.”

“Uh huh.” Darlene looked pointedly at her watch. “You’re going to have to move if you’re making any trans-Atlantic flight tonight.”

“Right.” Baird shrugged into his raincoat, delighted to find his passport in the breast pocket. He wouldn’t even have to duck upstairs to his apartment. “So, why don’t you find me a flight while I flag a cab to JFK?” He gave Darlene his best smile and she shook her head.

She pulled off her glasses and tossed them on the desk as she surveyed her boss sternly. “You sure have been acting strange lately, Mr. Beauforte.” Her eyes narrowed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a man in love.”

Baird felt the back of his neck heat tellingly and a reluctant smile curved his lips. “Well, maybe you do know better.”

Darlene shook her head and picked up the phone. “You’d better have your cell phone with you, Mr. Beauforte,” she said testily. “Otherwise you’re never going to know how you’re getting from here to there.”

“Thanks, Darlene.” The doors slid open and Baird paused in the act of stepping into the elevator. “You were taking tomorrow off, weren’t you?”

She wasn’t and they both knew it.

Darlene flashed Baird a rare smile as she punched in the number. “Am I?” she asked archly.

“Oh, I think you should,” Baird said with a solemn nod. “Weren’t your grandchildren coming down for the weekend? And besides, what else are you going to do around this place?”

Darlene threw a wad of paper at him with deadly accuracy. “Get out of here, you devil, before you go giving everyone a day off!” She sobered as her call was answered. “Yes, do you have any seats available to Heathrow tonight? Only business class?”

She looked inquiringly to Baird and he nodded just as the elevator doors slid closed. “Fine. I’d like to make a booking for Mr. Baird Beauforte, please. And can you book connecting flights through to Kirkwall? Yes, I’ll hold...”

A man in love.

Baird hoped like hell he wasn’t too late.

* * *