Dark Rival (3 page)

Sam understood her—she always had. Sam was really tough—the kind of tough that happens when tragedy strikes in front of your face when you’re young, but old enough not to forget and move on. Unlike her sister, she was not romantic at all. Allie got it. She was on her own quest— hunting demons—and love would never get in the way.

“I wish I could be like you and Sam.” Tabby said very seriously. “I wish I could date and have a good time and walk away whole.”

“No one can change who they are.” Allie said softly. “You're perfect the way you are.” She wasn't going to reveal that sometimes she wondered what love felt like, that sometimes she was tired of being so damned alone.

Tabby snorted inelegantly. “Well, as I'm swearing off men forever. I guess that will be our secret.”

“Just swear off Mr. Right—because he's always Mr. Wrong.” Sam said, sitting on a chair and crossing her long, chiseled legs.

Allie said, “You’ll meet someone who is as perfect for you as you are for him.” She smiled and went to the mirror, pretending that she wanted to touch up her makeup. She didn't want to keep talking about love.

Tabby said softly. “Hey, are you forgetting I'm pretty telepathic?”

Allie glanced at Tabby's reflection in the minor. She wouldn't trade her gift for anything or anyone, but her life was hard and isolating. She didn't know what she would do without such incredible friends. She said firmly. “My life is helping others, not falling in love. I have never been in love—and I doubt I ever will.”

Allie turned and silently warned Tabby not to reveal her secrets. Tabby squeezed her hand. “In a more sober note, Brian's pretty upset about last night, Allie. He asked me if you're cheating on him.”

Allie bit her lip. “Can you send him into the arms of a really hot babe? By dawn he won't remember me.”

Tabby gave her a look, but Allie knew she'd cave. No one was as kind or caring as Tabby and she'd never let Brian walk around heartbroken. Tabby finally smiled, just a little. “It's against the rules to send him his soul mate, but I'll try to set Brian up.”

Sam stood. “Duty calls, ladies.”

Allie didn't move away from the bureau. “Any chance Brie's here?” Allie asked.

Sam gave her an incredulous look. “Brie wouldn't come to a party if her life depended on it. If she's not at work, I guarantee you she's at home, by her lonesome, with a glass of wine, buried in classified HCU files.”

HCU was the Historical Crimes Unit of CDA. “I need a favor from her,” Allie said.

Tabby stared, reading her thoughts. Allie had mentioned her mother's visit that morning when they were in Sam's SUV on their way home from
South
Hampton
Hospital
. Now she thought about her mother's strange words and the warrior-hard muscleman with a suntan. She tensed, actually feeling the stirrings of desire. “I need to know what she meant.”

Sam snickered. “No, you want to know if a golden sex machine is in your future. Man, I can always use one of those—although I prefer my men dark.”

Allie had to smile. “He’s mine, girl.”

Sam shrugged.

But Tabby was serious. “How many times have you wished for a warrior to help you while you healed? I do recall that being your exact word—warrior. I have this sense that your mother is sending you someone.” Her eyes were bright with excitement.

Allie heart raced. “Maybe she’s sending me a CDA agent.”

 
“Those guys are ex-Special Ops. That’d do the trick,” Sam said.

Tabby whispered, “I'm not Brie, not by a long shot, but should I set my cards?”

Allie tensed. Tabby was gifted with the Tarot. She didn’t have Brie's incredible Sight, but the cards usually spoke to her. “Use mine.”

A moment later, Tabby had laid out a simple seven-card spread. While Allie was familiar with the cards, she never read them like Tabby, but she saw the Knight of Swords. “Is that him?” she asked quietly, the hairs rising on her neck as she looked at the knight on his white charger, sword in hand.

Tabby looked up. “No. That's him.” She pointed to the Emperor. He had been dealt upside down.

Allied eves widened. “Are yon sure?”

“This spread is about him. Allie—and it is Fate.” She pointed. “Five of these cards are from the Major Arcana.”

Allie trembled. “I see that.”

 
“Someone is coming from the past—not your past. There is another woman here, and she's hurt. The man is older, with great authority. He has power and faith, and his quest is Justice.” She added. “Allie, he is blessed.”

Allie breathed. It was said to believe that her golden warrior would be an older man. “Is the other woman my mother? Is my mother hurt?” Had her mother become trapped between worlds? She'd heard it was possible and that might explain her odd visit.

“I don't know who this other woman is, but like the Knight of Swords, she is a bridge between you and this man. She is very important to you both. She's come up as the Queen of Cups. Allie? Your life is about to be turned upside down.” Tabby pointed at a card showing the Tower, which was being struck by lightning, people jumping from it. It was next to the Death card.

Every interpretation claimed the Death card did not symbolize death. Most readers refused to read literal death in the cards, but not Tabby. In her world, the Death card was just that, if juxtaposed correctly to other cards. “Does someone die?” Allie wasn't chilled—the innocent died every day. Death was a fact of life.

“Someone dies,” Tabby whispered seriously. She pointed at the Sun, lying beneath Death. “But from the ashes, comes a new day.”

Their gazes locked.

Brianna stepped into the room, clad in a shapeless black pantsuit.

Allie started.

Brianna didn't smile. She walked over to them and stared at the reversed Emperor. “He is here.”

IT WAS
MIDNIGHT
when Allie stepped outside onto the flagstone patio by the pool. She'd had enough of the fundraiser. She didn't give a damn about politics except when the politicians fucked up and the little guy suffered because of it.

She'd stolen out, leaving Brian at the bar with Tabby and a few other guests, not having had a chance to really talk with him. She had a rare headache, and knew she was still off from last night.

She wanted to get past the guests who were lingering at the brilliantly lit-up pool without being waylaid. She crossed the lawns, leaving the pool and her father's guests behind, thinking about her mother, the golden warrior and Brie's stunning statement. She paused by the split-rail fence so she could watch their Thoroughbreds grazing under the moonlight. Was her golden warrior really present?

Was her mother sending someone to her, someone to help her in her ambition to heal those in suffering?

Allie smiled almost sadly. On the day of her death, as if she'd known she was going to pass, Elizabeth Monroe had asked Allie to make vows. She'd sworn to keep her powers secret and worship as she'd been raised, in her mother's ancient religion. And she had sworn to never turn her back on any suffering creature, great or small, human or beast, if it was Innocent.

Her father hadn't ever gotten over his wife's death. Her father was a Fortune 500 entrepreneur, as different from Elizabeth as anyone could be, and maybe that was why he'd loved her so. Unlike his friend Trump, he paid people to keep his name—and her and her stepbrother's—out of the news.

William Monroe hadn't remarried, although he had many model girlfriends.

Allie loved her mogul father, but didn't understand him very well. She had learned long ago not to let her father see her spiritual side, just as Elizabeth had hidden it from him when she was alive. He didn't have a clue that she was a Healer. He expected her to serve on various boards and marry Brian or someone just like him. Allie didn't mind being on the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth Foundation, which gave away huge sums of money to philanthropies and charities with her direction. She'd barely made it through high school, and while healing could easily be a full-time job, she didn't dare do so openly. She was the Monroe heiress, and the media watched her pretty closely. She had to be careful, always.

She had to pretend to fit in with everybody in his world when she didn’t really fit in at all, except with Sam, Tabby and Brie—and the evil monsters who wanted to murder them all. Allie sighed, staring at the grazing horses. Even in bed with a great guy like Brian, she had to pretend to be something she was not. Allie was certain her father suspected that his wife had been far more than your average socialite; she was determined he’d never guess the truth about his daughter. But hiding out most of the time was hard.

And then she felt Brian, even before he called her name.

She shoved her brooding aside. Brian was approaching and she smiled at him, hoping Tabby would put a love spell on him really soon. He was going to be hurt and that went against her very nature. Unfortunately her sex drive was too high for her to avoid men and be celibate.

“Hey. Are you okay? First you split on me last night and tonight you've been quiet. You're never quiet.”

Allie hesitated. “I have a headache. Are von still mad about last night?”

“You cut and ran, Allie,” he said quietly, but not with accusation.

“I couldn't sleep so I went out for a drive.” That was, she thought, a part of the truth.

His gaze was searching. “You're an amazing woman, Allie.” He hesitated. “It's not happening, is it?”

He knows, she thought, saddened but relieved. She touched his arm. “I am awful at relationships, Brian. They never last. It's not you. It's me. I'm not like other women. I've never been in love.”

He shook his head. “That makes you even more desirable.”

It was time to tell him it was over, she thought. But then Allie tensed. A huge power had settled around them, hot and male.

She was stunned. She had never felt such power in her life. The power wasn't dark or demonic. It was pure and white—but it was not a healing power, for it was charged with testosterone. It was aggressive.

Stunned, she tried to see across the pasture, past the horses, into the night. The power was holy. It came from her gods. But hadn't Tabby said he had faith—that he was blessed? A terrible excitement consumed her.

And then she saw his aura.

Orange and crimson burned, powerful and bright, and she saw the man at last. The world around them vanished Brian was gone, the horses disappeared, it was only her and him and the night. She had found her golden warrior.

And that was exactly what he was—the golden warrior she'd envisioned earlier; except he wasn't naked. He wore a pale tunic and boots, his thighs bare, along with two swords and a plaid, which was pinned over one shoulder. He was a Highlander. He could have stepped out of Braveheart.

His gaze unwavering on her, he started to approach.

No, he had stepped out of time, she somehow thought. Allie trembled her heart accelerating so wildly she felt faint. There was so much power emanating from him and finally he was bathed in moonlight. Allie breathed hard. He was even better than she had dreamed. Big. Bronzed, beautiful.

Their gazes met and locked

“That guy's a loon. Let's go.” Brian took her aim.

But the man's gaze held hers and Allie didn't even feel Brian's grasp; instead, she felt desire fist in her gut. His silver gaze widened as if he was startled by her somehow, too.

Then his face hardened. “Lady Ailios,” he stated, using an old Gaelic version of her name, speaking with a heavy brogue. “Dinna fear, MacNeil has sent me. T'is time.”

His words washed through her with such warmth she realized he was attempting to enchant her. But she didn't mind. She smiled at him. “Okay.”

His gaze narrowed with suspicion.

“I am not afraid of you,” Allie whispered

And she felt the dark coming. She froze—and he half-turned, stiffening. She knew he was sensing them, too.

A cloud turned the moon bloodred.

The warrior said firmly, in a tone of command, “Ailios. Go into the house with yer man.” And as he spoke, she saw his aura erupt in a blast of more intense red and gold light. It was savage determination explosive and hot; it was the battle readiness of a warrior.

But Allie wasn't going anywhere. “Are you kidding?” Allie cried. Real concern for Brian began. He’d get hurt if he stayed to fight. She whirled. “Hey.” She smiled and pressed close. “I know this guy from high school. Yes, he’s weird, but he's harmless.” She could barely believe such a lie. “I know we have to finish our conversation. Let me get his number and I’ll meet you in my room. Bring a bottle of Dom” she added with another smile.

Brian's eyes widened “I don't like leaving you with him, Allie. But we do need to talk.”

Allie wanted him to rush off and she almost hopped up and down. “He's on his way to a costume party at the Grussmans’ in Bridge Hampton.”

He stared suspiciously at her.

“Go to her room an’ take her with ye. Go now,” Mr. To-Die-For said.

And a terrible chill fell.

“Allie, let's go.” Brian took her arm, clearly enchanted.

Allie tried to pull free but failed, for she was too small to succeed. “I am not going,” she told the golden warrior their gazes locked. “I will fight, too. I'll help!”

His eves widened incredulously. “Ye think to fight?”

And black clouds filled the space between them.

The chill became arctic.

The warrior seized her, pulling her behind his huge body as if he meant to be her human shield. The demons formed, all blond and perfect. They were the highest level of diabolical power. Allie took a stiletto from her garter as one demon was flung backward by the Scot's energy blast, Allie was jubilant—he had the kind of power the demons had! She tried to step past him as Brian was thrown to his back by a demon. But more energy was being hurled at them and she was flung back herself, landing hard on the grass. For one moment, pain exploded in her back, and she was stunned. Then she rallied and looked up and saw the golden warrior, sword in hand, behead two demons almost simultaneously. Only one demon remained—somehow, while she'd been flung backward, he'd vanquished the third.