Highland Pull (Highland Destiny 2) (29 page)

“Step away, Alysone, get into the car.”

Gabhran looked at the four people across from him. The man next to Lissa began to growl low in his throat. It didn’t sound human at all. The older couple moved forward to stand by his side and all three of them fixed him with feral eyes, eyes that said he was a dead man. His eyes returned the message. “Hurt one hair on Alysone’s head, and I will kill you.

The wind in the space between the house and the steading began to swirl, picking up leaves, whipping everyone’s hair into their eyes. Clouds skittered across the previously clear sky, casting pockets of deep shadows, draping all of them in shade.

Suddenly, Lissa gasped. The woman who’d answered the door shivered, then shook herself. The older man straightened from his half-crouch.

The man in the middle, who stood directly behind
Lissa was big enough to break her in two, and Gav knew it would be a close fight between them physically, he and this highlander were well-matched. Rather than make any move to hurt Lissa, he shook his head, his whole body changed from his warrior’s stance. He shook his head slowly, as if trying to clear it.

Had someone worked another spell? All the threat he’d felt from them moments before was gone, replaced by a sense of well being rolling off of them toward him.

Gav, unaffected by the spell, was still ready to fight if necessary, but he slowly lowered the knife from Elena’s neck as he felt her relax underneath his arm.

“Gabhran, it’s me, it’s Elena,
the one you saved. No one here will hurt you, you have my word. Reach with your senses, I know you can. You are safe here now.”

He felt Elena’s words deep in his soul. She was telling the truth, they would not be in danger here. This was a place of sanctuary. He lowered his arm, tentatively at first, then more quickly as he stepped back and faced her.

They looked at each other, and he was stunned to see tears in her eyes as she whispered, “You’re alive, thank God, I thought you’d been shot with an arrow. Stupid, I know. It was a dream or a vision or something. I was so worried.”

“Lass, I doona ken what is happening, but seems we have much to talk about. He looked over at the other four, and nearly laughed aloud. All four were staring at the two of them, their mouths slightly ajar,
eyes wide. He didna think the spell Elena cast had been that strong, apparently he was wrong, for they all still seemed bespelled.

He and Elena locked gazes for a moment, and then looked back again at the others. 

“Gav, did you know—” Lissa started.

Then they were all talking at once, and he couldn’t understand a word they were trying to say. He and Elena glanced uncertainly at each other
, then back again at the other four.

Finally, the man in the middle bellowed, “Hold your
whisht,” and his big booming voice reverberated around the courtyard.

Gav looked at him, bewildered by everyone’s reaction.

Faolan looked at Elena, “Why didna you tell me you had a twin, lass?”

Lissa looked around the kitchen table at the farmhouse, again marveling at the similarity between Gav and Elena. A sister! Gav had a sister, Alex had a sister. She sadly wondered if he would ever know, then firmly pushed that thought aside, wondering instead when Gav would tell Elena of Alex. The talk was still very stilted around the table, primarily looking for connections between their stories, and so far, finding none. 

Standing,
Lissa asked to use the bathroom, when Gav seemed to recall both the fact she was pregnant and the fact he had an older brother. Standing solicitously and putting his arm around Lissa’s shoulders, he reintroduced her, since all he’d done the first time was tell them her name. She’d known everyone had believed she was his wife, but things had been so confusing she decided that small oversight hadn’t mattered just then. Elena’s eyes widened as the significance of what he was saying hit her.

Elena was clearly stunned to realize she not only had one brother, but two. As she led
Lissa down the hall, she took her arm and gave it a little squeeze. Lissa’s eyes filled with tears at the gesture, and she was filled with hope for the future possibilities once Gav and Elena really got to know each other.

When
Lissa returned to the kitchen, Gav and Faolan had put their heads together and were talking quietly.

Gav turned as soon as she entered. “
Lissa, this is Faolan MacGailtry, we had the names wrong. He is a surviving Gailtry Druid,” he exclaimed excitedly. “Lilly over there,” he smiled at Lilly, “is actually Lilly Thomas, and this is Red, her husband. It seems Elena called herself Thomas when she visited my office in case anyone was following her.”

Once again a myriad of conversations broke out at once, now however, everyone was far more relaxed, smiles and laughter mixed with the enticing smells that filled the warm kitchen. Lilly doubled everything she had been making for breakfast, and everyone fell on the food when she served it, mostly because Lilly was an excellent cook. It would have been hard for anyone to turn away from the spread of kippers and sausages, potatoes and eggs, pancakes and fruit. There was no doubt, however, that people still felt more comfortable when breaking bread together.

When the food was finished, the women washed up while the men began a technical discussion of the size and scope of the remains of the Gailtry Farm, that is until Lilly whispered something in Elena’s ear.

“Gabhran, are your things still in your car or do you have a hotel nearby?”

“Nay, lass, our things are in the car. We thought to return to lodging in Inverness if naught was available in Fairth.”

“Well go get them, there are two guest rooms available here, and you and
Lissa aren’t going anywhere.” Elena gave Lissa a little hug with one arm around her waist. “Not only do I get to have two brothers—”

She stopped completely, her voice thick, eyes bright with tears. She squeezed
Lissa even tighter and placed her free hand on top of Lissa’s swollen belly. “I get a sister too. And I get to be an aunt, to boot. My first real family keeps getting bigger.” She beamed.

When all three women fell on each other in ahs, and hugs
,, and tears, the men took it as their cue to hurry outside and get the luggage.

****

Martin Worthington paced his study. Dressed in a slate gray, three-piece custom Italian suit, handmade leather shoes, a Rolex timepiece, and every strand of his silvered hair was perfectly in place. The world would see him as the consummate international lawyer. Liam knew he was dressed in a manner which displeased Martin, however, for the duties he performed, his jeans and black polo were far more suitable. His long brown hair fell lose around his shoulders.

Liam watched as the man he knew as father, and more importantly as the Druid Master of the Bresal Etarlam, struggled to maintain his temper. Liam had come to give him some unwelcome news. This morning, the wards he’d placed around the Gailtry Farm were breached for the second time in a week. The first time it had been Elena and her wolf returning to the farm. Just knowing she was so close made him smile, hungry with anticipation.

He immediately hid his smile from his father and told him of today’s breach. MacLachlan was now at the farm with Elena, the woman who without a doubt, had to be his sister. He and his father had made that discovery a few weeks earlier, although they’d believed the siblings had previously been unaware of each other. Not anymore.

Liam first noticed the similarities when Gabhran had entered the Saucy Sorcerer, a very special restaurant in Edinburgh. The restaurant was
bespelled with a compulsion that acted on a person’s magick, attracting tourists with undiscovered magick like a magnet. Once inside, members of the Etarlam held an informal interview, all the while maintaining the façade as a world-class restaurant. Those deemed sufficiently magickal would be wooed and recruited, bringing their power under Worthington’s influence.

Gabhran’s magick had felt very strong, and the staff had immediately targeted him for recruitment by the dark Druids, and telephoned Liam. When he’d arrived, it had only taken him one glance to realize the strong family resemblance between Gabhran and Elena. So strong, he’d immediately suspected they must be twins. After his questioning of Gabhran, it was clear he’d been unaware of any sibling, which tied in with the information they’d already known about Elena. She believed she was an only child and an orphan.

Although they’d eventually realized Elena’s latent magick was at least as strong as Gabhran’s, Worthington could make use of either or both their talents. Liam desired to have Elena as his own, although lately he’d felt his interest inexplicably waning. It was as though something else beyond Elena’s power was calling his name. Nonetheless he would have her once they successfully captured her. It would be interesting to hear what his father had in mind now that the siblings appeared to have discovered their connection.

With a thoughtful look on his face, the elder Worthington stopped pacing and turned to face Liam. When his father spoke, it was not a question, but an order. “We must kill them all.”

****

Although Gav had been fully trained as a Druid, his memories of that time were
incomplete. Elena had Druid powers, yet hadn’t been trained. Faolan’s training had been started, although it was incomplete. The three of them spent their days exploring the farm and discussing Druid spells and history. Faolan had even started teaching them some of the spells Earnan had taught him, and they practiced on each other and anything else that was still long enough.

The underground tunnel and rooms were of particular interest to Gav, and he had a definite feeling of déjà vu as they walked through the chambers Elena had discovered. He was sure he’d been in them many times. They looked for signs of the castle that had once been on the grounds, because although
Gav’s memories were vague, he was sure he had stayed at a castle when he’d trained with the Gailtry.

After a lot of walking and scraping they had finally been able to discern the outline of a massive castle that had stood on the grounds. The farmhouse looked to have been built on top of a small part of the footprint of the main keep. The steading, or barn as Elena called it, looked as though it had been part of the out buildings. They found traces of the wall that would have surrounded the entire fortress.

There were ruins of ancient castles all over Scotland. They were easily recognizable from the piles of stone, crumbled walls, and visible foundations of at least the exterior walls of the keep. They wondered what could have happened between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries that could have destroyed the building so completely that there were no obvious signs that a castle had stood on the spot. It was a question Gav kept coming back to in his mind.

While the three Druids worked together at restoring memories, learning spells, and further exploring their histories, Lilly, Red, and
Lissa were spending money. Lissa spent her time with Lilly, purchasing supplies for an extended trip, necessary baby essentials, more clothing for everyone. They needed more bed linens, towels, kitchen gadgets, it was as if they were planning to furnish a whole other house.

Red purchased something that he and Faolan had dreamed of, yet previously hadn’t been able to justify the amount of money it would cost to do it up right. He bought Faolan another, much larger yacht, and spared no expense in having it customized. This yacht had five
state rooms, sleeping ten luxuriously, a gourmet galley, custom media systems, and every electronic gadget known. Red was anxious to try it out, an opportunity that would come anytime now, when they got underway to return to the island. He happily ferried the supplies the women bought to the marina where the new yacht was located and stored everything on board.

Tomorrow everyone would go their separate ways, gathering the final supplies.

****

Liam spent days gathering the people and supplies needed to carry out his father’s plan. For years the Worthington had attempted to find the treasures hidden on the Gailtry Farm. His ancestors had believed there were hundreds of Druid tomes that had been hidden in the oldest of the Druid families, and that the Gailtry held one of the largest collections.

In the sixteenth century, a Worthington had tried to kill all of the Gailtry, only for a present day Worthington to discover one had been left alive. Although the last remaining Gailtry had been cursed, he had survived, and was even now gaining in his Druid skills, a future threat to the Etarlam Order of Druids.

Liam had observed the farm over the last several nights, watching as the group gathered in
the library each evening. Making sure everyone was in place before he continued expanding the circumference of the circle he was drawing around the farmhouse and all the occupants. The wolves didn’t start their patrols until much later, long after Liam was gone.

As he placed each new ward stone, he added both magickal spells and modern day explosives. When the spell of fire was rained down upon the farm and its occupants, the results would be spectacular. His task would be complete in one or two more nights, at most, and then the Worthington would no longer worry about the MacLachlan or the Gailtry. Losing Elena would be such a shame. He would need to find a cure for his increasing restlessness soon.

****

The Queen savored
Kheelen’s desire as he drew her silvery nipple into his mouth, then lapped at her sparkling breast. Her iridescent skin was covered in an aphrodisiac. The more he pleasured her with his mouth, the stronger his desire for her would grow. She knew his desire to be her king would make him work hard to take her to the very limits of her immortal ability to feel pleasure. Then he would do it again, and again, until she elevated him to be her king. If she decided to let him live. His life depended on his ability to pleasure her.

Morrighan’s
eyes flashed appreciatively as she drew his head tight against her breast and arched her back. She had not anticipated a mating this intensely for thousands of years. If for nothing else, Kheelen’s ability to create this sexual awareness was to be commended. After thousands of millennia and limitless abilities to travel among worlds and between realms, little remained that intrigued Morrighan. Yet here she was, waiting with near human impatience for Kheelen’s mouth to cover all of her body, discover all of her secrets.

Lower and lower his tongue swept, until at last his mouth was pressed against her lower lips. He lapped the nectar of her desire and whispered words against those lips, words she recognized not, but the feel of them as his tongue stroked long and velvety made her shiver.
The Queen doesn't shiver, what is wrong with me?

Again and again his tongue glided across her slick opening, probing, filling, retreating. Still she heard murmured words, and her eyes grew heavy. Languorously, she stroked her fingers into the wavy blond hair, bleached golden by the sun, drawing his mouth right where she needed it most.

Higher and higher he took her, her every nerve was on fire, reaching for release, yet her orgasm remained elusive.
No one denied the Queen
. At last she understood why Rhyannan had repeatedly returned to this Tuatha Dé, the things he could do with his mouth were unbearable.

She tried to open her eyes to look at him, to open her mouth to demand her release, but it was as though she’d been spelled herself, something patently impossible to do to the Queen. A sense of panic began to rise in her breast, a sense of helplessness, feelings nearly unrecognizable to someone as powerful as she. It was as if she’d been momentarily stripped of her control—she was his to use as he pleased.

Unexpectedly, she was floating and his hands and his mouth were everywhere at once. Her breasts were full and tight, his mouth was hot against them, and he suckled and bit. That wasn’t right, his tongue was flicking her hard nub in the vee of her legs, drawing circles, then gliding. No, his mouth was kissing her, possessing her, demanding her tongue in return. She lost her sense of direction, of up and down, and still her eyes wouldn’t open, her senses were trapped inside her head, unable to probe, unable to access her power.
What have I done?

Fingers spread,
then he pushed his cock into her from behind, filling her, rocking her, pounding with a force that would have destroyed a human woman. Yet his tongue was still licking her clitoris, flicking, then stroking, then he nibbled, before a long velvet stroke of his tongue eased the sharp bite of pain. How could that be? His mouth was still on her breast and he bit her nipple before drawing it back into his mouth, sucking, and pulling. Heavy testicles slapped against her, his shaft fit tight, her juices flowed. How did a woman take this and survive? He was everywhere, filling every part of her, and she still wanted more.