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“My God! What—where is the devil?”

“Gone,” Sara said. “You’re more accurate than you think. He really is the devil.”

Michael edged around her and, back to back, began fumbling with the ropes on

her wrists. Finally he got one end lose. As soon as her hands were free, Sara quickly unwrapped the rest of the bonds and then untied Michael’s hands. Then she rushed over to the wolf and dropped down beside it.

“It’s still alive,” she said as she felt its pulse in the massive chest. “Help me get him inside where it’s dry.”

Together they managed to lift the big lobo and carry him inside close to the

hearth. “I’ll light a fire,” Sara said. “You need to go for a vet.”

“I’m not leaving you here by yourself,” Michael said.

“I’ll be fine. Baylor thinks he’s killed me. He’s got the manuscript. He won’t be back. This wolf saved my life. I have to try and save his. Now go.”

Michael rose reluctantly. “I won’t be long. I also need to notify the sheriff that there are two dead men in a car that went into a ditch not far from here.”

The street-fighters. Sara wondered if Baylor would stop and take his money back.

She nodded and walked him to the door, making sure to draw the bolt after him.

She lit the wood that she had laid last time and then grabbed some towels from the bathroom. Slipping down beside the wolf, she pressed a towel to the wound but realized it was no longer bleeding. In fact, the blood had coagulated quite quickly.

The wolf stirred and she drew back. It was a wild animal after all and wounded.

What it do when it awoke inside a building? Was it strong enough to attack her?

She started to ease away and then stopped, staring, not believing what she was seeing. It couldn’t be.

The lobo was transforming. Its hind legs straightened and its forelegs stretched SEARCH FOR THE SPEAR Cynthia Breeding 114

even as the chest began to broaden and the muzzle receded. Its face widened as the fur was replaced with firm bronze skin. In another moment, a naked Lucas lay in front of her, eyes closed. The wound had completely healed.

Sara sank back to the floor. She knew otherworldly creatures existed. She had seen her share of manikins, dryads, undines, and sylphs in her use of white magic. She had called on elemental forces, too. And Nim was a powerful, ancient faerie. But she had never believed in werewolves. That was something Hollywood had thought up. But it did explain, in a very unnerving way, the unusual color of his eyes. And maybe it explained the animalistic lust she felt for him whenever he was around her.

Her attention turned to the physical. The towel she had used to press against the wound covered Lucas’ groin. She had seen his biceps bulging from beneath the tight fabric of a polo shirt, but the defined pectoral muscles of his chest and hard flat abs were the work of the gods. The heavily corded muscles of his thighs and calves would have done honor to Cernunnos himself. Her eyes lingered on that intriguing bit of cloth covering what she really wanted to see.

Her hand reached for it and then withdrew. She shouldn’t do this. But he would never know. She stole a glance at his face, but his eyes were still closed, his breathing deep and relaxed. Her fingers itched. Just one little look.

She lifted the corner of the towel and then involuntarily gasped. Even in repose, his shaft was long and thick. What would it be like …? She longed to stroke it and feel the satiny texture of the smooth skin that covered it. Then, to her fascination, it suddenly began to harden and grow even bigger as it raised itself toward her.

“Like what you see?” Lucas asked.

She felt her face flame as she dropped the cloth. To her mortification, he was not only awake but seemed amused at her embarrassment. How long had he been pretending to be asleep? Best to go on the offensive.

Sara forced herself to look him in the eye. “I think you’d better explain to me what it was I just saw. And I don’t mean your, uh, present state.”

The smile faded from his eyes, turning them almost metallic. “I didn’t mean for you to see the wolf.”

“What … what exactly are you? Human?” she asked hesitantly.

“Mostly human,” he answered. “We all have a beast inside us. Mine just tends to materialize on occasion. It’s a …” he hesitated as though searching for the right word.

“It’s a genetic defect.”

“Are there others like you?” The idea of the average person on the street

changing into a wolf was unsettling. Her world felt like it was spinning on its side.

“Perhaps. I’ve never met another wolf.” He smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners in a very human way. “Are you frightened of me now?”

She tilted her head. “Can you control it?”

He looked serious again. “As long as I hold my emotions in check. I obviously lost it when I saw what Balor was planning to do to you.”

Her blood heated. Did he care for her or would he have come to the rescue of

anyone in that situation? “Were you the wolf who came to my aid the last time I was here at the ranchita?”

He nodded and watched her carefully.

She took a deep breath, remembering how she had thought the animal had grinned SEARCH FOR THE SPEAR Cynthia Breeding 115

at her when it loped off into the woods. “What turned you that time?”

“You were in danger. It was easier to fight the she-wolf in my lobo form. I

didn’t have to kill her since she understood I was the alpha-male.”

He was certainly the alpha-male all right. Even now, while she was still trying to accept the reality that he was a werewolf, she was drawn to his magnetism. The reality of what that deliciously hard, nude, bronzed body could do with her made her inch closer and she saw the lust in his eyes as his lids lowered partially and a corner of his mouth quirked up.

He reached over and pulled her down across his chest. His mouth slanted over

hers, his lips warm and firm as his tongue probed for entry. Sara teasingly denied him and he sucked on her lower lip, causing her to whimper as raw passion overwhelmed her and drew deep into her belly.

One hand slid slowly upward along her ribs to caress the rounded mound of her

breast. His fingers kneaded it gently while his thumb flicked over the already hardened nipple. Sara moaned and arched against him.

His tongue thrust deep into her mouth, his lips ravaging hers as their bodies

pressed together. And then he growled.

Sara suddenly found herself on her back, but Lucas had moved away from her.

He was hunched over several feet away. “Leave,” he rasped, “the beast wants you. I don’t know that I can control it so soon. Move away!”

Even as he spoke, his eyes turned predatory. She scrambled to her feet and stared at him. “What’s .... ”

He bared his teeth and she could see fangs. She thought only vampires had those.

Not that vampires existed. She felt a bubble of hysteria rising in her throat. But what did she know? Lucas made a noise that sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of a howl.

She stepped back quickly as Lucas turned and ran for the door. She went to the window and watched his towel-clad body disappear into the brush.

Dear Goddess, she was in love with a werewolf.

* * * *

Lucas took a deep breath as he slowed to a walk, willing the wolf back down. To his surprise, it whined. He couldn’t ever remember it doing that before.

He should have known not to take the risk of kissing her when he was in a

weakened state from the transformation. To say nothing of healing the wound.

He reached his car parked well off the road and quickly put on the clothes he had left there when he had called the wolf. The familiar lethargy had not hit him yet, probably because the taste of Sara still lingered in his mouth and kept his testosterone running wild.

Bel’s fires! He’d nearly bitten her. And for a werewolf, that was a big mistake.

He didn’t know if he could actually Change someone, like Gavin could, but he really didn’t want to wish his way of life on anyone.

He paused. She really had taken the discovery better than he thought. And she still wanted him. The pure scent of female arousal had nearly saturated his still sharply canine senses. He wondered what she’d do if he told her he was immortal too. Lucas gave a short bark of a laugh. What in blazes was he thinking? The only two living who knew were Gavin and Balor.

Balor. He had nearly killed him today. Had wanted to rip his throat out as much SEARCH FOR THE SPEAR Cynthia Breeding 116

as the wolf did, even knowing that ending Balor’s life would also put his and Gavin’s into the totally human span of years and they would die, too.

He wondered if that would really be so bad. Arriving in Britain along with Julius Caesar had led to some very long lifetimes. Ridding the world of the devil’s own spawn was a worthwhile endeavor, but Lucas couldn’t be responsible for ending Gavin’s immortality, too. Not unless the vampire wished it. But Balor deserved to die for nearly burning Sara at the stake.

It brought back, way too vividly, the image of Gwenhwyfar nearly suffering the same fate. And then, after her rescue, Mordred’s twisting the whole story around to make Arthur’s knights believe she was having an affair with Lancelot. He’d never seen a woman more loyal to her husband. He should know. He’d been there. But then, Mordred had been under Balor’s influence since he was a small child. Perhaps having the blood of a Black Arts priestess had something to do with it.

Lucas sighed as he drove back to the ranch house. Michael would be returning

soon and he’d need to put in an appearance. He just hoped he hadn’t scared Sara witless.

She let him in with a small nod. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I’m okay. I won’t hurt you.”

Her blue eyes searched his face. “I may not be as afraid of your wolf as you as you think I am.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That may not be wise, lass.”

She shrugged. “It didn’t hurt me the first time, did it?”

Before he could answer, he heard tires crunching on the gravel and Michael and a woman with strawberry-blonde hair approached.

“This is Dr. Sophie Cameron,” Michael said as way of introduction a looked

around. “Where’s the wolf?”

Sara shrugged. “When it woke up, it growled and I opened the door. It left.”

Pretty close to the truth, Lucas thought and almost grinned.

The vet frowned. “How badly was it hurt? I hate to think of it being vulnerable prey to the coyotes.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Lucas said. “I got here just about the time it woke up. The wound wasn’t too deep.”

Michael gave him a slanted look as he lifted the pendant over his head and

handed it back to Lucas. “Good thing the wolf showed up since neither of us did anything to help Sara.”

“Good thing,” he said as he slipped the gold cross back on and met McCain’s

skeptical look.

He wondered, again, just how much the warlock really knew. And if, quite

possibly, there was yet another immortal in this world.

* * * *

Sara was tired the next morning when she arrived at her boss’s mansion, but now that Baylor had the manuscript, they didn’t have time to waste.

She was thankful that when Michael dropped her off last night—Lucas had

insisted on it and she knew he still didn’t trust himself—to find that Nim had survived.

The faerie was a bit battered, but angry as Hades that the curse Merlin had put on her restricted her to the house and Sara’s workplace.

The sunlight streaming in the window of the study did nothing to alleviate Mr.

SEARCH FOR THE SPEAR Cynthia Breeding 117

Smith’s chalky face as he listened to Sara and Lucas explain what happened the next morning.

“I’m glad the manuscript is gone,” he said when they finished. “The thing has a curse on it. Perhaps the facts that the vault at Rosslyn cannot be excavated due to Trust laws and the Money Pit defies all kinds of scientific inventions should serve as warnings.

The Holy Grail isn’t meant to be found. Isn’t that why Galahad took it to ... where was it? Egypt? in the first place?”

“Sarras,” Sara corrected, “near what’s now Gaza. But the Grail and the other

Hallows were found again. In Jerusalem. The Templars have been the guardians for centuries, keeping them hidden .... ”

“Precisely,” Mr. Smith interrupted, “and maybe they should stay that way. I’m putting a halt to this. It’s not worth getting you killed, my dear.”

Sara exchanged a quick glance with Lucas. “If the Hallows fall into the wrong hands, a whole lot of people are going to get killed. Entire nations could be destroyed.”

Mr. Smith pursed his lips. “Adam Baylor can’t be that powerful.”

Lucas leaned forward in his chair. “He is that powerful. The man is connected to terrorist leaders around the world. How do you think they have all that money to spend?

9/11 took years of planning. And the Hallows will only enhance that power.”

“You’re saying there’s really magic connected with them?” Mr. Smith asked

incredulously, “other than the allure of people’s perception of them because of the Arthurian legends?”

Lucas looked at Sara and she nodded. He turned back to the older man. “Yes.

The power in the Hallows is ancient. Given by the Celtic gods to their chosen people, the Tuatha de Danann, before they became Sidhe. The power is neutral. Whoever owns the Hallows controls them. Balor now has a copy of them manuscript. We’re in a race against time.”

Knowing her boss’s affection for the melodramatic, Sara added, “Just think, Mr.

Smith, you may be the one man who can save the world.”

He preened. “Well, in that case …”

* * * *

Baylor took a sip of Dom champagne and looked over at the girl whose hands were still bound to his headboard and whose legs were splayed and shackled to the bedposts. He slapped her nipples lightly with the leather strap he held causing her to squirm and arch her back.