Midnight's Kiss (23 page)

The climb was steep as they headed toward the castle, and the tourists in the area were standing in crowds of several dozen as they disembarked off tour buses.

Dale felt his fangs fill his mouth as one of the tourists, a man weighing at least three hundred pounds, ran into him. The tourist was trying in vain to make it up the hill.

In all the confusion, Dale lost sight of MacCarrick. After searching for almost fifteen minutes, Dale still couldn’t locate him.

He was pulling out his phone to call Jason when he felt a tingle along his skin. Magic.

Dale smiled as he followed the trail of magic. That had to be where MacCarrick was, and even if it wasn’t, Jason would want to know about this magic.

The trail of magic was faint, but Dale was still able to track it. And imagine his surprise when it led to yet another antiques store.

With none other than Arran MacCarrick inside.

Dale quickly dialed Jason’s number.

“I hope you’re calling because you found something,” Jason said.

Dale flattened his lips, the urge to growl his irritation overpowering. “Of course.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been following MacCarrick.”

“MacCarrick,” Jason repeated. “Is he still at the dig site?”

“Nay.”

Through the phone, Dale heard what sounded like Jason flipping through pages.

“My wonderful cousin Declan does have MacCarrick listed as one of the Warriors from MacLeod Castle but doesna have much on him. I hope you have more, Dale.”

“I’ve been watching him go into antique stores all over Edinburgh. And I found a trace of magic.”

Jason made a pleased sound. “I gather that’s where MacCarrick is?”

“Aye. He’s been in there awhile.”

“I want to know what he’s looking for. Find it, or doona bother coming back.”

Dale gripped the phone so tightly, he heard it crack. “MacCarrick and Reid are staying in Edinburgh another night. There’s some kind of event tonight.”

“Then get in the event, Dale. Do I have to think of everything?”

“These Warriors are smart, Jason. If I get too close, I could compromise your plans.”

Jason laughed. “If you compromise my plans, then I suggest you allow MacCarrick to kill you because if he does no’, I guarantee what I have planned for you is much worse.”

The call ended.

Dale stuffed the phone back into his pocket and fisted his hands. How he hated Jason sometimes. The bastard might have given him untold power along with immortality, but Jason also ruled him.

At least the Warriors at MacLeod Castle were free. Free to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

Was Dale’s freedom worth immortality? He’d thought so at first, though it wasn’t as if Jason gave him much of a choice. Dale’s life hadn’t been worth much to begin with.

Jason had given him a second chance, and with it a nice house he could live in when Jason allowed it. And Jason’s money.

Dale flattened himself against the wall of a building, in the alley, as MacCarrick walked out of the store. He didn’t look happy as he began walking back in the direction of his hotel.

For just a moment, Dale contemplated going into the store, but he could do that later. MacCarrick was after something, and eventually Dale would be led to it.

Until then, he’d keep following MacCarrick.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Arran couldn’t wait to tell Ronnie what he’d learned from the old man at the antiques store. Arran had known the man knew more than he was letting on, and the old man hadn’t disappointed.

Unfortunately, getting the information had meant that Arran stayed out the entire night, listening to the old man’s stories, going through any books at the store, and then doing more research.

But when Arran walked into the suite, it was to once more find it empty.

He saw her note, written on the back of his from the night before.

Arran—

Andy called late last night to let me know they had discovered more artifacts at the dig. It wasn’t from the same section we’d been digging at, but another. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, since I’m doing a video conference with him so I can see what’s been found.

Pete is on his way back to the site to double-check everything for me so I can remain here. I hope to make it back by the time the fund-raiser begins. If not, I’ll meet you at the party.

Ronnie

Arran tapped the table with his fingers for a moment. He was surprised Ronnie hadn’t immediately returned to the dig site. Every find was important to her. Why, then, was she remaining in Edinburgh?

Did she need money that badly to fund her digs? If that was the case, maybe Arran could talk Saffron into giving a little more.

Arran wasn’t completely destitute either. He had money aplenty, thanks to the others’ setting up an account while he’d been leapfrogging through time. He’d give Ronnie money himself, if need be.

She hated the fund-raisers, and if she didn’t have to go, then she could remain at her digs, where she wanted to be.

He ran a hand down his face. The only thing that had kept him going through the night was knowing Ronnie would be here waiting for him.

It was hours until the party. He had time to do more investigating on the creatures. Arran walked around a couch and sat down. Then he called Fallon.

“Are you no’ supposed to be with the lovely Ronnie?” Fallon asked.

“Aye. She’s doing some business. Listen, I think I might have found something regarding my newest enemies.”

“Ah,” Fallon said, drawing out the word. “The new creatures.”

“Since I was in Edinburgh, I thought I’d do a wee bit of looking around to see what I could find. About four blocks from Edinburgh Castle is this tiny antiques shop. There was something about it that drew me in.”

“Did you figure out what it was?”

“Magic,” Arran answered. “It was faint, but it was coming from the shop. Once I was inside, I found what I’d felt. It was a chalice.”

“A chalice?”

“A verra old chalice, and the magic wasna as strong as it should be. But that’s no’ the interesting part. The owner is an old man who doesna have many days left. His nephew runs the business, but the old man happened to be there when I walked in. I asked a couple of questions to see how much he knew.”

“Was that wise, Arran?”

“I had a hunch, as Gwynn often says. As close as the shop is to the castle, and as old as the shop is, I suspect whoever owned it was around when the artifacts were taken from Edinburgh Castle.”

“Did the man know anything?”

“He did, but he wouldna tell me at first. Later, they asked me to come back, and the old man admitted that the shop had been in the family for many generations. It’s always passed down through the family.”

Fallon chuckled. “So your hunch paid off.”

“Aye. The monsters from the box, Fallon, they were no’ created as Deirdre created the wyrran.”

There was a pause before Fallon said, “I doona think that’s good news.”

“It gets worse. The creatures are called selmyr. The old man showed me a book from ancient Mesopotamia that speaks of these beings. They were greatly feared throughout the land.”

“Shite.”

Arran leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling. He hated to tell the rest, but they needed to be prepared. “They like to hunt other beings of magic. They feed off our blood. It’s our blood that sustains them.”

“And the humans?” Fallon asked.

“If they get in the way, the selmyr will kill them. If it’s a Druid, they are in as much danger as us.”

Fallon let out a long string of curses. “Magic against magic again. Can we stand against them? Can the Druids?”

“I know what the blood of those things felt like on my skin. I’ve also had the misfortune of having
drough
blood in me as well. The selmyr’s is much, much worse, Fallon. And when they bit me, it was as if they were draining my god as well. My power diminished, even the sound of Memphaea weakened.”

“And we have a massive signal of magic shouting throughout the world in the form of Isla’s shield. Fuck!” Fallon shouted.

Arran knew the frustration Fallon felt, because Arran had felt it, too. “No one will see the selmyr coming. They vanish like dust on the wind. In fact, that’s how they travel.”

“That helps,” Fallon said softly. “But no’ enough. We have to figure out something that will repel the effect of their blood. Especially if it just requires contact with our skin. At least with
drough
blood, it had to be inside us for it to hurt.”

“The story I was told says that the selmyr were contained by a group of
mie
. Somehow they got the selmyr in the box. I doona know how, nor did the old man. But if it could be done once, it can be done again.”

Fallon released a long breath. “That is good news at least. Did the old man say where the Druids were from? Maybe there are still some around?”

“He didna know. He and his nephew were going to do some more digging through their archives after I left. It appears that every member of his family who owned the shop cataloged every item that was brought in and where it came from as well as who bought it. But they also made note of any strange happenings of the time.”

“You mean like the sightings of the wyrran last year.”

“Aye.” Arran laughed. “The old man had the nerve to ask me what I knew of the wyrran.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth. They were created by a
drough
who wanted to rule the world. When he said the wyrran were mentioned four hundred years earlier, he asked if they were the same.”

“I gather you told him the truth.”

“I did. He isna afraid of magic, nor is his nephew. I’ve made us some friends, Fallon. If we ever need them, we simply need to go to them again.”

“Good work. I’ll have Gwynn and the others see what they can discover online about these selmyr. When will you and Ronnie return to the dig?”

“Tomorrow.”

“And when will you return home?”

Arran looked out the window, considering his options. “That isna so simple.”

“Nay, my friend, it never is when women are involved.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

Arran glanced around the ballroom and barely held in his exasperation. He ordered another whisky from the bar and looked down at the dark green, black, and yellow of his kilt. It hadn’t been that long since he gave up his kilt for the modern clothes, but he’d missed it nonetheless.

It felt natural to be in a kilt again, even if it was only half a kilt as he thought of it.

“You look almost as good as me,” said a voice beside Arran.

He turned to find Camdyn dressed just as he was and wearing a cocky smile. “What are you doing here?”

“We thought you could use a friend or two,” Saffron said as she stood between them. She rose up on her toes and kissed Arran’s cheek. “Besides, I haven’t seen Ronnie in a while, and I wanted to visit.”

“That’s shite,” Arran said, not hiding his grin. “You wanted to check up on me.”

Camdyn shrugged. “That as well.”

Arran ordered a French martini for Saffron and a whisky for Camdyn. “It’s damned crowded.”

Saffron sipped her martini as she looked around. “These things always are when the person is someone like Ronnie. Everyone knows if they invest their money with her, the payback is worth it. She always finds what she sets out for.”

“Of course she does,” Camdyn said with a wink.

“Speaking of these fund-raisers,” Arran said as he turned toward them, leaning his forearm on the bar. “She hates these things. She is missing out on the dig because she has to be here. I’m going to be giving her some of my funds.”

“And you think Saffron should give more, aye?” Camdyn asked, his brow raised.

Arran lifted one shoulder. “Is Ronnie no’ more valuable in the field than at these parties?” He noticed how Saffron was looking at him with a small smile and a knowing look on her face. “What?” Arran asked.

“Nothing,” Saffron said, and turned away.

They moved off to a corner near one of the opened glass doors that led to a balcony. Most of the men were in similar dress to Arran and Camdyn, but there were a few who opted for a “regular tux,” as Saffron put it.

The women were dressed in an array of colors, though Saffron had chosen a midnight blue gown that Camdyn couldn’t stop staring at.

Arran grinned as he watched them. It was obvious they were completely devoted to each other, but then, that was the way it was with all the couples at MacLeod Castle.

He’d never envied them. Arran thought his friends daft for adding more worry atop their lives by finding a woman. He hadn’t understood it before, but he did now.

All too well.

As it was, he kept looking around the room for some sign of Ronnie. It was well past the time she was supposed to arrive. No one seemed worried though.

Food was being walked around on silver trays, and the liquor flowed freely. Music had filled the large room since Arran arrived, and many guests were already on the dance floor.

“Don’t worry,” Saffron said. “She’ll be here. And Pete is with her.”

“Nay, Pete went back to the dig to help Andy with their new finds.”

“Still. She’ll be all right, Arran.”

At that moment, Arran felt something shift in the air, a fissure of magic that caressed him, enveloped him. Covered him. It caused his blood to sing and his cock to harden.

Ronnie
.

He gripped his glass so tightly, he heard it crack. When he was able, he dragged in a rough breath. He knew exactly where she was by the wash of her magic. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the feel of it until just then.

Slowly, his gaze moved to the stairs that descended into the ballroom. And the world fell away.

Ronnie dazzled in a dress of deep gold that hugged her body from her shoulders to her hips before it flowed freely and sensuously about her legs. It wasn’t until she took her first step down the stairs that he noticed the slit in the gown that stopped high up on her thigh and kept giving him views of her toned left leg.