Midnight's Promise (11 page)

Malcolm still wasn’t sure why he stayed. The Druid had tenacity and courage that surprised him. He frowned then, because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been surprised.

She had asked for a friend. There was no way he could give her that when he couldn’t even answer the calls and texts from those at the castle who claimed to be family.

To make matters worse, it had been on the tip of his tongue to tell her aye. Her voice had broken when she’d spoken of her half-brother. The lad meant a lot to her.

Malcolm tapped a claw against the stones behind him and made a decision right then. If the Druid thought she was in danger, he needed to learn what it was. He couldn’t be her friend, but he could watch over her and keep anyone away who might want to do her harm.

He understood all about needing a place to breathe easier. Why it had to be Cairn Toul that gave it to her, he didn’t know. But did it really matter?

With the strength of her magic, he’d know the instant she turned
drough
. That’s all it would take for him to end her life. It would be another way he’d ensure her safety. Because if he could kill her before she sold her soul, then he was saving her.

Malcolm rubbed a hand over his jaw. He would have to hold off giving up the last of his humanity for a few days yet. If he could.

He took out his mobile and held his finger over Phelan’s name. Finally he pressed the number and brought the phone to his ear.

“Malcolm,” Phelan answered on the second ring. “Is everything all right?”

“It hasna been all right in a long time.” He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by his honesty, him or Phelan.

“What do you need?”

“I doona know.”

“You want me to meet you somewhere?”

The old Malcolm would have smirked at Phelan’s less than subtle attempt to get him face to face. This Malcolm, however, simply said, “Nay. I know you’re … concerned for me. There’s no need.”

“There’s every need,” Phelan said.

Malcolm inhaled deeply. “I can no’ be the person everyone wants me to be.”

“Then doona be. If Deirdre tried to kill me and then unbound my god, I wouldna be the same either. I thought it was better for me if I kept to myself. I didna realize how wrong I was until I met Charon. I wasna looking for a friend, and I made it difficult for him to be one, but that friendship saved me.”

“I see the disappointment in Larena’s eyes.” Malcolm’s hand fisted as the words passed his lips. It caused something to move inside him, emotions he didn’t want to deal with began to stir.

“She blames herself, you know. Both she and Fallon had every intention of telling you about your god.”

“It wouldna have made me remain at the castle. I thought my destiny was to be laird. Instead, I’m … this. I killed Duncan.”

“You did what you had to do to keep Larena safe. No one blames you for that. Deirdre was a master manipulator. She used you.”

“Nay. I think this was always inside me, I just chose to ignore it. Keep your attention on Wallace and no’ me.”

Malcolm ended the call and dropped his head back against the stones. Why had he called Phelan? It wasn’t like him. Then again, he wasn’t exactly himself since meeting the beautiful, infuriating, courageous Druid.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

For two days Evie hoped to look up from her computer screen to find Malcolm standing in her doorway once more. And for two days she was disappointed.

She promised herself not to go looking for him after the last time. Malcolm had an off-putting way of letting it be known he didn’t wish to be bothered.

“Damn,” Evie said and squeezed her tired eyes shut.

There were just a few more finishing touches to put on her new and improved set of walls, traps, and dead ends for anyone brave enough to try and hack her site again.

Between writing new code and a virus to attack any potential hackers, Evie was also doing more research on Druids. Given the story Malcolm told her, she was able to refine her search and include Deirdre’s name.

The links that pulled up were mind-boggling. Evie had been to twenty of them before she realized Deirdre was a legend and few actually knew the story.

Yet there were parts that were consistent in each of the sites that mentioned the Druid. The fact that she was missing from history for four centuries was a common thread.

If that part of the story Malcolm told her was true, then the rest had to be as well. It wasn’t that she thought he lied. It was just that she had a difficult time processing all she’d learned.

Her phone beeped, drawing her out of her thoughts. Evie reached for the mobile that was always near. She smiled when she saw Brian’s text about acing some exam.

She quickly punched the keys to congratulate him. No sooner had she hit send than another text from him popped up asking if he could bring a friend home for the holidays.

Evie stared at the screen for several seconds before she said yes. She didn’t stop to think how she would make it work, only that she would. She had to. For Brian. For herself.

There were a few more texts talking about one of his teachers and the amount of work in a class. But Evie’s mind was racing.

Once Brian said good night, she gently set her mobile aside and rubbed her temples. Her plan had been to stay hidden until the people wanting her information got tired and left her alone. Obviously, that plan wasn’t going to work. She’d have to come up with a new one.

She touched the pendant beneath her shirt.
“Keep it safe always. It’s dangerous
,” her grandmother had urged every day from the day she gave it to Evie three years before. They had been her grandmother’s last words as well.

In the year after her grandmother’s death, Evie had searched for answers, answers her grandmother either hadn’t known or refused to share. Evie had begged to know about Druids, but nothing would make her grandmother budge in talking.

Evie set aside her laptop and rose from the sofa. As guilty as she felt for using her magic to put some rugs throughout her chamber, she was glad she had. The cold penetrated the stones, even through her wool socks.

The only thing missing from Cairn Toul was a kitchen. Though she hadn’t seen Malcolm, she’d found the food left in her sitting room.

She hadn’t known how to cook the pheasant that first night, but magic had taken care of that. It was while she was eating the tasty bird that she began to wonder about food. She decided before bed to use her magic in order to eat. It was a necessity, after all.

But then there had been the bags of groceries. Evie had known they were from Malcolm.

Evie went to the small stock of groceries she’d piled against a wall behind the couch. She grabbed a plastic glass and poured a hefty amount of red wine into it.

She sipped the alcohol and looked from the bed to the wardrobe to the vanity. The sitting area had plenty of furniture as well.

It was obvious Deirdre had either used magic or had the items brought in. There was no reason Evie couldn’t do the same with a small fridge and maybe even an electric skillet.

The thought had merit even if she knew she’d have to actively seek out who was searching for her. It would still be days she’d be inside the mountain, mayhap even weeks.

“There’s time.”

“Time for what?” said a deep voice behind her.

A thrill went through her as she recognized the sultry voice. Evie smiled and slowly turned to face Malcolm. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“Time for what?” he repeated.

She shrugged and pointed to the groceries. “Thank you for the food, by the way. And I was thinking of getting a small fridge.”

“How would it work? You have no electricity here.”

“Damn,” she said with a frown. She hadn’t even thought of that. “I guess that means no coffee.”

He raised a blond brow. “If you’re that worried about being safe and having your luxuries, go into town and find a place. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”

“That’s a very kind offer. Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as that.”

“Explain it then.”

She swirled the dark wine in her glass, amused at how Malcolm didn’t think twice about ordering her about. “You offer to keep others away without knowing my name? Odd, if you ask me.”

“I’m no’ like other men.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” she said and took a drink to hide her smile.

His head cocked to the side. “Are you … teasing me?”

“Yes. The fact you had to ask tells me just how dour your life has been. When was the last time you smiled?”

“If you think your questions will make me forget that I’ve asked you to explain why you can no’ live in town, you’re mistaken.”

It was a try, her shrug said. “I’m a software designer by trade. I made good money at it too. Enough to support me and my brother well.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I had to leave my job. The savings I had dwindled quickly. The little I have left will cover Brian’s tuition for another year, but not if I use it.”

“Send him to another school.”

Evie blew away a curl that kept falling over her eye and sank into a corner of the couch. “I would if it were that simple. Brian was born unable to speak. When I got custody of him we couldn’t communicate at all. He was three and couldn’t write yet. I had to learn sign language quickly.”

“What happened to his mother?”

“She died. Mum walked out on my dad and me when I was very young. I didn’t hear from her again until after her death and I got a letter from the solicitors that she’d written me asking me to raise Brian. Not something an eighteen-year-old wants to do.”

“But you did it,” he said softly.

Evie chuckled as she recalled that fateful day. “I wasn’t going to. I went to the solicitor’s office to tell them that, and Brian was there. We were both orphans. How could I let someone else do my duty? So, I picked Brian up in my arms and brought him home.”

“And now?” he pressed.

“Now Brian has found a school where he feels comfortable. He fits in. There are other mute kids there, but most have some sort of disability. I couldn’t bear to tell him he couldn’t return.” She looked down at her wine, her heart heavy with the decisions she had to make.

If something happened to her, she didn’t know where Brian would go or who would take care of him. There wasn’t even enough money in her savings to cover the years for the rest of his schooling. How could she do that to him?

“Your car has been towed to Aviemore.”

She jerked her head up to look at him. “Are the authorities searching for me?”

“Aye. You might want to let them know you were picked up by a friend.”

Evie set aside her wine and immediately reached for her laptop. A few minutes later she hit send to an e-mail to the police in Aviemore. “Hopefully that’ll be enough to keep them from looking for me.”

“I’ll make sure it is.”

“Thank you, Malcolm.”

His chest rose as he took a deep breath. He wore an olive-green shirt that looked a size too small and had seen too many washes.

As if noticing her scrutiny he shifted his shoulders. “I had to … borrow … the shirt.”

The way he’d paused when he said
borrow
told her he meant stolen. She couldn’t help but grin. “Next time when you … borrow … a shirt, check the size.”

“I will.” He glanced down before he said, “The rest of the story you want to know. It might be better if you didna.”

“Why?”

“Sometimes it’s better no’ to know what’s waiting in the dark.”

A shiver ran over her skin. It seemed to do that a lot with Malcolm, or maybe it was the mountain. “Knowledge is power. I’d rather have the information.”

“The men who had their god unbound are Warriors.”

“Why warrior?”

“Nay. A Warrior,” he corrected.

“Okay. They’re Warriors. Why?”

“They become immortal, Druid. They hold and use whatever power the god inside them has. There is also the enhanced senses and speed.”

There was something else he wasn’t telling her. “And?”

“They … change. The gods each favor a color. The Warrior’s skin will change to that color when he calls forth his god. The Warrior also has claws and fangs.”

Evie nodded as he spoke. All she could think about was a rainbow of colors and men walking around with vampire fangs and claws.

“That is if the Warrior has control over his god,” Malcolm said.

“What? What do you mean?”

“No’ every Warrior is in control of his god. Sometimes the gods take over. The gods are evil, Druid. What do you think happens to the Warriors then?”

“They turn evil,” she said in a small voice.

“Aye.”

“What about the Warriors who can control the god within them?”

He looked away, his eyes going distant. “The evil is always there, but if a man is good of heart, the evil willna win.”

“You’re thinking of the MacLeods, aren’t you?”

He blinked and focused on her. “There are others besides them. Good men who have fought to keep innocents from Deirdre’s wrath.”

“But Deirdre is gone.”

“Declan brought Deirdre to this time. After she was killed, the focus turned to Declan until he was slain.”

“How did that happen?”

Malcolm flexed his hand. “Painfully. Declan used different methods of hurting the Warriors and Druids than Deirdre did. Some Druids were killed. It was the strength of a Warrior who also happened to be half-Druid who eradicated Declan.”

“Why then do I get the feeling it’s still not safe?”

“Because it isna. There’s another Druid out there—Jason. He’s used his black magic to hurt my cousin. For that, I will destroy him.”

The pieces began to all fall together. “Your cousin is a Druid then?”

“A Warrior.”

“Oh. What’s his name?”

“
Her
name is Larena.”

“But … I thought all Warriors were men,” she said in exasperation.

Malcolm gave a single shake of his head. “Nay. Larena holds a goddess within her. As far as we know, she’s the only female Warrior, which makes her special.”

“How was Larena hurt?”

“A drop of
drough
blood in a Warrior’s wound will kill them. Jason altered the
drough
blood he uses. Larena died, but the Druids managed to bring her back. Yet, she’s no’ the person I knew. She’s changed. She’s becoming … me.”