Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 1 (26 page)

We soared higher, the temperature cooling predictably as we gained altitude. We crossed fields and wooded glens, racing the clouds to catch glimpses of the moon’s laughing face. It was heady, this freedom, even if I knew it was short-lived.

I began to suspect where we were headed when Bahlin moved lower to the ground and circled counterclockwise around a small hillside. I recognized Brylanna’s cottage and cringed, wondering if she’d been peeking in on our extra-curricular activities. Again I say, squicky. Bahlin set down in the front yard and before I could clamber down, the front door flew open. Brylanna moved like lightning, racing to Bahlin’s side and throwing her arms around his neck.

“
Mo bhrathar
!” she exclaimed, “
ciamar a tha sibh
?”

I thought I knew what she’d said but still I said, “In English, please, Brylanna. That way I know if I need to defend myself or not.” I slid from Bahlin’s back. My knees, stiff from the cool wind, buckled slightly as I hit the ground and I stumbled into Bahlin’s side.

He turned from Brylanna and caught me up in his forearms and effectively gave her his back. She stiffened.

“Of course, Niteclif. I simply said ‘my brother how are you.’ Nothing derogatory, I assure you.” Her manner unyielding, she turned and walked stiffly back to the house, calling out over her shoulder, “Dinner’s on the table and we’ve only a short time to eat it before we have to leave, so don’t dawdle…or shag on the front lawn.” She slammed the door on us before I could come up with a suitably witty response.

Bahlin’s dragon form shimmered and folded away, leaving the naked man crouched on all fours in the grass. I knelt next to him and dug out a pair of jeans and his long-sleeved rugby shirt. I struggled to keep my composure, trying desperately not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. My lips twitched, and I looked up at Bahlin only to recognize his were doing the same thing.

“She knows what we’ve been up to then?” I asked, pinching my nose and trying to keep control of the situation.

“Without a doubt. Serves her right for checking in on us, even if it was done with the purest of intentions.” Bahlin’s eyes twinkled merrily, and he lost the battle not to smile. His grin made me feel so alive, like freefalling from the cave all over again. I smiled back and then, realizing he was still kneeling naked in front of me, I blushed so hard it made me light-headed.

“Here,” I nearly shouted, shoving his clothes in his hands and turning my back on him. I still knelt on the grass beside him as I spun away, probably staining the knees of my jeans green in the process. Great.

He reached over and tugged my windblown hair, leaning in close enough that his breath slid down my bared neck like warm caramel over the skin of an apple. His lips touched behind my ear, gently, and he slid his hands around my waist. It might not be politically correct to admit it, but I loved how small and protected he made me feel as he bent his body over mine.

“Do you need help?” I whispered, running my hands over his arms and leaning back into his bare skin.
Please say no…or yes. No. Say no.

“No,
mo chrid
.”
Well damn.
“We’ve not had a proper meal in days and I’m flat starved. I know if you help me I’ll end up hauling you out to the barn and having my way with you in the hayloft. So come inside with me before you distract me for certain.” He moved away from me and I heard the rustle of clothing as he dressed behind me. There is something seriously sexy about the sound of a zipper, whether it’s going up or down, in the dark. Suddenly Bahlin was in front of me and holding out his hand to help me to my feet. Despite the temptation to stare, I’d kept my eyes turned away from him while he got dressed, and he had to step well around me before I would look up at him. He laughed. “You’ve seen the goods, handled the package and helped me make the delivery, Maddy. Don’t you think the time for shyness has passed?” He chucked me gently under the chin. “Never mind. I forgot for a moment who I was speaking to.” Grabbing the bag, he walked into the house and waved me along with his free hand.

I got up and followed him into the cottage, feeling like it had been eons since we’d last been here when in reality it had been less than forty-eight hours.
How the mighty has fallen—flat on her back.
I sighed mentally. I paused in the doorway, unsure what to do. There were a number of creatures gathered around the table, all of whom looked human but collectively they gave out waves of power that made my skin want to crawl off the muscle. Of course, had any of them meant me harm they would have had all the time in the world to act on it because I just stood there, the fight-or-flight instinct equally entrenched in my conscious mind as the two warred internally for superiority. I’d have to lose the logic and internal monologues in critical situations or I was going to end up dead, and probably sooner rather than later.

“Maddy,” Bahlin said, drawing me forward with a reach of his hand, “come meet some of my friends and family.”

His family?
Oh shit.
Brylanna had been bad enough. I didn’t need to meet any more people she could influence, or had
already
influenced, to dislike me. I shook my head in the smallest motion I could, staring at him.

“No, Bay,” I breathed quietly. “I’ll just, um, I’ll wait outside while you catch up with everyone, okay?” I asked, assuming we’d be going to London via car again. I began backing up slowly, a reverse death march, the tension radiating off me as our arms pulled tight against one another.

Bahlin tightened his hand and gave a gentle yank forward to make me quit pulling. “Stop,” he said, soft enough to be personal but loud enough that it wasn’t private. “I want you to meet my ma and da, as well as my younger brother Aiden. There are several members of our wyvern here too. Let me introduce you?”

He scored major points for asking instead of demanding that I concede. I nodded as slightly as I had moments before declined, and he grinned again. He shifted his hand so our fingers laced together without a conscious thought on my part and he pulled me gently to his side, walking me back into the room. Introductions were made all around before I finally came face to face with his immediate family. Brylanna stood there, proud and tall, smirking at me as if she was in on some dirty little secret that I wasn’t going to like. Next to her was a younger man who, with the exception of the dark blue eyes and his brother’s extra height, was clearly the spitting image of the woman seated in front of him. This had to be Aiden. Which meant the woman in front of him was his mother,
Bahlin’s
mother. She stood and I was shocked to see she was a petite little thing with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was nothing in size like the gargantuan children she’d given birth to. She smiled at Bahlin and wrapped him in a hug as only a mother could, clearly adoring him and embarrassing him in one economical movement. The man seated next to her at the head of the table was a behemoth of a man. Bahlin looked exactly like him in every way—dark blue eyes, burnished hair, high cheekbones, full mouth, broad shoulders, roughly the size of a small country.

“Maddy, allow me to introduce my da, Leith, and my ma, Adelle. The young lizard behind them is my little brother, Aiden. My da is the ruling Glaaca, or head of the wyvern.”

Bahlin’s parents took turns shaking my hand, and his mother encouraged me to fix myself a quick meal while she busied herself loading a up a small trough for Bahlin. Leith looked me over very thoroughly, giving nothing away.

“Da?” Bahlin asked, his tone cool and careful.

“So she’s our new Niteclif?” Leith asked in an insolent tone.

“She is,” Bahlin answered, his voice hardening just a bit. If I hadn’t seen his mother’s hand jerk as she lifted a spoon of mashed potatoes from the sideboard I wouldn’t have realized anything was wrong. Thankfully I had that small bit of warning, otherwise I would have likely fallen over at Leith’s next comment.

“So you’ve taken to sporting with her already, son? Awfully quick, even for you.” His tone was cold. Adelle looked from one man to another, clearly shocked at her husband’s rudeness but unsure what to do with herself. She finally pulled out a chair at the table and dropped her head in her hands, not in a defeated manner but more a frustrated one. Behind Leith, Brylanna paled a bit.

“Maddy, I’m going to ask you to step outside for a moment,” Bahlin said, his tone so cold I drew my hand from his instinctively. He turned to look at Brylanna and said, “Why,
piuthar
?”

Brylanna lifted her chin and said, “You know why and she should too. You
have
been sporting with her, but have you been honest with her, Bahlin?”

I’m not sure what the final straw was, whether it was Leith’s rudeness or Brylanna’s, but between the fae, the dragons and the murder-minded magicians, I’d had enough with the cloak and dagger shit. I rounded on Brylanna and said, “All right already. You’ve hinted again and again that there’s something I need to know. Here’s your opportunity. Give it your best shot, you fire-breathing, scale-sporting, knobby-spined bitch.”

She stared at me for a split second and then laughed with wicked glee as if I hadn’t spoken. “So you’ve truly not told her then?” The look of pale fear on Bahlin’s face was her answer. “Fine. I will. Madeleine Dylis Niteclif, I had a vision about you before you arrived. You would be a woman fair of face, sharp of mind, with fresh grief your heaviest burden. You would be vulnerable to empathy, despise sympathy and be so hungry for a sense of belonging that you would be willing to accept your lot as Niteclif with only limited explanation and minor manipulation. Better yet, you were predestined to fall in love with a male member of the High Council and forsake yourself for the opportunity to be loved. That member of the High Council would gain in power and influence for being in your bed and would end up being the first individual ever to lead the Council. This meant there would be a competition to get you on your back. And the man that first won the right to rut with you would break your heart.” Brylanna’s grin faltered as she watched my face, stepping back from me as I processed her prediction.

“Who knew this?” I asked. No one answered me and I yelled, “Who knew?”

“The High Council and our wyvern,” Brylanna answered with new trepidation, obviously afraid of the crazed woman I had morphed into as I stood there and digested her little newscast.

“Looks like you win the prize for biggest bitch I’ve ever met, Brylanna.”

It was so quiet that the tick of the water heater seemed to boom and echo in the room. I turned on my heel and walked slowly to the front door, but not before I looked at Bahlin with bitter eyes.

“Maddy, wait,” Bahlin said, grabbing my arm.

I looked down at his hand and said in a deliberately soft voice, “Get your damned hand off of me you pestilant ball sack. You’ve lost the right to touch me, Bahlin. Don’t you dare speak to me. Not when you’ve lied to me and manipulated me from the beginning. Don’t. You.
Dare
.” He dropped his hand, and I walked out the front door without another word.

Chapter Fourteen

The sound of raised voices exploded as the door shut and latched behind me with a distinct
click
. I could hear snippets of the developing argument as I walked down the lane leading from the house. Male voices were raised in anger, interjected now and then with a softer voice—likely Bahlin’s mother. Brylanna’s voice was suspiciously absent.

I had no idea where I was going to go, but I knew I had to get away from here. I picked up the pace, breaking into a slow jog. What had been a lovely night had, appropriately, turned misty and cold. I shivered in my jacket, though whether it was from the chilly night air or my frozen soul was beyond me. I felt like such a fool. I’d done everything Bahlin had told me to do from the moment he’d shown up in my dream. He’d dictated my acceptance of my heritage by manipulating my emotions. He’d set the pace of the investigation by using what he learned of me to influence my decision-making. And he’d coerced me into his bed and wormed his way into my heart by playing on my need to be loved. Worst of all was that I’d fallen for every single bit.

I tripped over an unseen rock and went to my knees. I stayed there for a moment, unable to move, the tears dripping off the end of my nose.
When had I started crying
? I heard a car start and I scrambled to my feet, brushing my hands off on my jeans. I took a few running steps and realized I’d never make it far enough down the single lane road to pick up another ride before the driver of the car caught up to me. Looking over my shoulder I saw headlights swing away from the garage, twin shafts of light slicing through the night as the car started down the long, desolate drive. I hopped over the low stone fence into the bordering pasture and lay on my stomach, face-down on the ground so that the majority of my pale skin was covered by either clothing or my dark hair. The sound of the car’s engine got closer and closer, finally roaring passed me. I’d made it farther from the house than I’d originally thought. I was relatively certain that Bahlin was driving. If it
was
him, he was unquestionably looking for me. Fine. Let him look. I lay there on the cold, wet ground and rubbed furiously at my eyes. I didn’t feel I had any room available for new grief in my heart when I hadn’t yet fully processed the grief of losing my parents. Bahlin didn’t deserve to share space with them. Instead, he’d have to settle for being a nasty little black piece of my mind, or a kernel of hate in my gut, or something cold and calculating in my soul. Because my heart was not his. Period.

The car came roaring back down the lane, and I stayed hidden behind the stone fence. I heard gravel scatter as the car ground to a halt in the dooryard of the house, and the driver’s door slammed seconds later. Shouting renewed inside the house, but I was up and moving as soon as I knew the lights of the car were extinguished. I figured if I could get to the road I could either hitch a ride back to the city or find my way into a town where I could rent a car. I jogged slowly away from the house, startling a hare from the feverfew that dotted the field. Cows lowed nearby and in the distance a dog barked, universal country sounds made ominous by the night. This was particularly true considering the
cú sith
that had been killed, the shapeshifters and vampires I now knew existed, the wizard I knew was hunting me, and the dragon wyvern that was arguing somewhere behind me. I jogged a little faster.