Magic sizzled through her, reminding her of what she sacrificed to have such power. In order for her to have a chance at rescuing Brian, Evie was going to have to give in to the black magic.
Choices, Malcolm had said. Here was another choice she was making.
Evie took out her mobile and dashed off a quick text before she rose and headed to the shower. She was going to need to be on top of her game.
In all ways.
* * *
Malcolm yearned for the sun. The total darkness was a torture unto itself. He yanked against unseen bindings that held him in place, both on his wrists and ankles.
He was a Warrior, immortal and powerful. Yet, he couldn’t break free.
It wasn’t magic that held him, but something else. Something powerful and formidable. It frightened Malcolm as nothing else had since his attack by Warriors as a mortal.
He would be resigned to his fate if it weren’t for Evie. Wallace had her brother, and if he knew Evie, she would somehow get Brian free. With—or without—anyone’s help.
She was just tenacious enough not to ask for assistance.
Malcolm gritted his teeth. His right shoulder ached. He could hardly lift his arm at all. The one time he’d dared to touch it, he’d felt something sticky and warm on his fingers.
Blood.
He knew without looking that his old wounds had reopened as well as new ones. If he was going to fight his way out of this place, he was going to have to do it with one arm.
And without Daal.
His god refused to answer any of his calls. There hadn’t been a peep from Daal since Malcolm had woken in this hellish place.
He tugged his left arm, hoping to get some slack on his invisible bonds, but they held steady. Malcolm took a deep breath as Evie’s image filled his mind.
Everything he had focused on her. Her smooth skin, her silky hair. Her full lips, her clear blue eyes. Her pert breasts, her long legs.
Her smile.
Her voice, soft and sweet.
She had gentled him. Somehow, someway she had done what no one else could.
A strange, new emotion filled him. It caused his heart to constrict, his chest to tighten. Malcolm couldn’t put a name to what it was. All he knew was that he had to get back to her.
“Evie,” he whispered.
* * *
Evie quietly walked into Malcolm’s room after her shower. When she came out of the bathroom there had been several pairs of jeans and four different sweaters for her to choose from. The jeans were a little long, but the hunter-green sweater fit perfectly.
Rhys hadn’t stopped her when she entered the room. Thankfully there was no one else inside. Evie didn’t want to leave Malcolm yet, but she didn’t have a choice.
He was improving. Slowly. Phelan and Con continued to heal him, but it could take weeks. And Jason wasn’t going to wait that long.
“I wish you’d wake up,” Evie said in a low voice as she sat beside the bed. She noticed that much of the dried blood covering Malcolm had been removed.
So had his boots and soiled jeans. He now lay with the covers up to his hips. Evie remembered when she’d ran her hands over his magnificent chest feeling the thick muscles beneath his skin. Now his chest was mangled and bloody.
“I need you. And not just to fight Jason. The future hadn’t seemed so scary with you beside me. I’m terrified, Malcolm.”
She licked her lips, hesitating a second before she pushed her magic into him. If she couldn’t heal him, maybe she could relieve some of his pain. It was a long shot. She had no idea what her magic could do to him, but he’d said he liked the feel of it.
“I don’t know what’s inside you, but you must fight it,” she urged. “You survived so much. Don’t let this take you. If you do, then Jason will have won. He’s like Deirdre. He needs to be killed.”
Evie took his right hand in her own, careful not to disturb his arm. “I always thought your scars made you even more handsome. You’re too damn good-looking. Those scars are something to be proud of. You survived evil. That’s the Highlander in you.”
She stopped, unsure if she could continue and not break down. There might not be any more tears to shed, but the emotion was clogging her throat.
“When you wake up—because you
will
wake up—you need to go back to MacLeod Castle. I’ve seen your friends. They care a great deal about you. Go to Larena and be with your family. Maybe one day we’ll see each other again.”
She leaned over him and gently placed her lips on his. Evie hesitated, unwilling to pull away. “Farewell, Malcolm Munro. May life pave you a good road.”
Evie straightened and stepped away from the bed before she broke down and crawled in beside him. She walked to the door and paused. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to go back to him, but what she had to face, she had to face alone.
She walked through the doorway and nodded to Rhys, never seeing Malcolm’s fingers move on the bed.
CHAPTER
FORTY
Jason Wallace reclined on his Chesterfield sofa and sipped his fifty-year-old Dreagan whisky. The day hadn’t gone completely to plan, but by the time the sun rose on the new day, he would have what he wanted.
By now, Malcolm would be fighting the effects of the
drough
blood while the others scrambled to try and heal him. While their attention was on Malcolm, Evie’s mind had been on her brother.
Jason smiled as he thought of Brian. The lad had some gumption. He was afraid, but Brian did a good job of hiding it. Jason was impressed with the teenager. It was too bad he didn’t have any magic. He’d have liked an apprentice.
A glance at his watch showed that Malcolm had been tormented for hours now. He could die there, but Jason knew the Warriors and dragons wouldn’t let him.
The dragons. They’d been the one wrench in his plans he hadn’t counted on. Malcolm was a loner. It should’ve only been Malcolm and Evie at Urquhart. Instead, the damn dragons had been there and nearly ruined everything.
Apparently, he was going to have to deal with the interfering dragons, but they shouldn’t be any more difficult than the Warriors and Druids.
Jason leaned forward and placed his glass on the coffee table as he stared into the flames burning in the hearth. Why hadn’t he known of the dragons until recently? How had they managed to stay hidden? And if there were dragons he hadn’t known about, what else was out there?
He smiled, feeling suddenly happy at the thought of conquering all the creatures of Earth—mortal and magical.
“It’s going to be quite the thing,” he said to himself as he gained his feet and walked out of his office into the foyer to the doorway leading below the house.
Jason flicked on the lights and heard the scramble of shoes against the ground as Brian got to his feet. The lad didn’t like to be caught sitting or lying down.
He turned the corner and walked down the short hallway before coming to the dungeon. It wasn’t as fine a dungeon as the ancient castles that littered his land, but it came close.
It was just as damp, and just as cold during the winter months. Not a ray of sun found its way inside. Jason made sure the entire feel of the dungeon was desolate so that hopelessness fed upon itself.
“Your sister should be arriving soon,” Jason said as he approached Brian’s cell. “You’re going to help me win her over.”
Brian vigorously shook his head.
Jason just smiled. “Ah, lad, but you will. Shall I tell you why? Because you love Evangeline. There’s no need to worry, however, you’ll do everything I need you to do because I’m going to make you. Magic, you’ll learn, has its uses.”
There was a rapid motion of Brian’s hands with sign language that Jason didn’t even look at.
“Doona bother, lad. See, I doona trust you. Because I doona trust you, I’ll use magic. It’s imperative that Evangeline embrace the black magic inside herself.” Jason leaned back against the wall and crossed one ankle over the other while he watched Brian pace back and forth. “Your sister willna be our only visitor. There will be one other. He’ll come to see things my way as well.”
Jason lifted a brow when Brian flipped him off. “That’s crude and beneath you. It’s also testing the limits to my goodwill.”
Brian then put his fingers beneath his chin and jerked his hand forward.
Jason didn’t need to know sign language to know what that meant. He straightened from the wall and sneered at Brian. “Remember your sister well, lad, because by the time I’m done with her, there will be nothing left of the one you knew. She’ll bear a child, and that child will hold evil. That child will be the key to my ruling of this planet. So I’d be careful what you say to me.”
He turned and walked away before his temper did snap. Jason was in too good of a mood for Brian to ruin it. Hours before he’d been ready to kill Brian on the spot at having lost Evangeline.
But something cautioned Jason to wait.
Now he was glad he had since Evangeline was coming to him. What sister could turn away from a brother in need? It was so trite, but it was that predictability that allowed Jason to gain the upper hand.
He chuckled as he walked into the foyer and closed the door behind him. Let the Warriors and Druids fret over what he would do next. Let them worry about the ways he was plotting to kill them.
While they were preoccupied, he had set the chessboard in motion. By the time they caught on to what he was doing, it would be too late. Already he was several moves ahead.
There was no way they could catch up. They would try to stop him, but it would be to no avail. And once the child was born, there would be nothing they could do to halt him.
That’s when he would make them pay for everything they had done. He had something special planned for Phelan and Aisley. Those two would know an eternity of pain they couldn’t even begin to fathom.
“Soon,” he murmured. “Verra soon.”
* * *
No one stopped Evie as she walked out of the manor. She was ready with the excuse that she needed some air, but she was glad she hadn’t needed to use it.
She made her way to the parking area and saw a red convertible. Evie hurried to the sleek two-door Jaguar F-type and found the door unlocked. And the keys inside.
“Did someone know I was planning to leave?” she asked as she slid behind the wheel.
Evie didn’t want to wait around and find out. She started the car and put it in reverse. There was enough lighting from the outside lights to see where the drive was.
Only when she was driving away did she pray that her night blindness didn’t get in the way again.
“Ugh. What am I thinking?” she berated herself. “I’m a
drough
, right? I’ve got enough magic to fix that.”
Through the windshield, everything was dark and blurry. She concentrated on her magic to fix her eyes, and within minutes she could see clearly.
“I’ll be damned,” she mumbled and pressed on the accelerator of the sports car.
Maybe there really was a chance for her to get Brian free.
* * *
The binds holding Malcolm didn’t seem as tight as before. He could hear Evie’s voice, hear her calling to him.
“Evie!” he shouted. “Evie, where are you?”
There was no answer, but he knew she was near. He jerked against his bonds with his left arm again and again. The shadow figure was watching. Malcolm could feel his eyes on him, but he didn’t stop.
“Evie!”
The figure was suddenly before him. Malcolm fell to his knees as blades sank into either side of his neck. Blood poured down him, weakening him.
“Eeeeeeevieeeeeeeeee!”
He climbed to his feet as sweat covered his body. His right arm was jerked behind him. Malcolm gave a shout as he felt muscle tear.
“Evie!”
Malcolm wasn’t going to give up. He’d either get out of this hell or die trying. With the agony of his arm pushed aside, he demanded Daal rise up and give him the strength he needed to break free.
Daal gave a growl deep in his mind, and something snapped.
One second Malcolm was standing, and the next he was on his back and a hand was choking him.
* * *
Guy looked into Malcolm’s room expecting to see Evie. When he didn’t see her, he moved to the next doorway and gave a light tap with his knuckles.
He waited for a response. The fact that there wasn’t one was what gave him the nudge to open the door. A quick glance showed the room was empty.
“What is it?” Rhys asked.
Guy closed the door and faced his friend. “Have you seen Evie?”
“Aye. She went in to see Malcolm for a few minutes then went downstairs. I figured she grew hungry.”
Guy shook his head. “It was like pulling teeth to get her to eat the first time. Why would she willingly go now?”
“Shite,” Rhys said with a sigh. “She wouldna.”
“Stay here,” Guy said as he ran down the hallway and the stairs to the media room. “Is she here?” he asked the Warriors.
Phelan frowned as a sleeping Aisley stirred against his chest while a movie played. “Who are you talking about?”
“Evie,” Charon said with a frown. “She’s no’ here.”
Guy slammed his fist into the back of a chair, smashing it. “She’s gone. And I’ve got a bad feeling as to where.”
“Wallace,” Phelan said. He leaned Aisley onto the arm of the sofa and got to his feet. “We need to stop her before she gets there.”
Laura yawned and reached over to nudge Aisley awake. “You three don’t seriously think to have a conversation like this in front of us and want us to stay asleep, do you?”
“Is it too much to ask?” Charon said with a grin.
Aisley rubbed her eyes and glared at Phelan. “Explain.”
“Evie’s gone,” Guy said angrily. “We think to Wallace’s.”
Aisley was instantly on her feet and alert. “We need to stop her.”
“Aye,” Charon said as he too stood. “There’s no telling what she and Wallace will do together.”
Laura rose and crossed her arms over her chest as she stared Charon down. “Really? That’s what you think? Did you not see her with Malcolm? There is something there.”
“And she’s a
drough
.”
“Because she had to!” Laura let out a loud sigh and shook her head. “Shades of gray, Charon. Remember that.”