Malcolm was all too aware of what Wallace had done to get Evie. And Evie, all she wanted was Brian returned safe and unharmed.
He knew exactly what she would do for Brian—anything. It’s how he felt about Larena—and now Evie. He had killed, betrayed, and turned against the very ones who were his family.
Evie would do that and more for Brian.
Malcolm would make sure she didn’t go through it alone. He would stand beside her and commit the acts that would take her soul. His was already damned. He wouldn’t have hers as well.
Rhys suddenly went into a dive, the wind rushing around him loudly. Malcolm released his god as the ground came toward him at a mind-boggling rate. Just before he hit, Rhys’s large yellow claw released him and Malcolm ducked his head to roll several times before he stopped and came to his feet.
Malcolm looked to the sky just in time to see Rhys’s dragon form disappear behind a cloud.
“Thank you, my friend,” Malcolm said and turned to face Wallace Mansion and the evil that lived there.
It would be up to him alone to rescue Evie. Destiny had never rested so heavily on his shoulders as it did now, especially when Evie’s soul was at stake.
CHAPTER
FORTY-TWO
Malcolm knew there was precious little time to reach Evie before the Warriors and Druids arrived. He wasn’t sure they would take the time to listen to Evie explain anything.
And he wouldn’t have her hurt.
His only choice was to somehow get her away from Wallace and far from the mansion before any of them got there.
Malcolm spread his fingers, his claws eager for Wallace’s blood, and walked toward the tall iron gates blocking access to the mansion. He was ready to jump them when they suddenly opened.
“This willna be good,” he mumbled as he walked through the gates.
Wallace had nearly killed him just hours ago. Malcolm’s body was still healing and weak from the ordeal. He would use his last breath to get Evie free if he had to.
Malcolm didn’t try to hide his approach to the front entrance that stood open. Wallace obviously knew he was there. What Malcolm didn’t know was why Wallace allowed him in.
Was the bastard so sure of his magic that he no longer feared anything?
If that was the case, they were all well and truly fucked.
Malcolm flexed his hands again. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so eager to sink his claws into Wallace’s body and shed blood as he walked through the doors and heard voices to his left.
He recognized both Jason and Evie instantly. A teenage boy stood in the office entry. He had the same dark hair as Evie. It was long, grazing the top of his collar. Whereas Evie’s hair hung in large curls, Brian’s hair held only a hint of a wave.
“Let’s invite our new guest inside,” Wallace said.
Immediately, Brian shifted into profile. Malcolm’s gaze met Wallace’s to see the cocky bastard grinning in triumph. Malcolm stalked cautiously into the office and spotted Evie standing before the fire, her eyes wide and skin pale.
Wallace had frightened her. For that Malcolm wanted to rip his head off. Instead, he looked at Wallace and lifted a brow, waiting for the conversation to continue.
“Doona let me stop the two of you,” Malcolm said.
Wallace motioned to the table full of decanters of liquor. “Pick your pleasure.”
“That would be seeing you dead.”
“As I just explained to the lovely Evangeline, that’s impossible.”
Malcolm returned his cool smile. “Ah, but then I know what you doona, Wallace. Everything can be killed.
Everything
. Even you.”
“I came back from the dead, Malcolm,” Wallace said with a chuckle.
“So did Deirdre. She was killed. Spectacularly, too, I might add.”
Wallace leaned back in his chair. “Deirdre lost sight of what she was meant for. I doona have such a problem. Now,” he said with a quick intake of breath. “You’ve lost friends, have you no’? Killed one, as well. I can promise that I’ll no’ touch another Warrior or Druid.”
“I’ve heard such promises before. You willna do anything. You’ll trick or threaten Evie, Brian, or even me to do the work for you. That way, you doona break your so-called promise.”
Wallace’s smile widened. “Ah, but you do know me well.”
“I’ve known others like you. Deirdre and Declan, to be precise. They’re dead now. Think on that.”
“Oh, I’m no’ the one who will have thinking to do, Malcolm. I let you in because I wanted you here. Just as I wanted Brian and Evie.”
“Tell me something I doona know,” Malcolm stated flatly.
Wallace considered him a moment. “You’ve changed. You’re no’ the same cold, unfeeling Warrior I’ve seen. Could it be what I did to you? Nay,” he said thoughtfully. “I believe the source is the lovely blue-eyed Druid in this verra room.”
“Whatever you want with her, I’ll take her place,” Malcolm said.
“Always so eager to defend those you care about. It got you into all sorts of trouble with Deirdre. Are you sure you want to repeat things?”
Malcolm gave a single nod. He couldn’t look at Evie, couldn’t think of the hell he’d gone through with Deirdre. He had to keep focusing on righting what Wallace was doing to Evie and her brother.
“Perfect,” Wallace said, his smile a little too bright.
Foreboding ripped through Malcolm. Too late, he realized he’d played right into Wallace’s hand. Malcolm’s head turned so he looked at Evie.
She returned his stare with one of sorrow and regret. Malcolm looked back at Wallace to find the
drough
’s smile made him ill.
“Tell me, Malcolm, do you remember why Deirdre went to so much trouble to trap Quinn MacLeod in Cairn Toul?” Wallace asked.
“The prophecy. It’s said a
drough
and a Warrior will create a child.”
And then it hit him. Wallace had set Evie on a path that led to becoming
drough
. He was a Warrior.
They had already shared a night of passion.
“Ah,” Wallace said. “I see you’re putting it all together.”
Malcolm clenched his hands into fists and bared his fangs as he growled. All he wanted to do was attack Wallace and inflict as much pain as he could. But to even try it would mean putting Evie and Brian at risk as well as showing Wallace he was still weak from their last run-in.
“Everything that has happened I’ve put in motion,” Wallace said as he got to his feet. “Brian’s kidnapping, Evangeline becoming
drough
, and even your recent near-death experience. I knew while you lay fighting for your life, Evangeline’s mind would be on how she could get to Brian. I also knew once you woke and found her gone that you would come for her.”
Malcolm didn’t take his eyes off Wallace as he walked from behind his desk to Evie’s side. She stiffened, but didn’t move away when Wallace put his hand on her stomach.
“Already she carries your child, Malcolm. The child of the prophecy. Thanks to the two of you, a child of pure evil will be born and will help me conquer the world.”
A single tear rolled down Evie’s face, and it shattered Malcolm as nothing else could. He hadn’t been able to stop her from becoming
drough
, and thanks to desires he couldn’t control, they’d played right into Wallace’s hands.
“Doona even think of trying to rid your body of the babe growing inside you,” Wallace said as he moved aside Evie’s curls to whisper in her ear while his gaze was locked with Malcolm’s. “If you do, Brian will die an instant and horrible death.”
“You can’t expect me to go along with this,” Evie said as she jerked away from him.
Malcolm took a step toward her, but one look from Wallace stopped him.
“You will, because you want your brother to live,” Jason said. “All you need to do is carry that baby to term. The babe will be born in this house, and then it’ll be mine. I’ll be done with all of you then.”
“You mean you’ll kill us,” Malcolm said.
Wallace shrugged. “Perhaps. If you make yourselves useful and prove I can trust you, I might keep you alive.”
“If you’re going to kill us, why should I do anything you want?” Evie said, her face a mask of anger.
Malcolm called her name, but it was too late. A choking sound came from Brian as he bent over, his face turning red as he struggled to breathe.
Evie rushed to Brian. She looked at Jason. “You’ve made your point. Stop this!”
Just as quickly as Brian had begun to choke, it stopped. He dragged in a breath, his eyes briefly meeting Malcolm’s, before he straightened to the silent guard he’d been before.
Malcolm walked to Evie and gently pulled her against him. “I know your kind, Wallace. You’ll no’ be content with us just allowing the babe to grow. What else do you want?”
“You’re going to kill all the Warriors.”
He said it as if he’d been reciting the menu for the night. Malcolm’s soul, that had begun to flourish once more, withered.
“For Evie’s safety, of course,” Wallace continued. “After all, once your so-called friends learn what is growing inside her, they’ll try to execute her. And you.”
Malcolm knew it was the truth, but that didn’t mean he would be able to slay those he called friends, family. “And if I doona?”
“You’ll never see Evie again.” Wallace clasped his hands behind his back, a satisfied look upon his face. “You may know me, Warrior, but I know you. You think if you can get Evie and Brian out of my home that you might be able to somehow stop whatever I have in play. That’s no’ going to happen, because I’m no’ allowing Brian to leave.”
Evie jerked in Malcolm’s arms as if she’d been shot. Her chest heaved and she shook with rage.
“Try it,” she dared Wallace. “Try and keep Brian here, and I’ll abort this baby with my magic right this instant.”
Wallace blinked, the smile wiped from his face. “You do that, and I kill Brian.”
“He’ll be dead anyway. We all will. If you want us to carry through with this elaborate plan of yours, then we all leave. Or it ends now.”
There was a pause before Jason said, “You wouldna dare.”
“Try me.”
Malcolm squeezed Evie’s shoulder, careful his claws didn’t cut her. He wanted her to know he supported her in whatever decision she made. They could walk out of the mansion, or they could all die inside.
Either way Malcolm would make sure that whatever Jason Wallace wanted didn’t come to fruition.
“You have everything you want,” Malcolm said. “Brian comes with us.”
Wallace rocked back on his heels and gave a slight nod. “I’ll agree if Evie kills the dragons.”
“What?” Evie shouted.
“Agreed,” Malcolm said over her before she could protest more. He didn’t know how much Evie knew of the Dragon Kings, but it was evident Wallace hadn’t done his research on them or he’d know the only one who could kill a Dragon King was another Dragon King.
Wallace rubbed his hands together. “I think it’s all worked out marvelously. Just remember. I’ll be watching the three of you.”
“And what if I lose the baby by nothing I’ve done?” Evie asked. “It does happen all the time.”
Wallace looked from her to Malcolm. “Then you get pregnant again. I doona think either of you will mind that ordeal.”
Malcolm tamped down his god and turned Evie to the door. He grasped Brian’s arm to find the lad’s eyes were locked on him.
For a moment Malcolm thought Wallace didn’t have control of the teen as he imagined, but just as quickly, the emotionless look returned.
Malcolm watched the lad carefully. Had he looked so … lifeless when he hadn’t been able to feel anything? If so it was no wonder people called him stony and impersonal.
“Come,” Malcolm urged Brian as the three walked out of Wallace’s mansion to Evie’s car.
He put Brian in the Jaguar, and had Evie behind the wheel with the top down in a matter of moments. “Keep it together for just a little longer, Evie,” he urged. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Her hand gripped the door, her knuckles white. “What have I done?”
“It’s no’ you,” he said as he reached past her and pushed the button to start the car. “It was all Wallace. You heard him. He planned all of this.”
“He didn’t have me put up the Web site. That was all me.”
“It’s just a site. There was nothing malicious or evil about what you did. You can no’ say the same about Wallace.”
She looked over at him. “I’m carrying your child. A child that’s supposed to be evil.”
He shook his head. “That’s no’ going to happen. I’ll no’ let it.”
Malcolm prayed he could keep that promise as he closed the door and watched her drive out of the gates as he used his speed and ran behind them, making sure Wallace kept his word.
CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE
Evie placed her hand on her stomach as she drove the two-seater. Pregnant. She still couldn’t believe there was a life growing inside her. A life Jason wanted to corrupt.
A life she didn’t want to be responsible for.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want kids of her own. It was just that she had been raising Brian for ten years, and she’d wanted to experience those wild early-twenty years all her friends had.
How could she do that now with a baby? A baby she might have to one day kill in order to save the world?
When she was several miles away from Wallace Mansion, she pulled off the road to try and calm herself. Before she put it in park Malcolm opened the door, unbuckled her seat belt, and pulled her out of the car.
“Evie?”
“I can’t do this,” she said. “I can’t be responsible for giving birth to a child of evil.”
“You are no’ in this alone. We have each other.”
“Jason will kill us.”
“We have nine months to sort it out. We’ll think of something.”
She looked to see his jaw clenched. He was worried, but he was trying to hide it from her. Most of the men she knew would have walked away from her and the situation.
But not Malcolm. He was steady, solid. A pillar of strength and determination she knew she could lean on no matter what. It was only his presence that kept her from completely losing it.
Evie looked at her brother. “Brian? Is that you? Are you with us?”
There was no smile, just stark anger in his dark eyes. She watched his rapid hand movements as he told her he was fine and unharmed.