Authors: Nadja Notariani
He knew she told true.
Trust in me, lass. I’d never harm ye.
Again he sensed the moment she heard him. Bewildered, the lovely lass shifted uncomfortably in her chair, the sight amusing him. Coming to know this woman proved thoroughly enjoyable. The faint freckling splashed on her high cheeks hinted at youthful vigor, the long straight line of nose, delicate womanhood. Pale green eyes kept him riveted to their startling beauty, and that luscious mouth – he had plans for that mouth later. The more he discovered the greater his desire became, and by the end of their leisurely dinner his hunger began to crack the well constructed facade.
Drink and…
He had a handle on his thirst – his lust - just hours ago. He cloaked his thoughts.
Bluidy hell! Ye canna be needin’ her again already.
But he did need her.
Leaving her what he knew to be a few blocks from her home, Cael laughed as she disappeared around the corner. Following at a distance, he was pleased that she had been wise enough to keep her residence a secret from a stranger. After ensuring she arrived home safely he would await the curtain of sleep to aid his deceit. He would go to her again this night.
*
Brooke slid the coffee mug in front of Paige, their laughter lighthearted. Anna joined their smiles, but inside tendrils of fear threatened menacingly. Her enchantments were unraveling, the reason now becoming clear. Hairs on the back of Anna’s arms stood on end, her flesh tightening in dread. Anna was cold on the inside.
Paige chattered in excited glee with her cousin about the man she had met, supposedly by chance. Anna doubted chance had anything to do with it.
“
Brooke!” Paige whispered.
It did not escape Anna’s ears.
“
He looks so like the man in my dream the other night. It’s bizarre.”
Brooke giggled.
“
Did you tell him about what the two of you were doing in those dreams?”
She winked, which sent Paige’s eyes rolling.
“
He’d think I was a nutter!”
“
Or a …”
Anna had heard enough, cutting in. She needed to know more about this man. Much more.
“
What dreams?”
Paige blushed to the roots of her hair, and Brooke cackled in conspiratorial glee.
“
Sissy! You know our Paige is practically virginal. You’re embarrassing her. She dreamed of a handsome man a few nights ago is all. Then she met one!”
“
Did ye only dream of him the once, lass?” Anna inquired in nonchalance.
“
Nope,” Brooke answered for her cousin.
“
Did ye invite him in?” Anna probed further.
“
I don’t know,” Paige answered. “What would that matter? It was a dream.”
There was an edge to Paige’s voice. Anna backed off the topic, wanting to avoid sparking questions in her niece’s mind. Questions she was not prepared to answer. Questions that, if answered, would alter her life forever.
“
What smells so good? Do I smell steak?” Paige changed the subject, going to the counter.
Anna paled. She was defrosting steak in the fridge. It was still in the wrapper.
After all these years, Agnes, do I finally fail you? Help me know what to do, sister.
In truth, she’d failed her sister long ago. Anna needed help from beyond the mortal realm. It was time to renew an old acquaintance.
In the meantime she needed to separate Paige from this mystery man. Or vampire.
“
What my girls need is a getaway. Ye did me proud at the Miller weddin’ lasses, and I mean to show ye! Where do ye want to visit?”
Brooke choked on her coffee.
“
You, Sissy? You want us to take a vacation?”
“
What’s the fuss, Brooke? Of course I want ye to take a vacation!”
Brooke shook her head, eying Paige with a disbelieving look as if her mother had gone daft.
“
Whatever you say, Sissy. Who will take care of the Triad?”
“
We’ll figure it out. Don’t be worryin’,” Anna insisted.
In reality she wondered herself, but getting Paige out of Scotland until ensured that the enchantments would hold erased any hesitation. Anna worried it was already too late for that. More frightening was the prospect that Paige was Awakening, the consequences of which would rip her from them forever, whether through her death at the hands of the Council or her metamorphosis into the undead.
*
Cael paced outside of Anna Kinnell’s tenement building, anxious for Paige to re-emerge. Tension arced through him.
The house was cloaked.
Mists of Druid enchantment hung in the air, imperceptible to most. He had lived long upon the earth; Druid spell-casting was child’s play to an ancient. The Druids themselves had learned their magic from the Netherworld, part of which was vampire. Someone had gone to great lengths to hide this home and all in it, the spells used no trifling black-magic practiced by amateurs. These were intricate, imbedded layers of deceit. Doubtless, it involved Paige. Finding the motivating reason behind it was key to unlocking her significance to him. Cael grew troubled.
Who would want or need to hide her? And why was Druid magic involved? Those questions sparked another string of riddles, each pointing to one of two options. Either Paige was being hidden for her own protection, or her true identity, whatever that may be, was being kept from her.
Paige stepped out the door pulling his attention to the present, and he trailed behind at a distance. Without knowing for sure what was going on, Cael determined to guard her closely. In the short time they’d been apart the enchantments had been reinforced. Her mind was clouded with Druid magic, and he expected to find Paige unaware of its presence. He would talk with her about her family to gauge her reaction. Despite his unease over having bonded himself to her by blood, there were advantages. She could not knowingly lie to him, nor he to her, but as an ancient he could silence the path between them, closing himself off if needful. Age such as his entailed certain benefits.
Dampness pervaded the atmosphere, another downpour threatening before Paige made it home, and Cael considered taking her there by his preferred method of travel, instantaneous arrival. Doing so would require further deception, and that he was unwilling to do unless her life was threatened. Instead he followed, unsure at his need to be physically near when he could protect her just as easily from afar. Seeing her safely inside her flat, watching with satisfied happiness as she smiled and lifted the small bouquet from the door knocker, Cael strengthened his own protective enchantments and vanished.
*
Paige allowed the wide smile to overtake her. Fingering the blossoms’ silken petals she lifted the bundle, skimming its satin softness against her cheek before unlocking her door and slipping inside her flat.
Admiring the bouquet, dropping her bags absently in the entryway, Paige drifted dreamily to her tiny kitchen to pull out a vase. She plucked the tiny note-card from where it nestled amongst the blooms and quickly read, sinking into a chair at the small breakfast table in surprised pleasure. Returning to the beginning, she devoured the message anew.
Feminine grace of Queen Anne’s Lace and Begonia’s deep thoughts show true, while innocent Daisy wars both alongside and against bold Delphinium. These reminded me of you, Lass – C. M.
Cael Maccinnis proved again to be a most interesting man. Humming, Paige carried the small but overflowing vase to admire from her bath.
Gathering into solid form in his coven’s safe house, Cael recognized the need to tread carefully. Kaiden of Clan Douglas presided as coven leader at Fife House, and he and Cael had never seen eye to eye. Kaiden resented that his position came to him by default when Cael had refused the leadership role that was rightfully his.
Cael Maccinnis hated the corruption of the powerful in the vampire world. The Council set down rulings only for dishonest, manipulative under-leaders to twist and connive until their implementation differed so greatly from the Council’s original intent that the Council was, in his mind, irrelevant. If they would clean house, removing the greedy and thieving as was their right – their duty – Cael could reconsider his position. But not until. Kaiden was one of the first needing removal, and Cael had thought many years ago that by taking his rightful place as a leader he would affect change within his own coven. Harsh reality erased all thought of practicing justice in a leadership role. Kaiden and the woman he thought was to be his life-mate accused him of acting unjustly, appealing to the Council after Cael had reported Kaiden for mistreating a human. Cael had come upon Kaiden, who had bitten out the throat of a human male and left him to die, and had beaten him unquestioningly in battle. The night replayed in his memory.
Lashing wind assailed him as thunder pealed in the sky, not weather one preferred to be out hunting in. But thirst had won out. Gwendolyn had turned him away, his anger and hurt at her rejection strengthening his resolve to feed from a human, thereby removing his need to go to her again. He was no trinket to be toyed with. His affection was true, and he deserved a woman who felt the same. What he had was a coquette, teasing and tempting only to pull back when he did not do as she wished. She refused him her company – and her blood - since learning that he had no intention of seeking a seat on the Council. Leading his coven from Fife House was where he belonged. He would not alter his decision, nor she hers, effectively ending their relationship. Cael’s hurt stemmed more from learning he meant nothing more to Gwendolyn than status and position rather than from the actual loss of her.
Strong, pungent blood-scent pervaded the air, telling of nearby carnage, and Cael abandoned his ruminations to discover what was going on and offer aid if necessary. Following the heady aroma, he found himself face to face with a nightmare. Kaiden Douglas flung the corpse, a young man moments before enjoying the prime of life, to the ground, having torn his throat open in greedy thirst. Beside him, Gwendolyn acquiesced without protest as Kaiden roughly grabbed her, backing her against the stony outcrop and readying to take her.
“
What in the bluidy hell do ye think to be doin’ to her, Kaiden of Clan Douglas? Is it no’ enough that ye killed that man fer no reason? Ye now think to take what’s no’ yers?”
Kaiden laughed sardonically.
“
Not mine to take?” he sneered. “You’re a fool, Cael of Clan Maccinnis. I’ve tasted her before this night.”
Cael staggered back as if he’d been physically shoved, reeling at the discovery of Gwendolyn’s treachery. Her laughter seared his heart.
“
Don’t look so like a naïve schoolboy, Cael,” she purred. “Did you not once think it odd that I never drank from you? I pay you a compliment. It has been no trial enduring your attentions. But now that you’ve passed up the opportunity to actually be someone, Cael, I’ve decided that my fortunes lie elsewhere.”
Incredulity on his face could not be removed, his pride wounded, his trust shattered.
“
Ye do yerself no favor, Gwendolyn. Ye have made yer bed. Now I’ll be leavin’ ye to lie in it.”
He turned his attention to Kaiden, who stood, hand wrapped around Gwendolyn, clasping her breast as if he clutched a prize, eyes alight with the gleam of victory.
“
Ye will have to answer to the Council fer this man’s life, Kaiden of Clan Douglas.”
“
Who is going to tell them?” Kaiden called his marker.
“
I be the man,” Cael stated flatly.
At his answer Kaiden flew into him, fangs bared, but Cael was ready, deflecting his blows and stopping him cold, the fight ensuing short but definitive. Cael was an ancient, his power far greater than the younger, lesser vampire could handle. Summoning power from the air around him Cael forced a pulse of white hot energy at the vamp, ending the confrontation before he killed the younger vampire. Cael came to stand over him, the heel of his leather boot firmly pressed into Kaiden’s jaw.
“
Ye canna prevail, and I’ve no wish to kill ye. Settle with the Council and live long enough to gain some sense.”
Kaiden’s testimony alone would have had no effect, but with Gwendolyn beside him swearing to his version of events, the Council had listened. They accused Cael of instigating the fight, causing the human’s injuries to be inflicted when he tore Kaiden from him in the middle of feeding. With the testimony of two against him the Council had censured him harshly, ruling him unfit for leadership a span of five years. Once the five years had passed, Cael flatly refused to resume his post, telling the Council he wanted no part in their injustices, that he held them responsible for Kaiden’s lies. Their psychic connection allowed them to see untruths and half-truths, yet they had still ruled in favor of Kaiden, claiming the incident too convoluted to be seen clearly. After Cael’s refusal Kaiden had been offered the position, which he gladly accepted. By that time Gwendolyn had moved on to bigger and better things. He hadn’t seen her since her damning testimony.