Heart's Magic (46 page)

The Blood Magic
Series

New Blood
(#1)

Heart's Blood
(#2)

Heart's Magic
(#3)

Steampunk fantasy romance

Available in paperback and
ebook

Heart of Stone
(contemporary fantasy romance, available in
ebook)

Knight in Black
Leather
(contemporary romance, available
in ebook)

Poor Little Rich
Girl
(contemporary romance, available in
ebook--This is a companion book to
Her
Convenient Millionaire
)

The One Rose
Trilogy

The Compass Rose
(#1)

*
The Barbed Rose
(#2)

*
The Eternal Rose (#3)

High fantasy romance

Available in paperback and
ebook

The Desire
Books

҂
Hide-and-Sheikh
(Silhouette Desire,
contemporary series romance)

Her Convenient
Millionaire
(Silhouette Desire,
contemporary series romance)

Keep reading for an
excerpt of the contemporary fantasy
Heart
of Stone.

Visit my website at
www.gaildayton.net

*Prism Award winner for Best Fantasy
Romance

҂
Finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA
award

by Gail Dayton

The king's champion, Harald
Aldred's Son, is sent to a strange and terrifying universe on a
quest to save his world. Dragons are one thing; 18-wheelers are
something else entirely.

Shayna MacAvoy is trying to
sort out her feelings about the sort-of proposal she's recently
received when a bleeding man in black chainmail falls at her feet.
The first aid she provides him becomes only the first step on a
journey that will take them deep into the mysteries of magic, love,
and honor.

Harald's quest takes them
across the farms, forests, mountains, and ancient lava flow deserts
of Idaho on his search for the stolen
Heart
of Stone...

***

The man in black ran
through the forest. Blood trickled between his fingers where they
clamped over the wound in his arm, sword dangling from his hand,
near useless. His breath sounded loud in his ears as he ran on,
lungs laboring, legs heavy as millstones, rage burning hot in his
gut.

He wanted to turn. To fight
the cowards pursuing him. But alone and wounded as he was, he knew
he could not prevail against so many. Even so, he would do it. Were
it not for his quest.

His quest. He could not
fail, could not turn aside. The fate of the world depended on him
alone.

Something roared past
overhead. The man in black ducked reflexively, though it was high
above the trees. His foot caught on a protruding root and he fell,
rolling down a short, sharp slope to the dry bed of a brook. Biting
back a shout of pain at the insult to his wound, he gathered his
strength to rise and run again, listening intently for sounds of
his enemies.

He heard nothing at all.
Even the forest creatures remained silent, frightened by the noise
of his passage. Perhaps he had eluded them. Rising to his knees, he
snorted in derision. And perhaps a mule could sing madrigals. The
blood he was losing made a signpost leading the murderers directly
to him. Tightening his grip on his sword, he struggled to his feet
and staggered on, following the stream path uphill.

The loss of blood weakened
him, but he refused to quit. The man in black kept running,
breathing in great gasping sobs as he climbed. The closer he came
to the top of the ridge, the greater his chances of success, or so
he had been told. He intended to stand upon the summit.

Hounds bayed at a distance,
the sound chilling him to the marrow. But they were yet far off. He
ducked low, hoping to keep below the earthen banks to either side.
The quest was all.

A shout! They'd found him.
Somehow picking up his pace, he ran on as excited voices called to
each other, coming too close. The forest filled with the whap-whine
of weapons fire. They shot as if they hoped to bring him down by
sheer chance.

The banks dwindled and
vanished, and the man in black began to weave through the trees,
trying to keep them between himself and his hunters. If he could
stay ahead of the devils just a few moments longer...

He could not hold back his
cry as pain sliced through his leg and he fell. Looking up, he saw
them closing in, moving wide to encircle him. He clawed his way up
the bole of a tree. This would have to be close enough. Reaching
over his shoulder, he drew his sword from its scabbard.

The man in black raised the
weapon, pointing it not at his enemies, but at the sky. His eyes
followed it upwards, past the jeweled hilt and the blood-stained
blade, past the canopy of leaves to the brilliant blue
overhead.

"Put the sword down, sir,"
one of his pursuers said quietly. "You don't want to hurt anyone
with it."

The man in black kept his
eyes on the sky. Wickedness deserved no recognition. He stretched
his arms to their fullest, ignoring the stabbing pain as he held
the sword aloft in both hands.

"Saint Olav!" he cried,
"Preserve me!"

Light flared along the
length of the blade, growing brighter as it neared the tip. It
leaped out, caught a ray from the sun, and ignited into a
brilliance that drove back the dark men and came near to blinding
him. His quest beckoned.

Harald Aldred's Son walked
forward into whatever doom might await him.

***

At 2:15 on a sunny Sunday
afternoon in June, Shayna MacAvoy received the first proposal of
marriage in her twenty-eight years of life. She was certain about
the time, because she'd just looked at her watch. She was not,
however, so certain about the proposal.

"What?" she asked, just
wanting to be sure she'd heard what she thought she did. "What did
you say?"

"Brandon!"

She flinched as Spence
Hargood bellowed at his nine-year-old son. "Don't you dare even
pretend to throw your sister in that river!" His face turned red
with his shouting. It usually did. Brandon released five-year-old
Mindy and ran down the riverbank like nothing had
happened.

"Sorry." Spence turned his
attention back to Shayna with an apologetic grin. "What was that?
Did I miss your answer?"

"I think maybe I missed the
question." She trailed along after him as he started down the
park's meandering trail at his previous brisk pace, wishing she
dared ask him to slow down. She'd come for a stroll in the park,
not a hike.

"Well, I had made the
comment that my children seem to like you," he said impatiently.
"Did you hear that?"

"Yes, Spencer, I did." She
stifled her sigh. Spence hated to repeat himself.

"And I said that you get
along pretty well with them too."

"Yes, I do." They were
noisy and rambunctious like most kids, but Shayna had nothing
against noise. They were just your basic good kids.

"And I like you, too, of
course." Spence beamed at her.

She thought for a second he
might reach over and take her hand, but he apparently thought
better of it, settling for a wink instead.

"I like you, too, Spence."
Shayna didn't recall this in the previous conversation, however. It
was new.

"And we would be happy to
welcome you as a member of the Hargood team."

That's what she thought he
had said. Was he trying to hire her, or marry her?

"What do you say?" He
halted on the cinder path and turned to face her.

Breathing hard from the
hike, Shayna stopped beside him. The heady perfume of blooming
lilacs sailed into her lungs with every panting breath. It was a
beautiful day--the sky shimmering blue overhead, the river roaring
over the rocks and brush of the falls that named the town, flowers
everywhere. The perfect romantic setting. Except that she didn't
feel the least bit romanced.

"Shayna?" Spence touched
her elbow, seeking a response.

"I'm not sure I
understand." She tried to read his face and got nothing. "Are you
asking me to marry you?"

"Well, yes." He looked
almost taken aback. "I mean, if you want to put it that
way."

"What other way is there to
put it?"

Spence blinked at her,
startled, and Shayna slapped on a smile to show him she meant it
only in the nicest possible way. However, a marriage was between
two people. Husband and wife. Not a whole team. Other family
members were important, yes. Especially the children.

But Shayna had spent her
life watching the love between her parents glow brighter and grow
deeper through each year of their life together. She knew what made
a marriage.

He threw up his hands.
"Okay. If that's what you want. Shayna, will you marry
me?"

"Why?" She really wanted to
know. "Why do you want to marry me?"

"Oh for--" He cut himself
off and took a deep breath. "I explained that already."

"Because I like your kids?
That's a reason to get married?"

"It's one, and a very valid
reason. But it's not the only one."

"Oh. Right. You like me,
too." She gave him half a smile.
He likes
me. Big whoop. What happened to love?

"Shayna." He looked pained,
embarrassed, as he edged a few steps closer to her. "You know I
love you. Now please, don't make a scene."

Shayna frowned. Was she
really "making a scene?" She looked around at the park and saw only
Spence's kids chasing each other, a silver-haired couple
race-walking down near the water, and a duck out on the river.
Mallard, female. She identified it in a glance. None of them seemed
to be paying any attention. Except the duck. It lurched out of the
water and waddled toward them, looking for handouts.

"What scene?" she
asked.

Spence just looked at her.
One of "those" looks.

"Beyond the emotional
elements of the arrangement," he went on, "there are other aspects
to be considered. Companionship. Security. You wouldn't have to be
alone any more. You'd have someone to take care of you when you
need it."

He took her hand between
both of his, patting it. "I really don't understand your attitude.
I should think you'd leap at the chance."

She heard the words he left
unspoken. They had echoed through her head in her own voice enough
times before.
It's not like you have dozens
of other men lined up at your door, just waiting to get to know
you.

Shayna had never been, and
never would be a spectacular beauty. Oh, she wouldn't set dogs to
howling, but she was nothing special to look at. Add that to an
unconquerable shyness around men, and it meant that she didn't get
asked out often.

It was why she'd gone out
with Spence in the first place. He was nice. He was polite. And
he'd asked her.

Now, he'd asked her to
marry him.

"I guess--" she began, not
quite knowing what she intended to say.

"Good." Spence showed all
his perfectly capped teeth in a brilliant smile. "It's all settled
then." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, stunning Shayna into
speechlessness. Spence never, ever showed any affection in public.
He scarcely ever kissed her in daylight, and only then if they were
inside, alone, with the doors closed and the blinds
shut.

"What do you think about
August for a wedding date?" He tucked her hand under his arm and
dragged her along with him as he started on his hike again. "That
would be enough time to make plans and get everything organized. I
suppose your brother would have to come up from California for the
wedding."

"What?" Shayna stumbled
over a rock in the path, feeling as if she were swept along in a
flood. "Wait a minute."

She had missed something
somewhere. Like the point where she actually agreed to marry
Spence. Had she said yes? Spencer seemed to think so. Now, what was
she going to do?

***

The ripples on the surface
of Loon Lake quieted, but Shayna kept her binoculars focused on the
spot. She'd seen the duck's tail as it dove and she knew that it
would surface in a moment. And in a moment, it did. Shayna
identified it in the second it took her to see it clearly. A common
loon, male. She'd seen dozens already. Nothing new so far
today.

What else would you expect
to see at Loon Lake, you dope?
She dropped
her binoculars, letting them dangle from the strap around her
neck.
And why in the world did you tell
Spencer Hargood that you would marry him?