Legend 4 - Free Falling (11 page)

“And he actually allowed you his name … he told you that he was Chancemont, did he?” Danté said the leather guy’s name thoughtfully, and most of his anger seemed to dissipate as he was sidestepped off his purpose. He regained his step though a moment later, and before I could think of a good reply, he barked. “Stay away from them.”

“Who are they? Are they immortals? I didn’t go looking for them—I told you, they kinda rescued me, not that I couldn’t have taken on all those uglies on my own, but the help was good.”

“Incorrigible little fool. What were you doing engaging so many of one caste?”

“They were headed for the children … in the school playground.”

Danté’s dark eyebrow arched, and he pulled at that sensuous bottom lip. I couldn’t look away for a moment. So much about him was beyond decent and good, and yet he annoyed the hell out of me. He said quietly, “I see.”

I smiled at him, and I don’t know what got into me as I stepped forward and touched his broad chest and felt the hardness there under his heavy sweater. I used to be a touchy-feely sort, but I had put all those needs aside—I had to if I was going to be a ruthless killer and bring down Gaiscioch. However, in that moment of shared understanding, some of the ‘old me’ pushed aside the new me. “You see it now, don’t you Danté, Prince of Lugh?”

“
Enfant
, it is damnable, for I do see it, and it is at odds with my mission. I must keep you safe, and how am I to do that if you go about the city playing at
Wonder Woman
?”

Well, that blew away our moment. I was his mission, nothing more, and he was once again sneering at me. I turned away and headed out of the training room. I wanted a shower—hot and full with pressure! My irritating prince called after me, “Now I’ve got to go and ward the grounds again … and when you aren’t on MacDaun, stay away from those two!”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “Don’t ward my grounds against them. I may want to see Chancemont.”

“Not happening,” my prince growled.

“Why—who are they?” I paused and waited for his answer.

“No one you need to mingle with … or thank by kissing,” he snapped.

I cursed under my breath and stomped out of the room. I was going to stay in a hot shower and, for the time it took to soothe my body with the hot spray, just try and be an ordinary girl.

* * *

When I’d changed into a black sweater and jeans and made my way back downstairs, everyone was gone for the day, including Danté, who was nowhere to be seen. I sighed and went to the kitchen. It was getting late, and I was starving.

I found the tray of food Sally had left us. I took a sizeable portion and put it in the microwave to heat. That done, I took up a very excellent bottle of red wine, uncorked it, poured, and sipped before I moved to the corner fire all cozy warm in the big pot-belly stove. There I stretched out on a chair, sipped, and contemplated the descending darkness through the panoramic window overlooking the back gardens.

I didn’t hear him come in. I should have as I have Fae hearing, but I guess I was in another world, dreaming about … other things.

“Aye, finally … you look settled,” Danté said as he poured himself a glass of wine and pulled up a chair to sit beside me.

“Hmmm, it is such a lovely evening. The sun setting there with the mountains all dark and towering just was too pretty a scene to pass up.” I turned to eye him. “Are you hungry? Shall I pop in a plate of food for you as well?”

“What is it?”

“Sally’s wonderful shepherd’s pie… sooo good.”

“Aye, then—I would like that,” he said softly and sipped more wine.

I got up, made him a plate, and took mine out to rest while his heated up. A few moments later we sat again with the plates in our laps watching the close of the day over the mountains and then the valley.

“I love Scotland,” the prince said softly. “It is wild and cold and teaming with history. Breslyn and I fought with the Bruce centuries ago …”

“Breslyn?” I asked, curious because of the tone he had unconsciously used when saying the name.

“He is the Prince of Dagda … my very good and trusted friend. He also is on a mission with young Ete, for our queen.”

“Seems to me that you are over-qualified for the job of baby-sitting me,” I told him. I felt the frown on my face and immediately tried to shake it off.

“Precisely what I informed Queen Aaibhe, but would she listen? No. She says you are an important part of the prophecy and must be protected so that you can fulfill your destiny. She is a big one on destiny.” The prince sighed and gave me a considering glance before telling me, “I have warded MacDaun … again, but you will still have to be careful if you leave the property.”

“Warded it against Chancemont and his father, you mean?”

“So you know that as well?”

“I do, so now why don’t you tell me the rest? Just what are they, and why do they not like the Fae?”

“Just how long were you with them?”

I laughed, because he looked so comical all bent out of shape and gruff. He surprised me then by taking up my hand for attention. “Do not laugh,
enfant
. They are a dangerous crew, and you are right—they despise the Fae … In spite of the centuries, in spite of the Treaty … and Chancemont will play you as he does all women and then never look back.”

“Ha,” I scoffed. “
Play me?
No one plays me. You may be Danté, Prince of Lugh, but I am Radzia, Druid Priestess and Princess of Nemid.”

Danté put back his head and roared. I did see the humor in this and giggled with him; when we were done we finished our glasses of wine and our dinner and set aside our plates. Our legs were stretched out in front of us—his so much longer and muscular, and I looked there a tad too long I know. I decided I shouldn’t look at him when he wasn’t speaking—I got all sorts of thoughts … hormone-related, you see.

I glanced from his legs to mine (don’t know why—I just did), and thought,
Not bad
. Not as long as a model’s but long enough, and nicely shaped. I looked at him, and he was staring at me intently. His voice when he spoke was husky and low, and I don’t know what I expected but I know I did not expect him to say,
“Enfant
 … shall we watch some TV?”

I burst out laughing again.

“What?” He grinned. “What is so funny?”

“Come on,” I offered, getting up and taking his hand to pull him upright. “TV it is.”

~ Ten ~

I WOKE UP IN the middle of the night and had the oddest feeling of warm contentment. I wasn’t though—content—not at all. Maybe warm—too warm. I realized I had all my clothes on.

Nowhere near being content—Gaiscioch was still alive. No contentment until he was dead, by my hand—no others.

I stripped down until I was naked and dove under the covers once again, and there it was, that ‘feeling’ of quietude. Why? I should still be the raging Daoine princess out for justice and nothing else.

Yet, I was evolving. I felt more powerful, but something Danté had taught me had clicked in my brain. If I were going to kill Gais myself, I needed more cunning than I had been exercising up until that point.

My dad deserved that I be at my best when I faced the beast that killed him. Perhaps that slice of justice would wake my mother from her illusion and give her back to me?

No—no contentment here … if you discounted the fact that I had (with serious help), kicked some ugly ass earlier that day. And still, I felt it—a measure of serenity that I hadn’t felt in months.

For some reason, that realization brought Danté to mind. He was tirelessly demanding. He expected me to learn everything at once. He expected me to see behind my back … he … he expected and expected, and I wasn’t sure I could deliver.

Although I had done a really furious job on the Unseelies I had encountered at the schoolyard in Inverness the previous day with the father and son team (
who knows what they were
) at my side, they were simple beasts. Gaiscioch was a Seelie Fae, and I needed everything Danté had to offer …

The previous night had been comical. Danté, who I thought of as ‘my keeper’, had been more playful (for him) than anything else. He wasn’t interested in training me that night. He’d said I needed time off from that.

I had fallen asleep watching TV with him.

All at once I felt him put me into my bed (fully clothed). I felt his hand stroke my head and pull at one of my locks, and then I heard him say softly, “Midnight, beauty …”

I knew I’d woken up to those words; I had a vivid memory of it. His touch, his soft voice had … there was no getting away from it, aroused me. Yup—aroused all right. I immediately hushed my body and my brain.

Danté and me—absurd. For one thing, he didn’t even seem to like me. He just barely tolerated me for the job. Besides—we had nothing in common.

And thirdly, I was not interested in him or anyone else. So, when I heard him leave the room and whisper soft and low, “Sleep,
enfant
 …” that was what I pretended to do.

Didn’t work. Tossed, turned, and tossed some more. Threw my pillow to the other end of the bed and twenty minutes later retrieved it. Don’t know when I finally fell asleep, but it was in the early hours …

I should have been tired, but I was not. I felt wide awake, chirpier, and, for some reason, ‘secure’ for the first time in a long time. Danté had my back, and I took a certain measure of comfort in that. It was only a ‘mission’ to him, but nevertheless, I knew he was there …
somewhere.

I had been on my own the last few months, and that had been fine because I hadn’t been fit company for anyone. I got up from the bed and stretched as I got ready to shower and get dressed. He was a big, arrogant, bossy, controlling rule-maker of a watchdog, but it was good to know he was close by.

* * *

The door chimes sounded and then the doorknocker. I was on my way out of the kitchen, where I had been chatting with Sally and eating everything in sight. I laughed and told her, “Wow—someone wants in …”

“Maybe ye should leave it for Danté to get,” she called after me.

I turned and saw the look of concern on her face and teased, “Don’t be silly … who do you think it is, the boogeyman?” I was in fact a little taken aback that she should be so worried, and that she had come to rely so completely on Danté.

There was, however, no sign of Danté, and I wondered for the hundredth time that morning where he could be.

I pulled the door open wide, and displeasure shot through me. I wasn’t sure how far I wanted to take a ‘friendship’ with Aaron Dunbar. Didn’t have time for romance, and it was obvious to me that he wanted some.

However, he was good-looking, so I smiled at him and shook my head. “Doing double duty there aren’t you, fella—
doorbell
and
knocker
, eh?”

He beamed, and I couldn’t help but notice that his smile lit up his face. He said ruefully, “I wasn’t taking any chances—you could have been anywhere in this”—he motioned widely with his arms—“castle.”

I laughed and inclined my head. “Enter … if you dare.”

“Now that sounds ominous,” he said lightly and chuckled as he stepped into the hall and stood over me.

“Because—it is. I give you fair warning. You will have to go through the ritual of Sally’s inquisition.”

Sally had, in fact, already arrived on the scene. She wiped her hands on the skirt of her apron and openly studied Aaron top to bottom.

He went forward, hand outstretched, his smile exuding charm in her direction, but Sally could be a hard case when she had her back up, and it was obvious to me that for some unknown reason she had her back up.

“Good morning to ye …” Aaron’s Irish lilt was lovely, but it made no dent in Sally’s armor. “I am Miss MacDaun’s neighbor—Squire of Dunbar Grange.”

I almost snorted, for that was sure to get her bristles in the wind! If he wanted to impress, putting on the Ritz for Sally would have quite the opposite results.

“Oh aye … I heard ye had settled in at Dunbar,” Sally said in a non-committal tone.

Sally’s cool reserve and the look of disapproval on her face confused me. I think I over-compensated for her stand-offishness by reaching out and touching Aaron’s arm. Hmmm, tight, hard muscle. The woman in me smiled up at him.

I had to wonder at Sally, though. I knew she doesn’t like strangers popping in without invitations, especially since my dad’s murder. Perhaps that was it? Yet, she had been the one telling me to call my friends and go out …

If matters weren’t uncomfortable enough, the door to the study creaked open, and I saw Aaron look up and raise his brows.

Sally looked around and smiled warmly. I wasn’t smiling at anyone at this point, because there stood Danté looking like a god in black Armani, and I felt my mouth drop. So not good.

He was big and absolutely breathtakingly beautiful—if you could call a man beautiful. Sexy beyond belief. I have to tell you, I don’t think too many men can pull off the ‘black silk’ look very well, but the clothes were made for this smokin’ hot prince!

I chided myself and attempted a welcome smile as I couldn’t take my gaze off him, looking up and then back down to his gold-tipped black boots. His tawny, auburn-lit hair was slicked back and braided, and that braid was looped under and tied neatly at the nape of his neck. As he took a step forward I felt my entire body respond to his.

Hormones came out of everywhere and seemed to reach for him. I batted them down as quickly as I could and said on a squeak, “Hi … Danté … come and meet our new neighbor.”

“Ah, you are the Dunbar fellow … from Ireland.” Danté had stepped forward and immediately extended his hand in a cordial greeting. He stood close, almost possessively, next to me. I looked up and saw the set of his jaw line. He wasn’t showing it, but he wasn’t pleased.

Aaron agreed that he was ‘the Dunbar fellow’, and then we all stood there a moment in an uncomfortable silence before Aaron smiled apologetically and offered, “I am sorry, Z … I didn’t realize you had a guest.”

“Oh, Danté is not a guest,” I hurriedly stuck in, flirting openly with my eyes as I spoke just to him. Don’t ask me why I did that—because I don’t know. “Danté is more like a part of the family, staying with us for now … or until my mother gets back.”

Aaron looked from Danté to me doubtfully, and I could see his mind working hard. Who could blame him? Anyone looking at Danté would wonder.

Aaron was nothing if not smooth as he asked, “Well then, perhaps I could grab you away for a couple of hours—right now, before you have a chance to think. I am sadly quite alone in this part of the country and thought you might give me a driving tour of the countryside.”

Instinct batted down the kindly girl I used to be. Couldn’t be kind—not to Aaron, not to myself—not now. However, youth will out. Something inside me wanted to escape for a fun-filled morning without having to go on a ‘killing spree.’

I stuck to my guns though and shook my head. My regret was obvious, which soothed the rejection for him. “I am so very sorry, but I have plans for most of the day.”

He inclined his handsome head. “Of course you do. What is wrong with me, dropping in on you last-minute like this? May I call you to set up another day for it then?”

Did I want to get out of this? Yes and no—remember, this guy was most definitely hot! “Yes, of course—call, we’ll set up a date.”

Danté politely went to the front door, which by the way had remained open this entire time. He stood there smiling, but there was no warmth in it. “Later … Squire,” he said softly as a dismissal.

“Good day to ye then, Squire,” Sally said as she nodded and turned on her heel to leave.

I walked Aaron outside and had to brush by Danté as I walked out. His aroma of vanilla and herbs was intoxicating, and I shot him a quick look. His gold-dust eyes were cold and gave away nothing.

I turned to Aaron and shook my head. “Sorry about that. Sally thinks she has to protect me from strangers—because of what happened to my dad, and because my mom is away.”

He touched my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I totally agree with her—you must be protected from strangers.”

I wanted to step away from him, away from his touch, but I didn’t. I liked the contact. Aaron could be fun at the very least …

He looked into my eyes and whispered, “I could get lost in there, but you must hear that all the time.”

I smiled ruefully. “Not in a few months anyway.”

He laughed out loud. “I shall have to find another way then of telling you that your eyes slay me.”

I giggled. “I think you just did.”

I watched him jump into his black Porsche, waved back at him, and then watched him drive out of the courtyard and make his way down our long, winding driveway. I turned to find Danté, arms folded across his massive chest, waiting for me in the arch of the open doorway.

* * *

“You don’t have time for him,” I told Z as I closed the door, and I heard the irritable tone of my voice—damn straight, irritable; I was damned irritable. I thought after our pleasant evening she would be more reasonable and refrain from forever putting herself out there and in danger. However, I should have known; she was but a wee child of a woman, willful and irrepressible. She would constantly be a trial to me. How could I protect my
enfant
if she persisted in cultivating the friendship of strangers at this time? It was all very annoying.

“That is my business,” she answered softly.

“Your business—infuriating Daoine.” I took her shoulders, and they felt good in my hands, but I glared at her. “Until this thing with Gaiscioch and the prophecy are done, everything you do is
my
business.”

She eyed me with those deep green pools that were her eyes. It was as though I looked directly into her soul, and it was perfection; those eyes of hers seemed to pull on something, somewhere inside me I had thought was hollow.

“What’s up with that?” she asked with a rueful expression. “This prophecy you keep mentioning—what is the prophecy exactly, and what
do I
have to do with it?”

“
You are
the prophecy. It is written that a Daoine princess child of Druid man will face the blackest Seelie that ever breathed. My queen knows only that part of the prophecy, told to her a very long time ago by the Dark King. We don’t know the outcome, only that she will be the one to finally face him in the final battle.
She
—being you. There is no other Daoine princess child of Druid man.”

“Well …” she scoffed. “That stinks, doesn’t it? I mean what is the good of a prophecy if it doesn’t lay out the possibilities?”

“But it does—clearly. You will stand up to Gaiscioch to win or to lose—however, although it doesn’t mention me, I shall be there, at your side, to make certain you don’t lose. I mean to be with you when you face him, and I mean for you to win,” I told her and realized keeping her safe was beginning to mean more to me than anything else I had ever done.

She reached up her delicate hand and touched my face, and I felt a wave of electricity burn through my body and reach my groin. “Ah, Danté … I truly believe you mean those words,” my
enfant
said in a voice that was soft and soothing. “So I will forgive you some of your overbearing ways.”

I had this overwhelming need to hug her to me and never let her go. She was always setting herself up to get caught in the middle of some outrageously dangerous escapade, but I couldn’t let myself care on a personal level for her. I told myself roundly that I only felt this way because I admired her brave façade—that was the only reason I cared. She was worthy of my protection.