Midnight's Captive (Dark Warriors) (7 page)

A quick look at his watch showed they were ten minutes early. Charon would like to roam around on his own, but he doubted he’d be given that opportunity.

The tinkle of water could be heard, and he knew if he looked behind one of the buildings, he’d find a stream.

“Hello,” said a woman as she came toward them.

Laura returned her smile. “Hello.”

The woman stopped in front of Charon’s Mercedes and clasped her hands before her. “You must be Charon Bruce.”

Charon met the dark brown eyes of the woman, noting her long, straight dark brown-colored hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore dress slacks, a button-down shirt, and heels.

She looked the part of a businesswoman, but there was something about her which set off warning bells in Charon’s head that was more than just her American accent.

“I’m Cassie Wilson. I’ll bring you to the offices and give you a small tour before your appointment with Con.”

She said all the right things, but Charon wasn’t fooled. Her eyes were too direct, as if she were searching for something.

There was no hint of magic that Charon recognized surrounding Dreagan. That didn’t mean there wasn’t something going on. The privacy, the hidden men keeping guard? There was more to Dreagan than what was on the surface.

But what was it?

“Charon?” Laura asked.

He folded his arms over his chest and looked at Cassie. “Why was I brought here?”

Cassie’s smile grew before she laughed. “Let’s just say that Con and the others don’t do things in a hurry. They like to take their time and investigate.”

As much as Charon wanted to be a certified seller of Dreagan scotch, he wasn’t sure he could take the chance. No matter how he had looked, nothing came up about Dreagan or who ran it besides Constantine.

And finding a photo of the bastard was impossible.

Charon found himself rubbing his chest. He dropped his hand, but glimpsed Laura’s worried frown. After the last battle with Wallace, Charon was cautious of everyone.

“Investigate? What an odd choice of wording.”

“Not really,” Cassie answered. “It’s what they did. Dreagan isn’t the world’s leading scotch distributor for nothing, Mr. Bruce.”

“I’m no’ interested in being investigated.” What the hell would happen if they discovered his past identities and just how long he’d been in Ferness? That’s not something Charon wanted to try to explain.

“You’re wary of us.” Cassie’s smile was gone, but her dark eyes held an openness he hadn’t seen before.

“One can never be too guarded.”

Her gaze looked to the ground for just a moment before she swallowed. “Talk to Con, Mr. Bruce. He’s … guarded … as well. I think the two of you might get along better than you think. Despite him employing an American,” she finished with a laugh.

“I know several lasses from America. They’re good women. I doona hold that against you.”

Her eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled brightly. “Good. Now, come. Let me show you Dreagan.”

At Laura’s questioning look, Charon merely shook his head. He couldn’t tell her his worries. Not now.

Not ever.

As Laura moved to stand beside him, Charon had the overwhelming urge to take her hand and thread his fingers with hers. To keep from doing that, he put his hand on her lower back and felt the current that moved between them.

She stiffened for just an instant before her body relaxed. Had he helped ease her tension just by touching her? This reckless need, the uncontrollable hunger for Laura was driving him mad.

He should be thinking about the meeting or Wallace or why the
drough
blood affected him so, but all that filled his mind was Laura. Her sweet, clean smell, her smile, her kissable lips.

When they came to a doorway, Laura turned toward him and looked up at him as she walked through. There was no denying the desire he saw reflected in her pale green depths. It made his balls tighten.

He glanced down at her mouth to find her lips parted. He dragged his gaze back to her eyes and bit back a moan when his arm brushed her breast as they passed through the door together.

She turned away just before he gave in to the temptation and kissed her. Cassie was talking, but Charon heard none of it. He ground his teeth and made himself focus. Selling Dreagan whisky was his goal. He’d not mess it up because he couldn’t keep his cock from standing at attention.

They followed Cassie around the area, looking at the distillery and meeting workers. Charon was impressed with how smoothly everything ran. But it was the beauty of the place that tugged at his heart.

It reminded him of the Scotland he remembered as a lad. Untamed. Wild.

Savage.

He longed to run through the mountains, to forget what he was and the world he now lived in. It made him yearn to take out his kilt and live on the land as he had done so many centuries ago.

To look up at the night sky, the stars winking good night as he fell asleep. To dive into the dark waters of a loch and bathe.

To walk for days and never encounter another soul.

“Few people understand why Dreagan is situated the way it is, or why we don’t open ourselves to a constant flow of visitors. But I think you do,” Cassie said softly from beside him.

Charon nodded. “Oh, aye. I do.”

He knew much too well.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The more Charon stayed at Dreagan, the more he knew there was something about the place that wasn’t normal.

It looked normal. Its people appeared normal.

But there was much more to it.

Charon couldn’t place his finger on what it was. There was no trace of magic that he could detect, yet at odd times he would feel something that seemed almost like magic.

It disappeared as quickly as it came.

Everywhere they went he spotted men watching, studying him. He’d know the kind of men they were anywhere from their stance and the way they held themselves.

They were warriors, fighters.

For who, was the question.

“I’ll take you into the main building where Con’s office is,” Cassie said as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Con has done a lot of research on your pub, Mr. Bruce. He’s impressed with what you’ve acquired in Ferness.”

“It’s more than just property,” Charon said as he thought of his men. And Laura.

She really couldn’t be included, but he wouldn’t be standing at Dreagan today without her. Oh, he’d have eventually made his way in, but Laura had done it with finesse.

Cassie nodded as her gaze shifted to Laura. “Yes, he knows of the dedication of Ms. Black. You’re lucky to have such people surrounding you.”

The slight stain of pink that tinged Laura’s cheeks amused him. She was always so surprised when she was given praise. He didn’t understand it, but he liked to see the pleased look in her eyes.

Charon ushered Laura in front of him as Cassie took them on a narrow path. Cassie and Laura walked beneath the wooden arch of flowers, and just as he was about to follow, his gaze was caught by three men.

They had their backs to him, walking away and at an angle, but they stopped him cold in his tracks. Or one man did.

There was something familiar about him, as if Charon should know him, but he couldn’t place who it might be. He needed a closer look.

He took a step toward them when Laura touched his arm. His head snapped to her.

“Charon? What is it?”

“Who are those men?”

Cassie was instantly by his side. “Employees. Is there a problem?”

“Nay. One just looked familiar is all.”

Cassie’s brow was furrowed as she looked at the backs of the retreating men and then to Charon. “Shall I call them over?”

“Doona fash yourself,” Charon said. “After taking so long to get this meeting, the last thing I should do is keep Con waiting.”

With one last look at the place he had seen the men, Charon followed Cassie.

“I’m sorry,” Laura whispered when they were making their way up the stairs to Con’s office.

Charon shrugged off her words. “I doona know what it is about this place.”

“I like it,” she said as she leaned close and smiled. “It’s peaceful.”

“Aye. It is that.”

Cassie turned the corner into a large room where four men stood. Charon noted how Laura stayed close to him. By the appreciative eye the blond man standing a little off by himself was giving her Charon wanted to punch him.

“I hope you enjoyed the tour. I’m Hal Wilson,” said the tall man with black hair and moonlight blue eyes.

“Wilson,” Laura said as she looked from Hal to Cassie.

Cassie smiled. “Yes, he’s my husband.”

Charon gave a nod to Hal. “Your wife is verra proud of Dreagan. I can hear it in every word as she spoke.”

“That’s good to hear,” said the man next to Hal. He had light brown hair and pale brown eyes that watched Charon carefully. “I’m Guy. I’m sure you’ll run into my wife, Elena, around here somewhere.”

Charon held Guy’s gaze until the man closest to Laura, a big brute of a man with short brown hair and gray eyes, spoke to her.

In an instant, Charon’s gaze jerked to him.

As if knowing what he had done, the man simply grinned obnoxiously. “Nice to have you here, Charon. I’m Banan.”

“And your wife?”

Banan laughed easily. “Aye. Jane is probably with Elena looking for one of the kittens that got out of the box this morning.”

Still Charon didn’t relax. He turned to the blond who watched him with a slight mocking smile and black eyes. Charon wasn’t cowed.

He had been tortured with fists and magic alike. Had endured the agony of killing his own father in a fit of rage as he battled the god inside him.

There wasn’t anything that could bend him.

The tension in the room escalated. Charon could sense Laura’s growing unease as she shifted from foot to foot, causing her arm to brush his.

Heat seared through him, and he wanted to reach for her and haul her against him. It wasn’t until the blond’s gaze once more turned to Laura that Charon heard himself growl.

“I’m Laura Black,” she hastily said, and sent him a quick glance as she held out her hand to the blond. “I’m Charon’s assistant.”

Charon hands curled into fists when he watched the man take Laura’s outstretched hand and shake it, his thumb gently rubbing across her skin.

“Nice to finally meet you, Miss Black. Your e-mails were most persistent that we give Mr. Bruce a chance to state why he should carry our brand.”

Laura smiled nervously, her green gaze darting to him. “Charon and I are delighted to be here.”

“Why are we here?” Charon asked before she could say anything else.

The blond lifted a brow. “I see my manners are lacking. I’m Constantine, but everyone calls me Con. As for why you’re here, Mr. Bruce, I thought you knew the reason.”

Charon narrowed his gaze on Con and took a step to the right, putting himself in front of Laura. “What I want to know is why all of a sudden am I here? Why now?”

“Remember I told you that you weren’t the only one guarded, Mr. Bruce,” Cassie reminded him.

Charon wished he had listened to Laura and left her in Ferness. Had he just stepped into a trap? Were those at Dreagan working for Wallace?

Damn, he was such a fool. He’d wanted Laura with him not just because she was good at talking with people and was a good candidate to take over his businesses, but also because he wanted to be with her.

His actions could very well have put her life in danger. The one thing he didn’t want to do.

“Rest assured, Mr. Bruce, we’re your friends,” Con said, as if reading his mind.

Charon stared into the black eyes of Con, but could find no deceit, no matter how deep he looked. There was cockiness, confidence, and arrogance in spades, but no treachery. It helped that he felt not a trace of any Druid magic.

He pulled in a breath and nodded. “Call me Charon.”

“Come,” Con said, and turned on his heel to walk through a doorway behind him.

Hal, Cassie, Guy, and Banan all stayed behind. Charon hadn’t asked what they did, but then again, he didn’t need to. They, along with Con, had the same look about them as the other men Charon had seen around the property.

Con was prepared. But prepared for what?

After they were shown to their seats before the large wooden desk, Con poured three glasses of whisky and handed one to Laura and one to Charon.

“Why do you want to sell Dreagan whisky?” Con asked as he took his seat behind the desk.

Charon swirled the dark amber liquid in the glass and noted the dragons carved into the corners of the desk. “It’s the best. My village may be small, but I like to give my people the best.”

“And,” Laura said with a glance at him, “the tourism plays a vital part in Ferness. It’s close enough to Inverness and Pitlochry that people pass through to see the beauty of Ferness.”

Con nodded and sipped the scotch, his gaze on Charon. “You own quite a bit of Ferness. Seems to have been in your family for … several generations.”

“Aye.” Charon stilled, Con’s words alluding to a deeper meaning. Did Con know what he was? Had the
investigation
already gone that deep?

“I, too, own quite a bit of land that I inherited from … family.”

Charon turned his head to look out the window to his left. The Highlands rose up around Dreagan at every turn. The sky, cloudless, was like a sea of blue that stretched endlessly across the horizon.

The way Con spoke of it, the slight hesitation told Charon Con not only knew he’d been alive for a long time, but that there might be something similar going on with him.

Warriors couldn’t always recognize other Warriors, but in the centuries Charon had been around, no Warrior had mentioned anything about Con or anyone else at Dreagan.

“Inheriting land can be beneficial,” Charon finally said.

“And sometimes difficult.”

“Sometimes.” He looked back at Con, wondering what he was alluding to and why. “You have men guarding your land.”

“Just as you do.”

Charon’s nostrils flared in anger. “I see you’ve delved deep in your investigation of me.”

“Perhaps,” Con said with a blasé shrug. “Is that no’ what men in our position do? We have others counting on us. We need to make the right choices.”