The Keepers: Declan (7 page)

Declan snapped open the whiskey flask and took a large gulp. The liquid warmed him, sending a hot trail of comfort all the way to his gut. He gritted his teeth and grunted his approval, wondering again what the hell he was doing in the mountains, braving the icy weather, instead of enjoying the warmth of home.

The silence was broken by the sound of the river flowing nearby, the crackling of the campfire, and the hooting of an owl perched in the tree above, on the lookout for its next meal. It was dark and cold and the only comfort he had was a sleeping bag and a fire he’d made before the sun had set.

And the whiskey.

He eyed his gear with a new appreciation for the king-sized bed at home.
That’ll teach you for packing in a hurry
.

Once Sienna had snagged a vague location for Kate, he’d thrown together a rucksack and headed for the mountains, shrugging off his brothers’ insistence that they tag along.

Although it pleased him that Kate was still in Canada, he suspected it wouldn’t be for long; hence the urgency that licked at his gut.

He released a low rumble of curses and closed the near-empty flask of whiskey. He’d been in the mountains far longer than he’d expected to be. A few days had passed and his enemies had vanished.

Along with Kate.

The thought twisted his gut and he refused to name why. She’d stolen from him, drugged him –
twice
– and had landed herself in deep trouble.

That’ll teach her to witch-dose me
. He wasn’t sure what irked him more, the theft or the drugs, but he was determined to find her.

Crazy woman.

He took another sip, the bottle freezing mid-air at the sound of leaves rustling in the far distance. He zoned in on his surroundings, his age-old Keeper senses flaring.

An animal?

His instincts had him on his feet that moment. With a speed he never tired of, he packed his things, killed the fire, and set off, careful to blend in with the dense bushes.

It didn’t take long to track the intruder further up the river. Stepping behind a large rock, Declan dropped his rucksack to the ground and scanned his surroundings.

The footsteps grew louder, nearer, and more uneven as the intruder stumbled across the forest debris and knelt beside the water. He could hear a rapid heartbeat and shallow breathing. And it wasn’t his. He waited, ready to pounce, and watched as a slender figure knelt to drink water, so silently that anyone with a normal sense of hearing wouldn’t have heard.

But there was nothing normal about his senses and he heard
everything
.

Declan caught sight of the mop of dark curls that fell forward with the motion and everything inside him shifted.

Kate
.

Where the hell had she come from?

His immediate instinct was to bolt toward her but he hung back, scanning the area for any signs of her attackers.

Hot damn. How the hell had she escaped?

A bulky jacket covered the same clothes she’d worn when he'd last seen her. Her hair was a mess and she seemed scrawnier. Clearly, several days of dirt and neglect had taken their toll.

Cupping water in her hands, she washed her face before rocking back on her heels. Standing beside the gushing river and massive trees, she looked vulnerable and exhausted.

Without making a sound, he stepped out from behind the rock, but the motion startled her. She swung around and flicked a knife with such speed and precision that it almost,
almost
, hit him.

In a flash, Declan was behind her, wrapping his arms around her in a vice grip. This time, he anticipated her strength and applied more force. “First you steal from me, then you drug me, now you’re trying to stab me? Wildcat, you are
so
looking for trouble.”

She struggled against his arms, screeching as he shoved a hand across her mouth to silence her protest. The last thing they needed was to alert her attackers. They appeared to be alone but he had no idea how long that would last.

“Calm down, dammit!” he snapped, tightening his grip.

“Declan?” He heard the incredulous tone in her voice, tinged with relief, and he adjusted his weight around her. She was frozen and trembling within his arms. He figured it had less to do with fear and more to do with the cold.

“Let me go!”

“So you can Hulk your way out of this?”

“Declan, I can’t breathe,” she mumbled, turning her head in an attempt to dislodge his hand.

“That’s your problem, witchy.”

“I’m so sick of being bullied by you assholes!” she cried, jabbing an elbow into his ribs with a force that winded him. Using his brief moment of surprise, she struggled around in his arms and lashed out.

“Dammit, Kate!” he hissed, grabbing her wrist.

The struggle was brief, fierce. Her strength still surprised him but he was stronger and more experienced.

She was also exhausted and it showed in the way she relented as he pinned her against the tree, her wrists trapped in his hands.

“If you’re here to harm me you’ll have to get in line,” she said, seething with anger.

“Honey, after the crap you’ve pulled on me, I’m the front-runner.”

He wouldn’t harm her but she didn’t have to know that. For some reason, despite what she’d done to him, she’d not only triggered all his protective instincts, but his curiosity too. Call it Keeper duties or stubborn male instincts, but when the bad guys messed with an innocent woman, it made him furious. Though she wasn’t entirely innocent.

He felt the fight lessen as she calmed down. Her heart pounded against him and her shoulders heaved as she sucked in air. “Declan, please let me go.”

“You can’t run, Kate.”

“No.”

“You can’t scream.”

“I know.”

His head close to hers, he brought her wrists up between them, nestling her slender hands beneath her chin. Her gaze was pinned on him and he didn’t need the light to know their beauty. Big brown eyes, guarding secrets he’d always sensed but could never define. Long lashes and dark eyebrows that curved into a sexy frown whenever she was mad. Right now, she was glowering at him, despite the heat that sizzled whenever they got this close.

Unable to stop himself, he grinned.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, lowering her eyes to glance at his lips.

“I followed you.”

“Again? From the house? After what I did to you?” Surprise flashed in her widened eyes as they lifted back to his. “But how? The herbs –”

“Didn’t keep me down for long. You make crap coffee. I never finished it.”

“I can’t believe you found me.”

“It was smart to stay close to the river.”

“I figured it was my only chance of ever getting out of these mountains.”

“How did they even get up here?”

“There was a 4x4 trail that led to a cabin. It’s a tricky road and overgrown so I doubt it’s used very often.” She arched a brow, hesitating before asking her next question. “Where are we?”

“Still in Canada.”

Her eyes rounded. “Why would they bring me to the mountains?”

“Isolation. They could’ve killed you but chose not to.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed.” She tried to break away but he kept his grip on her.

“Harper could have your powers for himself just by killing you, Kate. Do you know why they want you alive?”

“Maybe they like a pretty face,” she said, exhaustion and sarcasm drowning out her words. “I don’t know and I didn’t stick around to find out why!”

Declan ran a gaze along the length of her as he processed the warlock’s motivations. If Kate’s powers were all Harper was after, they wouldn’t have made it out of her rented house. But he’d drugged her and kept her guarded in a wooden cabin.

Alive.

That meant his use for her went beyond her powers.

Releasing her wrist, he hooked a finger in the seam of her jacket, giving it a quick tug. “You’re not equipped to travel these mountains alone, so that puts you squarely on team me.”

She slapped his hand away but didn’t deny it.

“But drug me again, wildcat, and you’re
definitely
on your own. In fact, all witchy joo joo is out of bounds for now.”

“I’m not a witch.”

“Yeah, right, and all humans have a stash of magical sedatives in their kitchen and can immobilize magic at the drop of a hat.” He laughed.

“Stop it, Declan. I’m not –”

“Have you forgotten that my entire adult life has been devoted to protecting the very thing you deny? I live every day with one goal in mind, Kate, and that’s to protect
my
witch. I know witch crap when I see it.”

“I may have witch powers but that’s not who I am!” She yanked out of his grip and shoved him hard. “Forgive me if I’m not excited about being part of a world I was taught to fear. A world that wants to tear me apart.”

“Embracing your abilities is the only way you’re going to stay alive.”

“You think I haven’t figured that out yet? Embracing them is all I’ve focused on for the past year, Declan. How do you think I escaped?”

“Did they follow?”

She gave a brief nod. “Until I drove my getaway car off the cliff.”

He lifted a brow, ignoring the ripple of horror at the thought of her going off a cliff.

“Harper will never stop looking for me,” she explained. “So I made sure they saw me hightail it out of there like a frantic lunatic. They followed but the distance between us gave me enough chance to stage the accident. I sent their car tumbling off the cliff and escaped into the forest before they got back.”

“Unless they find your body, it won’t be long before they come for you.”

She nodded. “The distraction was enough to give me time to get away. I hiked back around the house in the opposite direction, found the river, and began the descent.”

No wonder she looked exhausted and frozen.

“The chances are slim they’ll be on the move in the dark so we have a few hours until sunrise to warm you up and get some rest.” He went to his rucksack and pulled out the sleeping bag.

“And then, Declan?”

The quiet sorrow in her voice chipped at his frustration.

“At the first sign of light, we’re getting out of these mountains.” Ignoring her suspicious look, he slipped the sleeping bag around her shoulders. “But if we don’t set up properly for the night, we’ll be frozen by morning.”

She didn’t comment but snuggled into the warmth of the sleeping bag and stood watching the fire.

Thanks to the abundance of wood, it didn’t take long to prepare a fire, plus matches had never been necessary for him. Declan held out a steady hand, channelling enough heat to counteract the damp wood. Moments later, the flames caught momentum and a fire roared to life.

Kate’s face brightened as a wide smile broke free, her features masked in an orange glow. Her gaze flickered between him and the flames. “Do all Keepers have your ability to manipulate an element of nature?”

“It differs from Keeper to Keeper and depends on the connection they have to their witch. Archer – the one you stabbed, I might add,” he grimaced at the memory, “has a connection to water. Ethan, to air. Mine is fire.” And he loved it. Without the ability to manipulate fire, Declan would feel as though a sacred part of him was missing. Water, air, and fire. All elements of nature, all their playing field, and Sienna was the fifth element that bound them together. Not only were the Bennett brothers duty-bound to defend her, they were also magically bound to their witch in a way few people understood.

“And earth? Was that your sister’s power?”

Her words tugged at the thick wall he’d built around the sadness evoked by Sarah's memory. He felt the familiar flash of self-loathing that overrode the pain and was quick to shove aside both. He gave a brief nod but didn’t say anything more.

She didn’t comment, for which he was thankful. She pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her shoulders. “My mother was a witch, although she never practised magic.”

“Seems a shame for all that power to go to waste.”

“After my father’s death, she loathed the magical world. His death was an accident but she blamed The Circle.”

A group of ancestral witches who governed the laws around magic, witches, and their Keepers. According to their rules, witches and their Keepers were forbidden to have a relationship.

“She could never understand how the witches would risk harming one of their own.”

Declan studied her in silence, noting the quiet edge to her voice. Sadness? Resentment?

She reached up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes.

He caught sight of dried blood matted in her hair and moved around the fire, stopping in front of her. Lifting a hand, he pulled back her hair, eyeing the wound on her temple. It bothered him, more than it should have. He shouldn’t care. He hardly knew her. Hell, if anything, she’d been more of a pain in the ass than anything else. It shouldn’t matter.

But it did.

“You’re hurt.”

“It happened in the struggle.”

Alone with four men in a mountain cabin. Declan’s stomach flipped and for a brief moment, air evaded him.

“Did they  … ?” The idea of one of her attackers having touched her sent heat spiralling through him madly. He stepped closer, caught her wrist. “Did they hurt you?”

Her eyes widened as she realised he was talking about more than scratches and bruises. Slowly, she shook her head. “Not in the way you’re asking.”

The bolt of relief swept through him with more force than he’d anticipated.

“How did you find me here?” she asked.

“I had some help from my witch.”

“Sienna?”

“A locator spell. She was able to pin a vague location.” Thanks to the spell, his heightened senses and accelerated speed, tracking her hadn’t been all that hard. Until they’d hit the mountains where he’d lost the trail.

Declan released her, and went to his rucksack.

“After everything I’ve done to you, you still came for me,” she murmured. “You must really want the same thing Harper wants.”

Her soft words tugged at something vague and guarded inside. He glanced at her, the feisty woman who was in fact so vulnerable and alone, hunted by both sides.