The Third Fate (17 page)

Rowan shoved a few things in the shabby duffel, unsure of her final destination. Anxious to depart from Fife House and be clear of the foreboding she’d experienced since hearing the exchange between the Coven leader and the Council member, Rowan concentrated, praying her unique talent held true. A clear mind was necessary to move quickly and efficiently through the black nothingness between dimensions; and no one moved like Rowan. She could
feel
her way to those she sought Closing her eyes, Rowan envisioned the Garrow brothers, sure to exclude any images of place so as not to divert her to the wrong destination. Slowly taking form in an ultra modern entertainment room, Rowan found herself smack dab in the midst of the brothers’ home.

“
I did it,” she said in wonderment, unable to believe she actually found them on her first try.

Ewan remained comfortably seated on the white leather sofa, eyebrow arched in curiosity. Eagen, however, was on her at once, grabbing hold of her arm.

“
We were not expecting anyone,” he growled.

“
I…I needed to find you.”

“
Welcome, Rowan of Clan Maceoghan. To what do we owe this surprise visit?” Ewan asked, seemingly amused.

“
You remember who I am?” her mouth gaped a minute.

Collecting herself Rowan closed her mouth, embarrassed at her awkwardness and lack of refinement. She had never been a smooth operator when it came to things like this.

Ewan laughed, crossing his leg. Even the highly intense Eagen relinquished his hold on her upper arm.

“
Yes, Rowan. If I remember correctly, I told you you had the keenest instincts I’d encountered. Besides my own,” Ewan chuckled, completely at ease.

“
I need your help,” she blurted.

Darting her gaze around the room and between the vampires, Rowan wasn’t sure if she should go on or wait for a response. Eagen eyed her sharply.

“
We’re not in the business of philanthropy,” he bit out.

“
What sort of help?” Ewan asked over top of his brother’s dismissal.

“
It…It’s not for me,” she clarified. “It’s for my friend.”

“
And who is this friend of yours?” Ewan probed.

“
Better yet, why should we care?” Eagen scoffed.

Rowan was sure Eagen would run her out any minute. She decided to talk fast.

“
His name is Cael Maccinnis. He’s hiding this half-born…I don’t know really. But two vampires, one…”

“
Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Ewan lit up. “Cael? What trouble has that vamp gotten into? He keeps a low profile these days, Miss Rowan, but ah, you remember the good old days, don’t you?”

Rowan remembered Cael’s wild days, begun after Gwendolyn’s betrayal. That all ended after Rose disappeared. Rowan heard that the young female had been left out for the dawn, but Cael never broached the subject, and she’d never had the nerve to ask. Cael never recovered fully afterward.

“
Aye, I do,” she said at last.

“
And now, Rowan,” Eagen joined the conversation, no longer attempting to shut her up, “tell us about these two vampires you mention.”

Shaking off old memories, Rowan continued with her story, relating all that had been spoken between Conrad of Clan Maccinnis and Kaiden Douglas. By the time she finished Eagen paced the room like a caged hound with the scent of prey in its nostrils.

“
Bloody Council!” Ewan mocked. “Drunk on their own power, they are. This Conrad…”

“
Is a traitor!” Eagen roared. “Cael is his own kin.”

“
Aye, brother,” Ewan nodded in agreement. “The question is, how can we help him?”

“
And,” Eagen added, peering directly at Rowan, “how did she get in here so easily?”

Rowan’s heart dropped. These were not the sort of men you wanted suspicious of you.

*

Anna Kinnell looked questioningly at her daughters when the knock at the door broke into their conversation. She had divulged her knowledge, as little as possible, after Paige’s abduction. Brooke and Lara were stunned to learn that they were descended from a line of Druid priestesses, that their Aunt Agnes had broken all the Druid laws in falling in love with a vampire, and that their cousin and adopted sister, Paige, was the child of that vampire. Most distressing aside from worry over their cousin was the fact that their mother had denied them the knowledge of who they really were their entire lives. The girls understood their mother’s fears, especially after discovering their Aunt Agnes’ Fate, but adamantly protested Sissy’s methods. Each passing day they failed to hear word from either Paige or the vampire, they grew less sure they’d ever see her again.

“
It’s a man and a woman,” Lara whispered after looking through the peephole. “They have suits on. Should I open the door?”

Anna nodded.

“
Wait!” Brooke cautioned. “We’d better be sure about this.”

She scanned her mother and sister’s faces for any sign of doubt.

“
All right. We’ve been over the story a million times.”

Lara opened the door, the chain allowing only a meager crack of separation from the frame.

“
Can I help you?” she asked.

“
Is this the home of Anna Kinnell?” the man asked in an official tone.

The pair stood straight and stiff, black suits under long jackets. If Lara didn’t know better she’d guess they were airport investigators or city detectives. But the airport had informed them that no one would come to their homes, that all interviews would be conducted at the local police departments or at airport offices.

Probably to prevent situations like this one, she thought ruefully.

“
State your business, kindly,” Lara stated firmly.

The door flew in, ripping the chain from the wall and throwing Lara backward. Brooke screamed, startled at the sudden violence, then rushed to help Lara to her feet before they closed protectively around their mother. Anna rose from the sofa, coming in-between the girls, chanting a protection spell she’d repeated countless times for her niece, Paige.

Kaiden slowed, confusion evident on his face, prompting Gwendolyn’s cutting laughter.

“
A mastermind you may be, Kaiden, but preparedness for application is not your strong suit.”

Waving her hand in an intricate pattern while speaking a blocking spell, Gwendolyn ended Anna’s attempt at enchantment, releasing Kaiden from the imposed stupor.

“
Do try and keep up, Kaiden, dear,” she said, relegating him to amateur status.

“
Sorry, Druid,” Gwendolyn sneered. “You’ll have to come with better than that if you hope to best me. Maybe you’ve dealt fledglings these paltry charms, but you’re up against high end refinement now, old woman.” Coming close, Gwendolyn stared smugly at first Lara, then Brooke. “For Druids, you two don’t put up much of a fight.”

Brooke, the more feisty of the twins, smiled devilishly right before she slammed her forehead into the female vampire’s nose. Blood poured instantly from Gwendolyn’s nose a moment before it healed, the she-vamp caught off guard and seething because of it.

“
That’s a Glasgow Kiss, Miss Refinement” Brooke said with bravado. “A gift, courtesy of everyday city folk.”

Gwendolyn threw the blond to the floor, her strength overwhelming and unmatched by the young human woman.

“
Be careful, girl; I don’t need you alive. And I’d hate to make you watch me kill your darling mother and sister first.”

The simple statement sobered Brooke, and she glanced at her mother, her expression apologetic. But it had felt good to deal one good blow…

“
What is it you want from us?” Lara asked in frustration.

“
They want us to tell them where to find Paige,” Anna Kinnell enlightened her girls as she stared at the woman. “You’ve come to the wrong house, vampire. She’s not here.”

“
Obviously,” Gwendolyn sighed, bored already. “Tell me where she is, and I might let you and your
charming
daughters live.”

“
We can’t,” Brooke smiled impishly, not believing the vampire would let them live either way and determined not to cower in fear.

“
I tire of your delays. Cut her, Kaiden.”

The large vampire grabbed Brooke by the hair, stretching her across his chest and exposing her neck to his blade. He paused, waiting for her sister or mother to begin rattling off what they wanted to know.

“
Fuck you,” Brooke choked out, her breath constricted in the man’s grasp.

“
We cannot tell you, because we don’t know where he took her,” Anna confessed. “That’s the truth.”

“
I see,” Gwendolyn purred in cat-like satisfaction. “I guess we’ll have to use you as bait, then.”

Snapping her fingers at the male and turning around to leave Gwendolyn added with a smile, “Bring them along, lover. I’ve decided to make things a bit more interesting.”

Anna, Brooke, and Lara watched in horror as Gwendolyn touched each of them for a long moment, one after the other, and then transformed herself into their very likenesses. She then returned to her first state, briefly, before morphing yet again.

“
By the Fates, you look just like her,” Kaiden gasped.

“
Don’t be a dolt, Kaiden,” Gwendolyn mocked. “I was her. I am her. Cael’s precious Rosie,” she laughed derisively, “supposedly burned up in the dawn.” She squeezed Kaiden’s pouting cheek. “Don’t be sore, darling,” she cooed, “Cael never figured it out either.”

*

Charity twisted from side to side, watching her dress flare prettily out as she did.

“
That was fun,” she remarked, having stopped to stare out the window.

Conrad dipped back inside the black car that brought him.

“
I don’t like him, Charity,” Jael shivered. “He’s a bad man.”

Harry nodded his agreement.

“
He stepped on my ship and broke it,” Harry added. “And he didn’t say he was sorry.”

Charity smiled at her siblings sweetly.

“
Don’t be unhappy. Conrad will be sorry soon enough.”

“
But, Charity,” Jael reminded her sister, “he promised to give you Paige. Are you still going to take Paige to hurt the vampire who ruined our game?”

“
Oh, don’t worry about that, Jael,” Charity giggled. “I’m not mad anymore. Besides, Conrad cannot give her to me anyway. Not anymore. Paige Kinnell walks with the undead.”

“
Then why did he say he could?” Harry asked, his face pinched with confusion.

“
He doesn’t know he can’t. Conrad and his friends can only see Paige as a mortal. The Third Fate is hidden, but Paige can see all for what they really are.”

“
What about everyone else? I thought you said you wouldn’t use magic” Jael asked, feeling better now that she knew Paige was safe.

“
That’s the fun part, Jael,” Charity insisted. “The others will have to go as their hearts lead them. Besides, I only said I wouldn’t use magic on Paige.”

The little girl brightened.

“
We’re going to play blind faith? I get to sow the seeds!” she announced in a sing-song voice.

*

Pilar woke slowly. The black silk sheets felt sinful – and heavenly – against her naked skin. Ebony hued walls, draperies, flooring, and bedding swaddled the room in darkness. Sheer panels encasing the ornate canopy bed cocooned her in its nest, the only light in the room flickering out from red pillar candles littered about the space.

Had she fallen asleep during the prayers?

Pilar couldn’t remember how she got into the bed.

Malcolm’s bed
.

Without having ever seen it she instinctively knew it to be his. She stirred, sliding against the sleek bed coverings.

“
Did you sleep well?” the deep voice vibrated through her inner being, it’s familiar chords tightening her belly in delicious memory of their encounter in the dressing room.

Neither of them had spoken of it since. There was no time, no opportunity with the need for intercession on his daughter’s behalf. Pilar craned her neck, unable to see clearly in the darkened room.

“
When…how did I get here?” she asked, uncomfortable with the fact that she had no recollection of half the night. “And where are my…”

“
I brought you here,” he confessed in a sensual timbre. “After my sample of you, Pilar, surely you did not think to escape me for long.”

He stepped out of the shadows, the candlelight casting a glow on his powerful body. His naked body. Shiny waves of black hair hung freely, stopping at his shoulder blades. Pilar’s breath caught in her throat, his masculine beauty rivaling statues of the gods from antiquity. Her insides clenched in delighted anticipation even as she shivered apprehensively when her eyes trailed to the center of his maleness, thick and jutting from between muscular thighs.

“
It’s much too late for second thoughts, my lovely Druid,” he rasped, circling the bed, reading her thoughts – or her expression.

Pilar knew not which.

She took in his form as he stalked her. Angular and hard, Malcolm wore his full beard with ancient dignity, hinting at his longevity, the centuries untold he’d walked the earth. Full lips enticed her to taste of them. Large hands parted the sheer curtain that wrapped the bed in gauzy haze, hands that spoke of strength and power. He lowered himself onto his arms, moving agilely across the massive bed with predatory grace.