The Warlord Forever (10 page)

“Give me the potion, and I’ll let you live.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She had to stall him. “The tomb was empty. The legend isn’t true. I was going to call you and let you know Evan and I would turn it over to the museum.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” He reached his hand out to grab her.

Kenna grabbed the lamp from the desktop and swung it at him.

She missed as he ducked to the side. He pushed her to the ground, the lamp crashing next to her as she fell, the glass shattering.

“I want the journal.” He stood over her, clenching his fists, grinding his jaw back and forth.

“I want you out of my house!”

“Not until I get what I’ve come for!” He locked his hand around her throat, squeezing so tightly she couldn’t breathe. “Tell me where it is!”

David’s face twisted with agony. He released her, hunching forward as blood gurgled out of his mouth. The tip of a sword protruded from his chest, having stabbed him straight through the heart. Behind him, Ian withdrew the sword and David’s body collapsed to the ground.

“That is for Duncan Douglas.” Ian stared down at him.

David’s eyes filled with fear as he choked on his own blood, looking up at the warlord in awe.

“Immortality is one thing you shall never have.”

As David drew his final, sputtering breaths, Ian helped Kenna to her feet, pulling her into his arms.

“Are you hurt?” He inspected her with worried eyes.

“No.” She shook her head and hugged him close. “I’m all right.”

Thank God Ian had shown up. She had no doubt David intended to kill her. As he’d killed Connor Flemming, and her uncle.

“What did he do to my uncle?” Kenna stared down at David’s lifeless body.

“Poisoned him,” Ian replied. “Then dumped his body over a cliff.”

“Why didn’t the autopsy report show any traces of poison?” Surely they’d checked for everything. “And why didn’t you tell me you knew David killed him?”

****

Ian sighed. He should have been honest with her from the beginning, but he hadn’t wanted to frighten her. “I was going to tell you, when the time was right.”

“You mean after you killed David?”

“Aye.” That had been his plan.

He shouldn’t have been so careless with her safety. He’d never forgive himself if he let her die.
Och!
He wanted her to take the potion so nothing could take her from him.
Ever.

“What happened?” Evan rushed into the study. He took one look at Ian’s bloody sword and seemed to figure it all out. “I keep missing everything.” He circled David’s body.

“What do we do now?” Kenna asked.

Ian glanced at his empty tomb, and the idea struck him. “We seal him in the tomb.”

“We what?” Evan shrieked. “Are you serious?”

“Aye, lad. No one will think to look for him there.”

“Can you seal the tomb so it can’t be opened again?” Kenna wondered.

“No.”

“I can.” A woman’s voice filled the room.

Illora
.

Curses
. What the devil was she doing here?

The beautiful Fey hadn’t changed since the day he’d last seen her, centuries ago. Her long red hair hung around her shoulders like a cloak of fire. Her green eyes sparkled with mischief.

What tricks did she think to work now?

“I created the spell,” she said. “I can seal the tomb again if that is what you wish.”

Kenna and Evan simply gawked at the Fey, much the same way they’d first looked upon him. And Master Evan seemed rather enchanted by her alluring beauty.

Ian’s mind conjured scenarios of a
family
. Of he and Kenna happily joined, their love immortal.
Timeless
. Of Evan and the Fey race. He’d fit right in with their flirtatious, frivolent nature.

Ian wanted to believe he could have happiness. After all this time, to be at peace with himself and his world. The Fates might be bitches, but they’d dumped him here. There was nowhere else he’d rather be.

“Illora, if you pull any tricks, I’ll—”

What tricks?” She looked so innocent.

But he knew that look.

“Why would I trick you?”

“You didn’t lay me to rest as I’d asked.” He hated that she’d left him trapped in his own mind. Unable to break free.

“I warned you of what could happen -”

“I thought I’d be asleep!” he raged at her, the centuries of angst fueling his anger. “
Dead!
”

Kenna gasped when she heard him say that. Her look was full of compassion for how he’d suffered. He saw how much she cared for him. She might even come to love him. As he loved her.

“You cannot die,” Illora reminded him. “I granted you a boon. I left you awake so you would realize what you’re missing. To see that life, in all its beauty, and all its sadness, is worth living.”

The trick had worked.

His life was a gift. One he wanted to share with those he’d come to love so much in such a short amount of time. He would have Illora seal David’s body in the tomb, they’d store it in the back of the wine cellar for a few hundred years, then donate it to a museum where no one would ever be the wiser about who was buried inside.

“Let’s do this.” Ian dragged David’s body towards the tomb, leaving a trail of blood behind him. “You might have to get new rugs.”

“My father would have a coronary if he could see this right now.” Evan raked his hands through his shaggy hair. “He loved this room.”

“David killed your father,” Kenna told him. “He poisoned him and threw his body over the cliff.”

Ian paused his efforts, taking a moment to glance over his shoulder at the young lad.

Evan turned harsh, tense. His face reddened. It was clear he’d loved his father. “I wish I’d been the one to kill David. I’d have torn his heart out!”

“Better that you hadn’t,” Ian said. “Justice was served, and it was served swiftly. Be satisfied with that.”

Evan stormed over to the bar and poured a whisky. “You want one too?”

“Aye.” Ian nodded. “Make it a double.”

He heaved David’s body into the tomb and slid the heavy lid into place.

“Shall I do it now?” Illora came close, laying her hand on his arm.

He looked to Kenna. “Do you agree this is the best way to dispose of him?”

****

Kenna never thought she’d have to decide the best way to
dispose
of a body. Ian’s idea was brilliant. They wouldn’t be in any trouble with the police. It would be like David disappeared into thin air.

She nodded. “Get rid of him.”

“I agree,” Evan added.

“Seal the tomb,” Ian told Illora.

She laid her hands on the stone lid. “I can seal it permanently, if you wish.”

Ian visibly shuddered, his face going pale. “You can do that?”

“Yes.”

He muttered a curse.

Kenna was gaining a new sense of respect for faeries. Not that she believed in them, but she did have one standing in her house, using magic to seal a dead body in a tomb.

“There is one thing the Queen requires if I am to do this,” Illora said.

“The Queen?” Ian rankled. “What the bloody hell does she have to do with this?”

“She learned you were released and sent me to watch you. She’s worried about the potion falling into the wrong hands.”

Weren’t they all? How many others might come after them? Kenna had no idea something like this would happen when she opened the tomb. She hadn’t believed the legend, hadn’t thought it was real.

“What does she want?” Ian asked.

“Destroy the rest of the potion and you will be free of her forever.”

“I will get rid of it.”

So much for immortality
. Kenna didn’t know if she was relieved, or disappointed. The time she’d have left with Ian was merely a blink.

Illora’s musical voice sang the spell to seal David in the tomb forever. When it was finished, she disappeared.

“Do all faeries look that hot?” Evan asked.

“Aye, they are all verra beautiful.” Ian took Kenna in his arms. “But not as beautiful as some.”

She hugged her arms around his waist and smiled up at him. “Keep saying things like that, and I’ll keep you in my bed all day.”

****

She made good on her promise. With their naked bodies twined together in bed, Ian moved over her, taking her long, and deep, pleasure swelling in her with every thrust. She didn’t care that she wouldn’t be immortal. She had the gift of life, and the gift of this wonderful man. It was all she could ask for.

“I canna hold back much longer, my love,” he murmured in her ear as he rocked his hips, surging into her.

A sweet buzz of pleasure shot through her at his words. “Call me that again.” She pulled him down on her, arching her body to meet his strokes.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “
My love
.” His breath tickled her skin. “You are my love.”

Then his mouth was on hers, kissing her with a savage intensity that set her whole body on fire. Pleasure tore through her. She shattered into a million tiny pieces, calling Ian’s name as he pumped into her, his shaft throbbing with his own climax.

“I love you, Ian.” She held him to her.

For as long as I can have you.

****

Having Kenna cradled in his arms, sleeping soundly after he’d spent hours upon hours pleasuring her, was paradise for him. Her presence filled him with a calm he’d never experienced. Her smile warmed his heart, her beautiful soul enslaved him.

There was nothing he wouldn’t do to make her happy.

But time was running out. The Queen would know if he failed to eliminate every last drop of the potion. His first attempt at an immortal life filled with love and companionship had ended badly. It would kill him to have it happen again. But he had to ask her. He had to know what she would say.

He had a feeling the Fates were on his side this time.

****

Kenna came awake in Ian’s arms, nestling further into the warmth of his big, solid body. She could let him hold her forever.

Oh wait.

They didn’t have forever.

But they had right now.

She ran her hand through the soft curls of hair covering his muscled chest. She admired his powerful profile, the strength reflected in his features. He was perfect. He would make many women happy in his long life.

“Are you awake, my love?”

“Yes.” She tilted her head back to look at him, and smiled.

“I have something to give you.”

“I loved it, don’t get me wrong.” Their last act demonstrated just how limber the human form could be. “But I need to rest before you do it again.”

He threw his head back and laughed.

“It’s so funny to you, is it?” She sat up so she could glare at him.

“Drink this, and you’ll never need rest.” He offered the silver flask to her, his green eyes glowing.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Aye.”

Kenna stared at the whisky flask.
Immortality
. Did she want it? Would she eventually grow tired of a life with no end, as Ian had?

Only time would tell.

She reached for the flask, then stopped. “What about Evan?” she wondered.

What would her cousin say? How would this make him feel? He was the only family she’d really had. And her best friend.

“I already gave him half this morning,” Ian said.

There was no choice left for her. The two people who meant the most to her in this world were going to live forever. Kenna accepted the silver flask from Ian, raised it in a silent toast, and tipped the magical liquid down her throat.

Forever might not be long enough.

THE END

About The Author

Alyssa Morgan is a native of Minnesota, but has lived in Hawaii and Utah, and now resides in Los Angeles. When she's not writing or devouring a novel by one of her favorite authors, you can find her shopping, at the beach, enjoying Sunday brunch, or spending time with her friends and family. 

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