Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) Read online

  With a moan, Elena’s orgasm began in a slow crescendo building from inside and rolling outward. As Faolan felt her first shudder, he slipped two fingers deep inside her hot, wet opening and just the tip of a finger in that other opening.

  Elena exploded…shattered into a thousand shards of light, her muscles clamping down on his fingers as they continued to gently pump, and wave after wave crashed over her. When she finally relaxed enough he could reclaim his fingers, he used the hand shower to rinse her one more time.

  Faolan lifted her from the tub and wrapped her in a fluffy towel and held her against his chest. Elena cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply.

  They changed spots, and Elena washed him, touching and loving every part. She washed his hair and used her crème rinse on it to remove the tangles. Then thinking of another use for the silky conditioner, she squeezed some into her hand and began to stroke his hard shaft, giving it the special attention it deserved.

  Faolan lasted exactly three minutes before he grabbed the little hand shower, rinsed himself off, and jumped out of the tub, unable to wait a minute longer. Carrying Elena to the bed, he stripped back the covers and laid her tenderly back against the pillows. “Elena, my love," he said, “you are my life now. Every fiber of my being is tied to every fiber of yours.”

  “I know,” she replied simply. She sat up, and his manhood was majestically displayed at face level. She reached her hand as far around as it would go, and began rubbing, stroking, tasting him. His hips moved against her, his fingers tangled in her hair.

  ****

  When Elena and Faolan finally emerged from the bedroom, they were clean and presentable in fresh jeans, sweaters, and warm socks. Although they had served their purpose well, Elena was glad to be free finally of that thong and green dress.

  The smells from the kitchen made her mouth water, and they raced each other to get to the food first, laughing as they entered the kitchen. They needn’t have worried; there was enough food to feed the four of them and an army besides. Eggs, potatoes, biscuits, bacon, sausage, all of it delectable. Elena and Faolan piled on the food and dug in, not waiting for Lilly to sit. It had been a long time and a lot had happened since their lobster dinner two nights previous.

  Lilly laughed and said, “Looks like the two of you haven’t eaten in a while.”

  Red added dryly, “Or worked up an appetite.”

  Faolan nodded, mumbled, “Both.” Elena blushed.

  Red said, “We’ll start, so you can eat.” Faolan nodded again, and Red continued. “We left after preparing dinner,” he nodded at Elena, “and went for a bit of a dinner ourselves. Then we went to the Beauly house to prepare for the full moon.”

  Faolan, interrupted, quickly explaining to Elena the townhouse in Beauly had a safe room with electronic locks on timers. The door locked at sunset on the eve of the full moon and released at sunrise the next morning, keeping them safe from their base urges. He looked at Red to continue.

  “Aye, we completed our preparations and waited for you to join us. Lilly put food in the house expecting the lass would join you for the trip. We knew you wouldna be willing to leave her behind, and we suspected she dinna want to leave town for the night.” He smiled dryly.

  “When the time drew nigh, we entered and waited for you. Once the door locked, we were near distracted with concern. As the time approached we hoped you were secure, that you didna’ harm the lass. We knew neither of you would survive it.” Red looked seriously at the two of them. Faolan and Elena exchanged looks.

  “The time came, and we felt the pull of the moon entering us as it has for an eternity, and then…” He paused searching for words, then looked to Lilly for help.

  Lilly took up the tale. “Then we were filled from within by joy. I doona’ know any other word for it. As soon as the door released, we returned here to find you, but all we found was the back door open in the wind.”

  By then, Faolan and Elena’s frenzied need for food abated, they were ready to tell their story. Faolan looked at Elena and asked if she wanted to share. She knew what he meant, and projected the first part of their story directly to Red and Lilly. They gasped, first at her power, then at the cruelty and evil nature of Worthington.

  Elena continued in a more traditional story-telling format. “Faolan doesn’t remember most of this. I am sorry, some of this is personal and embarrassing, but I think between us, we need to be very frank right now. Her face turned beet red as she continued, “It got close to the time of the moon, and we were, uhm...”

  Faolan rescued her by inserting, “Making love. She is my true heart. I claim her for all eternity.”

  Red and Lilly looked at each other and beamed, then turned their smiles on Elena, blithely waiting for her to continue, as though they’d expected him to say something like that.

  Stunned, Elena stared at Faolan. His words sent shivers down her spine. For all eternity.

  He looked up and smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I will tell the world, if you like, lass.”

  Elena smiled back. When she continued, her words came out quickly, embarrassed. “Well, when we, er, you know, got to the most important part, the earth shifted, like an earthquake. It sounded like an explosion in the clearing. At the same time, the moon touched Faolan’s back while he was still… uhm, you know...”

  Faolan and Red both laughed aloud at her discomfort.

  Lilly patted Elena’s hand. “Never you mind those randy lads, go on with you, dear.”

  After taking a deep breath, Elena continued, “Well, I don’t know how to explain this, but when I touch him I can send a light, like a white healing light into him,” her voice rose, making it sound like a question. “Only this time, the women I saw in the chamber, when I was lost…” She trailed off. This was really complicated.

  Again, Faolan supplied some help, “She’s had visions of a sisterhood,” and he nodded for her to continue. Apparently, that was sufficient information for Red and Lilly, because they both nodded encouragingly.

  Valiantly, Elena continued, “So the sisterhood joined me and the moon. We spread light into Faolan, soothing him. I held him as close as I could, trying to touch him in as many places I could, to uhm, keep him… uhm, inside.”

  Faolan started to laugh again, but when Elena raised an eyebrow to look at him, he sobered quickly and gestured for her to continue.

  “I heard chanting in the clearing outside our cell. I don’t know who that was.” Elena described how the previously calm night had turned into a symphony of nature at her wildest. “Then Faolan started to… uhm, you know again and just before he…uhm, got to the important part again—”

  Elena had to stop talking. Faolan was laughing so hard no one would be able to hear her.

  “Are you quite finished?” she asked archly, when he finally subsided to an occasional chuckle. He nodded contritely.

  Determined to be bold, Elena said, “Anyway, just as Faolan reached his—” she paused for effect and looked directly at Faolan “—climax, he threw his head back and a wolf’s howl echoed around the stone cell. Then a shadow of a wolf came from Faolan’s throat and flew out through the window, taking the howl with him.”

  “Worthington knows Faolan is a MacGailtry. He knew what would happen to Faolan in the full moon, he calls him wolf. He locked us in the cell, making sure we had enough food and blankets. He wanted us to stay alive long enough for Faolan to transform and kill me. He meant for me to die. He always planned to kill me, but now he’s trying to break Faolan.” Elena looked directly at Faolan, “I think he wants to control you.”

  “Control me? Why would he want to control me? It would have killed me if I had hurt you.”

  “We thought all he wanted was the mirror, but he said he came back for a spell. He knew you didn’t have the spell when he left us there. He could have shot us, and no one would ever have known. He could at least have shot me. Instead, he had a plan that would get rid of me and break you. He wants to bring you to wh
atever it is he’s doing. What did Liam’s partner call you? A novice and a sapling, and Worthington said you were going to give Druids a bad name.

  “I think he is a Druid priest or master or whatever you call it. He senses your power, and he wants it for his own. Faolan, there is much more to him than just a bad man who wants a magick mirror. This isn’t about money; it’s about power. And though Worthington has far more power than we thought, he wants more.”

  As Elena finished, her gaze turned inward, as though she wasn’t in the room with them but somewhere far away. She saw Worthington standing in the middle of the chamber. He began to chant, turning slowly clockwise, his face turned up, arms stretched out to his sides. The wind began to swirl, twisting, turning, pulling the debris from last night’s storm into a black vortex. When the wind and his voice reached their crescendo, a shadow owl flew from the room. Worthington settled onto the ground with the leaves and waited.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “Elena? Are you all right?” Lilly’s hand was on her arm, and Faolan raced around the table, full of concern.

  Elena looked at him. “Worthington sent a message. He has a shadow owl. I think someone will be coming to help him.” Elena described what she had seen, then said, “I don’t understand how I know these things, how I can see them. Is there something wrong with me?”

  “Nay, love, doona be afraid. I think ‘tis the magick of this place that speaks to you.” Faolan looked at Red, “Let’s go.”

  Lilly and Elena in unison said, “Wait.”

  “What’s wrong?” Faolan asked. “We have his gun. He canna get out. Let us see if we can get him to talk.”

  “Then I must go with you. I don’t know what’s wrong, but there is magick at work here, Faolan, and he knows a lot more of it than we do. I felt his mind, and he tried to feel mine when he came to the cell and found me still alive. It was full of darkness, full of dark power. He will try to get inside you.”

  Faolan thought that they might be able to shake Worthington’s confidence and get him to talk. They thought he must be concerned already since they’d managed to disrupt his plan to kill Elena. Now he was their prisoner. If they told Worthington about the owl, he would realize they were far stronger than he’d suspected, and he might reveal something of his plans. Faolan hoped to convince Worthington that he would consider becoming his apprentice, to learn the Druid ways. They would try just about anything in an effort to get him to talk.

  Elena wasn’t at all happy with the idea of the two men talking to Worthington alone. She’d never intended to wait in the car as Faolan directed; she was going to stay close to the men. Unsure of the extent of Worthington’s powers, she did know he could reach into people’s minds. She had felt it. What if Worthington could project images as she did. He could make Faolan see something that wasn’t there. She flat out didn’t trust Worthington.

  Once Red and Faolan left the car to go to the clearing, Elena told Lilly she was going to follow. Lilly started to argue, but Elena overruled her objections. “Lilly, I’m really worried about what Worthington can do. I know he’s after more than that mirror or other artifacts. I’m sure he’s after Faolan.”

  With her thoughts carefully shielded, Elena followed a path through the trees and hid on the edge of the clearing, close enough to hear and definitely close enough to project.

  “Wolf, you returned. Did you miss me?” Worthington asked in an oily voice. “Where’s your strumpet? She seems to have some latent talents of which I was unaware.”

  “What’s your story, Worthington? Tell me about the owl.”

  Worthington just stared at Faolan, temporarily speechless. Then his eyes narrowed. “Your powers are more advanced than I thought. Who is training you, novice?”

  “I have no trainer. Yet. All I know I have found on my own. So what are you, Worthington? Druid? Sorcerer?”

  “Do you really wish to know?” Worthington asked quietly. Then he did something strange that caused Faolan and Red to take quick steps back. He floated up off the ground, raising his head high enough to look through the window at Faolan. Worthington whispered a command, and Elena felt Faolan try to raise his mental shields to protect himself half a second too late. Then Worthington was inside Faolan’s head.

  What happened next seemed to unfold in slow motion. Faolan raised the gun and turned toward Red. Elena threw a projection of Red ten feet to the right of where he was actually standing and shouted to Faolan with her mind. Faolan continued to turn until he had the gun pointing at the projection of Red.

  Time returned to normal as Faolan spun quickly back, pointed the gun to the side of Worthington, and fired. Worthington dropped to the ground, landing lightly on his feet. Elena kept her shield around Faolan’s, adding an extra layer of protection.

  In a strange vibrating voice that filled the clearing, Worthington said, “Come train with me, wolf, and I will teach you all of my skills. No one could stop the two of us. Unlimited money and power at your disposal. Come let me out, and I will take you to be with your kind. Come.”

  Faolan shivered as the booming voice rolled through the clearing. “You are not my kind. You are the usurper. There are those who are waiting to stop you. I will stop you.”

  Lightning streaked from the sky, thunder exploded, and the tree that had burned the previous night was burning again. Red and Faolan jerked back, momentarily distracted by the unexpected show of nature. When they turned around, Worthington was gone, the cell completely empty. Nearby, just to the side of the shrub, Elena was laying on the ground.

  ****

  Elena was in the room but wasn’t in the room. It was confusing, but she couldn’t think of another way to describe it. She could see Worthington, in his boxers, standing with another man who was wearing a gray business suit under a slate cloak. The man had gray hair and a gray complexion. In fact, everything about the room was shades of gray, even Worthington. Maybe she was only seeing in black and white, as if she had an old television receiver that wasn’t in sync with modern day standards.

  “Master Symington,” said Worthington, inclining his head toward the other man in the room.

  “What the bloody hell have you done?” the Master growled.

  The office was opulent with a slate topped desk large enough to land a plane on, two leather couches, club chairs, a bar, and a flat panel television. The walls were filled with photos of the Master shaking hands with local and national leaders, political, business, and religious. It looked as though everyone wanted a piece of the Master. Or the Master owned a piece of everyone.

  Elena could sense that Worthington needed to be careful here. She could hear that he was having two very different levels of thought. Behind the words he was telling the Master were other thoughts. This was a deep game, one he had been playing for years. He would not lose now. He knew he was a dead man if the Master learned of his plans. He lied smoothly, weaving in bits of truth, in case the Master wanted to check up on him.

  “Master, I found another person searching for the ancient ways. I do not believe he is part of an organization, but someone who stumbled upon the old rumors. He learned of the farm I own, far north of here, and believed the old stories of a hidden Druid library. We proved that story a myth many years ago, but he was unaware of that fact, which is why I am sure he is not with any organization.

  “He’d tracked me to Phoenix and asked me if I had heard of such stories or had found any old books. I told him those were false rumors, that there was nothing there. When he left, I followed him back. He returned to the area of the farm, and even though I knew the stories to be untrue, I stayed around to watch. I was stupid. I went without back up and he trapped me in the cell by the clearing.”

  The Master’s face was livid, and he said between clenched teeth, “What did he say?”

  Worthington continued, “He was foolish. He told me he was looking for some ancient spell books, that he was going to be an author, and he was gathering a history of the ancient Druids. His story was co
nsistent with what he’d said in Phoenix, and with what I stripped from his thoughts.

  “I told him the land had been looted by treasure hunters for centuries, and long been proven to be artifact-free. I pointed out that as I was American, I would have no problem shooting him with my hunting rifle, should I catch him trespassing again. Although he left me in the cell, I believe the threat has been handled.”

  “You did well, Worthington, but he concerns me. I want you to follow up, find where he is, and if he can be safely removed, do it.”

  “For the good of the order, Master,” Worthington agreed.

  When he left the Master, Worthington allowed the true nature of his thoughts free reign.

  ****

  “Elenaaaaa!” Faolan ran to where Elena had suddenly appeared on the ground near the trees. He had no idea how she had gotten there or what was wrong with her. Red stayed near the window watching the cell in case Worthington had done that same shielding trick and was just blending in, appearing invisible.

  “I smell sulfur, Faolan. I expect that Worthington is really gone,” Red said.

  Elena was breathing shallowly, her eyes moving rapidly under her lids. Faolan picked her up, and held her close against him, he carried her to the center of the clearing. He crooned to her, begged her to please wake up, told her he loved her, promised everything would be okay. Lilly left the Rover, running up to see what happened. Still Elena didn’t wake.

  Lilly wanted to take Elena home, but Faolan said they would stay, she would know where to come to if he stayed here. Faolan didn’t know if Worthington had taken her, or if she had tried to follow, but he was certain her spirit was not with them right now. He also knew something that none of the others knew, not even Worthington. He alone knew just how magick the clearing was, and that his ancestors were close by.

  He directed Red to build a fire, which Red did by knocking a branch from the burning tree and Lilly brought stones and water from the brook. Faolan wished Brigid was here with him, but he knew the four elements needed to be greeted, before he could petition his ancestors for help. He might not have the right words, but he could speak from the heart. He hoped it would be enough.