CHAPTER TWENTY
LIZZIE
Brochan and I were on the lane, walking the dogs. He was leaving for a few days. His project, the surprise, was well underway and still he wouldn’t tell me what he was up to. And I had tried to get it from him, but the man could keep a secret. I tried again.
“Tell me about this project?”
“No.”
“A hint?”
“No.”
“And there is nothing I can do to persuade you to share?”
He looked wicked. “You can try, I’d enjoy your efforts.” He pulled me up against him. “I’ll be gone for three days. Fenella and Finnegan will be here, as will Champ and Boomer.”
They had defected, following me wherever I went. Brochan preferred that, liked that I had our furbabies watching my back. Why he thought I needed that here, I didn’t know.
“When you get back we’ll start planning the nursery.” Remembering Cait and Ethan’s conversation and how they had missed some of the big stuff, I asked, “How many kids do you want?”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Eight.”
Eight? Was he…“No.”
He laughed, “Five”
“Three.”
“Okay, we’ll start with three.”
He checked his watch. “I’ve got to go.”
It was only three days, but it was three days and two nights. We walked to the drive. Finnegan was closing up the trunk. Brochan shook his hand. “Thank you.”
“Safe journey.”
Fenella came running out. “I packed you some food, just in case.” She thrust the food at him.
“I’m going to Edinburgh, not the Sahara.”
“It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
He kissed her head. “Thank you.”
Seeing Brochan showing kindness and affection to his parents, he really was healing. Finnegan took the food from him. Brochan caught my hand and pulled me away. He framed my face and kissed me, with tongue and teeth. I was a hot mess when he ended it. “That wasn’t nice.”
“To tide you over.” He bit my lip. “If you plan on making yourself come, you better fucking call me. I want to hear that.”
My legs went weak. “Now I’m thinking about it.”
“Good. My plan worked. Call me.”
“How soon is too early.”
He laughed then kissed me again. “Nine. I’ll be waiting.”
I grabbed his arm and looked at his watch. “It’s only three.”
We walked back to his car; he kissed me again then climbed in. It was hard watching him pull away. I didn’t know why I felt so funny about him leaving, but I had the weirdest sensation the shoe was getting ready to drop.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to keep you company?” Fenella asked but she hadn’t stopped yawning since dinner. It was almost eight, only an hour before I called Brochan. I hadn’t thought of anything else. I’d never had phone sex. The idea of popping my cherry with Brochan had me in a constant state of arousal.
“I’m going to bed soon too.”
“All right.” She pressed a kiss on my head. “Sleep well.”
“Good night.”
“Night, lass,” Finnegan said before he followed his wife out.
Boomer and Champ were sleeping by the fire. I should take them out before we went upstairs. That might be weird, phone sex with the dogs watching. They slept in the bed. We’d figure it out.
“Come on, boys. Let’s go potty. We have a date with Daddy in an hour.”
It was only October but it was cold. We weren’t going far and still I pulled on my winter coat, hat and gloves. I grabbed a flashlight since the boys liked to dart into the woods and with their dark fur it was hard to find them. The moon was full. I would never again look at the full moon and not think of Brochan, my werewolf.
The boys were feeling playful, chasing each other into the trees. We had time, so I let them play as I walked along the path. Fenella had added mums to the gardens. It looked beautiful.
After ten minutes, the two hadn’t returned. That wasn’t like them. Thinking they trapped a rabbit, they’d done that before, I headed in after them since there would be no pulling them away from their kill. The flashlight caught them, they were definitely feasting on something. “What did you kill now?” I didn’t like seeing the remains, it was nature and all, but it broke my heart. The rabbit had family too. The closer I drew my heart went into my throat because they were dangerously close to one of the drops.
“I think we’re going to have to leash you at night. It’s too dangerous out here in the dark. All right, you’re done. Let’s go back inside. It’s cold.”
We hadn’t even taken a step and both of them started to growl deep in their throats. I jerked around for the cause, the beam from the flashlight landing on a shadow that moved. I gasped then turned to run. I felt hands on me, felt the hesitation before the shove. I heard the scream as the dog bit into my attacker, but I had lost my balance and the edge was right there. I fell over the side, a brutal slide as I was tossed and turned and scraped by rocks and branches. I landed at the bottom in a jarring hit. My hands immediately moved to my stomach. The baby. I ached everywhere. Tears fell as I cradled my stomach hoping to hold the baby there. I climbed to my feet, then lost my balance and fell back on my butt when Boomer and Champ came barreling down the side. My heroes. “We need to get back to the house,” I told them as the three of us limped back in the direction of home. Five minutes later, I got turned around. It was so dark, even with the moon and the flashlight. Everything looked the same. I didn’t bring my cell. I should have. My body ached and I felt cramps. The tears fell harder. While I fumbled my way home, I was losing my baby. We walked some more when a cramp so painful doubled me over. No, please no. I flashed the light around us and noticed the trees thinned ahead. We stepped into the healing circle. I couldn’t go any farther. I curled up on the ground, bringing my knees up to my chest holding my baby inside me. Boomer and Champ curled around me. That was how Brochan found us in the morning.
BROCHAN
Nine came and went. I almost called her, I’d been half hard since I left her, but she had been sleeping a lot more lately. It was why I had suggested she call me. As much as I wanted to hear her voice, wanted to hear her moan and come for me, I’d let her sleep. I was only in Edinburgh because I didn’t want her knowing what I was doing until it was done. I had finally decided what I wanted done with the old McIntyre land. I had a meeting with the contractors in the morning. There was another reason I came into Edinburgh, a stop I had made before I checked into the hotel. That was for Lizzie too. I wasn’t getting any sleep until I took care of my problem. I rubbed my cock, memories of our last time in the lodge, naked, her on her knees in front of the fire, me behind her, driving into her, her tight pussy, the soft moans in the back of her throat, the way she held tight even after she came, milking my cock dry. My other hand worked my balls as I fisted my cock and really got down to business. The growl burned the back of my throat as I came on my chest. I still ached for her, but I climbed from bed and headed to the shower.
Jerking awake, my heart was hammering and I was soaked with sweat. A nightmare. Rubbing my hands over my face, I checked the clock. It was only three. I tried for sleep but something wasn’t right. I took a shower but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. My cell rang. I snatched it up. “What’s wrong?”
It was a hysterical Fenella. “It’s Lizzie. She’s not here and neither are the dogs.”
My heart stopped. “When did you see her last?”
“Around eight last night.”
It got cold last night, but she was damn lucky it hadn’t gotten cold enough to be life threatening. I was going to tie the woman to me. “She probably got turned around again in the woods. I’m leaving now. Call the police, start the search. The dogs will bark if you call them.” I hung up, packed up and was in my car ten minutes later. Why hadn’t the dogs gotten her home? Mac and Ava came to mind and the possibility that Lizzie wasn’t just lost caused a pain in my chest that was suffocating. I sped the whole fucking way home.
Pulling around the drive, it wasn’t just cop cars but locals too, Blair, Bridget, Molly, Bruce and Fergus.
I jumped from my car. “Have you found her?”
Fergus was shaken, and knowing the man was a ballbuster, had the stabbing pain in my chest amplifying. “We’re sweeping in a pattern, but so far…”
I didn’t wait, running into the woods where they usually played. “Boomer! Champ! Boomer! Champ!” Why weren’t they barking? Fear, an emotion I wasn’t accustomed to, twisted in my gut.
I ran to the lodge and slammed open the door. “Lizzie!”
Empty.
I backtracked and headed to the loch. She wasn’t there. Where the hell was she? Fuck. My hands shook as I pulled them through my hair. Think. Where the fuck would she be? The circle. She’d found her way there once; maybe she had again.
I broke into the circle then stopped and nearly went to my knees at the sight that greeted me. Three bodies curled around each other. Her boys were protecting her, but she was so pale and still. Boomer and Champ looked up when I dropped down at their side; they were shivering, but they were protecting her.
My voice broke when I whispered, “Lizzie.”
I pulled off her glove; her hand was ice cold. Yanking off my jacket, I wrapped it around her. Her eyes fluttered open and tears filled my own because for a few seconds, I thought she was dead. Living a life without her, fuck that.
“The baby,” she whispered. “I think I lost the baby.” Curling into her, I pressed my lips to hers. Tasted her tears that blended with mine.
“Let’s get you home.”
“The baby.”
“You’re in the healing circle, mo leannan. You spent the night here.”
Her sad eyes, wet with tears, looked hopeful. “Boomer and Champ?”
“Protecting their lady.” I kissed her again then lifted her into my arms. “Let’s get you home.”
LIZZIE
Brochan stood by the bed, hands in his pockets as the doctor examined me. He looked exhausted. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, but those pale blues never left me. Boomer and Champ were sleeping next to me on the bed.
“You’ve got a lot of scrapes and bruises. Did you take a tumble?”
It was more than that, but I’d wait for the doctor to leave. “Yes.”
“You need to be careful out there, lass. Maybe you shouldn’t walk the woods at night. Especially not in October, the weather is very unpredictable. You’re lucky it didn’t snow. If your dogs hadn’t been there, you would be in much worse shape.”
Was he not mentioning the baby because it was bad news? I had to know, even not wanting to hear the confirmation. I had to know. “The baby?”
His old hand covered mine. “Your baby is fine. Nice strong heartbeat.”
The tears slipped from the corners of my eyes.
“I’m ordering bed rest for the next few days.” He stood and addressed Brochan. “She’s going to be fine, they both are.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Brochan walked the doctor out before returning and settling on the edge of the bed. “You got lost,” he said as he brushed the hair from my face, rubbing his thumb over my cheek as he did. “Maybe I should tame back some of the woods.”
“I didn’t get lost. Boomer and Champ were playing, darting into the woods. They caught something, like they do. I went to bring them back…”
He touched my chin and held my gaze on him. “What happened?”
“Someone pushed me.”
He morphed right before my eyes. Here was the beast and he was out.
“Pushed you?”
“Boomer and Champ bit him.”
His voice was so soft, but it made the hair on my arms stand on end. “Someone lured you, waited for you and tried to…”
I hadn’t thought of that. “You don’t think the boys trapped something, you think something was waiting for them.”
“Someone has been watching. Where were you?”
“The woods to the right of the drive, right near the drop.”
He stood and moved with determined strides to the door.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, but I already knew.
Reaching the door, he looked back at me. The malice in his eyes caused a chill. “I’m about to get really fucking ugly.”
BROCHAN
“How is she?” Fergus asked as soon as I hit the entrance hall.
“She’s fine. So is the baby.”
“Baby?”
I kept going, out the front door and into the woods.
“She’s pregnant?”
I hadn’t realized Fergus had followed me. “Yes.”
He fell into step at my side. “Brianna always told me I was too harsh on you.”
I didn’t have time for this shit.
“Maybe…”
I interrupted him when I stopped walking because damn it I was pissed, he was here. Taking out some of this shit on him worked just fine with me. “What the fuck is your problem?”
“I don’t like you.”
“Yeah, I fucking get that part. Why?”
He moved into my face. “I remember the night she came home with the bruise.”
“You think I did that?”
“She said no, but she wouldn’t say how she got it. She was protecting someone and it was always you she protected.”
That took some of the wind out of my sail. She hadn’t mentioned my father, because that would have drawn suspicion, her being hurt by my father and the place burning down the same night. She was protecting me, again.
“It was my father.”
“Blame it on a dead man.”
“He’s not dead. He’s in a facility in Edinburgh…a mental facility.”
His dumfounded look might have stirred a grin if I wasn’t feeling homicidal.
“Where are you going?”
“Lizzie was pushed last night.”
Now he was pissed. “Pushed? By who?”
“I don’t know. But someone was waiting for her, knew her routine.”
I saw what I was looking for; Fergus saw it too.
“Is that a steak?”
I was already standing at the edge, looking down at the drop. It wasn’t far, maybe twenty feet, but it was steep and littered with rocks, branches and tree stumps. A wave of nausea moved through me. Lizzie was lucky she survived the fall with no more than some bruises and scratches.
Fergus joined me. “They could have killed her.”
“That was the intention.”
“Who? Who would do that?”
“I don’t know, but whoever did left with a souvenir. My dogs bit the fucker.”
“What are you going to do?”
I gave him a flat stare. “What I do best.”
I watched from the shadows as Fergus approached Tomas. He didn’t believe Tomas was capable of hurting anyone. I knew differently. I saw my confirmation when a bandage peeked out from under his sleeve. Fergus saw it too. That was all I needed to know.
I headed back to my car and called Gerard. After Edinburgh I had asked him to look into Tomas. I understood Ashley’s motivation, but I didn’t understand his. I got sidetracked with Mac and Ava, Lizzie, but now it was time to learn why Tomas O’Connell had such a hard on for me.
“I need to know what you’ve learned about Tomas O’Connell.”
“Cliff notes version, he hates you and wants you dead.”
“Then let’s make it easy for him.”
Lizzie packed a bag. Fenella and Finnegan were already packed. The staff was given a surprise vacation. I stood in our room, watching her…my eyes drifting to the little swell of her stomach. She’d been quiet since learning of my plan. We were cutting out the ugly and I was, just more graphically.
“How long?”
“No more than a week.”
“Are you sure he’ll come for you?”
“He’ll come.” I folded her into a hug. Her focus was on my chest. I lifted her chin. “I know we’re cutting out the…”
I hadn’t expected the hard look in her eyes. “An eye for an eye. If ever that applied. Just be careful.”
I smiled then kissed her; there was a little beast in my beauty.
The full moon illuminated the navy sky as wisps of clouds moved over the pale sphere. The few times he cased the castle, the forest that wrapped around it had been a symphony of sounds–wolves, owls, crickets. Tonight it was as if the creatures that roamed the dark knew a more dangerous predator was on the hunt. He knew of a door that never was locked, he slipped inside. Without a sound, he walked up the stairs and down the hall. His palm was sweating from both nerves and excitement as he pushed open the door, raised the gun and squeezed the trigger, spraying the bed with bullets. Surprise furrowed his brow when he flicked the lights on to find the room empty but for a small piece of paper addressed to him on the nightstand. The first trickle of fear slithered down his spine. With shaking hands he unfolded it. Penned in dark red ink was written only one word.
Run
Panic coated his throat and the finesse he had entered with only moments earlier had fled. Bone-deep terror replaced it. He did as instructed and ran. Reaching the staircase, he felt the hair at his nape stand on end. He wasn’t alone. The darkness took shape, staring back at him with ice-cold eyes.
BROCHAN
“You wanted me. Here I am.”
Tomas’ hand shook as he lifted the gun. I knocked it free; the gun skipped across the floor.
His terror filled eyes followed the gun before turning back to me.
It took everything in me not to snap his neck. “You could have killed her.”
“I didn’t mean to kill her. Just scare her.”
One hard shove sent Tomas flying down the staircase. He landed in a heap, but he was still breathing. His head turned, fearfully tracking my approach, one step at a time. “How does it fucking feel?”
Grabbing him by the collar, I punched him in the face. He screamed. I punched him again and again and again. My hand ached; his screams had turned to whimpers and déjà vu slammed into me. My hand stopped mid-punch because I had been here before. Cycles. Fucking hell, this was another one. I shoved Tomas back to the floor and stepped away from him.
“You can rot in a cell.” I reached for my phone and called the police.