~
The more I thought about it, the more I thought that witch was right. Trouble was coming, I could feel it in my bones, and it felt as if the storm clouds were gathering above our island that had nothing to do with the unpredictable weather.
The more I tried to tune into that feeling the more something tried to push me away. Perhaps whatever it was wasn’t meant for me. Perhaps whatever it was didn’t want me to know about it. That sent up some red flags, big ones, and maybe Gran could shed some light on what was going on.
I turned at the corner of the bistro and almost ran face to chest into a man that sent my alarm bells ringing even more. My magic fizzled and sizzled within me, drawing itself into a tight ball of energy in my midsection, and I could feel the electricity at my fingertips ready to be released.
I loved that I no longer needed to work so hard to draw my magic to weapon readiness, but I hated the fact that life had changed so much that it needed to do it.
“One of the witches — that’s unfortunate,” the big man said over his broad shoulder toward someone that I could only see part of, and that part was all muscled shoulder and arm — but it was the depth of the man’s tone and the underlying rumble of a growl that piqued my interest.
“What do we do?” Muscles asked, and that didn’t pique my interest, but it certainly did raise the warning level within me.
“Well, that would depend on if you wanted your backsides fried or not,” I offered back.
I know that I wasn’t supposed to challenge a werewolf, but they made it so hard not to.
“Perhaps we should take her with us until we find Ross,” the first one said.
It was true that the man was big and brawny, and looked like he belonged on the cover of a men’s magazine, he also looked at me as if he couldn’t quite make up his mind if he wanted to kill me or not. That didn’t bode well for any of us.
Tourists still dotted the area and an altercation between us, either physical or magical, could have been caught on a phone camera.
“What do you want with Ross?” I had to ask. Well, I didn’t, I could have kept my mouth shut, but it wasn’t in me to do it.
“That’s none of your business,” muscles tossed back, and when I took a step to one side so that I could see who I was talking to, I kind of wished I hadn’t.
The man was a behemoth. The first guy was big, but the second, well, let’s just say that he’d fill a doorway without leaving many gaps.
“You know, steroids are bad for you,” I offered him a smirk to go with my sarcasm, and why not? It wasn’t as if I was trying to make friends.
“We could just rip off her head…” the first guy said, and I snorted a chuckle.
“And I could just rip off one of your overstuffed arms and beat you to death with it.” I was actually glad to see Malachi. I certainly hadn’t relished the thought of going two on one with the shifters, and the uneasy looks that they shot in his direction did make me chuckle.
“Oh, you thought you were picking on a female that didn’t have backup and couldn’t use her magic,” I announced, feeling the warm glow of satisfaction inside me.
So, vampires were good for something other than prettying up the place.
“Oops,” Malachi said, offering them a smirk and following it up with a grimace. “Now you’ve made her mad, and didn’t anyone tell you, boys, that a mad witch isn’t going to brighten your day with sunbeams and unicorns?”
“We’re just here to…” the first one started, and I snorted my contempt for him.
“Did you ask permission?” I cut him off and made his top lip twitch in anger.
He returned his gaze to mine, and I was glad he wasn’t a Warlock, because if looks could kill without magic, then I’d be boots up.
“I’m nae asking your permission,” Muscles bit out.
“No?” I gave him the double-barrelled look of both of my eyebrows going up and a steely gaze to boot. He narrowed his dark eyes on me and held his nerve. “How about you?” I turned my attention towards the man closest to me.
“I told you why we’re here,” he growled, just a little rumble but it was enough to get my full attention.
“To find Ross, and what would you be doing once you found him?” I demanded.
With Malachi backing me up I no longer felt as if I needed to hold back. What could they do? Kidnap me? Shift? Nope, I now had the upper hand, and if they wanted to dance with the Devil, well, I’d give them something to remember me by.
“Ross is the alpha,” Muscles said, and I have to admit that threw me for a moment.
“Of what?” I demanded and could have head-butted the nearest brick wall. I’d just taken dumb to a whole new level.
“Our pack,” the first guy offended back, and his tone made me feel like my question was definitely a stupid one, not that I needed it – der.
Ross had killed Fraser, and Fraser had become the alpha when he’d killed Lachlan, but if nobody had reported Fraser’s killing spree to the pack, then in truth, Ross had taken them both out.
Oh boy, this was not good on so many levels.
“And?” I was determined to get to the bottom of why they were here, even if I didn’t trust them I still might be able to start thinking a couple of steps ahead of them.
“He needs to lead the pack or face a challenge for alpha,” Muscles said, and from the attitude that oozed from the man, I got the impression that the challenge part might come either way and from him.
“Oh, go back home,” I bit out. There was no way in Hades that I was going to stand by and watch Ross fight that man.
“Rules,” Muscles said.
“Laws,” the other guy added.
“Great double act, do you two play clubs?” Malachi said.
“You need permission to be on Skye, and you’re not going to get it from…”
“The alpha’s here – we’re here,” the first guy growled.
“Is it just me or is it like talking to a brick wall?” Malachi said.
“Brick walls are smarter,” I offered with a shrug.
“True, but you don’t get the same level of satisfaction when you hit one,” Malachi said, practically offering the challenge up on a silver platter.
Muscles shifted his weight on his feet and tightened his hands into huge fists at his sides. The glare of his eyes said trouble, and the flare of his nostrils as he dragged in a deep breath said that he was barely containing his aggressive nature.
Mr Short Temper looked as if he was about to do something very, very stupid.
~
Night is day – day is night – hide this space and time from sight. Night is day – day is night – hide this space and time from sight. Night is day – day is night – oh, boy, here we go!
It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, to use a cloaking spell on such a big thing as an outdoor area, but I’d pulled on my magic, and that of my sisters, and was giving it a damn good try.
I’d done it with objects, and even the cat on occasion, but this was so much bigger that I could feel it draining my magic reserves – I wasn’t exactly the battery bunny of the magical world – no witch was – everyone’s power supply had a limit and needed a top-up from the natural world around us.
We were like mobile phones, and I needed to find a source to plug into. The Loch seemed like the obvious choice; tidal power eat your heart out, I was going for something more radical.
The back door to the bistro burst outwards, just as Malachi and the two shifters started going at it.
“Go get ‘em,” Moira hissed out at Ross the moment that the big man growled in anger, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Ross was still training his wolf if training was the right word, and going up against a couple of shifters didn’t seem like the logical choice to keep his beast on the down low.
“If he shifts…” I warned her, as my siblings took control of their own magic and helped me create the illusion of normality while building an impenetrable wall around the area. I just hoped that nobody walked into it – how would we explain that one?
“I’ve got Scooby snacks,” Moira chuckled, not taking her eyes from the fighting.
“Just flash your breasts,” Eileen giggled. “That’ll get his attention.”
“He’d trip over his own paws and knock himself out,” I tossed in for good measure.
“Can we p-lease concentrate on what we’re supposed to be doing and not my perky breasts?” Moira bit out, but I did note the reference to perky that she’d dropped in there.
Even in the midst of a vampire-werewolf fistfight, she still managed to give herself top billing – bless her.