

### Contents

Harley—Awakening

Books by Claudy Conn

Copyright Page

~ Prologue ~

~ One ~

~ Two ~

~ Three ~

~ Four ~

~ Five ~

~ Six ~

~ Seven ~

~ Eight ~

~ Nine ~

~ Ten ~

~ Eleven ~

~ Twelve ~

~ Epilogue ~

Excerpt: Awakening—Bray (unedited)

~ Prelude ~

~ Prologue ~

About Claudy Conn

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Harley—Awakening

Books by Claudy Conn

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Harley—Awakening (Novella)

Awakening—Bray _(coming soon)_

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### Harley—Awakening

By

Claudy Conn

Copyright Page

Harley—Awakening

By Claudy Conn

http://www.claudyconn.com

Copyright © 2015 by Claudy Conn

First edition edited by: Kathryn Riehl

Second edition edited by: Karen Babcock

Cover Artist: Kendra Egert

All rights reserved

Published in the United States of America

Smashwords editions

June 2015

This novella first appeared in _Romancing the Paranormal_ , published May 2015

Unedited excerpt of _Awakening—Bray_

Copyright © 2015 by Claudy Conn

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Names, characters, and events depicted in this book are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

~ Prologue ~

I STOOD STARING at my easel, my paintbrush in my hand, and smiled, finally satisfied with it. My father caught my attention as he purposely maneuvered the wheelbarrow past me, winked, grinned, and called out, "Are you hungry, baby? I am. Go see if you can steal me a plateful before the crowd gets here."

I laughed. "You're always starving, Dad. When will they all get here?"

He stopped, put a hand through his chestnut curls, and sighed, "Soon, I think, Harley, soon."

As though to prove him right, the sound of wheels on gravel came to our ears. We turned to see truckloads of people, _our clan,_ driving up the pebbled driveway and parking along the grassy square near our three-car garage. It was a bright, sunny day, but they, unlike most of our kind, were unconcerned. They jumped out of their vehicles and into the sun's full rays, laughing and exchanging quips with my mom, who ran over to greet them. All were in happy moods as they carried trays of food toward the picnic tables we had set up earlier.

Our clan, the McDagus vampire clan, was immune to the rays of the sun. Immune because of my mother, who was a powerful white witch. The only way her spell worked, though, was if the vampire gave up drinking human blood. Not all vampires were willing or able to do that.

Yes, _vampires._ Not ordinary vampires, but vampires all the same.

Over a hundred years ago, my dad acquired the deed to a huge stretch of land up here in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains overlooking Lake Placid, New York. He settled here with my mom and a few of their dearest friends.

The members of our clan enjoyed the privacy of their own homes, on plots they owned, all nestled in the five hundred acres surrounding my family's land.

It didn't take long for other vamps wanting what my parents wanted—peace and as much 'normalcy' as they could muster—to join them. Thus, the McDagus clan was formed, and they prospered.

Clan members set down their roots under my parents' supervision— _and rules_. They owned and successfully operated stores and restaurants in the village and got on very well. To all outward appearances we were normal. To all outward appearances we were just like everyone else and lived our private lives just above the foothills.

Yeah, oh yeah, vampires must drink blood to survive. Sure, we drank blood. After all, as I said, we were vampires—except for my mom.

We didn't, however, kill humans, and we obviously didn't drink human blood. We hunted, and we survived, and life there was (I think) glorious. My dad had always run a tight but fair ship.

"Harley!"

I turned and saw William, who everyone considered my boyfriend. I suppose he was. He was big and beautiful, and he thought he was in love with me. _He wasn't_. He couldn't have been, because I didn't feel that kind of connection with him.

"Harley!" he called again, grinning like a bear who had found a pot of honey.

I waved at him and smiled when he stopped to chat with friends. _Remember_ , I told myself. _Remember this always_. Even as this thought occurred to me, I wondered why it should. _It_ _was as though I knew._

Maybe I did.

My parents wanted us to make a match of it, but I hadn't been able to say yes to William, even though he was quite a catch.

Something was missing—that something that would say 'forever'. Oh, he was sweet-natured and giving, and, holy cow, the sex was good. He was a hunk of hunks, but... _there it was, the 'but'._

I was an oddity in our clan. I was born to my parents about twenty years ago. Vamps aren't supposed to be able to have children, but witches, even immortal witches like my mom, can and do. The long and the short of it, my mom always said, was that something magical happened, and sure enough, there I was—part vamp, part witch.

Mom said that made me special and that I would one day have a purpose. I didn't know about that, but I did know I had lots of abilities other vamps didn't—more even than my mother, abilities she said skipped her but came to me from my ancestors.

All at once, a blast of fear snapped my head sharply towards the woods. I felt a threat in the air.

I tried to ignore it as I took a tray from Hattie, one of my friends, and carried it to a picnic table. And, yes, it was our drink of choice—bottles containing animal blood.

As I looked around I couldn't help being proud of my mom as she laughed and hugged our guests. As always I was struck by her beauty. Her long red hair blowing in the summer breeze made her easy to find amongst the crowd of our friends. Dad liked to say I was her twin. I suppose I was, except for my eyes. I got his amber eyes instead of Mom's green ones. I teased her a lot, telling her they were 'witchy green.'

Dad pulled her in for a kiss. I made sure they saw me put a finger in my mouth as though to gag, and they laughed. They weren't more than twenty feet away, and life at that moment seemed beautiful and perfect.

In a human's heartbeat, all that changed.

A minute before they came, I felt it.

My mother and I had a moment together. I knew she knew as well.

We both shouted ' _Run!_ ' at the same time. But there was _no time_ , none, because our clan didn't understand. Even as they heard us tell them to run, they looked around and hesitated.

Escape was not an option. Total and gripping fear raced through my body.

A threat was no longer just in the air. _I_ _t had arrived, surrounded, stormed._

"Harley," my mother screamed and ran to me. She held up a vial she had produced from her jeans pocket. "Drink this, baby— _now_. Hurry."

"What? What is it?" I asked and saw something desperate in her eyes, those beautiful, witchy green eyes, and it scared the shit out of me. I knew in that moment that the worst thing ever was about to take place. "Mom?"

" _Drink!_ " she shouted as she poured the damned stuff down my throat. I choked on the first swallow and then took the vial away from her and downed it like I was doing a shot.

I saw relief on her face.

"Baby, I didn't know it would be so soon. I knew, but I thought we had time. I'm sorry... I hoped I was wrong. I hoped we'd have more time. Today was supposed to be your big day, a party for your birthday. I am so sorry." Tears ran down her lovely cheeks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my clan begin to gather, back to back. Most of them were unarmed and unfit to take on what was coming, but the scent now was all around us.

Everything happened at once. I stood helpless... like when you reach out to save someone and right in front of you they are taken.

My world was shattered in that old cliché, that blink of an eye.

They came with wicked and bloody intent... _they came_. I had never seen werewolves that huge, vicious, and purposeful—and it was daytime. What the hell?

I stood for a moment, horrified, as I watched my beloved friends try to fight them off. These werewolves were as large as horses, each one with eyes crazed with a vicious 'kill intent'. Blood splattered everywhere as they attacked from every direction. It was a chaos of screams, painful bellows, and victorious howls.

Some of our clan tried to scatter, some stood to fight. All were being taken down and brutally torn apart. Blood covered the grass...

The atmosphere had the stench of blood, vampire blood— _my clan's blood._

A few of our beta warriors, who had never before faced combat, managed to kill a werewolf or two as they bravely fought to protect us, but they were so outnumbered. I stood helpless as they, too, were mutilated and fell into their own pools of blood, their body parts everywhere.

I joined my mother, and we used magic and managed to take down a couple of the werewolves charging at us, but there were too many all lunging at once. A few of our female vampires went back to back with us, but I knew they were scared. The werewolves made a circle around us, drooling bloodied saliva from their sharp canines.

All at once, my dad tore through the circle, his sword of silver slicing any werewolf in his path. I had seen him run into the barn earlier, and I knew he'd gone to retrieve his sword. He shoved my mother, me, and the three remaining female vamps—my friends, akin to my 'aunts'—behind him. Our beta soldiers had been destroyed right before our eyes, and we all knew this was the end, but we would go down fighting. What else was there?

I knew we were all going to die that day.

My mom touched my face and said, "It will be okay, Harley—we will always be with you." Her fingers stroked my eyes and then my forehead, and I experienced a charge of energy, _her energy_ , enter my brain, but there wasn't any time—I didn't know at that moment what it meant.

A werewolf, very different from the others and larger than all the rest, stood and motioned for the others to be still. The six of us—my parents, three females vampires, and I—were the only remaining members of our clan. With a nod from the alpha, the three women trembling behind us were taken down swiftly, more swiftly than seemed possible.

My dad managed to execute two of the weres. Everywhere I looked, I saw a scattering of guts and blood, werewolf parts within our circle, but so many still came at us. Then the alpha stood very still, snarling at us as his pack gathered around him.

I was stunned to hear the alpha speak in a raspy voice. Werewolves can't ordinarily speak in wolf form—then again, they can't change without the full moon, don't stay in wolf form once the sun is up, and aren't the size of a horse.

I realized he wasn't just a werewolf. _His scent told me at once he was more than a werewolf. He was a hybrid._

He growled, "McDagus. _I warned you what it would be_."

"But, Banks... why... why? What have you become, that you would slaughter innocents? Why do this?" my father asked. "You could have come _for just me_. I would have met you if that's what you wanted."

" _Just you?_ " the hybrid roared. "Do you think that would have satisfied me? _She"_ —he nodded his bared canines toward my mom— _"should have been mine._ You took her from me. I wanted her—I told you how I felt about her. _You were my friend,_ and you stole her from me. Even after I told you how I needed her, didn't want to live life without her, you—who claimed to be my closest friend— _took her!_ "

" _I was never yours, would never have been yours_ ," my mother interjected. "I didn't love you, Banks."

I listened to this in utter stupefaction. All this bloodshed because of a love feud? All this pain because of one creature's loss? _How wicked could anyone be?_

The hybrid my dad called Banks howled, and it was a sound full of his agony and hate. Then, with a snap of his jaws, Banks tore my father's hamstrings, and Dad sank to the ground, gasping. Banks was on him, and as I watched in helpless disbelief, he ripped my father's head off.

Gone, in the flash of a moment, gone, my dad... gone?

I stood in shock, choking on my scream. I couldn't believe he was so brutally taken from me. I watched in denial as my dad's head rolled away from his body. I cried out the only word I could say, "Noooo... nooo..."

I heard my mother's choking words as she said my father's name and then in Gaelic whispered words of enchantment as she held me close.

My knees were weak under me.

We were the last of our clan, and we clung to each other.

Then Mom stood straight. She stepped in front of me and told the beast, "You have succeeded. You have taken my alpha mate from me. You have destroyed his clan and the life we had. You have the satisfaction of knowing that I suffer. Do what you will now to me, but let my child leave."

" _It is not enough_ ," he bellowed with fury.

"Take me then, if that is what you want, Banks, but spare my child. She is an innocent."

"Too late!" he answered and stalked up close to her. Suddenly he shifted into human. He stood there, a large, vibrant male filled with one emotion: _hatred._

He stared at her and said harshly, "You were the one— _my one_ —but I no longer want you, _witch._ I have learned to live without you and mean to continue to do so."

I knew what he was about to do. I felt it with every fiber of my being, and I let out a violent cry as I attacked him with all the magic I had inside me. My arms outstretched and my hands sizzling with blue energy, I threw all I had at him.

It rocked him backwards, and he yelped in pain, but _i_ _t was useless_. _I was useless_. He was so powerful, and even in his human form he was incredibly strong. He steadied himself and sneered at me. "Don't think white magic will allow you to harm me."

I had to think of something. I had to save my mom.

Even as I tried to think I was distracted by his wolves changing back into human form. How was this possible? They weren't shifters, and they weren't hybrids.

How could I stop someone with power like that?

All thoughts ceased, and I went into shock as I stared at him. This was really happening: he had actually killed my father, and now he as about to kill my mother.

I charged him again, and he swatted at me. He was in human form, but he had produced claws and slashed me open across my neck and shoulders.

The force of his blow sent me down in a pool of my own blood.

I was winded and lay helpless as I bled out. The vamp in me began healing the wounds as I tried to get back up and rush him. _I had to save my mom._

And then the unthinkable happened.

I was up but froze in place when he slammed his fist into my mother's chest and grabbed her heart. He pulled out my mom's heart and held it up even as she collapsed, lifeless, to the earth.

I couldn't move—stunned with disbelief, shock, and denial once again.

My entire world had just been ripped apart and mashed into the earth. Like a coward I stood there waiting for my death. All I could think was _let me die now._

He turned hate-filled, glowing eyes to me and shouted, " _You_ could have been _mine_. Your mother made a mistake all those years ago. She chose _him._ He couldn't save himself, let alone her, and now _you_ too will die, and she will be no more, _and I will be free_."

Anger welled up inside me, and with the last ounce of strength I had, I shot out pure white magical energy, a birthright from my mother and my ancestors.

It hit him, and this time, it stunned him.

He recouped and grinned wickedly before he told me, "She should have prepared you. She should have known I would come." He laughed, and the evil sound swept through me like the poison from his claws.

He picked me up with one fist closed around my neck and dangled me as though I weighed less than a feather. I couldn't even struggle and, in truth, didn't want to. I wanted to die and join my parents and my clan. His fangs displayed themselves, and I knew I was going to get my wish. He was a hybrid, and like a werewolf's bite, his would be deadly.

When his teeth connected with my flesh, I knew it was over. Death would be agonizing, but at least I would join my loved ones.

He dropped me to the blood-filled grass and sneered as he turned to his pack of monsters now in human form.

He shifted back into wolf, and as a pack they did the same. Then they howled their victory to the winds.

Poison seeped into my organs, and pain began its vicious journey. Still I asked myself, even in those last moments, _But... how?_ _Weres can't shift on command... he must be getting help._

I watched him take his pack and leave, all of them walking into the woods and away from the destruction they had wrought on our peaceful clan. I had seen them in their human form, and even though I was about to die, I consigned their faces to memory.

Agony swept through me. Grief tore through my heart and laid it open. Tentacles filled with poison rushed through my blood and left me in a world of pain.

Whimpering, I tried crawling closer to my mom, who was only a few feet away.

I cried out as I witnessed my father, a vampire well over a hundred years old, disintegrate. All my clan members were disintegrating.

_Happy twenty-first, Harley_ , thought I bitterly.

Banks would have known my death would be slower than all the others. I was a hybrid of sorts, witch and vampire. He had wanted me to see the horror of what he had done.

He knew I would suffer, and as I did, I was ashamed at the sounds I made. And then it came to me, one overriding emotion. It welled inside me and burst. I had never felt it before, _but even as I died_ , it was a terrifyingly dominant sensation that obliterated all else.

HATE.

~ One ~

ONE EYELID OPENED and then shut.

Where was I? _Dead_. I was dead. Where did dead vampires go? Pain shot through my body like millions of tiny, sharp, pointed jabs. I closed my one eye because I couldn't focus anyway and didn't really want to.

I thought I heard my mother's voice calling, _Harley._

She needed me, so I tried to go through the process again. I was disoriented, and something was wrong with my other eyelid. It wouldn't open, and I realized it was sealed shut. Why? How?

The world was gray and green and smelled of blood and wolf. I wanted to hide in the darkness and not think. My mother's voice sounded in my head again, though. _Harley. Harley, get up._

I dragged myself into a sitting position and gingerly touched my sealed eyelid.

_Dried blood._ It was shut tight with dried blood.

I rubbed it until I was able to flicker it open. I managed to get onto my knees and touched the ground to steady myself.

The question repeated itself: _Where was I?_ And then it all came flooding back in living color, and those colors were only red and black and more red.

I looked at my mother's lifeless body lying only a few feet away. Oh no, oh no. Why couldn't it have been a nightmare?

Her beloved green, witchy eyes were open. Her crushed heart lay on the grass beside her, and she was gone—forever gone. I gagged and was convulsed with a tsunami wave of horror.

I sank back onto my rump on the grass and closed my eyes again.

Anguish bubbled painfully through my blood. Agony swept through my body. Torturous and demanding reality made me dry-heave.

And then came the question: _How was I alive?_

She came to me in that moment, my mother's voice in my mind. I was alive because of her. She had prepared and made me drink a potion she knew would save me— _change me,_ but give me back a life. _Oh, Mom, what have you done?_

I didn't want this. I didn't want to live. _I wanted oblivion._

Her image came to life before my haze-filled eyes, but I knew she was gone. I knew because I was sitting beside her in a pool of her drying blood.

I looked around as my body writhed in agony from the physical changes still taking place inside me. _Drink_ , she had said. _D_ _rink._

Her image floated above the grass, a ghost of what she had been. Her voice whispered in my head, sweetly, encouragingly.

I shook my head free. _No. How?_ I had somehow lived and had gone insane, I thought at once.

And then I remembered how she touched my forehead after I downed that awful liquid. She had spelled a memory into me— _her memory._

I would have it always—her face, my dad's face, and her voice. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear her just then. It was so hard to listen to her while her body lay in the late afternoon sun.

My mom was strong and wouldn't take no for an answer. She came to me gently but with a force that held me fast and told me why I was alive.

She had seen some of the horror we had just experienced in a vision—some, not all. It was why she had created the potion only the day before. She had needed time to create more for all the clan... for my father and herself, but that wasn't to be.

Banks had killed me. Oh, I died all right, but I came back, and I came back as something unique. I was still a vampire but now also a shifter, a hybrid in the 'normal' sense of the word. That was due to Banks's poisonous bite, which my mother had foreseen. I survived it, and my body incorporated his shifter elements and merged them with my vampire DNA. However, there was more. My mom had created a potion filled with her own special brand of magic, and my blood had absorbed it as it made it my own. I stared at her transparent image, standing right there in front of me... _speaking_ to me. She told me what she had done to keep me alive, but all I wanted was to sink into her arms.

I couldn't. My parents, my clan, were gone forever.

She told me I was now a force of magic, but I needed training. She wanted me to go to Mike and Tanya. She said my magic needed darkening for the days to come.

It was all too much. My mother—a white witch—wanted me to learn dark magic?

She told me I had always been _the impossible_ because I was born to an immortal white witch and a vampire. Now I was even more impossible, and it would be very difficult to kill me.

Banks had known how to kill my immortal mother. There are three ways to kill an immortal white witch. Banks had taken her in the most hideous of those ways.

Suddenly all thought was suspended as my body convulsed once again, and a seizure shook me so hard I thought my body would splinter into many pieces. I lay helpless on the earth, trembling from the tremors that shook me.

I tried to get a grip and thought of my mother. Just as suddenly as the seizure had taken me into convulsions, it stopped. _Magic_.

I had used magic to stop it. That magic had come automatically, somehow. I knew it—felt it softly coursing through me.

I sucked in a long breath of air and sat up.

I had to honor what my mom had done for me. I had to be strong, because I was going to get the _son-of-a-bitch_ that had killed her and my father and tear him limb from limb. Then I was going to get each and every one of his werewolves and do the same to them. No pity, just like what they had displayed—none whatsoever.

I looked again at my mom, lying there, and cried my heart out.

After a time, I sat up and saw I was covered in dried blood.

I looked around at the piles of ash scattered all over our once beautiful yard. Ash was all that remained of my dad, my clan. They had been kind and generous beings who had not hurt anyone in over one hundred years.

_Oh no, Oh NO!_ How could I have lost them— _lost them all?_

He had done this for revenge. Banks. I knew only one name—Banks. Well, I was going to damn well find him and show him what revenge felt like when it was turned in his direction.

It hurt to see their ash remains blow away in the wind.

It started to rain, and the pelting wetness was a relief as it hit my flesh and soaked me through. Ignoring the wretched sharpness of the pain shooting through my belly, I got to my feet.

I had to bury my mom. _I had to_. I ran to the house, stripped off my bloody clothing, went into the hot shower, and stood there forever.

I wanted to wash it all away.

After a time, I was able to dry myself off, go into my room, and dress in jeans and a black T-shirt.

The next thing I did was lift the lid of my hope chest. Hope? _All gone_.

After emptying it of all the keepsakes I had collected over the years, I lined it with her favorite quilt. Then, with so much more than vamp strength, I picked it up, took it outside, and set it beside my mom's lifeless body.

As gently as I could, and with sobs raging through me, making me feel as though I were being split in half, I placed her inside.

My dad loved building things and working the land. We had a successful winery that he'd started when he bought the place, and so tractors and other such machinery were in the barn.

All at once, the rain stopped, and I looked up. Something glinted brightly before it vanished, and I thought it was Mom's soul joining her ancestors.

The McDagus Vineyard was a thing of the past.

There wasn't anything I could do about it. I was certain that as soon as the devil and his pack were able to transfer the deeds, he would install wolves here to run what belonged to my family. I thought of burning it, not letting them have my home, but, no. _O_ _ne day I would reclaim it!_

I took my dad's old Bobcat and dug up a spot near the boulder where my parents had carved out our initials. I dug deep into the earth and then jumped out of the Bobcat, lifted my hope chest, and put it as gently as I could in the earth that she had always loved and respected.

I laid my mom to rest... I couldn't do the same for my dad, whose ashes had scattered in the wind.

I got back into the Bobcat and used its shovel to push the earth over the hope chest, crying all the while. When I was done I jumped out and ran to pick up a garden shovel. I dug up her favorite rose bushes and her perennials and planted them just beside the boulder near her grave.

I had to leave. I knew it was time. I had to leave.

Banks would be back with his pack to claim my father's place. I wanted him to think I'd disintegrated like all the vampires. I wanted him to think I was dead.

He would see my mother's grave and think perhaps our Indian friends who lived in the foothills had found her. He wouldn't pick an argument with them. Supernaturals of all sorts kept their distance from the Shatchwaanie tribe. They were shifters, and they were an ancient tribe, a powerful one that even hybrids would not want to engage in battle.

It was time for me to go, but as I looked around, I vowed to come back.

I knew what I needed—my mom had told me.

I needed to go dark. _Could I_? My mother gave me a white witch's power. Could I acquire some dark sorcery to go with it? She had always told me white magic could defeat dark but that there were times it should mingle. _This was one of those times_.

I would have to know—learn how to use it. Yeah, well, I think I had already gone a little dark. You can't hate without that happening, and I hated from the depths of the newly changed soul I now possessed. If Banks was going to die at my hands, and he damn well was, I needed every advantage, no matter the cost. He was an ancient hybrid with dark magic, so there was something I was going to have to do immediately: _t_ _rain._

I was going to shove my hand into his chest and take his black heart from it. _Oh yeah, hot damn_ , I was going to make him suffer. I would keep him alive and make him watch me crush his heart in my hands.

_It would not_ bring back my mom and dad. It would not bring back my friends, my clan, but it would put an end to his evil. He—his pack—would not be allowed to benefit long from the deaths of my family.

I closed my eyes as I walked to my dad's black SUV and remembered I needed to pack and I needed blood. I was weaker than I should be, and it was from thirst.

I had consigned Banks's face to memory. Handsome in spite of his evil, with a scar across his chin. He shouldn't have been so handsome. His face should have mirrored what was inside him. But the devil comes in many guises.

I had an advantage, though. This devil thought I was dead. _He didn't know that, one day soon, I would be coming for him!_

* * *

I found what I needed in the fridge and drank it down swiftly. Suddenly something happened. Glowing—I felt myself glow and rushed to the mirror. Right, I was glowing. What the hell?

Some quirk of the change.

I hurriedly packed and stuffed everything into the SUV. It was time I headed down towards a hidden dirt road that would take me to a stretch of private land deep in the foothills, to the two people my parents trusted more than any others on earth.

Mike and Tanya Benewah lived well above the village, and although their land was spelled against intruders, my parents and I were always able to pass the magical barrier. Mike and his wife were Shatchwaanie and were also guardians of their Shifter tribe. They lived on the outskirts of the tribe's land, and they kept watch. Theirs was a sacred Shatchwaanie outpost.

They were an immortal tribe with untold abilities. Theirs was an ancient heritage, and legend had it that they would only take arms against an enemy when their land was in danger.

I parked outside their log cabin home, but even as I got out of the SUV Mike was already stampeding towards me. I rushed him and sank into his sturdy arms; he was a life jacket in a roaring ocean. "Mike!"

" _I know, little one_ ," he said as he brushed my hair with his hand and then patted my back. "I saw it all in the Orb just now. I was just on my way up to get you..."

I looked at his beautiful, weathered face, and I saw his dark eyes begin to glow yellow with the fury he felt, the kind of fury that seeps in and grows when you know you're helpless to change what you can't. As a Shatchwaanie Indian, he was, along with his mate and the others of their tribe, forbidden from taking sides in the wars of outsiders.

Mike and his wife, Tanya, had been the best friends my parents had ever had. They had seen many changes over their years together. That in itself was an oddity because, as a rule, their tribe of shapeshifters neither trust nor approved of vampires.

"Where is Tanya? Is she okay?" I suddenly was frightened for her.

"She is warding our perimeter with a new spell. He—Carsen Banks—thinks you are dead, but we don't want to take any chances. The ward she is installing now cannot be broken." He lifted my chin. "You will remember your parents, your clan, as they were."

"I will." I nodded.

He hugged me. "Tanya has given herself a new tattoo, one to protect herself from the dark magic she has called on." He gave me a half smile and patted my shoulder as he released me. "It is a doozy." He sighed heavily and added, "I sent her word through our mind link that you were here. She should be back soon."

"Will he come after the Shatchwaanie?" I asked worriedly.

"He is arrogant, but he isn't stupid. If he were to attack us, he would incur the wrath of the entire tribe. He won't take unnecessary chances. He has, he believes, accomplished some of what he wants," Mike said sadly.

"Some?" I asked, diverted by this. "What more could he want?"

He took my arm. "Come with me, Harley. I want to show you something."

We went inside, and he sat me in front of the table where his ancient Orb reposed in a pink crystal bowl filled with heather. Pink crystal has soothing qualities. As he placed my fingers around the bowl I knew that it had been set there for me.

"I want you to look inside the Orb—study what you see," Mike said.

I did as he asked and at first saw only gray mist. Then the mist got thicker and, like a curtain, parted. I saw... a man. No, he wasn't _just a man_ but something else. He was huge— _a Titan_ of a man—with tawny hair that fell in waves to his neckline. His eyes were mesmerizing and fiercely blue. _He was beautiful_. He held an ancient sword, and I knew at once it was an immortal's Death Weapon. Death Weapons such as that were made to kill supernaturals, and my parents had taught me how to recognize one.

I stared at him in the Orb. It was as though I were right there beside the Titan as he raised his sword high. With his free hand he grabbed the wrist of a _stunning_ young woman.

She was exquisitely beautiful, with long, dark hair and glittering eyes. He dragged her away from an open, arched doorway. She tried yanking out of his hold.

She resisted and shouted, "I'll not go with you, Kian! Do you hear me? I have made up my mind."

Banks stepped through that open doorway, and the scar across his chin caught my gaze. A wave of hatred made me gag.

I wanted to put another scar across his face before I killed him. I clenched my fists at my side. Where they hell were they?

The Titan called Kian kept pulling her along, and I could see a stretch of green, sloping grass at his back. Why was this so familiar?

All at once, I knew. This was Ireland.

My parents had taken me there a few times as I was growing up. I had the feel of my beloved Ireland in my witch's mind. If so, what was Banks doing there? When had he gone there? Was this a scene from the past or the future? An Orb could show present, past, and future.

Banks stood sneering at the Titan. He laughed, and the beautiful woman being dragged away by Kian still pulled against his hold as she snapped at him, " _I hate you._ Do you hear me? This is over. I don't need you. He is everything I want."

The guy she called Kian looked hurt and angry, but he wouldn't let go of her wrist.

"Hate me, do ye?" Kian snapped at her. "After all we have been through? Ye hate me?" He shook his head. "Och, lass, ye know as I do that just isn't true. Well, no matter. _I love ye._ I love ye enough for us both."

Well, he certainly had an Irish accent, I thought, transfixed by this scene.

Banks growled, his face an ugly smirk, " _She wants me_ , and _I mean_ to give her what she wants."

I stared at the image of Banks. I wanted to put my fist through the Orb and into his chest and tear out his heart just like he did to my mother. Had it only been hours ago?

I wanted to chop off his head with a dull ax. I wanted to set him ablaze. I wanted him to live through the torture until there was nothing left of him.

I didn't realize how badly I was shaking until I felt Mike's arm go around me. He took my hand and made me touch the pink crystal again.

I calmed down. _Pink crystal is potent to a supernatural_.

I knew I had to learn everything I could so I could use it against Banks. I knew fury would make me act rashly. I knew I needed to be calm when I found and confronted him.

Then the mist in the Orb blurred, and the vision it had given us was gone.

"Bring it back, Mike. I need to figure out where and when this was."

"I can't. The Orb shows us only what it will, but it has been showing me that particular scene over and over for days," Mike said quietly.

"What does it mean? Has it happened already, and if so, when?"

"I think it happened some weeks, even months ago."

"Is it Ireland?" I asked.

"I am certain it is," Mike said. "Didn't you hear the music—Irish music? It was as though the Orb were telling us."

He was right—I had heard it, a lilting sound that came not from the scene but from the Orb. "Yes," I answered, feeling some excitement, pleased to have one piece of the puzzle in place.

Mike sighed. "My gut tells me that is where Banks has gone now." He shook his head. "I put out feelers for him, but it is as though he has transported... magically... and vanished."

"How could he do that?"

"Not certain, but what I do know is that the next few weeks are going to be very rough on you because I mean to train you from morning till night— _till you drop_. When we are done, there won't be any Olympic gymnast move you can't execute, any jump you can't take. There won't be a weapon, ancient or modern, you won't know how to use. You will be a toned killing machine because you will need to be."

The door flew open, and Tanya shouted, "Harley!" She hurried to me and took me into her arms, and that did it _. I let go._

What happened then wasn't pretty. I broke down, and everything I had been holding back since I arrived at their place came bursting out of me. I sobbed from somewhere deep inside, and my body was racked with my anguish. When I was done, I was so exhausted I couldn't move.

Mike picked me up and took me to their guestroom, and Tanya covered me with a thick quilt. Her long, silky black hair fell across my cheek, and I found it oddly comforting as I closed my eyes and wished all the horror gone. Tanya put a damp rag that smelled of rose water to my face and whispered ancient Shatchwaanie words. After that, well, everything went dark.

~ Two ~

I PUT DOWN the suitcases and took one last look at myself in the mirror. What I saw was a stranger. Oh, same long red hair. Same amber eyes, although they now seemed lit with green and something else—determination. Yet, a stranger looked back at me. Inside, I was different.

I stared at myself and wondered when my body had become so sculptured and fine. I had always had a trim and neat figure, but now...? Well, I was so much firmer and somehow oozing with sexuality. Tanya said it was because I'd turned twenty-one and reached my magical maturity.

In addition to that, my emotions were accompanied by an array of sparks—dangerous sparks that contained magic. I had—for the most part—learned to control them.

I wasn't sure what that was all about, but Mike and Tanya said only supernaturals could actually see it.

I'd been trained to use everything I had, and Mike had told me a few days before that I was ready. He said I had turned into a dynamite killing machine, and the sorry truth was _that was what I had become_. I wasn't sorry, though; I was damn glad of it.

I could almost taste his blood.

Tanya and Mike had done some quiet investigating during the month I stayed with them and learned that Banks did, as Mike had told me, totally vanish from the area.

Some of his lesser beta pack members had taken over my clan's homes and thriving businesses, but their alpha leader was nowhere to be found.

Oddly enough, my parents' home remained empty. No one had moved in there.

We asked the Orb to locate Banks, and it showed us Dublin. It showed us Trinity, but it did not show us Banks.

If he was in Dublin, we asked each other, _why?_ Why Dublin? What was there?

"Fae Relics," Tanya finally concluded. "He is after Fae Relics."

"What for?" This worried me.

"Fae Relics have more power than any of us can imagine, though I'm not certain he knows how to tap into one if he finds it," Tanya said thoughtfully.

"You will be careful, Harley. He will have beta guards at his sides and watching his back," Mike said grimly.

And on that note, off I went. Luckily, money wasn't an issue. My parents had seen to that.

I would have to be careful and keep a low profile. I didn't want Banks to know I was alive until the time came to strike at him.

I wanted to use the element of surprise when I confronted and destroyed him.

Tanya didn't want me to go. She wanted me to wait for him to return and take him on with them as backup. I wasn't about to risk one more person to Banks.

I couldn't have any more of my dear ones hurt or killed. I just couldn't. This was something I had to do alone.

* * *

Okay, I wanted to blend in with the humans, so I spent my first night in Dublin in a luxury hotel not far from Trinity. It was handy and busy, and I wouldn't stand out as an American, as quite a few were there milling about. It was also within easy walking distance to a few places I was certain vampires would congregate. I waited for the sun, which wasn't shining brightly, to set.

A little reconnaissance couldn't hurt.

I spent an hour chatting up a few vamps and got the latest gossip. The word on their scene was that a new hybrid was in town and that he was dangerous to the vamp community. Most of the vamps I talked to warned me to keep my head low.

I got thirsty.

As I obviously couldn't go through customs with packages of blood, and I couldn't hunt in the city, I stopped by a butcher's shop.

No problem—no raised brow. Pig's blood was used in making their 'blood sausage'.

I got a few pints, returned to my hotel room, and after a long swig stuffed the rest into the fridge. I spelled the fridge not to open for anyone but me. I made sure the 'do not disturb' hung on my doorknob, as I didn't want maid service either.

As it happened, being a witch hybrid had many pluses. I could go much longer without the need or craving for blood, and lately I seemed to need much less blood than I used to. A side-effect from my mom's magic? I wasn't sure.

I replaced my jean outfit with a black leather jacket, white tank top, black leather oh-so-tight-fitting pants, and black boots to die for with four-inch heels. Killer boots, I thought, since the heels were silver. In my inner jacket pocket I had a switchblade of silver that when opened was a good eight inches. _I meant business._

It was nine in the evening when I hit Temple Bar, which was in full swing. I meandered about, stopped on a corner, and pulled out my phone. I carried a picture that Mike had managed to obtain of Banks, and I sauntered up to a vampire standing just inside the doorway of a dark pub.

He, like the others, obviously thought I was just a vamp like himself. He sniffed the air around me, pulled a face, and said, "What—couldn't ye wait for the night to get a meal, lass? Pig's blood?"

I shrugged. "Hungry. Now..." I held up Banks's photo to his face. " _Seen him_ _?"_

"Aye." He nodded. "Bastard American hybrid. Coming here, threatening us. _Blackguard_ _!_ " The vamp spat onto the ground.

"Where does he... er stay?" I asked.

"No one knows." He pointed with his chin. "But he'll be here soon, with that little immortal bitch of his. Come on, lass... come in and have a Guinness with me."

" _Sure_... a bit later," I said and turned away. I was meandering slowly through Temple Bar when suddenly and from behind a strong arm went around my waist and a hand covered my mouth.

A dominant male voice, low-throttled and full with authority hissed in my ear, "Don't fuss, lass. I'm not going to hurt ye."

I was lifted off the ground, and then suddenly we were moving through space and time. Then _he_ —not I—landed on his feet. _I_ —I was still in the air, dangling above the ground.

_I bit his hand._ Hybrid here, sharp fangs. Basic, not magical, but expedient.

He howled out a curse and demanded, "What the bloody hell did ye do that for?"

"What _did I_ do that for? Who the hell are you, and what the bloody hell do you think _you're_ doing—putting your hands on me? And put me down!"

He complied, and I turned to face him.

I couldn't believe it _. It was the Titan_ _!_ He was the one in Mike's Orb. Then I went from staring open-mouthed at him to taking a quick scan of my surroundings. Where was I? Sarsen standing stones made a circle around us. We stood in the middle of its grassy plain, and Dublin was nowhere in sight.

_How did he do that_ _?_ What was he besides an immortal that he could transport us like that?

I stood now as quietly as I could while I considered my situation.

He stood like a giant, big and strong, with his blue eyes blazing at me.

I couldn't help but note that his tawny hair framed his too, way too handsome face in a most eye-candy way. He wore a long-sleeved jean shirt, faded Lauren jeans, and black leather boots with silver tips. _Whoa_. _He was hot_ _!_ I mean, so hot. _But_ I wasn't there for hot. I wasn't there for 'crushing' on some hottie. Definitely, hot was out of the question. I told myself I was not impressed with him, even as my body bent closer towards his. I was aware immediately that I was drawn to him as though pulled by magnets right up against him.

He took a step closer, and my blood began to rush around inside me. My breath definitely hitched, and my body screamed, _Touch, touch, touch_. I wanted things I hadn't thought about in the last two months—erotic things.

I swallowed and with sheer force of will put out my hand as I took a step back.

He made an exasperated sound and said, "Ye little fool. I had to get ye away as fast as I could. Ye have been asking questions up and down Temple Bar, making a spectacle of yerself. Don't ye think _he_ will know if ye keep at it?" the Titan growled at me.

I went very still and tried to act nonchalant. "Who—he?"

"Who do ye think, lass? Don't play games with me, and we'll do." He eyed me from the top of my head to my ankles and then back up again, lingering at my breasts, and I realized my nipples were hard and pressing up against my white tank top, right through my lacey bra, begging him to reach over and... I pulled my tight leather jacket closed, and he smirked. _He actually smirked_.

"Where are we?" I asked as I looked around for a street. There was none. It was grassy slopes for as far as the eye could see. Could I make a run for it? My speed was absolutely faster than it had ever been.

"Ye be at the Tartan Dolmens where _he_ can't hear or see us," he said quietly. "Now, do ye want to tell me who ye are and why ye are looking for Banks?"

There it was, out in the open.

~ Three ~

"BANKS?" I SAID, NOT wanting to give anything away. I knew only one thing. His woman had left him for Banks, and he had tried to stop her from leaving. This thing with him and Banks was personal. So was mine, but over the last month I had learned from Tanya and Mike a few things about Banks that made it more than that.

Banks had gone to Ireland to obtain a Fae Relic for a reason. There was a big picture. We hadn't quite figured it out, but Banks with more power, well, that was just an unacceptable threat.

Bottom line—I didn't trust the gorgeous Titan in front of me. I no longer was capable of trusting anything or anyone, other than Mike and Tanya.

He eyed me and said impatiently, "Don't play games, lass. Ye know who I am talking about. I've been watching ye work Temple Bar and yer fellow vamps all day." He leaned in and took a long sniff of me before I could jump away.

I managed to give him a warning look and objected to his sniffing. "Hey!"

"Ye smell of clover and heather. How is that when ye are clearly a vampire?" he asked.

I glared at him.

He sniffed the air without leaning into me then, and it was as though he tasted the air as his tongue licked his sensual lips. He said, "Aye... a vampire that drinks animal blood and..." He smacked his forehead. "Right then, ye have wolf. Nae, it isn't just wolf, _but shifter_ —but yer real scent comes from..." He grinned, evidently proud of himself. "Witch. Ye be a white witch."

What was this guy? Immortal, yes, but what kind of immortal?

I casually looked around, and as I turned back to him, I took a quiet but long sniff of air. I didn't want him to notice and as easily as I could told him, "And you..." He was delicious and smelled of pine, sea salt, and vanilla. "What...? Are you Fae?"

"Am I?" he answered. "Now I'm not certain what makes ye say that, but we'll let it go since I don't mean to confirm or deny."

A twitch worked my body as his gaze swept slowly over me. I was physically drawn to him and had to fight to hide it.

"Did ye like it, lass?"

"Like it?" I truly had no idea what he was talking about.

"My scent?" he answered, and there it was—a cocky, arrogant smile that snapped me back to myself.

"Oh, puh-lease! Don't flatter yourself," I told him.

"Well, what is it ye Americans say? Ah, yes _, crush._ Don't be _crushing_ on me, lass, for as lovely as ye are, and ye are that, I don't have the time for romance."

"Again, don't flatter yourself..." I thought it was time to drop my bomb. "Er... Kian O'Hara." Oooh, I knew that I had surprised him!

He raised both brows and eyed me questioningly. "Now how would ye be knowing m'name, Harlow McDagus?"

Okay, flush hit right back. I chewed my bottom lip. He had followed me around Harcourt and Temple Bar, so he must have followed me back to the hotel and discovered my name. He was an immortal, perhaps a Fae, and they had lots of magic tricks.

"They call me Harley." I tried to sound unconcerned.

"Answer m'question, Harley," he insisted. "How do ye know m'name?"

And then the world went black!

* * *

I couldn't see a thing and stood immobile. This wasn't just a dark night.

A moment ago we stood beneath stars and a crescent moon. Now... _nothing_ , just pitch black. I couldn't see my feet on the ground or my hand in front of my face. I knew—I tried.

The Titan managed though. He took the hand I was holding in front of my face and said, "Och, aye then, Tara... what have ye done? Can't ye see he is using ye?"

"Tara? Done?" His hold on my hand was tight— _never letting go_ tight _._ I tried to pull away, but there it was; he wasn't letting go.

"Aye, she has put a spell in and around Dublin," he answered, and his voice held deep disappointment.

"But... we aren't even in Dublin?"

He didn't bother to answer me, so I asked again, " _Where are we?_ "

"It doesn't matter," he said, and I heard him chant something in what sounded like the ancient Gaelic my mom used when implementing magic.

The darkness wasn't natural, and when the Titan was finished, we once again stood beneath the moon and all the bright stars. It was a clear night. My vision as vampire, wolf, and witch was exceptional at night. Once again, I could see the five-foot-high dolmens surrounding us.

"Whoa," I said. "Did you just...?"

"Aye, I was able to eliminate the effects of Tara's spell in and around us, but in Dublin it is still dark. We have to go there at once." He ran his free hand through his glorious tawny locks glinting in the dim light and added, "At times she is no more than a wayward child, but in the end, I know I can get through to her." He shook his head. "Right, then, off we go."

He was talking about the woman I had seen him with, in the Orb. He referred to her as Tara. She was the woman who had left him for Banks. She had told him she hated him, but he still wanted her back.

Something absurd nipped at me—like what? Jealousy? Ridiculous, but there it was flying and buzzing around my head, taking nips out of my flesh.

What the hell?

"Can you override her spell?" I asked.

"Aye, that I can, and that I will." He already had my hand in his and pulled me in close. I shuddered with sensation, the wrong kind of sensation as I felt his steely body. _Lust—sex?_ Really? My head and body, both purring for him and, yes, wet... I was wet and wanting.

He eyed me sharply for a moment and asked, "Are ye ready, lass?"

_Ready?_ Oh... he meant for travel.

"More ready now than I was before," I answered ruefully.

He grinned. "Right, off we go, but I'll be keeping ye close. From here on out, Harlow McDagus, I'll be keeping ye close and safe, _ye ken_?"

"I make the decisions about who I get close to," I told him defiantly.

"Do ye? Well, then, make it, lass, for one way or another, that's where ye'll be— _close."_

"Why?"

"Because I have a notion that ye might prove useful in m'final battle with Banks," he answered, and I heard the truth of this in his voice.

It was a bit deflating to know that he simply wanted to use me—as what, a distraction for Banks? I didn't like that, and I said, "Well, think again, Immortal. I don't want Banks to know I'm alive, let alone alive and on his trail."

"I agree. I don't want that either," he said, and his superior grin, his brilliant eyes, gave me an urge to stomp my booted foot on his.

"Just so you know, Mr. Immortal, I don't give a rat's ass what _you_ want or don't want. I am not here for you. I am not here to help you get back your Tara. I am here for _one reason_. I am going to kill Banks and his rabid pack."

"Are ye now? I can only wonder—why?" he said. "But for now... _Dublin._ "

Once again we stepped from one place into another. All the while I had to ask myself why Banks had asked her to put Dublin under a blackout.

We stepped out, and I realized from the crowds and few scattered torches flaming along the street that we were right back where we were before, in Temple Bar. People had gathered and were speaking in loud and nervous cadence about the blackout.

It was a mess. It was darkness that came from a magic spell and had a property all its own, a scent of decay and impending doom. It was seriously freaking out the crowds, but worse than that I heard car horns blasting in unison, as though Dublin traffic had also been brought to a standstill.

"Why?" I asked him. "Why would Banks—"

"Isn't it obvious, love?" He cut me off impatiently. "A diversion. Whatever he wanted to do, he needed a diversion." He raised his eyes heavenward and whispered in Gaelic. His whisper turned into a low-throttled chant.

Damn, but I could feel the power pulse right off him.

All at once, the lights were on, and Mr. Cocky gave me a smirk.

Street lamps once again burned brightly, as did lights from pubs and restaurants.

People laughed with relief and began calling out remarks and jests to one another as they went about their business of enjoying 'all the craic' Temple Bar establishments had to offer. I heard people talking about how efficient the power company had been to restore power so quickly.

"Can you track them? Can we try and figure out what they were up to and if we interrupted whatever they were doing?" I didn't know what it was, but our eyes locked, and a shiver went through me.

"No need, lass. We did interrupt them. Tara and I share a link that cannot be broken. Whatever it was they tried to achieve was cut short, but they will try again if we don't find and stop them."

What I got out of that was _he shared a link with this Tara_. I felt green shred my better self. What I couldn't understand was how she could have fallen for Banks when she had this hunk of an immortal.

He still had my hand in his and said as though he were a general issuing orders, "We can't do any more this evening, and as I have a great many questions for you, I think we will call it a night."

"You think so? Well, _I_ will call it a night when I want to call it a night," I snapped, still irritated by the 'link' he shared with Tara. I told myself I wasn't being rational; it didn't help.

"Is that so, lass?" he answered and pulled me in close, bent his head to mine, and whispered in my ear, "Then make up yer mind to it, for it is what it is."

_Control freak_. "I don't take orders from you or anyone else." I tried stepping back from him.

It was time for me to use a little of my own magic and escape. I am contrary and independent to a fault. I couldn't shift like the immortal, but I had incredible speed, so I broke loose—

He had his arm around my waist and pulled me in right up to his exquisitely hard body, and his lips this time were on mine, parting them and whispering, "Don't ye now. So then, ye don't take orders from me, or anyone else, eh?" His tongue grazed my bottom lip, and his voice buried itself in my mouth. "Ye will take them from me, but yer right, from no one else. Taking orders from me will keep ye alive."

I didn't want him to let go. I was caught up in the sensation of his tongue over mine as he whispered. I had to get control, so I yanked away and snorted as I put my fists on my hips.

He threw back his head and laughed.

I scrunched an angry face at him and said, "You have no idea _who I am_ or what _I can do. And my_ staying alive _is on me_ , _not you."_

"So ye think, which makes _ye cocky_ , not smart," he said on a low growl.

"Cocky? Look who is calling the damn kettle black."

"Think on it, lass. Och aye, I know ye _are something special_... something _new_. I know ye think ye can take Banks on for whatever reasons ye have, and I _know ye aren't_ ready."

"Which tells me _you know nothing_!"

"I watched ye question yer fellow vamps _without ye_ knowing. I followed ye to yer hotel _without ye_ knowing," he snapped at me.

"You are an immortal... maybe a Fae even, not sure yet, and as such, you can walk about invisible, but now that I have _your scent_ , well, Kian O'Hara, if that is your real name, you won't be able to do that again."

He eyed me speculatively. "Aye then, more cocky than smart. What of Tara... do ye have her scent?" He shook his head. "Would ye know if she chose to follow ye?" He got thoughtful and asked, "I know why I am out to stop Banks... but what is it _ye_ want with him and why?"

"What I want is my own brand of _justice,_ " I raged, the accumulation of the day peaking and exploding out of its package. "I want to rip out his heart and make him watch as I crush it. I want to tear him into shreds of guts and gore and then turn around and do the same to his vicious pack. Does that answer you?"

"Och aye, it isn't justice ye are after, is it, lass? 'Tis revenge."

"Do you think I am going to play semantics with you? Revenge is justice," I snapped.

All at once he shifted us again, but this time we ended up at a small corner table inside one of the lively pubs.

" _Sit_ ," he told me.

I made a face at him, but I sat. He put up his fingers to the waitress and ordered two Guinness, which wasn't an easy thing to do—the music was live, and it was loud.

He leaned into me and said in my ear, "We are getting one thing straight, Harlow. Ye are coming home with me tonight. _Straight home_. I'll not be letting ye go back to yer hotel. I already wiped all record of ye from their computer. Not very wise using yer own name, ye know."

He got me with that. I had thought I was safe enough, as Banks had no idea I was even alive, let alone in Dublin, and I'd used my credit cards. Oh, dumb, dumb—no wonder he thought I was an idiot. Mr. Immortal was right. I had left a trail.

"Thank you," I said. "But—"

"Ye could use some help _. I could use some help_. Ye'll be safe with me, and m'home is a comfortable one Banks cannot penetrate."

"What about Tara?"

"She wouldn't, not even for him."

Our drinks arrived, and he clinked his glass with mine and said, "So, lass, what do ye say?"

I saw that he knew what my answer would be. I knew I would be better off with an immortal as backup. He seemed to want Banks dead as much as I did. I gave him a considering look as I vied for leverage. "I come and go as I like?"

"That depends," he said.

"Then no thanks. I know how to make humans see what I want them to see. The next hotel I check into I'll use a different name, and my magic will take care of the paperwork," I told him.

He eyed me speculatively. "Aye then, ye can come and go at will, but I would like to be kept informed."

"Why?"

"So I can save yer ass when it gets into trouble, _and it will_." He grinned. "An ass like yers is meant for trouble."

I eyed him, hoping to deliver a clear warning. He laughed and put up his hands. "No offense."

"None taken," I answered.

"Right, so we are agreed?"

"For the moment," I told him.

~ Four ~

FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES my immortal had been firing questions at me. _My_ immortal? Where had that come from?

I put up a hand to stop him. "You ask too many questions." I could see he was getting frustrated with my noncommittal responses. I grinned at him, and he eyed me suspiciously.

"You are a tough little customer, Harlow," he answered with a furrowed brow.

I ate a French fry lathered in ketchup and dunked another one. "Hmm."

He eyed me, or rather my mouth, as I sucked the ketchup off the fry and then downed it. He said softly, "Ye have trust issues."

"Do I?" I shrugged. "No issues. Just don't trust anyone." I ate another fry.

"Tell me this then—ye seem to think Banks doesn't know ye are tracking him. Why is that? If ye hate him, ye must have reason. If ye have reason, why wouldn't he think ye, being who ye are, would come for him?"

"Because," I said, leaning into him, "Banks thinks I'm dead." I saw surprise flit across his face. "Ah, you weren't expecting that answer."

"Why does he think ye are dead?"

"Because he killed me," I answered.

Again, surprise lit those blazing blues of his. He frowned. "Never say ye are a newbie vamp-hybrid?" He shook his head and waved this off. "I'm not understanding this."

" _Newbie_? Are you kidding?" I pulled a face at him. "You know better, but that is all you need to know for now. Maybe, when I know more about you, I'll tell you more about me. _Maybe_ ," I answered. "Now, I'd like to shower and sack out, so if we are going to your place, let's just stop by my hotel and—"

"Get your things? I already managed that." He grinned. "Flick of the wrist earlier, and they await you in your suite at my home," he said and stood up, slapping down a great big wad of money to cover our bill and a hefty tip for our waitress. When he put out his hand for mine, I hesitated, but he moved in fast and had my fingers before I even knew what he was doing.

There it was, those shivers he always managed to spread through my body. His touch sent an explosion of light into my brain, rendering it useless. I was on fire, and a lusty sensation sped through my blood. What the hell?

He led me into the crowd before he shifted us. I figured he rightly supposed no one would notice our vanishing act amongst so many milling strangers.

He had his moves down pat. I told myself to remember that and that he was an ancient immortal; I should never underestimate him.

We stepped out of the shift into a dimly lit library, and with a flick of his talented wrist a fire burned in the large hearth.

The room was huge, and one wall was filled with every kind of leather-bound book you could imagine. The shelves were organized in neat rows, and for a moment I was seriously impressed. "Wow, I love books," I told him idiotically.

"Do ye? Well, now, as a matter of fact, I do as well," he answered, stepping away from me and heading for a sideboard table set up as a bar. He poured himself some brandy and turned to hold the bottle up for me. I was filled with questions. Was this his home? How long had he lived here? What was he? I kept quiet for the moment and nodded for the brandy.

He tipped his snifter, did the cheers thing with his eyebrows, and sipped. I followed suit and asked the question that had been troubling me the most. "Why haven't you just killed Banks? I mean, he's a hybrid with nowhere near the magic or the skills I'm guessing you possess. You could have shifted in and taken him down whenever you wanted."

"Two things—one, our code of non-interference uppermost. We don't interfere with humans," he said and frowned as though he thought he had said too much.

"He isn't a human," I answered, frowning back at him.

"No, but he is from _this realm_ , so we don't... besides, killing him wouldn't solve m'problem. Which brings me to the second reason. I need to make Tara see him first for who and what he is. Right now, he has her protection— _her shield_. Even if I wanted to murder him—and as of now, I don't—he wouldn't easily be had with Tara standing guard."

"And she is an immortal—maybe a Fae even... _like you_?"

He looked away from me and said, "She is an immortal and, of course, like me." He turned back to me then and winked. He considered me a moment and said, "So tell me, lass. How do ye know as much as ye do? How did ye know m'name?"

"To answer that, I would have to tell you more about myself, and I am not ready to do that." I drank the rest of the brandy and said, "If you point me in the right direction, I'll head on—"

He interrupted me and said, "I'll do one better. I'll take ye there."

He walked over to the library door and held it open for me. I put my empty glass down on a wall table and followed him to the wide staircase that fanned at the bottom and top of the stairs. We went up, and he pointed me down the hall and said, "I put you with me in the east wing. My suite is there... just down the hall. If ye need anything, ye'll find me there." He pointed, and I felt a rush of excitement. His eyes said he was going to kiss me. Would he—would he try? Did I want him to?

The words were out before I could stop them. " _And what_... Mr. Immortal, could I possibly want you for?"

He sucked in air, and then I got my answer. I was in his arms, up against his deliciously oh so sculptured body, and his lips were parting mine. Magical electricity charged through me as his mouth touched mine, and when his tongue slipped inside, and stroked mine? Oh, it was like tasting an irresistible vanilla smoothie, one you knew would ruin your diet.

I couldn't stop drinking, tasting, taking, giving, and he took as much as he gave. His hands caressed my back as he pressed his erection against my belly. Oh hot damn, I could feel the size of him through his clothes, through my clothes—and then suddenly all I felt was cold air.

He set me back and said, "Och aye, lass... ye tease like that again, and I'll nae be able to stop with a kiss."

"I... I didn't know I was teasing," I lied. Well, maybe it wasn't a tease. Maybe I had given him an outright invitation, maybe?

" _Didn't ye now_ _?_ Well, then, ye are forewarned, for it won't take much more than that." He smiled, touched my chin with his finger, and said, "Do ye know yer amber eyes light up green and ye glow from time to time?"

"Glow? You can see me glow?"

"Aye, ye do it now and then when ye are angry or... _excited_ ," he said in a low voice, so low I only just heard the words.

I felt heat rush through my body. I was in trouble. I had to make light of this and said, "Nightie night, Immortal."

"Nightie night then, lass, and ye know, for now ye can call me Kian. One day when _I_ know _ye_ better, I'll tell ye m'own true name," he answered softly and turned.

I watched him walk down the hall. He didn't look back. _His own true name?_

I opened my door and rushed inside. For a long minute I stood pressed up against the door, leaning against it for support. What had happened? I had never felt like this before.

I had a sudden urge to open that damn door and rush him, take him down, strip off his clothes, and...

Instead, I hurried to the bathroom and started the shower, thinking I needed a cold one. Did I take it cold? Nah. You see, I like it hot.

* * *

Showered, I stared at my red hair, brushed and shiny and so much like my mom's. It wasn't her face staring back at me, though. I had changed. I didn't think her capable of the hatred that I felt for Carsen Banks. She was always so forgiving. Not I.

The shower like the bathroom was enormous and luxurious. Mr. Kian Immortal was obviously not hurting for money.

Sighing, I gave its length one last brushing and slipped on a long white T-shirt.

I was ready for bed but wide awake.

My immortal's kiss had awakened something savage inside me. I had wanted to grab him, throw him down on the floor—right there in the hall—and climb all over him. I wanted to ride him hard and fast and release the fever inside my aching, needy body. What the hell was wrong with me?

I stared at the low fire burning in the corner hearth and put my arms around myself as I waited for the heat to permeate and relax my muscles.

Had I invited his kiss? _Oh yeah_. I know myself, and I don't shirk from the truth.

I looked around at the suite he had given me. It sported antiques, and paintings of fox-hunting scenes hung on the walls of stone. The room had a 'woman's touch', and I wondered if his 'Tara' had been his decorator. If so, she had good taste, and that made me frown.

She had no doubt lived here with him, and why that should send rivers of jealousy through me, I didn't know. How could she have fallen for Banks? Of course, she didn't know what Banks was... what he had done. Tanya had said that he had a reputation as a charmer. I couldn't see that. All I could see was him ripping my father's head off his shoulders and tearing my mother's heart out of her chest. That same hard determination flooded through me.

It made me edgy.

I got up and went to the eight-foot glass French doors. They opened onto a stone balcony overlooking an expanse of manicured and landscaped lawns that, even in the twilight, my vamp eyes saw quite well.

I turned back to my room and noticed an ante room to the left of the walk-in closet. I went to it and found a treadmill and some weights. I smiled as I told them out loud, "Later."

The furniture was beautiful, ivory antiqued with hand-painted flowers. I moved over to an ornate but exquisite armoire and opened it.

_Oh, thank goodness_. A flat-screen TV. Yes, oh yes, some TV to lose myself in.

I angled the screen toward the bed, took up the remote, climbed into my huge bed, and flicked it on to find one of my favorite programs.

The next thing I knew, I heard knocking from far off. I blinked and saw static on the TV while the knocking, _bang, bang, bang_ , wouldn't stop.

What the hell?

I opened my eyes wide, and because I hadn't drawn the drapes I saw that the night had turned into day. Not quite sunny but daylight, and I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was seven a.m. _Only seven._

_Bang, bang, bang_ at my bedroom door _._

"Go away," I said, assuming it was Mr. Immortal.

"Och aye, lass, then is it ye don't drink coffee?" he said and opened the door, and I blinked to see him standing there, larger than life, pulsating with sexuality and power.

But more than that _, he had coffee and, oh, pastries!_

I moaned. He chuckled and stepped into the room. "Are ye decent under yer covers, lass? I'm thinking not."

Even still groggy with sleep I saw the tease in his oh so blue eyes. "Leave the coffee and go," I told him.

"Nae, _coffee... me_ , a package that can't be split up," he answered and walked right inside to set the tray by my nightstand. As it happened, I wasn't decent. Sometime during the night, I had flung off my T-shirt.

I pulled the quilt up to my chin.

He set up a small round table and chair by my bed. Then he moved the tray to the table, poured me a mug of coffee, and handed it to me.

I reached for it, and my quilt gave way. Hurriedly I grabbed hold of it before my breasts were totally exposed, and he smirked.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

He poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot and sipped.

I reached for a pastry with one hand while holding the coffee and quilt in place with my other. Somehow I managed to eat, sip, and hold.

He said as he sat and stretched his long legs, "Now, then, ye look like there is something else ye might be needing."

I gave him what I hoped was a haughty eye. "I don't know what you mean," I said, thinking he was being flirtatious.

He wasn't. He grinned and explained, "I already put a stash of containers for ye in the little fridge in the cabinet."

He had even prepared for my vamp needs. Blood—he had put containers of blood for me in the fridge. I was astounded. I sipped my coffee without looking at him and said, "Thank you. I don't need that quite yet... but the pastries... yup, _need them_."

"Ye don't like being beholden, do ye, lass?" he said speculatively.

"No," I answered.

"Well, just because I have opened up m'house, offered m'protection, and provided nourishment, ye don't have to think yerself in _my debt_."

I saw the tease and gave it right back. " _I don't_. After all, _you_ nearly forced me to come here. Don't think for a moment I couldn't have managed on my own."

He laughed. "I don't doubt it, but even so, does it not win me, what do ye Americans call it, och aye, I know... _kudos_ , that I thought of your needs?"

I laughed. "Okay, how many do you think it gets you... one, two?"

"One for free room and board, two for me vigilant protection, and three... for being willing to serve _ye in... bed_."

I laughed again. "I'll give you two. One for your home... room and board, that is, and another for seemingly wanting to protect me."

"Why seemingly?" he asked on a frown.

"Because I think you want to _use me_... to get what you need, and only because of that do you want to protect me."

He eyed me, downed his coffee, took time out to eat an entire pastry in two bites, and finally said, "Ye be in the wrong of it. I don't want to use ye at all. Just the opposite. I want to keep ye out of m'way so ye don't mess up m'plans."

"Mess up your plans? You have plans?"

"Aye," he said and got up. "Now I'll leave ye to get dressed, and, Harley love, I like yer flaming locks any way ye want to wear them, but loose, lass... loose and wild like it is, _well now_ , there ain't nothing like it."

On that note he left the room and... me? He left me trembling on his words. It is important to note I had never reacted to a man like that before. _Well, so he likes my hair loose and long? I should put it up just to show him I don't care what he likes._

I left it long and loose.

~ Five ~

BY THE TIME I found my way around the place, which was a completely modernized but Tudor-styled home, I was thoroughly impressed.

I found a back door and tried to use it. _Ha_ , he had spelled it closed.

I controlled my irritation. After all, I was a witch.

Thankfully the spell he had used to keep me indoors was a simple one, and I was able to override it with a blink and one arcane Gaelic chant.

The door opened, and I stepped outside. What met my gaze was, honestly, _oh-my_ breathtaking.

I had already decided he had deep pockets; now I was sure he owned the entire Bank of Ireland.

The grounds stretched out as far as the eye could see, and at the moment a team of gardeners was scattered about maintaining it in the pristine state it presented to anyone lucky enough to gaze at its loveliness. I was seriously awed.

I meandered around the grounds and the exquisitely designed Tudor house and ended up at the front door some thirty minutes later. I felt the chill skim through my Gap jeans and black knit top and thought I should have worn a jacket. I shivered as I reached for the latch.

The front door opened wide, and _Kian the Immortal_ stepped aside to usher me inside. "Where the devil have you been?" he demanded.

_Oh, not a good way to greet me._ Miss Independent here doesn't like orders or rudeness, and his tone was most definitely rude.

My parents had been alphas. I had been groomed as an alpha. That says it all right there. "Excuse me?" I purposely arched a brow at him.

"You heard me, lass." He allowed by way of apology, "I was worried."

"Worried about me, or worried that I had decided to take off on my own?"

"Both, _brat_ , both," he answered, and now his blues were twinkling, which softened my mood. I saw relief there as well as amusement. "And, aye, just like that," he added.

"Just like what?"

"Yer flaming locks loose like I suggested... suits ye well," he said on a low and husky note.

I ignored the compliment and told him, "You told me your place was protected with wards, so I'm safe on the grounds—no need to worry, right?" I eyed him questioningly.

"Aye, but it isn't Banks I'm worried about _. It is Tara_. I don't want her to know ye are here," he said and frowned.

That irked me. Kissing me one moment and worried about his Tara's feelings the next. "Yeah, right, can't have her jealous."

"Jealous? What makes ye think she would be jealous?" He shook his head.

I didn't know what to make of that so I dropped it. "Well, what have you planned, because I need to get cracking. I've rested, and now I want to find out where Banks holes up—go there and get it done, _get it all done_."

He eyed me but said, "As a hybrid he isn't bothered by the sun, can come and go as he pleases, so let's focus on what he can't do."

That was smart, but I had one better. "What about Tara? What would make _her_ uncomfortable?'

"Iron. Not much else," he said.

Huh, I thought. _Fae_ , but especially Dark Fae could be hurt by iron. Well, immortals might have the same problem? "That sure narrows down their location."

He grinned. "We need to draw him out and then follow him undetected."

"How?"

"Banks hasn't told Tara what he plans for the future."

"How do you know that?"

"She wouldn't go along with anything that would hurt the Human Realm."

"Again, how do you know that?"

"I know her." He grimaced. "He is using her for protection, nothing more. What he needs is the Hallow, and she can't help him with that... and even if she could, I'm thinking she wouldn't."

"Why?" Opinions didn't matter to me. Facts were what I needed.

"Fae Hallows are sacred Relics. She wouldn't put something like a Seelie sacred Hallow in the hands of a hybrid, even if she is infatuated." He waved this thought off as though it were impossible to contemplate. "I know it just as I know she isn't in love with him. After all, it wasn't so very long ago she fancied herself in love with..." He didn't finish the sentence but sighed and looked away from me.

So my brain finished it for him. _Right, she fancied herself in love with you._ Sounded fickle to me, so I asked, "How old is Tara, anyway?"

"Oh, as to that, she is just about yer age."

I didn't say anything to that and asked, "So what is your _plan_?"

Instead of answering me he asked, "What do ye know about Banks? How did ye and the beast manage to cross paths?"

I looked at Kian then, long and hard. I wanted to be careful with my answer, so I hesitated.

He frowned at me and prompted, "Come on then, Harley... what do ye know about him?"

"I know he is about one hundred years old and does not like to lose," I answered quietly, evasively.

He grimaced at me. "Aye, and what else?"

" _What do you_ know?" I snapped back at him. "Did you know that much?"

"Aye, I knew that much and more. Now it is time to pool what we each know. My turn, ye say, okay then, lass. _What do I know_? He is a hybrid, a vampire and shifter wolf hybrid, but his ego makes him think he is something greater. He isn't. Even with all the dark magic he has been playing with, he isn't much more than he appears... not without Tara." He looked away from me then and took a moment before he continued. "He met Tara by chance and charmed her into his life, but she doesn't know that he is evil-hearted. She's excited by him. She thinks he's merely a 'rule-breaker', she told me. She doesn't know that he wants to rule all the earth, all the supernaturals... all the humans." He snapped, " _That is what I know_."

I didn't like that he snapped at me and told him, "Yeah, well, he is also a ruthless, murdering son-of-a-bitch whose ego won't let him see that he is going to die at the hands of this girl." I pounded my chest with my open hand as emotion got the better of me. "The girl he killed." I eyed him sharply then. " _What else you got?_ "

He frowned darkly and took my shoulders. "Are ye playing games with me, lass? What are ye saying?"

"Not playing games, but my personal encounter with Banks is just that— _personal_ —and won't help you know more about him. I told you what I know. He is a ruthless killer. Take it from there." I realized I was snarling and calmed myself down because I could actually see the sparks flying off the aura around my body.

He clearly saw them as well, and his brows went up. "Steady, lass," he said and sighed. "Ye are going to have to trust me. I will tell ye then one more thing I know. Banks came to Ireland to find a sacred Hallow. It is one that is one more powerful than all the rest."

"Yup, I know." I couldn't, wouldn't tell him about Mike and Tanya. That would put them in danger. I couldn't tell him about their Fae Orb.

"Ye know, do ye? Do ye know about the _Fari Hallow,_ and what it can do _?"_

"I only er... suspected." It was time to be truthful to some extent with him. I cocked a look at him. "So, what does this Fari thing do?"

He studied me. "What does it do?" He shrugged. "I wish I knew, but legend has it as one of the most powerful Fae Relics in the Human Realm. To have it, to control it, is an ultimate power, a power that belonged to the Dark King." He shrugged. "I'm not even certain it will respond to any but the Dark King."

"Power," I said quietly, "is what Banks needs to go forward—if he had it, if he found a way to control it..." I let my sentence trail off, as this thought was horrifying.

"Och aye." He shook his handsome head in agreement with the words I hadn't said.

"So you have no idea what it can do?"

"Legend has it that it could create worlds for the Dark King." He sighed heavily. "What I do know is that Banks is an Earth-bound being and, even with his dark magic, wouldn't be able to harness the Fari's enormous power. Perhaps he thinks Tara might be able to, but she is young and inexperienced. Only the Queen of the Fae would be able to control the Fari in the absence of the Dark King."

The thought of a powerful immortal helping Banks made me shudder. How could she have left Kian for Banks? It boggled my mind. I said, "Dark King? Hmm. My mom, who was an accomplished white witch, told me all the legends about the Dark King, the wars, and the recent war against his own sons right here in Dublin."

"Aye, and when the Dark King banished his sons, he scattered some of his Hallows—the Fari in particular—throughout Ireland, or so we were told," Kian said.

"Why?"

"Who knows what the Dark King sees. All we know is that he took his beloved mate and went off. We haven't heard from him since then."

I studied his face for a moment. Damn, he was such a hunk. I cleared my throat and asked, "How do you know that much?"

He grinned and moved in close, so close I wanted to melt against him. "Another tale for another time."

I cleared my throat. "How did you get a name like Kian O'Hara? It doesn't sound like an immortal's name. How long have you been here—in Ireland? What brought you here?"

He laughed. "Whoa... which question first?"

"Any will do." I hadn't moved away from him yet, though I told myself I had to.

"Right. Okay, when _you_ give me _more_ background, maybe I'll do the same," he answered.

I laughed and said, "Not happening."

He smirked. Oh, his smirk took my body and promised to please. He said, "Ye are a handful, Harlow McDagus, and will take a man on a merry dance one day... that is, if he has a mind to _allow_ it."

I eyed him and moved away because all his testosterone floating around me was making my belly clench. No clenching, no crushing, no, no _none of that_. "So, how do we go about finding him?" I had to stay on track.

"I have tried to find him with my Orb," he said softly.

"Orb? Everyone it seems has an Orb," I said without thinking.

"Do they now? And who would ye be speaking about that has an Orb?"

"No one..." I looked away from him.

He said quietly, "So as I was saying, can't find him with m'Orb yet because Tara has shielded their location with dark magic." He shrugged. "Some matters, however, are a bit out of her league. My magic is too arcane for her total understanding. A few more hours, and I think I will have broken through the shield she has erected."

"And this Fari Hallow... are _we_ going to try and find it before they do?"

"Aye, that is the plan." He frowned. "My intent is to make a spectacle of looking for it myself. They don't know about ye yet, so ye can go undetected to the more likely shops where it might be."

"What makes you think it's in a shop and not off in the earth somewhere?"

"A hunch, only that," he answered. "Banks has been looking for it a long time, and I'm thinking he has reason to believe it made its way to Dublin."

"So, you want him to follow you—think you might know where it is."

"Aye."

"And Tara... will she help him find this Hallow?"

" _No_ , even if she could, which I don't believe she can, I'm thinking it isn't something she would do."

"So... you are doing all this just to get Tara back?" He must really love her, I thought, and the idea made my heart crackle.

"No, not sure what it would take to make her leave him." He shook his head. "There is more at stake here. We need to stop him from collecting his werewolves and making them an invincible army against the humans."

I had to wonder what lengths this Tara would go to if she were so charmed by Banks. After all, the creep had actually managed to steal her from Kian, which I already found incredible. What would she do to please her new mate? Especially if she didn't know he was evil? But there was no sense in arguing with him, so I let it drop.

"What if we find it?"

"I don't think we stand a chance in hell of finding it, but he doesn't need to know that. I want him to follow us so we can turn it around and track him back to his lair."

I started for the door.

"Where do ye think ye are going?"

"To Dublin," I answered. "Are you coming?"

He smirked, and that smirk of his did things to my blood that made me fidgety. I felt, I mean actually felt, my body lean towards him, and dangerous desires started to swell in my brain. Hell, brain matter in my head was swollen and nearly bursting out of my skull.

Also, a new hunger had entered my blood, and the longer I looked at my immortal, the worse that hunger got.

"Well, don't ye need me for that, lass?"

"What?" I was lost in a place where his arms were around me and his lips—

" _Lass?_ "

I saw his puzzled expression and snapped myself out of my dream. What was I doing? He was in love with his Tara.

"I'm guessing you have a car somewhere out there that I can hot-wire," I told him and challenged him with a smile.

"Hot-wire, is it? Now how would ye be knowing how to do that?"

"I had a friend... William..." I said and felt my throat constrict. I hadn't been in love with William, but I had loved him. "He taught me..."

I looked away, and when I looked back Kian was frowning darkly. "And what happened to this William, because I wouldn't be believing any man would leave ye."

"He was slaughtered by Banks," I said and started off again. I knew it wasn't fair to give him bits and pieces, but it was all I could manage.

He called after me, "Well, now, ye don't need to hot-wire a car, and ye don't want to be driving, foolish girl." He had my arm in a flash of a moment. "We are in the North of Ireland. It would take ye hours to get to Dublin."

"Okay, Mr. Smirky-mouth. How was I supposed to know that?" I snapped.

"Och, lass, I'm sorry about yer... friend..." he started.

I almost burst into tears and told him, "Not just a friend."

He stiffened but pulled me in and held me. He just held me. "I'm sorry for it, Harley McDagus."

I looked up and into those brilliant, glittering, and, I knew all at once, alien eyes and was swept away. In that moment I realized this immortal had won me over.

I had to shake myself loose from the spell of his warm gaze. Oh, I was in trouble here. Love and lust were not things I wanted. Hell... lust was not what I wanted. Not now. I had other priorities.

Once, when I worriedly confided to my mother that I liked William, even loved him, but was not in love, she said as she stroked my hair, "Love comes unbidden and when you least expect it." _Right, Mom—here it is._

He took my hand. I tried to maintain my independence by yanking against his hold. He wouldn't let go and actually growled at me, "Trust me, lass... trust me to look out for ye."

I couldn't respond. I was definitely caught up in the moment, and the truth was I was also totally conflicted.

He said softly, "I'm going to shift us to Dublin. Steady now." He stared into my eyes, and what I saw was a world of wonder.

The next thing I knew I was in his arms, and his mouth closed on mine. His kiss was a gentle pressure, and tender was his tongue, caressing mine. I wanted to surrender to his kiss, to the moment, and forget everything else.

He came away from that kiss, and I lowered my gaze, suddenly, ridiculously embarrassed. He said, "Trust me, lass. I'll do ye no harm, and I'll be there for ye when ye need me."

Was he offering friendship? Was his kiss that of comfort? What else could he offer? _Sex, lusty, hot sex._ Maybe I could use both. "And then what?" I asked.

"For now, our mission is for ye to look for the Hallow and for me to make a grand gesture to do so. Hopefully Banks will fall for the bait."

"Well, what am I looking for? What does it look like?" We were both avoiding the fact that he had just kissed me.

"The Fari Hallow looks like an ordinary bronze urn. It is etched with arcane words, Danu words. I believe it would call to me if I was near, or I would feel the pulse of its power, but I don't intend to really look for it. That is yer job."

"It would call to you because—why? Why would it call to you?" I asked, pinning him with my gaze. The bright iridescence of his eyes shouted Fae. Was he Fae?

"Och, lass, so full of questions. Does it matter so very much _what I am_? We have a united goal."

"If it doesn't matter, why won't you tell me?"

He had my face then in his two hands, and our gazes locked. He whispered, "Yer amber eyes so full now with green sparkles... do ye know how ye shine, lass? Do ye know?"

"Answer the question," I told him and realized my words sounded breathless.

He withdrew. I saw him harden, and he said, "I'm thinking I'll lead Banks to some of the most exclusive antique shops in Dublin."

There was nothing for it. I had to drop the subject—for now. "And you want me to take on the dingy, old, _out-of-the-way_ shops."

"It might serve if ye don't do anything to draw attention to yerself," he said roughly.

"Okay, Mr. Immortal... time to shift."

~ Six ~

MY IMMORTAL SHIFTED us to Dublin and then sent me off with a list of places he had put together. He winked and then vanished. He had said he would make a spectacle of himself as he searched some of the most unlikely places the Hallow would be. He hoped that Banks would be drawn to him and that unseen he could then track him to his lair while I searched in earnest.

With my hybrid speed I started hitting antiques shops.

I had an advantage: my new inner witch could immediately recognize magical objects—Fae or otherwise. I had learned that little fact early on while I trained with Mike and Tanya. I hadn't mentioned this to Kian yet... not sure why. I guess I still had trust issues. Who did I trust with the most important goal of my life?

As much as I loved my mom, I felt she'd been wrong not to prepare me for that day. I should have been told about Banks. I wasn't sure what I could have done to change it, but I also wasn't sure keeping me in the dark was the right way to go.

Maybe she and my dad would be alive if only we had all discussed the possibilities? That was all moot. No sense thinking about it.

At any rate, Mike and Tanya had prepared me for Relic hunting. They owned a couple of Fae artifacts. I wasn't sure why or how that came to be. The important thing was what I learned.

As it happened, when I approached a Fae Relic, even when they had hidden it from me, something magical began to hum in my brain. When I moved closer to the object, the humming got louder. When I touched it, the humming turned into a song, lilting and beautiful, and reminded me of Ireland.

Tanya said that sometimes Fae Fios (humans that can see the Fae past their magic) are called _sounders_ because they also have the ability to find and identify Fae artifacts. She said she didn't know why, but I seemed to have the gift.

I suppose I didn't want Mr. Immortal to use me as a divining rod, so for the time being I had decided to keep this piece of info to myself.

I had hit about eight or nine shops when I found myself on a quiet street in front of a whimsical, arched door. The shop sported a black and gold striped awning over the door, which was stained glass and oak. The sign read, 'You Must Have It'.

My body began to vibrate inwardly. _Magic._ There was strong mana inside this shop.

I was ready for anything and opened the door to look inside without quite going inside. Caution, I told myself. Even so, magic hit me like a bolt of energy, and for a moment I felt dizzy.

I stood staring at a cluttered galley of what looked to be centuries-old antiques and oddities; everything was out of focus and then slowly began to clear.

The shop was dimly lit and full of everything and anything old. Knick-knacks that looked as though they belonged in a Disney palace were scattered on shelves and tables. Paintings I immediately (I love art) recognized as treasures were propped up everywhere. And there were weapons on the wall I knew at once were for supernaturals: _Death Weapons._

_I should run. Oh yeah, running now_ , I told myself and stood frozen in place.

Fear tickled my brain, but curiosity won over. Even so, I didn't advance. The pulse of power jiggling every nerve in my body told me dark magic was well and alive in this shop, but it wasn't really dark... maybe gray?

What the hell.

I weaved my way through stacks of small occasional tables and oddities and then stopped short. A sound at my back made me turn.

My mouth fell open and stayed that way a moment.

He was tall and wore a cone hat of blue dotted throughout with glittering crescent moons and stars. White, soft hair hung to his shoulders beneath the hat and framed his pink and lovely face. Sparkling eyes smiled at me, as did thin lips above his silky, long white beard. He wore a robe whose hem touched the floorboards and matched his conical hat. In his hand he held a wand whose power I could feel radiating in waves.

_Wizard_ , my brain told me. Here was a wizard with enormous power.

He smiled, and I smiled back. Crazy, I know, but that's what happened.

He came towards me, one hand outstretched to take mine, and I had the feeling that we had met 'once upon a time'.

"Well, well," he said softly with a soft and refined English accent. "You found your way to me as I knew you would."

"Ah..." I said, not really able yet to speak, not sure if I should.

"Well, little American with the Irish red hair, you look so much like your mother," he said, and then his smile suddenly vanished. "I was sorry to learn of our loss... your loss."

"You knew my mom?" I was astounded enough to ask and then hungry to hear more about her.

"Aye, how could I not? She was very special. She often brought you by on yer visits to us just outside Dublin."

Suddenly a memory floated in my brain, and I saw myself with him and a woman... his mate, and my face must have expressed this memory, as he said, "Ah, _you do_ remember."

I did remember. "Yes, I remember you and Miss Charmie."

He laughed. "Indeed. Her name is Charm, but you always called her Charmie. You were a delightful child." He sighed sadly. "Your mother left her coven to live with your father in the mountains of New York, but she always came by to visit us and her coven. Have you met with them yet?"

"I... I didn't know she even had a coven... She didn't speak of them to me." I was absolutely flabbergasted. Another secret she had kept. Why?

"Ah, I'm sure she had her reasons," he said quietly.

I wanted to pull up a chair and just hear him talk about my mom. I asked, "Did you know my dad as well?"

"Of course! Your mother always visited with him after they were married. It was Charm that gave him the 'potion' to help him and his clan resist the thirst. Quite a gentleman." He sighed. "We must do something about stopping Carsen Banks. Have you a plan?" He touched my shoulder, and what he was slammed into my head: power, so much power, and not all of it white magic. He wasn't just a wizard; he was one from another realm. I knew it at once, and some of my childhood memories of him scooted fore and center. I dove at him and hugged him around his middle.

He laughed and patted my back. "There, there, child. You have had a trauma, a terrible trauma, but you will do."

"You are Rysdale... the Wizard Rysdale... I remember," I said and stepped back to look at his dear face.

He smiled and pulled something out of a slit along his robe. It was a small, round packet, and as he placed it in both my hands he said, "You will need this if it is the Fari Hallow you are looking for. That Hallow must not fall into Banks's hands. It would be catastrophic for all living things. You must secure it and keep it safe."

"What is it?" I asked, about to open it the package.

He closed my hand over it and said, "Do not open it now. It is a very special artifact that I have made for you. Keep it close and let it guide you, my dear. Let it guide you. You'll need to pay attention. Not all things are as obvious as we would like. Mind me now. There isn't much time... days only _,_ _perhaps_."

"Will this stop him?"

"The future is not ours to predict. This will take you where you need to go." He sighed. "At the moment, _we_ , Charm and I, are in the midst of a problem involving yet another evil— _my brother_. Otherwise, I would be on hand."

I felt a rush of excitement. Finally, a lead, something that could help us.

"Should I bring it back to you when we are done?"

He laughed and took my fingers to bend over them 'Old World' style. "When you are done and all is well, it will come back to me on its own."

The next thing I knew I was standing on that same quiet street, but the whimsical shop with all its treasures and my dear Rysdale was gone. The small brown package, however, was still in my hand.

I slipped it into my inner jacket pocket and turned to search out my immortal and tell him the good news. Odd how I thought of him as mine. He wasn't. She didn't want him at the moment, but he seemed to belong to Tara. _Does he_ , my inner witch asked. _He keeps on kissing you._ Hope is a dangerous entity, a palpable one that humans need to survive. I knew better. Hope wasn't real.

I turned onto the avenue and tried to track Kian.

I didn't pick up his scent, but another one came to me on the breeze. Its stench and what it reminded me of made me want to upchuck.

He was close, very close—no more than a block or so at my back.

_It was the scent of werewolf._ The very wolf that had killed William and so many others of my clan. _He was at my back and in human form._

~ Seven ~

HIS SCENT FLOODED my head with the memory of that day.

His scent reminded me that I had helplessly watched him tear out William's throat and move on to do the same to my other dear ones. He had howled with vicious glee.

A wolf takes no joy in the kill. A wolf kills to eat or protect its territory or its pack. He wasn't, in my opinion, a wolf but a beast.

He was Carbo, and while training with Mike I had learned a great deal about him and the others that had killed my clan. I knew about his reputation; it wasn't pretty. He and Carsen Banks had killed many werewolves that refused to join their pack.

Now, apparently, _he was on my trail_. A sneer made its way across my face, and my fingers curled. I had the advantage.

He wouldn't even recognize my new scent, but obviously he had picked up on the scent of my wolf/shifter and meant to corner me. I meant to let him have what he wanted for the moment.

_Want to corner me? Fine..._ _bring it_.

I should have felt a twinge of fear. Fear would be natural, wouldn't it? After all, I had been killed in a confrontation with weres and their alpha. What I felt instead was anxious need—the need that comes when you have made a vow to avenge the ones you love and the opportunity to do so arises.

Anticipation flooded through my blood and made me open and then close my fists as I got ready.

My inner vamp was on high alert, my shifter was pumped up, but my witch... oh, my witch was out and taking command of her hybrid partners. Revenge, justice—who the hell cared what it was called. I wanted it so badly I could taste it, and, no, it wasn't bitter at all.

I didn't have to turn to know he was gaining on me. My nose twitched as he got closer, and my inner wolf knew exactly where he was. When we wolves/shifters put our noses to the air, we can pick up scents more than a mile away.

My witch, however, held my wolf at bay. We had a plan.

I left the crowd and took a side street. I knew exactly where I was going. I saw it all in my head. I led him to a narrow alley that led to a dead-end. There was nowhere to run.

As he got closer, I sensed his doubt, so I turned and allowed him to think I was afraid. I wanted him to advance, and he did.

All at once, he stopped, and I heard a small gasp make its way to his mouth.

"It can't be," he said out loud. "You were dead."

At my back was a tall brick wall. On one side of us, a windowless three-story building, on the other, a two-story building with dirty, narrow windows. I quickly and silently spelled them and the alley. No one was going to see what was about to take place.

I felt his astonishment with relish. Good. I wanted him to know who I was before I tore him apart.

I had the advantage. He didn't know what I had become. He still thought I was a vampire and that _his wolf bite was deadly to me_. Well, I had a nice little surprise for him.

I was about to put all my training into use. I had been turned into a killing machine. He was going to be my first victim.

I put on a girly face and wrung my hands. " _Oh, please_... please, _don't hurt me_."

He snarled. "I don't know how you survived... but this time, you won't." He was a sociopath. I knew he would suffer not an ounce of remorse, compassion, or mercy. He was a monster— _deadly vermin_ that needed to be eliminated. I was pleased to be the eliminator.

He got close, no more than ten feet away, and displayed his fangs. He wanted me to beg some more before he tortured and killed me. His voice was raspy, but he had not changed into wolf. That meant it had been magic that allowed them to change into werewolf without the moon that awful day. "Hurt you? Girl, I am going to hurt you so bad you will wish you died that day with the others."

I smiled and took a stance. " _Seriously_? You think you can accomplish what your alpha, Banks, couldn't?" I said to taunt him.

He stopped in mid-lunge and seemed to have second thoughts. "What are you?" he asked, and I could almost see his mind working.

"You tell me. What am I, Carbo? Oh, I know... _your death_. Here and now."

He laughed, but there was a nervous edge to the sound that I enjoyed. Oh, I wanted him nervous, frightened... as much as I wanted him dead.

"Only one of us is dying... and it ain't me." He sneered and started for me.

Up close I saw his eyes, and everything that happened that ugly, awful day flooded back into my brain. He had been vicious and merciless—they all had been. They had ripped and shredded my dearest loved ones.

I was hardened against any thought but ripping him to pieces. He was a beta wolf, one of Banks's guardians. Right now he was in human form. I would have liked to take him down as he had been that day, in wolf form, but I wasn't waiting for the full moon.

Still, I wondered, so I taunted him some more. "So, wolf-up and do your worst."

"You're a vamp," he said derisively. "No match for me. I can take you even in my human form." He bared his canines and drooled. _Ugh_.

I didn't know how easy it would be until I did it for real. With Mike I was never sure if he had let me get the better of him. Now I knew; he hadn't.

I sidestepped Carbo with (if I do say so myself) beautiful agility. He toppled forward. I brought down both my fists and _some,_ only some, of my hybrid strength down on his back. He hit the pavement like a belly whop. "Oomph," he grunted.

I stepped back.

The brick wall at my back was good cover. We were alone. No one would see what I was about to do next.

It was obviously from his pugnacious expression that he honestly didn't know death was surrounding him and nipping at his heels. His beta position at Banks's side had apparently made him cocky—and if possible even nastier than I knew him to be. He got up and stood staring at me, and then he said, "You are going to die slow for that lucky punch, bitch."

"Been there, _done that_ ," I told him. " _Not doing it again_."

Since he hadn't morphed into his more powerful wolf form, I was now sure Tara had used magic to enable them that day. Had she known what they had done? I wondered. Did she know how many they had killed?

He sneered at me and charged.

I did a high flip over him and landed crouched behind him, and this time my silver switchblade was ready, opened to its full eight-inch length, and in my hand. He turned sharply and saw the glint of silver.

_I grinned_ and pointed it at his barren heart.

An ugly snarl left his throat as he bellowed furiously. He came at me then, lunging wildly and with more rage than precision.

Suddenly, I discovered I didn't want to torture him slowly. All I wanted to do was finish him. I did not sidestep him, and when we collided, I allowed him to sink his fangs into my shoulder just below my neck to keep him busy and thinking he had won.

I allowed it because it gave me the opportunity to drive my silver blade hard and fast into his chest. I remembered my parents and my clan and twisted it in his heart.

The blade was treated with a special, magical venom. I pulled it out a few inches and then pushed it in once more past flesh and muscle to make my mark in his heart.

I pulled it out partially and whispered, "For William... for the others," and then rammed it in again hard and fast.

_His gaze met mine._ Had I become a sociopath? I felt no remorse.

I saw utter surprise in his eyes as he straightened and staggered backwards.

I watched him without pity. What did that make me? _Satisfied_. It satisfied me. His eyes opened wide as he realized he was about to die.

He fell to his knees, and as he drooled blood to the pavement, he fell in on himself. _F_ _or him,_ it was over _._

I rolled his body a bit when I bent and retrieved my knife. I wiped it clean on his shirt and pants and returned the blade to its metal sheath before tucking it into my inner jacket pocket.

One down, I thought without empathy. About twenty-seven more and _Carsen Banks_ to go _._

His death wouldn't bring even one member of my clan back. His death wouldn't erase the pain he had caused or eliminate the threat Banks still posed, but—and there you are, here was the _but_ in _my_ equation—it felt damn right knowing _he_ would never kill anyone else. So what I felt was relief. It had been the right course. And, yes, revenge was sweet and righteous.

One down, Banks. One down.

Okay, before I lifted the concealment spell, I had to do something with Carbo's body. I couldn't just leave it there for the Garda to discover. I stared at his lifeless form, wondering just what to do with it. I would have to have a 'disposal plan' in the future.

All at once a shiver swept up my spine and made me stare down the alley. There stood my immortal, looking like a hulking, frigging avenger, and he didn't look pleased.

~ Eight ~

KIAN O'HARA was the finest of all male specimens. A Titan in blue jeans.

His arms were folded across his wide chest, which his jean jacket strained to cover. His tawny hair blew in the breeze, and his eyes were wildly, oddly glittering blue ice.

His nostrils flared, and, hell, how I could be thinking about sex at a moment like this? I was ridiculous.

I pulled myself together.

Obviously he had witnessed something of what I had just done. _Note to self: spell of concealment not so effective on Mr. Immortal_.

Puzzled, I watched as he strode hard and fast to tower over me. His face was a mask of fury. He took my shoulders in his very firm grip and actually shook me. I was as much startled as ready to kick him in the shins.

I pulled out of his hold, which took considerable force, and objected. " _Hey!_ "

We stood glaring at one another, or at least I was glaring. His gaze raked me over the coals, and those coals were red hot.

He turned in a circle and ran a hand through his locks, faced me again, and snarled. No words, just a snarl, but that wordless sound said so much.

I blinked as I saw him flick his wrist. Carbo's body simply... vanished.

Surprised and diverted, I asked, " _How_... what... where did you send his body?"

"To another realm, where it will never be found." He grabbed my arm then and pulled me in close, right up against his body, and I was stunned immobile.

His voice was a low rebuke. "What the devil is wrong with ye, lass? What did ye do, track and ambush him _? Why—why the devil would ye be so stupid?_ He is one of Banks's guardians. He could have led us to him!"

Okay, now I was seriously angry _._ He had just pushed my 'how dare you' _button_. Was he right—would Carbo have led us to Banks? _No_. And I hadn't been _tracking him_. He had been _tracking me._ Gotta keep the facts in sight here.

There was, however, the question of should I have kept him alive and tortured him for answers? _Nah._ He was a beta guardian; he would not have given his alpha away. But should I have tried? _Damn it_ , no, so I pulled out of Kian's strong hold and said, " _Drop dead_ —oh, wait, _you_ can't... so go jump in the proverbial lake."

He stopped, gazed thoughtfully at me for a long moment, and finally said, "Since that would serve no purpose other than to please ye, and at the moment that is not my inclination, why don't ye just answer m'question."

I bit my upper lip and controlled the volume of my voice. "Ditto."

"Ditto?" He arched a look at me.

"Yeah, _no inclination to please you_ , either," I snapped.

"Och aye." He suddenly grinned and shook his head.

He had grinned at me. I was incredulous and repeated, "Och aye? What the hell does that mean?"

"Well, ye are being female— _emotional_ —so I'll make an allowance," he actually said out loud. Okay, he had pushed my 'how dare you' button again. In fact, that button was being badgered today.

I had my fists on my hips, glared up into those so beautiful eyes of his, and told him, which was amazing as I was seething and thought I might be foaming at the mouth, "Emotional? You arrogant, cocky thing!"

"Och now, I wasn't meaning to insult ye," he offered with a boyishly warm smile.

When he looks at you like that he is not exactly hard to resist. _He is impossible to resist_. Still, _I resisted_. "Yeah, right," I told him.

I swiped at the sticky blood still running down my neck and over my top. "I don't answer to you. _You are a convenience_ , nothing more. You don't get to call _my_ shots!"

"Ah, maybe that is true, and maybe it isn't. Time will tell, but think on it, lass, wouldn't ye use any means at yer disposal to bring Banks down? I'm a means to that end. Work with me, lass," he said, his voice clipped.

I could see his own temper glittering in his eyes and making his nostrils flare. _Holy shit,_ but he was the sexiest thing I'd ever encountered. He aroused me; even there, in that alley, still angry, I was thinking about kissing him... throwing him down and—

"Well?" he pursued, his voice low and his eyes now back to human blue but looking like an ocean storm, dark and full of crashing waves.

I tried collecting my wayward self and shrugged my shoulders. "So, you want to work together. In order to do that, I need to stay alive. _He—_ " I pointed for unnecessary emphasis. " _—wanted me dead_. He wasn't going to _tell us_ anything, and I couldn't take the chance that he might have the ability to send a mind link message to Banks."

"Are they mind-linked, the beta werewolves to their alphas?" my immortal asked thoughtfully. "Only a few packs have that ability, and they are usually shifters, not werewolves," he said, this time frowning over the possibility.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't taking any chances. I don't think he was linked or... at least I don't think he sent off a message to Banks, but your Tara is an immortal witch or whatever, and she is on his side. No telling what she has cooked up for his use." I grimaced at him. "I played the safe card."

Suddenly his gaze flickered to my open wound. I realized blood, while not pouring out of me like a river, was making a steady stream.

I was now immune to a werewolf's bite, but I was bleeding badly, and that wasn't good. It would deplete me, make me weaker. Another problem I needed to solve was how to secure a ready supply of blood.

I looked at my once pretty top. If I kept losing my clothes like this, I'd have to go shopping. It was at this point that I realized I felt just a bit light-headed from the loss of blood. I would need replenishing soon.

"You're hurt," he said softly, and suddenly I was scooped up in his arms like a babe. The next thing I knew he had stepped through his shift into an enormous bathroom. We were back at his place—his bathroom, going by the monogrammed towels on the rack.

Curious, I looked around, making note of the huge whirlpool tub. _Nice. I wouldn't mind soaking for a few hours._

Lovely palms and assorted exotic plants gave his bathroom the feel of a solarium, and I wondered if he simply flicked a finger to keep everything watered and alive or if he had help.

He chuckled and said, "I have a cleaning service in once a week, and in between... a flick of the wrist keeps things orderly and dust free."

_How did he do that_? Had he read my thoughts? "Hey... reading my mind?" I accused.

"No, your face," he answered as he sponged off my bloody wound with a warm washcloth.

I wanted to set ground rules and said, "You know, you have to stop doing that."

"What? Cleaning your wound?" He frowned.

"No, shifting me... without telling me first. It is very disconcerting, you know, at least to me since I'm not used to."

"You'll get used to it," he answered.

I was in the process of taking off my jacket and laying it aside when, without asking, he flicked his talented wrist, and my bloody top was off and discarded.

Ridiculously, I crossed my arms over my naked breasts, and then even more ridiculously I wondered why he hadn't taken a better look, for he hadn't. In fact, he turned and walked away.

I watched him bend into the huge shower stall and thought a person could have a party of six inside it. I heard the water stream with power as he turned it on. Over his shoulder he said, "Get the rest of your clothes off... and get in."

I am a contrary thing. I wanted so badly to hop right into that nice hot shower, but I so didn't like to be told what to do. I compromised. "Turn around—or better yet, _get out_." There. Self-respect preserved.

He smirked, but he did, in fact, leave.

I am, as I said, contrary, even with myself. I realized with a wave of disappointment I hadn't really wanted him to leave. What had I wanted? Him, in the shower—with me? _I am nuts._

I pulled off my shoes, socks, and jeans and stepped into the marbled shower. Ahh, it felt good, so good. I thanked the fates for the invention of multi-jetstream shower heads. It was oh so nice and hot, and for a moment all I wanted to do was stand there in the hot wetness, in the steam, and forget everything and everyone.

So for a moment that was what I did, while the water washed my blood and all brainwaves away.

The wound Carbo had left in my flesh was already closing. The bleeding had slowed to a trickle, but I had already lost so much—too much—blood. Mike had told me that as a new hybrid I might need less blood than I had as a vampire. Yes, but I knew I would need to feed—and soon. I was sadly depleted.

A wave of dizziness made me put my palm against the marble wall to steady myself. I took a few steps and sat on the long teak bench where the hot water still hit and soothed me.

I bent and leaned into my hands, letting the water pour over me as I tried to recover my balance.

A voice, deep and commanding, told me, " _Drink this._ "

I looked up and stiffened as I got to my feet. Naked—I was naked, and there was nowhere to go. Besides that, Mr. Immortal was also thoroughly naked.

Damn, oh hot damn, he was one burning hunk of male!

I thought I should slap him and tell him to get out. Since I didn't think that would work, maybe I should slap myself?

I couldn't stop my gaze from touring over his body. Yup, I did the sweeping glance thing, and when my eyes came to rest on his cock, which was at full attention and pointing at me, there was only one thing to do: cave in to the moment.

My gaze swept up and met his eyes. They were bright, deep blue and changing. Something in their depths was mesmerizing and compelling. Something in their depths said, _I am what you want_ , and he was right. And then he put out his hand.

I froze. He was handing me a container of blood. I could smell it. Pig's blood.

" _Drink it_ ," he repeated and then frowned as he added, "I was worried ye might be dizzy... so I decided what ye needed was some steadying."

I arched a brow at his face and purposely looked down at his glorious, dancing dick. "Steadying? Is that what you call it? Do you always deliver refreshments stark naked?"

He laughed and handed me the plastic container. _"_ When I deliver them in the shower _. Drink._ "

I was startled both by his naked closeness and the fact that he was holding out a bottle of animal blood for me to drink. _Shy_ wasn't the right word. _Overwhelmed_ might do.

Actually, what I felt was more like confusion.

I tried to bolt past him.

He blocked my path and held my shoulder with his free hand. He was so dynamic and I was drawn into his gaze with such a force that I wasn't able to move an inch.

Did I really want to—move an inch, that was? He then wrapped my hands around the container and repeated, "Drink it down now, lass... before ye pass out on me."

Would he be disgusted—watching me drink blood? I am what I am, and at that moment I needed the replenishing. There was no getting away from it, but I have been a vampire all my life, hiding my thirst from my human friends. Some habits die hard, but I took the container, and, oh yeah, I downed it in three long gulps.

I then realized he was soaping himself down... all over, and I have to admit that, fascinated, I stared. Oh, how I stared as he soaped the length and width of his huge rod and then brought his eyes up to mine.

He paused as he saw that I had finished with the container. With a flick of that talented wrist of his, it was gone, and he said, "Now... let me help ye, lass."

" _Help me_?" The words were barely a squeak. Why was I still standing there, naked and staring at his nakedness? _Oh, I knew why._

He turned me around, and with his two hands he placed my palms flat up against the shower wall, even as he managed to bend me over. His leg went between mine, and the next thing I knew, he had a sponge sweetly scented with soap all over my back. His hands worked me in a way that drew a groan from me.

He massaged and rubbed that soap with a tenderness and expertise that made me wish he would never stop.

"Feeling better?" His low, husky voice went right through me.

Was that me moaning and uttering, "Uh-huh"?

What was wrong with me? I was standing there naked, letting this man, who was in love with another woman, soap me down.

Only a little while ago, I had been a killing machine. It was a good thing, wasn't it? I had avenged William and some of my clan. Carbo had brutally mutilated them. I had done the right thing, but I knew it had changed me. I knew it, felt it, wanted to forget it in Kian's arms...

My body was inviting him to do more than soap me down. As I said, I don't lie to myself.

But what was this for him? Payback for Tara's infidelity? I didn't want to be payback.

He was still bent over me. I could feel his breath at my ear and his enlarged and throbbing cock on my ass. His lips were warm at my neck, and his teeth nipped my earlobe and sent a myriad of body-shaking shivers through me.

I was burning up and trembling from the rush his touch elicited.

"Och, lass," he said, and I felt his erection press harder against my butt. I wanted to beg him to shove himself inside me.

I don't know how I didn't bump my butt back against him. I don't know how I answered, "Yes, thank you... I think I can take it from here." Miss Stupid Will Power, yep, that's me.

"Oh, but the question is... do ye want to?" he answered.

"I... I..." Will power failing.

"Ye don't really want me to go," he whispered softly, "and I sure as bloody hell don't want to go." He put his large palms over my hands, still flat on the wet marble shower wall. Then, over my shoulder I saw him take his cock in hand. When I felt him trace a pattern with it on my rump, I pushed back suggestively.

"Do ye feel m'name in yer head, lass... the way I feel yers?"

What was he saying? Yes... he was always in my head. _Was I truly in his_ _?_ What was happening to me? Why was I always drawn to him on a level I felt was natural and right?

"I... I..." Words still failed me, but my body was his for the taking.

"Ye want this as much as I do. I know... I can feel ye inside m'brain calling me to take ye."

I decided not to try to speak, because the words I heard were _fuck me_. No, no, I was not telling him that...

He had his hands on my hips as he situated me, and then one arm went around my waist and bent me into position. He moved both his hands then as he stroked and grabbed my butt, and his touch was like magic.

He continued to stroke me with both his hands as he rubbed his dick against me. I was now beyond thought. I had one thing now on my brain, one driving need.

"Aye, lass... yer ass is fine and made for me. Tell me, what do ye want now... in the here and now— _tell me_."

Again, I looked over my shoulder at him, but now his arm went under me as he picked me up and turned me around.

His mouth connected with mine with desperate need. His lips locked and parted mine in a way that whispered he never wanted to let go. What was I doing? Putting _my_ feelings into _his actions_? Was I fooling myself?

I didn't care. I was lost in that kiss, lost to his velvet, vanilla-flavored, delicious tongue gently stroking mine. I was lost in his scent, in the slow, virile, erotic motion of his body up against mine.

_Stop!_ My warning signals shot off in my brain. Why stop? This... oh, this felt so good. _Yes, but what will you feel when he turns away from you for the woman he really loves? Remember, he loves Tara. Don't forget that._

_Cold splash_. I pushed hard at his chest _._ I was in trouble here. For me, this had become more than a physical connection. I didn't know how it had happened, but I could feel myself falling into a pit called Kian O'Hara.

Inner woman said, _Just hop into bed and enjoy him_.

William had been the only one I had ever been with, and that felt like a million years ago. I couldn't detach enough to be a 'hopping into bed just for fun' sort, though I sometimes wished I could and had considered it once or twice in the past. But we are what we are.

This immortal was different—everything about our connection was different.

It was, however, happening too fast. I didn't want to be hurt, and this one could hurt me. _He loved someone else._

I hauled off and with hybrid strength pushed off him. He stood back in the shower stall, his blue eyes molten with desire, his cock hard and dancing with an invitation.

He was breathing hard. Holy hell, so was I.

He put up his hands. "I'm sorry, lass. I should not have pushed ye, but I could not help meself."

Oh my gosh, he was so good, so perfect, so right for me—if you didn't count that he loved a woman who loved someone else.

"I better get out and—"

He moved in closer. "I still cannot help m'self, lass," he said, and I was back in his arms with his mouth closing in again on mine.

I had invited him to do this—I knew that. I could have stepped out of the shower the moment he entered. Had it been anyone else, I would have slapped him hard and done just that. But I didn't do just that, and I knew why I didn't; it was the reason I was returning his kiss with everything I had.

Conversation was at an end.

His movements became primal as his hands traveled to cup my breasts. He worked my nipples until I heard myself make a pathetic sound. Was that me mewling?

As he pulled gently on my nipples sensations sped through me, and all I knew was what I needed. Him. I needed him inside me.

His lips traveled down my neck, and as he sought my breast to suckle at my nipples, I groaned with the unbelievable pleasure that rippled through me.

He took his time there, as though he could suckle forever, and while the hot water streamed over us, he turned me into a wanton woman.

My fingers sped along his body until I found his erection and stroked it. _Damn_ , he was big... so frigging big and hard and...

He moaned my name as he turned me around once more to face the wet marble. He put my palms back up on the shower wall, and even as he fondled my breasts he pumped his erection against my butt. _Damn, hot damn_ , I wanted that inside.

"Oh," escaped my lips. All I could think was that in a moment he was going to ram it inside of me, but he didn't; instead his finger made its way up that wet tunnel and teased my clit.

_Holy shit,_ I was on fire. My belly, damn, my entire sex, clenched, and I was at the top of a mountain reaching for the... oh, _holy good gosh!_

I exploded. It was full on. All I could do was shudder and shake and groan as my frame convulsed in on itself with my body-shattering climax. I had never experienced anything like it.

He never stopped during my mind-numbing explosion. He just kept pumping first that one finger and then another. Then he was on his knees behind me even as I still shook with the aftermath of my climax.

His tongue joined his talented fingers, and I groaned loud enough to be heard all the way to Dublin. He said, "Lass... och, lass, but ye taste good, so fucking good."

Oh my, but his words revved me up again. All of it was new, and all of it was prime, so prime that I was lost to his touch, to his tongue, to this new pleasure.

Pleasure had taken over my mind. It was all I wanted right then. He stood back up and cupped my cleft from behind while his knee spread my legs further apart. His hand shook me with a pulsating vibration, sending exquisite sensations through my body until I was a rocket of nerve endings ready to splinter.

Once again, relief was an explosion of body and sound as I cried out and trembled uncontrollably. His finger was inside and playing once again. I shuddered as I continued to explode with pleasure bubbles bursting in my blood. I was rocked from deep inside. I trembled and convulsed in his hands, and he whispered words of praise as he turned me to face him and closed his mouth over mine again. I was lost. I knew at that moment that I was lost to this man—this immortal. No other thought intruded.

He grinned, picked up my legs, and held them up on either side of him, resting them on his hips. "Hold on, beauty... hold on and nae let go..."

Even in the heat of my passion I noticed his accent was slightly different... not quite Irish, but something else, something 'Old World'.

What had I gotten myself into? What was he? But that stray concern was washed away as he told me in a voice edged with primal need, "Och, lass... but I'm going to take ye in ways ye never dreamed of, and I'm going take ye till the morn rises, and then I'm going to take ye some more."

He lowered me, purposely positioned me as he took a step back and sat on the teak bench, and I wanted, oh, I wanted whatever he was going to do next.

"Och, Harley..." he groaned.

I thought my entire body would implode with too many sensations as he rubbed his erection against my opening and his lips closed on mine.

I threw my arms around his neck and held on for dear life when he found a spot with his hard and oh so wondrous dick and rubbed there. I called on him, "Take me, Kian... now... now."

Instead, he bent back his head to look at my face.

I don't know what he saw, but I saw a feral, beautiful man with hungry, ancient eyes.

The next thing I knew he stood with me still wrapped around him, and he walked us out of the shower. I imagined he used magic to turn off the water, as I heard it shut down.

A moment later he had me wet and hungry and lying across his huge bed. His voice was a husky whisper. "Och, lass... don't say a word. Just let me take care of ye the way ye were meant to be cared for." He took some jasmine-scented lotion— _Does he always have this on hand, or did he conjure it up just for me? Do I care?_ —and began rubbing it into my wet breasts and chest, and, oh my, it was the most erotic sensation I had ever experienced, and all else was forgotten.

He poured more on my belly and worked his fingers into my flesh and down lower, between my thighs. He massaged lotion onto my inner thighs and down my calves, and then the way he worked my feet nearly made me climax again. I was afraid to move. I didn't want it to stop.

He stretched out beside me and took me into his arms as his tongue slipped into my mouth, and then he withdrew. His eyes were burning as he looked into mine and asked, "Do ye taste yerself on m'tongue? Do ye, lass?"

He didn't wait for an answer, which was a good thing since I wasn't able to speak. Instead, his tongue dove back into my mouth, and his mouth pressed mine with a passion that completely swept me away.

I was flooded with erotic sensations and wanted to give him as much as he was giving me. I pulled partially away from him and used my hybrid strength to push him onto his back. He grinned up at me. "Och, lass... but ye are a force."

I started to kiss a path down his chest, down to his belly, down to that hard, throbbing erection I was yearning to touch.

He was huge, and I wasn't sure my fingers would close around him, but I managed and slipped my hand up and down its length. I watched his face, I listened to his moans of pleasure, and then I began trailing kisses up and down the length of his hard, large shaft. I sucked at the tip, took some of his cock in my mouth and sucked hard, and then released it before going down on it to take more, so much more, in my mouth and towards my throat.

I wanted to please him—no, _I needed to please him_. I began to move hard and fast, and suddenly he swore and stopped me. "Lass, lass... ye have to stop, because the first time I go off, I want to be inside ye."

The next thing I knew I was on my back once more, my knees in his hands as he positioned himself. He had my legs parted and wide and then he was lifting me up by my rump with one hand while his other guided his hot dick to my sex. _There_ , oh there, he teased my clit with a skill I wasn't aware any man owned. He made me squeal with pleasure and buck against him. I so wanted him to shove it all in at once.

"Fuck me, Kian... now... fuck me, please," I moaned out.

He made a primal and guttural sound that seemed to come from somewhere deep in his throat, and finally he did just that. He rammed inside me with a force that made me explode once more. Even as I shuddered, my body burning from the inside out, the walls of my sex clenching his cock, I wanted more, more of this, more of him. The muscles of my sex squeezed and released and squeezed again around his cock so deep inside me. I squirmed with pleasure at the sounds this drew from him. My brain was dark, my eyes were full with the lights of exploding rockets, and his name was being _written in my sky._

That 'indefinable something' rocked between us and was a palpable entity. I was wrong; it wasn't just his name that lit up the sky. It was mine, entwined with his.

_Holy shit_ _!_ When had that happened to me?

I had always believed that one day an undeniable love, a love I had been missing in my life, would enter and change me forever. _Here it was._

"Exquisite beauty..." he said as he poured the last drop of himself into me and collapsed, holding me tightly against him.

We lay there together quietly for a few moments while he whispered pretty things into my ear. All at once, even as I felt his heat gaining ground, he held my waist in his two large hands. He sat up on the bed and pulled me onto him. Molten blood traveled through my brain.

I was in trouble, big trouble. Love had no place intruding on me now. I hadn't wanted love, just a little lust experience with him. But love, ready or not, was flashing me.

His cock was once again at full mast. His eyes were bright and told a story.

He added to that story, saying, "I have wanted ye from the moment I laid eyes on ye... Harlow McDagus, and I mean to claim ye for meself."

He positioned me on his erection and pumped himself inside even as I slammed down on it. He held my breasts as he rocked deep inside me, and I kept hearing his words— _I mean to claim ye for meself_ —in my head.

As he rammed and pounded into me with an expertise that sent rivulets of erotic sensations coursing through my blood, I rode him like a cowgirl on a bronco and he called out my name over and over again.

"Harley love," he murmured. Once more his hot seed poured into me, and once more a feeling of completeness swept through me.

He held onto me then, and all I knew was that I wanted to hold onto him and never let go.

No time for questions as he covered my face with his kisses.

~ Nine ~

I DIDN'T KNOW what time it was when he wrapped us in the king-sized quilt and shifted us to his balcony, but I thought it was around midnight.

"Look at the stars, Harley love," he said.

I noticed once again that his accent was not quite Irish anymore and asked, "Kian, you're an immortal, not really Irish, right? So why the Irish accent?"

"My first years..." He looked at me doubtfully for a moment as though I might be shocked. "... _thousands of years ago_ , were happily spent in Ireland—beautiful Eire. We lived amongst the people there, and their Gaelic, which we adopted, bled into my own native tongue." He sighed and studied the stars. "Do my years... disturb ye?"

"No. There is a touch of Old World behind everything you do, and that explains it. I like explanations," I said and snuggled against him.

"Aye, as do I. So, soon, very soon, I'll be asking for one... about ye and the past ye have come from," he whispered into my ear and then kissed and nibbled at my lobe.

Oh hot damn, but everything he did drew on me in ways I never thought possible.

"I will tell you more when you tell me," I said.

"I just did." He cast a quizzical look at me.

I punched him the gut, and he grunted and laughed. "No, you didn't... not really."

"Lass, I'm not sure it is a matter of trust ye are looking for," he answered.

"What do you think I am looking for?" I answered and heard the husky note in my voice with some surprise. Who the hell was I? Was I still my own person? Was I becoming his?

"Never mind," he said. "Focus on the here and now and what we have to do."

"But—"

"I trust ye, Harley, so I'll tell ye something that might help. M'real name is Kianet of the House of Hara. Not so very different from the Irish name of Kian O'Hara." He shrugged. "An easy fit for what I had to do here."

" _The House of Hara?_ " Why did that sound so familiar? "Easy fit? What you had to do here?"

"Another time. Right now the time is for this," he said and kissed my mouth, effectively silencing me.

When his mouth released mine I could see a feral, almost savage possessiveness in his demeanor, and I wondered at it.

He whispered, "Harley, I'm worried about ye. Ye killed someone today when they were in human form. Granted, ye had no choice, but _how do ye feel_?"

I saw the genuine concern on his face and allowed him an answer. "I feel like... well, have you ever been bitten by a mosquito and slammed him dead on your flesh? That is how I feel. He was worse than a mosquito because his bite... well, never mind." I had almost spilled it all out, but I wasn't ready. Telling him would make me relive the day. I didn't want to— _not then._

He looked at me then and asked quietly, "Are ye ready then to tell me about your clan... about Banks?"

"No, not tonight. Tonight is for this," I said and kissed his chest and then traveled the length of his belly, further down to his already hardened staff.

He pulled me up and said, "I want to make sure that even though ye feel no remorse, ye still feel whole. I want to know that—"

I cut him off. "I feel whole and ready to kill the next and the next one after that. Remorse? If you ever see that in me, it won't be for killing them but for not knowing in advance and stopping them." Now I was angry. Remembering what they—the Banks pack—had done made me angry. I sneered with frustration. I didn't want to discuss this. I had done what needed to be done, and I meant to keep on doing what needed to be done.

"Where did it all go wrong? How did it? Ye are young and should be living a bright and shiny life. What interrupted ye, _what?"_

"It doesn't matter. What matters is Banks needs stopping— _not me._ You need to rethink how _you_ can help stop him, because if you leave him and his pack to pick themselves up and dust themselves off... they will just come back at you and everyone you care about. That is who he is and who he has made his wolves."

He didn't say anything then. Instead he shifted us back to his bed, and once again Banks was relegated to another place, another time as I got lost in Kianet of the House of Hara.

* * *

I felt dizzy, as much from the rush of erotic sensations pouring through me as from the need for blood.

Lovemaking with Kian was beyond anything I had ever imagined, and even though I didn't have much to compare it with, a person knows when they have had the ultimate experience. Your body tells you in no uncertain terms. Besides that, I also knew, I was hopelessly, desperately in love with this immortal.

Our all-day, all-night romp, however, had left me depleted and thirsty. I needed blood. A note on his nightstand told me to check out his fridge, and hurriedly I did just that.

I don't know how he did it, but it was jam-packed with containers of pig's blood.

I took a moment to drink and magically dispose of the empty container before I slipped into my jeans and pulled on a pretty and sleeveless black silky top that hugged my body and rode short of my waist. My red hair cascaded over my shoulders, and I was pleased with the 'look'.

When I grabbed my denim jacket, I felt a bulge in the pocket and gasped. I had forgotten all about it. Rysdale had given me an important package, and I hadn't even opened it.

Kian stood in the threshold and whistled softly as he scanned my figure top to bottom and said low and hungrily, "Stunning beauty, and ye have no idea... do ye?"

"Kian, with everything that happened yesterday... I forgot all about this," I told him and held out the small brown package. "And... thank you for... taking care of things... in the fridge." It was difficult, I was not sure why, to actually thank him for blood. I am what I am.

He frowned and reached for the package, but I held onto it. He sighed and asked, "Aye, then, what is it?"

"I don't know. Let's open it now."

"I've got coffee downstairs waiting on ye. We'll take it there and have a look."

He was no longer smiling as he stepped aside and let me pass. I knew I had annoyed him when I didn't hand over the package, but old habits, as they say, die hard. I was used to holding onto what was mine. Rysdale had put it in my trust, and that was where, for the moment, I believed it needed to stay.

He poured us each a mug of coffee and sat as I unwrapped the brown paper. I felt my eyebrows rise with my surprise. Inside was an ordinary-looking compass, but Kian was more than a little excited and this time when he reached for it, I allowed him to take it up and have a closer look

"Who gave this to ye, lass? Was he a wizard?"

"Yes, Rysdale by name. My mom... we used to visit him when I was younger..." I started.

"Well, well, so ye have Rysdale on yer side. Well, well," he said, sitting back and holding the average-looking compass in his hands. He handed it back to me, and when I took it in both my hands, this time the damned thing began to glow!

* * *

"Bloody hell!" he uttered caustically. "A compass to find a Fae Hallow?" He said, staring at it, "It is pointing south... lass."

"Well, it isn't supposed to do that exactly," I said. "Is it pointing to Dublin? I feel it wants me to go to Dublin... Trinity. It's a feeling I'm getting from it. We should take it there. Rysdale said to let it guide me, so that's what we have to do."

"Aye, then, love—to Dublin and Trinity," he said and took my hand.

" _Wait—_ how is it you know Rysdale?" I asked.

"Know _of him_. Never had the pleasure of meeting him, but even in our circles he is something of a legend, especially after the war."

"War—which one?"

"The last one."

"Okay, but what do you mean, 'your circles'?" I quizzed. "Want to tell me just what your circle is?"

"I do, but not now," he answered softly.

"When?"

"Soon," he answered, grinning like a boy.

_There was_ a boy in this ancient immortal. When that boy came to the surface, it lit up his face and got to me. _Does he still want Tara_ , I wondered fretfully. If she came back to him, would he set me aside? "What are you, Kian of the House of Hara?"

"Ye know what I am. In yer heart, _ye have always known_ ," he answered.

I felt a frown take over my face. What was that supposed to mean? All I knew was that he was an immortal with amazing powers. Did I know what he was? Somewhere in my subconscious, did I know?

He clucked his tongue and said, "Never mind that now." He shook his head. "What we have now is a problem to solve. Shall we get to it? In a little more than a month, the ritual of Samhain will be upon us. We can't allow Banks to use the magic of that night to further his plans, and with or without the Hallow he has enough dark magic to do just that."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

He kissed my fingers as he whisked us into his shift.

We stepped out, and I saw the grassy square at Trinity, hemmed in by three buildings. Students were on the move, scurrying around to their classes, calling out greetings and jests to one another. Once upon a time, I had dreamed of attending Trinity. Gone was that dream with so many other goals, lost in the need to avenge my family's massacre.

No one around us noticed our sudden appearance, or if they had no doubt they thought it a 'trick of the eye'.

He looked down at me, and I saw a certain excitement in his now blue eyes. I realized that he had used Glamour and once again looked totally human. A trigger tickled my brain. Human Glamour was something witches could easily and readily use to improve their appearance, but so could—

I lost the thought as he demanded, "Hold out yer compass, lass, and let's see where it takes us"

I did as he asked, and once again it glowed. This time not only did the arrow point the way, but I also felt a definite pull. I broke from him as I used super-speed and allowed the compass to lead me.

He shifted in beside me almost at once, and we stood together looking down the length of Harcourt Street. Vibrations tickled my nerve endings, magical vibrations. The pulse of something unnatural was in the air, and we both stared at an aged red brick building overlooking the wide sidewalk.

The windows were dark, and there was no visible shop entrance, at least not to the human eye. Neither of us were human, though, so we saw it at once, exchanged a glance, and stepped forward.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through me as the wards constructed to keep out supernatural beings shocked me immobile.

"Tara enacted this ward," he said with a grimace. "Therefore _, I_ can take it down."

Their bond was so great that they could work on one another's spells? Jealousy, sharp and tearing, coursed through me.

He flicked his wrist as he chanted in a language I did not recognize. Once again he took my hand, and we shifted.

~ Ten ~

I STEPPED ONTO a wood floor whose expanse seemed endless. The room was decorated in the first style of elegance in hues of soft earth colors.

Candles were lit throughout—on wall sconces, along shelves, and on the many occasional tables of dark, highly polished wood that decorated the room.

A huge fireplace dominated the far wall where dark maroon leather sofas created a cozy sitting area. _What the hell_ _?_

We were no longer in Kansas.

I knew immediately from the sensation I got that we had stepped into another realm, one that Banks had found (no doubt thanks to Tara) to use when he needed to escape the Human Realm.

The compass Rysdale had given me had done its job.

Magic wards had not kept us out of the portal that allowed us to step through to Banks' private hideaway, and although the chamber we stood in was decorated in welcoming tones, I felt dark magic pulsing all around me. That was not welcoming at all.

I looked up at Kian, who was not looking at me. He had produced his Death Sword and held it ready.

"I can't believe Tara has done all this _for him_ ," he said hoarsely. "Can't she see what he is?"

I swallowed my jealousy. Did he still love her?

Hurt traveled through my blood, and a black cloud took over my thinking. Then I nearly gasped as one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen stepped out of a shift and walked towards Kian.

Her black hair reached her waist and swayed as she moved. Her face was at once youthful and yet womanly. Her lips were luscious. Her eyes, so deep and blue. They were alien, but I didn't see a hint of anything ancient in them. In her soft summer sundress of white lace, she was, I thought, breathtaking. Then, what must she do but smile at Kian as she went towards him, hands outstretched.

My heart took a very sharp stab, and I realized I was holding my breath.

"Kian... I have missed you," she said softly.

He met her halfway and hugged her to himself, and in that moment I felt lost. The air that went into my lungs was too painful to describe.

Her voice was musical when she laughed, and she said, "So then, why have you come?"

_Focus_ , I told myself, but her voice, tinged with a light Gaelic accent, tore through me agonizingly.

"I have missed ye, Tara. It has been long—too long," he said.

I turned my back to them. I closed my eyes. I heard his voice, soft and loving as he spoke to her. "Tara... ye don't know what he is. He is all wrong not only for ye, but for anyone. Tara, Banks is a monster."

I had moved away, but I heard her stomp her foot and turned back to stare at her as she wagged a finger at him. "The only wrong one is you. The only monster is you, coming here to upset me." She seemed to regret her words and touched his cheek, and I wanted to rip her hands off him.

She looked at him imploringly. "I have chosen him. You should accept that, Kian."

All at once she noticed me and arched a curious brow. "Well now, look at all that flaming hair... _what is she?_ "

"This is—"

"I'm Harley," I said, walking towards her. "I am here to tell you that the magic you are enabling Banks to use is hurting more people than you can imagine." If she turned from Banks, she would turn to Kian. I bolstered myself for that eventuality.

All at once, I heard a voice bellow out, "YOU!"

Banks arrived through a side door and stepped towards me.

I felt a sneer take over my mouth as I stepped to meet him, my fists itching to plant themselves in his flesh _. Not on_ his flesh— _but in it_. That need throbbed inside me.

He said, "I left you for dead. You died. I know you died." He seemed astonished even more than he seemed angry.

All my hatred came welling up, but I controlled it.

I gave him a derisive once over. He stood there in his shiny black leather coat over a white shirt and black leather pants, cocky and self-assured. I thought him grotesque.

The itch to kill him on the spot made me twitch from head to toe. "That's right, _I died_ because you killed me." I glanced at Tara. " _Are you listening_? Just before my twenty-first birthday, your lover cold-heartedly killed me and everyone I loved."

I saw the shock on her face. Ah, she had no idea what she had enabled. I turned to focus on her for the moment. I needed to shift her away from his influence, and that would take some doing.

I told her, as I looked over my shoulder at Banks, "I died slow, Tara... just like he wanted me to. I died with my mom, her heart torn out and thrown beside her dead body only a few feet from me. I died after watching my dad's head torn off _by him_." I glared from him to her. "You gave him the means, didn't you? You didn't know why he wanted his pack to have the ability to shift into wolf during daylight, but you gave him that power, and he used it to _massacre my entire family_ , my clan."

"But... but why would he do that?" Tara asked me. She took a small movement towards Banks and asked, "Is it true... did you do that?"

"She is a liar!" he snarled.

With super-speed I was on her and put both my hands to her forehead before she or Banks could stop me.

"Tara, see the truth. See my memory. It is undeniable."

I pushed the ugly memory of that day into her mind, and _she saw it all_.

She nearly collapsed, but Kian was instantly there to hold her steady, frowning darkly. Could he see the memories I had put in her head? How could he do that? _Were they so close_? I felt sick as I saw his hand on the side of her head, giving her comfort.

Through the memory I allowed her, Tara could see it all. She saw her lover, Banks, mutilate my mother and father. She saw his pack tear through my clan. _She saw me die_ —she saw and felt the horror of that day.

Her face contorted with disgust, and she pushed me away and turned into Kian's waiting arms.

I am not sure how to describe what I felt. Satisfaction that I had ended her relationship with a monster? Yes, but also _grief for myself_ , as I believed I had now lost Kian to her.

_In that moment_ I was vulnerable. Watching them, I forgot about Banks. How could I have been so stupid? _That moment was all it took._

Mistakes are made because emotions get in the way of logic. I had done what I had sworn to myself I wouldn't do. I had allowed myself to fall in love before my mission was concluded, and falling in love had left me... _in trouble_.

I forgot Mike's rule to _never, ever give my back to an enemy._

My world tilted as a silver knife dipped in poison cut the side of my neck open.

I was immune to the poison of silver. It had no effect on me, but evidently Banks had prepared something new. He was just the sort to cover his bases. Just the sort to plan for the chance he'd encounter a supernatural immune to the silver.

The unfamiliar poison sped through my blood, and though I fought it, though my magic worked to heal my body, I felt darkness come over me... and though I was unwilling, although I fought it, that darkness took hold.

* * *

Someone called to me: _Wake up, Harley—wake up!_

I knew that voice. _It was mine_.

That voice was something I had built into my psyche.

I could feel my body repair itself, take control of the poison and neutralize it.

How long had I been out?

Where was I? It looked to be cave-like enclosure—no, more of a tunnel. It was damp, slimy, and dark.

I focused my vamp eyesight and saw that Banks had somehow linked my left wrist to a chain hooked into a natural stone wall.

I smirked to myself. Chains wouldn't hold me. I yanked. _Nothing_. _Like what?_ I yanked again. Still nothing, and then I saw through the dim light that both the chain and the cuff holding me were made of gold. A memory clicked into my head: the Golden Wiele!

Tara was not only an immortal. She was a Fae, or if not a Fae then she had access to Fae equipment. This was a 'Wiele' made to hold Fae in place and keep them from shifting. My mother had often told me tales of the Fae.

Okay, what I needed to do was figure out how deep the pin was embedded into the concrete wall. I scanned it, but at my back I sensed someone's approach.

Banks.

He laughed, and the sound was maniacal.

Suddenly, I knew where I was. I had never been here, but I knew the history of Dublin very well. These were the famed tunnels that ran under the Customs House and fanned out in the city. An escape route in ancient times, some said, for smugglers and their like.

Okay, I had to remain calm. Taunt him. So I put on a derisive face and said, "You don't know what you're dealing with, and now you won't have your little Tara to help you, will you? She didn't know what you were doing. _N_ _ow she does_."

He laughed again. "I don't need her anymore. I have what I want. _I have the Hallow._ "

For a moment my heart stopped, and then I remembered that Kian had said he wouldn't know how to use it. I taunted him again. "So what—you really are an idiot if you think a Fae Hallow of such power will respond _to you_ —a hybrid."

"It will respond. I am working on that... and I am so much more than a hybrid now."

I discovered the nothingness in his eyes. They were all black—completely black. Something more than Carsen Banks inhabited his body. He had gone over to the dark side, _but it was more than that_.

"Now, it is time for me to leave, but first, I am going to slit your throat and wrists. You will bleed out and be helpless. I would like to watch you lose your life's blood. I would like to stay to set you on fire. But I haven't the time. I'm going to leave you to the rats."

This couldn't be happening. I was supposed to avenge my parents. I was supposed to end his life... but there he was on top once again. _No!_

In one swift movement he was on me and carrying out his threat.

I watched the blood pour from my wrists, felt it run down my chest, and wished I could have seen Kian one last time...

But he was with Tara.

~ Eleven ~

FATIGUE ENVELOPED ME—the kind that saps your strength and leaves you falling into an abyss.

Shame slapped me—the kind that told me I had known better than to give myself to a man whose heart belonged to someone else. The kind that sneered at me and told me I should have put my mission first and avenged my parents and my clan.

This wasn't how I had envisioned as the result of my meeting with Banks.

I had let my guard down. I had put my feelings for Kian ahead of my goal to eliminate Carsen Banks.

_How could I have been so inept_?

This was on me. Stupid, stupid me. With all my power, I had turned into a simpering miss, distracted because of love.

I had one advantage left to me. Banks didn't know exactly what I was. I had the ability to heal faster, so much faster than when I was just a vampire. Yes, but would I heal before I lost too much blood? I didn't think so. Even with the power of three, I could feel my blood gushing out of my body faster than I could heal the wounds.

The poison was a mere distraction to my senses—it meant nothing, and I knew that my inner witch had already identified the antidote and fought off the toxin. As I stared, however, at the pool of blood pouring out of my dangling wrist, I knew I was in deep shit. No one would know where I was.

Rats!

First one, then two, and I had just enough strength to kick them away. More of them came, and it was all I could do not to scream when two, then three started crawling up my leg.

No... oh no...

* * *

I managed to use the last bit of strength I owned to call on my magic and scatter the rats. I hung there as my wounds sealed themselves. It felt like an interminable time. My hope, and I am always hoping, was that though he loved Tara, Kian would try to save me.

It couldn't end like this. I had to get to Banks and destroy him and his murderous pack. I had to. I willed myself to stay awake, though it was difficult for me to even see past the haze before my eyes.

All at once, I had to blink. _Was I hallucinating?_

My immortal stood before me, a hulking, beautiful Titan.

Was he? Was he really here?

His curse echoed in the cavernous tunnel as he punched a hole in the concrete wall behind me.

_This was real_. He was really there.

I tried to say his name, but nothing came out of my parched lips. I was sadly dehydrated.

Another moment later, he had freed me from the wall but not the magical gold chain. I felt his wonderful arms go around me as he held me close and got me to my feet.

Heedless of the fact that a gold chain dragged heavily from my wrist, he scooped me up and held me against himself.

The loss of blood must have made me too light-headed to remain conscious, for suddenly everything vanished. When I awoke, I was in his bed.

Tara was bending over me, putting a lukewarm wet rag to my face. It smelled of rose water. She then rubbed it over my chest and whispered, "Ah, there you are, back with us."

She turned to Kian, who was hovering over her, his face drawn with worry, and told him. "She is a fighter, your hybrid." She sighed. "I don't know what the queen will say to all this, but oh, Kian, I do like her."

Like, what?

I didn't speak because I couldn't. Kian's hand was on her shoulder as he said, "A moment, Tara... I need a moment with my lass."

She lowered her lashes and moved out of my line of vision.

He plopped down beside me and touched my cheek with one finger. He said, his voice hoarse with emotion, "You had me sick with worry, lass. I don't remember ever feeling that way before."

Tara returned and put a hand on his shoulder.

Seeing him pat her hand made me want to die.

He was lost to me, and that one thought overrode all others. I would heal, and I would go after Carsen Banks and his homicidal pack. Afterwards, I would just crawl into some cave and die.

He put his hand over my eyes and in the voice of many said, "Sleep, sweet love, sleep."

My last thought before I did just that was, _He is using a compulsion spell on me_. Then, once again, the world went dark.

* * *

I awoke with a start and sat up.

Kian was right at my side. With one fluid movement he had me sitting up and asked softly, "Ah, love, better?"

I looked at his solicitous expression and wanted to smack him. He felt sorry for me. I couldn't have him feel sorry for me. That was worse than all the rest.

Now all I had left was to get to Banks, so I said, "Banks? Kian, he has the Hallow." There, it was business as usual. I wouldn't let him know how broken I was inside.

"I know. Tara told me she found it yesterday morning and gave it to him, but hopefully Tara's request to the Hallow for it not to respond to anyone other than a Fae will hold some weight."

"Request?" I was momentarily diverted.

"As it turned out," Tara said, coming to sit on the other side of the bed, "the Hallow evolved over the centuries and has a will, maybe even a mind, of its own. I don't know that it will respect my request. If it wants to respond to him, it will. We can only hope it won't."

All I could think, even in that moment as I sat looking at them both, with all the world in danger from a monster, was that Tara was so beautiful and her smile so full of affection when she glanced Kian's way.

"Wait!" I said as sudden dawning lit in my brain. "I need to know exactly what you are. I have my suspicions, but I want you to tell me." I waited for Tara to answer. I was already pretty sure she was a Fae, and that made sense. He was an Immortal... stood to reason... an Immortal and a Fae...

"Doesn't she know?" Tara turned to Kian, and I watched an odd glance pass between them. Inwardly I cringed and then cried.

"I was waiting for the right moment," he answered her.

"Oh, by faith! They are all alike, _males_ ," she told me. " _All alike._ "

I managed a fleeting smile. An odd thing happened as I looked into her bright eyes. I found I liked her. Well, at least I was losing him to someone I liked. Did that make it better? _Noooo_ , but it didn't make it worse.

"I have to go after him," I said. "Now." I needed to do something. I needed to get away from these two.

"And we will, soon. Ye are strong enough, because yer body healed. Tara and I applied hands... healed ye beyond what yer own magic could do."

"And it is time you tell her," Tara added.

"You don't have to tell me anything. I can see for myself," I answered and looked away. _Here it comes, the big good-bye._

He took my chin in his hands and turned my face up to his. I saw Tara step back, but she continued to watch us.

He said, in spite of her presence, "Harley, lass... what do ye mean ye can see for yerself? Did ye always know, then?"

"Well, of course." I frowned at him. "I knew you loved her—wanted her back. I just, I supposed, hoped that... when you and I... well..."

He stared with disbelief for a moment before he barked out a laugh.

Tara frowned and said, "She sounds a bit daft to me. I'm thinking it's the blood loss."

"No, I let her feed from me while ye were sleeping, Tara, so she now has our blood in her veins and always will. It isn't that. It is only that you're right, and she is daft."

"What are you saying? You gave her royal blood? Kian... you know what that means? Well, well."

Okay, maybe Tara was right and I had gone daft, because I wasn't understanding any of this. I asked, "I fed on you? This is wrong. I don't drink human blood... oh no..."

"No worries," he grinned. " _Not human._ "

"Yes, but—"

"Ye were in the throes of agony and not healing fast enough. I was afraid I would lose ye. I couldn't lose ye, love... I couldn't, and I won't. The only thing I could do to ease yer pain was to let ye feed on my blood."

I stared into his ancient, glittering blue eyes and asked, "What are you, Kian of the House of Hara?"

"I am a Royal Daoine Fae," he answered promptly, and I saw pride in his eyes even as he searched my face for my reaction.

I was not surprised to learn he was a Fae. I was, however, more than a little amazed to learn that not only was he a Royal but a _Daoine_ , the highest caste of Fae. " _Whoa_ ," I said and looked at Tara. "And Tara... also Royal Fae?"

He puzzled up and touched my head. " _Not feverish_." He stared into my eyes and added, "Well, of course she is."

"Why of course?" My turn to puzzle up.

"As m'sister, what else could she be?"

I felt my mouth drop. " _Your sister_... what do you mean, your sister?" I was totally flabbergasted. This was the best news I had ever had.

He put his arms around me as he pulled me close and whispered, "Lass, lass... what have ye been thinking?"

Tara clapped her hands and laughed. "Oh my, _you never thought_...?" She began laughing again.

I began giggling and crying all at once and buried my face in his chest. Relief flooded through me. _Tara was his sister._

"I thought Tara—" I started to tell him.

"Was your lover," Tara finished. "You never told her I was your sister, and of course she assumed such heat to find me and rescue me came from another kind of love."

I sank back against the cushions and held my hand out, keeping him at bay as I demanded, "Okay, I want the whole story, and then, I am _going to track and kill Banks_." I glanced at Tara. "Sorry, Tara."

"Oh, don't be. I was nearly done with him and already becoming suspicious of the charm he displayed. Kian was right from the start. I was never in love with him... only having a bit of sport."

Kian raised a brow at her and then told me, " _We_ are going to track and find him, and when the moment comes to kill him, we'll see who has that honor."

Tara began jibber-jabbering then, telling me everything that had happened to make her run off to Ireland and how she had met Banks and thought him quite a specimen, for she had never known a hybrid before. When she was done I shook my head and said, "How old are you Tara?"

"I will reach my Fae majority next month when I turn twenty-five. We immortals don't easily reproduce, so it was a long time after this one—" She poked her brother. "—that I was born." She regarded me. "I think I am a bit older than you?"

I laughed. "Not enough to matter."

Kian said, "That's why she is so spoiled—an unexpected present to my parents."

"Not spoiled. What would you do, Harley, if you didn't want to marry a Royal and your parents arranged a marriage? Of all the outdated traditions!" She started huffing.

"Well, I might take off, like you did." I shook my head. I really didn't know Tara well enough to get into this yet. I sighed and changed the subject. "You know, it isn't going to be easy because Banks isn't just Banks any longer. He seems to have evolved somehow," I said worriedly.

"No matter," Kian said. "He is no match for us."

She giggled and said. "Indeed, time to do what you must, and then I suppose it's home for us, eh, brother?" She sighed. "Although I am _not_ looking forward to the lecture I'm going to get from our parents."

My smile vanished.

Kian would return to Faery, and once again, I would lose him. He was a Royal Daoine Fae and could never present to his court a hybrid as his mate. I knew something about their reputed sense of superiority not only over humans but over even the Seelie Fae.

Kian has a habit of reading, he says, my expression and was on me the moment I had this thought. He grasped my shoulders and pulled me in for a kiss. It was light and gentle as though he were afraid to break me, so I threw my arms around him and turned it into something else.

In the background I heard Tara laugh and say, "Oh, puh-lease— _still here_ , you know."

Kian whispered, "Do ye think that I would stay anywhere without ye? Don't ye know, by Danu, that I am bonded to ye, love, now and forever? There'll be no separating us. Do ye ken?"

I laughed. "Politics might get in the way... and not sure I want to live in Faery."

"No problem. We can bounce around, don't ye know." He stroked my head, pulled on a strand of my hair, and kissed my lips.

At length I sighed and asked, "Tell me, how is it _you_ have an Irish accent and Tara has only a slight... Gaelic accent?"

"Hers is Danu because on Daoine we often speak in Danu, and that is all she has known for twenty-four years. She is but a baby."

Tara smacked him.

He laughed and continued, "But I, as I told ye, loved Ireland when we Fae came... after the destruction of our beloved Danu. I as did my brethren lived in Ireland, which resembled our Danu, until the war with the Milesians. Then our Queen and the Seelie Queen created Daoine and the Isle of Tir."

"Oh... and still, Kian... you are—"

Tara had walked away, and Kian took me into his arms. "In love with ye and always will be. We are what a wolf would call imprinted."

"So now, what comes next?" I asked.

"We are going to find out what Banks has inside him and kill them both," Kian said.

I had to wonder how Tara would feel about that. She might not have been in love, but she had enjoyed some months with him as her lover. She left us to ourselves, but I felt for her. Still, nothing was going to get in my way now.

~ Twelve ~

TARA HAD A MIND of her own. Kian wanted her to return home and stay out of the fray, but she said that this was her fault and would do nothing of the kind.

I was down with that; we could use her help.

She believed she knew where Banks and his beta guardians had gone. Without Tara, they couldn't shift.

I knew where he was going. My inner witch was sure.

Banks would return to familiar territory. He would go home, and he would go to the home I had shared with my parents for twenty-one years. I knew it in my gut.

I told them this, and without a word my Daoine prince took my hand and hers and shifted us.

I couldn't believe it when my feet touched the earth and I looked around.

We stood near my mother's grave.

Nothing had been disturbed. Everything looked— _not felt_ , but looked—the same. "He isn't here yet," I said and my voice sounded vicious even to myself.

"No," Kian answered. "That is the plan. We lie in wait. He will arrive later today, and he will come with his pack." He held me and said quietly, "He knows we'll come after him, and I don't think he believes a hybrid could withstand the power of a Fae, which can only mean he has something on his side that we don't know about."

I agreed with this way of thinking because I had seen it. Banks wasn't who he had been. He was more.

Even so, I knew this _was it_. Revenge was at hand, and I felt... oddly, not as elated as I'd thought I would feel. I was anxious because of my last encounter with him. I should have finished him then. He no longer had Tara to help him, but Kian was right: he had something else on his side. What?

So we huddled in the house and made our plans.

It was dark, and he had chosen this night because a bright and full moon would allow his pack to attack as werewolves.

I heard them less than a mile away and looked at Kian. He and Tara had heard them as well.

We went outside and took our places. We stood, the three of us with Kian in the middle, with the edge of the ravine behind us.

We could not be circled in this way. They would have to face us to attack. The thought made me smile.

We were each armed our with own Death Weapon. Mine was my silver blade, which I had spelled. I meant to rip as many rabid wolves apart as I could. No, they weren't wolves. They were abominations. Wolves were normal, proud, and beautiful. These were grotesque monsters.

They stalked with the moon's rays shining down through the trees. They came, saliva drooling from canines bared and ready. Their eyes glinted red, and the sight of them like that brought it all back to me and turned whatever light energy I had inside me to dark.

"He wants to engage us first with his wolves and slip in between while we are busy," Kian suggested. "He doesn't understand—he never did. We are Daoine, Fae of the elements. Water, earth, wind, and fire are ours. He believes, and it is usually so, that we wouldn't interfere with the Human Realm. He forgets that while he lives in the Human Realm, _he is not_ under that protection. He is a supernatural and not a part of the original Treaty."

He blinked, and, fascinated, I watched as the earth began to erupt, the sound of thunder crashed through the sky, and a multi-forked lightning bolt zapped through the forest and took out five weres. They weren't dead but stunned. They would be dead—soon.

He shifted me, and in quick order, while he slashed them with this Death Sword, I gutted them with my silver blade. I couldn't lie to myself about how I felt. I hadn't thought it would feel so good, but it did. I just kept seeing them rip my clan apart and did the same to them. You could say mine was the overkill.

Kian must have said my name, as I heard it in the distance before he shifted us once more to Tara's side, where she waited at the edge of the cliff.

The wolves charged with power and speed then, and for a few moments we had our hands full as we slashed and killed creatures that should have beautifully represented their counterparts. Wolves are beautiful, family-oriented beings, but these... these were monsters from hell.

Blood and gore were everywhere, but they kept coming.

As some died more slowly than others, I saw them writhe with pain in their final moments. I felt a twinge of pity and tried to banish such sensations. I thought I was too bent on revenge to feel pity, but it came unbidden, and quickly I put them out of their misery.

Kian flicked his wrist, and their bodies vanished. A look of utter adoration came into his eyes, and he said softly, "Sweet Harley. Never mind. It will soon be over. I have sent their bodies to another realm where the inhabitants feed on the dead."

"Eeww—too much information," I said and turned to find yet another vicious were, canines ready, snarling and biting the air as he charged at me.

I stood my ground and prepared to take his weight. I lifted my silver blade and gutted him.

No pity—I must not feel any pity, but I knew these werewolves were being sacrificed by Banks. He didn't care about them.

It must have dawned on Kian at the same time. It was all too easy. They were a distraction.

I don't like easy because things rarely are, and when they are, there is usually a price to pay.

And there it was.

Within five feet or so of my house, a place I knew was an epicenter of power due to my mother's legacy, I saw a rippling affect.

A swirling hole the size of a melon was growing faster than I could imagine. Inside that hole of massive energy was another ball of energy, and it appeared ready to burst.

I knew... something awful was about to happen.

"Kian!" I shouted and pointed even as yet another charging werewolf came at me. I did what Mike taught me and waited until the werewolf was in the air and sidestepped. Not easily done when you see snapping jaws and drool coming at you.

Kian shouted at his sister, "Damnation. It's a portal! Tara, we have to close it." He shifted, and I saw the two of them working a spell as they desperately tried to stop whatever it was that was about to burst out of the portal.

Carsen Banks stalked out of the woods and into the clearing. He reared his huge wolf form and stood on two for a moment before dropping back down.

His eyes were coal black and dead.

I knew at once something besides Carsen Banks was in his body.

His face was drawn and held no expression whatsoever. He raised his arms heavenward as he chanted in a voice that was oddly raspy in spite of the volume he produced. He spoke in a foreign language, but Kian's Fae blood had already changed my inner workings, and I understood at once: "Come... _come, my legions_."

_My legions_ _?_ Oh, not liking the sound of that.

_Holy shit_ _!_

I stared at the portal as it erupted and screeching filled the atmosphere.

We put our hands to our ears as they came.

We stood for a moment in disbelief as they spread across the land.

They were black slime and moving faster than I thought possible. Dark, glistening, giant slugs, spreading black slime as they slithered.

Tara and Kian got the portal closed but not before hundreds had escaped. I could only imagine how many were still in the portal. I wanted it more than closed. I wanted the portal destroyed, and Tara went to work on doing just that.

The giant slugs, the size of small dogs, were fast and made their disgusting paths towards the werewolves. I have to admit that for a moment I was stunned into watching.

And then it happened.

I heard the wolves begin to whimper as all hell broke loose. The slugs attached themselves to the wolves and then melted into their insides.

A howling as I had never heard before filled the air. Pain and horror filled their voices as the demon slugs entered the bodies of the wolves.

I took a step back.

Kian called to me.

Matters had taken on a frightening change, though with the portal closed, for now at least no more of those things would get through.

"Damnation, woman, come to me!" Kian called again.

At hyper-speed, I did just that. We stood with my house at our backs as the demon wolves began to slowly advance towards us.

"What the hell?" I asked, hoping Kian had an answer.

"Demon spawn," he answered.

"How do we kill them?"

One of the demon weres leapt through the air at that particular moment and made the mistake of landing on Kian's Death Sword.

"Like that," Kian answered as the wolf fell to the ground. However, I saw the giant black slug wriggle out of the were's body, leaving a gaping hole where it had been. It stood and screeched.

Not good. Not good at all.

Tara had destroyed the portal and arrived to point a finger and set the demon spawn on fire.

She grinned at me and shrugged. "Earth, wind, water, and... _fi-errr_ _._ "

We turned and saw a line of the demon wolves. As they began their charge at us I cried out, stabbing in every direction.

"Eeww... fire... do the fire thing," I told her as slugs slithered out of the dead were bodies.

"You can do it too," Tara yelled at me. "You have Fae blood and witch blood."

I pointed a finger, and nothing. Nothing happened, and a slug was slithering my way. I pointed and pointed.

Kian was suddenly at my side, and his voice even through the din that roared around us was comforting and more importantly bracing. I had begun to think this was a battle we were about to lose. "Just think, _fire_. Ye don't need a spell, lass... just think, _fire_."

I did what he said and at first was only able to produce a flame the size one would get from a match, but throwing it at the slugs made them haul backwards. Okay, they couldn't take fire of any size.

My skill improved over the next few minutes.

It was a constant and endless stream of black giant slugs.

I had planned to kill Carsen Banks and his evil, murdering wolves. I had trained for that... but this, this was something out of my league.

I saw Banks and started for him. I concentrated on getting to him, and that was a mistake. A slug flew through the air at me. _Its mistake._

Kian sliced it in half.

Another mistake. It didn't die. Instead, it began to multiply. They were smaller slugs, but there were more.

And the trouble was they just kept coming, unafraid, undeterred by what had happened, was happening, to their brethren. The slugs that were left just kept multiplying and charging us.

"Don't slice them," I shouted to Tar and Kian.

She laughed. "No shit!" Then she said, "Come on, witchy woman— _use your_ magic. Burn them, just burn all of them in your sights."

Before I could, one of the gross things jumped and landed on my chest.

ON MY CHEST!

I screamed like a sissy.

Cowardly, I know, but it was my gut reaction. I scream for spiders, snakes, and apparently giant slugs.

Black slime dripped down over my chest as it dug its claws into my neck. At first I thought it was trying to hold on, but, no—it was trying to ooze its way into my pores and into me.

All at once it released me and screeched with pain. Tara had burnt it until it was nothing but ash, catching some of my flesh in the process.

"Hey!" I objected to the singeing pain.

"You'll heal." She shrugged and laughed as she moved on to her next target.

Here was the thing. We were winning in a sense, that sense being we were killing them one by one, sometimes, two by two, but the problem was they just kept coming.

The damned slugs were multiplying faster than we could kill them.

Watching them, I asked Kian, "Are they sentient? Are they thinking creatures?"

"No, they are drones for something larger... and worse, much worse," he answered.

"What?"

"This is new for me. I have heard of them—never before encountered them," he answered and flicked his wrist, burning nearly twenty of the disgusting things.

I was covered in black slime and searching the crowd of slugs for Banks when I finally found him.

I moved at hyper-speed and knew instinctively what was about to happen. I had to plunge my blade into Banks before he managed—

Satisfaction comes in many forms. I had some then—for a moment.

I was on him, driving my silver blade into his heart, softly telling him, " _For my parents_ , for my clan... _for me!_ "

If I had been hoping for closure, it was dashed in that moment.

Banks's body collapsed to the ground, but as I looked at it, I realized it was no more than a shell.

Carsen Banks had already been dead.

In his place was something else. A black slug larger, more evolved than all the rest, with an insect's head and many arms and legs, writhed out of that body. It stood some six feet tall and made a sound that was a bellow—could it be laughter?

I couldn't help myself as I stepped back and away. I was shocked, horrified, and for a moment stunned.

Kian put one hand on me. His other held his Death Weapon. He shoved me behind him. Tara came to stand beside him, and both of them kept me at their back.

Right before our eyes that huge, slimy insect began to grow. I mean, it was already too big. By the time it was done, it was ten feet tall for sure, maybe more.

I really wanted to puke.

Antennae grew, curled, and adorned the black-red, scaly face. Cold insect eyes stared at us, and Kian said, "It looks like an insect, but it isn't. It's a demon with demon powers."

His shape was that of a male with an erection as large as a horse's, and I gagged for a moment as I saw it look Tara over.

Kian growled at the thing, "It is over, demon."

"I am Valmod of Orega. I am the vanguard leader _. We shall not be defeated_. We shall take over this realm for our own. _We are conquerors._ "

"Are you?" Kian said and charged at him.

The demon didn't have super-speed, but apparently he was prepared with something else. He went invisible.

"What?" I said.

"He is near—I can smell him," Tara said.

Kian didn't speak as he made a sudden lunge to the left.

We heard a wail of pain, and once again the demon appeared. It went down to its knees and told us, "Do you think this is over? Even if I die, do you not know that more of my kind are ready to pick up where I left off?"

"If that is true, we will be ready for them," Kian told him.

Then the demon did something that worried me. _He laughed_ , and worse, he vanished.

The next half hour saw us going about the business of disposing of bodies and cleansing the air around my family home.

"Though Valmod was wounded," Kian told us, "we can't be sure he will die. Demons are tricky things."

"If he does die, do you think more demons will come?"

"Don't know, but if they do, we will be ready for them, love," Kian said. "After we finish here, we'll go see Queen Mab."

I sighed. I had accomplished what I had set out to do. I had honored my parents and my clan and destroyed Banks and the pack he had led on their murderous rampage. Was it what I wanted? How did I answer that even to myself? What I wanted was my family back. What I got was the satisfaction of knowing their killers had been destroyed.

Kian put his arms around me and said, "For now, little love, it is over."

"I have a bad, bad feeling," I answered.

Tara laughed and said, "Witchy girl knows," and then she laughed again.

~ Epilogue ~

KIAN, TRUE TO his word, shifted us to the Daoine Royal Palace, and we visited with the queen. I wasn't sure what she thought about Kian choosing me as his mate, but her face looked stone-cold disapproving.

Queen Mab eyed me and said, "Come here, hybrid child."

I did, bowing low just like Tara had taught me.

The queen raised a brow, and her lips looked as though they wanted to smile. She said, "Rise and sit here with me."

I did and waited until she was ready to speak to me.

She said, "Matters are dire. We Fae, Seelie and Daoine alike, are constantly fighting battles, and all traditions and rules no longer seem to apply. I am pleased to welcome you to Daoine as a treasured ally. Your skills have not finished growing in power."

Tara, who was sitting at her other side, then received a severe lecture that made me want to hide. Honestly, it was awful.

Later, so much later, Kian took me to his private retreat in Daoine. How do I describe what a magical place that was? It was styled like a castle but really not much larger than a cottage and surrounded by exquisite landscaping. My mouth dropped open, and I don't think it closed until he had me in his huge bed and in his arms.

"Do ye like it here, love?" Kian asked as he stretched out beside me.

"I like being with you," I answered truthfully. I wasn't sure how I felt about Faery.

His hand moved to my breast as he bent his head to lick my nipple. He whispered hoarsely, "I have a fancy to fuck the hell out of ye here... in m'own bed. I have a fancy to fuck ye till ye can't think, can't say anything but m'name and then fuck ye some more. _Do ye ken?_ "

"I ken... so when do we get started?" I pushed myself against him, bucked for him, opened for him. All else was forgotten. The horrors had been put aside. There was only Kianet of the House of Hara, and, oh... _hot damn_ , but he filled me. Oh, how he filled me.

* * *

Dreaming. It had to be a dream, I thought as I rolled over and spooned my Kian. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, and again there it was.

The horror of what we had just experienced played out in my mind's eye. I stood over their dead bodies... dead... we had killed so many creatures... dead. Black, swirling clouds reached for me, and I fought them off.

Carsen Banks was dead at my hands. Had he suffered enough? Tentacles slapped at my body, clawed tentacles, and I heard his screeching voice tell me I was no better than he. That wasn't true. That isn't true. It couldn't be true.

Valmod the demon reared its head. Evil, evil coming. Evil would always come.

My witch whispered that Valmod lived and waited somewhere in the earth, gaining strength.

I woke up. It was a dream— _a nightmare_. Valmod must be dead. But would more like him come?

Not dead, my inner witch insisted.

I snuggled against Kian, and for the moment that was all I needed to do. Tomorrow was another day _, a thing my mom had always taught me_.

I hadn't been able to bring her and my dad... our clan... back, but we had served their killers with justice. I was satisfied. For the moment, I was satisfied.

* * *

Valmod crawled into the earth and called on what was left of his powers. He needed to sleep and recoup his strength. He dreamed of the day he would find them... the hybrid and her Fae cohorts. He would take them unawares. He would use their bodies and discard them and then move on with his army to conquer the Human Realm. What delicious food they would be. But for now, he needed to sleep and heal.

*** *** ***

### The son of Seelie Fae royalty

### and the daughter of a Fios and a Druid High Priest

### find themselves facing the demon

### Harley and Kian had hoped they'd vanquished—

### and Valmod is stronger than ever. Here's a sneak peek at

Awakening—Bray _(unedited)_

AWAKENING

It slumbers hidden in the dark

Where shallow life is empty—stark.

It bellows vengeance while it's caged.

It is primal and quietly enraged.

It breathes, it lives, it craves,

In anguished need and hollow waves.

Danger-sex-destruction awaits;

Valmod awakens to the sound of the Fates.

—Valmod of Orega

~ Prelude ~

VALMOD LOOKED AT Kian and Harley one last time. The Daoine Fae Kian and his hybrid mate had defeated him, temporarily. They thought they had destroyed him. They didn't know what it would take to kill him.

In this form he was nearly invincible even though this form was one that humans despised because he appeared no more than an insect—a large slug, in fact. He sneered to himself, for one day they—these inferior humans—would know better.

He slithered into the earth and set himself a new goal. Harley and Kian believed he had been defeated, and in a sense they were not wrong. He had lost this first battle, perhaps, but not quite. His essence was still intact. His life-force was still viable, but now this form, one that had always been his, felt oddly unfamiliar. He felt dissatisfied.

In his realm, he could shift between two forms... one he had just displayed to his enemies, that of a tall and regal Orega, again, a very large insect to humans. He had occupied the form of a werewolf, and he had enjoyed that body.

In his native world, they lived and worked and even reproduced but without the weight of emotions. In his realm, they bred to reproduce and were subservient to their queen.

Here, in the body of Carsen Banks, he had been intrigued by a sense of hedonism. He had been seduced by pleasures. Now, he had no choice but to shake off these wayward thoughts. He had to concentrate on what mattered.

He called on what was left of his powers, and he had powers remaining that were dormant deep inside him, ever-ready.

He was completely depleted. He scarcely had energy to burrow into the ground. What he needed now was time and rest to recoup his strength and his dark powers.

It would take months to regain the magic and physical strength he would need to return and conquer. However, he still possessed the ability to draw on fantasy and illusions that came with deep sleep. They would be Carson Banks' dreams, so integral now in his mind, but he looked forward to those dreams and fantasies. He had learned to revel in the pleasure a werewolf's body could give him.

Harley and Kian were nothing to him now. He would not draw attention to himself by seeking revenge against them—at least, not immediately. Instead, the first thing he would do when he left the earth and entered the world again was to relocate.

He would emerge strong and ready. He would take the body of a passerby, and after he grew even stronger, perhaps then he would take on the hybrid Harley and her Royal Fae mate, Kian.

He imagined the day he would subdue her and use her body and then discard her, like the trash she was. All that would have to wait.

First, rest in the mineral-filled earth and regain his might. He had it all planned. He would insinuate himself amongst the humans, and he would be a dominant force this time. He would take city by city and be a force in the human world.

He knew how to accumulate their money. He knew how to work the system. And he knew that with great wealth came power.

One day he would enslave all humans—and all supernaturals. One day he would conquer and be supreme ruler.

What a delicious life he envisioned for himself. Revenge was something he could wait for. Revenge was naught compared to the enormity of his plans and the future undertaking he set for himself.

First, however, he needed sleep and healing.

* * *

Months later...

Valmod woke, stretched, and considered the slowly moving clouds obscuring the crescent moon. He stared at the outline of the Adirondack Mountains on the horizon. He took a whiff of the sweet scent of the coming spring.

His time had come.

He had waited just long enough. He needed a host, someone big and strong with the ability to handle power—a supernatural of some kind.

That night, Valmod witnessed the creature's transformation during the height of the full moon and smiled. That was what he needed, that young and vibrant wolfen—what this realm called werewolves. He sniffed the air. This one was different... stronger than Carson Banks.

He would take control, and then he would gather others and begin somewhere else. He knew of a place that fitted his mood. He had traveled to Canada, where there was a village at the foothills where he could start.

Ah, yes, in the wilds of the Rockies he would start his army, train them, and when they were ready he would launch them.

He had researched many areas when he had first arrived in this Realm. There was a place where magic vibrated off the trees and in the earth. It was a place that housed many supernaturals in quiet harmony. He sneered.

He would take pleasure in disrupting that harmony.

Golden, Canada, was where he would begin again, but first he needed...

He slithered towards the abnormally large wolf panting after his transformation. He jumped with a terrifying screech because he was a warrior, and he entered its body through the werewolf's ear.

The wolf howled in a rage as the man inside the wolf fought off the intrusion.

Neither the wolf nor the man stood a chance against him. He took hold of the man's mind, usurped the wolf from him and became.

He was Valmod, and this was his right.

Unlike the werewolf, who could only transform during the full moon, Valmod shifted back into human and stood, fists clenched. He liked this body. It was big and it was strong. He would gather more werewolves, and they would make the journey to Golden. He would give them the power of morphing from man to wolf at will. They would no longer be subject to the whims of nature. He would remove the pain.

Ah, and when he was ready he would lift himself up and strike down Harley and Kian.

And the Universe would become his.

~ Prologue ~

WENDY MCCHAUNCEY STOOD back and watched her brother as he and Bray worked on their Harleys. Big bikes, she thought with a half-smile, for big boys!

Bray gave her brother a shove and looked up. His gaze locked with hers, and she caught her breath in her throat. It was always like that when those silver eyes of hers twinkled into hers.

Stevie pushed Bray back, and they called jibes at one another. With those two, the tomfoolery never stopped.

So much had happened since she had first laid eyes on the Seelie Prince Bray of Dagda, son of the legendary Prince Breslyn. She had only been five and he, eleven and fond of announcing, as did her brother, that he was nearly twelve. He, like his father, was fond of humans and the Human Realm and broke all sorts of Fae rules when he met her brother and they became fast friends.

Then there was the awful business with the wicked Siloam.

That had all been so long ago. She was now twenty-one and Bray was twenty-seven. Not much had changed... because she still adored him, perhaps even more deeply than she had ever felt before.

She knew she shouldn't stare at him, at his bulging biceps and the rune tattoo that made a band around each one. She couldn't help it though, and her eyes traveled down his right arm to the wide leather bracelet he wore with the gold insignia depicting his royal house.

She felt his eyes on her and hurriedly looked away from the clinging blue T-shirt he wore over his tight, hard body but found her gaze once again meeting his.

What was she going to do? She was totally and forever taken by everything he was. She couldn't seem to stop the 'feeling'. Not even her years away at the university had helped to diminish the extent of what she felt for him.

She sighed and looked away from him. He, like her brother, had been players for so long, and she had suffered the vision of him with one woman after another.

After all, he was young, an infant by Fae standards, in fact. She didn't know of a woman young or old that was immune to his quiet charm. He presented quite a picture.

She had tried not to want him. She knew that even if she were lucky enough to catch his interest, it would be an impossible situation. He thought of her only as a sister. He didn't see the grown woman...would never see the grown woman.

She had taken care brushing her long red hair before she dressed in her tight jeans and a form-fitted white tank top. She gazed at herself in the mirror, and though too slim, she had full breasts, and the top she wore displayed them right fine. Surely enough to suggest she was no longer a 'little girl'? Yet—she never caught him looking at her that way.

She couldn't say he didn't know about her crush—oh, he did, and she knew that he liked the fact that she had crushed on him all her life. She supposed he thought it his due. That thought made her smile. He was a cocky son-of-a-gun, but his gentle ways and insinuating charms made up for it. She became dreamy as she fantasized about what it would be like to be one of those women that caught his eye and landed in his bed. Her body flushed with heat as she thought of him lowering her to his bed!

Why wouldn't it?

Look at him, damn, just look at that Fae. He stood well over six feet, lean and yet muscular. His dark blond hair was tied at the nape of his neck, but there wasn't enough there to braid. His eyes always glittered silver, but warm red flames lit in their centers. His shadow beard was sexy as all get-out, and he was the only male she would ever want.

Wendy silently chided herself and looked away from him. She knew that although he enjoyed the fact that she'd been infatuated with him all these years, he did not feel the same. He was just out of her reach. He had always been out of her reach.

She straightened the treated wicker furniture on the front porch of the house she shared with her parents and brother. Home was so where she belonged. Here in the foothills just above Golden, in the Rockies of Canada, had always been home, and she loved it here—would never leave if she wasn't hurting so much over Bray.

Graduating from the University at Banff had been surreal. She had really enjoyed college life and even, once she got used to being away from home, found that enjoyable as well. Living in a dorm with other young women her age... doing and feeling the 'normal' things... being the 'normal' she actually was not, had been great, and it had helped the empty sensation she felt when she thought of Bray—and she always thought of Bray.

Now she had the summer off and was back at her mountain home with her parents. She missed university life, but she had a great deal to look forward to, so no complaints.

She remembered how she had begged to be allowed to start the job she had landed as a computer webmaster at the major software company in Banff, but the powers that be insisted she start in the fall as a trainee in a new program they had registered her to complete. In the fall, she would be looking for a small apartment in Banff and move away... and should be happy about it, but she wasn't, not if she was truthful with herself.

Life goes on, though, so here she was once again, and while she loved being home and helping her parents out with their business, once again, Bray was in her face nearly every single time she turned around.

Ooooh! How was she ever going to deal with this situation? It wasn't that she didn't like his company. She did. Too much. Way too much for comfort, and he... well, old story she couldn't get away from. She had to start dating again. Her first attempts at it during college years had been a total failure. There were too this, or too that, or not enough of whatever! Why? Because none compared to her royal Fae. She had to stop comparing everyone she met to a prince of Fae.

In the last four years she had only had to endure his company when she was home for holidays and the occasional visits he and her brother paid her up at school. Now, at home, once again... he was everywhere, making her heart thump, making her womanhood crave, making her lean towards him and want him and...

_Dammit all to hell!_ She almost said it out loud before she bit her tongue and stopped herself.

Would she never get over him? Would she always want just him and never even get to taste him—or kiss that mouth of his?

Well, maybe tasting him would ruin her for good. Maybe once she actually kissed her gorgeous Fae prince—and managed to seduce him—she would never want anyone else. Oh, the way he moved... his smile, his beautiful smile that lit up the world.

_She was an idiot_. He would never think of her as a woman. She should not wait for him. She should go out with the girls tonight and meet someone—someone who could give her a good time. She needed a good time, no strings attached. She was sick of being good and patient. That was it; she would give her friends a call and meet them in town for a drink and a 'look' around.

Yet, the thought of anyone else, being in anyone else's bed, sickened her.

She had told her mother about this, and her mother had smiled and offered no help by telling her, "Time will tell."

Time will tell? What did that mean? _Tell what_ —when?

It was so darned depressing, because every single guy she met just couldn't measure up to Bray. At this rate she would end up one day alone and a forty-year-old virgin.

Yes, depressing. Bray depressed her. And then she met his gaze once again, and his smile lit her up from the inside, and she was smiling right back at him.

He called, "Come on over here, Red... lend us a hand."

'Red'. He had nicknamed her that when she was still five. He had tugged on her flame-colored locks more times than she could count over the years, and she had never minded. He had a way of making her feel so special. He was the only one who called her Red, and she liked it still, but she couldn't help but tell him as she walked over to him and her brother, " _I have a name."_

"And a pretty one at that, _Wendy_ ," Bray said and inclined his head.

Stevie snorted. "You are _always on_ , dude. Give it up—it's only my sister."

Bray smiled. "The word 'only' doesn't apply to her. She is one of a kind."

Wendy felt her cheeks burn. He was only teasing because that was who he was—a complete charmer. She could have been an old hag, and Bray would have found something sweet to say. It was one of the things she loved about him.

"Come on. We don't have much time, and I want to get this done. Tomorrow I have a full workload. Especially if you aren't going to be around."

Bray grinned. "I thought you were a full partner with your father? Seems like you work harder than ever."

"Yeah, but... you know, I don't mind. I love it all, and it's nice." Stevie shrugged. "Working with Dad is really nice."

Bray sighed. "Yeah, I wish I could say the same, but working with my dad means attending council meetings. And besides that... well, never mind." He pulled a face. "At any rate, I plan to be around here tomorrow, so you have help."

"What do you mean, Bray—about your dad and the council meetings? Isn't that important?" Wendy was surprised. She knew Bray adored his father.

"Well, you know he secured me what he calls a 'floating' position on the council. I can't vote yet, but I can offer my opinions on different matters and insist the council consider those opinions."

"So that's good," Stevie said. "What's the problem, pal?"

Bray pulled a face. "My dad, not so much a problem as... well, you know, he is larger than life, Stevie, and don't get me wrong, I am so proud he is my... but he is like _not a hard act_ but _an impossible_ act to follow."

Stevie nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Wendy stuck in, "I guess... but you know, Bray, you don't have to follow him. You can take your own road because you are pretty awesomesauce yourself."

He grinned and teased by flexing a muscle and winking at her. "Yeah, but in Tir... everyone still looks at me as Prince Breslyn's son. Hard to break out of that mold and not totally sure I want to." He shrugged. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Stevie went on to talk about their plans for the evening, and Wendy handed Bray the tool he needed as he bent back to the Harley engine.

She wanted to look away from him but couldn't. As she watched him she realized she was licking her lips.

He looked up at her, with his dark blond forelock falling over his perfect eyebrows, and he winked at her. Winked?

Of course, it was a brotherly wink. She shouldn't read too much into it even though it made her belly clench. It was ridiculous of course... the entire situation. She was a Fios like her mother, and Fios in ancient times were the only protection the villagers had against the Fae, as they were the only one that could see them through their Glamour or invisibility. A Fios and a Royal Fae?

Oh, but his eyes... even toned down by Human Glamour they were silver glitter and seemed full of warmth and humor. She knew he was a 'chick magnet', and he seemed right pleased with that position, so she was going to have to forget him by looking around for someone else.

Her brother broke into her thoughts as he and Bray fell into an easy discourse.

Stevie was, like his father, a Druid priest. He had trained for twenty years and now, just about to turn twenty-eight, was at full magical prowess.

Her magic, her Fios came from her mother, but what she had not told anyone was the fact that her father's Druid blood was making itself known. Now and then she felt a surge of magic that was not Fios at all. Sooner or later she was going to have to ask her dad about it. She hadn't actually trained, but she had watched Stevie go through training, and a great deal had registered in her brain.

As a Druid, Stevie was aligned with the Fae but couldn't really see past their Glamour or invisibility. Her Fios was not aligned with the Fae, but her Druid blood changed all that automatically, she believed.

Her brother shoved his long auburn hair out of his handsome face, and she totally understood why the girls were near to fainting over him. She shook her head as she recalled how she had seen him and Bray turn heads wherever they went.

Only yesterday when Bray and Stevie stopped by the coffee shop to chat with her and two of her friends the place went into hyper-drive as the young women turned to stare.

Understandable. They both were sizzling hot, but Bray... well, there was no one like him!

Bray looked at her again, and she felt a blush steal into her cheeks. He grinned and asked, "What are you doing today, pretty Red?"

She shrugged. "Just hanging out here, I guess... I promised Mom to help her put up the early peas."

"Well, make yourself useful... hand me the oil," Bray said, and his smiled slew her.

She ignored her inner woman and sauntered over. "I am not your servant."

He tugged a strand of her long hair. "Are you not, Red? I'll have to remember that. Now, hand me the can of oil... that's a love."

She pulled a face at him and laughed good-naturedly. He was impossible to resist, so she handed him the oil can.

Stevie laughed and said, "We're going to Apple Annie's later for burgers and beer. Want to join us, Wendy?"

Wow, what a change, she thought as her eyebrows arched. Right up to her high school senior year, all her brother ever wanted to do was ditch her.

"Yeah, I do, but are you sure... you want _me?_ " she answered doubtfully.

Stevie grinned. "Kate Murphy works there on the weekends, and you two are good friends—right?"

Wendy grimaced and clucked her tongue. "Oh, I should have known."

Bray laughed. " _I want you_ to come, and I have no ulterior motive."

Her heart caught in her throat, and she found his eyes. "Really?"

"Really, Red, really." He laughed.

"Okay then, I will come, but there is something I wanted to mention to you," Wendy said.

"What?" Bray asked and took a minute to study her face.

"There is this guy... _Cain Crowton_..."

"Is he bothering you?" Stevie's attention was caught, and both he and Bray frowned.

"No, no... I only saw him once and from a distance, but... some of my friends—"

"Wendy!" her mom called.

"Later... I better go," she said and turned.

"Eight... we'll leave at eight," her brother called after her.

"I'll be half starved by then," she said over her shoulder, laughing.

"Good... because I mean to feed you and fatten you up. You could use a pound or two," Bray said.

She felt his eyes on her back as she walked away and wondered at it. No doubt, he was concerned in a brotherly fashion, nothing else.

*** *** ***

Excerpt: Awakening-Wendy

Kate's spell had worked. The spiders she had enlarged with her magic were at her command taking on the villainous crew of werewolves and putting an end to them.

Cain was angry at his loss, but he had no care for anything but himself.

I turned my attention back to Stevie.

I have a great deal of strength because of my supernatural qualities. I am both a Fios and a Druid priestess, but I think it was more adrenaline than supernatural strength that enabled me to lump Stevie over my shoulder.

I had to run, but it wasn't easy with Stevie's weight bearing down on me. He is tall and muscular, but I had to get him safely out of this horrible scene.

"Wendy... I will make you wolfen, soon, _very soon_ ," Cain shouted after me as I hobbled off with my brother. I didn't look back but just kept trudging on, bent nearly in half with Stevie's limp body slung over me.

I had Fios speed, a supernatural speed, and that was what I drew on as I picked up my pace. The sound of a car engine drew my attention, and I glanced toward the revved-up machine.

It was Cain's SUV.

He was seated behind the wheel and evidently meant to scurry off like a coward. _He is a_ _coward_ , I reminded myself. He drove off, his vehicle careening from side to side of the dirt road as he escaped the slaughter of his pack.

About Claudy Conn

Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee's son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.

She loves horses and riding and raised her ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!

To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website: http://www.claudyconn.com

To see pictures of Cherokee—their wolf and Cherokee's shepherd-wolf son—have a look at her Facebook page:

 http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Claudy-Conn-Paranormal-Romance-Author/135826686471445

Read more about Claudy Conn's books

### available at smashwords.com

### Awakening Series

Harley—Awakening (Novella)

Harley vows to avenge the destruction of her family, her clan, her life—and the vampire–white witch hybrid doesn't want revenge served up cold. She wants to serve it up herself, she wants to serve it up now, and she wants to serve it up HOT.

### Legend Series

Spellbound—Legend

Maxie is a reluctant heroine who travels to Scotland to find and save herself. Julian is a Druid priest in a modern age, and he is full of guilt. Can Maxie turn to him? Or will she turn to Prince Breslyn, a Royal Fae hunk offering her everything?

Shee Willow—Legend

Half-human, half-Fae Willow Lang has never felt she truly fit in either world, but she's doing her best to ignore her Fae nature. But when she finds herself in the middle of a conflict between the Seelie Fae and the evil Dark Fae, she must embrace her Fae powers in order to protect the Human Realm.

Prince in the Mist (Novella)

Fact one: By tradition and treaty, Fae do not interfere with the human world—it is against the rules. Fact two: For a Royal Fae prince who suffers from the ennui of immortality, watching and interacting with humans—especially lovely, spirited human females—can be entertaining. Fact three: When entertainment changes to affection, and affection becomes love, rules will be broken.

Prince Prelude—Legend

In this stand-alone tale and the backstory for the Legend series, we find ourselves in 1814. Gais and the prince come head to head over a woman. We will see Lamia DuLaine when she first sees Julian Talbot, and we will meet the first Maxie Reigate. Come along and see their world unfold...

Aaibhe—Shee Queen (Novelette)

This is a love story but it is fringed with envy, jealousy, and bitterness—oh and more. It is laced with the havoc those devastating emotions can bring. It is about the seeds of hate born of love, and what chaos that hate can wantonly roar over even immortals. This is a story of Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, because she deserves that it be told.

Trapped—Legend

Magical powers, a castle, and a charming prince sound like the ingredients for a fairy-tale life, but for BJ Mulroy reality turns out to be a whole lot more complicated. The war between the Seelie and the Unseelie is heating up, BJ has been drawn into the fray... and there's the matter of the seventeenth-century hunk in the painting.

Free Falling—Legend

They call her Z, and she is a handful ready to explode. She has entered the war against Gais and the Dark Fae and means to take him on all by herself. She is driven. Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, has other plans, and she sends in Prince Danté to execute and preserve her wishes. When Z and the prince meet, hackles go up on both sides.

Catch & Hold—Legend

Half-human/half-Daoine Fae Radzia MacDaun—Z to her friends—finds herself in the Dark Realm, where she'll have to fight Gaiscioch on his own turf. Danté, Prince of the Tuatha Dé and Z's lover, is not about to let her face this danger alone, however, and the two of them are thrust on a ride that takes them to the edge of life as we know it...

### Through Time Series

Through Time-Pursuit

Revenge is the driver. Will love be the equalizer in _Through Time—Pursuit_? Milesian immortal Chance LeBlanc and Fae Princess Royce are about to find out in this contemporary fantasy romance that picks up where _Catch & Hold—Legend_ left off.

Through Time-Whiplash

Prince Trevor has one goal: bring the Dark Princes to justice—preferably at the end of his Death Sword—before they can march out of the Dark Realm with an army of monsters at their backs. But complication arise when Trevor is thrown two centuries into the past along with Jazmine Decker, a Fios (a human unaffected by Fae concealment spells) who has more power than either realizes.

Through Time—Slamming

In book 3 of the Through Time series, Jazmine and Trevor's relationship develops while danger to both human and Fae worlds grows. As the Dark Princes use all the powers at their disposal to create an unstoppable army to destroy the human realm, Queen Aaibhe faces treachery from a traitor in the Council, Frankie discovers who her Fae father is, and Prince Breslyn is hit with news that will change his life forever.

Through Time—Frankie

Frankie is all grown up and ready to spread her wings, and she knows the man she wants by her side. But first she needs to convince her Dark Prince—and her family—that he is the one for her. And it will take all of them working together to deal with the Dark Prince's brothers, who are once again plotting to take over the world.

Through Time—Compulsion

_Through Time—Compulsion_ finds a new demon on the loose, and this one thinks he's a god. He isn't, but he is powerful enough to use time itself to get what he wants—and what he wants is Frankie by his side as he takes over first the Human and then the Fae Realms.

### Shadow Series

ShadowLove—Stalkers

Shawna Rawley has no choice but to run when Pentim Rawley, one of the most evil vampires who have ever lived, discovers she is his daughter. Chad MacFare has an offer for Shawna he thinks she can't afford to refuse: he'll protect her from Pentim and his minions. But Shawna doesn't trust the sexy immortal. She knows he has his own agenda—he wants to kill her father, and he wants to set her up as bait...

ShadowHeart—Slayer

Damon Drummond and Nikki Walker are on opposite sides. He is a potent vampire—she is a skilled and powerful vampire slayer. Problem right there... but when they look at each other, sparks of all kinds fly. Too much stands between them: He will live forever. She will not. And yet...

ShadowLife—Hybrid

WB and his clan have moved in, and section by section Dublin is going dark. When the team needs help, they turn to a shapeshifter, Roxie MacBran.

### Hungry Moon Series

Hungry Moon: Quicksilver

Ravena is running from who and what she is, but the more she runs away, the further she falls.

Hungry Moon: Destiny

Luke says Kelsey isn't his type, and Kelsey is sure Luke is a heart-breaker, but the hybrid and the wolf shifter must find a way to work together to fight a threat of unthinkable proportions.

Hungry Moon: Jodi

Jodi is a witch with formidable powers fighting a battle against an insidious dark force. She meets Shane MacGrath and needs him in so many ways, but she doesn't know if she can trust him. Can she trust him, and will she survive this battle?

### Witches, Warlocks, and Dark Magic

Dark Love

One goal consumes Chazma Donnelly: find the dark sorcerer who murdered her parents. The trail takes her Ireland and Jethro McBain, but will it take her soul?

Netherby Halls

Matters at Netherby are not what they seem, and neither is the handsome marquis. Unsure whom to trust, Sassy has to find her way through a maze of evil and magic.

Lady X

Exerilla has to run from her Dark Warlock father. Her mother sends her into the past to escape him and the marriage he plans for her. What is a modern American miss to do in nineteenth-century England?

Journey

What would you do if the man of your dreams walked into your life and you knew, absolutely knew, that one day he would leave because he was from another realm with secrets you couldn't discern? Would you seize the moment? Riley Doogan decided to seize the moment, and it cost her all the normalcy she had ever hoped to have in her life—a life that was now fraught with terror.

Journey—The Reckoning

Secrets from their past threaten the future Riley and Finn hope for. Dark Magic will explode as they fight to stay in the light. How can their relationship survive the onslaught of what is to come?

### Risqué Regencies

Myriah Fire

Myriah meets Kit under the worst circumstances and their meeting was an explosion of wills, and actions, and it was what finally set Myriah on fire...

Oh, Cherry Ripe

Cheryl Elton has been in London for three seasons and refuses to be courted. When her mother takes matters into her own hands, Cherry runs!

Rogues, Rakes & Jewels

What happens when an eligible marquis pretends to be a rake and a gambler, and the woman he is supposed to be courting disguises herself as a masked French card dealer? Find out in this spicy, risqué Regency romance.

Taffeta and Hotspur

Hotspur wants Taffeta—how far will he go to make her his? Taffeta has a secret—will it land her in trouble?

Wildfire Kiss

Lady Babs is a rule-breaker, but has she met her match in Lord Wildfire?

After the Storm

Jenny insisted she would never fall in love again, but she found herself drawn to the handsome Earl of Danfield. She also knew about his wild reputation, but it didn't matter. His proposal would give her what she wanted. Peace.

Runaway Heart

Chelsea takes London by storm, but the only man she wants thinks she is no more than a child.

Lady Bess

Lady Bess has fallen hard for the Earl of Dunkirk, but she has also fallen into a bevy of secrets. Evil hovers. Although Bess doesn't look for it, she finds it—and Bess is not your average, simpering female. She takes on danger and mayhem like she does everything else: full throttle. Adventure ensues as we travel with Bess through romance and the battle of her life.

Lady Star

Sir Edward meets his match when he meets Star, but is there too much keeping them apart?

Serena

Lord Daniel Pendleton has met his match in Serena. A game of twists and misunderstandings ensues, and a lively romance begins.

Mandy

Mandy's brother, Ned, is in trouble, accused of murdering the woman who had been clearly trying to seduce him. Their guardian, the Duke of Margate, is summoned to help. Mandy had always assumed he was an old man, but the duke is far from old. But first things first—they have to prove Ned innocent.

Disorderly Lady

A chance encounter with the Earl of Magdalen, a confirmed bachelor whose female acquaintances run to women of dubious reputation, results in Arabella Cullingham appearing to be a light-skirts. Bella, for her own reasons, decides to play along, never thinking that the game might cost her the man she truly loves.

Madcap Miss

Miss Felicia Easton, holed up happily at Easton Manor, is quite content with her unchaperoned state, thank you very much. The last thing she needs is to be summarily fetched to see her ogre of a guardian, the elderly Duke of Somerset. And so she flees with her childhood friend, Scott—only to run into a highwayman! Thank heavens Glen Aston happens along when he does.

### Multi-book Bundles

The Complete Legend Series

Containing all eight books in the series, _The Complete Legend Series_ will take you to a place where anything is possible, where strong and beautiful men and women—both human and Fae—must use all the skills and magic they possess to save their shared worlds, and where the path to love winds through intrigue and danger.

Through Time Series Box Set

Picking up where the Legend series leaves off, the Through Time Series pits humans and Seelie Fae against the machinations of the Dark Princes. Fueled by a desire for revenge and a thirst for power, the Dark Princes have discovered how to use time itself to achieve their goals, and no realm—human, Milesian, or Fae—is safe. Contains all five books in the series.

Claudy Conn's Bestselling Regencies

Claudy Conn's Bestselling Regencies take you into a time of romance and passion, humor and intrigue: the time of the Regency, when England's King George went mad and his beautiful son became Regent. Contains the full text of _Wildfire Kiss_ , _Taffeta and Hotspur_ , and _Oh, Cherry Ripe_.

