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“I’m afraid Brie and I had a little run-in…”
“Winter,” he growled.
Holding up her hand she said, “I know, but seriously, Colby, she’s worse about this whole fated mate thing than I ever was.”
“True enough,” Colby said with a chuckle. “I take it we aren’t planning to involve Sean.”
“He’ll only try to keep me out of the fight. He’ll tell me one of us has to be at Curaidh to ensure that if Strode retaliates, the castle is safe. I hate that bastard dragon. I know far more about Strode than almost anyone else. I want to be there when we finish him. Don’t you want me at your side?”
Colby reached across and took her hand. “There’s no two people I’d rather have with me than you and Brie. No offense, Adriana, it’s just that I’ve fought alongside these two for many years. They have been my cohorts in most of my dealings with the Shadow League.”
“None taken,” said Adriana with a smile. “Would you like me to go get Brie? She told Winter and me she was going upstairs. She said she needed to think without anyone bothering her.”
“If you wouldn’t mind asking her to join us, I’d appreciate it. I’m afraid the only one of us who hasn’t pissed her off this morning is you.”
He and Winter began to devise a plan that would allow them to deal the first mortal blow to Strode. Colby was just getting ready to call for the captain of his guard when Adriana burst into the room.
“Adriana?” Winter reacted to Adriana’s sudden appearance.
“She’s not there. She’s not in her room. I checked with Maya, and she said she saw her heading down to the lower levels of the abbey.”
“Damn it,” said Colby. “I gave her a brief tour, and now she thinks she knows the place. Those lower levels are a labyrinth.”
“I know you haven’t claimed her—not fully anyway—but I always thought there was a kind of tentative link between you.”
Colby nodded. “You two stay here.”
“We can help you search,” offered Winter. “Or send some of the guards.”
“No. If I send men to find her, Brie will interpret that as me sending goons, and it won’t go well. Ask Maya to keep an eye out for her. I’ll go down and see if I can’t find her.”
Colby wiped his mouth and left his napkin on the table. As he turned and headed out the door, he missed the high five Winter and Adriana gave one another.
BRIE
This is a stupid idea. How did I ever let Winter talk me into this? This is never going to work. Colby is going to laugh at me and think I’m a fool. Worse than that, he’ll see me as pathetic.
All those thoughts swirled around in her head as she paced back and forth in the lowest level of the abbey. When Colby had shown it to her the day before, she’d asked about its function. He’d sort of dismissed it and shown her the way he was converting it, not only to a good wine cellar, but a place he could keep rare and expensive scotches cold without diluting them with ice.
Brie rubbed her hands together and blew on them. It was really cold down here, and the sound of the waves crashing against the walls was disconcerting as opposed to being soothing. Winter’s plan had sounded good at the time, but Brie was now having second thoughts. She could leave at any time, but the discussion she’d had with Winter had made her take a long, hard look at everything that had transpired from the time she and her mother had left until now. Winter might not be one hundred percent accurate in her assessment, but Brie had to admit she was a lot more right than wrong, and she’d known things Brie had not.
Winter had suggested that Brie get ‘lost’ in the labyrinth of the lower levels of the abbey. It would be easy enough to do. She’d been fascinated with the original function of this area, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to believe she might have come back for a closer look. Winter would ‘discover’ she was missing and sound the alarm. Colby could use the tentative link that had always existed between Brie and him. Once he found her, Winter would ensure that the door into the wine cellar ‘accidentally’ swung shut and locked, forcing them to spend a little time together before they were rescued.
Colby would be a captive audience. Instead of the dismissive cold shoulder he’d given her this morning, he would have to listen. Brie could make amends and tell him of her change of heart. Winter had assured her that despite his indifference to Brie since he’d sent her from his room, Colby loved her and would forgive her. Winter had sworn it would, at the very least, reset them to where they were, if not move them to where they needed to be. She had repeatedly told her the shoe was now on the other foot, and it would be up to Brie to set things right.
It had seemed like a solid plan—one that could work. In any event, it was a better plan than Brie had, as she had no plan at all and only a desperate wish to make things right with the man who had given so much of himself to her. As she paced around the room, Brie did remember questioning Winter about why it had to be the wine cellar where it was so bloody cold. Winter had had an answer for everything. If it was cold, Winter had explained, Colby would be inclined to snuggle and provide body heat to help keep her warm.
Once he had Brie in his arms, Winter was quite sure the man would be putty in her hands. She had ended their meeting of great minds with one last thought.
“If you break his heart,” she’d said, “I will kill you and throw your corpse into the sea.”
Winter might reside and be beta to the clan at Castle Curaidh, but a part of her would always be the beta to Windsong. Her loyalty and friendship to Colby were absolute.
The sound of Colby’s voice calling to her broke her reverie as did his footfalls on the stone floor. Brie called to him and heard him pick up his pace.
“Stay where you are, Brie. I’m coming.”
The darkness of the cellar was relieved only by dim lights, but as Colby burst into the room, it seemed to her that some other light surrounded his countenance. She wondered why she’d ever doubted him or his place in her life. He was her fated mate. She’d known it for forever but had discounted and dismissed it. Now, seeing the look of relief on his face, she made a note to thank Winter for her intervention.
