Page 50 of Dark Rival

Allie did not want to lie down. She wanted to think! Another brother…her mother the daughter of a god and married to a Highland baron in the thirteenth century, a man she had truly loved…her mother possibly fleeing the assassins of her family, into the twenty-first century…meeting her father and giving birth to her.

And a few days ago, her mother had tried to contact her. What did it all mean? Allie’s headache became explosive.

“What should I do now?” she asked desperately, clinging to Royce’s strong arms.

“There’s naught to do now,” he said firmly. “Ye need to rest. Tomorrow yer head will clear. Ye think too hard, Ailios. Let me take ye to yer chamber.”

Their gazes locked. His power was the safest harbor she’d ever been in. “Why are you being so kind now?” she finally asked, embarrassed by her emotional upheaval. But her world had been turned upside down in the past few moments. “Where is Mr. Macho? Don’t be kind if you don’t mean it.” She didn’t know what she’d do if his cold, even cruel medieval side popped up just then.

“I had the same feelings—the same kinds of questions—ye have now,” he said.

She grew more confused. What was he talking about?

“I dinna ken the truth of my ancestors until I was chosen,” he said quietly. “I’ll never forget the shock.”

He understood. Allie collapsed against his chest. It was a moment before his arms went around her. She closed her eyes and tried to think, but it was impossible.

“Ye may never ken the truth of yer mother’s disappearance,” he warned quietly, her head tucked under his chin. “She fled after the massacre. Mayhap she lived in other centuries for years. Does it matter, Ailios? Yer mother died in her sleep in her own bed. Ye buried her as a child. T’is the past. Let her rest in peace.”

It took her an instant to rebut. “But she may not be resting in peace,” Allie whispered. She looked up at him.

He was grim. “Ye need patience. We willna find the truth tonight.”

Allie held on to him, their gazes locked. Her mother wasn’t resting in peace—she knew it in that instant the way she knew she loved the medieval Royce as much as she did the modern man. Something was wrong—and for some reason, whatever it was, her mother had led her to Royce.

Royce had just said “they” wouldn’t find the truth. He was in this with her. And she didn’t care if it was his sense of duty or the vows he’d taken. “Thank you,” she managed.

Royce hesitated. She felt it in his big, warm frame. Then he pulled her close and held her tightly, just for a second.

ALLIE SAT UP.

It was the middle of the night, but she hadn’t been asleep. She had been thinking about her mother and both of her brothers, the twenty-first-century one and the medieval one. She loved the former, Alec, even if he was a new soul like their father and even if he thought her soft spirituality silly. She didn’t know the latter, Guy Macleod, but she damn well was going to meet him one day soon.

Royce was right. As far as her mother’s life went, she might never learn all the answers, but she was damned well going to make sure her mother was resting in peace. Unfortunately she didn’t have the faintest idea how to proceed.

Tension crept over her, darkly, with stealth.

Outside, the night was studded with white stars and a half-moon. Inside, a fire blazed in the hearth, as if it were a winter night. Allie pushed all her musings aside, all her emotion, as wild as it was, and she focused.

Evil stalked them, not far from Carrick’s walls.

She leapt from the bed, still in her white tank and colorful skirt. She skipped her sandals and ran across the tower. She didn’t have to guess which chamber belonged to Royce, because she felt his power as she went. Like quicksand, it sucked her toward him.

But she would not relish seeing him in bed with someone else. His kindness earlier had been shocking, and she was afraid she had imagined it.

Arriving at his chamber, Allie only felt Royce. She was about to seize the door handle when it opened and Royce came out so swiftly that they collided.

He seized her elbows. “Evil.”

“Human,” she said quickly.

He stared at her, then lifted his head. She watched him sense the night. Then he gave up and looked down at her. “Yer senses are stronger than mine. I canna feel if they’re human or deamhanain.”

“They’re human, but possessed. I can feel them on the walls. They’re not inside yet.”

Royce’s face twisted. “Ye stay inside yer room.” He strode past her. He seized a bell cord and pulled. The bell began to toll. Bong…bonggh…bongghh…

“I need a weapon,” she cried.