Page 147 of Dark Lover

Ian stared at his father. “An’ this time ye came.”

“Of course I came.”

Ian breathed hard. A brief moment passed. “Moray is here.”

Aidan glanced at Brie. “It’s me he’s after, no one else. I’m sending ye home. All the women should go.”

Sam choked. “Are you kidding?”

“I’m not leaving you, Aidan,” Brie said softly, her face stubbornly set.

And his laughter echoed around them. “A family reunion, at last…”

They all turned to face Rupert Hemmer, who was grinning at them in delight. Black power cloaked him, as if he stood in a huge, dangerous cloud. “I have waited twenty-five years for this day.” He looked at Aidan. “And I will use Ian to get what I want.”

Aidan began to shake with rage. “We ken ye want my pain.”

“Lots and lots of it…unless you surrender to me…to Satan.”

“If I have a choice to make, I choose pain,” Aidan snarled.

Brie gripped his arm. Sam was amazed that she only saw Moray, even though the being standing before them was Hemmer. But what shook her to the core was the absolute hatred coming from Moray’s soul.

Moray’s smile turned ugly and mean. “Did you really think you and your paltry woman could vanquish me, the great Moray? Did you think I’d simply disappear? I have waited all these years, waited and watched, knowing that one day, I would find my way back to you…son.” He turned to Ian. “You truly know what I am capable of. Will you let your father choose pain?”

Ian’s chest heaved. He was pale, his face set, but his eyes blazed. As if silently communicating, Ian and Aidan both roared and struck. So much white power filled the room, it was as if lightning had struck. But Moray simply vanished and their power ricocheted around the hall, cracking its walls, shattering glass.

“Coward!” Ian snarled.

Tabby sat down abruptly and started murmuring softly to herself.

Aidan was staring intensely at Ian, who slowly turned to look at him. “I’ll never let him hurt ye again,” Aidan said. “I swear before the gods, Ian.”

Ian hesitated. His gaze flickered. “I know.” He glanced at Sam, who was startled. “Sam, let’s go.”

She stepped forward. “He’s still here. How do you want to lure him out?”

“We’ll stay together,” Aidan said firmly. “And we’ll wait until he shows himself again.”

“Tabitha,” Macleod said, his tone oddly reassuring. “Do ye have the right spell?”

Tabby looked at her husband. “I think so.” Then her gaze met Sam’s.

What if I can’t do this? Tabby communicated silently. What if I’m wrong?

You can do this, Sam returned as silently.

Macleod was clearly listening, because he put his arm protectively around her. “The spell will work. Make certain to block his power to leap.”

She nodded. “I already have.”

But the words weren’t even out of her mouth when the hallway darkened, becoming frigidly cold. Suddenly Sam faced another steel door set in a concrete wall, and everyone was gone except for Ian. She took his hand. He held it, hard, and there was sudden perspiration on his palm.

“It’s not real,” he said tersely.

No, it wasn’t, but it sure as hell felt real. Sam touched the cold steel of the door. “He’s isolated us.”

“Don’t open it!” Ian cried in alarm.