Midnight's Temptation

and nearly gotten to her. Selmyr.

They were the monsters of nightmares. They fed by biting with their long fangs and drinking their victim’s blood. No wonder her grandfather called them vampires.

But she wanted to know who had helped the Warriors. If there was something as powerful as the Warriors out there, then Jason’s chances of winning were dimming considerably.

“We need to go to the Isle of Skye.”

Aisley jerked at Phelan’s suggestion. “No.”

“You have no’ seen the selmyr. I have. I’ve battled them, been bitten by them. They may take just blood, but a Warrior’s power is in that blood. We’re weakened with each bite.”

She thought of Jason, the mist that had formed in the bedroom earlier that morning, her name written on the mirror, and the voices from the forest.

Was this the choice the voices told her she had to make?

“There are so few Druids nowadays,” Phelan continued. “Many doona even know they have magic. I doona know if we’d ever find another Druid with a connection to Skye.”

Aisley swallowed and knew she couldn’t tell him no. The selmyr attacked indiscriminately. They didn’t care who was drough and who was mie.

Maybe going to Skye, the place of her ancestors, would help her find something in her magic to stop Jason. She was sure he was dead, but he wouldn’t remain that way.

“All right.”

He smiled and pulled out his mobile phone.

Aisley put her hand over it to stop him from calling anyone. “We do this alone.”

“It’s going to take more than just the two of us.”

“I know. But let’s do our searching together.”

He stared at her for several tense moments before he said, “If that’s what you want. My friends willna hurt you.”

How could she tell him that his friends would know what she was? How could she tell him that when his friends arrived, whatever was between them would end?

Aisley stood. “We can leave tonight and reach Skye in a few hours.”

He grabbed her hand as she started to walk away. Aisley looked back at him to find him frowning. “You want to leave?”

“No.” Never. “But you’re right. We need to find out how the selmyr were contained before they attack again.”

“They’ve no’ attacked in three months.”

“That you know of,” she said.

Phelan stood and blew out a harsh breath. “I wasna ready to leave yet.”

“The selmyr could track me here and attack when you’re out hunting for Jason Wallace. If I can’t use my magic to defend myself, what am I to do? We don’t have a choice but to get these monsters put in the darkest hole that can never be found.”

“I like your thinking, beauty,” he said and kissed her.

Aisley leaned into him, loving the feel of his heat and hardness. She wanted to tear his shirt off and feel his skin beneath her hands, but it would have to wait.

She might not be able to reverse the fact she was a drough, but she could help Phelan with the selmyr. It seemed fate had given her a prime opportunity.

Or hated her enough to put her in a no-win situation.

But she had been in that no-win situation from the moment Phelan kissed her that first night.

In less than twenty minutes, she stood on the porch looking out over the loch with her duffle in her hand. For the briefest of moments she thought she had found a place where she could live out her last few days in relative peace and happiness.

The fact she was leaving the tranquility of the forest and the cabin she’d come to consider home made her blood turn to ice. For she knew in her gut that she would never return.

“We’ll be back,” Phelan said as he came to stand beside her. “As soon as we can.”

She didn’t bother to respond as he took her duffle and strapped it onto the back of the Ducati with the small bag he carried.

Aisley put on the helmet and climbed behind Phelan on the bike. She looked at the cabin surrounded by a rainbow of flowers. Jason tried to ruin it by showing up, but Aisley had erased any evidence of her name written on the mirror.

For a second, she thought she heard drums, but before she could listen again, Phelan started the bike. He revved the motor and drove away.

She watched the cabin as long as she could before they turned the corner and it faded from sight. Her throat clogged with regret.

The cabin had not just given her incredible nights with Phelan, it had also shown her a side of herself she hadn’t known was still there. A side that had been hidden, waiting for her to be strong enough to face it.

She turned her head forward. For good or worse she was on a course she hadn’t planned on. It wouldn’t make up for the evil she’d done—or the evil she was.

It was a start, however.

Aisley wasn’t fool enough to believe Phelan would think it proved she was on his side. The outcome between her and Phelan hadn’t changed.

And wouldn’t.

He was smart. If she didn’t come clean soon, he would figure out her secrets on his own. Or his friends would tell him. Neither of those scenarios benefited her.

Not that telling him was her best option. There wasn’t a best option. Yet, she’d found inner strength after her time in the forest and the magic that had found her.

That inner strength would help get her through the next few days. It had been a silly dream to think she and Phelan could remain forever alone at the cabin.

Jason would find her. Phelan’s friends would push to meet the Druid he had found. All of which would destroy their paradise. Jason would ensure Phelan suffered while making her watch, and then Jason would turn his wrath on her.

Aisley closed her eyes when Phelan’s hand came up to cover hers that was wrapped around his waist. It was a comforting gesture, one she would hold in her heart through the long eternity of Hell. 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Phelan slowly inched the Ducati onto the ferry before turning off the engine and resting his hands on his thighs.

“Mallaig,” Aisley said. “This is where Logan came searching for … the Tablet of Orn, right?”

“Aye. He and Gwynn met on the dock behind us.”

“Can you feel Druid magic?”

He nodded slowly. “Oh, aye. No’ so much on Mallaig. Here the magic is … residual. This was once a great stronghold of Druids that even Deirdre feared nearing. I suspect there are still a few Druids residing here, but their magic is almost gone.”

“That’s sad,” Aisley said as she removed her helmet and got off the bike. She turned to look at Mallaig. “Is there no way for the Druids to get their magic back?”

“Too many years mixing with those that have no magic have diluted things. I doona know if there’s an answer, beauty.”

“And Skye? Are there Druids there?”

Phelan’s gaze turned to Armadale, where they would be docking. It was considered Skye’s back door.