“They’re leading us into a trap,” Dale said into the silence.
Jason snorted. “As if any kind of trap could stop me.”
“And what about us?” Aisley asked as she turned in her seat to look at him.
Jason merely smirked. “You willna be harmed, cousin. As long as you prove beneficial.”
“You wish you hadn’t sent Mindy with me to scout the cottage, don’t you?”
“You’re bloody well right!” Jason took a deep breath, his face relaxing as he did. “Mindy had a great future ahead of her,” he said calmly.
“And I don’t?”
“Aisley,” Dale muttered in warning.
Aisley glanced at Dale before turning her gaze back to Jason. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“You had potential, but you seem to have … lost it. You never could stay the course for anything. No’ even your ba—”
“Enough!” Aisley shouted. Her magic rolled viciously within her, urging her to use it on Jason. The impulse to harm him as he had done her was overwhelming.
And he knew it by the way he smiled at her.
He always did know how to strike to have the greatest impact. Aisley’s chest heaved as she struggled to get ahold of herself while Jason’s leer grew the longer he watched her.
“Did I hit a nerve, cousin?” he asked innocently.
“God, how I loathe you.”
Jason laughed and reached over to run his hand down the side of Mindy’s hair while her head lolled against the back of the seat. “If you ever grow the balls to take me on, let me know. I’d enjoy the brief entertainment.”
Aisley turned back in her seat, her eyes dead ahead as she looked through the rain-drenched windshield. There was only one way she could take Jason on. That meant she would have to contact the Devil in order to get the power she needed.
But did she have the guts?
Then the words that had whispered so maliciously in her head after she performed the drough ceremony came again.
“Your soul is mine, Aisley. All mine.”
She was going to Hell anyway. Why not go on her own terms? But she couldn’t exactly call up Satan right then. She needed to be alone, which was going to be difficult, since they were trailing after Aiden and Britt into a trap.
There would be a battle. She had known it the instant Jason released his magic upon the unsuspecting people of Edinburgh.
He had taken the war to a new level, one that none of the Warriors or Druids of MacLeod Castle would stand by and allow to happen without some kind of retribution.
Aiden and Britt had been given no choice when Jason had then used more magic to prevent Fallon from teleporting them to safety. Their only option was to run.
Yet Aisley knew the Warriors of MacLeod Castle to be intelligent and crafty. They had given them too much time to formulate a plan. And once again, Jason was too confident in his abilities.
There would be death. So very much death.
Dale reached over and put his large, callused hand atop hers, which rested on her thigh, for a brief moment. She didn’t dare look at him. If Jason suspected Dale’s loyalties lay with her instead of with him, Jason would kill Dale immediately.
Aisley couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t want to feel responsible for him, but she did.
No other person would die because of her. No one.
“They’re trying to hide in the glens,” Jason said suddenly.
Almost instantly, the rain slamming against the car increased tenfold. Thunder boomed around them as lightning zigzagged through the sky.
Aisley leaned toward the window of her door and looked at the gray sky. Thick clouds, heavy with rain, blocked any light from the sun.
“Which Warrior is causing this storm?” Jason asked, curiosity in his voice.
A tremor raced down Aisley’s spine. Jason enjoyed this cat and mouse game with those from MacLeod Castle entirely too much. It was lucky for them there was no other kind of magical creature that could choose sides, because she knew they would come up on the losing end.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Laura stood alone in the parlor and stared out the window of the mansion, hoping to catch a glimpse of Charon through the dense rain.
“You won’t see him,” Dani said as she walked up to stand beside her. “They’ll make sure to stay far away.”
“I know.”
Dani crossed her arms over her chest. “In the past, we Druids were in the thick of things. But not this time.”
“Do you miss it?” Laura asked as she looked at Dani.
“Yes. And no,” she answered. “It’s scary being in the midst of battle, but I love to watch Ian. He’s magnificent.”
“Ramsey is ruthless,” Tara said from behind them.