Midnight's Captive(46)

As it was, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. That didn’t stop the same swell of emotion to begin within her again. It was the same feeling, the same swirling of something bright and powerful that happened at the cabin.

Her skin felt stretched, her body pulled in a thousand different directions. Laura slammed her palms onto the ground and focused on keeping herself calm and breathing evenly so as not to blow anything up and alert Jason to where she was.

Every time the bright swirling mass felt as if it were going to shatter her, she pushed it through her palms and out of her body.

She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard the steady beat of distant drums.

And the beautiful chanting that seemed to call, to beckon.

“Laura…”





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN



“Nay,” Aiden repeated for the fourth time. “We’re close. Give Britt a few more days.”

Quinn slammed his hand onto his thigh as he sat at the tiny table in the even smaller hotel room. “Did you hear nothing your uncle said?”

Aiden looked at Fallon and nodded. “I heard every word. I also saw what the drough blood Jason is using does to you Warriors. I’d rather risk my life to learn the answers than see any of you suffer as Charon and Malcolm did this last time.”

Before Sonya’s healing magic had been able to work. That along with the other Warriors using their blood. But this last time with Jason Wallace, something had changed.

It had shaken Aiden to his core. He’d taken for granted his father’s immortality and ability to heal. He’d also taken for granted the magic of the Druids. He couldn’t do that anymore.

“Aiden,” Fallon began.

But Aiden held up a hand to stop him as he turned and looked at his father. “I’ve kept Britt separated from everyone. I’ve also made her promise no’ to tell a soul what she’s working on.”

“Do you actually think she’ll keep that promise?” Quinn asked.

“I do.”

Quinn growled as he scrunched up his face. “You’re confusing lust with truth.”

“I need you to trust me on this.”

“Do you know what would happen to me and your mother if we lost you? It’d destroy us.”

Aiden stared into the same dark green eyes as his own and said, “And how do you think I’d feel if I lost you? This war we’re fighting has already taken casualties. Jason Wallace willna stop, and he’s upped the game. We need to do the same.”

“I hate to agree with the lad, but I do,” Galen said from the door, where he lounged against the wall.

Aiden hadn’t even heard him come into the hotel room. Still, he wasn’t sure his argument would win against his father and uncle. And even though Galen wasn’t technically blood, he’d grown up calling every Warrior in the castle uncle, and every Druid aunt.

Family was family, and Aiden was happy to have Galen’s support.

“Damn,” Fallon said as he turned away to sit on the end of the bed. “Quinn, your son has a valid argument. Arran told me how close we were to losing Charon. And Larena…”

Aiden swallowed past the lump in his throat as he thought of Fallon’s wife. Larena had died, but somehow—through the magic or Warrior blood given to her—she miraculously came back to them.

“I doona want you to go through that,” Fallon continued after clearing his throat. “I doona want any of us to go through that.”

Galen glanced out the window of their hotel, which just happened to be across from Britt’s flat. He grabbed an empty chair and moved it near the door before he sank onto it. “We can no longer count on the magic of the Druids or our own blood to save each other if we’re hit with drough blood. We need to have another plan.”

Aiden watched his father as he stood with his hands braced on the small table, his head hanging down. For long, tense moments Quinn stood quietly as the rest of them watched.

Finally, Quinn lifted his head and straightened. He caught Aiden’s gaze and said, “All right. You’ve all made your points, but if we’re going to do this, we do this the right way.”

“Which is?” Fallon asked.

“We stay close to Aiden and Britt at all times. Wallace has shown he can strike when least expected. I refuse to return to Marcail and tell her we’ve lost our son.”

“Agreed,” Galen said. “I’ve already spoken to Reaghan, and she thinks we have to keep an eye on Britt even if we leave tonight.”

Aiden was relieved in his father’s decision, but he knew things had gotten more complicated for them all.

“Britt needs to know everything.” Aiden didn’t break when three pairs of eyes pinned him.