Vic fought hard to get her throat to work. This was all so incredible, her mind fought against it. Magic spell? Those words alone made her want to reject the whole ridiculous thing. “So what are you saying? You’re saying someone stole the spell and sent me back here? Why would they do that?”
“That’s what I mean to find out,” he replied. “But ye can help me by telling me everything ye can about yer life back home, yer activities, yer associates—anything ye can think on that might explain this.”
“I…I…” She opened and closed her mouth in numb stupidity. “I don’t really know anything. I can’t think of anything that might help you.”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. Now more than ever, his eyes caught her in their unstoppable sway.
She couldn’t turn aside.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here, lass, but I trust yer heart’s in the right place, so I’m going to put meself and all me people in yer hands. Do ye ken what that means? Ye’ll have the power of life and death over us. That’s how much I trust ye in this. Ye’d no’ betray that trust, would ye?”
Vic swallowed hard. “No.”
“Our people are at war, lass,” he told her. “Clan Gunn operates this Guild, and we’re at war against the most vicious enemy ye can imagine. We’ve fought and died and struggled for thousands of years to rid the planet of this scourge. Our enemies want to take over the Earth and enslave all humanity. They’ve done it before, in the distant past. It’s only the Gunns’ constant vigilance and struggle that holds our enemies in check. It’s this enemy that I believe has sent ye back to us.”
Vic’s eyes hurt from not blinking for so long as she stared at Boyd’s chiseled face. His voice drifted into her brain from some dimension beyond speech as she beheld the whole grand scheme he laid out before her.
“Ye see, lass,” he went on, “there’s magic in the world. Ye come from a world that doesnae believe in it, but it’s real. Our world uses magic all the time. Ye must start to believe it. Ye must believe ye traveled here on a time portal spell, and the same spell will send ye back.”
She nodded but couldn’t speak.
His hand slipped into hers across the table.
A shining ray of light flowed up her arm and into her heart from his touch.
“These enemies of ours—they’re immortal, lass,” he murmured. “They’re called Angui, and they can live forever so long as no one kills them. They used to rule the world, but we destroyed their civilization. We’ve been hunting them down ever since, but they got the jump on us in the last couple of months. They got some crucial information from us, and now we must scurry to catch up. If ye can tell us where they are in yer time, we’ll be that much closer to stopping them.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know—” She gulped. “—but I don’t really know anything. I don’t know how to convince you of that.”
He let go of her hand.
As suddenly as it started, the glorious wave of pleasure cut off and left her cold.
He leaned back again, his eyes turning hard and cold. “Do ye ken anyone by the name of Lewis?”
Vic’s mind crashed back to the present. She had to work hard to get her tired, confused brain thinking about San Francisco and all the people in it. “I…I guess I know a lot of people named Lewis.” She perked up and smiled at him. “My high school chemistry teacher was named Mr. Lewis. He’s the one who got me and my friends hooked on chemistry in the first place. He made it so interesting. I haven’t thought about him in ages. You just reminded me.”
He smiled back, but the expression strained his face. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Anyone named Lewis who might have been with ye around the time ye left the park to come here?”
Vic frowned. “There’s Ned Lewis. He works for my company, but he was nowhere near me, either around that time or any other time. I barely had anything to do with the guy. He spends most of his time with my friend, our CEO.”
Boyd shook his head and stood up.
Vic read that wasn’t what he was looking for in his features and hated to disappoint him, but she couldn’t think of anyone else named Lewis. “There must be a lot of people named Lewis around that time,” she remarked. “It’s a common name.”
He strolled over to the window and gazed out with his back to her. “Ye see, lass, these immortal men I told ye about, they use the name Lewis. I suppose it’s too much to hope they’re still using the name in three hundred years. They’re too astute for that. They’ll be using different names, I’m sure.”
Vic’s heart sank. “Isn’t there anything I can do to help? If the situation is that serious, I’d like to do something.”
He turned around to face her. “Try to remember, lass. Try to remember anything about the people around ye. Did anything happen recently in yer world that seemed unusual.”
“Yeah, a lot.” She chuckled to herself. “It all started when—” She stared at Boyd. It had all started when Ree hired Ned Lewis. Could he be a part of this international plot to take over the world? Ned Lewis couldn’t be immortal, could he? That was impossible.
Boyd’s brow furrowed. “What is it, lass? What have ye just thought of?”
Her vision cleared, and she beheld Boyd observing her from the window.
“It’s Ned Lewis,” she replied. “He came to work at our company, and a lot of strange things started happening. The next day, he and my friend Ree Hamilton were joined at the hip like they’d been married for years. They started our company working on this weird formula called the Prometheus formulation. None of it made sense, but they got obsessed with it. That’s all they care about. It all happened overnight.”
Boyd stiffened, and his eyes drilled into Vic’s soul. “Are ye sure, lass?”
Vic nodded. “I’m certain of it. He’s the only person named Lewis close enough to me to do something like this, and now that you mention it, the whole Prometheus project has been weird from the start. It’s a longevity formula and…”
Boyd closed his eyes, and a glowing smile spread over his face. “That’s it, lass. Ye’ve done it. Ye’ve given us the secret we’ve been looking for.”
“Really?” she asked. “Do you know Ned Lewis?”
“His name’s no’ Ned.” Boyd strode up to her chair and knelt down next to her. He clasped her hand, and his face shone with inner light. “His name is Niall Lewis. He’s a notorious pirate and a wanted criminal, and he captains a ship called the Prometheus. He’s the most famous Lewis there is.”
“But how could he be?” Vic stammered. “If he’s here, how can he be working on it there?”
“I told ye, lass. He’s immortal. The leader of the Angui, an ancient evil race of immortals that enslaved my ancestors, the Falisa.”
Vic watched the bitterness on Boyd’s face openmouthed. The distant gleam in his eyes spoke of longstanding pain and suffering with every word he uttered.
“For generations, we have made it our duty to mankind to stop the Angui and the likes of Ned Lewis. For if we don’t, those rats will stop at nothing to enslave every human on the planet.”
Vic gave herself a knowing nod. So that’s what happened to Ree. That creature Ned had placed her under some kind of spell. It was the only explanation for her bizarre behavior.
Boyd adjusted in his seat. “Ned and his men stole a book from our library related to a certain formula they want to make. It’s called the Cipher’s Kiss, and it grants immortality to anyone who drinks it. They want to give it to human women to make them as immortal as themselves so they can breed more of themselves.”
“Don’t they have women of their own?” Vic asked. “What do they need to change human women for?”
Boyd launched himself to his feet, a wild grin cracking across his face. “We killed them all. We wiped out their womenfolk. That’s how we broke their power in the first place, and we’ve hunted them almost to extinction now. They’re desperate to get themselves a few women so they can restore their
population, but we’ll no’ let that happen. Ye may rest assured of that.” Electric excitement infused his features. He fixed his burning eyes on a place across the room, then seized his wineglass and tossed back the contents.
Vic gaped at his enraptured countenance. This battle between ancient forces electrified him beyond words. It animated him and sparked his energy. He cared for nothing as much as this eternal war.
Her thoughts churned all over the place. Could Ned and Ree really be working on an elixir of immortality? If Ned really was part of this immortal race, Ree must want to create this formula to join him. That’s the only way they could be together, and now they’d harnessed Primary Industries to do it. Ellen must be in on it too. That explained her sudden change of behavior. This must be the secret she hesitated to reveal when they met at the coffee shop. Who else was in on it? Could one of them have sent her back here? Why would they do that? Ree and Ellen certainly didn’t have any magic powers. What purpose could they hope to serve by ambushing her like this?
Even after everything that had happened to sour their relationship, Vic couldn’t believe either of them would do something like this. She refused to believe it, at least until she saw some compelling evidence to back it up. If they had done it, they must have had a very good reason. Worry wormed its way into her stomach for Ree and Ellen. What had these fiends done to them? How could she sit back and watch her best friends be manipulated into enslaving the entire human race? The worry suddenly morphed into anger. There was no way she’d allow that.
Boyd slammed down his wineglass and rounded on her, his eyes smoldering with long buried intensity. “I’ll pass yer friends’ names on to Malcolm. He’ll inform his teams where to find them.”
Vic didn’t like his manic, murderous expression at all and stiffened. “Malcolm? What does he have to do with this?”
“He’s preparing two teams of our operatives to go forward in time, to intercept the Lewises and stop them from making this formula. We destroyed all other copies of the recipe, and once they recapture the book the Angui stole, we’ll destroy that too.”
Vic scowled at Boyd. “Malcolm doesn’t seem like a very forgiving character. I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him.”
Boyd’s features softened, and he smiled again. “Ye dinnae understand him the way I do. No one is more committed to wiping out the Lewises than he is. He’s in charge of the Guild in all Scotland. He’s sacrificed years of his life to this mission. He’s incredibly dedicated.”
“He’s incredibly rude, is what he is,” Vic snarled. “He made an ass of himself when you told him to show me to my room.”
Boyd only smiled more, a faint blush tinging his cheeks. “Ye dinnae understand. He’s gone without women these twenty years. He thinks women will distract him from his duties. He takes his position and this struggle very seriously.”
“Maybe he takes it a little too seriously,” Vic remarked. “He should learn some manners.”
Boyd chuckled. “He doesnae ken how to act around women—no’ in that way, at least. He can charm them when it comes to getting information out of them or when it serves his purpose. A woman he cannae understand and doesnae ken how to classify into his strict view of the world—he doesnae ken how to deal with a woman like that. I’m sure ye put him on the defensive, just showing yer face here. I can understand why too.”
“Why?” she asked. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Exactly,” he replied. “Ye dropped out of the clear blue sky, right onto our doorstep. Ye’re an unknown—an anomaly. Besides…” He burst out laughing again.
Vic waited for him to say something. “Besides what? What were you going to say?”
He circled the table and took her hand. He raised her to her feet so she stood in front of him. “I was going to say yer appearance put him off. He didnae ken how to handle that, as I’m sure none of us have seen it before. It’s naught ye need to concern yerself about now, and besides, ye’re so stunningly beautiful the way ye are, no one would ever recognize ye.”
Her cheeks flushed hot, and his hand gave her that squiggly sensation in her guts. She tried to pull away, even as his presence inched her closer to him.
He peered down on her. His face glowed, and his eyes sparkled. He breathed into her nostrils when he murmured low, “Ye’re the most captivating woman I’ve ever met. I saw it plain as day under that mask ye were wearing when I first noticed ye in the street outside. Something about ye made me want to be near ye, and I feel it even now. Ye’re so much more beautiful now.”
He kissed her knuckles, sending a quiver of excitement rocketing up her spine. She barely registered her legs moving as he steered her to the door.
“I must part with ye now, lassie,” he breathed, “but rest assured, ye’ll be topmost in me thoughts until I behold yer lovely face again. Thank ye for the honor of yer company. I hope I can share it again, if no’ this evening, then perhaps tomorrow. Good day. Let the staff ken if ye need anything at all for yer comfort.”
The next thing she knew, she found herself standing in the hall outside his apartment as he slid the door shut in her face. She blinked at the closed slider, her spirit quailing inside her at what had just happened.
She’d never met a more intoxicating man, and here he was, whispering endearments into her ear and kissing her hand. She couldn’t fail to comprehend his meaning. Was it possible? Could she really fall for a guy out of Highland Scotland? He certainly attracted her like no other. When had she experienced that lightning bolt of pleasure and excitement with a man? Never. That’s when.
She looked around her at the stately house, realizing she had nothing to do with the rest of the day but relive the experience again and again and feel that burning adrenaline in her chest when his lips touched her hand.
A door swung open at the far end of the hall. Maisie crossed the corridor and bustled off somewhere else.
Sunshine blasted through the door, momentarily blinding Vic. The next instant, her vision adjusted and she caught sight of flowers and greenery outside. Yes, that was what she really needed right now. Fresh air. Flowers. Sunshine. She walked to the door and stepped out into a magnificent, sun-washed garden lined with brick walks and shrubs of all kinds.
She sank onto a low brick wall and turned her face up to the sun. Closing her eyes, she let the fragrant breeze blow her cares away so she could remember Boyd and nothing else.
Chapter 8
Malcolm let himself through the Guild House gate and headed for the door. When he turned a corner in the garden, he came face-to-face with that woman.
Her head snapped around at the sound of his footsteps. Their eyes locked, her features hardening.
Every instinct told him to run as far away from her as he could, but he couldn’t do that. She was one of them. First he’d met Ree Hamilton on the Isle of Lewis. Then a mystery woman had killed one of the Angui’s mortal enemies. Who was she? Now, this short red-haired beauty pierced him to the core with those fiery green eyes of hers.
Boyd was right. She’d been hiding an enchanting face under all that hideous paint. Her cheeks blushed in the sunshine when she looked up at him, and her curving scarlet mouth quivered with mysterious meaning. Her dress hugged her slender waist, and she sat gracefully on the edge of the bench. She looked for all the world like she belonged here, but Malcolm knew that she came from the future. He just needed to know what she was doing here.
Her voice crackled. “Hello, Malcolm.”
Half of him wanted to flee. The other half wanted to get closer to her, to find out who she was and what she knew. Could she possibly know about him? What if Ned or one of the others sent her here to tell him something? Did he dare trust her?
He waved his hand at her dress. “Ye’ve cleaned up very fine.”
She got to her feet and confronted him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “Thank you. I suppose that’s your idea of a compliment.”
“Now just hang on there,” he growled.
“No, you hang on there.” She closed the small gap between them, standing toe-to-toe with him, and barked in his face even though she stood so much shorter than him. “Boyd told me all about you. He said you were committed to the Guild and all that, and that being around a woman made you uncomfortable because you think I’m going to distract you from your duty. Well, I’m here to tell you I have no intention of doing anything to interfere with your work. Boyd told me all about the Lewises and their bid to take over the world. I know you want to do right by your people, and I want you to know I’m here to help you. I’ll give you any information you need to stop the Angui from reclaiming their power.”
Malcolm’s heart dropped. So much for trusting her or possibly hearing news from his brethren in the future. Boyd had used his magic touch to win her over to the Falisa. She would probably never support the Angui. She’d cast her lot with the enemy. If she ever found out the truth about him, she would do anything to help the Falisa kill him. But did Ned send her back and what she knew would sink them all now that Boyd had her under his spell? Or was she really in the dark, possibly sent back by one of the Falisa to unknowingly provide details that would once and for all stop the Angui?
“What have ye to tell me, then?” he asked. “I suppose ye told Boyd all about yer world back home and how the Lewises sent ye back here.”
“He says you’re sending people forward in time to track them down,” she replied. “I told him my friend Ree Hamilton hooked up with a guy named Ned Lewis, and now they’re working on a chemical compound known as the Prometheus formula. Boyd said he would tell you everything, so you might as well hear it from me. Maybe that will convince you that I’m on your side.”
He frowned, then recovered quickly to his usual glower. This was just flamin’ splendid. He couldn’t imagine anything worse. “Aye. I can see ye’re on me side.”
Spies of the Angui - Cipher's Kiss Book 3 Page 5