Midnight's Master

by Donna Grant

  And stopped dead in her tracks when she found herself staring at Logan’s naked backside.

  Her mouth went dry as she looked at his long, muscular legs. The muscles in his back bunched and flexed as he leaned close to the mirror to shave.

  Those broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist and hips. And his perfect butt.

  It took her a moment to realize Logan had stopped moving. She lifted her gaze to find him watching her in the mirror. Desire smoldered in his gaze before he blinked and looked away.

  Gwynn ran her fingers through her hair, knowing she looked a fright. “I’m sorry. I … ah … I didn’t realize you would be naked.”

  He wiped his face and bent to pick up his clothes and boots. Gwynn turned away so she wouldn’t stare, when it was all she longed to do. She’d never seen anyone with a body like his, and she couldn’t get her fill of him.

  “I think you’re right,” he said as he paused next to her.

  She stared at the wall in front of her and tried to calm her racing heart. “About what?”

  “I need to blend in.”

  As if he ever could. Then she realized what he was saying. “Oh. Clothes,” she said, turning her head to look at his face.

  His hazel eyes were more green than usual as he captured her gaze. “Would you help me?”

  “Yes,” she replied nervously, all too aware of his nudity and her yearning to look. “Of course.”

  With a nod, he walked to the couch.

  Gwynn had the insane urge to crawl back into bed and see if he’d follow her. She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her instead.

  She got ready in record time. Maybe it was the thought of taking Logan and fitting him in jeans, but Gwynn couldn’t wait to get him into a store.

  As they approached the only one in Mallaig, she could practically feel Logan’s hesitance, but he never backed out. The store didn’t have a lot. Mostly it was gear the fishermen would need, but with a guy like Logan, anything looked good on his muscular frame.

  She handed him several pairs of jeans and sweaters and directed him to the dressing room. She had no idea what his size was, so she’d guessed.

  Gwynn waited impatiently outside the dressing room, which was nothing more than a closet with a curtain between them.

  “How does everything fit? I can get you another size.”

  The curtain opened and Logan stepped out. “You tell me.”

  Gwynn didn’t think she’d ever seen someone look so hot in a pair of jeans and a hunter-green sweater. “You look—”

  “Bloody hot,” said the female clerk who had come up behind Gwynn.

  Logan winked at the clerk and looked at Gwynn, brows raised. “What do you think? Will I blend in?”

  “I think you’d look good in a wool sack,” Gwynn murmured.

  He frowned. “A what?”

  “Nothing,” Gwynn hurried to say. “The clothes look great on you. Do you like them?”

  “I doona know. I’ve never worn the like before, but if you say this is what I should wear, then I’ll wear it.”

  Gwynn smiled. “Oh, yes. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”

  “Then I’ll take these.”

  “Great. I’ll go pick up a couple more jeans and sweaters. What about shoes?” she asked when she saw his bare toes.

  “I have my boots.”

  “They’ll be a little difficult to get on with the jeans.”

  A half hour later Logan had a new pair of boots and several pairs of socks. When Gwynn reached for her wallet to pay, Logan’s hand lightly touched her arm.

  “I’m no’ without coin.”

  She looked down at his hand to see the coins. “Ah,” she hedged. “I don’t think those will work here. Let me pay.”

  “Then you take these.”

  She gaped at the handful of gold coins that fell into her hand. They were likely worth a fortune. She closed her fingers around them and was about to hand them back, but she took one look at Logan’s face and knew better than to try to return the coins.

  They left the store and were walking back to the hotel when Logan said, “Is there somewhere besides your computer were we can do more research on how much is known about the artifact?”

  “There’s a heritage center. We could start there.”

  “Would Eigg have something similar?”

  Gwynn nodded. “I’m sure they will. If something was recorded about the Tablet, it would be likely to be around here.”

  Logan dropped off the bags in her room as Gwynn got directions to the heritage center from the clerk. In a matter of minutes, they were walking toward the Heritage Centre.

  Gwynn was stunned at how much the center offered. There were exhibitions about fishing, the railways, the first roads, steamers, and ferries. In addition, they had an exhibition called “Find-a-face” featuring photographs from Mallaig schools dating back as far as 1906. There were other photos besides those from the schools, and Mallaig was trying to identify who everyone was.

  Gwynn found herself staring at the photos, wondering if any of them were relatives of hers.

  “See anyone you know?” Logan whispered in her ear from behind.

  “No,” she said with a smile.

  “There is a section of books I’ve found.”

  Gwynn turned to face him. “Then we need to start looking.”

  They walked together to the shelves of books. “What do we look for?” Gwynn asked.

  “Anything to do with the area dating from sixteen hundred and older.”

  Gwynn blew out a breath and tilted her head to the side as she read titles. She found several books and took them with her to the table where she began to leaf through them.

  At noon Logan closed a book and blew out a harsh breath. “Nothing. There’s no’ a single word about the Tablet in any of these books.”

  “Maybe because it’s Eigg’s history. Maybe we need to go there.”

  “Why do I see doubt in your eyes then?”

  Gwynn leaned back in her chair and softly closed the book she’d been looking through. “If my father found something, then it would be in some obscure text or book no one would have ever heard of.”

  “Do you have access to those books?”

  “No.” And then she sat up. “Oh, God. I didn’t even think of it.”

  “What?”

  “My father often used my computer when his laptop battery would go out, so he had both machines set up on a network.”

  Logan’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, Logan, that I can access his computer and possibly discover what he was working on.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Logan watched as Gwynn’s fingers moved with lightning speed over the keyboard. They had returned straightaway to the hotel where she’d wasted no time in opening the computer.

  “The connection is so damn slow,” she murmured.

  Logan didn’t think she was talking to him. Her gaze—and her mind—were on the computer. Nothing else existed at the moment.

  He made no move to distract her, but he was near if she needed him. As he always would be.

  The realization should have surprised him, but, oddly, it didn’t. It just seemed … right.

  Patience had never been something that came easily to him. Sitting idly was even more difficult. Yet if he wanted to avoid distracting her, he couldn’t get up and pace the small confines of the chamber as he longed to do.

  He closed his eyes and thought of MacLeod Castle and how everyone had looked when he’d last seen them. Marcail’s stomach had just begun to show with her and Quinn MacLeod’s child.

  Broc and Sonya had finally found the love they’d held for each other. With Cara and Lucan, Fallon and Larena, Galen and Reaghan, and Hayden and Isla all finding love, the castle was becoming more than just a refuge from Deirdre. It was a home.

  Every Warrior there would defend the castle until his last breath to protect the Druids, most of whom were their wives.
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  Logan smiled as he thought of Hayden. He may not be Logan’s brother by blood, but their bond went much deeper. It was a bond he shared with the other Warriors as well.

  Hayden had been so eager for battle, the quickest to jump into a fight. And finish it. The first time Logan had seen Hayden with Isla, he’d witnessed his friend’s hard eyes soften. He’d seen Hayden, who had always been the executioner, become the protector.

  Even when Hayden learned Isla was a drough, the very thing Hayden had sworn to kill, he still couldn’t take Isla’s life.

  At least Hayden had found Isla, who had removed the hate from his heart. Logan didn’t think there would ever be anyone who could do the same for him.

  There was hate in his heart, hate for himself. But there was more remorse and shame than anything else. No matter how many times he killed wyrran or Deirdre’s Warriors, it wouldn’t remove the stain of his regret.

  Only ending Deirdre once and for all would give Logan some solace.

  “Yes!” Gwynn shouted.

  Logan’s eyes flew open to find Gwynn smiling at him.

  “I did it,” she said. “The university hasn’t deleted the codes for me to get in. I’m surprised. Usually they do that as soon as someone leaves. It’s a security measure.”

  Her voice trailed off as she frowned at the screen.

  “What is it?” Logan was keeping up as best he could in this new time, but sometimes it was difficult.

  “Why haven’t they deleted his codes? Why would they still give him access?” She was staring at the computer as she asked her questions, her brows furrowed. “The only plausible reason would be if Dad was still working with them.”

  “I thought you said he quit.”

  “That’s what I was told.”

  “By your father?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head, her face hardening. “No. Mr. Manning at the university.”

  “Then there’s your answer.”

  “It appears so.”

  Logan leaned forward so that his forearms rested on his knees. “Can you get into your father’s files?”

  “I’m certainly going to try,” Gwynn stated as she began typing again.

  Logan found that he liked to watch her work. Her brow would pucker when she found something she either didn’t understand or didn’t like.

  And when she found what she wanted, her wicked grin made his blood quicken.

  That smile was in place now.

  “You found it, didn’t you?” Logan asked.

  She looked up and nodded. “It seems my father somehow got access to a very old book. A book that was said to be lost. The Book of Craigan.”

  “What’s so special about this book?”

  She turned the laptop so he could see a picture of it. The book was extremely thick and very large. Its binding was that of black leather that was aged, but had been well preserved.

  But what got Logan’s attention were the large connecting spirals in the center of the book. There was no other decoration, no words.

  “You’ve seen the spirals before?”

  He inhaled and nodded. “Oh, aye. They were used by the Celts to symbolize the equinoxes. The equinoxes can be powerful tools for Druids. More recently—well, recently to me, before I was brought to your time, Broc and Sonya were on a mission to find an ancient Celtic burial mound.”

  “I take it they did?” she asked, her violet eyes bright with interest.

  “They did. Sonya found an amulet on the body of the dead king inside. The amulet had this same double spiral. If we hadn’t found the amulet, which we believe will help us to release Deirdre’s twin, then I wouldn’t think much of this book.”

  “But the book is about Eigg.”

  Logan nodded. “Where the artifact I was sent to find is believed to be. How do we get the book?”

  “It’s privately owned,” she said with a frown. “Many of the ancient books such as this one are. Private collectors will pay thousands, sometimes millions of dollars to have such a relic. Most times these books and other objects are stolen from museums and sold on the black market.”

  “I take it these black markets are no’ good?”

  Gwynn tucked her hair behind both ears and shook her head. “Logan, they steal babies and sell them on the black market. Once someone buys something, you’ll never see it again. It’s like it disappears.”

  Logan rubbed the back of his neck. “Was this book sold on the black market?”

  “I can try to find out.”

  This time Logan couldn’t remain seated. He had to get up and move. He’d bet his immortality that there was something in the Book of Craigan that had led Gary Austin to Eigg.

  If Gary Austin was searching for the Tablet of Orn, then the likelihood that it was still on Eigg was slim since there were no more Druids to guard it.

  Fury ripped through him as he realized he might very well fail his friends.

  Logan braced his hands on the doorway leading into the bathroom and let his head hang. Without the Tablet, they wouldn’t be able to awaken Laria. Which meant Deirdre wouldn’t be killed.

  Before Logan could stop it, his claws shot from his fingers and his fangs filled his mouth. He walked into the bathroom so Gwynn wouldn’t see him.

  And when he saw his reflection, he stilled.

  He’d seen his fellow Warriors with their gods unleashed, but he’d never seen himself. He’d never observed the silver filling his eyes.

  It was … eerie.

  Logan peeled back his lips and glimpsed his fangs, startled to see they were larger than he’d realized. With barely a thought, he loosed his hold on his god, Athleus.

  In a blink, his tanned skin turned the same dark silver as his eyes. Logan lifted his hand and looked at the silver-tipped claws on his fingers.

  He was a monster, a monster Gwynn could never see. She’d run screaming from him. How could he protect her if she feared him?

  Logan heard Gwynn rise from the chair. He tamped down his god and turned as Gwynn entered the bathroom.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m worried.”

  She snorted. “As am I. I found something. Come see.”

  Logan followed and sank onto the couch next to her. Their shoulders brushed and heat sparked between them, as did the feel of her sweet magic. It grew the longer he was around her. It expanded, increased.

  And God help Logan, but he liked the feel of her magic.

  The purity of it helped to brighten him. To erase some of the darkness of his past.

  “Logan?”

  Her husky voice drew his attention. He turned his head to find her eyes dilated and the pulse at her throat rapid and erratic.

  The knowledge that she was as affected as he made his balls tighten. The urge, the need, the hunger to taste her lips was so great Logan had to clench his hands to keep from touching her.

  With more restraint than he’d ever shown when it came to women, Logan pulled his gaze from hers and stared at the screen. He saw a picture of a man who obviously had wealth, if his clothes meant anything.

  “Is he the one who owns the book?” Logan asked.

  Gwynn cleared her throat. She really needed to get her raging hormones under control. This reaction to Logan was so not like her.

  “Yes,” she answered. “Declan Wallace is the grandson of David Wallace, a well-known procurer of ancient artifacts. He’s Scottish, and everything in his vast collection is from Scotland’s past. Some even date to the time when Rome occupied Britain.”

  “Who is this David Wallace?”

  “He made his fortune, his extremely enormous fortune, I might add, with computer software. Some say it was luck. Others say he made a deal with the devil,” she said with a snort.

  “Doona dismiss such talk, Gwynn. Remember what I told you about the droughs. Deirdre herself has an even greater connection to Satan.”

  “So he could have made a deal with the Devil?”

&n
bsp; Logan shrugged. “It’s possible. You say he’s Scottish?”

  “Yes,” she said and read through the bio on the screen. “It says here the Wallaces like to brag that they can trace their family line to the tenth century.”

  When Logan didn’t respond, she looked at him to find him tapping a finger on his knee. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking there could be the possibility of a Druid in his family.”

  “You make it sound as if Scotland were made up mostly of Druids.”

  “Nay. I’m wondering if it was so easy for someone to make their fortune, why more people haven’t done it?”

  Gwynn chuckled. “I see. You think magic had something to do with it.”

  “I’ve only been in your time for a short period, but what I’ve learned is that people are motivated by coin.”

  “Money,” she corrected.

  Logan shrugged. “Money. Am I right?”

  “You nailed it.”

  His brow furrowed. “I did what?”

  Gwynn laughed and set the laptop aside as she rose to her feet. “I said you nailed it. It’s a saying. It means you hit it on the head. You got it right.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m hungry. And I think we should return to Eigg.”

  He stood next to her. “Why?”

  “Those connecting spirals on the book? The same one you say was on the amulet? I saw one etched into a stone yesterday.”

  Logan was heading for the door before she could get her coat on. “Those spirals were common, but I’d still like to see it.”

  Gwynn hurried to zip her coat and grab her purse. “We really should buy you a coat.”

  “I doona need it,” Logan said. He shut the door behind them after they stepped into the hallway.

  “Don’t need it?” she repeated and rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He grinned down at her. “I wouldna dream of it.”

  “Ah. But you would tease.”

  Logan chuckled. “I doona need this coat you speak of. The weather doesna affect me as it does you.”

  “Of course not,” Gwynn said with a sigh.

  Maybe if she stayed close enough to him, some of his heat would reach her.

  But being that close to him had a way of making her body react strangely. Wonderfully, but strangely.