“You didn’t call.”
Meg shook her head and instantly regretted it. It caused her stomach to pitch and her head to resume spinning. She was still trying to come to terms with what happened.
“They took our phones, and then we just wanted to get home. I didn’t want them to hear anything. I don’t know what the French laws are for monitoring.”
Logan helped her off with her coat, and she thanked him. Dammit, she hated that she sounded so proper. She was still a little in shock and didn’t know how to react.
“We do need to call Callum and Phoebe,” Angus said.
“Yes. Then we all need to get to bed. We have an early morning and we need rest,” Maggie said, studying Meg. She opened her mouth to ask something, but Meg shook her head. She couldn’t talk about it. Not right now.
They went into the kitchen and used Angus’ phone to call Phoebe and Callum. They picked up after half a ring.
“How did it go?” Callum asked.
“Fine, everything is fine.” The warning was easy to hear in Angus’ voice. They had stolen a jewel and while the police hadn’t had time to put a tap on the phone, there was no telling what Morin would do.
“Good. And you’re scheduled for tomorrow morning?”
“Yes,” Logan said. “We have a flight plan already scheduled, and we are leaving here at eight in the morning.”
“Why do we have to leave so early?” Maggie complained. Meg smiled. Maggie was always the worst to get out of bed.
“Get there in your night clothes for all I care, just get there. I will feel better when all of you are back on Scottish soil.”
The phone jostled and Phoebe came on the line. “I just want to say that nothing has appeared here, so be careful.”
Meg looked at everyone else, waiting to see their reactions, but none of them said anything.
“We will, Phoebe. Give our love to everyone. We need to get to bed,” Angus said.
“Good night.”
The phone clicked off.
“Let’s do just that. Everyone is packed, correct?” Angus asked.
She and Logan nodded.
As they walked up the stairs, none of them said anything else. It was an odd sort of silence, the adrenaline of the evening dissolving. She had been through this time and time again. The high of succeeding was followed by a low that was hard to overcome. Sleep was always best, and she intended to do just that after she took a long hot shower. She needed to wipe off the evil she still felt clinging to her flesh.
* * * *
Logan was worried. As he waited for Meg to take her shower, he had paced the floor. He wasn’t sure what he could do to get rid of that haunted look on her face. He knew the signs of shock, but he had wanted to give her some space.
The jewel was still here. They would never find it if they searched. Maggie had taken care of that. But, still, the fact that it had not reappeared into the sword did bother him a bit. Strike that. It bothered him a lot.
Did that mean they had not finished their quest? Worse, did it mean that it was the wrong sapphire?
He continued to pace, his mind going through horrible scenario after horrible scenario. He stopped when he heard a suspicious sniffling coming from the bathroom. The shower was still running, but he could hear what sounded like crying.
Normally, like any smart man, he headed the other direction when a woman cried. But, he couldn’t. Just hearing the sound of distress struck at him.
He walked to the door and twisted the handle. When it turned, a mixture of dread and relief twisted in his stomach.
Stepping into the expansive room, he was enveloped by a cloud of steam. He looked around and found her in the shower. She was sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees, and her face hidden from view. She was rocking back and forth and crying.
He hurried forward, ignoring the fact he was dressed, and stepped into the shower. Instead, he picked her up into his arms. She said nothing, which worried him.
Grabbing a towel, he walked back into the bedroom. He easily dried her body, as she stood without saying a word. Instead, silent tears streamed down her face. After dressing her in one of his shirts, he sat on the bed and pulled her to him. Her hair was still wet, but he ignored it.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked?
“About what?”
“What did this?”
She sighed and he held his breath. Meg liked to talk, but she had hidden a lot of her past from him. He assumed it was out of habit. Now he worried it was more.
When she finally spoke, her voice was small and so unlike her. “It was like that night before.”
“When Morin had you arrested?”
She shook her head and smacked his chin. He blinked and ignored the pain.
“Talk to me, Meg.”
“I couldn’t help feeling it was all happening again. That somehow, I would be arrested and everything would be lost.”
She pulled back and looked at him. Her face was splotchy, her hair a tangled mass of wet curls, and her eyes and nose were red. She looked horrible…and she was the most beautiful woman in the world to him.
“I couldn’t have that, Logan. I can’t be the person who causes the Clan to fail. It would kill me.”
Logan cupped her face with both hands. “Listen to me, Meghan. You are mine and no matter what happens, I would always come for you. If that bastard had the nerve to get you arrested on trumped up charges, it wouldn’t matter. I would make sure that you were safe.”
“You don’t get it.” Desperation dripped from every word. “I worried you would be better off without me. That you would think that.”
He took her by the shoulders then and gave her a shake. “Listen woman, I love you. I canna think of living without you. When I say you are mine, it means forever.”
Logan didn’t realize he was shouting again. The woman always brought that out in him.
She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but he shook his head. “No. Just accept it.”
Then he gave her a fast, hard kiss. He wanted it to be more, but he could feel her sag against him, and knew she needed rest. Logan situated them on the bed, and she rested her head on his chest.
* * * *
Pierre looked out over the city, and wondered if that bitch was sleeping. It was no worry to him because soon, he would take his revenge.
“Sir,” Armand said. “Everything has been taken care of.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything else?”
Pierre took a drag on his cigar, and allowed the little bastard to stand there and struggle. Both of them knew he had failed. The sapphire wasn’t to leave his property. Now, though, he would have to retrieve it. And, both of those damned Scotsmen were going to be a pain in the ass if they caught him.
“I think you know what you did wrong, correct?”
A long pause. “I did everything you told me to do.”
Pierre took another long drag, then turned to face him. “You did not. You had one job tonight. Do not let the sapphire out of your sight.”
“She was with you.”
“And she is a witch. You know that.”
Armand swallowed. “I apologize, sir.”
Pierre hated to do this. Armand had been such a good servant, but the one who had given him his gifts, the man who had made him rich, would demand some blood. Pierre refused that it would be him.
He flashed out with his hands. Armand rose up into midair, struggling, kicking his legs out.
“Please, Mr. Morin.”
He ignored him. Instead, he lifted him over the terrace edge, and watched the fear fill his expression. Now, he knew, in that one instant, that he would die. Pierre held him there just a moment longer, then he flicked his wrist and let him fall. Another flick and the bastard burned up before hitting the earth. A speck of dried up matter that no one would notice.
He turned and headed back into the house. He had a sapphire to steal and a witch who needed to b
e paid back.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Logan woke slowly and knew he was alone in the bed. He thought they had cleared the air, but he knew Meg was still upset by the events from that evening.
He slipped out of bed and grabbed a pair of flannel pants, and walked to the bathroom. When he didn’t find her there, he left the room. There was a strange sense of…wrongness.
Logan didn’t know what it was that told him, but he knew Meg wasn’t there. He ran to Angus’ room. Without knocking, he burst in.
“Have you seen Meg?”
Both Angus and Maggie shouted, and he realized they had been sleeping. Of course they had been sleeping. It was the middle of the bloody fucking night.
“She’s missing?” Angus asked.
“I’ll go downstairs,” he said, running out the door. Urgency screamed through him. There was something that was wrong, something that was pushing him to find her.
He could not find her. She was nowhere to be found. Maggie and Angus came running down the stairs. Angus’ face was made of stone. Maggie rushed ahead and her expression was worse. Desperation stamped her features.
“It’s gone,” she said.
“What?”
“The jewel is gone.”
“That means that Meg and the jewel are gone, Logan,” Angus said.
“Just what are you saying?”
“I’m saying she has stolen it and left.”
“She did not. This is her house, and all of her things are still upstairs.”
But something wasn’t right. She had disappeared and the sapphire as well. Was she so upset tonight because she’d had plans to steal it all along? Did she at least feel guilty for ruining his family’s chances at breaking the curse?
He thought of the expression on her face when he had told her he loved her. No. There was no way that she had stolen the jewel.
Logan shook his head. “I don’t think she did. All of her suitcases are here and something is wrong. Very wrong.”
“That’s what I said,” Maggie said. “But your idiot brother wouldn’t listen to me.”
“What if it disappeared? Like with the others.”
“What do you mean?” Angus asked.
“It disappeared for you, and for Callum and Phoebe.”
“And it turned up in the hilt of the sword,” Maggie said. “Brilliant.”
She grabbed her mobile and called the family in Scotland. Then she put it on speaker.
“What the bloody hell is wrong?” Callum asked.
“The jewel disappeared. Is it in the sword?”
“Hold on.”
There was a rustling of sheets and then Callum walking.
“No.”
“No. Are you sure?” Maggie asked.
“I am bloody staring at it.”
“Okay.”
“So the jewel is gone?” he asked.
“And so is Meg,” Angus said.
There was a beat of silence, then Callum said, “Doona think the lass took it, Angus. This wasna her plan but ours. You need to find her. And do it quickly. Men like Morin do not like letting go of jewels or their playthings.”
That comment had his blood freezing over. “Bloody hell. You’re right. That bastard took her. We’ll call when we get back.”
Before his cousin could respond, Logan hung up. He looked at Maggie and Angus. “You have to get me back into that house.”
“I need to go. I’m the Magickal one.”
He shook his head. “No. I have to be the one.”
“Don’t go all macho on me now, Logan.”
“No. It’s because of the curse. I’m Meg’s, and she’s mine. I have to save her. I have to get her away from that bastard to regain the jewel.”
* * * *
Meg woke with a start and almost jumped off her bed. It was the first thing that told her there was something wrong. The second thing was the surroundings. She was in another damned cell, not much different than the one she had been in years earlier.
Pierre.
That bastard had really messed with her this time. He was going to pay for this when she saw him.
“Oh, so you are awake, Meghan.”
His voice dripped with the honey he had spread through his seduction of her.
She blinked and tried to focus, but it wasn’t easy.
“What is going on, Pierre?”
“Oh, not much. Feeling unwell?”
She tried to stand up, but she could not. She felt as if she had been drugged.
“What did you do to me?”
“Just a little spell.”
She used all her energy to focus on him. He sat on the other side of the bars with a smug smile curving his lips.
“Spell?”
“Did you think I did not know about you, about why you were here in Paris? I know all about you. I have from the beginning, Meghan.”
“I don’t have your sapphire. If that is what this is about, then you will be waiting for a very long time.”
“No. I think your lover will show up with it soon.”
“We don’t have it. We lost it.”
He chuckled. “Stop lying to me, Meg. I know better than that. You stole it.”
“I was talking to you the whole time. Do you not remember that, Pierre? There is no way I could have stolen it.”
Why was she arguing with him? She just needed to get out of there, and all she needed to do was sing. She opened her mouth, but no sound released from her vocal chords. The familiar power that usually surged through her blood wasn’t there.
“Ah, so I see you have realized you no longer have your ability. Sorry about that, but I had to make sure you didn’t use it to get out of here tonight like you did months ago in Scotland.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you think I let you go without keeping my eye on you? I know all about your abilities. It’s too bad you were not truthful with me from the beginning. We might have made an interesting team.”
He walked closer then, and she felt it. Maybe it had always been there, but there was something so very wrong about the man. Off. It sunk beneath her flesh and left an icy path over her soul.
“So, where is it? I know that bunch you are with have no idea what you really are. I do.”
“I said I don’t have the jewel. It was lost.”
She wondered where it was. If Morin couldn’t find it in her apartment, it was lost to them. Or maybe it was already back in Scotland. Whatever happened to the damned sapphire wasn’t going to help her now. She looked at Morin, at the blackness in his eyes, and no doubt in his soul, and realized she was dealing with a true monster.
She opened her mouth to sing, and not one word came out. Meg choked and felt air leave her body. She fell the ground, clawing at her neck. Invisible fingers tightened around her throat.
Blackness crowded her vision, and she started to slip away. Then, it was gone. She coughed, as she tried to draw in deep breaths.
“Don’t mess with me, Meghan. I will kill you without thinking about it.”
Then he walked away from the cell to sit on an overstuffed chair that just appeared.
Holy Goddess, she was screwed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Logan fought the panic that sprung to life the moment he realized Meg was gone. It was now eating away at his gut. Logan knew he had to keep focused. If he didn’t, they would lose the fight.
He slowly made his way through Morin’s house trying to figure out just where the bastard had hidden Meg. Maggie and Angus were hurrying to the airport, getting things in order to make sure they could lift off in time. Nothing could get in their way, or they would be in more than just a little trouble.
He should have known this would happen. The last two times they had found a jewel, something they had done had made it reappear back in the hilt of the sword. That had not happened this time. They had stolen the fucking thing, but they had not achieved anything past that. Telling a woman he loved her wasn’t going shif
t the jewel back to Scotland. They all sacrificed something. He refused to allow that something to be Meg.
And now, he was sneaking back into a house they had stolen from earlier that day, but it was to save the woman he loved.
Why hadn’t he told her that earlier tonight?
Fear.
It was the one thing that had held him back. Now he had to ignore that fear and save her. Logan wasn’t sure why he thought Morin had stolen her, but he would do anything, even barter the jewel, to get Meghan back.
He opened a door and found a set of stairs that led downward. Slowly, and in the dark, he made his way down the staircase. He heard Morin talking, and Meg responding.
“Do you think you can actually get away with kidnapping me?”
“I will trade you for the jewel.”
Meg let loose a strangled scream. Then silence. “We don’t have the jewel. I keep telling you that.”
“You did something. You used some kind of Magick on me.”
Morin did not sound like the cultured prick now. At the moment, he was skirting the edge of sanity.
He slipped closer and saw the pool of light. When he peeked around the corner, he had to keep from shouting for joy. Meg sat in some sort of cell, bars separating her and Morin, and she was wearing her bedclothes. He wanted to grab her then, but he heeded Phoebe’s warning.
He had to be careful not to alarm Morin.
Something shifted in the air. Meg looked in his direction. He knew she couldn’t see him. It was too dark, and he was in the shadows. But understanding moved over her face and smoothed her expression. She knew he was there.
“So, you decided to trap me here by buying the sapphire.”
“No. No. No.”
He sounded more like a preschooler than a man who was almost sixty years old. “Then why?”
“Because, he told me to.”
There was a pause. “He?”
“The One. The dark one.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“I never could get you to speak properly.” He sneered the words, but Meg smiled.
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