by Willa Blair
“Abby, ye kin I cannae do that. ’Tis part of what I am. I was turned into an immortal to stop evil.”
Abby shook off the hand he tentatively laid on her arm. “Yes, but you don’t have to go after Angus personally. Let someone else do it.”
“I cannae do that. Angus willna rest until he confronts me. If I dinnae find and kill him, he will keep killing innocents. He could kill ye too, Abby.” Saying the words tore his heart open, yet he wouldn’t lie to her.
“Then I guess there’s nothing else to say. Goodbye, Darach.”
“Abby, you cannae just go out by yourself. ’Tis nighttime and dangerous. At least wait until Arianna returns.”
“I’ll be downstairs in the lobby. Have a good life, Darach.”
“Abby, please dinnae go. I have made a mess out of this, and I—”
“Save it.” Abby stopped on her way to the door, rooted around in her bag, then tossed him both cell phones. “Here, tell Michael I don’t need a keeper. I didn’t before and I don’t want one now.”
“Abby, for God’s sake. Can ye stop being so stubborn, and listen to reason?”
His answer was her back as she pushed the door open and left.
“Women! I dinnae ken why God made them so contrary.” Darach wanted to go after Abby, but he knew she would need a bit of time to cool off, so he paced the confines of the room. He also took some time to look up at the ceiling and yell at Michael.
“Do you still think the woman will be good for me? She’s going to be the death of me, Michael. And I think ’tis what ye want. So if ye dinnae want to help me out here, then make sure Arianna is with Abby at all times. I dinnae trust Angus.”
He was on what seemed like the thirtieth lap around the room when the door opened.
“Mr. MacRath, you should not be out of bed. The night nurse who had been like a guard dog the entire time of his stay hurried into the room, grabbed his arm, and tugged him none-too-gently toward the bed.
Darach waited all of two minutes after the woman left the room before he teleported to his house, changed into street clothes and teleported to Abby’s. He opted not to try to just land inside the house, he didn’t know what type of safeguards Arianna had implemented.
He rang the doorbell and waited. Then he waited more. Were they not home? Darach leveled his fist on the mahogany door and banged several times.
The door flung open a moment later. Arianna stood there looking like she wanted to tear his head off. Her eyes flashed amber, her lips had a snarl on them, and her posture suggested she’d love to kick his arse.
“Look before ye start on me, I want to see Abby.”
“That’s not going to happen, Darach.”
The other immortal stepped over the threshold, forcing Darach to back up. She then pulled the door shut behind her.
“Abby was over-the-top upset when I got back to the hospital. I couldn’t get her to talk to me at all. What in God’s name did you do to her?”
“I didnae do anything but tell her I couldna stop hunting Angus.”
A fractured sigh parted Arianna’s lips. “Whew, so that’s what got her so upset.”
“Aye, and the fact she thinks I dinnae love her.”
“Well, I don’t know why she thinks that, everyone who is around you two can’t help but see you’re like a lovesick lamb. Or so I’ve heard.”
Darach would have laughed, but being referred to as any type of sheep with his Scottish heritage was not exactly a compliment.
“So, any suggestions?”
“You could try groveling.” Arianna looked positively excited over that scenario.
“Ye have anything else useful?”
“Talk to her, Darach. She’s hurting now, but if she loves you as much as I think she does, sooner or later, she’ll listen to reason.” She moved farther out onto the porch. “I understand why you can’t give up looking for Angus, but I’m not in love with you.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Darach quipped back.
“Ouch.” He rubbed his arm where her small but extremely effective fist connected and stung like the dickens.
“So are you going to go back to the hospital and follow your original plan since Abby already knows or come up with something different?”
“I take it, Sean filled ye in, and aye, for now, ’tis the hospital. ’Tis the only thing I can think of that might make Angus feel secure enough to get careless.”
“Right, let’s hope he does. Listen, I need to get back to Abby. You want me to tell her anything?”
“Tell her I love her.”
“You got it.” Arianna turned to go back inside but stopped. “Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but a second teacher from Abby’s school was killed. Sean dropped by with the news before you got back to the hospital. And before I forget it, someone by the name of Nate, Abby knew him, followed us from the restaurant. Said he just wanted to say hi. He seemed harmless, but I thought you should know.”
“Thanks, Arianna…for everything.”
“No need to thank me. Just find Angus, I’ll protect Abby.”
****
Abby watched through her bedroom window as Darach walked away. The fact he’d come after her said a lot, but she wasn’t ready to face what he was doing or to forgive him just yet.
Yes, she knew someone had to go after Angus. No telling what the demon, although no evidence pointed to him having killed Cecil, would do next if Darach didn’t find him. But she didn’t want to think about the toll it would take on him physically and mentally.
He’d barely made it through the last attack. His words their first night together had given her a sense of peace, that he was almost invincible, she’d never truly thought he’d be taken down by a group of demons. Even the vision had not prepared Abby for the horrific way Darach had been attacked and left for dead. Why now after all these centuries? She would have thought it would have been tried before.
Just the thought of it happening again made her blood run cold. She did love him, but she wasn’t at all sure she could live with the fact his job would continually lead him into danger.
But then again, he’d been fighting evil for centuries. Did she want to cut him out of her life completely? Or did she want to experience a life that would be rich with love?
Too many questions and her head was beginning to ache.
“Abby?”
“Yeah. I’m in the bedroom, Arianna.”
The immortal materialized right in front of her, causing Abby to jump.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that. Can’t you people use the stairs like the rest of us?”
Arianna laughed and then flopped on the edge of Abby’s bed. “I take it you saw Darach leave.”
“Yes, thanks for keeping him out for now.”
“Oooh, does that mean you might talk to him tomorrow?”
“I might, why?”
Arianna twirled a length of her auburn hair. “Because it would make him and you happier. Besides, Abby, life is full of risks, if you don’t try to find love somehow, then it just sucks.”
Abby joined her on the bed. “You sound like you have some experience with that. Care to talk about it?”
Arianna looked away from Abby, before once again meeting her gaze. “I might, but not tonight. I think tonight we need margaritas and chocolate.”
“And I think you’re right. Come on, I’ll get the blender going, if you get the chocolate out of the top cabinet.” Abby jumped off the bed and took off for the stairs. She bumped into Arianna when she got to the kitchen. In answer to her raised brow, the immortal laughed.
“Hey, when it comes to chocolate, I don’t believe in wasting time.”
Abby couldn’t help but giggle. “Okay, let’s do this right.”
Several minutes later they were in the living room, tossing back margaritas, munching down on chocolate, and dissing men. Not a bad way to spend an already horrible evening.
****
Darach laid still as the surgeon who stitche
d him up in the first place removed his bandages. Sean had been by earlier and glamoured the wounds to show the expected rate of healing instead of the completely healed wounds. If it hadn’t been for the halfling, he would have had to wipe the memories of the staff. Which might not be a bad idea anyway. Perhaps he would after he caught Angus. Right now, he needed to stay put for a few more days.
“Well, Mr. MacRath, you seem to be doing much better. The sutures are holding together, and tomorrow we’ll remove the ones in your legs.”
“My thanks, I appreciate your care.” Darach hoped the doctor would take that as a dismissal and leave. He and Sean needed to hit the streets right at dark, and that time was approaching fast.
“All right, then I’ll see you in the morning.” Dr. Wright spoke as Sean entered the room and then blessedly he was gone.
Darach threw his legs over the edge of the bed. “Do ye have the uniform?”
“Yes, and good evening to you too, Highlander.” Sean’s sarcastic tone did not match the grin on his lips.
“Sorry, just a bit anxious to get started.”
Sean slapped him on the back hard enough to make him falter in getting to his feet. Too much time had been spent pretending to be sicker than he was.
“No more anxious than I am. Angus has a lot to answer for with two dead and possibly a third if he had anything to do with Abby’s friend,” Sean shot back.
“Aye, Arianna told me about the other teacher.”
“Yeah, I meant to tell you myself, but the body was found after we talked last night. Since it was after visiting hours, I got in touch with Arianna. Figured it’d go easier if she told Abby first before she heard it on the news today.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. So where’s the uniform?”
Sean pulled it from under the coat he held over his arm. Darach grabbed it, hit the bathroom, and was out a minute later.
“Ready?”
“Yep, let’s do it.”
****
The uniform felt alien against Darach’s skin, the material stiff and new. Sean had borrowed one from the supply closet the PD kept for rookies.
Night had fallen and now he and Sean made their way toward Bourbon Street. To onlookers they looked like a policeman chatting up a passerby. Which is exactly the image they wanted to convey. Sean had glamoured himself into a heavier male image with a receding hairline. Totally unthreatening to any demon around. And since for the most part the demon population left the PD alone, Darach was hoping he’d be ignored also.
“So, did you make up with Abby yet?” Sean’s question came out of left field, but Darach should have expected it. The halfling had almost become a friend over the last week or so, and he knew his attentions were good.
“Nay. Abby chose not to visit me at the hospital, so I think I will give her until tomorrow. Hopefully, she will forgive me, and be willing to talk about it.”
“I hope so for your sake. You need someone to keep you in line.” The smirk on Sean’s face was a bit overblown with his new look, but Darach let it slide.
“I could say the same about you and Arianna.”
Sean caught his toe on a sidewalk crack and almost went flying. Darach steadied him.
“There is no Arianna and me.”
“Really? Well, ye could do a lot worse.”
Sean’s eyes turned red. “And you could mind your own business, Highlander.”
Darach would have laughed. The halfling’s plight was noticeable only because he was in the same boat. Sean protested too much not to have at least a smidgen of feeling for Arianna.
“The teacher’s body you found last night, was it demon-touched?”
“Hard to tell, he was fished out of the canal, but truth, I think it’s too much of a coincidence that both teachers worked at Abby’s school.”
Darach almost missed his step this time. “How? I mean is it possible Angus is behind those two murders if you found no demon touch on the body?”
Sean pointed toward an alley branching off from Bourbon Street. “There are ways to disguise the sulfuric scent. But not usually from another demon, even if I’m only half.”
Darach followed the right turn the halfling took into the alley. “So you think there’s a serial killer out there who just got lucky with both the teachers?”
“I’ve seen stranger things. He could have been watching the school. Or he could have been stalking them for a good while and seen both men together. There’s no way of telling until we catch whoever committed the crimes, or I could be wrong and it’s Angus.”
“Why did we stop here?” Darach stood silent next to an equally quiet Sean.
“I thought I saw a shadow slip into the alley. But I can’t pick up on anything at all now.”
Darach make a circle scanning both open ends of the alley. “Could they have already left?”
“Possible, but I want to look around a bit more.”
“Tell me what ye are looking for, and I’ll help.”
Sean exhaled a breath of air. “That’s just it, I don’t know. Something feels off. I can’t believe you can’t feel it.”
Darach’s sixth sense had pretty much been perfect for the most part in his long second life. The fact he didn’t feel anything out of place now was disturbing in the face of Sean’s agitation.
“Sorry, I cannae sense anything.”
The halfling looked around the alley one more time, shrugged his shoulders, and moved back to Darach. “I have a possible theory about why you can’t feel anything, but we need to get out of here, and then I’ll see if I’m right.”
A feeling of unease did creep over Darach’s shoulders at Sean’s words, but not that someone was there intending harm, but that something wasn’t right inside him. He prayed the halfling was wrong, if he wasn’t then his life as an immortal could be in jeopardy.
****
Angus hurled a bottle at the television set. Darach had managed to escape his trap. He knew it would not be easy to kill the immortal, but he’d hope sending in a vanguard of demons would work. Instead, they’d run like little girls when they smelled another demon, one whose aura waxed of old demon blood and magic. But he would have Darach at his mercy once again, and he would make sure that when he died this time there’d be no third chance at life.
Michael didn’t know whether to laugh or cry again over Darach’s mishandling of his love life. He’d taken his wings in hand, asked for, and received permission for the immortal to marry Abby. Now, the clueless Highlander could ruin his chance at happiness before he even asked her to marry him.
Chapter Seventeen
Abby moved through her house just like she’d moved through the day—sluggish and uncaring of what happened. Darach had not even tried to see her. She thought surely after the evening before last when he’d talked to Arianna he would have at least touched base with the immortal—that hadn’t happened.
Now, she was facing another evening and night wondering if Darach had changed his mind about caring for her. Could she blame him if he had—after all she’d pretty much told him to have a good life on his own. And what if he did? She’d managed on her own before and could do it again. Yeah right, Abby, who are you kidding?
“Abby, are you just going to stay here and do nothing?”
Abby flopped down in one of the damask-covered armchairs. “Yes, I think I am. Why should I go out of my way to make it easy on Darach?”
Arianna took the other chair. “Well, according to the demon-spawn, he says Darach’s miserable.”
“Don’t call Sean demon-spawn, he can’t help it if his mother was raped by a demon.”
“Whoa, I had no idea. He truly can’t help his nature can he?” Arianna pushed back in the chair and stretched her legs out.
“No, and he’s been really kind to me.” Abby made a face. “And he probably shouldn’t have since I’ve been such a bitch to Darach.”
“Girl, you’re not going to just give in are you? I mean, that immortal is hot, but he deceived you.”
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“Yeah, I know, but he did it to set things up to find Angus. And to protect me he says.”
Arianna’s lips held a slight smile. And if she wasn’t mistaken, her eyes twinkled just a bit.
“You believe him now?”
“You know, I think I do. I just went a bit nuts worrying about him. Do you think he was faking any of it? He says he wasn’t but…”
“No, hon. Sean says he was almost dead when he got to him. Which makes little sense to me. Darach is one of the oldest immortals around, and he’s never been injured like that.”
Abby pulled her legs up under her. “Any ideas as to why now?”
“Not really, but I bet Sean and Darach both are wondering themselves.”
“For someone who couldn’t stand to even talk to Sean, you seem to be all about Sean-this and Sean-that.”
Arianna’s pale complexion flushed the color of a pink sunset. “It’s business only, Abby.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to someone else. You’re preaching to the choir here, darling. Remember, I’m in love with an immortal, so I know the signs.”
As she watched, the immortal’s amber gaze filled with tears. “I can’t care for anyone, Abby. It’s not going to happen.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Arianna jumped out of the chair and headed for the kitchen. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to strengthen the safety guards, have a drink, and then read a good book.”
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”
“No problem. You see, in order to care for someone, you have to have a heart. I’ve been told repeatedly that I don’t have one.”
Abby sat there wondering what on earth to make of Arianna’s words. Someone had hurt her badly, and she was still hurting. She moved out of her chair and headed for the kitchen. A drink sounded pretty good. It might not stop their hurting but hopefully it would dull the sting a bit. Abby stopped. On second thought, nothing could dull how she or Arianna felt.
****
“Okay, tell me when you started feeling this way or when you noticed something strange.”
Darach laid on his bed at the house while Sean bent to work his mojo on his wounds. He wasn’t sure what the halfling was up to, but at this point he was getting more than a bit desperate.