Dangerous Magic
Page 19
They spread out through the forest, but Drogan made her stay near him. Serena, Grayson and Adrianna were also with them in case Cade needed healing.
“Over here,” someone shouted.
Francesca didn’t wait for Drogan. She spurred her horse toward the voice and ducked through the trees. When she pulled her horse to a halt, she found herself looking down at the headless corpse of Nigel.
“God’s blood,” Grayson murmured.
Francesca smiled. “Cade did it. Cade beat him.”
“Then where is Cade?” Drogan asked.
She slid from her horse. A moment later, Drogan and Grayson did the same, each cursing beneath their breaths. She didn’t care, though. All that mattered was Cade.
It wasn’t until she rounded a tree that she saw him. He was lying on his side, blood oozing from a cut on his forehead. Her blood froze in her veins as she knelt beside him. She put her hand over his heart and felt it beating.
“He’s alive,” she said between her tears.
She turned him onto his back, and he groaned.
“Step back, Fran,” Drogan warned. “You don’t know what Cade will be when he opens his eyes.”
And she didn’t care. Cade was hers. She leaned down and placed her lips on his. His eyes fluttered and opened, showing blue irises instead of red.
She lifted her head and smoothed her hand down his face. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Francesca?”
She closed her eyes for a heartbeat and smiled. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name.”
“I’ve done it a million times in my mind.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing that can’t be cured by your presence.”
“Cade, I—” she began, but he stopped her with a finger over her lips.
His face hardened. “I know what Nigel showed you. You don’t need to pretend to care for me.”
Her heart tore in two at the sound of resignation in his voice. “Do you think my love so shallow that I couldn’t see your pain? That I couldn’t tell how it nearly killed you not to be able to fight the darkness? That I couldn’t feel your agony as clearly as my own?”
Hope leapt into his eyes, and more tears fell down her cheeks. “Regardless of the darkness inside you, I love you, Cade.”
His face twisted with anguish. “You can’t mean that. I don’t deserve it.”
Francesca kissed him again and put her forehead to his. “You deserve love most of all.”
For a moment, he didn’t move. Then his arms came around her and he crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her as if there were no tomorrow. The kiss was frantic and full of love and lust.
Francesca groaned when he ended the kiss.
Cade looked into the clear, tawny gaze of his witch. She loved him, despite everything. She really loved him. It was there in her eyes, in her touch, for all to see. He’d never been more humbled in his life.
“I love you.” He finally said the words, knowing he had loved her since that first kiss.
She laughed, the sound heavenly and perfect.
“I’d like to leave the two of you alone, but Cade, you’re injured,” Drogan said, his voice amused.
Cade looked up to find it wasn’t just Drogan, Serena, Grayson and Adrianna watching them, but the fifty knights Drogan had brought as well.
Francesca moved off him, and with the help of Drogan and Grayson, Cade got to his feet. He winced when he tried to take a breath.
“What happened to your head?” Drina asked as she came towards him.
Cade shrugged and watched Drogan send his men back to the castle. “I remember killing Nigel and facing his men, and then there was this light. I was thrown back, and I don’t remember much after that.”
“You really killed him,” Francesca said. “I was supposed to do that.”
He frowned. “You nearly got yourself killed.”
“I’d seen it every night in my visions, Cade. I had beaten him every time.”
“Then what did he say to make you hesitate?” Serena asked.
Francesca smiled as she looked at him. “He threatened Cade. I knew he would, and I thought I could withstand anything he said. But I was wrong.”
Cade pushed Drina’s hands from his own and pulled Francesca into his arms. “Don’t ever risk your life like that again.”
“Of course I will if you or someone else I love is in danger and I can save them.”
He didn’t know how he had managed to live his life without her, but he knew he couldn’t continue another moment alone.
“What?” she whispered. “What is it?”
“I never thought to love someone like this.”
She smiled and cupped his face. “Me either.”
“I know I’m not worthy of you, but I want you. Forever, witch.”
“Then I am yours. Forever.”
“And the curse?”
She shrugged. “I survived Nigel. Besides, if Grayson’s parents, Serena and Adrianna can break the curse, so can I.”
“We can break the curse,” he said.
“Aye, we can break the curse.”
He kissed her again, long and slow. “Will you marry me?”
“Aye, my lord. I will marry you.”
Epilogue
Four months later
Cade stood with Francesca as they looked at Stonelake, the home he had thought never to see again.
“It’s beautiful, Cade. Simply stunning.”
He smiled at her and wrapped his arm around his wife. They hadn’t hesitated to get married. The darkness had left him just as all the souls had returned to their owners upon Nigel’s death.
Cade wasn’t sure how, nor did he care. He was just glad to have the darkness gone and once more be himself. He had wanted to return home sooner, but he had spent some time with Drogan. That also gave his steward time to get things ready for their arrival at Stonelake.
Now that he was here, though, he wasn’t sure he could go inside.
“It’ll be all right,” Francesca said.
Cade wasn’t so sure. Maybe the ghosts of his family waited to torture him.
“They knew it wasn’t you that day, Cade. They knew.”
He entwined his fingers with hers and smiled. They nudged their horses into a walk, and he couldn’t help but glance at Francesca’s rounding stomach. She was almost four months along. To know he had found love, a wife, and was returning home to raise his child seemed surreal. Francesca had given him hope, a hope that had consumed him.
Dreams of his future once more filled his mind. He had his home and lands and a brave, beautiful woman by his side. He would have to earn the trust of his people, but he had no doubt with Francesca beside him, he would accomplish even that.
As for the curse that had haunted Francesca’s people, it no longer held sway over her. Just as he had told her, the curse was only as powerful as people let it be.
“Are you ready?” she whispered as they neared the gatehouse where guards stared down at him.
Inside the bailey, he could hear people shouting that he had returned, and it wasn’t fear he heard in their voices. It was hope.
He tugged on Francesca’s arm until she leaned over so he could kiss her. “I’m ready.”
“Then let us face our future.”
“Together.”
She smiled as they rode under the gatehouse. “Together.”
SHADOW MAGIC
The first book of the Sisters of Magic trilogy
Available in ebook
With a past soaked in sin and darkness slowly closing in around him to claim his soul, Drogan only wants to live his life in solitude. Years in the king’s service and his numerous deeds directed by the crown have left Drogan with horrendous nightmares and immeasurable guilt…
Serena is a witch, cursed and forever alone. She accepts her future. Until she meets Drogan. With Drogan a passion deep and unyielding awakens inside her. She is willing to sacrifice herself for his love, but
can he put his past to rest and embrace the future?
ECHOES OF MAGIC
The second book in the Sisters of Magic trilogy out
Available in ebook
Hiding a secret so awful that his only hope for survival is to remain hidden, Grayson has lived most of his life pretending to be someone he isn't. After years serving as a commander to his lord and friend, Grayson can no longer hold back the past. He leaves in search of answers only to find evil awaits him. Until he discovers an achingly beautiful woman who stirs his deepest passions and all consuming need.
Adrianna knows what her future holds for her as a witch - loneliness and heartache. She has accepted that. Until she discovers Grayson near death in the forest. Saving him is her only choice, and even as she falls deeper into the attraction surrounding them, can her magic be enough to stop Fate or the evil that awaits them.
Author Bio
Donna Grant is the award‐winning author of more than twenty novels spanning multiple genres of romance – Scottish Medieval, historical, dark fantasy, time travel, paranormal and erotic.
She was born and raised in Texas, but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life, while her Texas roots gave her two‐steppin’ and bareback riding.
Her childhood dream was to become a professional ballet dancer and study under the amazing Mikhail Baryshnikov. Though she never got to meet Baryshnikov, she did make it to New York City, where she performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Later, Donna’s love of the romance genre and the constant stories running through her head prompted her to write her first book. Once that book was completed, there was no turning back.
Donna sold her first book in November 2005 while displaced from Hurricane Rita, a storm that destroyed portions of the Texas Gulf Coast. Since then, Donna has sold novels and novellas to both electronic and print publishers. Her books include several complete series such as The Druid’s Glen, The Shields, The Royal Chronicles, the Sisters of Magic, and her award-winning, bestselling series, Dark Sword from St. Martin’s Press.
Despite the deadlines and her voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two young children, three cats, and one long‐haired Chihuahua. She’s blessed with a proud, supportive husband who’s learned to cook far more than frozen chicken nuggets.
You can visit Donna at her website: http://www.donnagrant.com.
Find Donna around the net:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/donnagrant
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorDonnaGrant
Fan Forum: http://www.donnagrant.com/forum
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue