Slipping from tombstone to tombstone, he moved closer until he was standing at the foot of the three steps that led to the mausoleum. Suddenly, the doors swung open and she stepped out into the moonlight. She seemed to glow from within... more beautiful than he could ever have imagined or dreamed. She smiled directly at him, as she tossed him a single white rose, and then vanished into thin air.
He shook his head and smiled bitterly. The next time he saw her, she didn’t vanish...or smile...unless you could call that wicked grimace a ‘smile’. She stalked him, cornered him, and there on the grave of a long dead Scotsman savagely took him. Not that he had been unwilling. It had been rather thrilling at the time, but now he belonged to her, body and soul, no matter how much she repelled and frightened him. Yes. He had learned what she was. He had managed to get himself into a world of crap...in love or lust with a Baobhan Sith...a bloodsucking Scottish vampire. And to think that at one time he hadn’t believed such a thing could possibly exist! Another howl...this time much closer. She was almost there. He knew by all he held dear, he should run...hide...do anything but wait.
He had written Meg...smuggling the letter out by concealing it in the weekly mail pouch that was flown to Inverness. Instinctively, he knew that was the only way his letter would ever reach his sister. How long ago was that? He didn't remember...there was much he couldn't remember anymore. Surely Meg had told Charlie and she was on her way to rescue him by now? But what could she do against the forces of darkness? And maybe it didn't really matter...maybe it was already way too late and she would only be putting herself in danger. Something he, quite selfishly, hadn't considered. He cursed himself, bitterly, for a fool.
CHAPTER ONE
“CIA, NAFTA, NASA, FBI,” Meg said as she wriggled around in her seat, trying to get comfortable.
Please sit still for at least a minute. And what’s with the acronyms?” Charlie asked with more than a trace of annoyance.
“I’m throwing stuff at you to see if you blink!”
“I’m not blinking. I’m not even smiling. You’ve been at this since we boarded the plane.”
“Actually, you’re frowning. Not a good look for you as I may have told you more than once. I want to know just who you are...or were...working for that made it possible for me to get a passport overnight.”
“”You never give up do you? All right have it your own way. I worked for ATSYU. Okay? Enough?“
“Which is what exactly?” Meg asked, pulling a box of cookies from her purse.
“You figure it out. I’m going to get some sleep. I suggest you do the same if you want to be your usual insufferable perky self in the morning when we arrive in Glasgow.”
Tucking the small airline pillow under her cheek, Charlie leaned against the window and smiled wryly, as Meg whispered, “ATSYU? You made that up didn’t you?”
“Zip it, Meg, I’m begging you!” Charlie replied, hiding her smile that widened to a grin. ATSYU was her acronym for Anything To Shut You Up.
“I will...but only cause I want to!” Meg returned with a loud sniff, as she stuffed a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth.
Only a moment later, she tugged on the corner of Charlie’s pillow. “Just how do you suppose our globe trotting brother ended up in some tiny village whose name he didn’t know and in love with a vampire?”
Charlie moaned.
“You should have remembered to bring your laptop. We could use it once we land to research the place,” Meg added.
“Which can’t happen without a name. I did check on the ‘white stag’ thing and it seems, according to legend, he is a guide to the Otherworld. Whatever that means. Now...for the last time...let me get some sleep or I will personally shove that entire box of cookies in your mouth…sideways!”
“Want one?” Meg asked, nibbling around the edge of her fifth.
“Meg...I am about to give you a warning growl that should be very familiar to you by now. Do I need to say more?”
Meg was quiet for a moment and then said, “Nope. But aren’t you super excited about all this...and worried...and scared?”
Charlie groaned and pressed her head deeper into the pillow, wishing, fervently, that she another one to either cover her other ear or stuff it in Meg's mouth.
Meg ate another cookie, while she considered her options. Charlie was beginning to get really pissed at her, and she probably couldn’t blame her, but what was she supposed to do, when she was so keyed up she could barely sit still? Well...maybe she could try to sleep. Wriggling from side to side she settled deep in her seat, closed her eyes, and let her mind drift. It didn’t drift far before she fell asleep...mouth ajar…and snoring loudly.
Charlie groaned again and looked at her sleeping sister with a mix of exasperation and irritation, but most of all...love. Meg had no idea of all the possibilities that lay ahead...some could be far worse than she had ever imagined. She had hoped to talk Meg out of coming with her. Now she had two people she dearly loved who needed her protection. Wondering just how she was going to manage that and listening to Meg's snoring, kept her wide awake, as the plane sliced through the night headed towards the dawn.
***
They were both wide-awake when their Boeing 747 touched down in Glasgow. Getting through customs and picking up their rental car took longer than they had expected, when Meg insisted on an automatic instead of the stick shift Charlie preferred. “That way I can drive, too. I’m way better than you remember, as long as nobody is telling me what to do every minute, ” she told her sister pointedly.
“Okay...fine by me. I get to enjoy the view for a change. Just remember about the left side of the road thing and watch out for sheep. I hear they’re everywhere,” Charlie told her.
“And what part of ‘nobody telling me how to drive’ didn’t I make clear,” Meg muttered, as they loaded their luggage into the back of their car.
Charlie took the first leg, maneuvering them through Glasgow and up into the countryside. The scenery was spectacular...every bit as wild and beautiful as they had heard. It was late morning, when they stopped at a roadside ‘tea shop’ for a bite to eat. After that, Meg took over the driving.
They passed backpackers making the climb, then drove through a village whose name they couldn’t begin to get their tongues around, where a youth hostel disgorged a group of male hikers who wolf whistled, as they passed, giving both their spirits a lift! Up and up they traveled past deep gorges on one side and nothing but ‘straight up’ on the other, though Charlie’s attention was more on her sister than the scenery, as she watched Meg grimly take each curve. Finally Meg said, “If we go around one more switchback, I’m going to leave my scones along the road. I wouldn’t mind letting you take over.”
Charlie laughed. “Okay...next place you can safely stop, I will.”
At the first stretch of road they could switch sides they did and Charlie drove. They passed through thick evergreen forests where the sunlight barely penetrated, past waterfalls cascading along the side and plunging down to the glens below. Occasionally, they passed a village of white or gray stone buildings and they decided to spend the night at the last one, where they were directed to a small B&B.
It was a white washed square building with blue trim and flower boxes in the windows. The owner was a plump woman with a Scottish brogue and a warm smile that dimpled her cheeks. Her name was Mrs. Frasier...“Maggie” to them.
They followed her to their room. The twin beds were covered in blue flowered spreads that matched the curtains. The double casement window was open to the breeze that carried the scent of pine and Charlie walked over and looked outside. Down a steep slope she could see a loch reflecting the fast darkening sky. She sighed and breathed deeply. If only they could be here under different circumstances, she thought.
“Ah’m hoping ye enjoy yer stay. For a wee bit extra Ah kin fix ye a bite of supper,” Maggie told them, as she bustled about their room, fluffing the pillows and rearranging a vase filled with heather “fresh picke
d tha’ mornin’”. They accepted with gratitude. They were both too pooped to be looking for a restaurant neither had seen, as they drove through the village.
Their room was comfortable and the water was hot. An electric kettle sat on the dresser complete with tea bags and hot chocolate mixes. They unpacked what they needed and brewed two mugs of fragrant tea, then headed for the small back porch with “the grand view” Maggie had told them about.
A few more travelers had come off the road for the night, but they had the back porch all to themselves, as they waited for whatever Maggie was conjuring up for supper. Whatever it was, it smelled good, they both thought, as they settled back in the deep rockers, cradling their mugs and savoring the view of the loch and mountains beyond, where the sun was sliding down in a blaze of deep purple and tangerine, casting dark shadows into the glens and setting the water on fire.
Meg sighed. “Can’t you just picture some big handsome red headed Highlander strolling up that trail and sweeping us off our feet? He’d stand right there...feet spread apart...hands on his hips...and say, ‘Meg, me bonnie lass, I have bin lookin’ fer ye me entire life!’ or something like that.”
Charlie laughed. “Of course, he’d be wearing his kilt and whatever else they wear.”
“Or don’t. Historically speaking, they were bare bottomed under their kilts!”
“And you know that because?’
“I read a lot. Haven’t you ever wished some hunk would just cart you off?”
Charlie smiled, remembering the last time she’d been with Zack and wanted that very thing, but then Meg had brought her back to reality, literally, with a bang, when she'd pounded on the bedroom wall.
Meg noticed her smile, but was afraid to ask what prompted it. “How much farther till we get to Allyn?”
“Hard to say. Turn right at the white stag isn’t very specific,” Charlie said dryly.
“Well, we must be headed in the right direction and the landmarks he mentioned were a deep gorge with a stream at the bottom and a heavy stand of pines and...”
“And just how many of those have we passed already?”
Meg was quiet for a long time and then she said, softly, “I don’t know how I know, but I have a feeling something will direct us to where we need to go. This vampire thing may be his idea of a joke, you know.”
“Or he might have meant it as a metaphor. This so called vampire may be Allyn’s version of a very demanding....” Charlie began.
Meg cut in. “No, the tone wasn’t offhand at all, which is his usual style. Our baby brother sounded serious for once in his entire life."
Charlie grimaced thoughtfully. “And he wrote we’re not to mention this to Sage or Dad because ’it might worry them’.”
“He’s in trouble...the big kind,” Meg said, as a fingernail found its way into her mouth.
Charlie caught her hand and pulled it down to her side, as she said wryly, “That’s why we’re here and, if some Highlander carts you off, it will only complicate things one more notch than we need.”
“So, no more fantasies until we have time for them,” Meg muttered more to herself than anyone.
Charlie laughed. “That might be for the best, you know.”
“Maybe...but I’m not so sure. Can I at least hope for a sexy dream?”
Charlie looked at her younger sister thoughtfully. Had she ever had a real love life? Her ex-husband had been a brutal, selfish man who hadn’t the wits to see what a treasure he’d had. Maybe Meg was beginning to understand just how much she had been cheated out of. “Yep. Just promise me you won’t run off with the first dream Highlander you meet?”
Meg sighed wistfully before she replied, “Like that could ever happen!”
They were both exhausted when they finally climbed into bed. Though it was late summer, the Highlands were quite cool at night. A breeze off the loch ruffled the drapes...an owl hooted from the pines outside.
“An owl hoot is a bad omen, isn’t it?” Meg murmured sleepily.
“Not necessarily. An owl is the symbol of Athena the goddess of wisdom. You’re not the only one that reads, Meg. Now get some sleep. We’ll be glad of it in the morning,” Charlie told her around an enormous yawn.
“I’ve tried not to mention it too often, but I really...really miss Freddie. What do you think he’s doing now?”
“Missing you too, but being well cared for. You saw Sage with him. It was love at first sight!”
“Same with me. Good night, Charlie. You don’t think Freddie’s fickle like most of his sex, do you?”
“Not since you had him fixed. Good night, Meg,” she said and fell promptly asleep.
"Whatever," Meg mumbled drowsily and was asleep in minutes.
***
The next morning after Maggie’s Scottish breakfast of beans, tomatoes, ham, bacon, eggs and potato scones, the sisters loaded their overnight bags in the trunk of their rental and started out. There were still wisps of morning fog blowing about and the shadows were deep beneath the interlacing of overhead trees. The sky was dark with roiling clouds that blotted out the sun, making the Highland road both dark and treacherous.
Meg had given up any pretence of wanting to drive. In fact, she was oddly quiet as their little car ate up the miles. “We haven’t seen anybody pass us in a very...very long time,” Charlie said, breaking the silence.
“We must be well off the beaten track. Which is exactly the kind of road Allyn would take. It feels like we may be getting close to his turn off.” Charlie didn’t ask her how she knew and she wouldn’t have been able to tell her even if she did. She just knew. “Now if the white stag would appear, we’d be all set,” Meg told her with a broad smile which quickly vanished, as they rounded a sharp curve. A tree lay across the road and Charlie fought to control the car, bringing it to a stop alongside the giant pine.
“Well...” Meg said with a shaky smile, “Not a white stag, but maybe that’s a white pine. Next best thing.”
“A stag would have been a softer landing, though not by much,” Charlie told her, as rattled as her sister.
“This really could be the place we’ve been looking for. See! The gorge with the stream...the sharp curve. I’ll bet we just passed the road and didn’t notice.”
“Could be. I'll need to place some hazard signs if there are any in the trunk so no one else does what we just did, then I'll get the car turned around. Meanwhile, you can check for Allyn's road,” Charlie told her.
Charlie placed the warning signs, then climbed in the car and headed back to where Meg was standing, pointing excitedly. Bouncing into the seat next to her, she cried, "I found it…over there…just on the other side of that big tree…you can hardly see the entrance. Look…there it is!"
"That doesn’t look like much more than a goat path. Do you really think this is the road Allyn took?” Charlie asked uncertainly.
Meg looked down the narrow trail and smiled. “More likely a ‘sheep’ track than a goat’s, but...it feels right. I say let’s go for it. At the very least we should be able to find a village and report that tree across the road.”
“Okay. 'Damn the torpedoes', etcetera...etcetera”
They were both quiet after that. Charlie avoided the ruts as best she could, but it was a bone jarring drive. A stream followed them for a while and then veered off into the trees.
“Just like Allyn described,” Meg said pointedly
“Then we should be coming into the open soon,” Charlie replied. The words had scarcely left her mouth, when there it was...the broad sweep of heather covered uplands that stretched as far as they could see, which wasn’t all that far since a drift of fog still lingered on the higher elevations.
A white cottage surrounded by a deep green meadow rolled past and black-faced sheep grazed everywhere, mixing with a scattering of shaggy highland cattle. They pushed on past a few more farms and then the road turned sharply around a steep bank that hid the view ahead. “I’m betting that Allyn’s village is just on the other sid
e,” Meg said, holding her breath and leaning forward in her seat.
And it was. The ancient stone church dominated the scene. “Looks Norman with that square tower. Maybe 12th century give or take,” Meg said.
“Give or take what?”
“A century...maybe more. I’m only guessing about the whole thing.”
They followed the road past the church and into the small village of white stone buildings. Many could have been used for anything. Only two were equipped with signs...the pub and a one pump petrol station. “We could probably use some gas. Let’s pull in and fill up. It looks like a good place to ask if anyone’s seen Allyn,” Charlie said.
A small wiry man was leaning in the door of the weathered stone building as they pulled up. He knocked his pipe against the doorframe and stuck it in his pocket before he ambled their way. His narrowed eyes were decidedly unfriendly, as he looked them over slowly. “Wat kin Ah do for ye lasses?” he asked as though he had just bitten into something sour.
Charlie smiled. There was something about the little Scotsman she didn’t like and it wasn’t just his attitude. “We need gas...petrol…and a bit of information,” she said as sweetly as she could manage. “And we need to report a tree across the road back at the turn off.”
“Ah’ll let them know aboot the tree. The petrol Ah kin help ye wi’. The ither Ah dinnae ken till ye be askin'.”
“We’re looking for a man named Allyn Ravynne. Twenty-three...tall...blond... blue eyes...good looking. An American. Have you seen him?” Charlie asked.
He seemed to ignore her question, while he opened the gas cap and stuck in the nozzle. He finished pumping the gas and came to the window. Pocketing the money Charlie gave him, he looked her straight in the eyes and said with a dry chuckle, “Big mon mor’en a wee bit full of heemself? He’s stayin’ at the manse last Ah heered. Good dae to ye lasses iffen Ah cannae be doin’ mair for ye.”
The Vampire Laird (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery/Romance) Page 2