Highland Darkness

by Lilian Jade

  Pushing away the sadness Angus felt at losing Marcus someday, he was happy to have helped his friend with building a very good life for himself. Angus and the others had taught him well how to fight and defend himself, how to cook clean, and the right ways to make a woman swoon and giggle. Marcus had found the love of his life and married her—a beautiful woman named Davina. She was one of the sweetest, kindest women Angus had ever met.

  Marcus had accomplished so much. As a young man he had enrolled in Aberdeen University, excelling in school and receiving his PhD in medicine. Since then Marcus had come to be the family doctor. He was paid well by Angus, who gave Marcus a comfy week’s wage. Not that any of the men in the family ever needed to be treated for medical reasons, as they were capable of healing all on their own. But now, with all the women in the house and a child on the way, they truly had a purpose for their old friend in his profession.

  “Get them to meet me in the library, old friend,” Angus bid Marcus before he left the room. “Oh, and I do believe you are to attend our little talk, if you don’t mind.”

  Marcus raised a questioning brow at Angus, but replied with, “Very well, McClain.”

  Angus went to the kitchen to collect a bottle of vintage wine and glasses before he made his way to the library. He decided that he would tell his brothers of what they all felt yesterday and what it meant. He also wanted to remind his brothers of the oath that they had made nearly six hundred years ago—to be the protectors of Castle Donahue McGregor.

  It was the morning after that very castle had been burnt to the ground in the year 1415 when Devlin Donahue came to them in the middle of a hot summer’s night covered in blood. Their barn house wasn’t much to call a home, but it was all they had to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies with all the animals that they owned.

  Devlin had stood before his parents’ bed, saying, “Awaken now. Ye must all wake. I am here to make a boon with ye.” Angus, being the oldest and only eleven years old, rounded up his younger brothers. He stood in front of them protectively. “Do’na be frightened of me, lad.” Devlin told him. “I will not hurt ye, but I ask that ye all listen to me and what I have to offer.”

  Angus looked to the man standing before him covered in blood from head to toe. Before Devlin spoke any further, Angus knew he would accept the offer. He didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to listen to Devlin and do as he asked.

  Angus glanced at his parents, who looked too shocked to speak a single word. So Angus gathered up enough courage to say, “We will listen, and when we have heard what you have to offer, my brothers and I will decide our answer.”

  The man turned to Angus and nodded his head before stating, “My name is Devlin Donahue. I will grant you everlasting wealth—more gold than you could ever think to hold in your hands. I, Devlin Donahue, will grant ye a castle to live in all yer lives, with lands that will forever flourish. Fowl, game, cattle, and other livestock will always be plentiful for ye all to eat. And the greatest of gift I will grant ye six brothers is everlasting health to bring ye immortality forever long.”

  Angus could hear the murmurs of his younger brothers as well as his parents. Every word that the fairy said was very tempting to them all—but there was one important part Angus heard distinctively: “I, Devlin Donahue, will grant ye six brothers …”

  “What of me ma and da?” Angus spoke up.

  The fairy smiled down at Angus. “My offer is not made for yer ma an da, lad. But what I offer to ye and yer five brothers, yer ma and da have already agreed to accept. Do ye not agree to accept, my lad?”

  Angus straightened up. “Aye! I’d made my decision before you even said a word that I would do as you asked.”

  Devlin looked deep into Angus’s eyes to see that the boy indeed spoke the truth. “All I ask in return,” he said, “Is that ye look after Castle Donahue McGregor. Ye must live there, keep it, and protect it. One day, a Donahue McGregor may return to lay claim their rightful home—by then you all will be very wealthy in your own right. Let me not forget to mention that you will be immortal. Will ye all agree to that? If ye don’t, I shall take my offer else—”

  “Aye!” Devlin didn’t have time to finish before Angus and his brothers agreed to this Devlin Donahue’s proposition. Even his two youngest brothers, who weren’t yet old enough to quite understand or speak on the matter, quietly agreed with the older brothers.

  “I will see that the castle is ready for ye all by morning. Feel free to take yer parents along with ye.” As the fairy turned and left, he chanted some kind of language that sounded a little like old Gaelic but not quite so; it was a strange sort of language which Angus didn’t recognize.

  When Devlin Donahue’s chant was done, the fairy was suddenly nowhere to be seen. The entire house felt strange—or was it Angus himself who had changed and felt a little odd? It was a good kind of odd, like some sort of great power surged in him and around him, through his entire being. Angus, Occam, Hunter, and Kevan looked to each other with fear, and a little excitement.

  “What was that, Angus? Did you feel that too?” said Kevan.

  “Aye, did you Angus? For I’m telling you I sure as hell did,” followed Hunter.

  “Och, aye, I did, but that doesn’t mean you can speak that foul word in this house, Hunter!” spouted Angus. Hunter looked up at his older brother, his deep blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Well danna look ser down, lad. I didn’t mean ter hurt ye feelings!” Hunter hugged Angus, and they stayed huddled together like that as their ma and da came up from behind their boys and hugged them all. As a family, they made the decision to never tell another living soul of their fortunate guest, and to never speak of what had transpired that night with Angus and his brothers.

  When Angus and his family awoke the next morning, there was a black leather binding on the small table in the far left corner of their home where they sat and ate their meals each day. Inside the binding was a pure gold parchment that held the seal of the Donahue McGregor insignia—a detailed image of a man and woman intimately intertwined in all their nakedness before a bed, with a massive lion at their feet, looking up at the pair in their most intimate glory. Even Angus understood how special such a mingling between two lovers was. As young as he was at the time, he could recall the way his body responded to the image. The dark, gold ink on the parchment read:

  I, Devlin Donahue McGregor, give my consent to:

  Angus Locksley McClain,

  Occam Devonshire McClain,

  Hunter Donate McClain,

  Kevan Romany McClain,

  Duncan Broady McClain,

  and Connor Jackdis McClain

  to protect my castle, land, and any family that belongs to the Donahue McGregor clan, from now and hereafter, until a day that may arise when a Donahue McGregor is born to lay claim on all rights of the castle and land.

  It is my will that these men have my blessing to these lands and castle. If any person should harm any of this lineage, be it their friends, family, loved ones, or even a mere animal, it shall be certain that the guilty will suffer the same consequences that our people suffered. Harm any of mine and I will seek blood war. To those that may trespass or seek to unlawfully take these lands, it will be your blood I claim.

  “Angus? Look, lads, he’s in a spell cast by an evil bottle of wine!” Hunter’s voice interrupted Angus’s thoughts. Angus shook his head, clearing out the cobwebs of the past.

  “Na. I was just remembering a time long passed,” Angus said, brooding. The brothers exchanged glances.

  “Well, as long as it was about a very beautiful woman, Angus, because we wouldn’t want you dreaming about another man now, would we?” Occam teased. The brothers laughed gruffly.

  “The wedding was a hit, don’t you think lads?” Kevan asked, grabbing for the bottle and pouring himself a drink. “Just imagine, we still have one more wedding to pull off, don’t we boys?” Kevan’s smile was wide, his face blushing red from the night’s drinks and dancin
g.

  “Come on out with it, brother! I don’t like the look of you right now,” yelled Hunter. Again they all burst out in laughter. All of them except for Angus.

  “It is nothing,” Angus replied. “I was just thinking, that for someone who is meant to be the oldest of the lot of us and who is meant to marry first, you’d think I would have a family the size of which would fill this castle by now.” That’s when the laughing stopped. Angus picked up the bottle of port, pouring more into his glass. Lifting it to his lips, he gulped it down without spilling a single drop. He felt his brothers watching him intently.

  He knew his brothers liked to give him a hard time—all in jest. But the truth was, Angus hadn’t been with a woman for at least a century. And it was killing him not to be within the sweet, moist heat of a female. He yearned to touch the smooth, soft, silken skin of a woman’s most sacred place on her body. To feel a lithe, feminine body beneath his own hard frame and calloused skin. To taste a woman’s sweet tongue in his mouth, tangling, stroking, and gliding with his own. By God, he needed to find himself a woman before he came apart at the seams.

  “Listen, brothers, right now is not the time to be thinking about my needs—not just yet. We have more important matters to concern ourselves with at this moment.” Angus faced his younger brothers, watching as they became sober and serious at the heavy tone of his voice. Each of the boys knew when to joke, and when to be ready for action. “Marcus, there you are,” Angus said as their dear friend approached the dimly lit library. “Come, sit with us. You are family too, and this concerns all who are members of this family and castle.” Marcus joined the other men at the circular mahogany table. Angus had crafted the table himself back in the year 1872, and it still served its purpose.

  “Now,” Angus continued. “We’ve already spoken of the ominous feeling we each experienced yesterday—we have felt death, and it carried with it a sense of family, but none of you have been able to put your finger on it. Well, then, let me tell you who it was.” Angus carefully observed each man sitting around him. They were waiting for his news with anxious stares. “Devlin Donahue McGregor has died,” Angus announced.

  His brothers curses were low and murmured, but the anger there was palpable, radiating between the five of them through their eyes and taut body language. “How … I mean … how did you hear of this, Angus? Who told you this?” Occam’s voice was a quiet but deadly calm; the brothers knew that was when he was at his most lethal state.

  “I was not told by anyone as such. I think it’s time I tell you what I have learned from these dreams that I have been having,” said Angus. No one said a word, but let him carry on. Death had befallen a fae who gave Angus and his brothers so much, and for a purpose that had yet to be fulfilled by the six of them. “It started two weeks ago. Each night I’d go to sleep and he would show me things that I needed to know. On the first night, he showed me a glimpse of two men—two faes—hiding in the brush high up in the hills with their bows at the ready, just waiting. Suddenly, one of them let go of an arrow and it flew through the air, across to the other side of another mountain. Then there was this … scream. It was a scream that sounded so otherworldly; I couldn’t get it out my head.” Angus turned to Occam who was seated next to him. He knew Occam would understand his frustration and hurt for not being able to understand the dream more.

  “What of the men?” said Occam. Angus frowned inwardly at himself, realizing that this dream he had was somehow affecting him to a point where he wasn’t thinking clearly. He knew that these men—nay, not men, but stinking fae—were preying on a certain someone, and whoever it was would be in grave danger.

  “Well, they are fae,” Angus answered. “And we shall not forget that. One was tall and slender with feminine features. Everything about his six-foot frame was all grace and pronounced elegance, but the way he moved was stealthy and powerful, much like a cheetah. The other was much the same, but built with more muscle. He stood five feet, ten inches tall and looked born to kill. He was like a perfect man carved out by the gods—but he was something more than a man. Actually they both had that supernatural look about them: skin as fair as alabaster and silver-violet hair the exact same shade as their eyes.”

  Angus looked down at his hands. They were shaking, clenched into tight fists. He kept on talking, not even waiting to see what the others might say. If they had questions, they could wait until he got it all out. “They both held their bows at the ready, still and waiting. They wanted whatever they shot at dead. For some reason, I just know Devlin wanted me to find these faes and bring them to their knees.”

  The men at the table looked on quietly, waiting for more. “And the dream after that was of the same faes,” Angus went on. “But this time, they were in a mall, following someone I think. I couldn’t see who they were following, or whether the person was male or female. I just don’t know. What I do know is that they were walking into a lingerie shop, so perhaps they were following a woman. But it could also be a man who was buying something for a woman. The faes were keeping a good eye on this person. No one could see them except for the one being followed. And the two faes would stop suddenly and exchange puzzled glances every time this person turned around to observe, as though whoever could see them shouldn’t be able to.”

  Angus took a deep, calming breath, preparing himself to tell the rest. There was not enough port in the world to calm his nerves. “The next dream was at an aquatic park. Men were there, watching a young boy, not more than thirteen or fourteen, standing in the pool and smiling. Suddenly a girl came out of the water and began kissing the boy … I’m assuming it was a girl, though I could never quite see her face. From there, I saw the faes kill the young boy.”

  Angus glanced around. The men were still, except for when they raised their glasses to drink. He continued with his heavy words. “I realized that the dreams were becoming scenes of Devlin’s past experiences. He showed me images of him killing other faes, and even some humans. I think it all had something to do with the first two faes, though in my dreams, he never found them. And he showed me glimpses of a terrible killing spree. The times when Elle, Katie, Hannah, Marissa, and Madison had been in danger … I swear brothers, Devlin had a blood bath going.” Angus observed his brothers’ shocked faces, pale and filled with so much anger. Only anger wasn’t a strong enough word for what he knew they were feeling.

  No brother would let anything happen to the woman they loved. And Angus was thankful that Devlin Donahue McGregor kept good on his word, even though they had yet to keep up their end of the bargain in a sense. But for some reason, Angus felt that the time was coming for when all would be fulfilled. His brothers didn’t speak, but only glared, shocked into silence. Angus carried on, revealing everything he had come to discover over the weeks from his telling dreams.

  “So did Devlin show you how to kill a fae in any of these dreams of yours, Angus?” said Kevan, looking at his older brother with hope in his eyes.

  “Nay, he did not,” said Angus.

  “Well, I for one am grateful that Devlin killed those bastards who harmed Kate,” said Hunter. Just remembering the shit Kate went through while she was on her overnight trip with a group of girlfriends from her college days. Seeing her slender, creamy-pearl skin covered in blood had nearly pushed him over the edge. “I know for a fact that I would kill any fool who tried to harm her.” All of the brothers nodded their agreement.

  “Haven’t you already done that, brother?” Kevan asked. Hunter’s smile was dark as he nodded.

  “But I haven’t yet revealed everything to you, brothers. It is the last and possibly most important piece of this puzzle.” Angus finally shared with his brothers what he’d seen just the night before, when Devlin had visited him in a ghostly spirit form. “He came to me and told me, ‘My Lilly is home at last,’ and nothing more. After those words he was gone. It was all so fast. I’m still not quite sure what we are dealing with.”

  At this piece of news, no one spoke for a mom
ent. Hunter finally cleared his throat before he said, “So, what we know is that Devlin protects family. He is a cold-blooded killer who will do anything to protect loved ones, and I think he is trying to show us a person he wants us to protect, be it male or female. He mentioned something of this Lilly being home, so what do we make of that?”

  Angus closed his eyes, trying to piece it all together. In his mind he went back through his dreams, again hearing the haunting, otherworldly scream that tore from some female’s mouth. Again he saw the women’s undergarment store, the swimming pools where the lad kissed a blurred vision of a girl.

  There were a few details that Angus chose not to reveal to his brothers. Something that felt incredibly private, just for him to know. There was a mysterious lass he kept dreaming about who he couldn’t quite see clearly. He could only make out certain parts of her, like the tribal tattoo that ran on the outside of her right leg from the tip of her ankle to the top of her calf muscle. Yet another tattoo started at her hip and stretched across her lower abdomen to her other hip, just grazing the tip of her pelvic bone. Her smooth mound was bare, her sex visible to him, silken with her glistening moist heat. Damn, all he could think about was having her moist, slick, heated body straddled atop him and riding him hard like he was an untrained stallion.