by Dee, Bonnie
Aviva shook her head and took one unguarded step forward.
*
Lorraine squeezed the trigger—and watched without expression as her rival sank to the floor. Stepping over the inert body, she exited through the balcony doors.
Lorraine strode toward the Grove but she couldn’t get Viv’s words out of her mind. Arven had been so reclusive the past few days. He had left her bed three days in a row and slipped out to the Grove. Each time he came back sweaty and tired, yet filled with excitement.
Finally, yesterday, she’d asked him what he was doing out there. He’d backhanded her so hard he’d split her lip and bruised her jaw. His cutting command to mind her business hadn’t been necessary. Even she couldn’t deal with him when he was like that.
This morning he had been so different. He’d taken her every way she liked best and crooned to her as he fucked her that soon she’d be powerful and beautiful forever. She would be his queen. He wouldn’t lie to her.
Yet, he also had played the bitch’s music and jacked off to it when he had thought himself alone in the study. She had been on the balcony when she’d heard the music and she couldn’t help but overhear him. She heard him cry out the bitch’s name, and she bit her lip so hard she reopened the wound he’d given her.
Well, the bitch was dead, and she’d prove her worth to Arven.
* * * *
“What’s he doing?” Gabe whispered.
“He’s preparing a bonfire to provide enough light so he can conduct the ritual without any mistakes. He’ll want to brutalize his sacrifice first, raping and cutting her or him,” Ethan responded. “Much of what he does is designed to denigrate the druidic order he infiltrated so long ago.”
“Since James isn’t here, the logical choice for a sacrifice is Lorraine Foley.” Gabe shook his head. “The woman’s a vicious killer, but if she’s fated to die the way Mrs. Scathan did in Ireland … I almost pity her.”
They watched in silence as the bonfire burst into flames. Nolen doffed the robe and revealed his naked body to the cloudy, dank afternoon. Holding aloft the goblet, he turned to the four corners and chanted in a guttural language, his voice rising louder and louder. He brought the goblet to his lips and downed the contents in a single gulp. Scarlet fluid limned his mouth and he licked his lips to get every drop.
He walked to the altar and set down the goblet on one of the four corners and picked up two knives, one of them the dagger from Ireland, the other appearing to be stone. Blood dyed them both. Nolen lifted them and then brought them to his lips. With an obscene keenness, he licked the blood from the ceremonial blade and sucked the sharpened stone splinter.
“He’s become madder than before.” Brigid’s lips contorted in disgust at the loathsome image.
“It’s getting late. He’ll be lighting the altar fire soon.” Ethan motioned toward Nolen as he took a slim piece of kindling and an ordinary lighter and lit the starter. “Get your weapons ready. He’ll probably go back to the mansion to get Lorraine after the fire catches.”
Ethan unlaced his case and drew out Ceol Mhor. His fingers fumbled. “Aviva should be here by now. I’m going back for her.”
Gabe laid a cautionary hand on him. “You can’t. Not now. She’s probably having more difficulty finding the fluichlari. You know she’d be pissed if you went after her.”
Ethan took a deep breath. “You’re right, damn it. I wish to hell I’d not let her go alone in the first place!”
They crept closer, eyes focused as Nolen lit the altar fire and it sparked and came to life.
*
Nolen exulted as the twin fires lit up the overcast day.
Soon Lorraine would join him. He’d fuck her and cut her so she’d die in absolute agony, increasing the strength of his sacrifice. The very thought aroused him.
“Arven! I killed her! The bitch will never spew her vile lies again! Look! I’ll drink a toast to her death and to our new life together.” Lorraine Foley, her eyes wild, held a decanter with clear fluid. The one containing the remaining water demons. Before he could stop her, she pulled the stopper and tipped the contents toward her greedy mouth … and downed it all.
Nolen screamed in frustration. Lorraine screamed in agony and plummeted to the ground, writhing in excruciating pain.
Nolen cursed aloud and bent to pick her up. She twisted in his arms, her contorted body struggling to find relief where there was none. “Stupid bitch! You were to come to Ba’al willingly after being defiled one last time. Now the sacrifice is imperfect! It will have to do. At least the other offerings are perfect.” Without regard for her dying body, Nolen tossed her upon the fire.
And screamed in rage once more as the overcast day turned into a downpour, dousing the flames.
*
They stepped from cover, weapons ready as Nolen’s eyes bulged wildly and he clenched his hands. “You! No! Not again! This time I’ll make sure you’re all dead!”
He opened his mouth and uttered Ba’al’s name just before Ethan plucked three staccato notes and rendered Nolen mute. Brigid’s arrows flew straight to his hands, pinning them close, so he was unable to make any magical gestures.
Gabe threw his spear toward Nolen’s feet, spiking him to the ground. “Listen well, Nimhnach. Your plans have failed. Not one of the sacrifices has been made. Not one of the fluichlari were released here in this world. We returned them to their world. Even James, your trusted servant, was unable to fulfill his task.”
Ethan picked up the thread. He glanced at his watch and smiled. “It’s one minute past sunset in Ireland. The month of Holly is over and Hazel has arrived. There’ll be no more sacrifices for Ba’al.”
Brigid spat in the ground at Nolen’s feet. He flinched and his eyes closed in silent torment as the spear tore into his flesh. “Do you think this is torture? We had planned much more for you. I was set to burn your flesh as Ba’al did to the townspeople in Carrigclarseach.”
Ethan strummed Ceol Mhor in a steady martial rhythm. “My harp and I were going to play a string of notes to make your bones so brittle they’d snap like dry twigs.”
Gabe sneered at the helpless Destroyer. “I wanted to break those fragile bones and scatter them to the four winds.”
They circled around him and joined hands.
Brigid shook her head. “But Aviva suggested a more fitting punishment for you. She searched the scrolls of her people and found a way to open a line of communication for one brief moment.”
“Aye. Long enough for Ba’al to hear us.”
“And long enough for him to pass judgment on you.” Gabe nodded to the others, and on cue they joined their voices in a summoning chant.
“Listen, Ba’al, to the mewling cries of your impotent servant. Hear him beg for mercy and whimper that his plans have failed you one last time.”
Ethan released Nolen’s voice. Incoherent with fear, he did exactly as they knew he would. Everyone was blamed for his total failure.
Gabe called his spear back, and Nolen crumpled to the muddy ground. Using his teeth, he tore Brigid’s arrows from his hands, the blood dripping into the dirt.
Clouds gathered and lighting flashed as a voice too terrible to grasp, spoke. “Once more you have failed me, miserable worm. My patience is over and I have no mercy. You knew what would happen should you be unable to give me the millions of sacrifices you promised me. May you enjoy your new abode, for here you will dwell forever in torment.”
Nolen raised his hands to cover his face as an unseen force picked him up and hurled him into the thick, gray clouds. He twitched and jerked, howling in agony as he disappeared, his cries fading as he vanished from sight.
“He’s gone.” Brigid’s whisper seemed loud in the utter stillness surrounding them.
“Aviva.” Ethan raced back toward the mansion, Brigid and Gabe on his heels, praying that Lorraine had lied.
“She was going to check the study,” Brigid called out.
“Head to that balcony,” Gabe shouted.
>
Ethan raced through the open door and dropped to his knees. Aviva lay in a pool of blood, barely breathing. “Christ. May that bitch Foley burn in Ba’al’s fires.”
Aviva’s eyes fluttered open, and she murmured, “Ba’al? He won?”
Ethan uttered a brief prayer of thanks. “No, a chara. We defeated him. Nolen is dead. Ba’al answered your communication spell and took him.”
Aviva smiled. “Tov m’od. Kol b’seder.”
Knowing she’d deal with the pain better if she weren’t awake, Ethan sang softly to her, lulling her to sleep. Her eyes fluttered closed and the lines of pain eased.
Brigid touched Ethan’s shoulder. “Let me get some water while Gabe tries to stanch the blood.”
Ethan eased Aviva’s shirt up, exposing the wound. Gabe grabbed a linen runner draped artfully over one of the tables and wadded it, pressing it over the gaping lesion. Brigid darted to the wet bar and poured water into the ice bucket set on it. Concentrating, she enhanced the purity and healing properties of the water and doused one of the towels in the liquid.
“Here, switch with me,” Gabe said to Ethan. “Bind the wound with the scarf. I’ll get a Terran helicopter out here and transport her to the closest KOTE clinic. Don’t worry. She’s not going to die.”
Ethan’s smile was grim. “I know. I won’t let her.”
Brigid smoothed back Aviva’s damp hair from her clammy forehead. “We won’t let her.”
Gabe walked over to Nolen’s desk, flipped open his cell phone and pressed a single digit. A second later, he spoke quietly to the person on the other end.
In less than ten minutes, the loud whirring of helicopter blades sounded outside the open balcony doors. Two Terrans wheeled in a stretcher and emergency equipment.
“Please get away from our patient and let us stabilize her.” Brigid and Ethan shifted, while the KOTE med-techs went to work.
Ethan glanced over at Gabe. “That was damn fast.”
“It pays to use code ‘Talisman’ when requesting assistance or backup. I also arranged for a cleanup team to come into the mansion and grounds. They’ll take care of covering our tracks.”
“They can burn this to the ground and sow salt on the ruins for all I care. I don’t need to be a Spirit Keeper to know that the aura here reeks of evil,” Brigid stated.
Gabe’s lips thinned. “If it were up to me, I’d agree with you. The team that comes after us will ascertain what may or may not be of interest to KOTE—Nolen’s ceremonial instruments most likely, and his laptop. I doubt that there’ll be much more than that.”
“We’re clear here. We’ve stabilized her and we’ll head to the KOTE clinic in Scarsdale. Anyone want to ride along?”
“I will.” Ethan turned to Gabe. “Take care of Ceol Mhor. I’ll meet you at the clinic.” He kissed Brigid and gripped Gabe’s hands, and followed the stretcher.
Brigid stared after him. “He cares for her more than even he knows.”
“I’m sure he knows, Bridge. I hope she knows too.”
“When she wakes up with him by her bedside, she will.” Brigid smiled. She found Aviva’s gun on the desk and slipped it into her jacket pocket.
Gabe picked up Ceol Mhor and placed it in its case. It was easy enough to carry both it and his spear. It was a lighter burden compared to the one he bore as the mission leader. He had damn near lost a vital and loved member of his team. If Aviva shouldn’t make it…
He sighed. “When she sees us, she’ll know how much we all care. Let’s get going. We can touch base with Dagda on the way down. I’m eager to find out what happened over in Ireland.”
“I still can’t believe Nolen is dead.”
“Nolen may be dead, but Ba’al still has human servants doing his biding. He’s waited ages to gain dominion over our world. He can afford to wait eons more.”
“So we can never let down our guard?”
Gabe shrugged. “That’s why KOTE exists: to maintain the balance of the earth against anyone—human or Terran, demon or dragon—anything that would defile it.”
Brigid took a deep breath. “Let’s go. I can’t stand to be here one minute longer.”
Gabe took her hand, and they left, leaving behind them little but traces of Nolen’s evil.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Donegal, Ireland
Carrigclarseach
“James, can’t I convince you that Arven is not the saint you’ve made him? He’s been using you for months.”
Mach sat on James’ bed in the cottage. He wanted to give James one last chance to return completely to his senses before he used any more of his Spirit Keeper powers and forced him to see exactly what Nolen had done to him.
At that point, there’d be no assurance that James could deal with the reality. If James opened his spirit and mind on his own, he’d be more able to deal with the harsh facts. First and foremost—Nolen wanted him dead.
If James released the liquid containing what he believed was some magical compound designed to restore purity to Ireland’s water, the next step would have been to drink from the well and die in torment.
Unfortunately, though James’s headaches had faded, his devotion to Nolen hadn’t. Not even though he had become Mach’s lover after his first confession. In the three days he’d been in Ireland, James had found someone who catered to his desires first.
Still filled with adoration for Arven, he compartmentalized the pleasure with Mach as “just sex.” Mach knew this. Each night he’d massage James’ body to relax him and after, delve into his thoughts as James shared them.
James still thought Arven a fanatical visionary determined to purify the world’s waters even if that meant a few people would be sacrificed.
“Mach, you don’t know him like I do. I may not agree with his methods, but his goals are pure. Come with me this evening to the well. I’ll release the compound to cleanse the water and we’ll celebrate with a cup of unadulterated, crystalline liquid.” He smiled, though Mach saw the pain in his eyes. “We’ll make love one last time and then—I’ll go back to America.”
James’ pain struck Mach like a hammer. He knew now that he’d have to allow James to hear from Nolen’s lips what his true intentions were. That meant going with him tonight and invoking the incantation the Spirit Keeper elder had given him to open a window onto Nolen’s Grove. Thank the Maker he’d be with James to help him deal with Nolen’s final betrayal.
He gazed at James, who was hovering, waiting to hear him agree to go with him. Mach shook his head, reached out his hand and pulled James onto the bed. “Let’s make love now. You might not want to later.”
James didn’t pull away. Mach rolled over to make room for him on the bed. As he’d done each time they were together, he untied the leather lace around his hair and let it swing free. He knew James liked it and his goal the past few days had been to do what James liked.
He unbuttoned James’ shirt and opened it up so he could touch his chest. Nolen had beguiled James so that he couldn’t see how much his skin had been bruised and burned. After bathing in the purified water from Brigid’s Well that formed the main source of water for the cottage, the marks had faded. Drinking, bathing, eating food cooked with the pristine liquid had helped to eradicate much of the confusion in James’ mind and restored health to his body.
If only it could have eradicated James’s obsessive attachment to Nolen.
Mach bent and kissed James’ skin, nipping his tight nipples and licking them just as James enjoyed. The young Canadian twitched, then moaned. He grabbed Mach’s hair and tangled his fingers in the thick strands, pushing him down toward the glimpse of deep auburn hair above his waistband.
Mach dipped his tongue in James’s navel and James bucked. “Please, Mach, please.”
He raised his head and spoke gently. “You don’t have to beg me, James. You know I like to please you. Relax, a chara, and I’ll take care of you.”
Mach opened the top button of James’ fly and pulled down the zippe
r. He was almost fully aroused, hard and heavy. Mach eased James’ erection out, and licked his lips. He knew the young human enjoyed listening to his accent, and so he talked, letting the admiration he felt for James’ cock show.
“You’re fucking beautiful. So thick, so hard.” He licked the clear fluid seeping from the tiny slit at the tip. James’ cock thickened in his hands. He arched and groaned again, as if in agony. And maybe he was. Mach knew how difficult it was for James to have sex with anyone but Nolen. He also knew that the loving sex he gave James was so different, James couldn’t deal with it.
He tugged James’ jeans down to his knees and cupped his balls and squeezed. Tears seeped from the corners of James’s eyes. Mach knew he was close. Now was the time to give James a choice, something else that Nolen never gave him. “Do you want me to suck you off or fuck you? I’ll do whatever you want.”
James gazed at Mach. Mach watched the indecision flicker across his features. That bastard Nolen had done a real number on him.
James took a deep breath. “Suck me, but I want to do you too. At the same time.”
Mach grinned. “Brilliant!” He stripped off his clothes while James admired his body. He was broader, taller and more muscled. His thighs were more powerful and his cock was just a bit larger. Mach knew James liked it that he could command an older, bigger, more sophisticated male.
He had hoped that giving James domination over him would be sufficient to break Nolen’s hold. It had helped, but not enough. Still, anything that would give him a bit more sense of control wouldn’t be amiss.
James scooted down a bit to get into a better position. Mach moved to the head of the bed and placed his hands by James’ hips. He shifted and knelt, his cock hovering above James’s mouth. He lowered his face until he could just taste the slick tip of James’ penis. It would take only a little strength to remain in this position while he took James’ cock into his mouth.
He waited until he felt James’ tongue twirl around his erection, then took James’ length as deep as he could. He sucked hard, knowing how much the young man enjoyed it, although he couldn’t handle his balls in this position. That would wait for later.