Deardha bared her teeth and opened the portal with a hissing wave of her hand. But the witch was prepared. As soon as the field disappeared, she lobbed an energy ball at Nessa’s face.
Nessa dodged and slipped through the doorway. She scurried into the main chamber of the mausoleum before Deardha resealed the door. She glanced around the room, her heart in her throat. She needed a place to hide and catch her breath. There. Behind a reclining stone effigy.
She rolled behind it and pressed her back against the cold, damp stone, struggling to slow her pounding heart and figure out her next move. A shaft of sunlight pouring across the floor caught her eye. The door to the mausoleum had to be open. She was almost free. Just as she was about to bolt for the outer door, Latharn strode into the room.
His eyes flashed with eerie fire. Flexing his hands, the sheen of his well-muscled body glowed bronze in the light of the torches. Scowling around the room with a fearsome sneer on his face, Latharn exuded confidence for a battle.
Nessa vaulted herself at his body. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she planted tearful kisses all over his face. “It’s about time you got here! Now fry that bitch with a lightning bolt or something so this nightmare will be over.”
Latharn fought the urge to sweep her up into his arms and carry her off to the keep. He had to finish this or their family would never know any peace. He sucked in a deep breath as he heard the inner souls remind him of what needed to be done.
With a groan, he settled her to the floor and gently cupped her face in his hand. He peered intently into her eyes, silently placing his words in her mind.No matter what happens ye must trust what I do and remember that I love ye with every bit of my soul. Can ye do that, Nessa? Make your promise to me within your mind. Ye will trust me in what I am about to do?
A look of confusion replaced Nessa’s relief as she clenched her fists. She’d heard his words even though he’d not spoken aloud, so silently, she replied,I’m not so sure I like the sound of that, but... I promise, I trust you with all my heart.
His thumb caressed the curve of her cheek. Latharn ached to crush her to his chest. But that was for later. He dare not overplay his hand. He must wage the war as they’d planned or lose everything to the darkness of the eternal abyss.
Lifting his head, Latharn put Nessa aside and raised his hands high. His deep voice echoed with the legions of all the MacKays, the walls trembled as he bellowed the MacKay battle cry. “Bi Tren! Bi Treun!”
“No need to shout, my dearest love. I may be eons old but I can still hear ye perfectly well.” The enchantress floated her way out of the shadows and glided across the floor. The barest black silk gown clung to her body. The seductive shimmer accentuated each and every curve. Her ivory breasts swelled above the plunging neckline; her rose-tinted nipples strained through the edging of lace. The dress sank into the cleft of her thighs, hinting at the pleasure lying between.
“Tell me, Latharn. Ye havena seen me in hundreds of years. Compare me with that little milksop sniveling at your side. Remember how I pleasured ye in every way ye ever dreamed. Ye could have that again. We were good together, you and I.”
Latharn eased toward her. He kept his back to Nessa and fixed Deardha with a heated glare. “If ye were willing to give me a second chance, why did ye ignore me in the crystal until a mere mortal set me free? Why did ye not come to me after the first hundred years, knowing how I’d do anything to be free of that crystal hell?”
Deardha’s eyes flickered from Latharn and then to Nessa. She tossed her head at Nessa and spit in her direction. “Mere mortal, eh? Ye know the Ways, my dearest love. Once a curse is set in motion, it must be allowed to play its course. But how do I know ye truly want me now? Ye could be but toying with me to gain the little bitch’s freedom and once again toss me aside.”
Latharn dropped his voice to a seductive tone and curled his lips into a beguiling smile. He stalked closer to the doubting woman, unwound his plaid, and dropped it to the floor. “Does it look like I don’t remember what we did together? Tell me, my sweet seductress, do ye still like what ye see?”
The shaft of sunlight sculpted his muscled body, his enormous erection testament to the sincerity of his words. Latharn ignored Nessa’s gasp at the sight of his state of arousal.
The crone’s garment of shimmering black silk disappeared from her body. She floated to Latharn and stroked her hands up his chest. Turning, Deardha leered at Nessa then pulled Latharn’s mouth down to cover hers.
“No!” Nessa cried out.
“Trust me, my love,”he sent his voice to echo in her mind.“This is all a part of the trap.”
Latharn pulled Deardha tighter into his arms, crushing her against his chest. He sank his hands into her hair, claiming her mouth roughly as if he meant to possess her. He devoured her lips. He dove his tongue deep into her throat. He ravaged her mouth until she melted against him. Finally, Latharn raised his head and clutched her by the nape of her neck.
“Pledge yourself to me, Deardha. Then I shall seed your womb while the mortal watches from the corner. Pledge your soul to me now so I can bury my cock into your delicious depths.”
Molding her curves against Latharn’s body, the seductress shot Nessa a gloating sneer. She shouted to the witness of the dawning equinox and threw her head back with a malicious laugh. “I pledge my oath to Laird Latharn MacKay. I open my soul and my womb to his seed. I lay myself bare and wait to accept whatever he gives. I pledge my soul to fill his every need.”
Latharn carried her clinging body to the stone slab centered in the room and spread her upon the table. As he loomed over her between her thighs, he paused for just a moment. Stroking his fingertips along her ivory throat, Latharn dropped his voice to a husky whisper. He mesmerized her with his touch.
“By the power of your pledge, by the power of all the MacKays, I hold ye to your oath. I now give ye the gift of the eternal abyss and my need is that ye cease to exist.”
As soon as Latharn uttered the curse, his mother, Rachel, appeared at the head of the stone. A vengeful smile curled her ghostly lips as she placed her hands on each side of Deardha’s head.
Rachel leaned close, peered deep into the dark witch’s eyes, and added her curse to her son’s. “I join my powers to those of my son’s. I condemn you to suffer well. I condemn you to see the pleasures outside the abyss. I condemn you to a window from hell.”
Deardha’s eyes filled with panic as their joined curses echoed over her head. Baring her teeth in a viperous hiss, she sputtered as Latharn’s fingers crushed her throat. Clawing at his arm, her form changed as her powers diminished into the powerful aura surrounding them. The ivory of her skin faded to ash. Her enticing curves decayed to rotting flesh. Latharn clenched his teeth. He held his breath to avoid the rising stench as he maintained his stranglehold on Deardha’s throat.
Shrieking and thrashing, her body deteriorated and putrefied beneath his powerful body. At last, she disintegrated into obsidian dust, leaving Latharn atop the tomb on all fours.
He climbed down from the stone, brushing off his hands as he bent to retrieve his plaid. As he wound it about his body, he took a deep breath and turned to face Nessa’s accusing glare.
She smacked her fists upon his chest and pummeled the sculpted mountain of his abs. “You could’ve at least warned me you were going to have to seduce her to get her to let down her defenses!”
