Quirking a brow, Lachlan inhaled a long breath. ‘So, you know.’ His oldest friend stood, walked around his desk, avoiding the pile of tumbled books, and stopped in front of the bookshelf. Pulling out a large tome, he reached behind it and withdrew a bottle. Scotch. Of course. ‘Did she tell you, or did you puzzle it out on yer own?’
‘A bit of both. You spoke of a witch who claimed your heart?’
Lachlan tipped his chin in acknowledgement.
‘I understand exactly what you mean.’
Bringing the bottle to Thomas, Lachlan pulled the stopper free and offered it.
‘Drink?’
Thomas looked up at Lachlan and took the bottle. The liquid burning down his throat brought a measure of comfort. Oddly, the heat reminded him of Clio.
‘It is a strange thing to recognise one’s limitations. Especially when that revelation comes at the hands of a beautiful woman whose power so easily eclipses your own.’ Lachlan took the bottle back from Thomas and took a healthy swig.
‘Rowan.’
‘Aye. Rowan. And I’ll tell you, her nieces are cut from a similar cloth. I hope you aren’t as stupid as I was.’
Before Thomas could answer, Lachlan handed back the bottle.
‘What happened with Clio?’
Thomas took another swallow, exhaled as the warmth in his belly turned into fire, and was about to tell Lachlan everything when the door behind him banged open. Both Thomas and Lachlan turned as one.
A tall woman with chestnut hair piled in a heap of curls and braids, her grey eyes flashing dangerously, the cut and style of her dress confidently declaring her wealth, stood in the doorway. She glared first at Thomas, then Lachlan. Striding into his office, she carried herself with the grace of a queen.
‘You promised me she would be safe, Lachlan MacDougal. You lied!’ She advanced on Lachlan, and Thomas had to give the man credit. He had the courage of a Celtic warrior not to shrink away from the woman. She might be slight and delicate, but the power rolling off her in waves was palpable. Thunder cracked, and Thomas glanced at the window. Though it had been a rare sunny day when he arrived at Scotland Yard not fifteen minutes earlier, black clouds now roiled in the sky as lightning streaked across it in a jagged spear of white light.
Thomas rose from the couch. Feeling very much like a soldier once more on a suicide mission, he stepped between Lachlan and the advancing woman. ‘Aunt Rowan. How lovely to meet you.’ Because she had to be Clio’s aunt.
She swivelled her head and narrowed her gaze at Thomas, who immediately regretted his decision. He should have hidden behind the settee, not put himself in the middle of imminent danger.
‘I will deal with you later.’ She flicked her wrist, and Thomas was pushed back onto the couch by an unseen force. When he triedto move, he realised his arms and legs were frozen. Fear licked up his spine.
Rowan turned her focus back to Lachlan, who paled, but straightened his shoulders and firmed his jaw. ‘Calm down, Rowan. Your anger helps no one.’
This was not good. Even Thomas knew telling a woman like Rowan to calm down would only end in murder. Lachlan’s murder. Thomas would probably be next for witnessing the event.
Thunder cracked again, so loud, it shook papers off Lachlan’s desk, as if the storm were in the room with them. And perhaps it was.
‘Tell me to calm down again, Lachlan, and those will be the very last words you ever speak. Ellie saw what is to come. Clio will not escape her fate. Her coven can’t help her. She is alone.’ Rowan turned to glare at Thomas. He felt the weight of her accusations like an anvil crushing his sternum. ‘And in far more peril than she knows.’
Lachlan’s face flushed, and Thomas recognised the signs of anger in his friend. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, Rowan.’
But Thomas understood with blinding clarity.
I left her alone. And now she is in danger.
Thomas couldn’t move, but he could speak. ‘You must release me. I need to get back to her. I should never have left.’
Rowan turned to him. She cocked her head, and Thomas felt stripped bare.
My God. She knows. She knows everything.
She nodded, and he felt the impact of her power like a physical blow. ‘If you wish to help, tell me everything from the moment she left until now.’ Rowan wasn’t asking.
As quickly and succinctly as he could manage, Thomasrecounted everything that had happened, save the intimate moments he shared with Clio.
