“Let me explain,” Logan said, handing a copy of the email to David. “According to Penn, our lawyer, the law she is using is very old and doesn’t address the rights of Fated Mates which he intends to challenge in court.”
David stared at the email as he listened to Logan, his spirit sinking.I’ll never be rid of her! No matter where I go or what I do she’ll always hunt me and want to hurt my mate.In the past, he always did her bidding but that was before he found Zane, who he loved with his whole being and was now his reason to fight her.
“I’m not going back, no matter what, and no one can make me, not even a court,” David declared. “Her reason for me to return is a lie and I refuse to be part of her evil plan.” Then he sighed. “But, she’ll never stop trying and if that means torturing my mother or killing my Fated Mate, she’ll do it. The only way out I see is for me to disappear, by myself. My mate will be safe along withhis brothers. As for my mother, I can only hope the High Priestess lets her go when she is no longer useful to her.”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” roared Zane, holding his mate tight, then adding more calmly, “No babe, you can’t leave me, please, there is another way.”
“David,” Logan began, “that is not an option for several reasons but the most important one is the pain Zane will have to suffer if you leave.”
“Pain?” David asked, looking at his mate. “Is that true?”
Logan answered, “Yes, it is and while I can understand your desire to protect your mate, you are not alone in your fight against the High Priestess anymore. Zane, me, the rest of the pack…we are with you in this battle. And just so you know, Jackson will never hand you over to her, no matter what happens.”
“Logan’s right,” Kieran said, “you’re a member of this pack. That means the High Priestess has to go through all of us to get to you. I know anyone looking at the Blackwood Pack from the outside doesn’t see the power it has, but it is formidable.”
“My mate is right,” added Logan. “Neither she, nor anyone else she sends, could get close to you if they meant to do you harm…they’d be knocked on their ass by your ability to send out waves of solid energy.”
“Yeah,” Zane said chuckling, “the High Priestess doesn’t know about that. Can you just picture her face when she gets knocked on her ass, wondering what hit her?”
David’s face brightened. “I forgot about that! She’ll never be able to hurt me again.”
Knowing his mate was thinking about all the punishment he suffered, Zane growled, “No one will ever hurt you again,tesoro mio,I promise. Okay?”
Nodding, David said, “Do you think she’ll release my mother if I don’t return?”
“Truthfully? No,” said Zane. “That’s why we’re going to figure out a way to rescue her.”
“Zane’s right,” agreed Logan. “She won’t let her go. So, here’s the plan. Penn is filing an objection to the legality of the law. In the meantime, Zane’s going to use his super computer skills to find out everything about the High Priestess and Michael, including who killed him. While he’s doing that, it’d be very helpful if you could draw a floorplan of the convent, showing us where your mother is being held, and then Dylon…a strategist genius…will devise a plan to rescue her,” he concluded.
“I can do that,” David replied.
“Jackson will be calling in a minute,” Logan said. “Please tell him everything you can remember about what happened to you as it may help Penn.”
Glancing at his mate, knowing it would be traumatic for David to relive it all again, Zane said, “I can do that with my mate, but do you mind leaving? Some of it is quite private.”
“Of course,” Logan said. “Why don’t you talk to Jackson in your bedroom?”
After receiving a nod from his mate, Zane said, “Perfect. Thanks for understanding.” Catching Logan’s phone after his brother slid it across the table, Zane added, “C’mon babe, let’s get this done so I can start on my research.”
~/~/~/~/~
Standing in his father’s study, Fionn could still smell the cognac, cigars and well-worn leather that reminded him of the asshole. He slowly walked around the room, touching the many possessions he was forbidden to when his father was alive. Finally, Fionn sat at the desk, in the leather chair that still held the impression of his father. Leaning back and putting his feet on the desk, Fionn wondered what he should do with this place—sell it, he supposed—because he wasn’t ever coming back here to live.
That thought also reminded him he’d need a bigger place for his hoard once he received his father’s. Making a mental note to ask Ki how he could reach Mystia, he sat up, opened a desk drawer and pushed a button. On the opposite wall, a panel slid back, exposing a small room filled with file cabinets. Rising, he walked over and started going through the files, sorting them as he went, putting the ones relating to his father’s estate in a separate pile to send to Penn.
By the fourth drawer, Fionn’s anger was producing curls of smoke from his nostrils as he began to grasp how wealthy his father had been. He realized the years of deprivation he and his mother had been subjected to was a deliberate act of cruelty. Working to control his anger, lest it start a fire, Fionn tried to shutter his thoughts, concentrating instead on the task at hand.
Methodically, he went through each file folder, looking at each scrap of paper, seeing his father’s life reflected in them and, oddly enough, found peace in his search. He learned about his mother, too, and about her life before she was married.
He gave a cry of delight when he opened a file in which he found a treasure trove of pictures of his mother, taken throughout her short life. Slowly studying each one, he saw her happiness staring back at him in a photo of her holding him as an infant, in her arms. When he had looked at each one, he carefully closed the file, knowing he’d found the greatest gift ever.
Hugging them to his chest, tears rolled silently down his face, the pain so deep it felt as if she had just died. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Fionn rocked back and forth, trying to ease his suffering but couldn’t. When his tears finally ceased, he was exhausted from the day’s emotional turmoil. Leaning back against a file cabinet, he closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
~/~/~/~/~
Standing on his boat, Brian leaned over the side, peering into the deep blue water of his loch, a strange unease growing in his gut. The first butterfly had taken residence that afternoon when he and the boys were swimming, near Murdoch Island. His heart had warmed watching young Fionn enjoying himself, swimming and playing tag with the Shaman and the two bears. Then Brian was floating on his back, his eyes closed as the water caressed his body, when the wake from a passing boat broke over him. Suddenly the fun afternoon turned serious. He scented an intruder.
Cautioning the boys to stay together, Brian shifted, diving into the depths of his loch, searching for the source of the foreign scent. Slipping easily through the water in his sea serpent form, he caught wisps of it but couldn’t figure who’d invaded his territory. When he surfaced, he saw the boys had reached the island and were sunningthemselves as they finished off the rest of the picnic lunch he’d packed for them. Shifting back, he joined them, taking pleasure in listening to their teasing and joking.
