Page 26 of Alec

Ava covered the chambermaid with a blanket before she stepped out into the hall and beckoned to the guard who had alerted them. “Go to the laird and advise him the maid has been paralyzed, not frozen. Tell him that we need to search the castle immediately for the cause.”

“At once, my lady.” The guard bowed before he hurried off.

A wide shadow fell over Ava, and she turned her head to see the clan’s armorer approaching. The largest man in the spell trap, he kept his stunning face covered these days by wearing a hooded tunic.

“Rory, I'm glad you're here.” She meant that, for aside from her husband he was the only other man at Dun Talamh who gave her a sense of safety.

“My lady.” He bowed and glanced at the open door of the infirmary. “I saw Elspeth but an hour past, entering the gallery above the lists. She appeared well and whole.”

The armorer always spoke in a whisper, as his mortal weakness was his voice, which at a normal level could crack granite. If he shouted, it was possible for him to bring the entire castle collapsing down on top of them.

“You know a little about magic,” she said, and gestured toward the treatment table. “Could you take a look at her?”

Rory hesitated for a long moment before he inclined his head and went inside. Ben stopped pacing around the table at once and gave the big man a hopeful look.

“She can’t move, and she’s barely got a pulse.” He came to stand beside the armorer. “It has to be some sort of stasis spell.”

“Mayhap.” He stretched out one enormous hand over the chambermaid’s face and closed his eyes.

Ava watched the big man as he murmured under his breath. A faint dark glow seemed to shimmer beneath his fingers, as if he were radiating some sort of power. The same effect made all the hair on her arms rise. She’d seen him do the same when placing one of his spell stones on the threshold of the armory, and it should have frightened her. Instead, she felt a deep sense of wordless empathy, as if Rory was doing something only she could grasp. Trying to fathom why she had that reaction to him still preoccupied her. She could have sworn she recognized what he was doing, but she had no memories of such a thing. Rather than a memory it seemed to be an instinct—something running through her blood, or buried in her bones.

This is why I’m drawn to him, but how could I know anything about a man born a thousand years before I was?

Tasgall had admitted that none of them knew exactly how Rory could use such magic, especially as he was a halfling. No person with any amount of mortal blood could wield Fae power. She suspected the armorer didn’t explain his ability to do the impossible because it would frighten the rest of the clan even more than his size and otherworldly looks. Just as she hadn’t yet told her husband that she and Rory shared a bond that, like his using magic, she didn’t entirely understand.

Slowly the armorer lowered his hand and sighed. “Apologies, my lady, Healer. Freeing the lass, ’tis naught within my power.”

Ben swore again and rubbed a hand over his sweaty face. “Do you know what could have caused this?”

“Fae magic.” Rory’s jewel-colored eyes moved over the chambermaid. “I dinnae ken what cast the enchantment, but ’tis very old and powerful. The same manner of magic keeps Dun Talamh imprisoned in the spell trap.” He regarded Ava. “And made the caterpillars grow to such enormous sizes, I reckon.”

Ava’s stomach knotted. “Then whoever cursed the clan came in here and did this to her.”

“Aye,” the armorer said. “Or the villain sent into the trap something that did.”

Bodach returned to McKeran’s Castle after dark to make his entry into the trap when the barrier was at its weakest. But he was forced to drive past a police car flashing its red and blue lights, and a burgundy town car barricading the front gates. As he found a spot down the road to park, his annoyance grew. Despite his efforts to clean up after Olivia Gibson, someone had found something that put her at the castle. After gathering his composure, he practiced an understanding smile in the rearview mirror a few times before climbing out and walking back to the gates. Approaching the three males made him wish he could unleash the full extent of his power on their unworthy heads for getting in his way yet again.

Killing them will only bring more mortals. The damn things are like cockroaches.

“I’m Renard Beaumont, the owner of the property,” he told the uniformed officer who stopped him from going through the gates. “What seems to be the problem here? Has there been an accident?”

A tall, heavyset man dressed in clothing that matched the town car hobbled up to him and leaned on his cane. “I’m Jack Riley, Beaumont. What have you done with Olivia Gibson?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” He feigned confusion by frowning as he regarded the cop. “I contacted this man’s company to perform a survey on my property, but the surveyor never arrived for our appointment this morning. Was that your Ms. Gibson?” When Riley gave him a curt nod he sighed. “I did inform your answering service that she was a no-show.”

“Yeah, we got the message.” Riley turned to the police officer. “I talked with Olivia after she arrived for the appointment. So did my wife. You need to search this place for her, right now.”

“She could have called from anywhere,” Bodach said, silently cursing the man. “And as for searching the property, you’re more than welcome providing you’ve obtained a warrant to do so.” He looked expectantly at the cop, who shook his head. “Oh, dear, that is a problem. My attorney advised me not to allow people on the property for liability reasons.”

The other man lifted his cane. “Do you want me to beat the snot out of you, you prissy asshole?”

“Not at all, sir.” Bodach was going to have to inflict a special torment on this one. To the cop he said, “I won’t make you go to the trouble of obtaining one at this hour, Officer. By all means, search my property.”

After he unlocked the gates, he accompanied the three mortals to the front entry, where he unlocked and opened the doors.

“Perhaps you should wait out here while the police search the premises,” Bodach told Riley. “In your condition you might trip and fall in the darkness, and I would be legally responsible.”

The officers agreed, and then took out their flashlights and went inside.