Page 97 of Dark Embrace

Brie covered her face with her hands and gave in to her grief and powerlessness, and now, even rage. Aidan was in enough anguish, and he must never know what had happened.

Her friends gathered and held her close.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE HUNT HAD BEGUN ONLY A FEW hours ago. He was so entirely focused on sifting through time and space and sorting through all the evil he encountered that when he first felt a disturbance in the tower, he ignored it.

In a small village in the far north of Caithness, evil was stalking an entire family. But it was not Moray, and Aidan moved even farther north to Old Wick, scenting another great evil gathering.

The energy in the tower room changed, a ripple moving through the air.

His power shifted in response, his focus torn from Old Wick.

Aidan blinked. The moment his lashes fluttered open, he saw the stone walls surrounding him and was confused. He never lost his way during a hunt. Then he stiffened, sensing an intrusion.

He glanced toward the door and saw his small son standing there.

He cried out, incredulous. As always, there was so much joy and so much pain. But the moment he leapt to his feet, Ian opened his mouth to speak and vanished.

“Ian!” Aidan roared. But the ghost was gone.

Someone began rattling the barred door, but he ignored it. Ian had never tried to come to him when Aidan was hunting. What did this mean?

“Aidan! Aidan! Are you all right?”

He somehow heard Brianna, but he did not want her near now. Would he ever learn what Ian wished to say? She was shaking the door latch, but he had bolted the door from within. Very few people would be barred by the bolt, but she was one of them.

Then he realized she was in great distress, as much as he was, and it wasn’t because of how he had hurt her that morning. Something else was hurting her now, terribly.

He tore the door off its hinges.

She stood there in her jeans and the dragon sweatshirt, crying. Even more alarmed, he dove deeply into her mind. “Brianna, what happened?”

“I’m fine. Are you okay?” She gazed worriedly up at him.

She had seen Ian—and his child was the cause of her distress. “Ye’ve seen my son and yer aggrieved because of it!”

“Please don’t read my mind now,” she begged, clutching his arms. “Just trust me!”

Those words only alarmed him further and he went deeper into her mind. He saw her and the three other women, all holding hands, Lady Tabitha apparently under a spell. Then he saw Ian speaking with them in the candlelit chamber. He cried out, “What is a séance? What did ye do? Did ye speak with Ian?”

She nodded. “A séance is an attempt to bring forth the dead.”

She was afraid to tell him something. “What happened?”

She inhaled harshly, pulling away from him. “Let’s get out of the hall,” she said, glancing away from him now.

She intended to deceive him. He didn’t have to lurk in order to know that. He saw it in the way she avoided meeting his gaze. He followed her into his bedchamber, incredulous. Brianna was the most honest person he knew. “Ye’ll tell me everything.”

She faced him, wringing her hands. “I’m going to protect you,” she whispered, her gaze unwavering and strong. “You don’t need to know everything, Aidan. I am asking you to have faith in me. Trust me.”

She wished to protect him? Something terrible had happened in that séance, he thought. He stared, searching her agonized eyes. He did trust her—oddly, there was no one he trusted more. But this was not about trust. He had every right to know what had happened at the séance. What was she hiding?

She understood. “Please, don’t!”

He lurked ruthlessly now and saw Ian speaking to the women, but he could not hear him. His frustration overcame him. “What did he say?”

Brianna started shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.” She reached for him, to comfort him.