Page 34 of Dark Embrace

She met his gaze. “What’s that?”

“Level Five case files.”

Her eyes widened. “Brie is only Level Three and she’s been here three years!”

He sent her a charming smile, one that always instantly disarmed women. “If you come in, you’re going right to the top.”

She wet her lips.

He had her, he thought, satisfied. “That’s usually for my eyes only. Now it can be for your eyes, too.”

“I’m in,” Sam said hoarsely.

He released the file and she flipped it open. He sat back in his chair, arms folded, waiting, as she began skimming the pages. Within two minutes, her eyes widened, and she froze. Then, slowly, she looked up at him. “Holy shit,” she said.

He grinned.

“In 1888, a CDA agent named John Duke filed a report about a demon slaying. A demon he slayed…in 1602.”

“Welcome to CDA,” Nick said. “Oh, and Sam? You might want to catch up on your history of the Highlands.”

AWE WAS A FOUR-WALLED CASTLE, with corner and middle towers and a gatehouse with two flanking towers. Beyond that there was an outer ward that was almost a separate garrison, and the bridge that led to Loch Awe’s shores. Brie was acutely aware of Aidan as they walked through the inner ward toward the gatehouse. Although he was controlling his emotions, she could feel his warrior power seething. It felt very raw, very brutal and very barbaric. He seemed to be heating up over the prospect of battle, and she wasn’t sure what to make of that. It was a reminder that, good or bad, he was still a medieval man with a medieval agenda.

She couldn’t help wondering how many would die before this rebellion was through. Scotland’s history was particularly bloody and tragic and she was starting to appreciate how civilized the modern world was. “Has it ever occurred to anyone, perhaps even the MacDonald, to negotiate for what he wants?”

Aidan glanced at her. “In the Highlands, politics an’ war are one an’ the same.”

“I’ll bet,” she said.

She saw that the tunnel within the gatehouse had two portcullises, both of which were raised. It wasn’t unusual. An intruder getting past the first set of iron bars would be quickly trapped between it and the second gate once it was closed. She looked up as they entered the tunnel and, sure enough, saw the murder holes above her head. The intruder would be doused with burning liquid or burning arrows. Oil wouldn’t be used, because it was too expensive.

There was no escaping the violent nature of this world, she thought in dismay. She looked down as they hurried toward the first raised portcullis. They were walking over a trapdoor. “What’s below?” she asked warily.

“A pallet of daggers,” he said, not breaking stride.

“Have you ever been besieged?” she asked thickly, every hair on her body raised. She was thinking about what happened to invaders when the trapdoors opened beneath their feet. Being caught up in the medieval world made it impossible to ignore how cruel and savage its people were.

“Aye, when Argyll burned Awe to the ground.”

Brie gasped. “Is that why you’re riding with MacDonald against Argyll?”

He smiled at her with relish. “Yer a clever lass, Brianna. I even helped Donald Dubh escape. He was Argyll’s prisoner,” he laughed.

Brie halted. “This is a blood feud! You don’t care who is Lord of the Isles, you just want to fight Argyll!”

He halted, facing her, his eyes hard and cold. “I like war.”

She trembled. “Why? Because it’s easier to fight than to grieve?”

He flushed and, eyes blazing, strode past her.

Brie ran after him, wishing she hadn’t said what she had. But her instincts had been right. A modern man would get past his grief by indulging in work, sports, an affair. Aidan was choosing war.

Somber, she followed him out of the gatehouse and into the shadows cast by the flanking towers, coming face-to-face with his army of Highlanders and knights.

Her heart stopped. It was one thing to look down on the sea of soldiers and beasts from the tower, with everyone somewhat out of focus; it was another to be so suddenly in their midst. Every instinct she had fired in alarm. Every educated person knew the dangers of a crowd, and this barbaric mass of humanity was a maddened, war-hungry mob. She had her defenses up, but with so many men present, it was impossible to block the soldiers out entirely. Their savagery and bloodlust overwhelmed and sickened her now. So much evil was present in the army of madmen, and that was the most frightening thing of all.

Brie turned away as a red-haired Highlander thrust his dagger into a knight’s leg, the knight instantly cleaving him with his spiked club. She didn’t want to see what would happen next.