Page 35 of Dark Embrace

Darker shadows fell over her. Trembling, Brie looked up. Four knights had ridden over to her, and evil surrounded her now. Their visors were up and they looked down at her, leering. Their eyes were dark and soulless and glittering madly.

These men were possessed.

Aidan suddenly appeared at her side, and then he stepped between her and the four knights. “Come closer an’ die.”

The knights whirled their mounts, spurring them away and back into the mob of men.

Her stomach roiled. She was not relieved. “How many of your men are demonic? How many are possessed?”

He instinctively clasped her elbow, steadying her. “More than half are possessed, or are lesser deamhanain,” he said calmly. “The rest just like murder an’ rape an’ being paid fer it.”

She clung to his hand in disbelief, looking into his brilliant blue eyes, sick to her stomach. “You do not let them rape,” she said furiously, refusing to believe it. “You do not let them murder the Innocent!”

His face hardened. “I have four thousand men. Ye think I can control every one? Ye think I even wish to do so? They need compensation fer their labors!” he snapped.

Brie shook her head, aghast. “Ever since you rescued me, I have refused to believe you are evil. You saved me. You have a conscience. I have seen it!”

“My men rape when it pleases them to do so,” he shouted at her. “I grow tired of ye lookin’ at me with so much damned faith!”

“I am not wrong about you,” she insisted.

He leaned close, his anger exploding. The wave of rage would have flung her backward, off her feet, if he hadn’t been gripping her. “I am evil. I gave up my soul long ago and I have no use for it now. I dinna want or care fer yer faith! Find someone else to save.”

“Then why did you save me?” she cried.

“I dinna ken why I saved ye in New York City,” he said harshly. “But now, I save ye only so ye can speak with my son.”

“And when I finish being useful to you, then what? Will you murder and rape me, too?”

His face hardened impossibly. “Ye tempt me, Brianna. I wouldn’t mind succumbing to my lust and usin’ yer pretty body.”

She gasped.

“So I suggest ye keep yer mouth closed an’ dinna interfere now—not with my plans, not with this war. If yer fortunate, if ye do as I wish, I’ll send ye back to yer time when I’m done with ye—intact,” he snarled.

Oh my God, she thought, her cheeks on fire. He had read her mind and knew she was the modern world’s only twenty-six-year-old virgin.

His eyes widened.

So did Brie’s. “Are you reading my mind?”

A slight pink flush seemed to mar his high cheeks. “Ye think so loudly.”

She turned away, mortified. He hadn’t known—she’d misunderstood his choice of words—but he knew the humiliating truth now. She wanted to vanish into the dirt. Better yet, she wanted to find herself in her loft in the present, realizing that this was an insane and not-very-pleasant dream.

His grasp on her seemed to tighten. Then he spoke with care. “I gave ye my word. I said I wouldna hurt ye. I meant it. Just keep yer distance from me.”

She pulled away from his hard hands. “I need a weapon,” she said tersely, not looking at him. Did he think her an absolute nerd? Did it matter? She was a nerd, and he was no prize. “I cannot manage without a means of defending myself.”

She could barely believe what she was saying, or that she meant it. At home she carried pepper spray and a gun, but she’d never used the gun except at a firing range. If she had the weapon now, though, she’d use it.

He tilted up her chin, forcing their gazes to collide. “Ye can have as many weapons as ye wish.” He dropped his hand to reach into his boot, and handed her a small dagger. “Take this fer now, but ye willna need it.”

Brie clutched the dagger. As small as it was, it still did not fit comfortably in her hand. But then she hated weapons, and doubted any weapon would feel right.

“Ye’ll live to go home, Brianna. Dinna think so much.”

She looked up at him. His harsh tone had softened ever so slightly. Was he trying to reassure her? His gaze was odd, searching.