Page 72 of Dark Embrace

“Ye’ll be safe from us both on Iona.” His eyes changed, becoming unwavering and feral.

She felt the beast before she saw it. Anger blazed, consuming every other emotion except for the lust.

There was so much lust.

Carnal lust, bloodlust and the lust for power were all roiling into one huge, explosive force.

Brie crouched, afraid to move. “Don’t,” she whispered. The man standing before her looked like Aidan, but it wasn’t. He was the Wolf and he was beyond rage now. He was beyond all reason.

He glared furiously at her and slammed from the tent, into the night.

BRIE WALKED SLOWLY OUTSIDE AND paused, but saw no sign of Aidan. She was afraid he had shifted already. She prayed he wasn’t hunting Moray.

What were they going to do? Moray had all kinds of power. He had seemed in complete control until Aidan had shifted into the Wolf. Was it even remotely possible that Moray could not triumph over the beast?

Will approached, looking sleepy, and Brie realized it would soon be dawn. He went to the fire, now in embers, and began adding kindling. Brie looked away, dreading the new day. She was pretty certain it wouldn’t bring much respite.

Suddenly she felt white power approaching. It was terribly familiar and she turned in confusion, remarking a pair of riders coming up the road from the southwest. The power wafted toward her. Comprehension began, but surely she was wrong. The riders veered through the waking camp toward her and sudden excitement arose.

The riders were a man and a woman. The woman was small and dark, on a jet-black mare, and the man riding beside her on a huge gray charger was a golden Highlander. She had seen him before in her visions and the woman was unmistakable. “Allie!”

Allie leapt from her horse effortlessly and ran toward Brie, arms wide, wearing skinny jeans and a fur jacket. “Brie!”

Brie went into her arms and began to cry. She had never been happier to see anyone.

Allie, who was five feet tall on a really good day and maybe a hundred pounds when wet, held her as if she were a child. “It’s all right. Royce and I are here, even if it took me an entire night to convince him to come. We will fix everything!”

Brie pulled back to look at her best friend, who was the most optimistic, unsinkable person she knew. Allie remained shockingly beautiful—more so than ever, Brie thought. “I prayed you would come. You heard me!”

Allie grinned. “When Claire told me you were here, I wanted to come right over, but Royce is holding a grudge against Aidan and we had to have it out. He can be the most stubborn, annoying, unreasonable man.”

Brie had a bad feeling the moment Allie said the word “grudge” that Aidan had done something pretty unforgivable. She glanced at Royce and her heart actually slammed. The man was a mass of popping muscles, and while gorgeous, he was so obviously a medieval warrior she almost couldn’t believe he was Allie’s soul mate. He looked as hard and intractable as Allie had claimed. But he was exactly as she had first seen him in her vision, when she had known he was to be crucial to Allie’s fate. She smiled and took Allie’s hand. “Well, well…well.”

Allie laughed, pleased. “Yeah, he’s hot.” Royce gave his wife an annoyed look. “Hey, Mr. Medieval. Forgive me and come and meet my best friend in the world. You are way too old to sulk.”

Royce came over, looking really annoyed now. “Lady Brie.” He nodded at her. “I’m pleased t’make yer acquaintance.”

Brie decided he wasn’t annoyed, he was royally pissed. She hoped he was mad at Allie and not Aidan. “Thank you for coming,” she said, meaning it. “We could use your help.”

His gaze was assessing, and he gave nothing away. It was impossible to tell if he’d help Aidan or not.

“We will help you, no matter what,” Allie said firmly, “or it’s separate bedrooms for the next hundred years.”

Royce snorted and walked off.

Brie looked at Allie, who smiled saucily at her. “He’s very angry with Aidan. I tried to heal him right after his son was murdered and he blew up at me. I know he didn’t mean it, but he went berserk with his powers. If Royce hadn’t appeared, I guess I could have been really hurt.”

Brie started. “Allie, wait a minute. Are you saying that you tried to heal Aidan sixty-six years ago?”

She grinned. “What year did you come from, Brie?”

Brie said slowly, “It’s been a year, almost to the day, since you left us for good. Aidan took me back on September 21, 2008.”

Allie laughed. “Well, you haven’t seen me in a year, but I haven’t seen you in 72 years!”

“You look twenty-five,” Brie whispered, stunned. “You haven’t aged a day!”

“My family tree isn’t what we thought it was,” Allie said. She hugged Brie impulsively again. “My brother is The Black Macleod—a Master.”