Midnight's Temptation

CHAPTER TWELVE

Aisley finished drying off. It had been months since she had the chance to soak in a tub without constant fear hounding her. She couldn’t sense magic, so Jason could have sneaked up on her at any time. At least with Phelan, he’d alert her to another Druid’s presence.

She turned to hang the towel up on the hook and paused to look at the magnificent flower garden. From her vantage point in the tub all she’d caught was a few glimpses of tall flowers, but this was a surprise.

It was probably a good thing she hadn’t seen it before she got in the tub, or she’d never have taken the bath. There was a memory she’d held onto of when she was six years old and her parents had taken her to Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

Aisley smiled, recalling how much she’d loved running up and down the paths, flowers flowing on either side of her. She had felt just like a princess that day.

Phelan’s flower garden rivaled the botanic garden. She couldn’t believe the array of flowers he had. From white to dark red, bright yellow, vibrant purple, and every color in between. It was like a rainbow had exploded and dripped the colors upon the flower petals. His caretakers must spend hours every day out here.

She was clasping her bra when movement in the garden caught her eye. That’s when she spotted Phelan on his knees tending the plants. His hands were quick and thorough, proving he obviously knew what he was doing.

This Aisley hadn’t expected. She hurried to dress and went into the kitchen to make some tea. The kitchen window over the sink looked out to the garden, and Aisley found herself watching Phelan instead of the flowers.

She poured two mugs of tea then headed outside. When she came to the steps leading into the backyard from the porch that wrapped around the sides of the house, she paused.

Phelan seemed more relaxed since they’d arrived. She’d seen him in battle, knew how fierce and savage he could be. But the man who was tending the flowers was a contradiction she didn’t know how to puzzle out.

His long dark locks were pulled back in a queue and tied with a leather string. She smiled. Phelan might live in modern times, and he might have experienced over five centuries of time, but he was still a medieval Highlander.

That appealed to her on a level that made her take a step back in caution. She thought she’d known the Warrior before her, when in fact she knew nothing other than his ability to fight with deadly accuracy.

Had he been the one to kill Mindy in the woods? She knew without a doubt she’d have met the same fate had she been the one to chase after the Warriors.

That thought was a cold dose of reality.

Phelan, for all his handsomeness, kindness, and strength wasn’t someone she could rely on for long. Whether she tried to hide the knowledge she was a drough or outright told him of her involvement with Jason, he would find out.

Aisley knew all about trying to keep secrets. She closed her eyes as a wave of anguish poured over her. Her love and need for her baby, even after all these years, still had the ability to rip through her like the sharpest of blades.

“Aisley?”

She snapped open her eyes to find Phelan staring at her from his place on the ground. Aisley drew in a shaky breath and pushed aside thoughts of her daughter as she held out a mug. “I made tea.”

“That sounds good.”

She stepped barefoot off the steps and onto the cool grass before walking to the two chairs set in the middle of the garden.

Phelan met her at the chairs and took one of the mugs. “I didn’t know how you liked your tea,” she said.

“One sugar.”

“Good. That’s how I take mine.”

They shared a smile before they each took a seat in the chairs angled toward each other. Aisley didn’t find the silence that followed uncomfortable. The chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves as the wind whispered through the trees was comforting. She leaned her head back against the chair and simply took it all in.

“You really enjoy it here,” Phelan said.

Aisley grinned. “I do. My parents lived in Perth. They liked the city life and the noise of it all. I didn’t know anything else until later. I prefer country life.”

“You’re far away from shops and restaurants.”

She shrugged and turned her head to look at him. “I’m an awful cook, but I could do without restaurants for the most part. As for shopping, that I couldn’t give up altogether. Every couple of months or so would be nice.”

“You like it because you feel hidden.”

“That’s why you chose it.” His brows rose at her response, and he smiled before lifting the mug to his lips. Aisley looked back at the flowers. “You did all this, didn’t you?”

“Aye. Surprised?”

“Yes. And, oddly, no.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

Aisley shrugged and wrapped both hands around her mug. She contemplated her answer as she sipped the tea. “I know about Warriors. You’re supposed to be the best fighters in your bloodline. I assumed all you thought about was battle.”

“In some ways, aye. Especially when there is evil to fight. My God isna satisfied unless I’m in the midst of battle.”

She looked at him once more. “Then I’m not surprised. Because … well, because this suits you. When we arrived I saw the tension ease out of you. You are part of this land, and it’s a part of you.”

“Where did you learn your knowledge of Warriors?” he asked.

“My family.” Aisley prayed he didn’t ask if she had known a Warrior. She couldn’t tell him about Dale. The Warrior had saved her several times from Jason and other things. He died saving her from the white-skinned monsters who had gone after Jason.

Aisley barely suppressed a shudder just thinking of the creatures. She missed Dale’s quiet presence, how he’d always stood between her and Jason. He had wanted more from her, but had been content with friendship.

“I gather your family didna like Warriors.”

She mentally shook herself when Phelan’s voice broke into her thoughts. “I wouldn’t say that. I know the story of how Warriors were created. I know it took both sects of Druids to bind the gods inside the men.”

“So you know it was Deirdre who began to unbind the gods seven centuries ago.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know there were Warriors who banded together with Druids to fight Deirdre?”

Aisley nodded. “Then she disappeared for four hundred years.”

“Do you know why?”

What did she tell him? The truth? She didn’t want to lie, but her omission of who she was was also a lie. From what she knew of Phelan, she didn’t doubt he would react severely to being betrayed. Aisley took a drink of tea before she said, “Tell me what you think happened.”

“A man named Declan Wallace brought her forward into this time. Except he didna take just her. At the time she had just taken the head of one of the Warriors from MacLeod Castle. That Warrior’s twin brother knew instantly of his death. That connection, combined with Declan’s magic brought Ian forward in time as well.”

Aisley listened with interest. She knew of the MacLeods, but only what Jason had wanted to tell her. Dale hadn’t said much about them other than that they were damned hard to kill.

But that could be said for any Warrior.

“Since Ian disappeared while inside the castle, surrounded by the Warriors and Druids, they knew they had to do something. Four unmated Warriors agreed to allow the Druids to send them through time to search for Deirdre and Ian.”

“The Druids had the magic to move them through time?” she asked incredulously.

Phelan smiled wryly. “I doona think the evil we fight realize how strong the Druids at the castle truly are. Droughs use their black magic to battle by themselves, and they are strong. However, a group of mies banded together has more magic than a single drough.”

Jason, the bastard, had never told her that. She was learning so much she hadn’t known. All the times they’d clashed in battle Aisley had thought those from MacLeod Castle were just lucky.

Now she knew it was because of their strength and power. It was a sobering thought.

“What happened? Were Ian and Deirdre ever found?”

Phelan’s smile held a wealth of satisfaction. “Oh, aye. Ian came across a Druid searching for the MacLeods. That Druid, Danielle, became his wife.”

“And Deirdre? I know the tales of the terror she’d evoked across the land.” That Aisley wasn’t lying about. Jason had reveled in the stories he’d found of Deirdre. He’d admired her beyond anything.

“The MacLeods discovered there were artifacts that, if gathered, could destroy Deirdre.”

“You keep saying ‘the MacLeods’ as if you weren’t part of them.”

He looked away from her and let out a long sigh. “I wasna.”

Aisley’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You fight with them now though?”

“I do. When they’ve need of me.”

“I don’t understand.” The more she learned about Phelan the more complicated he became.

He shrugged and watched a kingfisher land on one of the feeders. “I didna join the MacLeods’ fight until a few years ago. There were … reasons.”

“Tell me about the artifacts.” She wanted to know his reasons for waiting to join the MacLeods, but Aisley could tell he wasn’t ready to share them. So she turned to the next thing she was curious about. She’d never heard of these artifacts.

Phelan grinned wickedly. “The first artifact was a Druid—Reaghan. She knew the location where Deirdre’s twin sister was kept.”

“What?”

“She was the only one who could kill Deirdre, so Reaghan and her group of Druids spelled her so she’d sleep, hidden, until someone with all the artifacts woke her.”

Aisley was riveted. “Well? What happened?”

“Deirdre was after the artifacts herself. With them, she became unbeatable. It was a race between her and the MacLeods to see who would find them all first.”

“You said the first artifact was Reaghan. Who found her?”

Phelan drank more of his tea. “Galen. He and Logan were sent to search for the artifact. No one expected the artifact to be a person, or for Reaghan and Galen to fall in love.”

“They’re together?”

“Aye.”

Aisley ran her thumbnail along the arm of the chair. “And the other artifacts?”

“That was Broc and Sonya. Broc has wings,” Phelan said. “The bastard can fly. Sonya doesna just have healing magic, but she also communicates with the trees. Broc and Sonya had to look for an ancient Celtic burial mound for the next artifact.”

“Did they get it?”

“They did. I came upon them, though I had no idea who they were. Deirdre was near, and I was willing to help anyone she was fighting. When she attacked, I made sure Broc and Sonya were able to get away.”

“Did they know it was you?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It wasna long after that when Deirdre came across Logan and Duncan on their way to Mallaig to look for the next artifact. Deirdre killed Duncan then.”

“And was transported through time.”

“Right,” he said with a wink.

Aisley couldn’t look away from his blue-gray eyes. She knew without a doubt he was telling her the truth. It was no wonder everyone hated droughs.

It wasn’t just because they gave their souls to Satan for black magic, but because they ruined everything. She didn’t want to think about the time Phelan would look at her with hatred. But it was coming.

It was coming all too soon.