Netherby Halls

Would his white magic work against the beast?

Once again it attempted to slash at him. Quinn jumped out of the way, knowing he had to call on darker magic to protect himself.

He needed a ward, but he had no time to create one. He had but one chance for survival.

The silver-edged short sword he was never without.

And then the werewolf sprang into action, and Quinn sneered as he shouted, “Well then, beast—come and get it if ye be a mind to!” He plunged his sword just at the right moment directly in the center of its beating heart.

But even as the were roared and suffered excruciating pain, even as it started to fall, even as death began to take it, its jaws locked down on Quinn’s shoulder and bit—bit hard—and Quinn’s fate was sealed.

He was able to punch and beat the creature off, and he watched as it fell to the ground, rolled over onto its back, and began the transformation back into man.

Quinn saw at once it was Whelan MacPoole, clan leader of the neighboring estate. Husband to his mother’s sister.

They had never been friends throughout their family’s history. He should have known. He should have suspected. The signs had been there all along, if only he’d noticed.

Quinn bent, pulled his silver-tipped sword from the man’s heart, and stood to look up at the stars before closing his eyes.

He had been bitten.

~ Prologue ~

All that glisters is not gold

—William Shakespeare

Present day, New Jersey

RAVENA MACALLISTER LOOKED at her wristwatch. It was nearly six o’clock. It had been a hectic day. Graduation was over. She had her BA in her hand, but she had one more night at the fashion school where she had been taking additional classes as she pursued her dream of designing clothes for the fashion industry.

Todd Decker, her boyfriend of two months—a record for her, as she rarely dated, let alone ever thought of any as ‘keepers’—wasn’t expecting her. She had thought she had one last class at the Fashion Institute, but it had been cancelled.

She was going to surprise him. Tonight was the night.

He had been trying to get her into bed. She had been resisting. Why? She couldn’t put a finger on it. Perhaps she wanted more. Her friends told her she was nuts, that she would lose him. She didn’t want to lose Todd, and she knew after two months he was getting impatient with her refusal to take it to the next level.

She liked his kisses. She was nearly sure he was the ‘special one’ she had been looking for, but she just couldn’t put a finger on her reluctance to take it to the next step. Jump into bed with him, her libido demanded.

At twenty-one she was old enough and mature enough to handle what her mother had called the consequences of sleeping with a man who may not want you the next morning. Would he not want her the next morning? Did it matter? It did, but why—why should it matter? She was living in an age when a woman could be intimate with a man just for pleasure … just for a night. She wanted more, that was why; something in her inner being wanted more, and she knew with a shake of her head what that something was … hidden, dormant … secret.

A tall, beautifully framed mirror hung on the far wall of her bedroom, and she moved to stand in front of it. She blew at the wavy golden bangs that tickled her forehead. She cocked her head, gave her waist-length silky hair another brush, and twirled the shorter curls on either side of her heart-shaped face. She supposed she would do.

Ravena didn’t consider herself stupid about sex and guys. She used to laugh with her friends and say she was a slow-blossoming flower waiting for just the right amount of water and sun.

She knew the general male population considered her hot, and she had to admit she liked the way she looked in the reflection staring back at her. Yup, she told herself, her dress was really eye-catching. However, insecurity nibbled at her mind. What if her inexperience turned him off? What if she got clumsy taking off her clothes? What if … on and on.

She sucked in air. For Rave, this was a really big step. Guys had been coming on to her ever since she was fourteen, but no one had ever interested her before Todd. Her Todd (and he had encouraged her to think of him that way) was big, bold, handsome, ambitious—a keeper. She liked him so much … but did she love him?

Her girlfriends had told her to go for it because it was time. Her best friend Meg had told her she was crazy if she didn’t close the deal with Todd because someone else would. Meg had laughed at her and told her she didn’t need to be ‘in love’ to have a good time.

Her mother had told her to wait until she was ready. Her father had whispered over the phone quietly that he rather thought she should wait until she was in love. Was she ready? Was she in love?

She wasn’t sure, but she did think it was time to find out.

Her heart wanted to do what her dad had told her—fall in love and know it first. She sighed and wished she were with her father roaming the Highlands of Scotland like they always did every summer. She wished she could sit and talk to him; he didn’t get her all crazy like her mother always did.

Another sigh followed this thought. It was because of Todd that she had told her dad she might not be staying the entire summer with him this year. That troubled her as well. She really wanted to return to the Highlands and her father—even more than she wanted to be with Todd. Did that mean she didn’t love Todd?