Torment (Craving 2)

“Ups?” I asked.

“Grown-ups. Don’t you know anything where you come from?” She pulled a face.

I laughed. “I guess not as much as you, Rosie doll,” I said as I bent to hug her.

“Do you know how to get there?” she asked. “I think I should come with you and help you find Devin the Vampire. My mother said he is supposed to be a very nice vampire. I would like to meet him. I have never met a vampire before.”

“No, Rosie. Your mother will note your absence and get worried. We don’t want her to worry, right?”

She sighed. “Right. It was very nice meeting you, Bobbie. You better hurry now, I sense movement. I sense the Elfin…driving their stupid trucks. They won’t cross the border to get to the foothills, but they will take the highway as far as they can and then sneak onto our mountain. They break the rules more than we do,” she said, and then put her fingers into the air. “I better leave now.” She snapped her fingers and was gone.

I went into my purple cloud and immediately cloaked it as I traveled. When I ‘poof’ somewhere, I have to imagine where I want to go, and so I thought of the foothills in the distance. I wasn’t sure it would take me that far, but maybe, as my Shama was sure getting stronger every time I used magic.

When I emerged from my now invisible smoke, I stood on the peak of what appeared, for all intents and purpose, to be a mountain. Okay, all right, Devin, where are you?

~ Nineteen ~

FINDING DEVIN PROVED TO BE easier than I thought. I spent about thirty minutes wandering around looking for a cave when it dawned on me to use magic feelers.

Devin and I have a connection, which makes it easier to ‘feel’ for him and track his scent at the same time.

But before I actually found his cave, his strong husky voice swooped in and made me feel alive.

“Bobbie lass,” he said.

I turned and dove into his arms.

“Och aye…lass,” he said, and held me tightly, kissed my head, my ears, my face, my lips, then whispered my name again.

“Devin,” was all I was able to say as he then crushed me so tightly I nearly couldn’t breathe.

“I picked up on yer scent, sweetheart…it was like being swept into paradise. Ye cannae know what yer voice, yer face, yer scent does to me.” He then pushed himself away from me while he still held my shoulders. “But what are ye doing here?”

“I have it. I have the way for us to return to MacLeod together,” I told him excitedly. “It is all so simple…”

And then, disaster.

“Take them,” we heard, and looked to find Rana in a military uniform with a platoon of Elfin soldiers surrounding us.

“Rana,” Devin said quietly.

“Are you wondering how we knew where to look?” she said superiorly, and I wanted to zap her into hell, and did, in fact, raise my hand with magical intent.

“Tomin…” Devin said resignedly. “When we first became friends, I told him how I had managed to brave the elements by living in a cave and hunting the foothills.” He stared at Rana. “Did your father give me away?”

“No, but Loli had overheard the two of you talking once when you mentioned your time in the foothills. Loli gave you away.”

Devin looked at me. “I am sorry, love…I had forgotten that I talked about…”

“Shut up,” Rana interrupted. She motioned to her soldiers, who came towards us with chains and cuffs.

I should just whisk Devin away, but I tried reason instead. “This is silly, Rana. I am not Draoidheil. Yes, I am a witch, but not from Trinity. And, by the way, do you actually think your cuffs and chains will hold us?”

“They have been spelled by a witch…a Draoidheil Witch who wants to avoid war. She agreed to help us if we would stand down and not attack their village,” Rana said.

“Ah, of course,” I said, and then went into my Shama and spoke telepathically to Devin. “No worries.”

He frowned. “Get out of here, lass…do it for me. Go…do that thing you do…and go.”