“Aren’t you going to answer me?”
“No.”
6
Suzanne squirmed with unease in the passenger seat as Isabella drove into Padraig. How had the Beetle gotten back to the castle? She’d ask Damian later. No doubt he’d be waiting for her in their room.
Their room.
Suzanne shuddered.
“You’re quiet,” Isabella said. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Actually, yes.” Suzanne cleared her throat. “I went into town last night.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, after dark.”
“You went into a strange town by yourself after dark?” Isabella shook her head. “That isn’t like you, Suze.”
Suzanne jerked her head suddenly. It wasn’t like her. Not at all. What on earth had she been thinking?
“Oh, Goddess,” Isabella said.
“What?”
“It was the lunar energy. I should have warned you.”
“About what?”
“When you drew in the energy of the Goddess the other night, you drew in her power also. It makes you feel invincible.”
“But I didn’t feel invincible. I just didn’t really think about what I was doing.”
“It’s not conscious, Suze. The first time I drew down the moon, I went sky diving the next day.”
“But you’re terrified of heights.”
“See what I mean?”
“Lord.”
“At least you’re all right. We can be thankful—”
“Uh, actually—”
“Dear Goddess, what happened?” Isabella turned her head, looked at Suzanne, and then turned back abruptly to keep her eyes on the road.
“I’m fine. Really. But I did run in to a bit of trouble.”
Isabella pulled the Beetle over to the side of the road. “Tell me.”
As the words poured from Suzanne’s mouth, she found herself weeping. How had she managed to get herself into such a horrible position?
Isabella stroked her arm.
“Thank goodness you weren’t hurt. The power of the moon must have helped you get away. It doesn’t make you invincible, but it does give you a little boost that you might not otherwise have. But you still need to use common sense.”
Suzanne shook her head. “It wasn’t the Goddess. It was Dougal’s son.”
“What?”
“He rescued me. He… From out of nowhere, he came on a Harley.”
“Damian?”
“Yes. Have you met him yet?”
“No, but I’ve talked to Dougal about him. In fact, Dougal talks of nothing but him. He’s a doting daddy.”
Suzanne said nothing.
“There’s still a simple explanation. The energy of the Goddess called to Damian, and he—”
Suzanne shook her head. “He said he smelled me.”
“Pardon?”
“He smelled that I was in danger, and he knew exactly where to find me.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“Neither have I, but truthfully, I didn’t much care at the time. I still don’t. I’m just thankful he showed up.”
“So am I. Goodness.” Isabella turned the key in the ignition and started the engine. “I see now why you didn’t want to go to town today. We can go back if you want.”
Back. It was tempting. But Damian would be there, and Suzanne wasn’t up to facing him just yet. “No. I’ll be fine. We need to get to know this town anyway since we’ll be here for a while.”
Isabella nodded “And you need to report what happened last night. Or have you already?”
“No.”
“Suze, you know better than that.”
She did know better than that. But for now, she wanted to forget it. She didn’t respond to Isabella.
“Oh Suze, I’m so sorry I brought you here,” Isabella said. “I wanted to get you away from the memories of Wade, but I’ve only made things worse.”
“None of this is your fault, Bell.”
“I should have thought to warn you about the power of the moon. Especially here. The energy was magnified somehow. I’ve never sensed anything like it. If anything had happened to you, I’d never have forgiven myself.”
“Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
“Yes.” Isabella didn’t seem convinced as she maneuvered the car back onto the road. “At least you got to meet Damian. Tell me what he’s like.”
Suzanne stared at her cousin. Where to begin?
7
When Damian had finished moving his belongings back into his old room, he found his father in the study they shared. They had, unbeknownst to Merlina, wired a room in the cellar with electricity for the sole purpose of using the Internet.
“Anything new?” Damian grabbed a can of soda out of the small refrigerator plugged into the wall.
“I’m afraid not,” Dougal said. “I was just checking the web site and the e-mail account. No one has replied to our posts.”
“Damn.”
“I’m sorry, lad.”
Damian let out his breath and furrowed his brow. “Our posts aren’t specific enough, Da.”
“We’ve been through this before. If we get any more specific, we risk attracting every lunatic in the British Isles. And the white coats may come after us as well.”
“Aye, well—” Damian paced around the small room. “I need to talk to you.”
“What is it?”
“A few things. First of all, last night, I had a run in with a few bloodsuckers in Padraig.”
Dougal shook his head. “Did you never listen to Merlina and me? You know better than to mess with those creatures.”
“I know, I know.”
“What were you thinking?”
“It’s a long story. I had to go. I was needed.”