Blood Wolf (Vintage Collection)

“I’m right here, lass,” Dougal said from the doorway. “Did I hear you’ll be staying in bonny Padraig?”

“Yes,” Isabella said, “if you’ll have me.”

“It’s your castle. Perhaps Damian and I should be asking if you’ll have us?” He smiled, and his friendly eyes crinkled.

“Oh, of course. This is your home. I want you to stay. Both of you.”

“Then we’d be obliged. And we’ll pay whatever rent you think is fair.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. Just keep taking care of the place. That’s all I need.”

“Mighty generous of you lass, but I assure you we’re fully capable of—”

“I won’t hear of it,” Isabella said. “Besides, I just got a job today. At the Lunar Eclipse.”

“Congratulations, then.” Dougal raised his glass of champagne.

“Thank you. And maybe you and your son can help me convince my cousin to stay here as well.”

“We’ll certainly try, won’t we, lad?” Dougal winked at his son.

Damian stood behind Suzanne and pulled her body into his. “Aye. We will at that.”

Suzanne smiled as she felt the tickle of his lips on her neck.

“Oh, by the way,” Isabella said to Dougal, “Clyde needs to turn off the power to your office in the cellar first thing in the morning. It’ll be off for a few days until he gets the whole place up and running.”

“I’ve already logged off for the night,” Dougal said. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Isabella turned to Damian. “I hope this doesn’t cause you any problems.”

Damian lifted his lips from Suzanne’s neck, his husky voice a sweet caress on her skin. “I’m sure I’ll find ways to pass the time, lass.” He brushed his lips against her neck again. “Mo leannan.”

Mo leannan. My lover, he’d called her.

Suzanne couldn’t help herself. Right in front of Isabella and Dougal, she turned around in Damian’s arms, facing him, and captured his beautiful lips with her own.

He lifted her off her feet, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He broke the kiss.

“Save us some dinner.” He returned his mouth to hers as he walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs.

31

Rohricht Telikov yawned. He had just come in from a night run, and his body ached from fatigue.

“Come to bed, Rohr,” called his wife.

“A few minutes, yogodka,” he said. “I need to check the dates on some shipments.”

“I’m hungry,” she said, a sexy whine in her voice.

He smiled. His Elena was insatiable, just the way he liked her. “I’ll take care of you. It won’t be long.”

He logged on to the Internet and decided to quickly check his e-mail before tackling the shipments. Hmm. A new message. He didn’t recognize the name of the sender—Wolfman243. The short message read: “Saw this post and thought it might interest you.”

Rohricht clicked on the link.

Damn.

32

“They’re beautiful together, aren’t they?”

Isabella nodded to Dougal as they sat on the back terrace and watched Suzanne and Damian romping in the courtyard. She chased him, pounced on him. But he was too quick for her. Within seconds, he had her on her back in the grass, and then he was on top of her, kissing her.

“I’ve never seen Damian so happy. I can’t begin to think what he’ll go through when she leaves.”

“She may still decide to stay,” Isabella said. “They’ve been inseparable for nearly four weeks. And now that we have power and all…” She sighed. “I know Clyde took longer than expected, but isn’t it great to have electric light?”

“Aye, lass. But the bloke did something to my system downstairs. I haven’t been able to log on since the power’s been back up.”

“Hmm. Did you ask Clyde about it?”

“Aye. He’s says I need some newfangled cable or some such nonsense. He’s coming tomorrow to install it.” Dougal chuckled. “If Merlina could see us now.”

Isabella shook her head. “I know next to nothing about Merlina. I wish I’d had the chance to get to know her.”

“She was a remarkable woman.” Dougal closed his eyes. “Remarkable. Very kind and giving. Loving. Damian was usually writing, so Merlina and I would bring a glass of wine out here during the warmer evenings and talk. She told me all about you. She was like a mother to Damian. She doted on him. Couldn’t do enough for him. I’ll always love her for that.”

“What happened to Damian’s mother?”

“My wife, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never been married. Damian’s not my natural son.”

“Oh.” Isabella took a sip of her chardonnay. “I had no idea.”

“Hasn’t Damian told Suzanne?”

“If he has, she hasn’t told me.”

“It’s a bit of a sad story, you see. Damian was abandoned as a wee bairn. I found him in an alley in Glasgow, nearly starved.”

Isabella’s hands whipped to her mouth. “That’s horrible!”

“Aye. Normally, I would have taken him to the authorities, but…well, this will sound very strange to you.”

“I’m a witch, Dougal. Nothing sounds strange to me.”

“Aye. Maybe you will understand. Merlina did.” He cleared his throat. “The truth is, when I picked up the babe, he seemed to speak to me. Not in words, of course. But he seemed to say that I was his destiny. That he knew I would take care of him. That he would die otherwise. At that moment, he became my son.”