Earth Enchanted Page 13

  She awoke in Jack’s arms as he carried her up the stairs. She could hear the rain. She smiled up at him. He set her on her feet at her bedroom door. How many times had he carried Sissy up those same stairs?

  Jack took her hands in his and gently kissed them. “I love you, Olivia.”

  She smiled. “I know and I love you. Don’t worry about regrets, Jack. We won’t have any between us, no matter what.” Thunder rumbled and caused the windowpanes to shudder as the light show raged in the sky. They crossed into the room hand in hand. Her gasp caught in her throat as he leaned close and whispered in her ear.

  “Come to bed, Liv.” As if on cue, the electricity picked just that moment to go out. Every candle she had bought burned and lit up the room. The scents drugged her senses. There were rose petals on the pillows.

  Liv very nearly ran from the room. “When did you do this? Haven’t you a care that you might have burned down your fine house, Jack?”

  “Not afraid of a little romance, are you?”

  “I’m terrified and not ashamed to admit it. It’s too much, is all.”

  He nudged the door shut and flipped the lock out of habit. She jumped like a cornered rabbit at the clicking sound. He grinned at her. “I’m locking out the world, not locking us in, unless you’re having second thoughts?”

  “No, I love you, Jack. There are no second thoughts about that. All this is…” Thunder boomed out and made her jump again. “Nerves I guess.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “Shh, close your eyes, Olivia.”

  She sighed and obeyed.

  “There is nothing here you don’t want to be, a blank page. Fill it however you want.”

  “You. I just want you.” She wound her arms around his neck, let her fingers run through his hair. Her blouse fell on the floor with a sigh. His shirt was carelessly tossed in the corner.

  “You have me. You’ll always have me.”

  “Will I?”

  “Yes. Come and be with me.” She tumbled onto the quilt covered in rose petals and felt his weight as he followed her. Her heart was lost to him, her soul indentured forever, now she gave her body to Jack as well.

  Chapter 15

  Washington, DC

  Nicolette pulled her sleek blond hair into a ponytail and wrapped a fuzzy black holder around it for contrast. She peered into the wide mirror in her hotel bathroom. She looked pale and was more than a little tired after the flight out of Paris, but that couldn’t be allowed to get in the way. She had a job to do. She slicked the barely pink gloss over her full lips in lieu of actual lipstick.

  Dressed like a tourist, Nicolette knew she looked as though she were off to see the sights of a foreign country. It was exactly the guise she was going for. She took a small purse from the dresser and added the gloss and a manual camera to its contents. With a miniature video camera sewn into the outside of the bag, she could walk around the Smithsonian all day and never cause suspicion or take a single picture and still have all she needed, all but for Christophe. She was going to remedy that now. She closed and locked the door and made her way to the elevator. He had the penthouse suite of course, only the best for Christophe LeFleur. He sure is an arrogant bastard, she thought, with a smile on her face and ideas in her head. She was tired of slinking around museums in the night. It was time. Time to settle down, and she had put her target square on his forehead.

  The elevator hummed on its flight up toward Christophe’s suite. Her companion for the little ride was an aging man at least sixty if he was a day. Balding of course, with a suit that screamed “I love the IRS” and a briefcase stuffed to brimming with papers. When the car had almost reached the floor, she sent him a saucy smile and mumbled a suggestion in French that would have made his knees go weak. If he could have understood it, she might have been in a compromising situation, but the gaga look he gave her meant the language and accent had tripped his heart rate. The doors shut on Mr. Accountant’s priceless look as she stepped up to the penthouse door. Nicolette knocked hard twice and waited.

  * * * *

  Devin was up early trying to decide his next move. He had tried to see, even just a little, into future events. Neither basic power nor spell had helped him, and he was more than a little frustrated with both and current events at the moment. He really didn’t want to steal that necklace. Something in his gut was telling him to back off. His fiery hair was unkempt and curling at his neck now, which irritated the hell out of him. He raked long fingers through it and gave the wall a dark look at the thought of getting a haircut. He wore a pair of black jeans unsnapped at the waist and hadn’t bothered with a shirt. His mood was foul, and being so, he was enjoying brooding and scowling at the empty room.

  Some sick fool thought it wise to knock on his door at six o’clock in the morning. Idiots, he was just irritated enough to forget his creed to harm none. He hadn’t ever broken it. Not really, but he wasn’t above bending it when it suited him. He flung the door open and scowled at a smiling Nicolette. Perfect. Just perfect!

  “Hello, lover. Miss me?” She launched herself at him, and closed the door by plastering Devin against it. “I flew in a little early, Christophe. I hope you don’t mind.” Mind? All thoughts drained out of his head except for one. Hell, why should he mind? One hop and she had her long legs wrapped around his waist and her mouth hotly fixed on his. His mind fizzled and he forgot why he had to stay away from her as they slid to the floor.

  * * * *

  Devin greeted the giant African elephant that stood in the rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History with a kindred spirit. I know just how you feel, pal. We’re both out of our time and neither of us can get to where we belong. I at least am in my own element. He would have liked to have just wandered through the Smithsonian’s many buildings for the sake of knowledge and an enjoyable day, but he was here to work. They made straight for the gems. There were enough sparkles to blind a rich man. Jewels with history kept safe behind glass and alarms. Devin noted the placement and listened to the tour guide’s banter and tried to act like the tourist he wasn’t. Nicolette was the one causing the problem. The guide had started to stare at her.

  They worked for another four hours, discreetly taking pictures and making mental notes on the necklace itself and on its placement in the museum. Devin noticed a change in her but thought better than to comment. He was beginning to think it would be easier for him to try to switch the necklace out in the middle of the day by himself, than at night. If he had five minutes alone, he could vanish and replace it before anyone else was the wiser. He had other worries on his mind, like how he was going to recreate something as complicated as Marie Louise’s necklace. Sure, he’d have the pictures and his mental notes, but when he’d seen it, he had known right off it would take a lot of power to accomplish the task. Not to mention concentration and time alone and that of course meant he was going to have to shove Nicolette on a plane back to Paris. She wouldn’t like it either and he wasn’t feeling up to hearing her sulk. He wondered if Arianne would be as much a bother as Nicolette. She’d probably spend her snits thinking of new ways to use her power to torment him. He shuddered off that thought.

  He had bigger concerns at the moment. After a thousand years, Daemon’s spell was unraveling. Devin had two ways of seeing it. He wanted the end to come so he would no longer be held prisoner in this half existence. He wanted it to go on forever so he wouldn’t have to be tethered to that woman. It was like having a root canal. It has to be done, but it was one of those things rather forgotten than dealt with. For the first time he was afraid to use his magic and afraid he might not be able to.

  * * * *

  Liv woke to the pounding rain and the crack of lightning. The storm had yet to war itself out from the night before. She was still tangled in Jack’s arms, her body warm from his. Daylight was a gray blanket outside the windows, so she cuddled back into him.

  She didn’t bother to eye the clock. From the light she could tell they couldn’t have been asleep m
ore than a few hours. It wasn’t as if they had to jump up and go to work or anywhere. In fact, due to the crazy people who seemed to take delight in shooting at her, they were forced to stay indoors. It sounded like a perfect plan to her

  He shifted next to her. “I can hear your mind waking up, Liv. Yes, I still love you, even in the morning.” He tousled her already horribly messy hair. “Even though you look awful.”

  She laughed, rolled into him, and scrubbed a hand over his chin. “I love you too, which is the only thing saving you from my wrath for insult. You look a little worse for the wear yourself, handsome. Mmm, it’s still raining.”

  “I know. Do you know what the best thing about a rainy morning is?”

  She slid one leg around his waist when he trailed a hand down her back.

  “We could go back to sleep and take advantage of having nothing to do on a lazy rainy day.”

  “Um hmm, I don’t think so.” And he kissed her.

  Chapter 16

  Washington, DC

  Devin had the individual diamonds created, all ninety-four it would take to make them. Finally. All he had to do now was assemble the necklaces. That would prove to be a daunting task. He had to make two of them. He checked the pictures and his notes one last time, ever cautious and looking for mistakes. He was exhausted. Still, there was no time to put off the task. He couldn’t be certain how much longer he would hold the magic.

  Carefully setting each stone took him another meticulous hour. When he finally finished, the sun was coming up outside the hotel windows. Weak and drained from the amount of magic it had taken out of him, he placed the copies in a velvet box, without a second glance, and slid it under the head of the bed and slept. Dreams wouldn’t be an escape for him tonight. Past, present and future entwined together in his mind and tormented…

  Castle McLoch stood a long way from the battlefield where a still much younger and definitely less wise Devin longed for the sight of its high stone walls. MacGavin, the dirty cur—laird of the land lying north of his clan’s—along with at least a hundred of his kinsmen, had launched an attack on McLoch land at daybreak this same day. Caught by surprise, more than half Devin’s numbers had been cut down and lay strewn about the ground they had sought to protect. The laird, his father, had been among those killed. Bloody, bruised, and heartbroken with so few left of his clansmen, defeat sought to claim him, but he fought like a lion. He sliced through each man who came close to his blade with the ferocity of the desperate and determined. He now stood alone, bloodied and broken, but not beaten, never. He was McLoch and he was forever.

  His body declared mutiny at the abuse its owner gave. Devin’s blade fell to ground, slicing a gash across his palm. His father had been felled. Laird but a day and he would die on his own land. MacGavin stood above him, his own sword held high and sure, ready to take his life.

  “You die this day, Laird McLoch,” he said mockingly as he brought the blade ever closer, slow and torturing. “All you have will be mine. Those of my blood will claim your land and holdings, kill your kinsmen, and rape your women. Now you must die knowing it was you who failed to stand in my way.” At that moment the vision spun in his mind, two women, his cousin Daemon and powerful magic. Three elements trapped and spinning together, Devin knew he completed them and was the fourth, the Fire. He felt a force surge through him like nothing had before or again since. Devin couldn’t stop the fire raging in his veins. Not bothering to try, he rode the primal wave of energy and exhilaration that had MacGavin dropping his sword and shouting, “Demon, changeling! Stay back. The Devil take you!”

  Devin glowed like a thousand candles lit all at once. Fire sprang from within his cupped hands and created a ring of flame around all he sought to save. Yet to him the flames were as cool as a mountain spring. This was his gift, his element. He wasn’t without defenses yet. How could he have forgotten this? “The Devil won’t have me, MacGavin. Ring of fire, strong and sure, I entrust you to endure. From that which seeks to do harm in deed, shield all that has been charged to me. By my blood and fire I seal this circle. As I will, so mote it be.” Every last MacGavin ran from him and the horrifying wall of fire, but not before it licked out to burn them to ashes. None of his men had survived to celebrate the victory.

  His magic hadn’t failed him, but when the rush he’d felt withered and died, so did the wall of fire. He’d have to remember to thank his cousin when next he saw him. Wearily he picked up his fallen sword, much heavier now with fatigue and grief than when he’d proudly charged into battle behind his father, and trudged toward home. The fire, which he’d created, burned a blackened circle around his holdings. Try though he did, he couldn’t breach the shield of his own making. Nowhere in his spell had he blocked his own entry, nor the leaving of those who dwelled there, only those who would bring harm. Maybe when Daemon cast his spell, it had triggered an adverse effect with his? He was as dead to his clan as their fallen laird. There was no way to undo the spell. He’d lost his father, family, and home all in the space of a few short hours…

  Devin woke some time later, hollowed out and empty. The emotions of the young man walked around in the much older skin of a man who had seen and done more in a thousand years than could bear remembrance. He remembered his long ago spoken words, blood sealed. He was McLoch and he was forever.

  Devin noted the time. He hadn’t been asleep long, but the memory of the dream probably wouldn’t let him go back to sleep. He was in Washington. He could find plenty to do and take his mind off the past. Take a day off for once, play tourist. If he wanted company, he could find Nicolette in her room. He didn’t think so. He wanted no one, certainly not her. She struck mortal fear in him. Commitment, he guessed, did things like that to a man, especially when the man was anything but committed. Today he just needed to be alone. Caution had him gathering the necklace box and securing it to himself, before leaving.

  The museum was almost quiet. The weekday and early time attributed to the fact. He passed barely anyone before entering the hall of gems. Then it had only been a group of schoolchildren on a field trip. Their teacher herded them quickly on and he gave a little wave as they went by. Teachers hadn’t looked like that when he’d had lessons to learn.

  The hall was empty and slightly darkened to allow small spotlights to focus on the gems themselves. Devin paused only a moment to look at the Hope. Rumor had it the stone was cursed. Rumor was right. He could feel the darkness surrounding it that most wouldn’t have been able to. He gave the sparkling glass case a wide berth and continued looking around, though he had pictures in spades from the day before when he and Nicolette had cased it.

  He could have waited for his team. Maybe in the end when he looked back on it he’d decide he should have, but at the moment he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. He was virtually alone. He had passage to be there, instead of breaking and entering, which is what it would take in a night job. It was so simple, he chided himself for not seeing the possibilities before. He needn’t even deal with the security. A child’s spell and he’d have want he wanted. No one would be the wiser. There was no way for Gueraldi, or the museum for that matter, to tell the necklaces apart, unless they had them dated. By that time, he intended to be long gone, so far gone he’d be someone else.

  A flick of the wrist and he had the copy in his hands. Quick. He said the spell in his mind, felt the rush of power, seconds later Marie Louise’s necklace rested in his pocket. He checked out the dinosaur bones, flirted with the waitress in the cafeteria. Then he strolled out of the Smithsonian with a pocket full of history.

  “I have the necklace.” Devin spoke into the phone receiver in lovely accented English. Once out of the museum he had wasted no time in getting back to his room, on his own power. “How would you like it delivered, Gueraldi?”

  “How quickly you work when under the right incentive, LeFleur. I’d love to know how you copied such a magnificent piece in so little time. You couldn’t possibly have put a team in place that qu
ickly. It makes me wonder if you do have it at all.”

  Devin stroked the center pendant where it rested in the velvet case waiting for him to decide the best way to use it. “Oh, I have it. As to how, that will just have to stay my little secret for now, though I am anxious to be rid of it.”

  “Very well, but if you’ve crossed me it will be the last thing you do in this life. I don’t want fingers pointing toward me at the moment. I want it delivered by messenger this time. Ryan Corrigan will sign for it.”

  “Of course.”

  “Wait one day to deliver it.” Gueraldi cut Devin off without further instruction.

  * * * *

  Nicolette paced the hallway outside Devin’s penthouse suite and punched her fist into her palm angrily. What she wanted to do was plant that fist right through Christophe’s pretty nose. Jean had checked out and was headed for a flight to Paris. The rest of the team was doing the same. He’d called her room and informed her he was cutting her out, bluntly. The deal was off. See you when I see you. That had been an hour ago. It had taken her that long to key down the rage roiling through her. How dare he? Now here she was, waiting on Christophe. She was sick of it. It was like she’d been nothing to him. Now he couldn’t have the decency to answer the damn knock on the door. About the time she decided to punch the door instead, he opened it.

  His eyes still held that glassy faraway look they took on when he performed serious magic. Devin hated interruptions and that spell had been important. “What do you want, Nicolette? You should be at the airport, instead of bothering me.”

  Better than a slap, his words knocked her off her feet. She got up in his face and spewed more than a few lewd suggestions in bright rolling French. “You bastard! You think you can do this to me? You can’t just cut me out like that, after what we’ve been to each other?”