Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
The wind whipped viciously at the gravesite later that morning as Nora Brown was laid to rest. Matt’s shoulders were hunched as he sobbed while the minister spoke. Kirsi stood as still as a standing stone, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Mason opted to stay at the back, giving those who knew the family an opportunity to get closer.
Rowen remained with him, along with Sabryn, Kurt, Finn, Carlyle, and Song.
Mason scanned the crowd discreetly. Midway through the funeral, Rowen nudged him on his left side.
He looked her way to see her watching something behind him.
Mason followed her gaze to find Callum standing fifty yards back next to a tombstone, watching the funeral.
When the service finished, Callum was nowhere to be found. No one mentioned noticing him, nor did it seem as if they were looking for him either. Mason looked toward the gravesite where Kirsi held her father up as they lingered.
“They’ll be fine,” Carlyle said.
Mason briefly met his gaze as they began walking toward their vehicles. “How do you know?”
“Callum is near.”
So, they had seen him. Or maybe everyone realized the lengths Callum would go to for Kirsi and her family.
Sabryn added, “Rhona and Balladyn will check on them, too.”
Rowen put her hand on his arm and slowed. He halted beside her as she waited until the others were out of earshot.
“Do you mind if we linger for a moment?” she asked.
“Not at all. Is something wrong?”
“No, I just want a moment.”
“Would you rather be alone?”
She shook her head as the wind whipped her hair around her. “No.” She faced him, her eyes closed. “I wish you could hear the flowers.”
Mason saw wildflowers here and there, but there was a rather varied array of cut flowers near the gravesite. “What do they sound like?”
“Each has a melody.”
“Like a song?” He hadn’t expected that. He’d always assumed they communicated with words.
Her lips curved softly for a heartbeat. “Exactly that. The smaller the flower, the higher the note. Trees are the deepest. Today, though, they sing a sad song.”
“For Nora?”
“Everything is connected on this isle. The magic is within the ground and flows with the water. It swirls in the air and moves with the clouds. It’s in the Druids who call it home.
” Her lids lifted, and she speared him with her pale blue eyes.
“They know each Druid. And they mourn those who have moved on to the next stage.”
He brushed away the single tear that fell onto her cheek. “They liked Nora.”
“Very much. They like you, too.”
Mason felt himself grinning. “That’s nice to hear.”
Suddenly, she winced, her entire body shuddering.
“What is it?” he asked worriedly.
She put her fingers to her temple. “Someone was trying to get in my head.”
“The evil?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to tell. I felt them there, but I didn’t hear anything.”
He glanced around to see that nearly everyone had left the cemetery. “Perhaps it wasn’t trying to say something.”
“It was. I could tell.”
“Are you purposefully keeping it out?”
She pulled some hair out of her eyes and turned to face the wind. “Not that I’m aware of. I think our time is up, though.”
He wasn’t ready. Even with all the planning and discussion, Mason still wasn’t convinced that Rowen using herself as bait was the right thing to do.
If there was a right thing to do. They were all in danger just standing there, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something could go horribly wrong and he might lose Rowen forever.
Not that she was his in any sense of the word.
Before he knew it, they were in the vehicle, driving to the cottage. Rowen sent out a message to everyone that it was time to put the trap in place for Edie. Everyone knew their roles.
“It’s going to be all right,” Rowen said.
There was a pit in his stomach that said otherwise.
Mason couldn’t believe she was reassuring him when she would be the one coming face-to-face with a foe.
He tried to come up with reasons that might change her mind, but each one sounded more absurd than the one before.
All too soon, they pulled up to the cottage.
“I should’ve driven slower,” he said as he put the vehicle in park.
“There’s no stopping what has to happen.”
“We don’t know if everyone is in place yet.”
She turned her head to him. “They will be.”
“Take your time changing.”
Rowen flashed him a quick smile before grabbing her bag from the back seat.
He had wanted things to go down at the manor, where they had transferred their belongings, but Rowen had been adamantly against it.
Everyone assured him they would keep Rowen safe.
That should make him feel better, but it didn’t.
Mason was two steps behind Rowen through the front door.
She immediately went to her room to change.
He tugged off his tie and tossed it onto the kitchen table before shrugging out of the suit jacket and laying it over the back of a chair.
As he unbuttoned the neck of his dress shirt, he looked out the kitchen window.
All he could see was sheep and a cottage in the distance.
It was barely after noon, but he poured himself a glass of whisky and tossed it back.
Rowen wasn’t going to fight Edie alone. He and the others were there to step in when the time came.
They knew how Edie fought, and he would take his cues from them.
Sabryn and Song had shown Rowen a few moves that she, thankfully, picked up quickly.
She wasn’t defenseless, but she wasn’t battle-ready either.
Even with all his experience, Mason didn’t consider himself prepared.
He turned when he heard a noise and found Rowen standing behind him, dressed in jeans and a white sweater.
Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face.
He walked to her, stopping short of taking her in his arms, even though he craved the feel of her.
It would wound him too deeply if he tried to embrace her and she pushed him away.
So, he kept his hands to himself, though it was nearly unbearable. He knew how easily she fit against him, how good she felt in his arms. He had witnessed her pleasure as she writhed and shivered as she climaxed. He had kissed every inch of skin, learned every valley, tasted every peak.
She had given him a single night.
And he would relive it every night hereafter, suspended in a kind of purgatory.
“I’m going to be fine,” Rowen assured him.
Her voice was steady, her words firm. Yet her mouth was pinched, and her face was pale.
She was scared—as anyone in their right mind would be.
If she were to come out of this alive and unharmed, he needed to be her confidant, give her the words she needed to hear. Even if he didn’t quite believe them.
“That you will,” Mason replied with a nod. “The plan is solid. The others have been through this several times already. You and I may be new to this conflict, but you have seasoned warriors watching over you. And me,” he added, grinning.
Her mouth eased into a smile. “I’m pretty sure you can hold your own.”
“Just remember, while it may seem like you’re alone, we’re here. I’m the closest, and I’ll get to you, no matter what. You understand that, right? I will get to you.”
She nodded, her gaze locked with his. “I know you will.”
“You’re strong. Trust yourself and your magic, and all will be well.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Unable to help himself, he grasped her shoulders and ran his palms down her arms until he held her hands in his. “Without a doubt.”
She didn’t push him away. Instead, she gripped him tightly. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d be,” he told her.
She inhaled before releasing him and turning toward the back door.
He followed, fighting the urge to keep her inside.
At the door, she turned and threw her arms around him.
Mason enfolded her in an embrace and closed his eyes as he held her close.
They stayed there for a long minute, locked together.
She was the first to pull away. Rowen looked up at him and brought his head down to hers. Their lips met, and heat curled through his body. The kiss was slow and languid, filled with desire and need. And tinged with regret.
For what they had shared.
For what could have been.
For what would never be.
Then she stepped out of his arms, the moment over as quickly as it had begun.
“You don’t have to do this,” he called. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
She backed up another step, her hand on the doorhandle. “I have to do this. As you said, the plan is solid, and you have my back.”
“Always.”
Rowen offered him one more fleeting smile, and then she was gone. He reached the door as it closed behind her, his hands on the wood, fighting the need, the demand, to follow her. He pressed his head to the door and squeezed his eyes shut, the knot in his stomach tightening painfully.
“You’d better come back to me,” he whispered.
If Edie hurt her, Mason would rip her apart painfully, dragging out the agony until she begged for death.
Somehow, he found the strength to straighten and place the call. “She’s in play.”
“Everyone is ready. Balladyn is veiled nearby, watching everything,” Carlyle said.
“If anything happens to her—”
“It won’t,” Carlyle said over him. “We know what to do. Trust us.”
Mason clenched his jaw. “I am. Otherwise, I would’ve talked her out of it.”