CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
Two bottles of wine were empty. Sam sat with Brie and Tabby at the trestle table, a small fire lazily licking the wood in the hearth.
The men had left them to their own devices.
Sam knew Ian had gone to a guest chamber, and she hoped he was calmer now.
She had spent at least an hour bringing her sister and cousin up to speed.
Tabby and Brie knew every relevant detail of the past few days.
They knew that Ian had stolen the page of illusion, and that it was not his first theft.
She’d told them about Hemmer and the monk, and they knew that the monk had been his guard for the last ten years of his captivity.
And Sam had told them that Ian had revealed that he’d stashed the page at Loch Awe in the present. Now, Tabby reached for Sam’s hand.
It was so great to be back together, Sam thought. She looked at Brie. “I have to recover the page and hand it over to Nick, which will stop some of this madness.
“Can you really betray Ian?” Tabby asked softly.
Sam tensed. “Can you read minds now, or do you still know me inside and out?”
Tabby smiled. “No, Sam, I can’t read minds, except for Guy’s. But I do know you as well as I ever have. You haven’t told us everything, have you?”
Sam was rueful. Tabby suspected the truth. She glanced at Brie and sighed. “Okay, Maclean is hot. I caved. I laid Maclean.”
“Sam!” Tabby gave her the best schoolteacher stare she possessed.
Sam smiled then. “Am I made?”
“It’s obvious that you and Ian have teamed up—he has your back and you have his. You used to protect us that way. Now you’re fighting for him that way,” Tabby said.
“And he was so worried about you,” Brie interjected. “Not to mention that he’s still really upset about what happened at the Cathedral.”
He’d been worried about her. He’d leapt time to rescue her—again. They’d fled together—he’d healed her twice. What did that all mean? Sam reached for the wine and realized both bottles were empty.
Tabby stilled her hand. “Underneath the anger and despair, he is a good man,” she said.
Sam looked at her. That was what Brie had said, a day or so ago.
“I know. He comes across as a total jerk—wealthy, arrogant and unbelievably self-centered. But I’ve seen the truth.
” She spoke slowly, choosing her words with care.
“He was in demonic captivity for sixty-six years. He suffered unspeakably. I’m afraid to think about what they did to him.
Those wounds remain and they’re raw. I think he suffers from flashbacks, from nightmares.
You’re right—he lives with despair.” She was grim.
“The arrogance, the scorn, the indifference and even the selfishness, it’s all a facade, so we will never know how fractured he is, how frightened, how hurt. ”
Tabby’s eyes were wide. “You care about him,” she said softly.
“I hope not!” Sam exclaimed uncomfortably. “Not the way you mean, anyway!”
Her sister and cousin looked at her.
“Okay, I do care, but not that way! Damn it. It all started when I began to realize what he’s been through. I fought the compassion, I really did. But no one should ever have to suffer what he has—and it’s not even over! That damned monk is back!”
Tabby and Brie exchanged glances, smiling.
“Nothing is funny, guys. The monk needs to pay. Ian needs payback, and can you blame him? I think peace will follow, and then he can heal. Of course, stealing the page of illusion and refusing to hand it over to Nick doesn’t exactly lay the groundwork for a peaceful life.
So I guess that’s where I come in.” Sam paused.
“Maybe you’re meant to be the one to bring him peace,” Brie said. “The way I brought Aidan to salvation. He’s certainly gone out of his way for you.”
Ian had gone out of his way for her, many times, but Brie was wrong. “This isn’t a karmic love connection!”
Brie smiled.
“Can you really go behind his back and hand over the page to Nick?” Tabby asked quietly.
“I hate the idea, but there’s no other choice,” Sam said quickly. “It will save our lives.”
“And what will that do to your relationship?” Tabby seemed worried.
Sam started. “Whoa! Didn’t you hear anything I just said?
We don’t have a ‘relationship.’ We’re allies, but we’re still rivals.
We may be lovers, but it’s not the real deal, Tab, like you and Macleod.
It’s not even close. He’ll be pissed as all hell at me.
We’ll have great make-up sex. We’ll vanquish Hemmer and the monk. And then we’ll go our separate ways.”
Tabby didn’t respond.
Sam flushed, uncomfortable. “This is just a case for me. There’ll be other assignments and lots more war. Eventually this will be an interesting memory…if that.”
“Wow,” Brie said. “You have your life all charted out.”
Sam looked at her.
Brie just shrugged. “You’ve never bothered with compassion for anyone other than me or Tabby, and of course Allie.
I don’t think this will be as easy as you think.
Ian reminds me so much of Aidan when he took me hostage.
He’s meant for great things, I just know it.
But he can’t achieve his destiny until he heals.
I don’t think you will find it easy to walk away, Sam, not when he needs you. ”
“Is that your romantic nature speaking, or have you seen something I should know about?”
“Ian has white power,” Brie explained. “The gods will want him to use it to protect the Innocent!”
Sam stared. “Do you know that for certain?”
“I’m sure of it, but not because of a vision,” Brie said. “I just know it.”
Sam tried to imagine Ian as a Master. It was hard to do. She knew that if he ever took those vows, he’d fight evil his way—flying solo and acting as indifferent as possible about it.
Tabby touched her. “Sam, has it ever occurred to you that if he can get past his past, he might have a very different future? I think you two are peas in a pod. Aren’t you his flip side, in a way?”
“What?”
“You come across as arrogant, indifferent and tough as nails. But it’s all a facade—one that began when Mother was murdered.”
“Are you crazy? Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Why would my pointing out that you shut down your heart the day she died infuriate you?” Tabby wasn’t perturbed. “I always wondered if you’d ever come to grips with her murder.”
“I have come to grips with it. I learned that being soft is for suckers and for victims. Mom was a helluva witch, but in the end, she was just another victim.” Sam breathed hard. “Life sucks, doesn’t it? I sure as hell learned how to be strong that day and I have no regrets.”
“I think you can be strong and compassionate without being a sucker or a victim.” Tabby put her arm around her. “I love you. I’m glad you care about Ian. He needs you—and you need him.”
Sam pulled away and stood. Was she crazy?
“You don’t get it, Tabby. Let’s back up.
No, let’s start over! We’re only having sex.
This isn’t love. It isn’t even friendship.
” An odd pang went through her, as if she wanted what she was denying, which was absurd.
“We’re not even on the same side! And we are not the flip side of one another!
Right now, we’re partners, but only because the die landed that way.
He’s out for number one and I’m an HCU team player.
This is a moment in time for us. A brief moment, one that will pass.
” She paused to take a breath. “I love you guys. And that is the extent of my romantic nature.”
Tabby stood, too. “Okay, Sam, if you say so.”
Sam hated it when Tabby became that know-it-all-schoolteacher, speaking to her as if she were an ignorant child.
“I think she doth protest too much,” Brie murmured.
Sam realized she’d forgotten how annoying her sister and cousin could be. She sighed, but it was great to have them around to annoy her! “Let’s make a bet. Five years from now, no, one year from now—no, six months from now, not only won’t Ian and I be together, I won’t even recall his name.”
“I’ll take it,” Brie said quickly. “Loser buys dinner at the best restaurant in L.A. Better yet, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.”
Tabby and Brie weren’t getting what she was trying to tell them, that she and Maclean were no big deal, not now and not ever.
“So what’s next?” Brie asked seriously now. “In order to steal the page and hand it over to Nick, we need to get to 2009. But if we’ve figured out where Ian stashed the page, Hemmer probably has, too. And then there’s Carlisle.”
Before Sam could speak, Tabby said, “I don’t want you doing this alone, Sam. Brie is right. My powers are very strong now, and we can help. It sounds like Hemmer is dangerous, the monk even more so.”
Sam began to smile. She was thrilled.
“We are going to come with you,” Tabby said firmly.
“Sounds like a plan,” Sam said happily.
“Can I point out something logistical?” Brie asked. “Before we bop over to the future, the monk happens to be right here, right now, just a few hundred miles to the south.”
“I’m almost certain that Ian kept us in this time so he could hunt Carlisle.
For him, it’s personal. As much as I think the page should be handed over to Nick immediately, Brie has a good point.
Let’s get rid of the monk before we do anything else.
It will be one less bad guy to worry about.
” Maybe Ian’s vengeance would pave the way for his healing, Sam thought.
“Since when do you worry about the bad guys?” Tabby teased.
Sam was thinking about Ian’s need for revenge against the monk now. She didn’t answer, because her answer would be, “Since Ian.”
Tabby said seriously, “If we intend to go back to Carlisle and confront and destroy the monk, we need to bring the men into this.”
Ian liked going it alone. He’d hate working alongside his father, but he would have to deal, Sam thought. “A little extra white power never hurts.” She thought about the savage Macleod. “I’d sure love to sic Macleod on Carlisle.”