Page 105 of Caretaker

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Something’s not right.” I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to figure out why I still felt unsettled, why I still felt that it was not the time to fall into Angus.

He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, silent, letting me work through what was bothering me. And finally, I did.

“I need to take you to the way station.” I popped my eyes open and clutched his big arms. “We need to…” I grabbed my dress and dropped it back over my head, then grabbed Silverlight from the nightstand on which I’d placed her. “Break it in or something, I don’t know. But Angus, you’re part of that place too.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Himself,” I said, tugging him toward the door. “He’s the one who sent me to the island that night to bring you home. Nadine said he had a fondness for you. And we need to go there right now.”

“I met him once,” he said slowly, but didn’t elaborate.

Now that I understood and accepted it, urgency and eagerness overtook me. I could have Angus anywhere—but that first time, it had to be at the way station. I wasn’t the only one to need it, either. Angus needed it. More importantly, the way station needed it. Whatever got the magic going and woke the place up would happen when Angus and I made it happen.

“Hurry,” I begged, as he floored the gas pedal and sped toward the way station. The closer we got to the land, to the house, the jumpier I became. My skin was so sensitive it hurt me to touch it. Hot blood rushed and crashed like ocean waves inside me, loud in my ears. My heart thundered, my breath whooshed, and lust rose up to claim me.

My entire body throbbed with desire— a desire I hadn’t quite felt in the same way since Angus had been taken.

But he was back.

For whatever reason, we belonged together. We just did.

I thought maybe my heart would explode before I got there. I squirmed on my seat, moaning.

Angus drew my scent in, then nearly ran us off the road. “Fuck, Trinity.” His voice was strained, raw, and full of need.

Unable to resist, I reached across the seat and squeezed his erection.

“This,” I said. “This is how it should be.”

He groaned, then drove a little faster. “Take your hand away, or I won’t make it to the way station.”

I was the Lady of the Way Station, true enough. But I wasn’t the only master of the place. Angus was, as well. I felt it in my very bones.

And finally, after a lifetime of waiting, we were there.

Angus slammed on the breaks and slid into the driveway, the truck skidding too fast toward the other automobiles parked there. Both of us were out and running almost before the truck stopped rolling. He didn’t even shut off the engine, and neither of us took time to slam the doors shut after we exited.

The others were there. Shane, Rhys, Amias, Clayton.

Waiting for us.

“I feel it, too,” Angus muttered. “What the hell is that?”

I laughed and caught his hand as we strode toward the house, lacing my fingers with his. “Lust. Love. Need. Magic. Fate.”

The men came out onto the porch to watch as we hurried toward them, but at the last second, Angus veered to the right and dragged me around to the side of the house. “Not in the house,” he said.

I didn’t argue, because he was right. I felt the pull, too. It was in the land. I didn’t have to glance behind me to know the others followed.

We stopped at the edge of an ancient cemetery. The moonlight glinted off a weathered old sign that had been nailed to a post, and I squinted to read the faint lettering.

Willow-Wisp.

That was all. There were no dates, no signatures, nothing. Just Willow-Wisp.

I couldn’t stop shivering.