Page 98 of Dark Lover

Tabby seized her hand. “Oh, no! I can tell this is going to be another five-minute reunion. That’s not fair! What’s going on?”

Sam felt exactly the same way. “No, I am not going back to New York so quickly! I’m in a bit of a jam, Tabby. The monk of Carlisle is after me, and so is someone from our, my, time, a really evil human, Rupert Hemmer. They were planning on torturing me when your spell showed up. By the way, thanks, sis,” she added, grinning.

Tabby touched her and spoke in Gaelic. “That’s an extra dose of protection,” she said, seeming worried. She turned to her husband. “We have to get out of here.”

Macleod’s handsome face tightened. A savage light flickered in his eyes. “We’ll help her escape Carlisle an’ I’ll make certain ye have some time with yer sister.”

Tabby sent him a soft smile.

Sam smiled to herself. Macleod might be as macho as a man could be, making him impossibly wrong for her sister, but it was clear that he was protective of her and madly in love, even after two centuries.

Sam? Where are ye?

Sam jerked. She’d heard Ian as clear as day, right down to the frustration and worry in his voice. “Ian,” she whispered. “I’m at Carlisle Cathedral, on the ground floor, on the north side of the building.”

Sam!

“Sam?” Tabby asked.

Sam held up her hand. The moment she strained for him, she felt his hot and male white power gathering, then approaching. She turned to face south. Someone was turning the corner of the hallway, but it was a well-dressed couple, followed by a secretary and a valet. Sam inhaled in disappointment. The three men all looked at Sam. Tabby smiled graciously at the couple as they passed. She nodded at the servants. The nobleman craned his head to stare at Sam’s legs, until he walked into the wall. The woman jabbed her elbow in his velvet-clothed abdomen.

“You should change clothes if you intend to stay around the sixteenth century for any length of time,” Tabby said, glancing at her miniskirt.

His power was growing, she thought, having heard her sister. It was hot, seething, and so familiar.

Maclean hurried around the corner.

Sam’s heart lurched wildly.

He rushed to her. “Are ye all right?”

Sam shrugged. “Like you care?” She was flippant, no easy task, when her heart was thundering madly. “So what brings you to this neck of the woods?” she asked. And then she saw Brie and Aidan, coming around the same hall corner.

“Did ye think I’d leave ye to my enemies?” He was incredulous.

She tore her gaze back to his regard. It was surprisingly searching. There was no mockery. It was as if he were really concerned. “I thought you might try to help out,” she said carefully. “And you did. Thanks for the assist with the shackles.”

He started. “I unlocked the manacles?”

“Yeah.” Then she said, very seriously, “Just so you know, I’m starting to worry about Hemmer.”

His gaze held hers.

Sam knew he understood. There was more to Hemmer than met the eye, a lot more.

“Can I interrupt?” Brie asked, but she was grinning.

“I barely recognize you without the geeky glasses—and in a dress!” Sam cried, laughing. Brie had turned from a chubby, frightened nerd into a beautiful, self-possessed woman. Sam wanted to hug her.

Brie hugged her, instead.

Sam looked at Aidan and her heart almost stopped. It was so strange. He and Ian could have been twins, except that Ian looked about twenty-five, and Aidan looked a couple of years older. But the real difference was their eyes. Aidan’s eyes were not filled with anger, frustration or despair; they mirrored a deep and fundamental peace that could only come from a man’s soul.

But it hadn’t always been that way.

Ian suddenly seized her arm. “We have to go,” he said harshly.

Sam was already chilled. She glanced behind her. Evil was close by.