AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Four
Blake
When I get back to my house, I’m beyond fuming. How can Tamsin not only have the audacity to show up here after all this time, but then refuse to tell me why?
It’s clear she’s in some kind of trouble. Part of me wants to leave her to deal with it herself, just like I’d told her out on the moor. But another part, a much bigger part, can’t leave it alone.
I storm through the house, glad no one is there except my two burly black hunting hounds. I light the fire in the kitchen with a blast of magic, sending blue flames whooshing up into the chimney. Then I give the dogs some rabbit stew for dinner, grab myself a glass of whisky, and head into my study at the north end of the house.
When I get there, I pace for several minutes, drinking in the leather and ink scent of the room, along with the wood fire from the kitchen. Then I sit down in my leather chair, feet propped up on the desk, and pull out my laptop. I’d made a point not to look Tamsin up all these years. Tried my very best to forget her. But now I enter her name into the search bar of my internet browser and skim through the results. I tell myself I’m looking for clues, but it’s also pure curiosity. Curiosity being a vastly inadequate word for the burning obsession I feel thrumming in my veins.
The results I get back are mostly of her many, many medical accomplishments. She’s at the top of her field in hematology. She’s won about every prestigious award out there, along with a number of top research grants. She’s certainly done what she set out to do and impacted the world through her healing. All entirely without magic.
In addition to her professional life, I get a number of results showing Tamsin’s activities with several charities. Her passion seems to be helping children with strange blood disorders. I come across picture after picture of Tamsin looking stunning in evening gowns and jewelry that looks like it costs a small fortune. In several of the pictures from the last couple of years, I notice the same man with her; the captions indicate he’s a Manhattan attorney by the name of John Harrington. It shouldn’t matter if Tamsin has a boyfriend—we’ve agreed not to see each other while she’s here. But the mere thought of it makes me want to punch a wall.
And then I notice something in the most recent article, from only a couple months ago. It’s about another charity event, and behind Tamsin in the picture is a large banner displaying the names of the event sponsors. One of the sponsor names pops out at me like neon lights. It can’t be a coincidence, surely.
The Night Guild.
They’re one of the largest supernatural crime organizations in the world. How could Tamsin not have noticed? But of course, the answer is obvious. She’s turned her back on her powers, stayed out of the magical world for two decades. She probably has no idea who they are. None of the non-magical humans at the event would have.
It’s speculation of course, but I don’t believe in coincidences. Tamsin’s charity work is very specific, and this criminal group happens to also be interested in rare blood diseases? Highly damn unlikely. It has to have something to do with the emergency that drove her back here after all this time.
My own business—importing and exporting magical products around the globe—has almost put me in the line of fire with the Night Guild a couple times in the past. We work in similar circles, the main difference being that I have ethics and don’t destroy lives to turn a profit. Something they have no problem with in the least. They definitely aren’t people I want to fuck with.
Shit. This is bad.
I get out of my chair and go to the window. Summoning my magic, I create an orb of blue light between my palms. The light shifts and breaks apart into three smaller orbs. Then each orb sprouts wings and turns into a glowing falcon. I fling my hands skyward, and the three birds pass through the glass and shoot off into the night like comets.
Five minutes later, my three senior-most clansmen are standing in my office. One, who lives close by, had arrived in wolf form, the other two had used a transportation spell. I fill them in on what I found.
“I’m going to do more digging,” I say, “But in the meanwhile I want a 24-hour patrol on the borders of our territory, and additional warlocks stationed in Glencoe, Kinlochleven, all the nearby towns.”
Colin, my oldest friend, fixes me in his hazel gaze and crosses his dark arms over his chest. “What exactly are we looking for, Blake?”
“Anything suspicious. Notify me immediately if something unusual happens.”
“And MacPherson House?” Daniel asks, raising his red brows.
I walk to the window and stare across the lake at the glittering lights there. “I’ll patrol that area myself.”
“So, Tamsin is back.” Aengus shakes his head. “Who’d have thought?”
I tense and turn to the warlock. Colin and Daniel are my oldest and closest friends, and my beta wolves. Aengus grew up with all of us, too, but he’s always been a tad too competitive and power-hungry for my taste. I know he’s jockeying to take over the clan from me one of these days. Plus, he used to have a big thing for Tamsin, and was definitely bitter when she chose me.
“Is she going to cause a problem for you?” I ask, my gaze burning into his.
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.” Aengus smirks, stroking his dark beard, and next to me, Daniel tenses.
A roil of magic pulses off me, but Colin steps between us and places a hand on Aengus’s chest. “That’s no way to speak to your Clan Chief,” he says. “Don’t be a dumb asshole, Aengus.”
“If you can’t handle your emotions, I’ll happily have another warlock step in, Aengus,” I say, my voice low and deadly. My magic wraps around him, and I press until his face turns red and he coughs.
“I can handle it,” Aengus gasps. “Apologies, Chief.”
I flick my gaze over each of them. “You have your assignments, then.”
They nod, expressions stern, and depart one by one. When they’re gone, I sit back down at my desk and fire off a few text messages to contacts outside Scotland. Friends that work in the magical import/export business like I do, or informants I use to keep tabs on what’s happening in the supernatural community, many of whom should have knowledge of the Night Guild. I need to find out everything I can about their latest business deals, shifts in command, anything that might help me figure out what Tamsin got herself tangled up in.
I’m of half a mind to march back over to MacPherson House now, but I force myself to stay put. I’ll confront Tamsin tomorrow, see if she’ll fold now that I have a sense of what’s going on. If the Night Guild is interested in her, that means they’re interested in something she knows how to do as a doctor. Something with her blood research. But what?
I get up and begin to pace. The wolf inside is dying to get out. Tamsin being back here has me unsettled in the worst of ways. I’d told her I’d let her work in peace over at her estate, but I have no intention of doing any such thing. She’d walked out on me all those years ago, and now that she’s back in my life, I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing.
I swallow the last of my whisky and head for the back door. Magic unfurls within me, and I shift into wolf form. With a howl, I turn and run up into the hills, devouring the ground beneath my paws. I run for miles, doing a wide circle around my territory until I’m out of breath. When I finally stop, I’m in the hills on Tamsin’s side of the lake, looking down at MacPherson House.
No, there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to let that witch walk out on me again. She may have gone off and created a great life in the big city, but I’m going to remind her who she is. I’m going to force her to acknowledge that this place is her true home. And most importantly, I’m going to enact my revenge by tormenting her with the same desire and longing I’ve felt for the last two decades. Revenge that’s best served in the bedroom.
I’d lost Tamsin once. I’m not going to lose her again.
