Courting Carolina (33 page)

The whole of Spellbound Falls was abuzz with excitement over that goddamn ball. And he knew for a fact that Ray and Mike Byram, Charlie Vail, Rich Nason, and Nick Patterson had piled in Ray’s tired old pickup and driven all the way to Bangor to rent tuxedos—all for the prospect of getting to
dance
with a beautiful princess. Hell, Ray had even bought a shiny new red aluminum cane to match his cummerbund.

Alec watched Carolina and Sir Horse’s Ass stroll around a bend in the road with Nicholas strolling behind them, and sighed at another missed opportunity as he shoved the binoculars and slingshot into his backpack. He emptied his jacket pocket of small round rocks and slipped them into a side pouch, then looked up to check the position of the sun. One hour to dusk and a little under three hours to full darkness,
which was when he’d get a shot at the Crusader, Aaron of Devonshire, since it appeared Sir Garth was dining with Carolina this evening.

For three of the last four nights, Alec had seen Devonshire taking long walks off the resort grounds—in a different direction each night—the one night Aaron had missed being his turn to dine with Carolina. Rather than following him, Alec had merely timed Aaron’s walks—that had been over four hours long—while opting for a chance to take out Sir Garth instead. Down to only two days before the ball, Alec was starting to get more than a little pissed off himself, and decided tonight was Devonshire’s turn to fall out of favor for Carolina’s hand in marriage.

Alec carefully slipped his pack on his shoulders and climbed down the towering pine he’d been perched in, the four wolves scattered around the trunk sitting up and blinking the sleep from their eyes when he finally reached the ground. “Come on, ye bored lobos,” he whispered with a soft chuckle as he moved deeper into the woods. “It’s time we go find out if our fearless Crusader has an aversion to imaginary bears.”

Alec silently slipped into Titus and Rana’s bedroom, quietly snagged a chair from beside the bureau and set it next to the wizard’s side of the bed, then sat down straddling it with his arms resting on the chair’s back and waited.

He sensed the moment Titus woke, so he wasn’t surprised when the bedside lamp suddenly snapped on. “By the gods, MacKeage, you overstep your bounds!”

“Aye, that is one of my more maddening habits.” Alec gave Rana a smiled nod when she sat up with a soft gasp. “I’m sorry to have startled ye out of your sleep, but I thought you’d like to hear firsthand that your daughter is safe from the third kidnapper.” He slid his gaze to Titus and tossed two small medallions on the blanket covering the wizard’s legs. “I took these off the dead men the day I caught them chasing Carolina.”

“And you decided to bring them to me
tonight
,” Titus growled without looking at them, “in my bedchamber?”

Alec nodded. “I thought you’d want to know
tonight
that ye no longer have to worry about the third kidnapper.” He shrugged. “Aaron was definitely a mortal, but he’d been given enough command of the magic to travel through time at
his
will, as well as find Carolina and take off her bracelet.”

Titus clasped his wife’s hand when she gasped, even as he paled to the roots of his regal white hair. “Are you saying the third kidnapper is Aaron of Devonshire? The Crusader I
brought
here?”

Alec nodded and opened his other hand to dangle a third, larger medallion from his fingers. “That’s why she was blindfolded and he didn’t speak around her, so she wouldn’t recognize him when he rescued her. From what I overheard tonight, the kidnapping was just a ruse, and the real plan was to keep your daughter until after all your fearless warriors arrived at Nova Mare. Aaron intended to feign surprise when you were forced to admit Carolina was missing, and then vow he wouldn’t rest until he brought her back to you.” He shrugged. “But she escaped and then went missing, so he had to call on his magical partner in crime to help him come up with a new plan.”

“But why kidnap her,” Rana asked, “when he was
invited
to court her?”

Alec chose his words carefully, not wanting to reveal any of his first late-night conversation with Titus. “I’m afraid Aaron was as much a victim as Carolina, it turns out. From what I garnered, he was led to believe he’d end up the hero with your daughter as the prize,” he quietly explained, sliding his gaze to Titus, “when in truth he was merely a means to put Carolina in harm’s way in order to distract you long enough for your enemies to attack Atlantis. But I believe Aaron began to suspect he wasn’t going to have a wedding night, which is likely what led to tonight’s meeting with his magical benefactor.” Alec gently swung the third identical but larger medallion he’d taken from the Crusader’s broken neck. “Where I can only speculate who this symbol
represents, I’m assuming you will recognize who gave Aaron the power to kidnap your daughter,” he said, handing the medallion to Titus.

The wizard had barely taken it when he stiffened on an indrawn breath.

“Who is it?” Rana asked, taking the medallion away from him and also sucking in a surprised breath.
“Ares,”
she whispered, snapping her gaze to Alec. “The god of war is here? You actually saw him?
Here
, at Nova Mare?”

“Aye,” Alec said with a nod, “only not on resort grounds because they’re too well guarded, which is why Aaron had to hike several miles away. Or rather,
maybe
I saw this Ares…fellow,” he said, giving a shrug. “I could only make out the shadowed outline of
something
talking to Aaron up by the high-mountain pond, and I couldn’t tell if it was man or beast.” He looked at Titus. “All I could see were pinprick eyes lit with fire, and I felt the air pulsing with what smelled like…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I swear I smelled
fear
, only it appeared to be coming from Ares, not Devonshire.”

“You smelled Ares and Aphrodite’s son, Deimus,” Titus said, his voice thick with barely controlled anger, “who is the manifestation of fear.”

“But they’re
myths
, which means they don’t
exist
,” Alec growled. He gestured toward the bed. “And for that matter, neither should
you
.”

Titus stared at him for several pounding heartbeats, his voice turning gentle when he finally spoke. “We exist, Alec, because mankind imagined all of us—gods and demons alike—into existence. It matters not if we’re Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Native American, Celtic, Chinese, Mayan…” He shrugged. “The deities became as numerous and varied as the peoples who populate the world, when every culture since the beginning of time sought to answer the primal question of
purpose
. And once a myth took root in the collective human psyche, we
became as real
as the people who created us.” He smiled sadly. “We are, in fact,
an exaggerated reflection of humanity’s greatest good and vilest evil.” He took the large medallion from Rana and tossed it onto the blanket beside the others. “So you see, it’s by no means a stretch of the imagination that a god is pursuing a mythical princess, any more than humans—individuals and entire nations—continually try to force their wills on one another.”

“It will take a very brave man to love our daughter,” Rana said softly. “As well as one who’s wise enough to understand that fear itself is only a myth.”

Alec saw Titus cover her hand and give it a squeeze. “Were you able to learn what Aaron is now planning?” Titus asked, his voice growing enraged again. But then he suddenly threw back the covers to get out of bed. “Never mind; I will have the pleasure of asking the bastard myself.”

Alec held up his hand to stop him, even while fighting to conceal his shock that the king of the drùidhs was wearing bright red pajama bottoms. “He’s dead.”

Titus reared back in surprise, his eyes locking on Alec for several heartbeats before he dropped his gaze and mutely nodded.

Alec stood up and set the chair back beside the bureau. “Ye needn’t bother worrying about damage control, as there’s no evidence that Aaron of Devonshire was ever here.” He gestured toward the medallions that had fallen to the floor. “As for Deimus…” Alec gave a slight bow before turning toward the door. “I doubt you’ll be hearing from him for a while, as apparently Ares’s son has a
fear
of bees.”

“MacKeage,” Titus said thickly, making him turn back. “Thank you.”

“It would appear your field of suitors is now down to two—not counting your man Nick—with only two days to go.” Alec slashed the scowling wizard and his smiling wife a grin. “Would ye happen to know if Carolina favors one of them over the other?”

“My daughter—”

“
Our
daughter knows her heart,” Rana said, cutting Titus
off. “And we both will support her decision.” She in turn shot Alec a very Carolina smile. “Although I’m afraid Maximilian is still doing his damndest to make up her mind for her.”

“Wife!” Titus snapped.

Alec gave Rana a nod, not at all shocked by her directness considering whose mother she was. “I’m sure your daughter is resourceful enough to eventually get her brother to see things her way.”

“Wait,” Rana said as he turned to the door. “I also wish to thank you, Alec. Not only for saving Carolina’s life more than once, it appears, but for telling me personally about Aaron’s treachery,” she said, her smile disappearing as she jabbed her elbow into her husband’s side—which turned whatever Titus had growled at her into a grunt.

Alec merely gave her a slight bow, turning away just as he heard more muttering and another grunt, only to be stopped when Rana called to him again. “Aye?” he said, fighting a grin when he realized Titus was one second away from tackling his wife with a pillow to shut her up.

“I’m just curious as to how you got in here tonight,” she said, arching an imperial brow. “When I mentioned my worry about the…unfortunate accidents and strange occurrences happening here at the resort and on the riding paths over the last few weeks, just today both Nicholas and Maximilian assured me that even a mouse couldn’t enter Nova Mare without their knowing it.”

“Then I guess they should turn their efforts to securing the resort against acorns and bees and mere mortals instead of mice.”

“And bears?” Rana added, the lamplight reflecting off her sparkling eyes.

“Aye, and bears,” Alec said with a chuckle, stepping into the hall and pulling the door closed on a muffled feminine shriek.

Alec went down the short hall to the kitchen, slipped out through the window and closed it behind him, then shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked toward the small cabin sitting up on a wooded knoll, Kit silently appearing from the
shadows to fall into step beside him. He stopped just short of being seen by the guards sitting leaning up against all four corners of the cabin, and broke into a grin when he heard the lulling sounds of a nighttime forest coming from the open window of Carolina’s bedroom.

Aye, four down and only two to go—not counting brotherly Nick.

Chapter Twenty

Alec knocked on the door of the end apartment, then stepped inside the moment it opened, forcing Nicholas to step back with a muttered curse. “Ye help me take care of the mess your illustrious knight made of me, and I’ll tell ye how I’ve been getting onto the grounds.”

“Now what in hell did you do?”

“The man bled like a stuck pig from only a minor flesh wound.” Alec tossed the tuxedo jacket he’d been holding in front of him onto the table, causing Nicholas to stiffen when he saw the blood on Alec’s shirt. “I thought Titus gave instructions that Carolina’s suitors were to come unarmed,” Alec continued, pulling his shirttails out of his pants. “And what idiot puts an unsheathed dagger in his cummerbund, anyway, if he’s a goddamn bleeder?” Alec tore off his shirt without unbuttoning it. “I couldn’t take Garth’s shirt because it’s bloodier than mine, and it was the only one he had that wasn’t covered in lace. Would ye have one I can borrow?” he asked, gesturing at the dress shirt Nicholas was wearing—under
his
safely holstered weapon. “Or what about the other
suitors; Niall told me someone came up and measured all the men for modern formal wear. The Viking was close to my size, wasn’t he?”

“Where is Sir Garth now?” Nicholas asked, not going after that spare shirt, Alec couldn’t help but notice.

“He’s having a nap in his room. I managed to get the bleeding stopped, and since the ropes wouldn’t let him move much, he apparently decided he’d rather sleep than go to the ball.”

“And Niall?”

Alec grinned, using the bloody shirt to gesture toward the southwest. “Last I saw of my ancestor when I dropped him off at Matt and Winter Gregor’s house this morning, Niall was sitting in their hot tub, nursing a beer and playing with the whirlpool jets.”

Nicholas didn’t even so much as blink. “You do realize you still have one more suitor to eliminate, don’t you?”

Alec shrugged. “His heart won’t be in the fight, so I actually see that ending well. Mac, however,” he said, dropping his ruined shirt on the floor and walking to the kitchen sink, “might be a problem.” He turned on the tap, grabbed the towel off the oven door, and held it under the running water. “Do ye think Titus will be able to control him?” he asked as he wrung out the towel and turned to Nicholas. “Or am I going to have to fight the bastard in order to
dance
with his sister?”