Midnight Enchantment (10 page)

As she picked, she wondered why she’d been standing in the middle of that clearing so confused. She’d come from her mother’s house tonight, right? Yes, she remembered now. She’d stopped to see her mother first, after she’d woken in the late afternoon, before heading out to check her gardens, just as she did every night.

Niall…

The name breathed through her mind in her own voice, making her stop and raise her head. It almost sounded like a warning, but it was so far off. Who was Niall?

Frowning, she shook her head and went back to work. A pity she’d forgotten her seedlings from home. She’d have to go back for them before dawn and replant to ensure another crop tomorrow night.

When she’d finished collecting all the vegetables, she picked up her basket, intending to make her rounds, and secured it in the storage bin on the back of her ATV. Her ATV started with a roar, then settled into a kittenish purr, and she guided it down the narrow pathway that led away from the garden, headed to the next growing patch.

She spent her evening like she did any other evening, harvesting her fruits and vegetables, planting more, and delivering her food to those nature fae who needed it. Donnell was her last stop. He gave her a loaf of fresh baked bread in return
for the vegetables, something she’d pass on to Marilynn, an elderly sylph who lived not far from her.

After she’d left Donnell’s small cottage deep in the northern part of the Boundary Lands, she walked to her ATV, smoke curling from the chimney behind her, thinking about the pieces of the
bosca fadbh
. Cold fear crept up her spine at the thought someone would find out she was hiding them. The Shadow Queen would certainly discover her identity sooner or later, probably sooner. She’d send someone after her, maybe more than one someone.

And the Shadow Queen wouldn’t send just any fae—she’d send
Unseelie
.

She felt confident in her ability to escape almost any fae, but who knew the magickal capabilities of the hunter the queen would send? It made her doubt herself. Worse, it made her doubt the hiding location of the pieces.

Maybe she should move them, just to be safe.

Deciding that was exactly the best course of action, she mounted her ATV, stuck the loaf of bread in the storage compartment, and started it up. She headed away from Donnell’s, directing her path through the trees with the stars shining bright above, headed for her hiding spot in the clearing.

Yet…something niggled.

Somewhere in a far-off part of her mind something tickled.

Told her not to go to the clearing. Dangerous. Threatening. Someone was watching.

Waiting.

Niall…

She slowed the ATV to a halt and sat, engine idling, as she cradled her aching head in her hands.

Don’t do it,
breathed the voice in the back of her mind.

Beware, Niall…

Suddenly, she remembered.

Elizabeth dragged in a ragged breath, as though bursting through the surface of the ocean after diving deep. She was back in the cabin, tied to the chair, the charmed iron still banding her ankle.

She’d never been outside this building. Not once. It had all been an incredibly real illusion.

Ripping her hands from Niall’s grip, she reached up and
tore the blindfold from her eyes. She stared at him, breath coming fast and labored, eyes wide, mouth open. Her mind stuttered, trying to comprehend what he’d done to her.

Niall leaned back and half closed his eyes. “Welcome to the world of magicked illusion, Elizabeth. How do you like it?”

She sputtered for a moment, unable to form a thought, let alone words. Standing, she immediately remembered the unfortunate fact that her ankles were bound. She went down hard.

Niall was there in an instant, rolling her over and asking if she was all right. He was such a considerate torturer.

“No, I’m not all right,” she managed to say while he untied her hands and feet. “What the hell was that?”

He rocked back on his heels and studied her as she lay sprawled on her side. “That’s just one of the many facets of my magick. I told you there was a reason they sent me and
only
me.” He raised his dark brows and smiled his cocky little smile. “Impressed?”

She pushed up to a sitting position and watched him move to a nearby chair. She’d known his magick was different from any other fae’s magick, but she’d never expected him to be able to take reality and just re-form it that way, like putty in his hands. He’d catapulted her into a dreamworld that was almost as real as her waking one, made her forget the last two weeks had ever even happened. He’d thrust her clear back to the beginning, right after she’d taken the pieces from the Summer Queen.

It was a complete and total mind fuck.

She’d nearly led him right to the hiding place. Which, of course, had been his plan.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How far were you into my head? Could you read my thoughts?”

“I only wish. That would make things easier, but all I do is create the world and its parameters. I set the stage, but you fill it with information from your subconscious. Once in, I see everything you see. It’s like being in a shared dream.” His grin widened. “You almost led me to your hiding spot. I know you did.”

She bolted to her feet, shooting him a look of daggers. “Almost. I didn’t do it. I caught you.”

“Your subconscious is very strong. It warned you.” He leaned back against the headrest behind him, stretching like a cat. “Don’t worry, eventually I’ll reach even the darkest, most hidden parts of your mind. Eventually, I’ll win.”

He’d come really close to winning this time.

She looked down at her hands; they were shaking. Pain she could endure, but this? It was only at the very last second that sense had broken through. How could she fight against
this
?

Fisting her trembling hands at her sides, she stared down at him. “I figured out you were in my head once, and I can do it again. Don’t be so sure of your success.” Even now the charmed iron was making her grow weaker, but that worked in two ways. It served to make her less sure of success, but it also limited his time. She glanced down at the cuff. “I think I can hold you off long enough.”

He was on her in a flash, pushing her back. She tripped over the edge of the couch and went down into the cushions. He followed her. His body was strong and warm on hers, and immediately the memory of the kiss flooded her mind.

His lips were only a breath’s space from hers as he spoke. “I can make you believe anything with my magick, Elizabeth. I can create heaven or hell. I can make you imagine the worst kind of pain or give the best pleasure. I can bring your nightmares to life.” He paused, his gaze fiercely focused on her eyes. “Don’t make me take the dark path.”

Her tongue dry and her eyes wide, she returned his gaze as coolly as she could with his huge body pinning hers. “I thought we went over this already. I’m not
making
you do anything.”

He pushed up and away from her, dragging a hand through his hair as he turned from her.

She sat up. “I will resist you to my dying breath, Niall. I will force you to take every black road you don’t want to travel before this is over.”

Half turning toward her, he said, “Then I need to protect you from yourself…and from me.” With that, he was striding toward the door.

It slammed behind him, leaving her alone.

NIALL pulled his SUV up in front of the house where Elizabeth had done her last delivery in the mind scene he’d created for her. He recognized the place from following her around. Certainly this had been the point in the scene when she’d been ready to lead him to the pieces, so maybe that meant the pieces were hidden around here somewhere.

He knew it was a long shot. She had the ability to travel anywhere she wanted within the bounds of Piefferburg with her ability. The logic that had led him here to search was pretty fucking flimsy.

But he was desperate. Every lead, no matter how thin, needed to be followed so he could avoid hurting Elizabeth.

He parked the SUV and stepped out into the early evening air. The small stone cottage up the narrow lane needed repair. Two of the shutters were gone, another was falling off, and several of the shingles on the roof were broken. Weeds choked the base of the building, vines climbing the crumbling walls.

This was one of Elizabeth’s hard-luck cases. He started circling the area, checking under rocks, behind bushes, peering up into the trees. The pieces probably weren’t anywhere near here, but it gave him an excuse to be away from Elizabeth
for a little while—away from her beautiful, accusing eyes and the horrible temptation she presented.

He’d never thought he was the type of man to take advantage of a woman in his care. He wasn’t exactly
caring
for her, of course, but she was still in his keeping, vulnerable to him. It was wrong how much he wanted her. It was wrong that he thought about her constantly, fantasized about taking her on the dining room table. It was wrong how often he had to draw back from touching her. He wanted her spread beneath him, wanted to taste her—wanted to make her come over and over.

That made him the worst kind of predatory bastard.

He stopped for a moment and breathed the cool evening air deep into his lungs over and over, the bark of the tree he leaned against rough on his palm. He needed to get this woman out of his head somehow. Maybe a trip back to the Black Tower and the welcoming arms of someone else would help, but he didn’t have time for that.

“Hello, who is that? Elizabeth? Is that you?”

At the sound of the old man’s voice, Niall stepped out into a shaft of silvery moonlight. “No, it’s not Elizabeth, sir, but I’m a friend of hers.” In the mind scene, Elizabeth had called him Donnell.

He was a Fir Darrig, one of the fae who were helpful to humans who became lost in faery. They also partied a lot and liked their whiskey. This one was ancient, probably had been ancient when Piefferburg had been created. His partying days were long over, although, by the smell of him, not his whiskey drinking days.

The old man leaned on a gnarled walking stick not far away. His eyesight probably wasn’t very good, but he gave Niall a squinty head-to-toe sweep anyway. “Friend of Elizabeth’s? Didn’t know she had any. That girl is alone all the time. What’s your name?”

“Niall.” He wouldn’t give his last name if he didn’t have to. Once a upon a time, and even now in certain quarters, the possession of a fae’s full name meant you had power over them.

“Niall, huh?” The old man rubbed his chin. “Not a nature fae.”

“No, sir. I live in Piefferburg City.” Clearly that was a mark against him. He hesitated, then plunged on. What did the
opinion of this old man matter? He had more pressing concerns. “In the Black Tower.”

The man considered him for a long moment. “Unseelie, eh? What are you doing out here snooping around my house, and where’s Elizabeth?”

“I’m looking for something she lost. Two silver objects about this big.” He cupped his hands together to indicate the size of the pieces. “Seen anything like that around here?”

“No. Sorry.” He smacked his lips. “Any chance she’ll be coming around anytime soon?” He smiled, showing bad teeth. “I’m about out of the food she brought me and haven’t seen her tonight.”

Damn it.
Of course.
He’d been so intent on his goal that he’d forgotten people depended on Elizabeth for food. They were going to starve without her help.

“Uh.” Niall scratched the back of his head, looking away from the man.
Great.
Not only was he now a kidnapper and mind-fucking torturer, he was responsible for invalids starving to death. “She’s a little under the weather and won’t be around for a while.”

“Oh.” The man wilted, sagging against his walking stick. “Tell her I hope she feels better soon.” He turned and shuffled back down the path to his cottage.

Niall stood for a moment, watching him go. Then he tipped his head to the sky and breathed out in defeat.

Time to go harvest some food and distribute it. Just call him Mother fucking Teresa.

Although maybe he could use it to his advantage with Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH raised her head from her place on the couch at the sound of the front door unlocking. Early morning sunshine shone through the windows of the cottage, draining her of energy almost as badly as the charmed iron touching her skin. She needed to sleep. Sitting up, she squinted blearily at him. Dirt marked his jeans and navy blue sweater, covered his hands and forearms.

“What have you been doing…digging with your bare hands?” She straightened with a snap, cold fear jolting through
her at the possibility he’d found her hiding place. She drew a careful breath and reminded herself to calm down and not give anything away. It was more likely he’d just been
searching
for them and that’s why he was all dirty.

He didn’t look at her as he walked into the house. His hair was mussed, dark circles marked his eyes, and dirt smudged his forehead. Served him right if he’d been up all night searching to kill her mother, because that’s what the pieces represented in her mind.