SHADOWLOVE--STALKERS (24 page)

Dark was engulfing the landscape in layered sweeps of varying shades. The day had been dismally gray and had held the promise of rain that had not yet arrived.

On the way to Shawna’s little cottage he had experienced a really ‘bad’ feeling. He wasn’t sure why, and although he expected something to disturb the sweetness of the day, he wasn’t sure what that ‘something’ could be.

He knew he was getting dangerously wrapped up in the lass, in her quixotic expressions, in her smile, in that musical way she had of laughing—laughter that always seemed to start in her bright silver eyes…

It was so much more than her tantalizing beauty, more than the sexual rawness of a come hither buried inside of her and begging, dripping to be licked…

It was more than all of that. It was the totality of the lass that got to him, twirled him around in circles, and made it hard for him to think of anything else. All he seemed to want—need was her company.

He had to stop this because he had to think clearly in order to keep her safe. Right now, this thing, the thing that Shawna called the ‘entity’, was a dangerous addition to the mix. Chad was certain it was either comprised of black magic or created by someone involved with black magic. They would have to look for its “
Achilles’ heel”.

If, as he believed, it had been created by someone dealing in the black arts, they needed to know who that someone was.

There was one thing Chad was certain of: the thing was growing in strength, and when it returned, it might be ready to take Shawna on.

This thing was, he knew, more than enraged—it was insane. It killed for the pleasure of killing. It was, Chad believed, responsible for Farmer MacTay’s losing half his herd of sheep only last week, something the police were scratching their heads over. It had simply gone through the poor hapless animals and had slaughtered them in numbers. Whatever had done the killing had not eaten any of the sheep but had torn open and dismembered each in a horrific display of power and a sure taste for destruction. It had left the poor animals dead, bleeding out in the field—all over the field. Nearly an entire herd destroyed. Black magic gone rampant? There was no other explanation for the savage slashing.

There was something about all of this that he was missing. Something that spoke to him, told him to dig into his memory, but if there was knowledge that he could draw on, it was elusive, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

There was also the fact that when he had seen the thing, he got the sense of something human about it. There was a quality of distorted, deformed, and even evil humanity that clung to its aura.

Now what he needed to discover was where the demon’s source of power was. Where did it go when it went out of sight? Had someone called this ‘demon’ from another dimension? Or—and this was what he really thought—was this thing created from the pits of someone’s evil soul? The answers to those questions were going to make the difference in destroying it quickly and thoroughly.

Of one thing he was certain—it would come back to test Shawna’s power.

It would have been ideal if she would have allowed him to stay the night, but there wasn’t a possibility of that, so he hadn’t bothered to ask. She had made it clear that she wanted to maintain her independence. A very real desire deep inside of him obtusely didn’t want to push her to accept him—
he wanted her to want him
.

And so, he hunkered down in his car, which was pointed towards the cottage, and he watched.

* * *

Shawna was listing the things she knew about the mysterious Chad MacFare. He was a hunk extraordinaire, but she shouldn’t consider that as important. It wasn’t anything to do with her how good looking he was, how green and full of expression his eyes were, or that his height and muscle mass standing before her melted all will to resist
. Enough! Okay,
she cautioned herself, and more to the point, she needed to collect what she now knew about him. She had discovered that he owned some major skills in the ancient art of karate—in fact, she was certain he had displayed agility and finesse way beyond the best of the black-belts! Way beyond human?

Right, it was practically a fact that he was more than human. Telling her that he experienced visions explained some things, but not nearly enough. She also discovered that he knew how to wield a sword like he had been born with it in his hands.

There was more to it than what met her observations. There was more to it than his obvious skills. The sword he called the Dragar was arcane in design, as were the rune engravings on its hilt and blade. She’d felt its magical aura the moment the sword had come into her view.

He had said she was learning to ‘mate’ with the sword he had given her, and maybe she was. He had moved in on her as she sliced air, and when she brought it back to fold in across her chest, he had bent and whispered in her ear, “Lucky blade.”

Shivers had traveled the length of her spine. She stopped herself from looking at him. She knew what would happen if she did.

He had continued whispering in her ear, making her tremble as he told her that when she finally trusted the sword, it would trust her. He told her the sword would kill for her.

Would it? Would it be unerring in its target? She had scoffed over this, and he had laughed and flicked her nose like she was a child. Perversely, against her better judgment, she found herself positioning her body, her face, her lips for a kiss. Instead, he flicked her nose again.

She was surprised and inwardly embarrassed. Had he known that she had angled for a kiss? He didn’t seem to. The next question that had disturbed her and kept her frowning for way too long was
just why didn’t he kiss her?

Right, so he was still a mystery. What else did she know?
Ah, yes
, he was skilled in the art of tattoo design.
She now had a tattoo
.
What will Grams say? No reason for her to
know—right?

He had tattoos all over his sexy abs, on one shoulder, and around his biceps. She had traced their designs with her wandering fingers…

Facts—stick to the facts.
She shook off her meandering thoughts, and then without warning, a blue light caught the corner of her eye outside the kitchen window. She moved forward to face the window and meet it—whatever it was—head on.

It was coming, and it was coming freaking fast!

* * *

Chad sat up at the first sound of a car engine and a moment later saw a dark Bentley. He recognized it as the squire’s vehicle at once. What the bloody hell was the squire doing heading for Shawna’s cottage at this hour?

It was now close to nine! Damn the swine! What the hell was he doing? It was a late hour to be calling on Shawna. Chad felt a swelling of jealousy. Had Shawna phoned him to come and visit?
Bloody hell
!

What the devil was he going to do about it? Shawna was a big girl, and she wouldn’t like a scene. He couldn’t rush over like a charging bull protecting his herd. But, he had to do something. He scowled in the dark. The cottage’s lone location made it impossible to pull in and say he was just passing by.

And then he saw the blue sparks burning through the woods!

It was a jagged bolt of electricity supercharged with energy that came to a sudden standstill as it pulsated in on itself. It moved a few feet into the field adjacent to the cottage. It sizzled, glowed blue fire, crackled, and heaved sparks, but it wasn’t moving forward. It had taken some kind of stand, and Chad suddenly realized it was watching…

He had been leaning forward, but now, he made up his mind. Whether Shawna liked it or no, he was moving in. He started the car, and if it had been pavement instead of rough grass, it would have squealed as he raced his Jag onto the country road.

~ Sixteen ~

SHAWNA FROWNED AND collected herself for what she was sure would be another attack. The blue mass of electricity had started to take on shape and substance.

Was she assigning it a human form, or was it actually taking on a human form...?

It spat out shards of blue electricity, and she heard it release a low-throttled cackle of anger. This thing had definitely made her a target. Why? That didn’t matter now—what mattered was her ability to draw on her magic because she had no idea what would actually work on the thing!

Shawna forced herself to stand very still while she studied it. She had to know more about it, understand what drove it, and find its weak points.

The black sockets she assumed were eyes defined its face—a face that was beginning to take on structure. She couldn’t shake the sudden certainty that this thing was female!

She felt hatred emanate even at this distance, even with it outside. Would the wards stop it? She was nearly certain the entity couldn’t penetrate the wards, and then it was there, in her face, and tapping with its electric claw at her window.

The wards Shawna had installed repulsed it, and the thing screeched with a storm of fury and resentment. Resentment—why had that come to mind? Why would it resent her? It tried to penetrate the wards again and charged at the window, only to retract in evident pain. Shawna clearly heard the agony it suffered as it howled ferociously in the dark.

It started to pound on the windows—all the windows—with fists made of spikes of electricity, and each time it pounded, it released a sound of thunderous anger and desolation. And then it stopped and seemed to slither backwards—hovering in the field adjacent to the cottage grounds.

Shawna stepped back further away from the window and began chanting quietly, digging into her pocket for the small silver-framed mirror she always carried. She held it up to the window, and the entity once again retreated.

It screeched its fury and seemed actually to be considering its options as it once more slithered backwards. And then Shawna was flabbergasted. It actually raised and shook what was obviously its version of a fist!

If Shawna hadn’t had such sensitive hearing, she might have missed the sound of an approaching car, but she didn’t’ miss it. She shot a quick glance towards the living room window, all the while keeping the demon in her sights.

Without any warning, the demon entity went still, and as suddenly as it had attacked, it retreated further backwards and vanished.

Shawna was still catching her breath when the knock sounded at her front door. She ran to it expecting Chad, The surprised look, and the evident disappointment she immediately felt, obviously displayed itself on her face.

“Ah—you were perhaps expecting someone else?” Kenneth MacDunn frowned. A shade of anger lit in his hazel eyes.

Shawna waved off his remark. What was he doing here at such an hour? He knew the phone number of the cottage’s house phone. Shouldn’t he have called before dropping by? Was he going to be a problem? All these questions flitted through Shawna’s mind before she responded coolly, “At this hour? No…I was not.”

She was stunned that he not only was openly annoyed, but that he made no attempt to hide it. His hazel eyes flashed before he got control of himself. “I am sorry, Shawna, for calling on you so late. I was just going into town to the pub, and thought I would stop by and invite you to join me.”

“That is very nice, Kenneth, but I think I will take a rain check on that. I am so tired, I thought I would just fix a snack and veg out by the television.” She relented by giving him an amiable smile.

At that moment the sound of a car coming to a quick stop outside and behind the squire’s Bentley caught their attention. Shawna looked past the squire, who had turned to grimace at the new arrival.

Shawna heard Chad’s car moments before it had arrived. She knew who it was. She sensed who it was. She was thrilled because she wanted it to be him, and she was beginning to find Kenneth’s behavior disturbing.

Kenneth cursed under his breath, which Shawna decided to ignore, but there was something about Kenneth’s behavior lately that tickled her warning signals. It was starting to make her feel uneasy in his company.

Chad was already out of his car and calling out, “Thought I saw your car headed this way, Kenneth…”

“And what then, you decided to join the party uninvited?”

“You mean barge in uninvited—
like you
?” Chad challenged on a smirk. “
Not my
style.”

“Not mine either,” Kenneth snapped. “I was on my way to town…thought I would stop by and see if Shawna wished to join me.”

“What—without calling first?” Chad clucked at him sarcastically.

“I was already out the driveway and didn’t remember the number of the cottage phone!” Kenneth’s face was a bright shade of red.

“And what did the lady say to your invitation?”

Shawna’s head had been ping ponging back and forth between the two. She now put up one delicate hand to stall their words. “The lady is saying good night, gentlemen.”

She started to close the door, but Kenneth turned and put his hand on it. “Wait, Shawna…won’t you reconsider?”

“Not tonight.” She continued to close the door. She noticed Chad’s face and his laughing green eyes just before she shut the door on both men.