Iona’s, but others. Distant, murmuring, murmuring through the thinning Veil. Over them Meara’s song rang, filled his heart with more.
Fin swept his sword so the candles reignited, so the flames ran straight.
The rats turned away, flowing toward the three. Cabhan dropped to all fours. The wolf charged Kathel.
Connor felt Branna’s fear, turned with her as did Iona to shoot power toward the wolf. But the ground heaved under it—Fin’s work. Kathel’s jaws snapped over the wolf’s shoulder, and Roibeard dived.
It screamed, fought its way clear to run toward the trees beyond the clearing.
“Cut it off,” Connor shouted. “Drive it back.” But his heart stopped when both Boyle and Meara ran clear of the circle to join Fin.
It darted right, turned and, desperate, began to charge. Meara’s sword flamed. The tip of it scorched fur before the wolf checked, turned again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Connor caught movement. He glanced over, saw three figures by the cabin. A wavering vision, as their voices struggled to reach through the Veil.
Then he knew only his sister, Iona, only the three and the hot rush of power.
She suspended the vial in front of them, and with hands linked, minds linked, powers linked, they hurtled it toward the wolf.
The light exploded, a thousand suns. It charged into him, through him.
“By the power of three you are ended. With our light your dark is rended. With our light this web is spun, with our blood you are undone. No life, no spirit, no magicks left for thee. As we will so mote it be.”
The light flashed again, brighter still. It bloomed in his eyes, simmered in his blood. And through it, again, he saw three figures. One held out a hand to him, reaching. Reaching.
Then they were gone, and so was the light. The dark fell, lifted only by moonglow and the circle of candles. Breaking his link with the three, Connor rushed to Meara.
“Are you hurt? Anywhere?”
“No, not a bit.”
“You weren’t to stop singing, you weren’t to step out of the circle.”
“My throat got dry.” She smiled, her face smeared with soot, and threw her arms around him. “Did we end it? Did we end him?”
“Give me a moment.” Ash and blood littered the ground, tiny splotches of black still burned. “By the gods what’s left of him should be here. Give me a moment.”
“He’s not. I can feel him.” Fin swiped blood from his face. “I can feel him, I can smell him. I can find him. I can finish him.”
“You can’t leave the clearing.” Branna grabbed his arm. “You can’t or you may not get back.”
Face fierce, Fin wrenched his arm free. “What difference does it make if I end him, end this?”
“This isn’t your place.”
“And it isn’t your choice.”
“Nor can it be yours,” she said, and flung him back into the circle. “Connor.”
“Bloody hell.”
With considerable regret, he rushed Fin, pinned him, and got a fist in his face for the trouble before Boyle joined in.
“Quickly.” Branna laid a hand on Connor’s shoulder, took Meara’s hand, nodded to Iona as the men grappled on the ground.
She closed her eyes, broke the spell.
Through the dark and light again, through the colors and mists to the clearing with the ruins of a cabin and the call of an owl.
“It wasn’t for you to stop me.”
“Not only her,” Connor said, rubbing his jaw as he eyed Fin. “It was for all of us. We can’t do without you.”
“Can you be sure?” Meara demanded. “Can you be sure we didn’t finish him?”
Saying nothing, Fin stripped off his coat, yanked the sweater under it over his head. The mark on his shoulder showed raw and red, beating like a heart.
“What is this?” Branna demanded. “You feel his pain?”
“Your blood saw to that. He’s wounded, but who can say if it’s mortal. I could have finished him.”
“If you’d left the clearing, you’d have been lost,” Connor said. “You’re with us, Fin. Your place, your time is here. We didn’t finish him. I felt him as well before Branna broke the spell. But not here, not now. And this time, we’ve some bumps and bruises and nothing more—if we’re not counting your fist in my face—and he’s battered and bleeding and torn, half blind as well—I got that much. He may not survive the night.”
“I can ease the pain.”
Fin only stared at Branna. “I’ll keep it all the same.”
“Fin.” Iona stepped forward, rose to her toes to cup his face in her hands. “Mo dearthair. We need you with us.”
After a moment’s struggle, Fin lowered his forehead to hers, sighed. “Ah well.”
“We should go back.” Meara handed Bugs to Fin, where the dog wiggled in his arms and lapped at his face. “We may not have finished it, but we did good work tonight. And for myself, I sang my throat dry as the moon.”
“It’s not finished.” Branna crossed over to Sorcha’s gravestone, traced a finger over the words carved there. “Not yet finished, but it will be. I swear it will be.”
They mounted, filthy, weary. Connor hung back, just a bit, looking over his shoulder at the clearing before they went through the vines. “I saw them—I need to tell the others.”
“Saw who?”
“The three. Sorcha’s three—the shadows of them. Eamon with a sword, Brannaugh with a bow, Teagan with a wand. Some part of them was there, came through and into the dreaming. They tried to get through to us.”
“We could have used them—more than their shadows.”
“That’s the truth all around.” He turned Aine toward home. “I thought, for a moment and more, I thought we’d done it.”
“So did I. You wanted to go with Fin. Wanted to go with him and finish it, whatever the cost.”
“I did, but I couldn’t.”
“Because it wasn’t meant.”
“More than that. I couldn’t leave you.” He stopped Aine so he could turn to her, touch her face. “I couldn’t and wouldn’t leave you, Meara, not even for that.
“I’ve something for you.”
He dug in his pocket, pulled out the silver box, opened it so the ruby pulled at the moonlight.
“Oh, but, Connor—”
“It’s a fine ring, and I’ll see that it fits—as you fit me, and I fit you. It’s come down through the family. Branna passed it to me so I could give it to you.”
“You’re proposing to me on horseback when we both smell of brimstone?”
“It strikes me as romantic and memorable. Look here.” He slid it onto her finger, gave it a little tap. “See, it fits, as I said. You’ll have to marry me now.”
She looked at the ring, back at him. “I suppose I will then.”
He caught her in a kiss as sweet as it was awkward.
“Hold on now,” he told her.
And they flew.
* * *
SEEKING ITS LAIR, IT CRAWLED OVER THE GROUND, MORE shadow than wolf, more wolf than man. Its black blood scorched the earth behind it.
It knew only pain and hate and a terrible thirst.
And the terrible thirst was vengeance.
Keep reading for an excerpt from the newest book from Nora Roberts
THE COLLECTOR
Available from G. P. Putnam’s Sons
SHE THOUGHT THEY’D NEVER LEAVE. CLIENTS, ESPECIALLY new ones, tended to fuss and delay, revolving on the same loop of instructions, contacts, comments before finally heading out the door. She sympathized because when they walked out the door they left their home, their belongings, and in this case their cat, in someone else’s hands.
As their house sitter, Lila Emerson did everything she could to send them off relaxed, and confident those hands were competent ones.
For the next three weeks, while Jason and Macey Kilderbrand enjoyed the south of France with friends and family, Lila would live in their most excellent apa
rtment in Chelsea, water their plants, feed, water and play with their cat, collect their mail—and forward anything of import.
She’d tend Macey’s pretty terrace garden, pamper the cat, take messages and act as a burglary deterrent simply by her presence.
While she did, she’d enjoy living in New York’s tony London Terrace just as she’d enjoyed living in the charming flat in Rome—where for an additional fee she’d painted the kitchen—and the sprawling house in Brooklyn—with its frisky golden retriever, sweet and aging Boston terrier and aquarium of colorful tropical fish.
She’d seen a lot of New York in her six years as a professional house sitter, and in the last four had expanded to see quite a bit of the world as well.
Nice work if you can get it, she thought—and she could get it.
“Come on, Thomas.” She gave the cat’s long, sleek body one head-to-tail stroke. “Let’s go unpack.”
She liked the settling in, and since the spacious apartment boasted a second bedroom, unpacked the first of her two suitcases, tucking her clothes in the mirrored bureau or hanging them in the tidy walk-in closet. She’d been warned Thomas would likely insist on sharing the bed with her, and she’d deal with that. And she appreciated that the clients—likely Macey—had arranged a pretty bouquet of freesia on the nightstand.
Lila was big on little personal touches, the giving and the getting.
She’d already decided to make use of the master bath with its roomy steam shower and deep jet tub.
“Never waste or abuse the amenities,” she told Thomas as she put her toiletries away.
As the two suitcases held nearly everything she owned, she took some care in distributing them where it suited her best.
After some consideration she set up her office in the dining area, arranging her laptop so she could look up and out at the view of New York. In a smaller space she’d have happily worked where she slept, but since she had room, she’d make use of it.
She’d been given instructions on all the kitchen appliances, the remotes, the security system—the place boasted an array of gadgets that appealed to her nerdy soul.
In the kitchen she found a bottle of wine, a pretty bowl of fresh fruit, an array of fancy cheeses with a note handwritten on Macey’s monogrammed stationery.
Enjoy our home!
—Jason, Macey and Thomas
Sweet, Lila thought, and she absolutely would enjoy it.
She opened the wine, poured a glass, sipped and approved. Grabbing her binoculars, she carried the glass out on the terrace to admire the view.
The clients made good use of the space, she thought, with a couple of cushy chairs, a rough stone bench, a glass table—and the pots of thriving flowers, the pretty drops of cherry tomatoes, the fragrant herbs, all of which she’d been encouraged to harvest and use.
She sat, with Thomas in her lap, sipping wine, stroking his silky fur.
“I bet they sit out here a lot, having a drink, or coffee. They look happy together. And their place has a good feel to it. You can tell.” She tickled Thomas under the chin and had his bright green eyes going dreamy. “She’s going to call and e-mail a lot in the first couple days, so we’re going to take some pictures of you, baby, and send them to her so she can see you’re just fine.”
Setting the wine aside, she lifted the binoculars, scanned the buildings. The apartment complex hugged an entire city block, and that offered little glimpses into other lives.
Other lives just fascinated her.
A woman about her age wore a little black dress that fit her tall, model-thin body like a second skin. She paced as she talked on her cell phone. She didn’t look happy, Lila thought. Broken date. He has to work late—he says, Lila added, winding the plot in her head. She’s fed up with that.
A couple floors above, two couples sat in a living room—art-covered walls, sleek, contemporary furnishings—and laughed over what looked like martinis.
Obviously they didn’t like the summer heat as much as she and Thomas or they’d have sat outside on their little terrace.
Old friends, she decided, who get together often, sometimes take vacations together.
Another window opened the world to a little boy rolling around on the floor with a white puppy. The absolute joy of both zinged right through the air and had Lila laughing.
“He’s wanted a puppy forever—forever being probably a few months at that age—and today his parents surprised him. He’ll remember today his whole life, and one day he’ll surprise his little boy or girl the same way.”
Pleased to end on that note, Lila lowered the glasses. “Okay, Thomas, we’re going to get a couple hours of work in. I know, I know,” she continued, setting him down, picking up the half glass of wine. “Most people are done with work for the day. They’re going out to dinner, meeting friends—or in the case of the killer blonde in the black dress, bitching about not going out. But the thing is . . .” She waited until he strolled into the apartment ahead of her. “I set my own hours. It’s one of the perks.”
She chose a ball—motion-activated—from the basket of cat toys in the kitchen closet, gave it a roll across the floor.
Thomas immediately pounced, wrestled, batted, chased.
“If I were a cat,” she speculated, “I’d go crazy for that, too.”
With Thomas happily occupied, she picked up the remote, ordered music. She made a note of which station played so she could be sure she returned it to their house music before the Kilderbrands came home. She moved away from the jazz to contemporary pop.
House-sitting provided lodging, interest, even adventure. But writing paid the freight. Freelance writing—and waiting tables—had kept her head just above water her first two years in New York. After she’d fallen into house-sitting, initially doing favors for friends, and friends of friends, she’d had the real time and opportunity to work on her novel.
Then the luck or serendipity of house-sitting for an editor who’d taken an interest. Her first, Moon Rise, had sold decently. No bust-out bestseller, but steady, and with a nice little following in the fourteen-to-eighteen set she’d aimed for. The second would hit the stores in October, so her fingers were crossed.
But more to the moment, she needed to focus on book three of the series.
She bundled up her long brown hair with a quick twist, scoop and the clamp of a chunky tortoiseshell hinge clip. While Thomas gleefully chased the ball, she settled in with her half glass of wine, a tall glass of iced water and the music she imagined her central character, Kaylee, listened to.
As a junior in high school, Kaylee dealt with all the ups and downs—the romance, the homework, the mean girls, the bullies, the politics, the heartbreaks and triumphs that crowded into the short, intense high school years.
A sticky road, especially for the new girl—as she’d been in the first book. And more, of course, as Kaylee’s family were lycans.
It wasn’t easy to finish a school assignment or go to the prom with a full moon rising when a girl was a werewolf.
Now, in book three, Kaylee and her family were at war with a rival pack, a pack that preyed on humans. Maybe a little bloodthirsty for some of the younger readers, she thought, but this was where the path of the story led. Where it had to go.
She picked it up where Kaylee dealt with the betrayal of the boy she thought she loved, an overdue assignment on the Napoleonic Wars and the fact that her beautiful blond nemesis had locked her in the science lab.
The moon would rise in twenty minutes—just about the same time the Science Club would arrive for their meeting.
She had to find a way out before the change.
Lila dived in, happily sliding into Kaylee, into the fear of exposure, the pain of a broken heart, the fury with the cheerleading, homecoming queening, man-eating (literally) Sasha.
By the time she’d gotten Kaylee out, and in the nick, courtesy of a smoke bomb that brought the vice principal—another thorn in Kaylee’s side—dealt with the lecture, the detentio
n, the streaking home as the change came on her heroine, Lila had put in three solid hours.
Pleased with herself, she surfaced from the story, glanced around.
Thomas, exhausted from play, lay curled on the chair beside her, and the lights of the city glittered and gleamed out the window.
She fixed Thomas’s dinner precisely as instructed. While he ate she got her Leatherman, used the screwdriver of the multi-tool to tighten some screws in the pantry.
Loose screws, to her thinking, were a gateway to disaster. In people and in things.
She noticed a couple of wire baskets on runners, still in their boxes. Probably for potatoes or onions. Crouching, she read the description, the assurance of easy install. She made a mental note to e-mail Macey, ask if she wanted them put in.
It would be a quick, satisfying little project.
She poured a second glass of wine and made a late dinner out of the fruit, cheese and crackers. Sitting cross-legged in the dining room, Thomas in her lap, she ate while she checked e-mail, sent e-mail, scanned her blog—made a note for a new entry.
“Getting on to bedtime, Thomas.”
He just yawned when she picked up the remote to shut off the music, then lifted him up and away so she could deal with her dishes and bask in the quiet of her first night in a new space.
After changing into cotton pants and a tank, she checked the security, then revisited her neighbors through the binoculars.
It looked like Blondie had gone out after all, leaving the living room light on low. The pair of couples had gone out as well. Maybe to dinner, or a show, Lila thought.
The little boy would be fast asleep, hopefully with the puppy curled up with him. She could see the shimmer of a television, imagined Mom and Dad relaxing together.
Another window showed a party going on. A crowd of people—well-dressed, cocktail attire—mixed and mingled, drinks or small plates in hand.
She watched for a while, imagined conversations, including a whispered one between the brunette in the short red dress and the bronzed god in the pearl gray suit who, in Lila’s imagination, were having a hot affair under the noses of his long-suffering wife and her clueless husband.
She scanned over, stopped, lowered the glasses a moment, then looked again.
No, the really built guy on the . . . twelfth floor wasn’t completely naked. He wore a thong as he did an impressive bump and grind, a spin, drop.
He was working up a nice sweat, she noted, as he repeated moves or added to them.
Obviously an actor/dancer moonlighting as a stripper until he caught his big Broadway break.
She enjoyed him. A lot.
The window show kept her entertained for a half hour before she made herself a nest in the bed—and was indeed joined by Thomas. She switched on the TV for company, settled on an NCIS rerun where she could literally recite the dialogue before the characters. Comforted by that, she picked up her iPad, found the thriller she’d started on the plane from Rome, and snuggled in.
* * *