Unknown Magic Read online

  “Who are you? What do you want with me?” She cursed herself for the quiver in her voice.

  “All in good time. All in good time,” he said as he walked toward her. In his hand, he carried a device that looked much like an iPod. As he got closer, he started pressing buttons on it and Megan felt as if her life force was being sucked out of her. She gasped and he smiled. “Yes, I see my new little toy is effective. Tell me witch, what does it feel like?”

  Not sure if she should tell him the truth or try to make him think his device was not doing what he planned, she went with the latter. “As if a thousand ants are climbing all over me.”

  Scowling, he continued to play with the buttons. “That’s not right.”

  Megan almost wanted to smile except the pain he was inflicting on her was almost unbearable. From his facial expression, she knew she had given him the correct answer. If she could hold out just a little longer and prevent herself from screaming out in agony, maybe he would become frustrated and turn it off thinking it wasn’t working.

  In her mind, she screamed, “Seamus, help me,” and then she felt him. The relief was instantaneous. Then she remembered what the bitch had told her about the poison. “Are you dead?” She heard his laughter as it washed over her like a balm. “No, a ghrá, I am very much alive.”

  “But they told me they gave you enough poison that you should have died in less than an hour of my capture. I couldn’t contact you, or feel you. I was so sure they had told me the truth.”

  “They did what they had said. Fortunately, Shannon was close and got me to Brú na Bóinne in time. It has taken many hours for my recovery, but I have just about recuperated enough to get out of here, and then I will come for you.”

  “Please hurry! This lunatic has some machine that is draining my energy. I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

  “I will get there as soon as possible. I am going to contact some of the others now, and we will find you soon. I will try to keep sending a bit of my energy to you to keep you going.”

  Relief poured over Megan with the knowledge Seamus was alive. She had forgotten about Mr. Ugly Dog, until he started talking to her again.

  “It shows to be working, so you must be lying.”

  Gathering as much strength as she could muster so she would not sound weak, she answered him. “Why would I lie? Tell me what it supposed to be doing, and I’ll tell you if it is.”

  “Are you feeling weak?”

  God she was, but said, “No, I feel fine, other than feeling like someone beat me up.”

  He cursed and turned off the machine. “Well, I’ll have it tested, and then we’ll try again. I’ve a few other plans for you.”

  Now that he had turned it off, she could feel her energy level increasing. All she could hope was Seamus and her uncles would get there before he had the machine tested. If he used it on her again, she was sure she would not survive for long.

  Megan decided she needed to keep him talking, hoping it would distract him for a while. “You never told me who you are.”

  “No, I didn’t, did I?

  He walked over to an intercom system saying no more to her and spoke to someone. Within a few minutes, two men in white coats came in, wheeling a cart with instruments on it. She was not sure what they were for, but they didn’t look like toys. Megan tried to shrink away, which was impossible with the restraints holding her steadfast. Her fear level rocketed.

  “What is it, a ghrá? What are they doing to you now?”

  “Nothing yet, but from the instruments they just wheeled in here I can only imagine. Please hurry.”

  “I am trying to get an idea as to where they have you, but I am not at full strength yet, so I am having a bit of a problem getting an exact location. Just as soon as I do, we will be there, I promise you.”

  “Put in an intravenous line and draw some of her blood,” Ugly Dog barked at one of the attendants. Once accomplished, none too gently either, he took a syringe with a yellowish liquid in it, attached it to the line of the IV, and pushed down the plunger. Megan’s arm felt like it was on fire. She shrieked as the burning sensation blazed up her arm and into the rest of her body.

  Seamus went to his knees as a burning pain ripped through his body. Hands grabbed him.

  “Lay him back on the table. Dammit, Seamus, I told you it was too soon,” Conor chastised him.

  Panting, and curling into himself, he hoarsely whispered, “’Tis not me, but Megan.”

  “Get four of our best healers in here now!” Conor yelled to Shannon who rushed back into the room.

  Shannon turned, running back out, and within seconds returned with Bridget, his mother Fiona, Liam, and another man Seamus did not know well.

  Conor started instructing everyone as to what to do. “Seamus, we are going to try a healing spell. As we do I want you to send it to Megan. Whatever they are doing to Megan, you are getting the effects of it. That being the case, whatever we do to you should also help her.”

  Roarke and Nuala materialized as Conor was talking. “Good, I need six of you to form an outer circle. The rest of you form the healing circle. Noel, stand with Shannon and thrust your energy to her.”

  The room filled with candles as they started the chant. Seamus could feel the effects as the pain started to recede, and he sent it on to Megan.

  Megan writhed in pain. She could not think, let alone speak. Whatever this man had put into her body burned like fire. She had never known agony like this.

  The bastard who inflicted the pain leaned over her. His breath was repulsive. He made sure his face was in her field of vision. He sneered and said, “Don’t worry, it won’t kill you, but it will hurt like hell. Every time you do something, I don’t like, I will give you another shot of it. The effects will take about an hour to wear off, so if you’re smart you’ll behave yourself. Just so you know, you witch, that was for what you did to Debra. She worked hard and was a great piece of ass. Now I’m going to use you for that too, by the way. When I’m through with you, you’ll pray for your death, and you will have to keep praying because it will never come. I like the looks of you, so I’m going to enjoy you a lot.”

  Megan tried to turn her head away from him, but he caught her chin and crushed his mouth against hers. She almost gagged.

  When he finally released her, he said, “Yes, we’re going to have great fun, and there is not a damn thing you can do, now is there? This is just one of the perks the boss allows me.” Laughing, he turned and walked back over to the cart and picked up a scalpel. “Now, let’s see how you bleed.”

  Megan began to hear chanting in her head and then felt the pain beginning to subside. Closing her eyes, she let her body began to relax. Then he was leaning over her once more.

  “Let’s see. Shall I start with that pretty face of yours and work my way down or shall I start at the bottom and work my way up?” He then walked to the foot of the table and sliced into the bottom of her foot.

  Tears rolled down her face as she tried to pull her foot away from him, but the restraints held it in place. She screamed in agony. “Why?”

  “Why? You want to know why. I will tell you why, you witch. Because you are an abomination of human kind. You are monsters, the spawn of the devil himself. That’s why!” He was yelling by the time he finished.

  Speechless, Megan stared at him.

  The pain in his foot almost had Seamus coming off the table as he once again heard Megan scream in his head.

  There was a collective gasp and when he looked, everyone was staring at his foot. Conor grabbed a towel, placing pressure on his foot with it. “By the Goddess, what the hell is going on?”

  Keeping her eyes on Seamus, Shannon said, “It seems whatever they inflict on Megan, manifests in Seamus.”

  Conor looked up. Seamus nodded and said, “I have to get to her now.”

  “Can you follow her energy stream yet?” Donovan asked, his anxiety evident on his face.

  “I almost had it just before they
cut her, but every time they do something to her, it weakens me and I lose it again.”

  Patrick, doing his normal pacing, said, “Dammit, we need to do something fast, from what is happening to you they are not holding back on their torture of her and the clock is ticking. We now have less than seven hours to get Megan back here. If they keep up this pace of torture, she will not last and you’ll be too weak to help get her out.”

  Seamus could not agree more, especially when the next thing he knew a large gash ran the length of his leg and Megan was screaming in his head once more. The sense of distress he picked up from Megan alone was enough to debilitate him, even without the actual pain he also experienced.

  Over the next three hours, Seamus had barely enough time to recuperate from one injury before another would appear. He could feel how weak Megan was becoming with each passing occurrence. Sending her so much energy was also weakening him.

  Everyone in the room became restless. They were helpless to do anything but keep a healing chant going.

  Then Noel leaned over Seamus. “Listen, you must cut your connection to Megan, at the rate this is going Megan will be out of time before we are even able to get to her. Seamus, if you do not, we are going to lose you both. Without you helping her, perhaps she will pass out and they may leave her alone long enough for you to get the strength to find her.”

  Horror filled Seamus. “If I do that, she will be in agony. I cannot stand having her in that kind of pain.”

  Determination hardened Noel’s face as he said, “Which would you prefer, helping ease her pain or getting her out of there?”

  Knowing he had no choice, Seamus contacted Megan. “Megan, we cannot keep this up much longer. If I do not get stronger, I will not be able to find you in time. The only hope we have is for you to pass out, so they will leave you alone awhile. In order to for me to gain enough strength to find you, I am going to cut our connection, keeping a small stream between us to follow. Once I do this, I will not be able to send you any healing power nor ease the pain for you. A Mhúirnín, I love you with all my heart, and I hate doing this to you.”

  “Seamus, please just do it. The pain’s bad, but I know you’re carrying the brunt of it for me. I’ll close myself off from the pain the best I can. I’ll act like I passed out even if I don’t. I love you too. Please hurry and find me.”

  As he cut the connection, he heard Megan scream in agony just before he passed out.

  When Seamus cut their connection Megan got the full force of the pain he had been carrying for her. She screamed in agony and mercifully passed out.

  When she awoke, she was still in the same room and still restrained. But the room was empty. Breathing a sigh of relief that she did not have to deal with Ugly Dog for a while and could gain some more of her energy back, she tried to contact Seamus. When she got no reply, she panicked. Then she remembered he cut himself off from her. Not knowing just how long she had been out this time, she figured the best thing she could do was act like she was still unconscious.

  Ugly Dog sauntered into the room. “Don’t pretend you aren’t awake, I already saw you on the monitor.” He lumbered over to her, putting his face in hers. “Now I think it’s time I got a little pleasure from you.” He pulled out the machine that looked like the iPod again. “It seems to be working okay. It should weaken you enough so I don’t have to fight you while I enjoy your body.” He tapped a few buttons and set it on the table next to her head.

  Megan started feeling the drain on her energy. The bastard smiled as he groped her. Megan tried to fight him, but the energy drain was becoming too much. He opened his pants and climbed on the table with her. The last thing Megan saw before she once again descended into blackness was a huge wolf knocking him off her.

  As soon as Seamus came around, he tried to get a reading on where Megan was. Everyone in the room was pacing at this point, but stopped dead as soon as Seamus said, “I have her.”

  Patrick, Donovan, and Sean all asked in unison, “Where? We do not have much time.”

  Noel said, “Shield as soon as you get there. We cannot afford to have any one of you incapacitated, especially in their lab.”

  Seamus then said, “We need to go now. Her energy is fading.” Even as he spoke, he was shimmering out. The rest followed.

  As Seamus materialized in a small room, what he saw almost made his knees buckle. An obese man sprawled on top of Megan trying to rape her. Seamus turned wolf and lunged. He tore out the man’s throat as he knocked him to the floor. Then he stood at Megan’s side.

  Sean, Noel, Donovan, Patrick, Colin, and Brian were there and Seamus said, “Find the source of the energy drain, Megan said it looked like an iPod.” Colin found it next to Megan’s head and grabbed it, and played with the buttons to turn it off.

  Sean and Donovan worked on the restraints with little luck. “Bloody hell, magic does not work on it. When Patrick found the mechanism to release it, Seamus picked Megan up into his arms and held her. “She is barely breathing.”

  Shannon, Bridget, Fiona, Liam, and Conor materialized. “She needs to be in Brú na Bóinne now,” Conor said.

  Noel said, “Take her, Seamus, we will clean up here.”

  With that, Seamus, Megan and the healers were gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Within an hour of arriving at Brú na Bóinne, Megan’s breathing evened out, but she still had not come to. Seamus paced the room. Never in his life had fear gripped him as much as it had in the last day, knowing Megan was being tortured and not being able to get to her. As hard as it had been to cut himself off from her, Noel had been right. If he had waited, he would not have gotten to her in time. Whatever that machine was, it was definitely pulling Megan’s life-force from her. They had all felt it upon arriving. Colin had it now, and he and Patrick would tear it apart, find out how it works and how to combat its effect. How could this company produce such technology?

  Seamus went back and sat next to Megan.

  Conor came in. He examined her and said, “She could be coming around any time now, her vitals are fine and energy level is back up to normal. However, she will more than likely sleep until morning, after the ordeal she went through. You should also get some rest as well. You had a go of it yourself.”

  “I am fine, once she wakes and knows she is safe then we can both rest. Have you heard anything from Donovan and the others on how things are going at the lab?”

  Shaking his head, Conor said, “They are still there. They have transported seven more of our people so far. They are not in much better shape than Megan. In fact, most were so close to death I still do not know how they survived. They had cuts on them that look like they had been there for weeks. These bastards must have been testing some of the drug they used on the bullets they shot at Brian and Noel.

  Slamming his fist down, Seamus spoke through gritted teeth, “Have they found the person behind this yet?”

  “They have not found anyone yet, as far as I know, but they are checking everything out with a fine-tooth comb.”

  “If I ever get my hands on that bastard, I can guarantee you his death is going to be slow and very, very painful. How he eluded me all these year is anyone’s guess. I can tell you one thing—my top priority from this point forward is to find him.”

  “We are all in agreement with you there. And I would say there is going to be a long line of us working with you.”

  Looking back at Megan, Seamus asked, “Should she not be coming around by now? She has been here for way over an hour.”

  Glancing past Seamus, Conor said, “Give her time. She is both physically and mentally exhausted. In fact, maybe if you climbed up there with her and held her it would do you both good.”

  “Aye, that sounds like a fine idea. Just having her close is a tremendous relief. If you get any news on the head of Golden Enterprises, let me know.”

  “I promise you will be the first one I inform. Try and get a bit of rest yourself,” Conor said as he walked out of the ro
om.

  Seamus woke feeling much more relaxed and refreshed. Holding Megan at his side had given him great peace. She looked so young and fragile, yet he knew what a strong woman she was. He thanked the gods he had gotten to her in time. Because no matter how much of a fighter she might have been, if he had not gotten her back when he had, her soul would have left her body for the otherworld.

  Leaning over, he kissed her and when he got no response, he tried telepathically. “Megan, a ghrá, it is time for you to wake up now.” Nothing. He could feel her energy, but it felt far away. A chill filled his body as he sat up pulling Megan with him. Holding her close, he called to Conor. “Conor get in here now. Something is not right with Megan.”

  Within a second, although it seemed hours to Seamus, Conor materialized in the room along with Shannon and his mother.

  Fiona spoke first. “Son, lay her down so we can examine her.”

  Doing as his mother asked, Seamus felt part of himself being ripped away as his touch slipped from her. Anguish filled him as a sense of failure touched him to his soul. Could he have gotten her here too late to save her after all? Would the gods be that cruel to let him find his mate only to let her slip away?

  As everyone bustled around Megan, Seamus paced the room like a tiger in a cage. Not being able to wait any longer he cried out, “Why has she not come around? You said everything was normal, yet I sense her a distance away.”

  Conor, shaking his head, looked at Seamus. “I can find no reason for her not to awaken, but she has the same feel she had all those years ago. She is here, yet she is not.”

  “What do we need to do? There must be something that will bring her back.”

  Conor said, “The only thing we can do now is wait. When she was a child, Jim took her to a hospital, and they could find no cause for her coma-like state, yet she stayed in it for five years. We can only hope that with her being here in Brú na Bóinne she will come back to us sooner and with no memory loss.”