Unknown Magic Page 5

  “I would like to see him again, so that I can thank him myself for saving me. Maybe, if we talk about my kidnapping, it might spark some more of my memories. Dad hates when I say that. But I have to find out what happened. That’s the only way I feel I will remember my life before I was kidnapped.”

  I think you may be right about that, Little Bit. Seamus will be over tomorrow morning. I will make sure you get some time to talk to him alone.”

  “Thanks. I’m beat. I want to go back to the cabin and go to bed.”

  Seamus stepped out onto his porch, sending his senses out to check for any intruders that might be near. He found Megan and Donovan across the lake sitting on the same ledge they had shared earlier that day. Automatically, his mind drifted toward Megan. Why it was he could not stop his thoughts from reaching for her, he did not know. Since seeing her the other day, she was taking up too much of his thoughts. Her strawberry blond hair, the way it caught the sun like molten gold, took his breath away. Certain if it was not up in that ponytail it would cascade over her delicate shoulders then down to reach the small of her back. Her eyes were a magnificent blue that he was sure would go to cobalt if she were aroused. Her face, that of a queen, was as regal as any he had ever seen. When she had fallen into his arms this afternoon, it had taken all of his powers of control to keep from kissing her breathless, with her Cupid’s bow lips.

  She did resemble her mother greatly. Why he did not notice it before he could not fathom. He had always felt Bernadette was one striking woman, though she had never affected him the way Megan did. He still was not sure how to deal with these new feelings. One thing for sure, he had to be very careful to keep himself in check whenever he was around her. Somehow, he needed to get her out of his head. There might be some of the kidnappers still alive. Until every last one was dead, he knew none of his people were safe.

  As he walked along the lake, his mind once again shifted to Megan. She was such a breath of fresh air after all these years of self-imposed isolation. Could Megan be more than an attractive diversion for him? Could she be his mate? The realization shocked him—it could present some real problems. Not just to him, but also to his family and friends. He was sure that Donovan would not be pleased to find out his niece was destined to be Seamus’s mate. He grinned at the thought, but a shudder ran through his body when he figured none of them would have much of a choice, if the gods had fated her to be his.

  It was well after midnight when he noticed that Donovan and Megan started back toward their cabin. It would be a good thing for him to get some sleep as well. Tomorrow will be a long day.

  Chapter Five

  The morning had dawned bright and clear, when Megan decided she could not sleep another wink. She looked at the clock by her bed and discovered she had slept only five hours; it was six-thirty in the morning. Usually she could sleep late and still feel as though she had not gotten enough rest, but not this morning. She awoke feeling invigorated, as if she had gotten the best night’s sleep in years.

  She climbed out of bed and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower before she started breakfast. As she stepped out of the shower, she could smell coffee and bacon cooking. She threw on her robe and slippers. She should have known her Uncle Sean would have breakfast well underway by this time of the morning. She made her way to the kitchen to find her uncle cooking not just bacon, sausage and eggs, but steaks, ham, muffins and pancakes.

  “Good grief, Uncle Sean. It looks like you’re cooking for an army.”

  “No, just the six of us.”

  “How’s there six of us? Who else is here?”

  “Seamus will be joining us for breakfast.”

  Oh God, here she was in a robe and slippers. “Then let me grab a cup of coffee and run back and get dressed.”

  Megan definitely did not want Seamus to see her like this. She poured the coffee, put in some sugar and cream and hurried back to the bedroom. She surveyed what clothes she had in the closet. She was never fussy on how she dressed, but today she wanted to look special. She grabbed a pair of jeans and then hunted for something other than the plain T-shirts she favored. She found a kelly-green tank top with lace inset. She started to pull her hair up in a ponytail, but upon inspecting her reflection, Megan decided that it looked too childish so she left her hair down. Full makeup was out of the question since she hadn’t brought everything. She made due with some lip-gloss and eye shadow.

  She decided against wearing shoes and padded barefoot into the kitchen. When she arrived, she noticed Seamus at the table along with Sean and Donovan. No one paid much attention to her except Seamus, who stared at her as if she was the breakfast, instead of the food in front of him. A forkful of steak hung in mid-air as he gazed open-mouthed at her.

  Megan thought he looked dangerous yesterday; today he looked ten times more so. Even sitting, he seemed larger than life. His shoulders looked as if they could fill the doorway. His arms appeared to be as large as her thighs. She remembered those strong arms supporting her yesterday as she fell. He lifted her as if she were nothing but a feather. Oh, how she would like those massive arms around her now and those hands touching her in places she hadn’t been touched in quite some time.

  Then he smiled at her, wide and wicked, as if he knew her thoughts. Her heart jumped and she could feel the flush running from her toes to her cheeks. There was kindness in that smile and darker, more intimate things as well. She felt such a pull that she wanted to run over and hug him and do a whole lot more. What is the matter with me? I’m almost twenty-five. I’ve been with men before, but no one made me feel the way I do now. Even after spending months getting to know them. Yet here I am practically falling over myself, over a complete stranger.

  Seamus nearly dropped his knife and fork when Megan came into the room. She wore jeans that looked painted on. Her top may have covered her curves, but it seemed to emphasize them more. She had left her hair down, and he had been right about it coming to the small of her back. He could almost feel her silky locks running through his fingers. She wore no shoes on her beautifully shaped feet. Pink nail polish decorated her toes. He envisioned taking them in his mouth and suckling them. He became hard.

  The air crackled with electricity and Seamus heard a rumbling growl. He turned his head toward Donovan and realized his friend was sensing Seamus’ rising testosterone. Without looking at Megan, Donovan told her to go and tell her father and Patrick that breakfast was ready.

  Seamus stared at Donovan. He knew it was a challenge to do so, but he also knew that he and Megan would be mated and there was no one who could stand in the way of it. Donovan looked at him, with malice in his eyes, then cocked his head and looked toward the door where Megan had exited.

  “You son-of-a-bitch, of all the women in the world, you had to find your mate in my niece.”

  “It is not my idea and the timing could not be worse. I cannot afford the distraction, yet the Fates have deemed otherwise.”

  “Aye, and I can tell you, Jim is not going to agree with this at all.”

  “No, I am sure he will not, not that he or anyone can stop it.”

  “True enough, but it is not going to be easy. She understands a bit of what will happen to her on her birthday, yet there is only so much I can explain to her. Much of what is going to happen she knew instinctively as a child, but those bastards stripped that from her along with all her memories. Now she has to deal with the Fates mating you two as well. This may be too much for her to handle at one time.”

  “There are other ways to get her memories to return. We will have to try some of them over the next two weeks. It would make her empowerment much easier if she could remember what Bern had taught her.”

  “I will talk to Jim and explain about the two of you. He might take it better coming from me, but I can guarantee it will be a fight all the same.”

  “Aye, no father wants to see his babe leave the nest, and I am sure it will be even harder on him since he lost his wife and almost lost Megan as we
ll. He does not seem to have a great understanding of the Tuatha.”

  “You know as well as I, we do not let most know much of ourselves. Even though Bern married him, she did not give him more information than necessary about our people. I do know they loved each other as well as any of our own, but I do not think he understood all of her needs. He certainly does not understand anything about the empowerment, and he honestly believed that Megan might not have any powers at all and would never change. That was one of the reasons he never told her of her mother’s heritage and why he wanted me to hold off telling her anything. He believed if she did not know, then it would not happen. So yes, he knows very little about us.”

  Just then, Megan, Jim, and Patrick walked in. They filled their plates and sat down to eat. Within seconds, Megan turned to Seamus and said, “I would like to see you in your wolf form.”

  Everyone stopped dead. It was as if someone pushed a button and suspended time. No one moved or, for that matter, breathed.

  Seamus glanced around the room, knowing this was one of the ways he thought might help her regain her memory—although he was not sure how the others would react. “Aye, if it is all right with your family. But we will have to go outside as wolves do not like closed in areas.”

  Megan scowled at him. “For starters, it’s not up to my family. I’m the one who’s missing years of my life. And I’m the one who’s going to decide what I want or don’t want to do.” She spat out the words, leaving no doubt that she was determined to be in charge at this moment.

  “It could be very traumatic for you,” her father pointed out. He looked none too happy about her going outside with Seamus, let alone in his wolf form.

  She glared at her father and said through clenched teeth, “Dad, this is important to me and neither you nor anyone else is going to stop me from doing it. This might help me remember more. I’m going to try anything to help that process.”

  Tension filled the air, but Jim conceded, “Fine, but you’re not going out there alone.”

  Donovan said, “Jim, she has to do this on her own. Seamus, whether in human or wolf form, will not hurt her. You, on the other hand, could be perceived as a threat, so leave it be.”

  Jim turned toward Donovan with a look that would stop most people dead in their tracks. “What do you mean? How could I possibly be a threat to my daughter?”

  Unfazed by Jim’s look or the venom in his voice, Donovan said, “When we are in wolf form, we utilize our instincts more than our intellect. You are emanating so much suspicion and anger that Seamus would pick up on that instead of your protectiveness toward Megan. Therefore, you would come across as a threat to both Megan and him. His first instinct might be to attack you. If you are worried about trauma, think of what that could do to Megan.”

  That deflected anymore of Jim’s arguments and he asked, “How come this situation gets more complicated every time I turn around?”

  Donovan said, “It is just that there are many things you do not know about us. Jim, you know I would do nothing that would harm Megan. I know you do not know Seamus, but you have met many of his family members. He has just as much at stake in all of this as the rest of us, maybe more.”

  “Fine.” Jim glared at Seamus, fire in his eyes. “But so help me God, you do anything to hurt my little girl and I will hunt you down and kill you.”

  Knowing Jim had no idea just how powerful he was and not wanting to antagonize the man any further, Seamus said, “I guarantee to protect her with my life.”

  They finished eating without any more snarly remarks. Megan seemed a bit on edge as she walked out of the cabin.

  She turned toward Seamus and asked, “Why does everyone think they know what’s best for me? They’re always trying to run my life.”

  Anxiety poured off Megan in waves. Trying to put her at ease he said, “It is just that they love you Megan. I do not think that anyone feels you are incapable of thinking for yourself. Sometimes, we all get a bit overprotective. When you have your own children and they grow up, you will more than likely forget yourself that they have grown into adults. I am sure part of it is also the fact that they almost lost you once.”

  “But don’t they understand? I need to figure out what happened back then. Sometimes I feel like…it’s right there, ready for me to grasp, and then it just slips away before I can get a firm grip on it.”

  He wanted her to remember her mother and the things she told Megan about her empowerment. It would make that day go so much easier for her if she could have her memories from her childhood. The one thing he hoped she would never remember was what had been done to her during her captivity.

  “Megan, I will do anything I can to help you regain your memories. I told Donovan I had a few suggestions on how we could help you and, surprisingly, you asked for one of them without my suggesting it.”

  Megan’s eyes lit up. “Do you really think this might help?”

  “Our minds work in funny ways. We tend to block out things that caused us great trauma. Sometimes confronting those things head-on will break open those memories. The only thing that we need to be aware of is that they can also send us into a tailspin. I think that is the biggest reason your father is so reluctant to even talk about your past.” He watched as she digested his words.

  Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t care what happens as long as I finally remember the first eight years of my life. I want to remember what my mother looked like and not from a picture. I want to remember the stories she told me firsthand and not from someone else trying to repeat them. If you can help me find those lost years, it would make me the happiest person in the world, and I’d be forever grateful.”

  “I can give no guarantees on anything, Megan. I know very little of what happened before you were brought into that lab, or anything that happened after I left you in the woods by your home. I will tell you everything that happened from the time I got there, if you think that will help. But, I will warn you it is not a pretty story.” Even as he said the words, he knew he would never tell her many of the things that were done to him. He was sure she had similar things done to her. However, he could not bring himself to repeat some of the horrors he remembered.

  “I want to get to the truth. My life’s been sugarcoated since I woke from my coma. After Uncle Donovan found you, he and Dad argued and I got more information in that short time than I got in all the previous years, put together. So please, just give me the truth no matter how gruesome.” She kicked at the grass.

  “Let us first see how much my wolf form may help you remember on your own and then we can talk after.”

  “Before you change, I have a couple of questions. Will you understand me if I talk to you in your wolf form?”

  “It is still me, so yes.”

  “May I touch you without getting attacked?”

  “A ghrá, I would not attack you in any form, so you have nothing to worry about.” The Gaelic word for “my love” had slipped out of his mouth, the only true word in his statement. As for attacking her—well, he would love to attack her, just not the way she imagined. She should be leery of him with the things he had in mind to do to her body with not only his hands but his mouth as well.

  She brought him back to the moment when she asked, “Does it hurt when you change?”

  Seamus threw back his head and laughed at her question. Here she was worrying about his comfort when she should be thinking about what could happen if her memories came rushing back. Yes, his little Megan was one sensitive creature, who was worming her way into his heart. “No, it is a natural change for us, so there is no pain involved. Are you ready?”

  Megan took a deep breath. Not knowing what to expect, excitement battled with her nervousness. Since she woke from her coma, no one mentioned she would someday be able to change from human form to wolf, bird, or anything until she had met Seamus. Now she was about to see just what would occur. She nodded. “Okay, then let’s do it.”

  As she watched, Seamus started t
o shimmer and then within seconds a huge wolf stood in front of her. Her breath caught; her heart thudded against her chest. He was enormous. He was magnificent. His eyes, yes, those were the eyes she remembered from her dream. She knelt next to him, running her fingers through his thick coat. The texture was much different from anything she could remember, soft yet coarse. She placed her face in his scruff and continued stroking his thick fur.

  As she brushed her cheek against him, she saw images of herself as a young child curled up in a cage crying as pain racked her body. She called for her mother over and over, but she never came. Then a big wolf bounded up and broke the cage lock. More pictures filled her mind, shoving those first images out of the way. Her gripping the wolf’s neck as he carried her on his back and then the wolf sleeping, his body curled up around her to keep her warm. The images overpowered her. Only when the wolf turned his face to hers and started licking her did she realizes tears trickled down her face.

  Within seconds he shimmered back to a man and took her into his arms. He settled her on his lap, and rocked her, giving her the comfort she needed. Great sobs racked through her body and she cried her heart out.

  “Now, now, a stór, {sweetheart}, just cry it out, as that is what you need.”

  They sat there for about half an hour as he comforted her. Finally, as she got control of herself, she knew she should pull away from him, but she loathed giving up the security of his embrace.