Chapter Seventeen

 

“I ah… you don’t understand… I… didn’t.” Devin stood and got busy fast adjusting one of the cameras. Finally he turned and crossed his arms over his chest. “I really had no choice in the matter.”

Isabel eyed him, lips firmly set. “No choice?”

“None,” he declared. “She… it…. You seduced me.”

“Is that the best you can do with your explanation?”

Devin’s eyes searched hers. “You have to understand, she… you were so beautiful.”

“And?”

A vein ticked in his forehead. “Sometimes a man loses control especially if…”

“Especially if what?”

Devin seemed undecided for a moment before he crossed the room and pulled her to her feet. Taking both of her hands he said softly, “Especially if he has strong feelings for her.”

Oh, she couldn’t do this any longer. A giggle erupted.

Devin frowned. “What?”

Isabel rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Did you really think I was upset with you? She’s me… well, my ghost! If anything, I’m flattered. We did not even know each other that well then.”

A quick flash of shock crossed his features before Devin growled and scooped her up. Somehow in the blink of an eye she was beneath him on the couch, long skirts a tangled mess. Encaged between his arms, Isabel laughed.

“You’re trouble, you know that?” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “I just can’t seem to peg you.”

“Peg me?” Isabel stopped laughing when his hand rode up her leg. “Oh I think you’ve pegged me.”

This time Devin chuckled before he rose up on his elbows, expression suddenly serious. “I’m sorry. That experience was nothing like the real thing.”

“Shhh.” Isabel grinned. “She might hear you.”

A small smile blossomed on his face. For a fraction of a second Isabel felt something dark surface in him. It was that same alluring magic she’d experienced before. She knew he must have used it in the foundation at the beginning and most definitely yesterday in the forest when he took her. Devin’s black magic seemed to fluctuate around him. It pulsed and caressed her as surely as his hands and lips. Isabel’s hips surged up involuntarily.

As he nibbled her earlobe and ran his hot palm up between her legs, Isabel wondered if she had by nature an attraction to the beast. Had being with Lucas knowing he was a monster made her more in tune with the darker side, made some small part of her need it desperately?

“Um, it’s called the night watch for a reason.”

Both sat up abruptly when Seth walked in and grabbed his drink.

“Night, Seth,” Devin said.

“Later.” Seth left.

“He’s probably right.” Isabel tried to ignore her aroused state. “We really need to focus on what needs to get done here. We’re too easily distracted.”

“Mm Hmm.” Devin sat back and crossed one leg over the other. “I’ll bet I know who made sure you saw that video.”

“Seth’s your cousin. He only has your best interests in mind.”

Devin snorted. “Sure he does.”

“So you two really are normally close?”

“Aye.” Devin shrugged one shoulder. “Seth’s always been the wild one. Total dare devil. Lad really shouldn’t be alive right now. Regardless, we’ve always gotten on well. I think this curse is changing us all and not for the better.”

“I think that depends on how you look at it,” she said. “If you three work together well this curse might bring you closer.”

Devin studied her. “You might be right. It’s just hard. I’ve denied this magic for a year where Seth and Leathan embraced it. Who knows, Seth might have issues with that fact.”

“True.” Isabel placed her hand on his knee. “Or you might be acting like any man would when another man shows interest in his woman.”

His shrewd gaze cut to her core. “Well said, sweetheart.”

A sharp thrill raced through her veins. When a slow burn covered her cheeks, Devin’s eyes lit with a strange sort of possession. Reaching up, he ran the back of his forefinger over her cheekbone. “I like making you blush.”

Isabel very rarely thought about her looks. Typically throughout life, they’d only caused her trouble. She’d always made a habit of toning down her feminine appearance. Yet right now with the way he was looking at her, she was glad she’d been born attractive, that a man like this would look at her in such a fashion.

A candle flared and spit. Its light flickered across Devin’s face, lit his gray green eyes. His brows slowly came together as he clutched her chin. When his face began to blur she clutched his arms. “Devin,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”

Even as she said it the candlelight warped around the room, twisting and turning until it became the fire in the middle of a lawn in front of the Georgian. Isabel grasped at the air and fought off panic. “Devin?”

“Right here.”

Sitting on the ground, she twisted around. He was right behind her. “Oh, thank God!”

“No.” He stopped her before she embraced him. “We’re back, Isabel. Your employees are right over there.” Devin stood, pulled her up and turned her away.

It took all of her willpower not to turn back. Looking at the men around the fire and the framework of the Georgian she said, “No time has passed here, has it?”

“Doesn’t look it.” Devin put his hand on the small of her back. “Good thing I’m wearing the right clothes, eh? You’d best join them at the campfire or retire to your tent.”

Disorientation took over. How odd it was to be back in her era after traveling to the future. “I’ll go to my tent.” She looked over her shoulder, up into his eyes. “I wish you could be there with me.”

With a small grin he said, “Imagine the look of shock on your poor make-believe mistress’s face.”

“You’re impossible.” Grinning, she walked away. Even as the distance grew between them she knew Devin watched. Odd how it felt like they’d been involved so much longer than they really had. As each heavy step separated them, Isabel felt emptier. Glancing at the house, she had the sudden urge to run back, grab his hand and spend the night within its wall-less structure. Somehow−despite all the bad−it was good… at least for them.

When Isabel made it to her tent she looked back one last time. Devin had joined the men at the fire. All laughed. Everyone had been working hard and making good progress. They had much to be proud of.

Minutes later, as she lay looking up at the tent roof, Isabel debated whether she should confront Calum now. But what exactly would she confront him about? He had done her no wrong. If anything he saved her from certain death. They had become friends.

After a restless night, it was with this thought firmly in place that Isabel found herself strolling down the woodland path with Calum the next day.

“Of course we are fast friends, Isabel,” Calum assured, top hat removed, black hair glistening in the sunlight. “And I’m so sorry that my blasted circumstances seem to have sucked you in such as they have. I never could have imagined this.”

“Of course you could have! Did you not take to dark magic? Did you not witness things you thought impossible when you did so?”

With a heavy sigh, Calum shook his head. “One can see many things and still not imagine all the future holds for him.”

Isabel had told him she met his ghost in the twenty-first century. She had not told him that he made contact with Anna. Based on the heartache she witnessed there seemed no reason. It was a path he and his love had to travel. Right now she was far more concerned with her and Devin’s path. “Where is the stone, Calum?”

Hands locked behind his back, he continued on his leisurely stroll. “I don’t have it.”

“Of course you do. Where is it?”

“What was it like? The Georgian in the twenty-first century? Breathtaking I’d say!” He declared.

“I told you it was lovely.” Isabel frowned. “I won’t be deterred. I must know where that stone is. It would comfort me greatly to know it was far from here.”

“Then it is.”

She stopped short and exclaimed, “Calum, that stone has the power to trap me in the house for hundreds of years.”

“No, only I have the power to do that.”

“So the stone has nothing to do with trapping the beast?”

“I never said that.”

“Then it does.”

“Highly unlikely.”

“Ugh!” Strolling ahead she threw her hands in the air. “I heard Adlin was like this but you? This is a new side to your personality, Calum. One I am not sure I like.”

Within seconds, Calum was walking alongside. “I still can’t believe you met that old bugger.”

Isabel pointed from him to her as she walked. “We would have never met if it wasn’t for that old bugger. He helped you travel through time.”

“Very true. However, I still consider him a thorn in my backside.”

“Seems to me he has your best interests at heart.”

Calum stopped. “The time hopping has addled your brain, child. That wizard is problematic. Never says what he means. Never means what he says.”

“Much like you,” she pointed out.

“How wrong you are! I always come straight to the point.”

Putting a hand over her head, Isabel groaned. “Tell me, Calum, did you come to my aide because you’d been tracking Lucas and wanted to protect me?”

“I came to your aide because you were a woman in need of help.”

She faced him, hands on hips. “Yes, you’ve always said that. Why didn’t it occur to me sooner than you’d been watching Lucas all along? I guess despite my hard upbringing I trusted too much. Needed to. I suppose I did believe in coincidences.” Fury started to bubble up. “And I led Devin and his cousins to believe that I knew of the curse. Calum, you told me you knew magic and knew how to trap the beast. You said nothing of your connection with Lucas. You told me he hunted you because you had me, because you had the ability to imprison him. You said he needed to destroy you! It was all one big lie!”

Isabel turned and stormed down the path. While in retrospect the whole affair was not so terrible the fact her friend hadn’t simply come clean from the beginning bothered her a great deal. When Isabel got to the river it occurred to her Calum wasn’t following.

“Of course I’m following you.”

She turned and found him leaning against a nearby tree. “Really, Isabel, why the dramatics?”

There was something dangerous surrounding Calum. Somehow it reminded her faintly of Seth. Those two were definitely related. “You don’t like the truth do you, Calum?”

“What is the truth, Isabel?” He pushed away from the tree. “How is it that you feel you know it when even I do not?”

Now was not the time to show weakness. “You know more of the truth than I, Calum.”

Sauntering her way he said, “Do I? Are you quite sure?”

Isabel felt the magnetism radiating off of him. Calum possessed his own allure. Not romantic in her case. But watching him right now, approaching like a stealthy panther, Isabel couldn’t help but wonder about the love between him and Anna. And, quite frankly, the sex. “Do not turn this around, Calum. You did not tell me everything. I want to know why.”

About a foot away, he stopped. His blue eyes turned black, then blue again as he contemplated her. “Because it would have been too much for you to handle then. Not now. But I’m not sorry. I only had your best interests at heart.” He put an icy finger under her chin and tilted back her head until their eyes were aligned. “Tell me, would you have come had you known that Lucas was my beast to trap. For all I seemed like a saving light in your life, would you have come had you known how completely immersed in dark magic I am? How truly evil I am capable of being?”

Fear shot through her body.

“Gotta say, the word warlock doesn’t feel like a perfect fit. How about sorcerer?” Devin stalked from the forest. Where Isabel had moments ago compared Calum to a stalking panther, Devin definitely possessed his own unique dark strength. His, however, held the sharp tang of denied domination. Devin’s deceptive gait and sharp eyes bespoke a creature who longed for the blood of his prey.

Calum slowly pulled his hand away and turned toward Devin. To the untrained eye, it might appear a confrontation over a woman. Isabel knew better. This was a meeting of two very different types of magic…both equally lethal. These men didn’t deal with testosterone. No, what fueled them was far greater.

“Not in the mood for your antics right now,” Calum said softly. “Haven’t we already been down this road? You know who’s stronger.”

Black and red met in a large, sizzling arch between the two.

“Not the time and place,” Calum repeated.

Devin’s lips pulled back. Isabel studied his expression, again astounded by a certain familiarity. Wolf. Somehow it was part of him or overtook him. She couldn’t be sure. One thing she did know… she wouldn’t lose him to Calum’s magic.

“He’s right,” she said calmly.

The aura’s continued to spark off one another. Devin’s eyes met hers. “Could be I’m going nuts but didn’t he just threaten you?”

Yes. “No. At least not in any way we need worry about.” Isabel turned her attention to Calum. “Know that you have lost my trust. I remain your friend only because I believe there’s still good in you.”

She took Devin’s hand. “Please, come. There’s work to be done and I’m needed.”

Devin and Calum continued to stare at each other until Devin finally turned away and walked with her. Phew! Though hard, Isabel didn’t dare look back. If there was always one thing that existed between her and Calum it was an equal respect for one another’s self-constraint and the innate ability to know the other’s boundaries.

“The minute I think I get that guy, maybe he’s good, he’s pulls that sort of crap,” Devin muttered as they walked down the path.

“It’s the only way he knows how to react,” Isabel said. “Now that I know more about his story I see his actions are mostly designed to protect himself from further hurt.”

Devin shook his head. “How can you say that after he betrayed you? How can you protect him?”

Isabel bit her lip. “Because that is my magic.”

He cocked a brow.

“Well, you and he possess real magic. You came into it recently and it totally rearranged your whole life. Meanwhile, I’ve been living real life since the day I was born. In my case, not a nice place. I grew up hard. Learned how deceptive, cunning and manipulative human nature can be. Despite all that, I made a point to look for what good there is. All of this is my magic. People lie. But there’s always a reason. The real trick is being able to look past it, understand why people act the way they do.”

“Sounds like good old fashioned reasonable deduction to me. Common sense.”

Isabel winked. “That’s right. Trust me, most people don’t possess it.”

Devin stopped and pulled her down to sit on a nearby rock. “You have every right to be mad at Calum. He betrayed your trust.”

Warmth flooded her cheeks. Until this very moment it hadn’t occurred to her that Devin heard everything. “I am sorry I did not tell you and your cousins I knew of the curse. I simply felt so divided. There still remained a certain loyalty to Calum. I wanted to talk to him first.” She fiddled with her skirts. “Assuming I’d be talking to him again.”

Stretching his legs, Devin lifted his face to the sun. “Isabel, you didn’t betray anyone’s trust. You simply decided to trust a friend. No harm in that.” His head dropped forward, eyes met hers. “Besides, this whole experience has been one strange thing after another. After all, I slept with your ghost.”

Hand over mouth, she hid her smile and nodded.

Prying her hand away, he cupped her head and pulled her lips to his. This time she pushed her tongue forward. His tongue met and swirled. Fluid flooded between her legs. Isabel wanted him again. Needed it.

A warm wind blew down the path. Leaves rustled. Devin left her lips until his mouth fell next to her ear and whispered, “I want you. Now.”

“Can’t do—”

He smothered her denial with a kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Missus might be bathing.”

They pulled back at the voice. Footsteps rode the wind down the path.

“True. Ain’t such a bad thing, eh?”

“Nah. But she doesn’t need us watching.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Missus!” John hollered.

Isabel jumped up, straightened her skirts and waved for Devin to stand. He offered a wicked smile. “Awe, c’mon, they know. I’m pretty sure they tried to get us together.”

Isabel worked at her best stern expression. “Regardless. It’s inappropriate.”

“Missus!” Andy hollered moments before he and John appeared on the path ahead.

“Yes, right here,” Isabel smoothed her hair. “What is it?”

John and Andy stopped and offered two fairly toothless grins. “Sorry missus,” they said in unison.

Back straight, shoulders level, she breezed past them. “Sorry for what? Come. Work to be done.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Isabel had no idea if they looked at Devin or made any sort of expression behind her back. Not her problem. They should have never found her out in the woods with a man to begin with. Never mind a man who worked alongside them! If she heard ‘Irish have all the luck’ muttered on the wind, Isabel chalked it up to her imagination.

The sun fell exceptionally bright over the house this morning, illuminating the wood in its white light. Isabel stopped for a second to appreciate the beauty. When John and Andy stopped alongside she kept a purely speculative look on her face.

“The men are mulling about,” she stated.

John cleared his throat uncertainly. “Yes, missus.”

“Why?”

Andy made an odd sound but responded nonetheless. “Waiting on you, missus.”

Isabel closed her eyes briefly then opened them. She was in charge here. This was her responsibility. Since she’d woken this morning the very last thing she’d done was give any sort of direction. Her mind had been awash in needing to talk with Calum. How to further understand everything that was happening. Glancing at Andy and John, Isabel realized she’d abandoned something she was very proud of. Despite the untruths between her and Calum and the real reason she was here, Isabel had led the building of this house well.

She didn’t intend to stop now.

“Walls are going up!” She announced and strode forward, Andy and John fast on her heels.

“Yes Ma’am!”

And so they did.

One week later, Isabel wiped away a damp tendril of hair and walked through the first floor of the Georgian. Late day sun splintered through the building as men worked hard. Late August heat hung heavy. The scent of freshly cut wood permeated the air. A smile threatened to stretch her face but Isabel tempered it. Managers− especially women−didn’t smile. If she let one go during work hours it might make her appear weak. Instead she chewed the corner of her lip. In reality, these men respected her. A little smile most likely wouldn’t hurt a thing.

Walking into what would eventually be the dining room Isabel was glad she hadn’t pushed Calum to add more to this house. It could be because she’d traveled to the future and seen that it remained this size. Or it could be because more than ever she wanted this project completed. Isabel wanted Lucas trapped. She paused in the kitchen where the center counter island would eventually stand. How she missed it. Them. The future.

Slam. Slam. “Good headway.”

Isabel turned and stared down at Devin. Shirt off, sweat pouring down his chest, he hammered a board into place. She licked her lips and nodded. “Indeed.”

Crooked grin executed especially for her he replied, “Indeed.”

There were always so many things to say between them but luckily during the moments they couldn’t speak, he understood just by looking into her eyes. “Right on schedule. House should be finished in the autumn.”

When he stood, she did her best not to step back. Devin had a way of overpowering without moving an inch. All the hard labor building the house had only added to his physique. The sunlight had darkened his skin even more creating a near breathtaking combination with his dark auburn hair and pale eyes. Without another word, he nodded and left the room. Isabel watched his tight backside vanish down the hallway.

Taking a deep breath, she worked to control the heavy thud of her heart. He had promised to remain completely professional. Good thing. Isabel needed this house built well. If she gave in to their ever blossoming romance right now her leadership skills would be non-existent.

Thank God for nighttime!

Professionalism no longer existed. At every opportunity they stole away. Only for long walks and talk of course, perhaps some intimacy. No more. Isabel sighed. Why was she being such a prude? She wanted it. He wanted it. But she’d kept it at bay. No doubt they both knew the truth. Isabel was back in this era. And in this time period Lucas was coming. Calum was watching.

Constant fear.

Stepping outside, she eyed Calum’s tent. He hadn’t left the grounds since last week. She didn’t imagine he would until the house was built. The game had changed. They hadn’t spoken. Isabel figured he simply didn’t trust her anymore. How had things become so turned around? He was the one who had betrayed her! Sort of. Despite what she’d said to Devin, Isabel remained aggravated. She could admit to herself that this anger was for Calum to know of, not Devin. Calum was her friend first. Somehow telling Devin she was furious at Calum seemed a betrayal to her friendship with Calum. Ugh! She’d spent her younger years remaining passive, then remade herself into a strong individual who knew she could accomplish anything if she set her mind to it.

This rift between her and Calum needed to be rectified.

Isabel strode across the lawn to his tent, felt ready to fight him tooth and nail. “Calum, it’s Isabel.” Not waiting for a response, she pulled the flap aside and entered. Dark coolness greeted. She had to take a few moments to let her eyes adjust.

At last she could clearly see Calum sitting behind his desk scribbling away furiously in his journal. Isabel plunked down in the chair across from his desk. “We need to end this.”

Calum kept scribbling away.

Isabel would not be disrespected. “You tell me the truth, Calum.”

He kept writing away.

Fine. Isabel had sworn she wouldn’t do this but…

“What would Anna make of this behavior?”

The pen slowed until it stopped. Calum carefully set it aside, closed the journal and sat back. When his bloodshot gaze rose to hers, Isabel gasped. It appeared her friend had aged ten years in one week.

When he spoke his deep voice rasped, “You tell me the truth, Isabel.”

Throat closed, Isabel knew he’d been in a great deal of pain this past week. But why? For all she wanted to keep the inquisition in her court she said, “What truth, Calum? You know everything.”

Lips thin and tried, Calum bowed his head. “You’re right. I should give you a truth first.” His dark gaze rose to hers. “The minute I touch you I can divulge your every experience. I think Devin’s description of us being sorcerers was at the very least adept. Creative, but adept.”

Isabel shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Anna,” he mouthed silently.

Blood froze in her veins. Not because Calum looked so terribly evil right now but because behind that dark nature dwelled something unattainable and vulnerable. Something in great need of release.

She chose her next words carefully. “What of Anna, Calum?”

Hot wind gushed through the tent when he leaned forward. The roar of his voice made the ground tremble. “You had contact with her in the twenty-first century!”

Oh no. Isabel counted from one to ten in her head and struggled to keep her disposition level, implemented everything she’d learned over the years to protect herself. Grinding her teeth she kept her eyes locked with his. To look away would be her end. Yes, she must be honest. “I did not tell you because I did not want you to hurt. Apparently, my discreetness was for naught.”

The air inside the tent chilled. Black shifted around Calum’s form like a bubbling cauldron. “You should have sought me out immediately when you returned from the future. This information belonged to me!”

As magic swirled around and Calum glowered, something snapped inside. Would every man she came to trust in her life eventually turn on her? If he was any example the answer was yes. Isabel was tired of being afraid, tired of the unpredictable nature of man. Standing abruptly she said, “No, this information belonged to me, Calum! I was the one thrust through time. I was the one who had to make due. Not you. I am eternally fed up with being the one that has to disguise who I am for the simple sake that I live in a man’s world.” Tapping an angry finger on his desk she glared down. “As of this moment, I resign. I am no longer in your employ. I am leaving.”