Dark Embrace Read Online Free PDF Page B

certain he’s not in the city?”
    â€œYes.” Brie had never been more certain of anything. She had been wrong earlier. He hadn’t been close by. She’d try to figure that out later, she thought. “We can’t let him die.”
    Nick turned away and said, “Her Encounter last year should have been reported. Now that I know what you two ladies are up to, any Encounters or Sightings come right to me. Failure to do so is against the law.”
    â€œI’m not aware of any such laws,” Sam said bluntly.
    â€œIt’s against Nick’s law,” Nick said swiftly. “And you really don’t want to break Nick’s law.”
    Brie was floating, feeling really wonderful now, as if she’d had three or four glasses of champagne. Sam sat down and smiled at her. “Your boss is such a jerk.”
    â€œYeah, he is,” Brie agreed, aware that Nick had walked out. No, he’d stalked out, like a hunting tiger.
    Sam leaned close and whispered, “I’m calling in every favor I have. If he’s here, someone’s seen him. You just rest.”
    â€œHe isn’t here. He’s far away.” Her happiness was gone. “I don’t want him to die. I love him, Sam.”
    Sam’s blue eyes went wide. “Brie, I know you’re high right now, but if it’s Fate, you know we can’t change it.”
    â€œIt can’t be his time,” Brie whispered. She wasn’t sure what happened next, but Sam was gone, and it was only her and Tabby, who sat by her bed, holding her hand. Then Brie blinked curiously. A little boy was standing at the foot of her bed, clad in a white hospital gown that was oddly belted. He started speaking urgently to her. His blue eyes were so familiar, as if she knew him, but she didn’t think she did. Brie realized she was too high to hear a word. He seemed frightened. She knew he wanted to tell her something important, and she turned to Tabby. “What is he saying?”
    Tabby was surprised. “Who are you talking about?”
    Brie looked at the foot of her bed, but the little boy was gone. “I guess it doesn’t matter,” she said.
    She must have been dreaming.

CHAPTER TWO
    Castle Awe, Scotland—November 1502
    S EX NO LONGER MATTERED TO HIM .
    Like the best wine drunk far too often, it could not be appreciated. Pleasure escaped him now.
    But he moved harder, faster, into the woman, not seeking release, even though a release was inevitable. Instead, he used her for his own ends, taking power, euphoric, until she lay unmoving and silent beneath him.
    Aidan held himself over the woman, breathing hard. He had experienced the powerful ecstasy of La Puissance thousands of times, a climax that combined raging power with sexual release. When he had first begun to hunt Moray after Ian’s murder, he’d taken power to assure himself of victory over the deamhan he was now sworn to kill. But Moray had vanished in time, fleeing him. And Aidan had needed more power to chase him.
    Power was addictive. He lusted for it now. Unfortunately, the lust for power was terribly arousing. Otherwise he would not even bother with the sexual act.
    Still consumed with a sense of invincibility, he moved away from the woman. He stood and leaned against the wall, arching back, savagely relishing the power coursing through his muscles. It even throbbed in his bones.
    No one could defeat him now—not man, not beast, not deamhan and not even a god. Not even his demonic father. His father had returned to murder Ian, when a beheading would destroy most deamhanain. There were Masters who believed Moray immortal. Others said he had returned with otherworldly help. Aidan had dared to demand answers upon Iona. MacNeil had told him Moray’s return was written, but that no deamhan was immortal, no matter how it might appear.
    Ian’s image seared his mind, as hot as a firebrand. He welcomed the pain.
    â€œIs she