"Fatal, I hope." Ian cleared his throat. "One of my kin finally take decent aim? Is the feud on again, and I need to watch my back?"
"No, it wasn"t a MacDonald." I looked around again. Was that a security camera? No, I was being paranoid. "But he was knifed and it was coated in some kind of chemical. After the attack, Jerry woke up with amnesia."
"No kidding. Brilliant." Ian loved a good puzzle. I had him hooked. "Details, Gloriana. What does he remember? What doesn"t he remember?"
"He knows his name."
"Too bad." Ian chuckled. "Keep going."
Tears clogged my throat but I fought them back down as I told him the essentials.
"Someone"s been very clever. I"d like to meet them." He had that tone in his voice, the one that meant his brain was going a mile a minute and he was trying to figure this out. Good.
"Of course you would. A product like this could make you big bucks." Ian was a businessman first, scientist second.
"Of course it would. So you want my help? How? An antidote? Did you save the knife so I could a.n.a.lyze the potion?"
I wanted to slap my forehead. The knife. Where was it? Had Angus taken it? Of course he had. Surely he hadn"t cleaned it, but someone in his efficient staff might have. I needed to find out, get it from him and ship it straight to Ian.
"Do you think you could do that? Figure out an antidote?"
"I don"t know. I"d have to get a look at it first." Ian was sounding impatient. "Of course you"ve tried jogging his memory yourself, haven"t you?"
"Yes! Everything but dance naked in front of him. That"s next." My face burned when Ian laughed. But, d.a.m.n it, I was desperate.
"Therapy might help but I"m sure as h.e.l.l not coming there. I vowed never to return to my homeland. That clan-feud c.r.a.p is in my rearview mirror. I wasted too many centuries on it." Ian sounded resolved.
"Well, now who needs therapy? A MacDonald having issues with his roots?" I smiled. Good to know the man had a vulnerability. Maybe Jerry could use that when they went head to head again.
"You"d have to bring Campbell back here. Hypnotherapy might be the thing to bring him back. Sounds like retrograde, posttraumatic amnesia. That is, if the amnesia hangs on after the drug wears off."
"Could it? Wear off?" My heart jumped and wobbled. Hope. About time.
"I have no idea, Gloriana. But it"s a possibility. Pump him full of blood. Maybe that will help flush it out of his system."
"And what about hypnotizing him? You know he"d never willingly put himself under your power." I started walking back toward the castle. More blood. I could handle that.
"I"ll leave the persuasion to you and your "physical" reminders. If he still can"t remember after the drug has left his system, then it"s because he"s got a mental block. I"d say he"ll need some drastic measures to come back to his senses." Ian chuckled. "Though a Campbell doesn"t have much sense to begin with."
"Drastic measures?"
"A good knock in the head, perhaps. Shock therapy." Ian chuckled. "Bring him back here and I"d be happy to try some things."
"I"m not stupid, Ian. Jerry"s amnesia wasn"t the result of a hit on the head. And you"re not getting anywhere near him with one of your "drastic measures."" Egotistical man. Too bad Ian was just brilliant enough to be useful. If only he"d really forget the feud between his clan and the Campbells. I wasn"t buying his "rearview mirror" comment.
"True enough. It was worth a shot. Keep me posted, Gloriana. I"m fascinated."
"Of course you are. A Campbell in trouble. I just made your night, didn"t I?" This call might have been a mistake. But if anyone could figure out an antidote to my mother"s potion, it was Ian, d.a.m.n him. "Jerry"s right not to trust you, Ian. I"d never have called a MacDonald in the first place if there were anyone else to turn to. I"ll let you know what I find out." I ended the call and looked up to see Angus marching up from the family quarters. Uh-oh.
"You were talking to a MacDonald?" Angus stared at me. "Tell me, Gloriana. What exactly are you up to? Did you arrange the attack on my son?"
"No! Why would I do that? I love him." I reared back, horrified. Well, obviously security cameras had caught more than I"d realized.
Angus jerked me inside, his hold on my arm tight. "Then tell me, la.s.s, why you were talking to a MacDonald on the telephone about my family business."
"Ian MacDonald lives in Austin. I know him, so does Jerry. He"s a scientist, doctor, psychiatrist. I thought he might be able to help Jerry get his memory back." I stared down to where Angus was bruising my arm. He didn"t let go, pulling me all the way to the living room.
"You claim my son has been consorting with a MacDonald in Texas? I don"t believe you." He shook my arm then finally released me. "Sit. Explain yourself."
"Consorting isn"t the right word. Jerry hates Ian, doesn"t trust him. I get why. You people feud forever, no matter what."
"Are you trying to tell me how to run my family?" Angus had his fangs down and I was starting to get scared. I was seriously outnumbered. Two of his clansmen had come to stand in the doorway. Jerry was nowhere to be seen.
"No, of course not. But Jerry and I disagree about Ian. Ian does have certain useful skills. As vampires, we can help each other. If he can a.n.a.lyze the drug on that knife, maybe Ian can come up with an antidote."
"You"re daft. You think I"d let my son take any potion that a MacDonald gave him, claiming it would cure him?" Angus slammed a fist on the arm of his recliner. "This isn"t the first time you"ve had truck with this man. You were in league with him in California, taking some diet drug he gave you. Weren"t you? I would think you"d have learned from that. It gave you nasty side effects."
Okay, Angus had me there. I"d been invited to the Grammy awards and wanted to look great on the red carpet alongside rock star Israel Caine. So when Ian had claimed his drug could make me lose the extra pounds I"d carried literally forever, I"d gone for it. The side effects had been horrendous, but for one perfect night I"d looked gorgeous and almost thin. Worth it. Now Angus was staring at me like I was Judas.
"I know you have issues with the MacDonalds. But I"m desperate. Who else can we get to fix this thing? Do you know a vampire doctor or scientist? Do you?" I jumped to my feet, sick to death of feeling helpless. I kept flashing on the look of Jerry"s face when he"d seen his home in ruins, realized his beloved horses had been dead for centuries. Maybe I should go up to Woo Woo World with my mother and let her restore his memories. He"d get over me and have a fine life. And I...
Angus had his head down, his hands clasped on his knees. "I have been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, Gloriana. I know you love him. I can think of no reason for you to hurt him. And yet he came home without you, seemed hurt by you. You want to explain what went on that sent him here in such pain?" He looked up, meeting my eyes and probing my thoughts. No way was he getting in.
"That"s between us, Angus. I do love him and I only want the best for him. You want me to leave?" I stood. "I will say this. Ian suggested that the drug might be flushed out of Jerry"s system. Give him lots of blood. If he still has amnesia, then it"s because he doesn"t want to remember the last four centuries."
"I can"t get past two things: The attack on my son came the same night as you did, and you are communicating with a MacDonald." Angus stood as well, staring down at me. "You block your thoughts. I take that as a sign of something to hide. What do you have to hide, Gloriana?"
"Things that are none of your business, Angus. I"ll be going now." I turned toward the door. "Would one of you get my suitcases?"
"No." Jerry suddenly stood in front of the door. "I may not know you, but I realize I should. Your blood. It"s what I need right now. If you are still willing."
I looked back at Angus. "Your father doesn"t want me here."
"Da, let her stay." Jerry took my hand and held it to his nose. "I sense we have a connection. It, it helps me."
"d.a.m.n it, Son. She"s been talking to the MacDonalds." Angus strode to where we stood. "I am afraid to trust her now."
"But you remember us together, Angus." I looked up at Jerry, almost afraid to move for fear of breaking this tenuous start of a new bond. He still had my hand and I gripped it tightly. "Did I ever hurt Jerry? Ever show anything but love for him?"
"Nay, la.s.s. You did not." Angus shook his head. "Stay then, but I"ll be watching you. I have found a doctor of our own. He will be here tomorrow night. Now dawn is upon us. Go to bed, the lot of you. No harm will come to you while you are in your death sleep. I have guards aplenty to insure that."
I sighed and released Jerry"s hand. That had been close. I followed Jerry to the bedrooms, where we stopped at his door.
"I"ll not take advantage of you, I told you that. I hope I"m not being foolish, trusting you. Why did you talk to a MacDonald?" Jerry stared down at me.
"Because he"s a doctor and I thought he could help you. No other reason. But if Angus has another answer, then I"m happy to let his doctor have at it. You"ve taught me to mistrust MacDonalds too. And I"ve witnessed some of his treachery myself."
"All right then." Jerry stared down at me, another of those searching looks. I swayed toward him and couldn"t resist putting a hand on his chest.
"You said you wanted to drink from me. Now?"
"No, I"ve changed my mind. You"re pale and obviously need to recover from the last time I took your blood." He touched my cheek. "But I would like to try another kiss. Just to see if this potion is wearing off. I heard what you said to Da. I"ll drink another bottle of that fake blood before I rest." He brushed my wild hair back from my face. The d.a.m.ned Scottish mist had done a number on it.
"Good. Dilute the poison as much as you can." I ran my hands up to his shoulders and breathed him in again. How could he not remember this? For me it was so perfect, our connection. Oh, if only a kiss would break the spell. He was my own very masculine Sleeping Beauty. It would be wonderful if I"d pull away and he"d suddenly remember...everything. I slid my arms around his neck and feathered a kiss over his strong jaw.
"Jerry. Jeremiah." I sighed. "I"m glad you want to kiss me again. We always enjoyed kissing each other. I have your taste memorized. It is my favorite flavor in the world, second only to drinking from your vein." I settled my mouth on his. His arms pulled me close and, for a few exquisite moments, this felt like old times, the familiar awakening before things moved into the bedroom. There, our special bond would leave us both more fulfilled than we could ever be with anyone else. Then he eased back, lifting my arms from him and setting me away.
"You are a talented woman. I could enjoy kissing you longer but I must rest. Thank you, Gloriana." He smiled, as he would to a stranger, and disappeared into his room, closing the door firmly in my face.
I walked slowly down the hall to the bedroom one of the guards had pointed out earlier. My suitcases were on the floor but I had little enthusiasm for unpacking. I stripped out of my clothes and crawled naked between the sheets. I wished for about the millionth time that vampires could dream. I"d dream of a long and l.u.s.ty night in Jerry"s arms. I"d go for it even if he thought he was making it with a woman he"d just met. Instead, the sun must have peeked over the horizon because I fell hopelessly into my death sleep.
Four.
"The doctor should be here anytime now." Angus looked at his watch for the third time in as many minutes. "Gloriana, why don"t you take your rental car to Edinburgh and turn it in? You did say you were anxious to stop paying on it, didn"t you?"
"Yes, I did. But maybe I should keep it. I don"t know how long I"ll be staying." I looked from Angus to Jerry. If just one of them would show some sign of wanting me here, it would make me feel better. But ever since I"d walked out of the bedroom at sunset, I had been waiting for that sign. No luck.
"Who is this doctor? Do I know him?" Jerry paced the living room, his agitation growing worse by the hour. He"d badgered Angus about the horses until his father had arranged to hire one for him. It would arrive soon too, borrowed from a neighboring stable and hauled in by trailer. So far Jerry had resisted going for a ride in a "machine."
"He"s a vampire, related to the O"Connors. He"s highly respected, trained at the college in Edinburgh, but has been all over the world. Including America for the past century." Angus nodded at me. "I actually know his sire. We were lucky he was nearby, visiting relatives."
"Lucky?" Jerry collapsed on the sofa. "I don"t like it, Da. All these coincidences. This woman arrives and right away I"m stabbed with some potion that takes my mind with it. And by Mara! An old and trusted friend." Jerry narrowed his gaze on me. "Are you in league with this O"Connor who"ll be arriving shortly?"
"I"ve never met him." I threw up my hands. "This woman?" I felt wounded but wouldn"t let him see my pain. "d.a.m.n it, Jerry, I came here to straighten things out between us. So that we could try again. Make a fresh start."
"What went wrong between us? Why do we need a fresh start after all these years?" Jerry stood, facing me. "I obviously left you in that place where we lived together and came home alone. What set me off, Gloriana? Was I with another woman? Or were you with another man?"
I gnawed my lower lip. Angus stared at me too. I figured I might as well get this over with. "You were faithful to me Jerry. Always." I tried and failed at a smile. "But I, I wasn"t so good at the relationship. I had an affair. It was a terrible mistake. But I found out there was a reason I have these urges that, that make me stray."
"Urges." The look of distaste on Angus"s face made me want to run right out of the castle. "No wonder you left her, Son. Good riddance, I say. Campbells have pride. There"s no reason I can think of to justify taking back a woman who has been unfaithful."
"Just listen to me." I could see that both men were ready to toss me out of the castle on my well-cushioned f.a.n.n.y. "I don"t think I could help myself. I just discovered that I used to be a Siren, Angus. Before Jerry found me in London." I blurted it out and got the incredulous looks I"d expected.
"A Siren? Are ye daft?" Angus stomped his foot. "What nonsense. Don"t believe her, Jeremiah. They aren"t of this world and certainly not the likes of this piece of work standing here before us." He grabbed Jerry"s arm and jerked him well away from me.
"Stop, Da. Let her speak. A Siren? And how is that possible?" Jerry stumbled to the sofa, his face pale.
I"d never seen him weak before and it broke my heart. What had my mother"s potion done to him? What was it still doing to him? I started to move closer but the look on his father"s face stopped me cold. Angus had murder in his eyes, his fangs were down, and I knew how he felt. Oh, boy, did I know. If I had my so-called mother here now, I"d tear open her throat and watch her bleed out, enjoy her painful death. I stepped back, giving Jerry his s.p.a.ce. Angus still watched me, obviously ready to jump me if I so much as touched his son.
"Okay, here"s the truth."
"Truth. I should hope so." At least Angus"s fangs had disappeared and he sat in his recliner.
"It seems that before I met you, the Storm G.o.d, who is in charge of Sirens, was unhappy with me. He tossed me out of his, um, harem and punished me by making me human." Angus made a noise of disbelief but Jerry leaned forward, listening.
"Go on. Are you saying you were human when I met you?" He rubbed his forehead. Headache again. I twisted my hands together to keep from reaching for him.
"Yes! Achelous figured I"d die a natural death on my own. When you saw me onstage and fell in...in love with me, you had no idea what I"d been and I didn"t remember my past. Achy wiped away my memories and planted false ones." I realized how ridiculous this story sounded but rushed on. "Anyway, being made vampire gave me back my immortality. Which Achelous didn"t know about until recently." I wiped my damp palms on my skirt. It was another short one. Yes, Jerry had noticed. I eased a little closer.
"That doesn"t explain why you never married me, Gloriana. If you say you love me, why wouldn"t you?" He glared at me and I was pretty sure not all of the pain in those dark eyes was from his aching head. "And why did you betray me with another man?"
"It"s the Siren in me!" I glanced back at Angus, who still looked ready to intervene if I made a move he considered aggressive. I kept my distance from Jerry even though I wanted desperately to sit beside him, to touch him. "I think somewhere inside me I still have whatever it is that makes a Siren go from man to man. It must be what kept me from committing to you all those years."
"Are you buying this c.o.c.k-and-bull story, son?" Angus stood. "If you were a Siren, Gloriana, and I"m still not buying it, then you used my boy to gain a protector. It"s their way."
"Wait a minute. I still can"t believe Sirens are real." Jerry stared at me like he was waiting for me to sprout a fish tail.
"They are real. You even knew one in Austin. Aggie. She"s a friend, sort of anyway. They"re selfish creatures, man magnets. One reason you came home was because you were afraid I had used you, just as Angus said. That, if I was a Siren, you"d been manipulated all these years. A true Siren can pull any man to her and he can"t resist her call." I sank down on my knees in front of him, ready to beg him to believe me if it came to that.
"Did you? Manipulate me?" Jerry stared down at me.
"No. Never. I found out that it"s only a Siren"s song that can pull men helplessly to her. That"s why I went to a h.e.l.l of a lot of trouble, actually suffered, if you must know, to get over here, Jer. To tell you this in person." I put my hand on his knee. "Listen. This is the truth. I swear it." My voice cracked. The trip had been a nightmare, and then to get here and have this happen...
"If you sang me to you all those centuries ago..." He tried to lift my hand off of him in disgust but I grabbed his arm, my tears drying up in a hurry.
"I didn"t! The Storm G.o.d stole my song when he made me human. I know you can"t remember now, but when you met me I couldn"t sing at all. Believe me, I tried. It would have helped me make a living when Achelous left me to fend for myself. But I have no singing voice. We even joked about it." He glared down at my hand but I wasn"t about to let him go. "Please, please believe me." I heard Angus snort but didn"t spare him a glance. This was too important. I held on and stared into Jerry"s dark eyes.
"Prove it. Sing something. Right now." He flung my hand.
I couldn"t believe this was the man I"d known so intimately for so long. The man who"d held me, protected me, insisted I take on a bodyguard for centuries! But this Jerry just stared at me, waiting for "proof."
"Fine. "Loch Lomond." It used to be one of your favorites." I sat back on the floor, took a breath and started in. "You take the high road and I"ll take the low road-"
"Stop." Jerry held up his hands. "Either you really can"t sing or you"re making fools of us now."
"No, now I remember. The girl always did sing like someone had just stepped on a bagpipe. We forbid her to join in when we sang around a fire." Angus leaned forward, hands on his st.u.r.dy knees. "You"ve got my attention, la.s.s. Go on with your tale."
I got up and collapsed in relief on the love seat across from Jerry. "You see, without my song I couldn"t cast a spell on you. You could have left me anytime. But you didn"t." I looked my fill while he seemed deep in thought. He wore a soft knit shirt today and jeans. Modern clothes. I guess he"d decided to test them out, to see if they brought back some memories. If only it were that simple. But he still had a stranger"s eyes when he finally looked at me again.
"But you say we were together for centuries. I thought Sirens didn"t bother with relationships, they only wanted to get a man close enough to kill." He didn"t shrug away from me when I moved over to sit next to him on the couch.
"That"s true. It"s the reason Achelous got rid of me. I didn"t have the stomach for the killing." I heard Angus clear his throat. When I glanced at him, he nodded with a glimmer of recognition in his eyes, remembering my reluctance to hurt anything.
"Anyway, the Storm G.o.d knew how important her song is to a Siren. It"s her ident.i.ty. So he took mine away when he turned me human, the rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I could never put you under my spell, Jerry, even if I"d wanted to get you that way. I was just ordinary Gloriana when you met me and f-fell in love." No, not crying. He"d finally remember me, he had to. "And you stayed in love with me for four centuries. Through good times and bad." I twisted my hands in my lap when all I wanted to do was touch him again, feel his skin against mine. But his incredulous face, his hard eyes kept me from making that move.
"In love? Sounds like an obsession. I loved you even when you had s.e.x with other men? You just admitted you couldn"t be content with just one man because of the "Siren" in you." He jerked to his feet so suddenly the couch rocked. "By G.o.d, woman, was I not enough for you?"
If I hadn"t known better, I"d have thought he was struggling not to hit me. But my Jerry never touched a woman in anger. This Jerry, this stranger with a face that could have been carved from the stones of the castle itself, paced the floor, smacking his fist into his palm. I glanced at Angus and wished I hadn"t. He"d lost all sympathy for me, sending me a mental message to get the h.e.l.l out of his home. I shook my head.
Jerry stopped in front of me, clearly waiting for an answer. I hated myself for hurting him. Why hadn"t he been enough? Sure, I"d had my reasons for taking breaks. His controlling att.i.tude for one. But now was not the time to trot out those issues. I was desperate to make a connection with him.