Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) (69 page)

“Oh, it won’t harm her, I assure you. It will, however, put her to sleep for an hour or two.
Don’t worry
,
I would never harm her
. Against the law, you know.” He stared down at Dallan with a mocking grin. “No, on second thought, I don’t suppose you would know that yet.”

Shona moaned and grabbed at his arms. “Dallan, I feel strange.” She turned on Philip. “You… you… bas…
t
arrrd
…” She slumped to the cold ground, Dallan barely catching her as she did. He inwardly seethed. Had she been harmed? Was Philip telling the truth?

“Get up,” Philip demanded.

Dallan looked to Shona, unconscious in his arms, before throwing his warrior’s stare at Philip. “What ha’ ye done?”

“She’s not been harmed. Kwaku should have told you one
canno
t
harm a Shamaelon without suff
ering certain repercussions.
In her case death.
It’s how the Muiraran’s protect those in the royal houses. Nothing worse than several thousand Muiraran inner hearts bound to this one girl’s family coming after you. Thankfully, there are only two in the immediate area I’d have to worry about.”

Dallan looked to Shona then glared at Philip.

“Oh calm yourself. She’s been drugged, nothing more. Now be so kind as to get up.” He waved the gun at his quarry.

Dallan gently laid the Maiden on the
ground and got to his feet. Th
e
sooner he disposed of this enemy, the better.

Again, fate was not on his side. Graves and Kent came out of nowhere to stand next to Philip, both armed with the same type of weapon.

“Now, kindly move away from the Maiden.” Philip cooed mockingly. He and the other two backed up to allow Dallan to step away.

Dallan glanced
at Shona’s unconscious form. Th
e sight of her made
his jaw dance. His eyes narrowed e
ven further and his nostrils fl
ared as he slowly turned back to his captors.

“Oh, you
’re a hot one. Itching for a fi
ght, are you? Well, perhaps I can accommodate that fancy. Now step away from her.” Philip waved the gun again.

Reluctantly, Dallan did.

“Further, if you please. Keep going.”

Philip forced him well away from the Maiden, nearly to the end of the alley.

Dallan’s worst fear had come to life. They were going to take her. Again.

The nightmare he’d had over a week ago suddenly hit and he growled in frustration. Kent bent to Shona, picked h
er up, turned to Dallan and off
ered him a sadistic grin, then laughed at him as he headed to the car where Julia, the headlights cut, stood waiting.

“Ye canna take her!”

“Oh, but I’m afraid I can.” His enemy drawled.

Dallan’s eyes narrowed even further. “Dinna touch her.”

Philip laughed. “My dear fellow, touching her is all I plan. More’s the better as far as I’m concerned. I’m quite sure the Maiden is going to taste as
good
as she’s going to feel. But then
you never got the chance to fi
nd that out, did you?
Mmm
, pity.” His face dropped into a sympathetic pout. “What might I be able to do to ease your frustration of this little predicament?”

Dallan watched, jaw tight, as Kent put Shona and himself into the back of the car, Julia q
uickly getting in the front. Th
e headlights came back on as the car backed out of the alley.

“Say goodbye, old boy. It’s the last you’ll ever see of her,” Philip laughed.

Within seconds, the car was gone.
Along with his lass.

Dallan turned his seething face back to Philip. “What now?”

Philip gave him an assessing look. “Now,” he began, his mouth lo
cked in a sadistic grin, “we fi
ght.”

Th
ere is a time for everything, and a season

For every activity under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal…

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“Fight, ye say?” Dallan glanced back to the open end of the alley then slowly gave Brennan his full attention, the twitch in his jaw alive with the prospect of killing the
Sassenach
devil. “What did ye ha’ in mind?”

Brennan smiled rakishly. “No weapons. Straight hand-to-hand.”

Dallan raised an as
sessing brow, “Hand-to-hand. Th
ere’s an interesting challenge.” He looked Brennan over carefully. “Yer sure yer up to it?”

Brennan’s grin changed to anticipatio
n. “I assure you, I am quite fi
t for the task.”

Dallan narrowed his eyes and snorted. “Aye, sir, as ye say.”

Kent reentered the alley, saw the murderous look o
n Dallan’s face and began to fi
dget. “Lord Brennan, he’s a lot quick…”

“Quick as you suspect he is, there are things you don’t yet realize about the situation.” Brennan interjected, stepping away from Dallan. He took off his jacket, folded it neatly and handed it to Kent. “Julia is takin
g the Maiden to the agreed-upon
destination?”

Kent took the jacket and draped it over one arm. “Yes.” He quickly glanced back to Dallan. “We’ll cover you, sir.”

Brennan grinned anew. “No need, gentlemen.”

Dallan began to take off the more cumbersome pieces of his ow
n attire. Never taking his eyes
off Brennan, he moved to place his coat on the ground.

“Oh come now,” Brennan teased. “Don’t soil the thing. Kent can hold it as well.”

Dallan stopped, his eyes still locked with Brennan’s. “As ye say then, sir.” He handed the jacket to Kent, who took it, eyes darting nervously between Dallan and his employer.

Brennan removed his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves. Dallan too removed more clothing, until he stood in only his Sark, kilt and weapons.

Brennan glanced at the dirk hanging at Dallan’s side and the small, deadly
sighna
duihn
tucked into one high stocking. “Be so kind as to remove your weapons as well, sir.”

Graves stepped forward and re-aimed his gun at Dallan’s head.

Dallan slowly removed the weapons, eyes now bright green with anticipation. The sooner he killed Brennan, the sooner he could rescue Shona and be gone from this horrible place and time.

“Mr. Graves, you and Kent stand over there,” Brennan waved toward
the alley’s entrance a good fi
fty feet away. “He’s not going anywhere. Besides this won’t take long, I assure you.”

Graves nodded to Kent to cover the entrance while he kept watch on Dallan. “What will we do with the body?”

“There’s a trash bin, we can just put him in it. No sense dragging him around.”

Dallan raised a brow, crossed his arms over his chest and sighed impatiently. “For a man bent on killing me, ye certainly are in no hurry. Can we no get on
wi
’ it, sir? I’ve other matters to attend to this evening.”

Brennan smiled knowingly. “Oh I really wouldn’t trouble yourself with any plans. You won’t live long enough to carry them out.”

“Ye seem awfully sure o’ yerself. What makes ye think I’m the one who’ll spend the night in the green metal box there?”

Brennan’s smile turned positively wicked and he let go something between a hiss and a laugh. “Experience, sir. Shall we begin?”

Dallan let his arms fall to his sides, eyes narrowed to slits. “Aye.”

Brennan gave a single nod to Graves who slowly backed his way down the alley, never once taking his eyes from Dallan.

When he reached Kent, Dallan turned to Brennan. “Rules?”

“The winner lives, the loser dies. How much more simple can it be?”

“And if by chance ye manage to kill me, what of Shona?”

Brennan gave a triumphant chuckle. “Ah, I was wondering when you might get around to that. To put it simply, I shall wed, join and master her as quickly as possible.
With any luck, in as little as twenty-four hours.
Of course I’ll ha
ve to give her heart time to fi
gure out that you’re dead, but that shouldn’t take too long. Perhaps an hour or two, no more.”

Dallan made the fi
rst m
ove and stepped to one side. Th
e two men began to circle each other. “And what makes ye think she’ll want to wed ye. She kens yer a
Sassenach
dog. She‘ll ha’ nothing to do
wi
’ ye.”

Their eyes locked, both men’s bodies tense with anticipation.

“Of course, I can’t force her, but I can give her something to think about. She’d be more than willing to do as I ask should, say, her mother’s life be put in danger.
Or perh
aps her little friend Kitty.
Th
ere’s another
fi
ne piece. Too bad I don’t have th
e time to enjoy her as well. Th
e Maiden, however, wi
ll be enough to keep me satisfi
ed for a very long time.”

Dallan went into a slight crouch, as did Brennan, the air now tight with the two men’s mounting tension. “She’ll no ha’ ye. And I guarantee ye, sir, I’ll no be the one left here tonight.”

Brennan stood straight and smiled. “We shall see, boy, we shall see.” He suddenly lunged at Dallan, caught him around the middle and crashed them both into the nearest
wall,
Dallan’s back taking the brunt of the impact.

Never had Dallan been hit so fast and so hard. Brennan was like an avalanche of solid rock forcin
g him back against the wall. Th
e air knocked
from his lungs, he fought to right himself while Brennan moved several feet away, a sadistic grin on his face, waiting.

Dallan pushed away from the wall and stood to his full height. He knew his back was bruised and wondered if the resounding
crack
he heard upon hitting the wall had been his bones or Brennan’s. He took a cautious step forward and a sharp pain lanced through his ribs. Definitely his.

“Very clumsy of you, Boyeee.”

Both Dallan’s and Brennan’s heads abruptly turned to the sound of Kw
aku’s voice. He stood not twenty
feet away, casually leaning against the opposite wall, Graves and Kent nowhere to be seen.

“Why, Kawahnee, how good of you to join us! Come to tend the body when I’m through with him?” Brennan asked, clearly amused.

Kwaku shrugged and looked about. “
Why should I do dat? I see a fi
ne place to put him, right over dere.” He pointed to the metal trash bin. “Why do you not use it?”

Brennan smiled. “An idea already thought of. But really, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Dallan, fully recovered, sneered at Kwaku and began to circle Brennan. The same dance started again.

Kwaku smiled. “I came to see if de Boyeee would use any ding I taught him.”

“You mean anythin
g I’ve taught you,” Brennan off
ered.

“No, Brennan. I did not teach him to use any of your moves. De Boyeee has a style all his own.”

Brennan kept his eyes on Dallan, circling casually as he waited for an opening. “Yes. Pity I won’t have the chance to see any of them. I’m still quite fast.”

As if to prove it, he lunged again, but
this time Dallan was ready. Th
e
Weapons Master’s fi
st exploded into Brennan’s gut, doublin
g him over just as his other fi
st caught Brennan on the jaw. Brennan jerked away and resumed his previous position.

Kwaku snorted in disgust. “
Dat’s
de best you can do? What were you dinking, Boyeee? You can do better dan dat!”

 
Dallan wanted to sneer again at Kwaku but didn’t dare take his eyes off Brennan. “Why d’ye no go bother someone else, ye good-for-nothing heathen?”

Kwaku shrugged as he watched the two men circle again. “I do not know where anyone else is.”

“Och! Ye found me well eno
ugh! Go find Shona! Thi
s cur has her, ye
ken.”

“I know.”

“What!”

Brennan laughed and charged again, taking advantage of Dallan’s sudden anger with Kwaku. But again the Weapons Master was ready and leapt out of the way as one foot caught Brennan in the head and hurled him into the wall.