“Oh my God. What happened to Nigel and the book?” Shay asked.
“One of the Watchers from my time said that Nigel was never seen again. Quinn knew where the book was, so Ian and I stole it back.”
“Where was it?” Ronan asked.
“Right here, in this castle. Hidden in a secret compartment. Both the compartment and the castle were cloaked.” He looked at Anna. “Like Tristol’s fortress where Anna and I were prisoners.”
“So the demons have had our clan’s Book of Battles all these years it was missing?” Niall looked horrified. “Bloody hell.”
The Council turned as one and frowned at Niall. It would seem cursing was still frowned upon.
“My apologies,” Niall said.
“We believed one of the demons, or perhaps all of them, stole the castle and the book since it was cloaked,” Tavis continued. “We figured it must be sorcery. The interesting thing is that when Ian and I arrived, we expected a battle, but all the demons were dead. Similar to how all the vampires were dead in Tristol’s fortress.”
“Sounds like a turf war,” Declan said.
“I’ve heard nothing of this,” Sean said, his bright eyes clouded with alarm. He was the Keeper now.
“This is disturbing,” the Chief Elder said. “Very disturbing. We’ve never known what happened to Nigel Ellwood. It has come to our attention that Bree Connor is a descendant.” The Elder’s eyes fell on Bree. Faelan made a disagreeable sound and put his arm around his wife as if defying the Council to show any interest. Tavis had heard some of the warriors talking about the Council’s interest in Bree and Shay because of their unusual abilities.
“If all this is true, then where did the book we have come from?” Duncan asked.
“We believe Frederick, my ancestor, found it hidden in the chapel,” Bree said.
“Does this mean there are two books?” Brodie asked.
“I’ve never heard such a thing,” Sean said. “I can’t believe there were two books. We need to see the one Tavis had.”
All eyes turned to him. “I don’t remember where I put it. Everything is kind of muddled from then. I know I had it when I came out of the vault. I can’t remember seeing it after that. Angus could have stolen it.”
Anna immediately jumped to Angus’s defense. “Angus wouldn’t steal it. He had spent months searching for the book.”
“Maybe he hid it,” Faelan suggested.
“That’s possible,” Tavis said.
“But where?” Shay asked.
“I don’t know. We were in a house of some kind. It was white, I think. There was a woman there.” Tavis frowned, trying to remember.
Bree sat forward on her seat. “Mrs. Edwards’s bed-and-breakfast. Angus was there. He had a notebook with him.”
“That’s where Tristol captured me,” Tavis said.
“Remember that dream I had about you?” Bree said to Faelan. “The one where the dark-haired man snatched you? It must have been Tristol taking Tavis. He looks like you. I saw a dark-haired man in the hallway, and he gave me the creeps.”
“What did he look like?” Tavis asked.
“He was gorgeous, tall, long dark hair.”
“Sounds like him,” Tavis said. Faelan had been there in the room next to his. What a bloody damned coincidence.
“If we’d known,” Bree said, “we could have saved you so much pain.”
“I’ll go to the bed-and-breakfast and look for the book,” Anna said.
“I’ll go,” Tavis said.
“I don’t need help—”
“I’m coming.” Tavis frowned at her.
Fire flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything more.
“I should let you know,” Tavis said to the Council, “Michael assigned Voltar to me.”
That got everyone’s attention. They all started talking.
Anna stood up. “You can’t be assigned to Voltar. I am.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THAT CAUSED ANOTHER ripple of shock. “You?” Tavis said. “That’s impossible.”
“Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“No, because he’s mine.”
“But Michael came to me,” Anna said. “He told me Voltar had to be stopped.”
“When?”
“Several hours ago. When did he come to you?”
“Before I went into the time vault.”
“Before you went into the time vault?” The Chief Elder looked at the rest of the Council, who were talking among themselves in quiet whispers. “Do you mean to say you ignored Michael’s order?”
Tavis grimaced. “I had a vow to keep.”
“But this is the archangel,” the Chief Elder said. “What could be more important than an order from him?”
“My brother. I swore that I would come to help Faelan and protect the book. I keep my vows. And I don’t know if he meant for me to destroy him then or now.”
“Voltar has committed horrendous crimes against humanity.” The Chief Elder frowned at Tavis. “He’s responsible for millions of deaths.”
And he might have been stopped if Tavis hadn’t disobeyed his order.
“Don’t do it,” Faelan said quietly. “Don’t let your mind go there. We’ve too much to deal with right now.”
Tavis nodded dumbly.
“I think he’s been reassigned to me,” Anna said.
“No. You can’t fight him,” Tavis said.
“Excuse me?”
“I won’t let you get hurt.”
“Tavis Connor, you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. That isn’t how things are done in this day and age. And besides, it isn’t your place.”
Tavis heard a chuckle and looked around to see several grins.
“Why don’t you just throw her over your shoulder,” Brodie said.
“Because I’ll stab him in the back,” Anna said, those beautiful eyes flashing fire.
The Chief Elder banged on the table. “The Council and I will discuss Voltar’s assignment with the Watchers.” After a few minutes, the Elder officially dismissed the unofficial meeting, and Tavis started to leave.
“When are we going to the bed-and-breakfast?” Anna asked, her expression not far off from hostile.
“How about now?”
She looked him up and down and nodded. “I’ll be in the car.”
The drive was awkward and quiet. After a few minutes, Tavis had had enough. “This is bloody nonsense.”
“What?”
“You going after Voltar.”
“He’s mine.”
“I think he’s mine. I don’t want you to fight him. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. And I owe it to you to protect you.”
“No you don’t.”
“I do.”
“Is this a misguided attempt to ease your guilt?”
Tavis felt like she’d slapped him in the face. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I took advantage of you. I’m trying to make it right.”
“You can’t make it right,” she yelled. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, which was a relief since she was driving. “There’s nothing to make right. I told you already. You saved me. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Then why are you still treating me like a bastard?”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re acting like an ass. Where’s the woman I met in the dungeon? The woman who bathed my wounds and kept me warm. Hell, you helped me piss in a cup.”