Page 70 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“There’s no‘influence,’ya fecking eejit! I love her!”

“You only think you do. Time will tell.”

“I’ll be killin’ ya before this night’s out, Reg. You can take that to the grave with ya,” Eoin promised.

Ronan registeredhis father’s appearance and the corresponding disappearance of Eoin and Reggie with detachment. His first priority was making sure the young anduntried Siren beside him didn’t turn nuclear. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her to him and gritted his teeth. Her lure was otherworldly, and all he wanted to do was give over to her seductive power. But he had a job to do, and he’d promised little Sabrina Dethridge he’d do it.

“Sorry, darlin’, but you don’t get to tear my da apart at the moment. We’ll save that for another day, yeah?”

With nowhere else to go, he teleported them to an abandoned cottage on the outskirts of a village seventy miles north of their location.

Brenna’s Siren screeched her displeasure, and a piercing pain in Ronan’s eardrums caused him to clap his hands over his ears and fall to his knees. He wanted to beg her to stop, but he didn’t have the ability to speak under the intense pressure building in his head. Falling to the ground, he curled into a ball.

He was a fecking eejit!

Once again, he was trying to play the savior and protect a woman against her will. The irony of his death would keep Dubheasa O’Malley in high spirits for decades to come.

“Brenna!”

Ronan managed to crack his lids, and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw Odessa Sullivan and Moira walking toward them from the clearing. He truly was a dead man.

In the far reaches ofBrenna’s mind, she registered the fact her Siren was killing Ronan in her rage. The creature had claimed Eoin for her own and was furious her mate was gone. Now, Brenna understood how her mother had given in to the darkness when her father died. Eoin wasn’t dead yet, only a captive of Reggie, and still, her Siren was inconsolable.

Odessa’s shout brought her head around, and she knew unimaginable fear when she saw the two women heading their way. Instinctively, she understood they would stop her from saving Eoin.

In a flash, Damian’s words returned to her.

“The Siren and the woman are one and the same. You can control your own desires, if you wish. But if you let her have freedom, she will do what feels good regardless of consequence. If you don’t keep her contained, she’ll choose the darkness every time.”

She had to regain the upper hand. Even though her Siren wanted to exact revenge on Odessa, Brenna fought tooth and nail to prevent it and take back control.

Her Siren’s echoing cry was cut off, and it trilled in an effort to cajole Brenna into leaving her in charge of the situation.

“You can control her, Brenna Marie,” Odessa said. “You’re the strongest of our kind.”

She shook her head, bewildered by her aunt’s unsolicited help. Her gaze dropped to Ronan, and although his pain had to be excruciating, he didn’t move or make a sound. He simply stared at her, as if willing her to hear him.

“I’m sorry.” Dropping to her knees, she drew his head to her breast in a protective hold. “I’m so sorry.”

“Get out while you can, Brenna,” he croaked. “They’ll kill you for your magic.”

“I don’t know how to teleport, but you do. Save yourself, Ronan.” She hadn’t realized she was crying until a glistening tear fell onto his cheek. “Go to Damian. He can heal you.”

An instant later, he was gone, and she’d returned to her normal self. But inside, her siren was kicking and screaming her rage. So loudly, in fact, she almost missed what the auburn-haired woman told her.

“’Tis a feckin’ shame you let him go. We could’ve dined on his magic for days.”

Rising to her feet, she faced Odessa and her new companion. “I’d kill him before I ever let you touch him, witch.”

The woman’s sly grin scrapped her nerves. “Are you certain ya didn’t when you teleported him?”

“Me? I didn’t…” But had she? Odessa’s hard stare indicated Brenna had been the one to send him away. She felt more than a little ill.

CHAPTER 27

Standing in shredded clothes in front of her aunt and the unknown witch, Brenna experienced a sense of misgiving. She was vulnerable in a way she’d never been before. Not only because of the half-naked issue, but due to the feeling of her world being topsy-turvy.

The cottage and surrounding landscape could be England, Ireland, or a farm in Maine, for all she knew. She legit had no idea where the hell she was, but she certainly wishedsomeonehad taught her to teleport when they had the chance. Gran’s scrolls might’ve contained the information, but she hadn’t read them in time for this little shindig.

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