Page 24 of Wine & Warlocks

Ronan lifted his brows in question as Alastair tugged the cuffs of his dress shirt from under his suit jacket. Finally, after Ronan had given up the hope the other man would get to the point, he spoke.

“Your future mate is as spirited as they come, O’Connor. Much like my beloved Rorie. If you haven’t already guessed, Dubheasa will chafe under what she perceives to be authority. Yours included. Never try to dominate her, and always respect her wishes.” His blue eyes twinkled when he added, “And for the love of the Goddess, never lie to your woman if you don’t want your balls served to you on a silver platter.”

“Aye, and she’s tried to serve them up to me a time or two already,” Ronan replied with a glance over his shoulder at the woman in question. “But I’ll take your advice and be glad for it.”

“Good man.” Alastair clapped him on the back. “Let’s get down to business. I don’t have all day.” As he walked away, he straightened his tie and smoothed his hands down the material of his navy jacket.

Ronan was hard-pressed not to laugh.

CHAPTER11

As Damian laid out the past events leading up to the meeting for Draven and Fintan, Dubheasa listened intently. She’d only received secondhand accounts from her siblings and hadn’t been in the thick of things as they happened, like the rest of the O’Malleys were. A large part of her was upset that her sister and brothers had held back the bulk of the information from her. Despite being the same age as Eoin, she was still considered the baby of their family, and as such, the rest of the O’Malleys tended to protect her from hardships or strife. She wished they knew her a little better and gave her more credit as an adult.

“Sounds like Loman O’Connor is a real fine piece of work,” Draven said with a sharp look toward Ronan. “Why didn’t you stab the bastard in his sleep before now?”

“He warded his room each night,” Ronan replied with a grimace. “But don’t be thinkin’ I didn’t want to.”

How awful must it have been to hate a parent so much one wished them dead? And for that reason to be because they broke their child’s trust and abused them unmercifully? Dubheasa’s anger toward Loman was building with each transgression she heard. If the man were standing in front of her, she’d gladly shove a blade through his unfeeling heart.

Across the table, Damian locked eyes with her. His narrowed in consideration as if he was weighing her thoughts and feelings, but he never stopped detailing the rest of the situation. When he concluded his speech and opened the floor for a question-and-answer session, Dubheasa held up her hand.

“How do we get Loman’s attention and provoke the man into action? From what I’ve heard here, he’s always been the aggressor and steps ahead of everyone in our group.” She glanced at her brothers. “You know we can’t let him strike first this time. The collateral damage is always too great when he does. We take the fight to him, yeah?”

Eoin looked on board with her plan while Carrick appeared more thoughtful and cautious. Cian, on the other hand, was already shaking his head. “You and Bridget will be sitting this one out, to be sure.”

“You seem to have me confused with someone you can be ordering about, brother,” she replied tartly.

“Dubh—”

“No, Cian. This concerns Ronan, and by default, me.” Reluctantly, afraid of what she’d see, she turned her head to meet Ronan’s steady gaze. Pride, or something like it, shone in those silvery depths, and she released the breath she’d been holding. “He’s not seen my face, and I’m the one who stands the best chance of getting close to him.”

Adamantly, he shook his head. “That’s not our most brilliant move, Dove. He’s not after caring who you are and will steal your magic, given the chance.”

She grinned. “Then that’s our plan to lure him out. What better way to trap a mouse than offer up a slice of cheese?”

He opened his mouth as if to argue, but closed it again with a resigned sigh.

“You know me better than my own brothers,”she told him through their link.

“I know you’re after giving me heart failure. But the idea has merit.”

“No!” Cian came around to their side of the table and crouched next to her chair. “Dubheasa, you’ve not met the man, and you’ve no clue how dangerous he can be. It’s a fool’s errand for you to put yourself in his sights, it is. I’m askin’ ya not to do it.”

“If you come up with a better plan to get to him, I’ll listen, but we’ll do it my way before we sit here like ducks and wait for him to use us for target practice.”

“I agree with your sister,” Damian said. “With each attack, your family has had to be on the defense. It’s time to be on the offense.”

“He’ll not take kindly to being hunted,” Castor warned. “I know my brother, and if you corner him, he’ll turn rabid. Ronan, back me up here.”

“Aye. He’s deadly either way, sure, but you’ve got the right of it. The man’s cunning on a good day. On a bad one? He’s Machiavellian and pure evil.”

Trevor leaned forward. “It’s not as if Dubheasa will be left alone. We’ll all have eyes and ears on her. And I feel we should plant an electronic device somewhere on her person, should Loman anticipate a magical tracker.”

“That’s all well and good, but we need to find him prior to delivering her up as bait,” Alastair inserted. “My understanding is that the man isn’t on anyone’s radar, the deities’ included, so this entire conversation is a moot point.”

In the corner of the room, Draven straightened from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “What if we offer two for the price of one?” He looked right at Ronan. “You and your girl, in a location he’s sure to hear about through the grapevine?”

“Please explain, Masters,” the Aether said, an intrigued expression on his face.

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