Bound by Blood: Paranormal Cauld Ane Stories

Chapter Two

Dr. Kade Gunnach sat behind his large mahogany desk and stared at the data in front of him. It wasn’t promising. A knock on his office door elicited a frown, but he knew the inevitable couldn’t be avoided. “Come in.”

His brothers Brodie and Connall pushed inside and sat in the chairs across from his desk.

Brodie leaned forward and settled his arms on his knees. “So?”

Kade rubbed his forehead. “Nothing.”

“At all?” Connall asked.

Kade shook his head.

“Shite!” Brodie stood and made his way to the bank of windows facing the university.

Connall dropped his face into his hands. “Have you told Fi?”

Fiona Gunnach was their only sister and the baby of the family.

“No,” Kade said. “I thought Brodie could do that.”

“Hell no.” Brodie turned from the window, his hands in his pockets, an indication he was trying not to hit something or someone. “Con should. He’s the only one she won’t kill… well… and Angus.”

“What’s the next step?” Connall asked.

“I’ve already hired someone… at a significant cost, but she’s the best in the world,” Kade said.

“Who?” Connall asked.

“Her name is Dr. Samantha Moore. She was top of her class and the youngest graduate of her university in a hundred years.”

“Where’d you find her?” Brodie asked.

“I didn’t. Duncan did.”

“Obviously. But from where?”

“The States.”

“Is she one of us?” Connall asked.

Kade shook his head.

“An outsider, Kade?” Connall snorted. “What about Angus?”

Angus McFadden was their sister’s fiancé and one of the most talented doctors on staff.

“Angus did what he could, but he’s not the best, Con. She is.”

Brodie narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”

“Because Duncan spent six months trying to get her.”

Brodie swore. “You can’t be serious.”

“I gave Angus a year, Brod. He’s one of us and has a vested interest in finding a cure for Fiona’s sake.”

“So she probably knows, then,” Connall said hopefully.

Before Kade could answer, the buzz of his intercom sounded, and he pressed the button. “Yes, Anna.”

“Your sister’s here, Dr. Gunnach.”

Kade glanced at his watch. “She’s early. Go ahead and send her in.”

Before he’d hung up with his assistant, Fiona sailed into the office. “Och, it’s bloody hot in this building.” She wore a sleeveless blouse, and he noticed her skin was pink and blotchy.

Kade glanced at the thermostat in his office. Fifteen degrees Celsius… well below the danger threshold.

Fiona’s dark, shoulder-length hair swung across her flushed cheeks as she dropped her purse on Kade’s couch. She clapped her hands and then settled them on her hips. “All right, brothers, Angus said you had news.”

“Well, hello to you too.” Kade rose to his feet and made his way from behind his desk. “Where is your fiancé?”

“He’s in the lab. Where else would he be?”

Kade was about to deliver a retort when his sister’s eyes widened, and she took three quick breaths. He stepped toward her, but Connall was faster and caught her just as she collapsed.

“Brodie, ice—now!” Kade snapped as he moved Fiona’s purse so that Connall could lay her on the sofa.

Brodie waved his hand, and the freezer door flew open. With another flick of his wrist, icepacks began to hurl themselves at Kade.

“What the hell happened, Kade?” Brodie snapped.

Kade shot him a look of annoyance, even though he knew Brodie’s question was somewhat rhetorical. He and Connall packed the ice around Fiona.

Kade felt Fiona’s forehead as he took her pulse. Grabbing his stethoscope, he laid it over her chest. She was warm and her heart was racing, but as the ice began to cool her down, her heart rate slowed to normal. He waited for her to take a deep breath and then get through the inevitable coughing fit, indicating she was going to be okay, before helping her to sit up. “You all right?”

Fiona groaned and nodded.

Kade’s office door flew open and Fiona’s very frazzled fiancé rushed into the room. “Fi?”

Fiona rubbed her forehead. “I’m all right, Angus.”

Angus sat beside her on the sofa and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Turning accusing eyes on the brothers, he asked, “What did you do?”

Kade held a hand out to Brodie, who looked about ready to kill his sister’s significant other. “Nothing, Angus. She was only here a few seconds before she collapsed.”

Fiona took a deep breath and squeezed Angus’s knee. “I’m all right, sweetheart. I just overheated.”

“How could you possibly overheat in this weather?” Angus laid his hand on her forehead. “It’s barely seventeen degrees outside and even cooler in here.”

She pushed his hand away and rose to her feet. “I don’t know.”

Kade closed the door and advanced on his sister. “Fiona, where were you?”

She stared down at her engagement ring.

“Damn it!” Angus snapped.

“What?” Kade asked.

“Angus,” Fiona admonished. “We’ll talk about it when we’re alone.”

Connall grasped his sister’s arm. “No, you’ll talk about it now. What the hell were you doing before you came here?”

“You were at the library, weren’t you?” Angus accused.

“Goddammit, Fi, I thought we’d been over this,” Kade snapped.

She scowled at her brother. “No, you went over it.”

Without comment, Brodie retrieved a power bar from Kade’s stash in his desk and handed it to his sister. She thanked him and opened the package.

“How long has this been going on?” Connall asked.

“Six months,” Angus answered, and then turned to Fiona. “You promised you’d stop. It’s not safe.”

She frowned. “When did I ever say I’d stop? I promised I’d be careful, but I never said I’d stop.”

“Fiona, the library isn’t temperature controlled and the tunnels are worse,” Brodie pointed out. “What the hell were you thinking?”

The private rooms below the city were known to very few people and housed many of the secrets and historical information passed down from generation to generation of Scots. The only way in and out was through hidden passages and tunnels that were often a good ten to twenty degrees warmer than the outside temperatures.

Fiona jabbed a finger toward him. “Don’t you dare speak to me as though I’m an i***t, Brodie Gunnach. I know exactly what I’m doing and you have no say in it.”

Angus sighed. “But I do. You are not to go there again.”

Kade shook his head. No one told his sister what to do and lived to tell about it.

Fiona’s eyes narrowed and she took a quick breath through her teeth. “We are not bound, Angus McFadden. You have no dominion over me.”

“Fiona, I’m sure Angus wasn’t—” Connall started.

“Don’t!” she snapped. “Ganging up on me right now will not go well for you.”

Connall raised his hands in surrender and took a step back.

“Fiona, you need to eat.” Kade leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.

She waved the power bar. “I am!”

He raised an eyebrow and then turned to his brothers. “Con, why don’t you and Brodie head on back to your offices. I’d like to talk to Fiona and Angus alone.”

“You’re playing chieftain now?” Fiona snapped, but took another bite of the power bar.

“Verið varkár,” Angus warned.

“She doesn’t need to be careful, Angus.” Kade waved his hand dismissively. “She’s in no danger.”

Connall and Brodie left the office, and Kade spent the next thirty minutes attempting to stop Fiona from her dangerous pursuit, but at the same time, impressed by what she’d found out.