Midnight's Promise by Donna Grant

my worst trait.” Evie blew out a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say, very badly I might add, is that I could use a friend.”
    “You doona want me for a friend. I’m no’ a good man.”
    “Maybe. I’m not exactly a good person either.” Evie put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I think I’ve gotten myself into something that could put my life in danger. I … I’m scared, Malcolm. This place, these stones have allowed me to breathe a little easier. I’m not Deirdre, and I’ve made sure the stones realize that.”
    She’d hoped Malcolm might answer her, but it looked like she was wrong. Evie dropped her hands. “You know where to find me. I’d like to hear the rest of that story you’ve yet to finish.”
    Malcolm let her soft, sweet voice fill his mind. His eyes remained closed while he kept his body in check against the exotic, brilliant magic.
    With her movement, however, his eyes snapped open. He moved directly beside her as she spoke. His brain demanded he keep his distance, but his body—and his god—wanted closer.
    He lifted a hand as she spun around. Dark curls slid over his palm and against his fingers. It was all he dared, all he could risk. But that simple touch left him with a deep, vast longing that would never be filled.
    She had come to him. After he threw her against the wall and choked her. She’d come to him. His mind could barely wrap around it.
    He watched as she exited the chamber and made her way back to her room. He had the chance to leave when he’d felt her magic grow closer and closer to him.
    Malcolm still wasn’t sure why he stayed. The Druid had tenacity and courage that surprised him. He frowned then, because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been surprised.
    She had asked for a friend. There was no way he could give her that when he couldn’t even answer the calls and texts from those at the castle who claimed to be family.
    To make matters worse, it had been on the tip of his tongue to tell her aye. Her voice had broken when she’d spoken of her half-brother. The lad meant a lot to her.
    Malcolm tapped a claw against the stones behind him and made a decision right then. If the Druid thought she was in danger, he needed to learn what it was. He couldn’t be her friend, but he could watch over her and keep anyone away who might want to do her harm.
    He understood all about needing a place to breathe easier. Why it had to be Cairn Toul that gave it to her, he didn’t know. But did it really matter?
    With the strength of her magic, he’d know the instant she turned drough . That’s all it would take for him to end her life. It would be another way he’d ensure her safety. Because if he could kill her before she sold her soul, then he was saving her.
    Malcolm rubbed a hand over his jaw. He would have to hold off giving up the last of his humanity for a few days yet. If he could.
    He took out his mobile and held his finger over Phelan’s name. Finally he pressed the number and brought the phone to his ear.
    “Malcolm,” Phelan answered on the second ring. “Is everything all right?”
    “It hasna been all right in a long time.” He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by his honesty, him or Phelan.
    “What do you need?”
    “I doona know.”
    “You want me to meet you somewhere?”
    The old Malcolm would have smirked at Phelan’s less than subtle attempt to get him face to face. This Malcolm, however, simply said, “Nay. I know you’re … concerned for me. There’s no need.”
    “There’s every need,” Phelan said.
    Malcolm inhaled deeply. “I can no’ be the person everyone wants me to be.”
    “Then doona be. If Deirdre tried to kill me and then unbound my god, I wouldna be the same either. I thought it was better for me if I kept to myself. I didna realize how wrong I was until I met Charon. I wasna looking for a friend, and I made it difficult for him to be one, but that friendship saved me.”
    “I see the disappointment