Rose held up her hand and croaked out, "That's way more information than I need to know. I get it."

Nigel shook his head. "No, you don't. She doesn't just like to bite, she took my..."

"I got it-" Rose started to say when Duncan cut in.

"She believes you, Nigel."

Nigel jerked his gaze to Duncan. "She does? How do you know?"

"Because she and I have been speaking mentally about it."

"Duncan!" Rose jerked her gaze to stare him down.

Duncan casually picked up his coffee, took a sip then set it down. His gaze narrowed on her. "If you don't tell him, I will."

Rose's heart contracted in apprehension as she glanced at her uncle. Nigel's gaze darted between them, clear confusion and interest reflected in his expression.

"What's going on, Rosie? What did Duncan mean you two are speaking mentally? I didn't know you had clairvoyant powers."

Rose glanced down at her drink. Her fingers gripped the cup so hard her knuckles turned white.

Duncan's hand covered hers. He loves you, Rose. He deserves the truth.

Rose met her uncle's blue gaze and breathed out, "Duncan and I can speak mentally because we're also vampires."

At the look of disbelief on her uncle's face, she spoke in Nigel's mind, giving him the proof he needed for him to accept what she said. I speak the truth.

Her stomach tensed as she watched myriad emotions flicker across Nigel's face from shock to hurt to firm acceptance.

Leaning back in his seat, his expression turned serious. "Start from the beginning and tell me everything, Rose." It was the most father-like Nigel had ever sounded. Rose couldn't help the sense of relief that washed over her.

Duncan clasped her hand and rubbed his thumb along the inside of her palm. "Go ahead, Roisin," he encouraged in a soft tone.

Taking a deep breath, Rose told Nigel about James and how she and Duncan met. When she got to the part where Duncan accidentally converted her, Nigel's body tensed and he narrowed his gaze on Duncan.

Rose gripped Duncan's hand and rushed on to tell Nigel about her mother's past and the rest of the story, minus Ronan's part in her father's death. She didn't want to totally throw her uncle off the deep end with that kind of information.

She'd just finished her story when Siobhan walked up with a plate of food for Nigel. As Siobhan set the dish down on the table, Nigel said, "So you really did know Anna all those years ago?"

Siobhan's gaze met Rose's, her eyes wide in surprise. "Ye told him everything?"

Rose bit her lip and nodded. Sighing, Siobhan shooed Nigel with her hand, silently telling him to scoot over so she could sit beside him in the booth.

Nigel slid over and Siobhan sat down. "I'm so glad you know everything, Nigel. I didn't feel it was my place to tell you about Rose."

Nigel picked up Siobhan's hand and kissed it, love reflected in his gaze. "So you're into younger men, are you? Here I am, a fifty-year-old man, just an infant in comparison."

Siobhan chuckled. "You've lived the life of two men, a stor."

Worry crept back in Nigel's gaze when he addressed Rose. "When is your meeting with the Saoi?"

"This evening," Siobhan supplied the answer.

"I'm going too," Nigel said with conviction.

Before Rose could object, fear for her uncle's safety paramount, Siobhan cut in. "Duncan will keep Rose safe, Nigel. No offense, but the Saoi only meets with vampires, not humans."

"We can always change that," Nigel replied.

Siobhan turned her surprised gaze to Nigel at the same time Rose said, "No!"

Deep hurt twisted in Duncan's gut at Rose's swift response...as if her uncle becoming a vampire was horrifying to her.

His grip on her hand tightened when she tried to pull away. I won't let you regret us. Ever, he said in a determined voice in her mind.

Nigel stared at Siobhan. He kissed her hand. "I never thought I'd meet someone who would accept me as I am, past and all."

Siobhan gave a low laugh. "I've lived long enough to see everything, Nigel. Nothing shocks or surprises me."

"That sounds like a challenge to me," Nigel said.

"Now I know where she gets her stubbornness from." Duncan chuckled.

Ignoring the tense resistance emanating from Rose, Duncan lifted her hand and kissed the back. "Where are we going today?"

"How about the Aran Islands?" Siobhan piped in.

Siobhan recommended Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. Duncan, Rose and Nigel left after breakfast and headed for the dock as Siobhan suggested.

"My friend John O'Shea will be waiting on his boat called Saoirse. He'll take you to the island. When the sun goes down, I'll meet you at Dun Aonghasa."

Rose was unusually quiet as they climbed into John O'Shea's boat. When the Saoirse pulled away from the wharf to head for the main island, Nigel walked up to the front of the boat to talk to John. Duncan approached Rose from behind and wrapped his arms around her. Briny sea spray flew up from the waves bouncing against the boat's sides.

He felt Rose tense when he pulled her close then finally relax against him. Duncan couldn't help the unease that washed over him. The sensation made him tighten his hold on her. He refused to let her push him away. He was her Anima.

Rose had tucked her long hair in the collar of her jacket for the trip over to the island. Duncan rubbed his nose in the thick mass near her neck, inhaling her sweet smell. The scent never failed to knock him in the gut.

Why are you so tense? he asked her as he took in all the boats sailing out on the ocean.

He heard her heart skip a beat and then felt her take a deep breath. I've just got the impending meeting on my mind. Siobhan told me it would take place on Inis Mor tonight.

She sounded so tired. Regret filled him that he'd been unable to resist taking her blood last night. Why didn't he seem to have any control when it came to her? His gaze locked on a lighthouse in the distance as he set his jaw in frustration.

When we get back, we're going to have a serious talk about our mating, Rose. You're part Ruean. You need blood.

My taking your blood shouldn't come with such a permanent outcome, Rose grumbled.

Duncan felt as if she'd kicked him in the groin. Before he thought better of it, he spoke what was in his heart. You make it sound as if mating with me is a bad thing.

Rose tensed, then sighed. "Duncan-" she began only to be interrupted when John called out, "Inis Mor!"

She turned in the direction the man pointed. "It's so beautiful," she gasped at the sight.

At the moment, Duncan didn't give a crap about the land. His grip tightened on Rose. "Finish what you were going to say."

But Nigel picked that moment to join them. "Ready to do some hiking?" he asked, a smile on his face.

John slowed his boat as it neared the dock and cut the engine to let them float closer. Nigel jumped on the dock while they pulled alongside. He took the rope John threw him and wrapped it around the hook to secure the boat.

Duncan helped Rose onto the dock, then joined them. John stepped down beside them, saying, "I'll help ye get transportation, then I'll meet ye back here in the evening."

Nigel began walking up the wooden pathway in brisk strides. "Come on, let's go visit the sites."

"There's so much rock," Rose commented, glancing around the island as she clasped Duncan's hand and tugged him along, following John's and Nigel's lead. The fact she willingly took his hand allowed Duncan to shake off the tension that had gripped him. They would talk when he got her alone, he vowed to himself.

John laughed at her comment. "Yep, even though Inis Mor is only eight miles long and two miles wide, it has several thousand miles of rock walls."

John whistled and a man drove up in a white van. The older man jumped out of the van and ran around to open the back passenger door. "Ready for a tour?" he asked.

John waited until Duncan, Nigel and Rose got in the van. He then tipped his cap to the older man in thanks before he met their gazes once more. "It's really steep in some areas of the island. Sam will take ye around. Keep yer eyes open for the seals. Have ye heard the Selkie legend?" When Sam chuckled, John glanced at him.

"These good people need to hear yer Selkie story, Sam."

When late afternoon turned to dusk and they headed for Dun Aonghasa as their last stop for the day, tension filled Duncan once more. He couldn't explain it, but the closer they came to the evening and their pending meeting with the Saoi, the more out of control he felt.

They paid their entrance fee and walked the twenty-seven hundred feet to the top of the hill to look around the old ruin.

"Wow, that was a hike," Rose said as they entered the fort and walked to the edge of the ruin the overlooked the ocean. Her hand tensed around Duncan's while they took in the breathtaking view over the side of the island. Dun Aonghasa was a semicircular prehistoric fort that had been built high upon a hill along the edge of the island.

As he stood overlooking the steep drop-off that went straight into the ocean, Duncan applauded his ancestors for picking a defendable location for their fort. One whole side dropped three hundred feet straight into the Atlantic Ocean. Since the fort was built at one of the highest points on the island, that meant it was a perfect strategic location for them to see their enemies coming from all directions, giving them time to react.

When the sun sank lower in the sky and the cooler wind picked up, the tourists made their way back down the hill to their tour vans waiting to take them back to the dock.

Siobhan waved to the last tourist leaving as she entered the fort. "How was yer day of touring?" she asked with a smile.

Nigel clasped her hand and pulled her to his side. "Very interesting, but not as much fun without you."

Siobhan laughed, then kissed him on the cheek. "There's a great restaurant on the dock. Come on, Nigel, I'll take ye to dinner."

"Aren't you kids coming?" Nigel asked, looking back at them as Siobhan tugged on his hand.

"They can meet us at the boat," Siobhan said, then spoke mentally to Rose and Duncan at the same time. Yer meeting is here. Wait for the Saoi. He will arrive soon.

Duncan felt Rose tense next to him. She hadn't spoken much in the last hour. He pulled her into the circle of his arms and was surprised at the sluggish beating of her heart. He nodded to Siobhan. "See you two later."

Once Nigel and Siobhan left, Duncan kept his arms around Rose as he turned her to face the ocean. Standing a few feet away from the steep drop-off, they stared out to sea. Duncan reveled in Rose's warmth as she leaned against him. The strong Atlantic wind blew against them, bringing with it the sounds and smells of the sea.

"I feel our ancestors' presence here," Rose finally spoke. "I sense the battles that took place, the anger, the defeats and triumphs." She sighed and wrapped her arms around his, hugging him close. "Ireland is truly a magical place. I've never felt a connection with a place as much as I do here."

"I feel it, too, a ghra. Just like the pull between us." His arms tightened around her. "How can you deny our mating? Don't you see it was meant to be?"

Rose stiffened and stepped out of his embrace. "If it was meant to be, why didn't you feel this way before you converted me?" She glanced up at him, her gaze searching his.

"Because he is stubborn like all Atruan males," a man's booming voice said from behind them.

Rose and Duncan turned to see a tall man wearing a black robe that fell to his feet. His long, stark white hair, pulled back in a ponytail, blew in the wind.

Duncan took in the six male vampires that hovered an inch above the semicirclular rock wall behind the Saoi. Their arms were crossed over their chests, stoic expressions on their faces. Each of them had a silver stripe in their long, unbound hair that whipped in the wind around them. Atruan males.

The Saoi's pitch-black eyes narrowed on Duncan.

"Ye're Tressa's son. And half of another vampire race." His tone lowered as he stared out to sea. "All that we fought to prevent. We should've known we couldn't stop the inevitable."

"My father is an honorable man. He just recently learned of my mother's past, as did I," Duncan said in defense of his parents.

The Saoi's bottomless gaze landed on Duncan once more. "Ye possess powers ye haven't even begun to explore."

Surprised by the older man's comment, Duncan tried to probe his mind to find out more. Blinding pain swept through his head, knocking him to his knees. Duncan cradled his head in his hands, gritting his teeth at the excruciating pain. After a few seconds, it disappeared.

"Don't ye dare try that with me," the Saoi hissed in anger.

Rose stood by Duncan's side. A look of concern crossed her face as she touched his shoulder. She cast her gaze to the Saoi. "Leave Duncan out of this. I'm the one who called upon you."

The man's black gaze swept over her and he bowed his head in respect, though a haughty expression still glittered in his gaze. "State yer request, a chailin."

As Duncan stood, he sensed something more than vampire blood in the Saoi...something otherwordly. Not only did the man not have a heartbeat he could detect, but he smelled different, too.

"I've come to find out how to eliminate my Guardians," Rose called out over the wind.

"So much for not speaking of the past," he said with a deep sigh.

"Circumstances changed a vow given," she replied, defending her mother's decision to leave behind a description of her history for her.

The older man moved to a low rock wall and sat down. He beckoned her with his hand. "Come, Rose, daughter of Anna."

Duncan started to follow, but a cutting gaze from the Saoi made him slow his steps.

Rose walked over to the man and kneeled before him. The Saoi put his hand on her head and smiled down at her. "Ye look like yer mother, little one. I'm sorry to hear of her passing."

Duncan felt the sorrow well up in Rose at the man's mention of her mother, but she straightened her spine and said, "Thank you, Saoi."

Go raibh maith agat, he corrected, lifting his hand from her head.

"Pardon?" she asked, a confused look on her face.