by Donna Grant
He set the tray on the small table that was nailed down to the floor planks and waited. Ahryn lowered her hands and raised her gaze. She didn’t like the haggard look that had replaced his cool features.
“Thank you,” he said.
She stilled at his words. “For what?”
“The blanket.”
“You’re welcome,” she said as she reached for a piece of bread while she sank into the chair. “Thank you for bringing the food.”
He shrugged away her words and sat as he began to eat. “We should reach Skye sometime today.”
“So soon?” She had feared the storm had blown them farther out or off course somehow. She was relieved to hear they were still on schedule.
Lugus nodded. “I spoke with the captain this morning. Unless something strange happens, tonight we’ll be sleeping on the isle.”
“How far to the gateway?”
He took a deep breath and swallowed his food. “That depends on where we land. The gateway is on the coast, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.”
Ahryn should be feeling pleased at the news, but the nagging sensation that they wouldn’t reach the gateway as easy as Lugus said wouldn’t go away.
“And if Marcus is there?”
Lugus slowly set down his cup as his blue eyes locked with hers. “Every gateway has guardians the Fae placed there. If need be, we will seek their aid. However, I don’t plan on allowing Marcus time to catch us. We will travel light and swift once we hit land.”
His words, though they comforted her, didn’t alleviate the fear that grew within her. And he only had one dagger in which to fight with.
“Ahryn.” His voice was soft but commanding.
“Don’t think I don’t trust you,” she explained. “It isn’t that, but a growing...fear that I cannot dispel.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You feel it as well?”
She searched his face and saw he wasn’t jesting. Her eyes glanced around the small cabin to see if something or someone hid waiting for them.
“They aren’t on the ship,” Lugus said.
“I feel as though they are.” Her gaze returned to his face. “When did you begin to feel it?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. How long?”
With his arms crossed over his chest he said, “Since we departed Scotland.”
Ahryn found it difficult to breath. She rose and tried to pace the tiny space. “I didn’t feel it,” she said. “I need to feel my magic, to feel connected to our realm.”
Lugus knew she was fast becoming hysterical. He was surprised she hadn’t done it before now, and in truth, she had every reason to be frantic. Without her magic and any connection to the Fae, she could die.
He stood and took hold of her shoulders to force her to meet his gaze. “I never go back on a promise, Ahryn. We will make it there no matter what I have to do.”
Her brows furrowed as she searched his eyes. “I don’t like being frightened.”
“Not many people do. Now,” he said as he moved her toward the chair, “you need to eat as much as you can before we land.”
She nodded woodenly but picked up her food and began to eat. Satisfied, Lugus resumed his seat and stared at his food. He wouldn’t admit to Ahryn how worried he was about reaching the gateway before Marcus. If Marcus was in league with a Draconian, then they were most likely already there waiting for he and Ahryn to arrive.
And without his sword, he was useless.
He glanced up and found Ahryn watching him, so he hastily reached for his food. He ate without tasting it as his mind ran over each and every possibility they could, and probably would, encounter until they reached the gateway.
And none of them were good.
Most importantly, he would have to make sure that he reached the guardians of the gateway quickly. They could be Ahryn’s only chance of survival, though he wondered what the guardian’s price would be for such a request.
Whatever it was, he was prepared to pay it.
Chapter Eleven
The intense emotions running amuck through Ahryn had drained her of all energy. She needed her realm and the magic that would restore her.
Yet, she refused to allow herself to think about such things until she and Lugus reached the gateway. Until then, she needed to focus on what lay ahead of them.
She turned away from the railing and shielded her eyes with her arm as she raised her gaze to find Lugus high above her. She had no idea what he was doing, but she wished he wouldn’t hang so perilously by one hand as he tied something off with the other. If he lost his grip...she stopped that thought and declined to think more about it.
No matter how many times she told herself to stop thinking of Lugus, he continued to pop into her thoughts. Constantly. He wasn’t hers, and she needed to remind herself of that several times a day.
But when she saw his blue eyes sparkle with determination and authority, she found herself eager to be apart of it, of him. She looked away from him and glowered at the deck. She wasn’t the type of Fae to become obsessed with anything, much less a man, so why was that what she felt?
Anger soon replaced her resentment as her gaze landed on the captain and Lugus’ sword that was strapped to his hip. As he approached, she lifted her lips in a dazzling smile.
“’Tis a fine day,” the captain said as he stopped beside her.
“That it is, Captain.”
“I gather your husband informed you that we are on schedule and will dock on the shores of Skye today.”
Ahryn licked her lips and watched as the captain’s eyes followed her tongue. “Aye, he did. I’m eager to be on solid land again.”
The captain tried to respond, but when nothing came out he cleared his throat and tried again. “Ah...most women aren’t suited for sailing.”
“Oh, it isn’t that at all. I find being on the water suits me wonderfully,” she lied and ran a hand down her neck.
Again the captain’s eyes followed her, but as her hand stopped at her collarbone, his eyes continued down to her breasts.
The revulsion that rolled in her stomach was nothing compared to the anger at him for taking Lugus’ sword. “See something you like?”
He nodded, unable to answer and all but drooling on the deck.
Ahryn rolled her eyes. “You have something I want.”
“Anything. I’ll give you anything,” he said, his eyes still on her breasts.
“If you touch her, I will kill you.”
Ahryn spun around at the voice behind her to find Lugus glaring at the captain. Before she could begin to wonder what all he had heard, he glanced at her and held up a hand to silence any words she might think of speaking.
“I’m only taking what she offered,” the captain said smugly.
Lugus smiled, and it chilled Ahryn, for she saw what the captain didn’t. Fury.
The captain laughed and slapped Lugus on the back. “She’s a feisty one, aye. There’s plenty of me to satisfy her since you cannot.”
Ahryn took hold of Lugus’ arm when she saw him ball up his fist. “Nay,” she whispered and prayed he heard her.
“We’ll finish this later, darlin’,” the captain said as he turned on his heel and walked away.
Ahryn felt the cool burn of Lugus’ cold blue eyes on her. She turned her back to him and waited. She didn’t have long to wait.
“What were you doing?”
“That’s my business,” she said. She didn’t want him to know she would trade her body for his sword because she knew he would object.
Lugus stared after Ahryn as she walked away. He had felt her eyes on him as he hung from the rigging. He wasn’t sure what made him climb down, but when he approached her and heard her words, it had felt like he had been thrust into an ice realm.
Even now as he tried to force the image of her offering herself to the captain, he wondered at his fierce and sudden need to smash the captain’s face in.
/> The more Lugus thought about Ahryn’s actions, the angrier he became. It just proved to him how little he knew of her, and he began to question his motives for allowing her to keep her secrets. Maybe it was time she told him everything.
Then she’ll want me to do the same.
And he couldn’t.
He leaned back against the railing and clenched his jaw. Patience. It was the key to surviving. At least that’s what he told himself.
Lugus wouldn’t have made it out of the Realm of Shadows without his legendary control and patience, and he called upon his two strengths again for he had great need for them.
Just as he pushed away from the railing to climb back up the rigging, he caught the captain looking at him as he smiled and nodded.
It was the straw that broke the dragon’s back.
Lugus turned on his heel and made his way below deck. He didn’t bother to knock on the cabin door before he threw it open. The site of Ahryn huddled on the bed with her head upon her knees didn’t halt him or tamp down his growing ire.
“You’re right, it is your business. However, until you walk through the gateway I would appreciate if you do not do anything that might hinder us reaching the gateway.”
She merely blinked and gave a slight nod before she looked away.
Lugus refused to feel guilty for raising his voice. “Get some rest. We’ll be traveling by night,” he said just before he shut the door behind him.
He leaned back against the door and wondered where his control had disappeared to. Not since the fight with his father that ended with his father’s death had he lost his temper so. And it scared him. When he lost control, people got hurt.
With his heart still pumping wildly, he slowly made his way back up on deck to continue his work. While he hung from the rigging, he wasn’t planning their arrival at the gateway or even thinking of the traps he wanted to plant for Marcus. Instead, his thoughts were on Ahryn and how he wasn’t himself when he was around her.
From everything he had learned from her in their few short days together, her offering herself to the captain didn’t fit in to who he thought she was. And he was rarely wrong when it came to people.
Though he wasn’t the type of person to need others to talk to, he wished now he had someone to confide his troubles with, someone to help him see what he was overlooking when it came to Ahryn.
But he knew no matter how much he might like such a person, there wasn’t anyone, nor would there ever be someone. Even as a young Fae, he and Theron hadn’t been close like most brothers were. In fact, they never had anything in common, which only served to push them farther apart.
The one time Lugus had needed Theron by his side, Theron had shown just how little he thought of Lugus by siding with the elders in sending him into the Realm of Shadows.
To this day, Lugus hadn’t completely forgiven Theron.
Lugus, disgusted with himself for losing his temper then wallowing in self-despair, shut off his mind and focused on his duties.
He didn’t free his mind until someone clapped him on the back and pointed. Lugus followed the man’s finger and saw the land nearing through the rays of the setting sun. He sat back and watched the huge orange sun sink into the sea as the night slowly closed in around him.
Little by little, the calm that he was renowned for descended upon him. When he felt he was once again himself, he climbed down the rigging. As soon as his feet hit the deck, he knew Ahryn stood waiting for him. He turned around and found her standing near the railing, her right hand hidden in the folds of her skirt.
“We’re here,” she said softly.
He walked to her and stared at the approaching land. Within the hour the anchor would be dropped and they would step into the rowboat that would take them to the isle.
“Aye,” he said and braced his hands on the railing. “Are you ready?”
“I don’t know.”
Her candid answer made him turn and look at her. “I vowed to get you there.”
She licked her lips and shook her head. “It isn’t that. I’m not the brave sort, Lugus, and what we must face frightens me to my very soul.”
“Being brave doesn’t mean that someone isn’t frightened. It simply means they know what is before them and they do it anyway. You are brave. You escaped Marcus and came to me not knowing whether Marcus would find you or if I would refuse you.”
One corner of her mouth pulled into a grin. “I’m more frightened now that I know the Draconians are out there.”
“Come,” Lugus said as he pulled her below deck to their cabin. Once inside, he shut the door and faced her. “Listen to me closely because I only have time to explain this once.”
“You’re scaring me.” “I know, and I apologize, but it must be said.” He took a deep breath before beginning. “If something happens to me-”
“If?” Ahryn repeated.
Lugus squeezed his eyes closed and tried again. “If something does happen to me, you need to know where to go to return home. Only you can open the gateway, Ahryn.”
When she sank onto the bed and looked up at him with her bright mystical blue eyes, he continued.
“The stones are on the coast. From the directions given to me before we left Scotland, the captain has landed south of the gateway. When we reach land, we need to follow the coast north.”
“North,” she repeated.
“Even with the storm we made good time, and, unless magic was involved, we should reach the gateway before Marcus.”
“And if we don’t?” she asked.
“Don’t think along those lines,” he said as he leaned against the door. “If you can find the gateway, you have two choices, you can walk through it alone, or if you need help, go to the guardians. They will live close to the gateway and will feel you coming. But no matter what, forget me and find the gateway.”
She rose from the bed and gawked at him. “Forget you? You expect me to leave you if you’re wounded?”
“I do.” He crossed his arms over his chest and returned her stare.
“Nay. I cannot.”
“You won’t have a choice. If I fall it will be because Marcus and his army have found us. I will be able to give you some time to get away, but the forfeit of my life will be worthless if you are caught.”
She looked down at her floor. “I don’t like this.”
“There are many things in life I don’t like, but we all do what we must.” He felt the ship slowing and knew they would anchor at any moment. “Now. Are you ready?”
She nodded.
“Good. Go up on deck and wait for me there.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
He didn’t answer her as he left the cabin. His steps were unhurried as they walked up the steps to the deck. It wasn’t hard to find the captain. He stood by the helm and looked over his ship with greedy eyes.
Lugus made his way to the captain and prayed Ahryn wouldn’t see what was about to happen.
“I see you’re anxious to depart,” the captain said as Lugus joined him.
“We are.”
The captain laughed and slapped Lugus on the shoulder. “I envy you your high-spirited wife.”
“I know.”
The captain’s gaze narrowed on him. “You’re still angry about earlier.”
Lugus turned and faced him. There was no need to answer him, he knew the captain saw the fury in his eyes.
“She offered herself to me,” the captain explained.
“I know,” Lugus interrupted him. “And that’s what confuses me.”
“I have power. Women are drawn to power.”
Lugus almost laughed. Power. The captain didn’t know the meaning of the word. “Think what you like. Now, give me back what is mine.”
“I never touched her,” the captain said as he took a step away from the helm.
“You know of what I speak.”
The captain’s hazel eyes sparked with anger. “Nay. ‘Tis mine now.”
Lugus took a deep breath and glanced at the night sky. “You have two options, Captain. You can either hand over my sword and continue on with your boring life, or you can refuse and I will slit your throat and take my sword anyway.”
“You’re bluffing.”
In the blink of an eye Lugus withdrew his remaining dagger and held it up to the Captain’s face. The blade was long and thick and so sharp it could slice a rock.
The Captain swallowed loudly before unbuckling the scabbard and handing it to Lugus.
“Smart. For once,” Lugus said. He buckled on his sword and sheathed his dagger, then turned on his heel and went to find Ahryn.
She stood at the railing, the moonlight shining on her like a beacon as she looked forlornly at the isle. Their real journey was about to begin.
Chapter Twelve
Ahryn gripped the side of the boat so hard her knuckles hurt. Her mouth had gone dry the moment she left the ship and they began to row the boat toward shore. Even without her magic, she knew her journey with Lugus to the gateway would not end well.
She glanced over at him. He sat beside her, his face forward as if calculating just how many rows it would take the men before they reached the shore. Lugus was calculating in everything he did. She had been shocked to see him wearing his sword again but had decided against asking how he had managed to get it back from the captain.
With each row of the oars, her stomach would drop to her feet like a weighted stone. To her surprise, Lugus reached over and took her right hand in his. As his hand closed over hers, she could literally feel his strength fill her. She gave his hand a little squeeze to thank him.
And then they reached shore.
She waited in the boat as Lugus and the other men jumped out and pulled the boat to the shore. When Lugus took her hand she rose and walked to the front of the boat where he lifted her out and sat her on the shore.
After a brief exchange with the sailors, Lugus turned back to her. She knew he waited on her to signal that she was ready to begin, so she gave him a small nod and followed as turned right.
