by Donna Grant
The longer she sat and waited, the more her mind pulled her in a million different directions. She had to do something. The only thing she could do was find the stone circle. What she would do once she was there, however, she would decide later.
Evie touched the necklace beneath her sweater and gathered her magic close. She closed her eyes and listened. All around her the stones spoke, but she was searching for a stone circle northwest of Inverness that Druids had gone to for centuries to increase their power by becoming droughs.
She ignored the rocks closest to her that urged her to come to them and concentrated on the ones in the direction of Ullapool. Then she heard a loud, deep call filled with magic that rang above the rest of the stones.
“The stone circle,” she whispered and opened her eyes.
Evie started walking.
* * *
Malcolm sunk his claws into the building’s brick in an effort to stay where he was and not go to the Druid and kiss her senseless. The feel of her magic brushing over him with a soft, seductive lover’s touch was driving him mad with need and yearning. It was made worse because he knew what she felt like in his arms, knew the taste of her kiss, knew the sound of her cries of pleasure.
His cock was hard and aching to be inside her. How he wished he had taken her offer back in Cairn Toul. But would once with her be enough?
Would he be able to stop at having her just one time?
The Druid was indescribably exquisite, her magic hauntingly divine.
Her touch compellingly, evocatively poignant.
He wanted her with a fierceness that should startle him, but it only made him more resilient to everything else. She was a guiding light in his soulless life.
And he wasn’t going to leave her again.
He looked around the corner and saw her walking away from the station. Malcolm ground his teeth together and started to follow when he felt the air stir around him.
When he turned it was to find Guy watching him. The Dragon King had his arms crossed over his chest and a shoulder leaning against the building. The light of the lamppost behind him cast him in shadows. Not that it hindered Malcolm’s ability to see the grin on his face.
“A woman, aye?” Guy said.
“Sod off.”
Guy tsked. “And testy as well. No’ a good sign, Warrior. Surely you’ve had a taste of her lips by now.”
Malcolm blew out a harsh breath before he asked, “What do you want?”
“Do I need to want something to talk?”
“Aye.”
“That’s where your problems begin, mate,” Guy said as he pushed away from the building and dropped his arms to his sides. “You need to learn to have a conversation.”
“I’m busy. Get on with what you need from me.”
The smile from Guy’s face dropped. “I doona need anything. I saw you and stopped. Elena and I came for a night out.”
Malcolm frowned and turned his face away. The Dragons were annoying, but he’d never felt such anger toward any of them before. It wasn’t a good sign if he was ready to pounce on Guy just for stopping him from following the Druid.
“Something has definitely changed.”
“Always stating the obvious,” Malcolm said, then cringed as he heard the sarcasm in his own voice. He looked back at Guy. “Something has changed. I feel … everything. Every single emotion. I can no’ get them under control.”
“The Druid did this to you?” Guy asked, a frown marring his forehead.
Malcolm shook his head. “Nay. Or if she did, it wasna on purpose.”
“Who is she?”
It was Guy’s interest that brought up Malcolm’s protective instincts. “She’s mine to deal with. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” Guy observed him for a moment. “You shouldna be going through this alone.”
Malcolm understood in that instant that Guy knew everything about his past. The Dragon Kings made it their business to know the goings-on with those at MacLeod Castle. They hadn’t interfered or made themselves known until recently, however.
“I’m better alone.”
Guy lifted a light brown brow. “No one is better alone. If you willna allow your friends, or me, to help, then go to the Druid. At least with her, you willna be by yourself.”
“And if she is doing this to me?”
“I’ve no doubt she is the cause of this, but no’ in the way you think.” With that, Guy turned on his heel and walked to an Aston Martin DB9 in a beautiful reddish-bronze parked on the side of the street.
Malcolm waited for Guy to climb inside and drive away before he turned back to where the Druid had been. Malcolm started following her immediately.
He stayed far enough behind so that she didn’t see him while in the midst of the city. But once Inverness fell behind and she started across the bridge, Malcolm decided to scale his way under the bridge rather than have her see him.
When she was safely across and several hundred yards ahead of him, Malcolm emerged from beneath the bridge and continued to follow her.
Her steps were quick and purposeful. Her shoulders were back, but her face was lined with worry. He knew just how frightened she’d been when she told him she had to stay in Cairn Toul.
Malcolm flattened himself on the ground when the Druid suddenly stopped and turned to look behind her. The headlights from the cars flashed over him, but her gaze wasn’t on the ground, so she never saw him.
A few minutes later, she turned around and continued on. Malcolm jumped to his feet, ready to confront her when the Druid turned from the road and started walking through a field occupied by cattle.
For the next forty minutes, she walked across pastures, climbed over fences, and ran through private property. Through it all, Malcolm stayed close to her, ready to spring into action should something dare to harm her.
He was so intent on the Druid, it took him a moment to feel the magic. It was starkly ancient, utterly dominant. And ferociously potent.
The fact the Druid was heading straight to it put him instantly on alert. Not because there was a place of magic, but because there was a place of magic that he hadn’t known existed.
He wasn’t the only one who felt its existence. The Druid paused for a moment before she took off at a jog up the hill. He watched as she reached the top and came to a halt.
Malcolm closed his eyes as he felt the excitement in her magic. Was this what she had been searching for? Was this place what had drawn her out of the mountain?
As soon as he sensed her magic moving away, his eyes snapped open and he hurried to the top of the hill. He reached the crest when he spotted her halfway down the other side.
That was when Malcolm saw the stone circle. There were twelve megaliths in a perfect circle in the middle of the field. It was as if time hadn’t touched the area.
The valley pulsed with ancient magic that seemed to draw the Druid like a moth to a flame. She stood outside of the circle, her head leaning one way and then the other.
With the clouds hiding the moon and the valley bathed in darkness, Malcolm knew it was the magic the Druid had been lured to.
Any Druid knew the standing stones were for them. They had been constructed eons ago by Druids to use in rituals and to help grow their magic.
Malcolm had been around many standing stones, but this was the only one that gave him pause. Enough that in two leaps down the hill he landed softly behind the Druid.
He straightened and touched her arm. There was a soft gasp before she turned around and sent a blast of magic at him. Malcolm ducked the blast, but the edge of it caught him, sending him flipping through the air.
With a growl, he landed on his feet and stalked back to the Druid. “Enough.”
“Malcolm?” she asked, her hands raised and ready to send another blast at him.
“Aye.”
She sighed and dropped her hands so they smacked her legs. “Did it ever occur to you that it’s pitch black out here and I can’t see?”
“I know.”
“Well, that’s nice. Now go away.”
“Nay.”
Her lips flatted in anger. “Please.”
“No’ happening, Druid.”
“What do you want then?” she asked as her voice pitched higher.
He glanced at the huge standing stone next to her. “I’m no’ certain you should be here.”
“It’s you who shouldn’t be here. I thought you left. When I…” She trailed off and cleared her throat. “Go away.”
He wanted to push her to finish the sentence. There was something wrong. He could see it in the way she held herself so rigidly, but he could also hear it in her voice. But he knew how stubborn she could be. No amount of pushing would get her to reveal anything now. He’d have to wait until later.
“I’m no’ going. It’s dark and late, Druid. If you persist, I’ll walk away until you can no’ see me, but I’ll remain.”
“Ugh,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Why do you have to be so bloody difficult?”
Suddenly he felt like smiling. Smiling! What was wrong with him?
Instead, Malcolm focused on the woman. He noticed the way she kept shifting from one foot to the other. Her tall boots might look good, but they weren’t made for the kind of walking she’d done.
“You need to rest.”
The fact she didn’t respond told him how exhausted she was. “Just … go away.”
“Go away?” After she’d tried so hard to get him to talk while at Cairn Toul? “No’ likely.”
“I didn’t realize it would take me so long to get here.”
He gently tugged on one curl that fell over her shoulder and lay along her breast. It was all he allowed himself, because if he touched her, if he gave in to the driving need, he would take her right there. “Why did you come here?”
“I had to.” She shoved the curl out of her face. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Malcolm looked around for a place he could set her up for the night when he spotted the house on the next hill. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”
“Yeah. Sure. Leave again,” she said sarcastically as he ran toward the house.
Malcolm stopped and slowly turned to the Druid. She let out a long sigh and pressed her forehead against one of the stones. There was a look of defeat about her that made him want to hurt whoever had done that to her.
That was when he realized that someone could very well be him.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
MacLeod Castle
Britt straightened from the microscope and looked at her latest test. She’d checked the results a dozen times, and they all said the same thing—that she’d done it.
Over the table, Aiden met her gaze. A moment later his deep green eyes widened as he slid off his stool and walked to her.
“Baby?” he asked.
She glanced around the room to see the Druids who had remained were asleep while their husbands read, listened to their iPods, or sat with their eyes closed. She wasn’t deceived however. The Warriors didn’t have to sleep, and most likely weren’t deep in dreamland, not when what she worked on was so important.
Britt swallowed and swiveled her stool so that she faced Aiden. “I found it.”
The man who had stolen her heart, only to give her his own, slowly smiled. “I never had any doubt.”
“I did. Heaps of it,” she said with an exhausted bark of laughter.
There was a creak as Ramsey rose from the sofa. “You found what you needed to help Larena?”
“She did,” Aiden said and pulled Britt into his arms.
Britt gave in to the precious few moments with Aiden. Her back ached, her head felt like mush, and her limbs seemed to be weighted down with Mack trucks, but she still had lots of work to do.
She pulled out of Aiden’s strong arms, liking how he kept one arm around her waist. “I’ve tested it several times. It should work.”
“Your other serum worked,” Arran said as he pulled his headphones off his ears and turned off his iPod. “This should as well.”
Britt was staggered by their confidence. “Well, only testing it will tell.”
“I’ll get Fallon,” Logan said as he headed toward the door.
A few minutes later Fallon’s form filled the doorway followed closely by his brothers, Lucan and Quinn. “Did you do it?” Fallon asked expectantly.
The hope shining in his green eyes so similar to Aiden’s made her heart ache. “I believe so.”
“What are we waiting on then?” Quinn demanded, the lines of worry bracketing his mouth.
Britt licked her lips as she looked from Quinn to Aiden to Fallon. “I’d like to test it on someone before Larena. I don’t want to get her hopes up, and then have it not work.”
Lucan grunted from his place at the door. “I agree. The best one would be Malcolm, but he willna come willingly.”
“Then we bring him,” Aiden said.
Ramsey shook his head, his silver eyes pinning Fallon. “Forcing Malcolm here willna solve anything. It could only make things worse with him.”
“This is for my wife!” Fallon bellowed. “I’ll no’ stand by and watch her suffer another minute if I doona have to.”
“There’s always Charon,” Arran added.
When Fallon didn’t immediately call Charon, Lucan dialed the Warrior’s number himself. A few words later, Lucan ended the call and looked to Fallon. “Charon is waiting.”
While the men had been talking, the women had awoken. It was Gwynn who rose and walked to Fallon. “The sooner you go, the sooner you can return to Larena.”
That seemed to snap Fallon out of his indignation. He gave a nod, which was all Britt needed to gather her stuff. In the next instant, Fallon disappeared.
Before she could fill the syringe with 50cc of the serum, Fallon returned with Charon. Britt met the brown eyes of the Warrior before she slid off her stool and walked to him.
The entire room seemed to collectively hold its breath when she rubbed a cotton ball soaked with alcohol over his bicep.
“You needn’t do that,” he said in his deep voice.
Britt shrugged, anxiety making her stomach turn into a ball of knots. “Habit. Ready?”
“Aye, lass.”
She took a deep breath and briefly met Aiden’s gaze before she pressed the end of the needle into Charon’s arm and pushed the syringe, releasing the serum into his bloodstream.
When it was emptied, she pulled the syringe out and capped the needle. “The pain from the wound is still plaguing you?”
He gave a slight nod. “There are times it feels as if the blade is still inside me.”
Britt set aside the used needle and nervously popped her knuckles. Minutes ticked by. She straightened papers on the table and moved glass bottles from one angle to another. She found all her pencils and stacked them in a pile. Then she turned vials so that all the labels were facing in the same direction.
“This could take days,” she said as she braced her hands on the edge of the table.
“Or no’,” Charon said.
Britt’s head jerked up as she turned to him. “What?”
“I doona feel the pain as I used to. Whatever you did is working.”
She frowned while the others were patting her on the back. “But you still feel some of the pain? It’s not all gone?”
“No’ yet. Give it time, lass. You figured it out.” Charon turned to Fallon. “As much as I’d like to stay and see how Larena fares, I need to return to Laura.”
“Be ready,” Fallon told Britt before he placed his hand on Charon’s shoulder and teleported away.
Britt woodenly turned and reached for another syringe. “Maybe I should give Larena more.”
“You can always give her a second dose,” Aiden said near her ear. “Trust yourself.”
Britt looked over Aiden’s shoulder to find Fallon had already returned. He stood waiting, his face lined with apprehension and fatigue, when she grabbed a new syr
inge. Without a word, she followed the eldest MacLeod out of her tower and down the stairs to the master chamber.
No one had been allowed into the room other than Fallon since Larena locked herself in. Everything looked as if the room had never been used, which seemed odd for a couple who hadn’t left it in weeks.
Behind Britt, Aiden squeezed her hand. She looked over her shoulder at him to find Lucan and Cara and Quinn and Marcail in the doorway. The others remained behind to await the news.
“Britt,” Larena’s voice came from a darkened corner of the chamber.
There was a clicking noise as Larena reached over and turned on the lamp next to her. Golden light reached her, and Britt was surprised to see what toll had been taken on Larena’s body as she fought against Wallace’s drough blood.
“I look terrible, I know,” Larena said and tried to smile. “Fallon keeps telling me I look the same, but I’ve caught a look at myself in the mirror a time or two.”
Britt smiled while Fallon walked around the back of the chair and placed his hands on Larena’s shoulders before leaning down to kiss her head.
“I’ve found the antidote,” Britt said. “I’ve tested it on Charon, but it might take several doses for you.”
“You’ve pushed yourself too hard,” Larena said. “I think the dark circles under your eyes are almost as bad as mine.”
Britt found herself laughing. Larena was trying hard not to let the melancholy get to her. “I admit, I’m eager for about a week of sleep.”
“Sleep?” Aiden said with a snort. “There willna be sleeping, love.”
With the mood less stilted, Britt walked to the female Warrior. Larena’s golden hair was dull and limp, her smoky blue eyes muted.
Larena pushed up the sleeve of her white shirt and looked at the floor while Britt rubbed the alcohol on her arm before giving her the antidote.
When Britt was finished, she stood and walked back to Aiden. “I think we should leave and give them some privacy. I’ll have another syringe ready and waiting just in case.”
“I agree,” Quinn said and ushered everyone out.
Just before the door closed, Britt saw Fallon lift Larena into his arms and carry her to the bed. Britt hastily blinked the tears that gathered. She wasn’t a crier, but there was something about that scene that pulled at her heart like nothing before.
