by Donna Grant
“Aye, a way that will kill the one seeking it!” Logan raked a hand through his hair as he paced before her.
Gwynn hated the turmoil she saw in him. He wanted the Tablet, but he didn’t want to risk her. It was the mere fact that he wanted to put her life ahead of his mission which made her decision.
There was no use trying to talk to him. He wouldn’t listen to her. While he worked on coming up with an argument to convince her to turn back, Gwynn began calculating what she would need to do.
The water was deep. The glow that came from the bottom was bright enough for her to make out some images. She hadn’t known about the currents until Logan told her, but that was the difference between his eyesight and hers.
She let her gaze roam over Logan’s form. She couldn’t see every detail, but she didn’t need to. It was entrenched in her memory. Every lean muscle, every facial expression. He would be with her forever, even if she couldn’t have him for her own.
As she watched his powerful body move with such ease as he paced, she wondered how she had lived before him. He was everything to her. It was no wonder the feelings had grown, and the attraction kindled when she met him.
Meeting him, she had come to like him. Working with him, she had come to trust him.
Knowing him, she had come to love him.
She had known it from his first kiss, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself because she feared where they might end up, or more importantly where she might end up. But no one could evade love. It happened when a person least expected it.
And it had happened to her.
It was because of that love she was willing to risk her life for Logan.
Gwynn didn’t waste another moment. With as few movements as she could, she removed her scarf and her jacket. Then she jumped off the outcrop of rock and into the water. It sucked her under immediately as the cold slammed into her.
She fought against the water to reach the surface, and when she did, she took a huge breath and wiped her hair from her face. A look over her shoulder told her Logan was no longer there.
Suddenly, he surfaced beside her. “Have you gone completely daft?”
Before she could answer him, the current caught her and dragged her under. She reached up, seeking, searching for Logan. She could see him diving down to her, his face set in determined lines.
Panic began to set in as Gwynn was pulled this way and that, each time bringing her closer and closer to the boulders and cave wall.
Her lungs burned for air, and no matter how hard she tried to get to the surface, the water wouldn’t let her go. She screamed, air bubbles swarming around her as she searched for Logan.
She was so preoccupied with looking for Logan and clawing the hair from her face that she didn’t see the boulder until it was too late.
The force of the water knocked her into the large rock so viciously that for a moment it pinned her there. Then she was tossed away and around like a leaf in the wind.
CHAPTER FORTY
“I cannot touch the door,” Larena said when she reached for the bars blocking their entrance into the cell.
“Who’s there?” asked the woman.
“We’re here to save you,” Reaghan said as she moved to stand beside Larena. She tested the bars, her lips set in a firm line. “He’s used black magic. Only he can unlock the door.”
Camdyn watched how the woman’s head turned this way and that, her walnut-colored hair matted and hanging limp.
“Camdyn,” Fallon said. “Can you do something?”
Camdyn looked at the ground to find dirt beneath him. “Aye, I can try.”
He urged the earth to open, to form a tunnel beneath the door barring them from the Druid. The ground shook as a crack formed at his feet and shot under the door into the cell.
Dirt began to fill the crack as it widened, opening until it was wide enough for Camdyn to jump into the hole and duck beneath the door. He bent his legs and jumped beside the Druid.
“Who are you?” she asked as she tilted her head to him.
But her eyes didn’t focus on him. “You’re blind?” he asked.
Slowly she nodded her head.
Camdyn looked at the others through the bars. He already hated Wallace for harming Logan and Gwynn. Now, he wanted to rip the bastard apart.
With ease, Camdyn gripped the manacles around the Druid’s wrists and broke them open. He squatted beside her as she shifted away from him.
He saw the fear on her face, but there was also determination and the will to survive. “Can you stand?”
“I’m … I’m not sure.”
Her voice was similar to Gwynn’s, but not quite the same. “Then I’ll carry you, if you’ll allow me.”
“Who are you?” she asked again.
“I’m Camdyn. I’ve come with a group to free you.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You came for me?”
“We did,” Fallon said. “Let’s get you out of here, then we’ll answer all your questions.”
As Camdyn lifted her in his arms, her body went taut. Her eyes widened, turning milky white, then rolled back in her head.
“What did I do?” he asked the others.
“Be still,” Reaghan said. “She’s having a vision.”
Camdyn looked at the dirt-smudged face of the Druid. She was skin and bones, her body light as a feather. But there was no denying something was happening to her, and by the way her magic wrapped around him, consumed him, teased him, Camdyn didn’t care.
He kept his expression neutral, but he was on fire. His balls tightened and all the blood in his body rushed to his cock. The more her magic filled her, the more his hunger grew until he thought he might spend where he stood.
All of a sudden, her body went slack in his arms.
“Is she all right?” Broc asked.
Camdyn shook his head. “I doona know. She still breathes.”
“I’m fine,” the Druid answered. “My name is Saffron, and if all of you want to live, we need to leave now. Declan is on his way.”
“You are as Reaghan said? You are a Seer?” Camdyn asked.
“To my deepest regret.”
Camdyn locked eyes with Galen before he jumped into the hole and then out on the other side. He commanded the earth to fill the hole until no trace of it remained. And then they were leaving the dungeon.
“If Declan is coming, then we succeeded,” Sonya said.
Broc grunted as moved beside her. “Maybe. We shall see.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Fallon said, “that I’m taking Camdyn, Saffron, you, and Reaghan back to the castle.”
Reaghan put her hands on her hips and glared at first Fallon then Galen. “If you’re going to find Declan, you will need us.”
“I have a thought,” Saffron said. “How about we all leave?”
Camdyn grinned at her cheekiness. “Take us back to the castle, then we can check on Logan.”
Fallon gave a nod and laid his hands on Camdyn’s shoulder.
* * *
Gwynn didn’t know how much longer she could hold her breath. The surface looked leagues away, and with the hold the current had on her, she knew she wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to get away.
She didn’t want to die without at least first getting the Tablet for Logan. He needed it.
Strong, sure arms suddenly surrounded her. Gwynn opened her eyes to find Logan in front of her, and then his mouth was on hers. He blew much-needed air past her lips filling her lungs.
Once her lungs were no longer burning quite so badly, she pulled back and looked at him. With a smile and a wink, he wrapped his arms around her and used his feet to guide them around the boulders and toward the surface.
The current spun them about, making Gwynn dizzy and disoriented. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes she saw the cave wall coming at them quickly. There was no time for Logan to turn and take the brunt of the impact.
Gwynn raised her ha
nd and used it to prevent Logan’s head from knocking into the rocks. She bit back a scream as the rocks tore through her hand.
All she could do was hold on as Logan swam them to the surface. When their heads broke, she gulped in air. They might have come up from the depths, but the current wasn’t done with them yet.
* * *
Malcolm watched Deirdre as she knelt before the fire chanting words he didn’t understand. They were ancient words. Words of magic.
While the wyrran stood around Deirdre staring at her in awe and the other Warriors watching her with a mixture of fear and wonder, Malcolm felt nothing.
The man he’d been, the man who had risked everything to help Larena and Fallon, was dead. He had died when Deirdre sent her Warriors to kill him, but Sonya had used her magic to keep his body alive.
But Malcolm’s soul hadn’t survived.
It was part of the reason he was able to control the terrible and horrifying rage that consumed him. He felt the rage, but he didn’t care. About anything.
He couldn’t care anymore. If he did, if he looked at what he had become, he’d have to face what he was. And he couldn’t do that. He’d explode.
It was easier to bury all his feelings, all his emotions until he was numb. Not even Daal, his god, could fuel the bloodlust that took most Warriors.
Malcolm’s gaze drifted back to Deirdre. Her incredibly long white hair billowed around her with the unseen fingers of the wind. The flames from the fire snapped and popped as they grew even higher.
It was the black mist which rose from the fire that caught Malcolm’s attention as nothing else could. It hovered over Deirdre, unmoving until it began to swirl around her. Her chanting grew louder, the words coming in a singsong voice.
And the cloud of black smoke grew larger, denser.
Malcolm sensed the great evil of the black smoke. He knew it was the Devil. Whether Deirdre had called it or not was the question.
Deirdre’s chanting slowed, then quieted. Whatever she’d done to Logan was finished. But whatever was about to happen to her was just beginning.
The smile on her perfectly sculpted face froze as the mist began to descend around her.
Their small camp grew deathly quiet as they all waited to see what the smoke would do. The wyrran were rocking back and forth and reaching for Deirdre, but their pale yellow hands couldn’t touch her.
The other Warriors, however, were showing their fangs and growling.
Malcolm chuckled at their display of rage. It was because of his god that he knew the smoke was the Devil. At one time his god had ruled this land, but the Devil and other demons had tricked them one by one until they’d been locked away.
The gods wanted their world returned to them. And they wanted to lock diabhul away as they’d been imprisoned.
Despite Daal’s rage, Malcolm remained as he was and waited. It wasn’t long before the mist rose above Deirdre, then vanished. As if it had never been.
Deirdre rose on shaky legs and turned to Malcolm. “We need to be in place and ready for Logan. He will try to trick us, but I won’t be fooled.”
“What did diabhul want?”
Her eerie white eyes bore into him. “That is none of your concern.”
Malcolm leaned a shoulder against a tree and regarded Deirdre. Whatever the Devil had wanted, it hadn’t been good.
* * *
It was everything Logan could do to keep Gwynn’s head above water. There was a cut on her forehead from where her head had hit a boulder, and there were scrapes on her hand from where she had pushed off the cave wall.
He still couldn’t believe she had jumped into the water. He should’ve known she would do something like that after the way she had argued with him. Logan could still feel the fear that had taken hold of him when he’d seen her dragged under the water.
All he’d been able to think about was getting to Gwynn. And the more he’d tried, the more the currents pulled them apart.
Logan couldn’t discern how large the pool of water was, nor where the currents were taking them, but the roof of the cave had begun to lower at an alarming rate.
“Gwynn,” he called as a wave of water washed over him. He spit out the water and waited until she looked at him. “Where do we go next?”
“It should be here,” she said.
Her body shook from the frigid temperatures of the water and her ordeal. Logan wanted nothing more than to get her out of the water and into dry clothes before she froze to death.
He shook his head. “It’s no’.”
“It is,” she insisted through chattering teeth.
Logan looked through the rough waves ahead and saw where the roof met the water. Splitting the water were many—and various—jagged rocks waiting to rip them to shreds.
There was nowhere for them to go. No landing on the sides to pull up on. No caves to escape to. Just the water.
He gave her a slight shake to gain her attention. “Take a deep breath. We’ve got to go under so I can swim up back to the cave.”
“It’s here, Logan,” she cried. “I know it.”
“We’ll find it, but we’ve got to get out of the water. Now.”
She gave a jerky nod. Together they took several deep breaths, and then Logan dove them under. He held onto Gwynn as he kicked them deeper and deeper.
The currents pulled and pushed them, but Logan wasn’t about to give up.
And then he saw the light. The same glow he’d seen from above was brighter as it cut through the water. It was almost as if the light beckoned to him.
Gwynn pointed to the light and urged him to go to it with her eyes. Logan gave a kick and took them down toward it. Gwynn squeezed her eyes closed, her hands on her ears as the pressure increased.
The closer they drew to the light, the more it seemed to move away. As they swam, a stream from the light illuminated the wall and Logan saw an opening. His instincts screamed for him to take it.
It was so narrow that only one of them would fit at a time. Logan tapped Gwynn on the shoulder and jerked his chin to the opening.
She glanced at it, then gave him a nod. Logan waited until she turned to face the opening before he gave her a push. Once her feet disappeared he followed.
The tunnel was longer than he expected, but the water helped to push them through. Logan cleared the small tunnel and looked up to see Gwynn’s legs moving as she treaded water. He used his arms and kicked to propel him upward.
He surfaced and shook the water from his face. “Are you all right?” he asked as Gwynn turned to him.
His voice echoed in the small chamber. The only sounds were dripping water and their breath.
“Aye,” Gwynn said, her teeth clenched tight as her entire body shivered. “Did you see it?”
“See what?”
She smiled and kissed him. “You’ve found it, Logan. Look down.”
Through the water he could see the same light he had seen before entering the tunnel, but he could have sworn the light was in the other pool of water.
“It’s the Tablet of Orn,” Gwynn whispered, her smile huge.
Logan laughed and wrapped his arms around her. Her violet eyes shone with some vivid emotion that caused his heart to skip a beat. She had nearly died in her effort to help him. Just as he’d promised though, he’d kept her safe.
The feel of her soft body sliding against his brought desire flaring to life. At the moment he didn’t care about Deirdre. He didn’t care about the Tablet.
All he cared about was Gwynn.
She was alive and in his arms. And he was happy.
Logan looked at her sweet mouth. He knew the feel of her soft, plump lips against his. He knew the sweet essence of her taste as their tongues danced.
“Logan,” she whispered softly. Seductively. Hungrily.
He lowered his head and claimed her lips. A moan tore from his throat at the first contact. He couldn’t get enough of her. The more he tasted and touched, the more he had to have.
&nbs
p; His tongue slipped through her lips and met hers. Her arms tightened around his neck while he kicked to keep them above the water.
Logan deepened the kiss. He took. He claimed. He savored. It was then he realized he would do whatever it took to persuade Gwynn to return with him to MacLeod Castle. He didn’t want to live without her.
He couldn’t live without her.
The knowledge shocked him. He broke the kiss and looked at the woman who had turned his world upside down. Without even trying. She had done nothing but be herself. Yet, she had changed his thinking, changed the way he looked at the world.
“You’re shivering,” he said.
Her forehead puckered. “The water is a wee bit chilly.”
“We need to get the Tablet before you catch a chill.”
“Underwater again,” she said with a sigh.
He ran a thumb over her cheek. “I’d do it myself if I could.”
“I know.”
After what had happened in the water, Logan was loath to let her go. No matter how many times he tried to command the water, his power wouldn’t work. The Druid magic within prevented it.
Gwynn disengaged her arms from his neck and gave him one last smile before she dove beneath the water. Logan knew he couldn’t take the Tablet, but he could be there if she needed him.
He followed her down, amazed to find this pool of water calm except for the push of water from the tunnel. With a steady stream of water coming in, the level didn’t look as though it had risen. So where was the water going?
Logan forgot about the water as he watched Gwynn’s sleek body glide through it. He wanted to make love to her in the water. He wanted her anywhere, everywhere. As long as he could have her.
Was this how Hayden had felt with Isla? The hunger and longing that never ended? The need that clawed to have Gwynn near?
It should terrify Logan, but he found, despite the deep emotions, Gwynn was just what he needed.
Her hair flowed behind her like a black wave. He knew the feel of those heavy tresses, knew they were as silky as they looked and smelled even better.
