Wolf Castle

by Heather Walker

  He glared at her with his flashing eyes. “Ye’ll bear me an heir, and then I’ll throw ye tae the ravens.”

  He turned away to storm out of the room. He marched across the room, yanked the door open, and came face to face with Callum Cameron standing on the threshold. For a fraction of a second, Lachlan and Sadie stared at him. How did he get here? What was he doing outside her room?

  The next instant, Lachlan barged through the door and slammed it behind him. She lost sight of Callum, and her world plunged into blank silence once again.

  Sadie flew into a frenzy. He was here! Callum was right here in the castle. Whatever Lachlan did to him, he was still here. She had to get out of here. She had to find a way to get Callum, Jamie, and herself together in the same room so they could break out of this cursed castle. They could flee and never see the Isle of Mull again.

  She rushed around the room in a headlong race to get her thoughts working. She snatched the dirk from under the pillow. She was getting out of this room if it was the last thing she did, and she needed every weapon she could lay her hands on to do it.

  She peered out the window. A sheer wall of vertical stone separated her from the seashore far below. She wouldn’t get out that way—not unless she cut up her sheets and made a rope like some kind of jail bird.

  She tried the casement, but it only opened a few inches. She wouldn’t fit her body through that. She studied every detail of the room for some weakness, but she found nothing. The tapestries on the walls hid more stone walls without a chink in their mortar.

  She sat down on the bed to puzzle the situation out. She fell back on her first plan to mollify Lachlan, to placate him into lowering his guard. Once he believed she would play along with his wishes, he would give her more freedom. She would wander around the castle and pretend to be happy here. Then she would make her break.

  Agitated anxiety infected her all over. She couldn’t sit still. What was Lachlan doing to Callum right now? Would he kill him? He attacked Callum in the woods so he could get Sadie behind these walls. Lachlan was capable of anything.

  How did Lachlan know about Callum and Sadie? Did he know? Her pulse pounded when she remembered kissing Callum in the forest. What if Lachlan saw and heard it all? What if he heard them planning to escape? He must have. That must be why he attacked Callum the way he did.

  She paced around the room some more, but she didn’t bother to search it. She had to get her emotions under control. She had to present a composed exterior at this state dinner. She had to be the Lady that Lachlan wanted her to be. If she gave the slightest sign of dissatisfaction, he would retaliate. He proved that already.

  She passed the door and gave the latch a rattle, just out of spite. To her surprise, the door popped open. Callum must have surprised Lachlan so much he forgot to lock it. Sadie didn’t hesitate. She slipped out of the room, but now she faced a whole new problem. She didn’t know the first thing about this castle. She didn’t even know enough to avoid Lachlan.

  She could only go one way, so she went there. If only she could find Jamie, she might have a chance to get him and Callum out of here, too. She didn’t know which room he was in, and the very first time someone saw her walking around, it was all over.

  She heard girls laughing somewhere out of sight, and she ducked into the first door she found. She entered a staircase leading up. She didn’t want to go up, but what choice did she have? Maybe Lachlan would be occupied with Callum. Maybe he would never know she was out of her room until it was too late.

  What would she do once she got outside the castle? She had no idea where to go, and she couldn’t outrun the wolves anyways. It was hopeless. Lachlan would kill her.

  She no longer cared. She would rather be dead than locked up in some tower for the rest of her life, popping out babies for Lachlan, living a loveless, lifeless existence.

  She raced up the stairs. Her skirts rustled, and she couldn’t breathe against her corset. She went straight from high school to college to medical school without much diversion beyond her studies. She never kept up on exercise or…or anything. Her life revolved around her career.

  She regretted that now. Elle and Carmen must have been so much better at coping with all these crazy events. They worked out. Carmen practiced the Police fitness course on a regular basis, and Ellen took combat training classes all the time.

  Sadie couldn’t fall over now. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. She would meet whatever came with a weapon in her hand, and she would drive herself to the point of collapse to get out of here.

  She ran upstairs until her lungs burst, and she broke out on the battlements at the castle’s very peak.

  Bleak, windswept coast spread out all around her. One thin stretch of land connected the castle to the rest of Mull. She crossed it to get here in the first place, but only now, from the castle roof, did she realize how slim her chances were.

  She could never scale these walls. She had to go all the way back through the castle and out the only door. Even then, the McLeans ruled this whole island. She would never get away from them.

  She turned away. The tempestuous sea tossed and raged all around her. She should just throw herself off these battlements and put an end to herself. That’s the only way she could escape Lachlan’s clutches.

  Chapter 18

  Lachlan seized Callum by the back of the neck and jerked him down the landing. Callum stumbled and reared to throw the young Laird off, but Lachlan smacked his hands away and took hold of him one more time. He pitched Callum forward to march him down the landing.

  Callum spun around to face him. Lachlan confronted him for one instant. Then he struck Callum hard. He planted both hands against Callum’s shoulders and spun him around to face away. He shoved him in the back and pushed him to the head of the stairs.

  Callum couldn’t allow this to continue. He whipped around. He flew at Lachlan, and the two men met in matched hostility and deadly rage. Callum flung his hands around Lachlan’s throat. He had to kill this man if it was the last thing he did. He had to get Sadie out of that room and fly her to Urlu. Nothing else mattered.

  Lachlan caught him at the same moment, but he didn’t try to choke Callum. He held him there. Callum’s fingers tightened to constrict Lachlan’s windpipe. Lachlan didn’t breathe, but he showed no sign of disturbance. He stared Callum down.

  All at once, Lachlan exploded out of his skin. He brought up both hands in a swift uppercut that slammed Callum’s teeth together. Stars popped before his eyes, and he staggered backward, right down the stairs.

  The floor dropped out under him, and he pitched over backward. Lachlan raced down the stairs after him. Callum tumbled head over heels and sprawled on his face on the carpet. Lachlan didn’t give him a minute’s peace. He grabbed Callum by the collar and hauled him to his feet. He half dragged, half walked Callum across the floor, but Callum couldn’t see where he was going.

  Lachlan threw back a door and sent Callum hurtling headfirst into a different room. Callum put out his hands to break his fall, but he still rolled a long way before he pitched over, breathless.

  Lachlan’s heels clipped the stone floor. Callum heard Carson’s voice. “What’s the meanin’ o’ this? Where did he come from?”

  “He was inside the castle,” Lachlan replied. “I just found him outside the lassie’s room. He mun’ ha’e been tryin’ tae steal her.”

  “Put an end tae him.” It was Arch speaking now. “Ye ha’e got what ye want wi’ the other. Ye dinnae need tae continue tae muck aboot wi’ this one. Get rid o’ him. He’s caused us enough bother awready.”

  “No,” growled another voice. Callum didn’t recognize it. “Ye’ll need this one, too. Keep him in yer larder until ye’re ready tae serve him up.”

  Callum raised his head to the sound. The voice sounded somewhere between male and female. One part of it rumbled deep in the speaker’s chest. The other part lilted in a fluty trill high above the range of human speech.

  The first
thing he saw were Lachlan and his brothers, along with their cousins, standing in a circle in some nameless room in Duart Castle. The fire blazed on the hearth, and food sat untouched on the table.

  The speaker stood a little apart from them. A wrinkled shriveled bag of bones hid under a disfiguring drape of shredded rags. A hideous face glared out from its beady black eyes, and drooping layers of warty skin and fat disfigured most of its other features. Only when it spoke again did Callum realize it was an old woman.

  “Ye’ll ha’e need o’ him afore long, wi’ the guardians comin’ tae claim their own,” the woman went on. “Ye’ll keep him alive, along wi’ the other.”

  “How can we stop the younger one finding out we’ve got him?” Lachlan asked. “He’ll suspect when his brother doesn’t appear.”

  “He’ll no care aboot that wi’ the guardians attackin’,” the old woman replied.

  “Koto’s right,” Carson added. “There’s no a one o’ us as strong as ’em. When the time comes, he’ll fight tae save himself and save us intae the bargain.”

  “He cinnae stop yer destiny playin’ out,” Koto hissed. “Ye’ll marry the traveler. That’s what the scripture says. It’s the only way to break the spell.”

  Callum pricked up his ears. This sounded familiar. He craned his head back to get a better look at the people talking about him. None of the McLeans showed any surprise at the woman’s words. They must have heard it all before.

  As for fighting the vampires to save himself, what was to stop him flying away and leaving the horrible creatures to destroy the McLeans for him? What was to stop him? Sadie, of course. He wouldn’t leave her behind, and Lachlan knew it.

  Callum studied the young man from his place on the floor. Lachlan must have found out about Callum and Sadie. He must have found out Callum planned to spirit Sadie away from him.

  The old woman crossed to the fire. She passed her hand through the flames, and a cascade of sparks shimmered in the blaze. “Ye see there? She came through the portal from the other side. It created a disruption that caused this. The scripture says so. Ye can only break it down by joining wi’ her and producin’ an heir. That’s the ainly way tae seal the breach.”

  “That’ll take too long,” Carson replied. “That’ll take months, and we ainly ha’e a few days at the most afore the next attack. We mun’ find a way tae ward them off ’til then.”

  “That’s what ye need these twa fer,” Koto told him. “Ye mun’ get these twa tae fight the guardians off ’til ye can close the breach.”

  Callum pushed himself back on his knees. “This same thing happened tae us. This is the same curse that attacked our family. It’s the curse all o’er again. I kenned it.”

  Everyone in the room rounded on him. Lachlan narrowed his eyes. “Ye’d best hold yer tongue, mon. Ye’re awready in a world o’ bother o’er this, so dinnae make it worse shootin’ yer tongue off.”

  “It’s true,” Callum replied. “Ye can ask Jamie if ye’ll no believe me. These women came through a hole in…in summat. I dinnae understand it meself, but Ross—he’s our wizard—he told us the same thing. Me brother Angus found a book that told him the same thing. He had tae find a thistle—I ken it sounds daft, but just listen. This thistle, it turned out tae be a woman—one o’ the women as came through the hole. Do ye see? It was his wife Carmen. She came from the same place as Sadie. They all came through, and they created this curse. It brought allus monsters and wraiths and what-all on our heads. It destroyed our lives, and we had tae fight tae regain the Phoenix Throne and break the curse. Do ye see?”

  The McLeans stared at him in dumb astonishment. Koto hissed again worse than ever. “He’s fallen off the cliff.”

  “Kill him, I say,” Arch muttered. “He’ll ne’er defend us. He’ll cause us naught but trouble as laing as we keep him alive.”

  Callum stumbled to his feet. “Wait! Listen tae me, Lachlan. Listen and think on it. Those women as came through—there were five o’ ’em. Three o’ ’em are back in Urlu wi’ me brothers. Sadie is the fourth. The three o’ ’em all brought the curse on us, and now Sadie’s doin’ the same thing ’ere. Do ye see? It’s the same curse.”

  “Supposin’ I believe ye,” Lachlan returned, “how do ye propose we break this curse to stop the fiends attackin’ us? I suppose ye’ll stand there and tell me tae leave Sadie go free wi’ ye, and all will be weel.”

  The others snickered. Callum crammed his feelings down hard. “We broke the curse by way o’ the same spell that brought ’em ’ere. We used the spell tae cast the ghouls and wraiths and all back intae the abyss where they came from. We could do the same ’ere.”

  “How?” Lachlan asked. “There’s none ’ere as kens how tae cast the spell.”

  Callum thought fast. “We mun’ send word tae Urlu. Angus’ll send ’Azel or Ross or one o’ ’em tae help us.”

  “Us!” Lachlan snorted. “Ye’d bring yer dragon brothers down on our heads. Ye’d work wi’ the demons tae wipe us out. That’s yer idea.”

  “I’m serious,” Callum blurted out. “He’d send ’Azel by herself, withoot any….” He faltered. What was he saying? Hazel was a dragon. She was as Urlu as any other, and she wouldn’t brook any nonsense from the McLeans. If they didn’t release Callum and Jamie, she would devastate the whole island.

  He blinked at the McLeans. He had to come up with a way to convince them these vampires came from the same curse as all the other nightmares the Camerons ever had to face.

  Lachlan chuckled. He nodded his head. “Aye. I kenned it. Ye’re a talker, lad, and there’s ainly one place fer ye.”

  He caught hold of Callum and pushed him out of the room. Each time Callum got ready to shift into his dragon form, Lachlan hit him again. He slammed him into the walls and sent him hurtling down steps. He kept after Callum and always knocked him off balance.

  Callum struggled to pull himself together. He should fly into a rage in Lachlan’s face. He ought to beat his wings and breathe fire to bring this castle down around Lachlan’s ears. Something always stopped him.

  The curse! The curse spread its pernicious fingers even here. It followed everywhere those women went. He needed Hazel’s magic to combat this. Was it possible Sadie had to marry Lachlan to break this curse? That would make sense, wouldn’t it? Carmen had to marry Angus. Elle had to marry Robbie, and Hazel had to marry Fergus.

  Now Sadie had to marry…. No! He refused to believe it. Why did she have to marry him, of all people? Why couldn’t she marry Callum instead? He was Urlu like the others. He wasn’t a King or even a Laird, but neither were Robbie and Fergus. Why couldn’t he do the same?

  He couldn’t cast the spell to get rid of those vampires, though. Only Hazel could do that. His mind spun. How could he send her word? Why didn’t Lachlan believe him? The McLeans could easily send Angus a message that they needed Hazel’s help. Shucks, Callum himself would have gone to get her, but Lachlan would never allow that. He would never let Callum leave now.

  Callum’s heart sunk until he lacked the will to fight back. He couldn’t summon the energy to shift. If he saw Sadie again, that might change, but Lachlan wouldn’t let that happen, either.

  Lachlan sent him sailing through a doorway, and Callum pitched across the floor for the tenth time. He collapsed in a heap, and when the door slammed shut behind him, he found himself in a dank cellar under Duart Castle.

  Chapter 19

  Sadie sat down on the battlement wall. The wind gusting off the sea cut through her flimsy gown. Ladies’ gowns weren’t constructed to keep out that wind. She wasn’t going anywhere dressed like this. She wasn’t going anywhere, anyway. What she wouldn’t give to see Callum again right now. His precious face would give him all the hope she needed to go on.

  At that moment, a powerful puff of wind caught the waves and sent them spraying over the rocks. The wind roared, and a massive tower of water surged out of the sea bed. It pounded the coastline all around the castle.

  The foaming waves h
issed and frothed between the boulders strewing the shoreline. The white brew sizzled between the rocks on its inexorable path back into the sea, but it didn’t go back where it belonged.

  The little pools roiled and bubbled. They popped and squeaked. Then, in one mighty upheaval all around the castle, the sea water itself exploded upwards from the ground. It rose out of the rocks themselves and took on the shape of bodies. In the blink of an eye, the vampires reared out of the ground and the sea. They appeared out of nowhere surrounding the castle on all sides.

  In seconds, they swarmed up to the castle walls. Sadie jumped to her feet, but they already gained halfway up the sides to the place where she sat, all but unarmed. She leapt to her feet and bolted for the roof door. Hundreds of armed Highlanders met her rushing out the other way. They all ran to the south wall, facing the spit of land. They didn’t see the vampires closing in from the other castle’s other three sides.

  Sadie flew into a panic. These men’s training never prepared them to face an enemy like this coming straight out of the sea itself. She ran to Bryce McLean. She knew him from the Tower House. She could talk to him. She screamed in his ear over the noise of men tramping everywhere and the surf crashing against the rocks, but she couldn’t hear her own words.

  She pointed behind her. He raised his head to look, and his jaw dropped. She stole one peek over her shoulder to confirm her worst fears. The vampires scrambled over the battlements while most of the men stood with their backs to the enemy.

  Bryce shouted to his men, but the wind stole his voice away. Sadie screamed to the men to warn them, but it was already too late. She yanked her dirk from her bodice and spun around to confront the enemy.

  The vampires speckled the stone roof. They closed in from all directions, but Sadie stood her ground. She brandished a dirk in each hand. She would die up here, but at least she would take a few with her when she went. She wouldn’t run, and she wouldn’t live her life in slavery, either.