by Donna Grant
Cara had wondered the same thing. It didn’t make sense that so many got out.
Galen chuckled. “The dungeons in Cairn Toul run the depth of the mountain. Deirdre carved her city inside the mountain and stays at the top in her palace. Rarely does she venture down into the dungeon, and if she does, it’s never good.”
“You say the dungeons are filled?” Cara asked. “The entire mountain?” She knew Cairn Toul was a large mountain, stretching high into the clouds, but she couldn’t imagine the whole mountain filled with people locked away.
“Aye,” Galen said. “Her palace is huge and takes up a large portion of the mountain. She doesn’t just keep Druids and men she suspects hold the gods inside them; she imprisons anyone she wants. Many she turns into her slaves, using her magic to control their minds.”
Fallon blew out a breath. “How is she choosing the men she thinks have the gods inside them?”
“Mostly I think she’s guessing. One of the men she captured said there was a scroll of names the droughs had written when the men were first turned to Warriors. Deirdre wants that scroll. She asks everyone she questions about it.”
“Does it exist?” Quinn asked.
Galen poured himself some water from the ewer on the table. “I think it does, but no one knows who has it.”
Fallon reached down to the floor and then placed a bottle of wine on the table. “Did she get any names from the man?”
Galen drained his water. He set the goblet down and frowned. “Aye, she got five surnames.”
Silence reigned in the great hall. After a moment, Cara rose and went into the kitchen to gather some food. The news the MacLeod brothers were getting was taking a toll on them. They were going to need their strength in the days to come.
When she walked into the hall, her arms laden with a tray of food, the men were all deep in thought. She set the tray on the table and motioned to the food.
“Eat. We have much to discuss.”
She let out a sigh when the men filled their trenchers. Quinn and Fallon flanked Galen, but he didn’t seem to mind. She wanted to hear more about Deirdre and the Warriors. Anything to keep her from thinking about her magic running through her. And a future that grew more uncertain with each passing moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lucan watched Cara carefully. He wasn’t fooled by how she maneuvered the conversation to Deirdre and the Warriors. Cara wasn’t ready to talk about her Druid powers, but she would have to soon. Too much was at stake for them not to be prepared for any eventuality.
He pulled some of the meat off his trencher and gave it to her. She smiled and ate the roasted venison. They would have to hunt and fish tomorrow, since the meat was almost gone. And with the way Galen ate, they would have to hunt daily.
“You said you let the others know you had found me,” Lucan said to Galen. “How will they know where to find you?”
“I left a mark on one of the big oaks in the forest, letting them know I was headed west. They’ll come this way.”
“If they come,” Quinn added.
Galen bit into an oatcake and swallowed before he answered. “I only leave the forest if it’s important. They’ll come.”
Fallon set down the wine after pouring a hefty amount into his goblet. “I think the more significant question is if they come in time.”
Lucan couldn’t argue with him there. “We’ll alternate patrols tonight.”
Quinn nodded as he ate.
“We need to set up a plan,” Fallon said.
Lucan had seen a change in Fallon over the past day. He still drank, but not as heavily. His eyes were more focused, and the authoritative tone Lucan had always hated as a lad was back in Fallon’s voice. It didn’t bother Lucan now, however.
“I agree,” Lucan said. “Do you have something in mind?”
Fallon’s gaze met his. “I do. We know this castle. I say we use it to our advantage.”
Lucan inhaled deeply, ready for battle. “Excellent idea.”
Just like the Fallon of old. Lucan glanced at Quinn to see him watching their older brother with interest. Lucan gave a lift of his goblet to Quinn.
“We might not be able to kill them, but we can set traps,” Fallon said. “It will keep both the Warriors and the wyrran occupied until they can get out.”
“Meanwhile you can attack others that get past,” Cara said. “There are many areas you can set traps not just inside the castle but outside.”
Lucan grinned at Cara. “Good suggestion.”
While Fallon, Quinn, and Galen talked about the traps, Lucan brought Cara’s face around to him. She blinked and tried to smile, but he saw through her attempt.
“I’ll get you the information you need on being a Druid. We’ll get through this.”
She lifted his hand between her own. “If my mother had lived, she would have shown me the drough ways. I could very well be a drough now.”
“You don’t know that. Speculating on how the future could have been will only cause your head to ache.”
“And you want to fix everything.”
He shrugged. “I suppose I do. I’m good at it.”
A real smile pulled at her lips. “You’re not conceited, are you?”
“Not in the least.” To his joy, he heard her chuckle, but it was short-lived. The smile disappeared and she lowered her gaze from his.
“I need to clean up.”
Lucan stopped her from rising. “Cara.”
“I’m all right,” she said, and put her hand on his cheek. “You talk with the others while I tidy the kitchen.”
He let her gather the now empty trenchers and watched her walk from the hall. When he turned back around, three pairs of eyes were on him.
“How is she?” Fallon asked. “She seems better now that you’re here.”
Quinn shook his head. “She was pale as death when she saw the plant dying. Nothing we could say would calm her, and then she just got quiet and stared at her hands.”
“I didna like feeling that helpless,” Fallon admitted. “It was awful.”
Cara had become part of their family whether she wanted to or not. Lucan was glad his brothers had taken to her so easily. His feelings for Cara grew by the day, and he wanted her in his life. Always.
“She’s frightened,” Lucan said. “As any of us would be in her position. We know nothing of Druids, but with Galen here maybe he can alleviate some of her fears.”
Galen shrugged. “I’ll tell her all that I know, but words won’t help her learn what magic she has.”
“Are you sure the only way she can turn drough is the blood ritual?”
“Aye. It is done on a full moon in the Druid’s eighteenth year. The ceremony is normally a grand affair, but with Deirdre hunting them, I’ve been told the rituals are kept secret, with few knowing of them.”
“Do you know any droughs?” Fallon asked.
Galen gave a small nod. “I met several in Deirdre’s dungeons, but as far as I know, none of them escaped.”
“Druids aren’t practicing as they used to,” Quinn said. “If anyone knew of them, they would be burned at the stake. Wherever the Druids are, they’re hiding, and not just from Deirdre.”
“I agree,” Galen said. “The Druid tradition is ingrained in them. Just like Cara’s magic. She cannot rid herself of it even if she wants to. It’s a part of her.”
Lucan glanced at the kitchen doorway. “Just like our gods are a part of us.”
“Aye,” Fallon mumbled.
Lucan flexed his hands. Cara needed a Druid, someone who could show her the ancient ways and help her learn her magic. The problem was they didn’t have time to go looking for a Druid.
“I don’t know,” Galen said.
Lucan looked at him and frowned. “You don’t know what?”
“If I can find a Druid in time.”
Lucan raised a brow. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
Galen shrugged. “It doesn’t take a mind reader to know. O
ne look at you and I could see you were thinking of Cara. Since Cara is upset over her magic, the next logical conclusion would be that you were thinking of finding a Druid to bring here.”
Quinn snorted. Fallon shook his head and raised the wine to his lips. Lucan didn’t know whether to believe Galen or wonder if part of his ability was being able to decipher what someone was thinking.
Lucan let it go for now. “You do know where some Druids are, don’t you?”
“I did,” Galen admitted. “That was a decade or so ago. They’ve most likely moved on. If we survive Deirdre’s attack, I’ll take you and Cara to them.”
Lucan wasn’t sure Cara could wait that long. “In the meantime, tell Cara, and us, all you know of the Druids.”
“Both the mie and the drough,” Fallon added.
Galen gave a small nod of his head. “I’ll see it done.”
Lucan leaned forward. “You know a lot about us, Shaw. Maybe it’s time you told us about you.”
Galen grinned, no anger in his gaze. “I’m no different from you.”
“I beg to differ,” Quinn said.
“What god is inside you?” Lucan asked. “When we fought, you turned a dark green. It would have been easy for you to blend in with the surrounding forest.”
Galen nodded. “Which is one reason I make it my home.”
“Your god,” Fallon urged.
Galen’s gaze shifted to the table. “Ycewold. The trickster god.”
Lucan scratched his jaw. A trickster god. Just what powers does Galen have? “And your family? Your clan?”
“I left.”
Just two words, but Lucan heard the anger, the frustration, in Galen’s voice.
“Has Deirdre wiped out other clans besides ours?” Quinn asked.
Galen shook his head. “Not that I know of. Mine was untouched. I was taken when I went hunting.”
“You returned to them.” Fallon stared at his bottle, his fingers wrapped around the neck.
Galen squeezed his eyes closed before he opened them. “Aye. I wanted to make sure they were unharmed. Once I saw my mother and father were all right, I left.”
“From what I saw, you can control your god,” Lucan said.
“It took me a long time to learn how. I kept to the forest, hidden in the trees.”
Quinn rose and strode to the fire. He squatted in front of it and stoked the flames higher. “We stayed in the mountains for a time.”
“At least you had each other.”
Lucan nodded. Aye, at least they’d had each other. He couldn’t imagine going through it alone. He looked at Galen with more respect than before. Lucan still didn’t trust him completely but couldn’t deny that Galen had his admiration. And despite his worry, Lucan found he liked Galen.
Out of the corner of Lucan’s eye he spotted Cara walking from the kitchens to the stairs. She kept her head down and moved quickly. She didn’t want to be seen. He started to go after her but thought she might need some time alone. There would be no more running for her. She knew the safest place for her was with him.
* * *
Cara let out a breath as she made it up the stairs without Lucan or one of the others stopping her. She paused long enough to light the candle she carried before she hurried to her chamber. She came to a halt at the doorway when she saw the tartan of blue, green, and black, the MacLeod plaid, draped over the window.
Lucan must have hung it sometime that morning. She smiled and walked to the window. She ran her hand over the thick wool, amazed once more at Lucan. He surprised her in so many ways.
Cara set the candle down and built a fire with wood that had been freshly stacked. No doubt Lucan had taken care of that as well.
She couldn’t help but smile. There had been a time when she was young that she had thought about finding a husband and having children of her own, but that dream hadn’t lasted long. She had realized soon that the men of clan MacClure looked at her differently than the women of their clan. She might have been allowed to live in the clan, but she had never been part of them.
That’s when she had decided to become a nun. It hadn’t hurt that she felt safe inside the nunnery. She had thought God and the holy artifacts would keep out any evil. How wrong she had been. About so many things.
Now that she had tasted passion, had accepted Lucan into her body, she could think of nothing more than being by his side. It was a foolish dream, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. Their lives would be forever connected, and not just because he saved her from death that first day. It went much deeper than that.
Love.
Cara tucked her legs to the side and sat before the fire. She reached up and began to loosen her braid. She used her fingers and massaged her scalp from the weight of her hair. Then she began to comb her long tresses.
Lucan. Her thoughts were never far from the immortal Highlander. She stared into the red-orange flames and sighed. Their lives might be intertwined, but they were destined to be pulled apart. Her death, which was an eventuality if Deirdre captured her, would ensure that, while he lived on forever.
But she couldn’t deny the deep emotions Lucan had called forth. Emotions she had never felt for another person before. They frightened her, but at the same time those feelings gave her strength and pulled her closer to him.
A hint of sandalwood touched her senses. When she lifted her gaze to the door it was to find Lucan. He stood with his hands hanging by his sides, his gaze riveted on her.
“You are so beautiful.”
She smiled at his compliment. “As are you.”
“Nay,” he said with a shake of his head. “Women are beautiful. Men just are.”
“I would have to disagree with you. I see before me a man of strength and power and magic. A man with rippling muscles, and a body very pleasing to the eye. A man with sea green eyes, and a mouth that does delicious, wicked things to me.”
“All that?” He stepped into the chamber and shut the door behind him.
“All that and more.”
“There’s more?”
She smiled at the teasing glint in his eyes. “Shall I tell you?”
“I think so.”
She set aside the comb and bit her lip as he moved toward her. He lowered himself beside her and waited.
Cara reached up and touched the torc around his neck, letting her fingers run over the braided gold bands of the torc. She traced the griffin head and the opened beak. “I find this very beautiful. A griffin. The Celtic beast symbolizing the balance between good and evil.”
“Is that so?” His green eyes were crinkled in the corners.
“Ah, but you already knew that. Tell me, Lucan MacLeod, why do you wear this torc?”
He shrugged. “Every male in my family was given a torc by the laird.”
“Your father chose yours?”
“Nay. It was my mother. She chose all of her sons’.” Interesting. “Do you think she knew what your future held? That you would be the one brother that learned to control your god?”
“Possibly. My mother seemed to know everything.”
The griffin head on either side of the torc enthralled Cara. Highlanders knew what the ancient Celtic symbols meant, so it was no accident that Lucan had been gifted the griffin.
“You have the griffin. Fallon has a . . . boar, aye?”
“Aye,” Lucan said with a slight nod. “And Quinn has the wolf.”
Cara shifted and dropped her hand from the torc. “A boar means strength and healing, while the wolf means intelligence and cunning.”
Lucan’s hand cupped her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.
“Cara.”
Her name was a caress on his lips. She shivered, not from the cold but from the passion he awoke within her. When she opened her eyes his face was inches from hers. She saw the gold flecks in his eyes, but more than that, she saw something else, something that made her heart skip a beat.
“Cara,” he said again as he drew her toward his mou
th.
She parted her lips for his kiss. His taste intoxicated her, making her drunk from his essence. She shifted to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. He slanted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss.
Excitement burned through her. She had hoped and prayed he would come to her tonight. Her body needed him in ways she couldn’t begin to understand.
She ended the kiss and rose to her feet. His gaze, intense and dark with desire, followed her. Appreciation showed in his eyes when she took off her shoes and rolled down her stockings. He sucked in a breath when she pulled off her gown and chemise, making her bolder with each heartbeat. The chill of the chamber could not penetrate the heat she felt from his eyes.
Her hands itched to touch him, to kiss him and run her tongue over his body. Most of all, though, she wanted to take his rod in her hand again.
She licked her lips when he yanked off his boots. He jerked off his tunic as he climbed to his feet. Cara’s nipples hardened under Lucan’s gaze. The delicious throb she had felt the first time he touched her returned stronger and needier. She squeezed her legs together and sucked in a breath at the sensations.
Her mouth went dry when he removed his breeches and his thick, hard arousal sprang free. She reached for him, but Lucan grabbed her wrist and spun her away from him. He pushed her against the wall.
“My God, I hunger for you,” he whispered in her ear.
His hot breath sent chills over her skin. He rubbed his cheek against the side of her head, his mouth brushing her neck while his stubble scratched her skin. All the while, he ground his cock into her back.
Cara’s breasts swelled and her breathing quickened. She tilted her head to the side and moaned when Lucan’s mouth closed over her neck. His teeth scraped her skin and his tongue laved her. She shivered.
And wanted more.
The hand holding her wrist against the wall tightened for just a moment before he caressed down her arm. His message had been clear: Leave your hand.
She wasn’t surprised when he moved her other hand to the wall. Her fingers gripped the uneven stones as his hands wandered over her body. He lifted her thick hair in one hand and kissed the base of her neck.
