Untamed Highlander ds-4

by Donna Grant

  “All right. What is it?” Quinn asked.

  Isla drew in a deep breath. “I would have your word that someone, not one of the women, follow me always. Let it be someone you trust, someone who will do the right thing when the time comes.”

  Larena’s head cocked to the side and she rose from Fallon’s lap. She walked behind his chair and rested her arm across the back. “And that right thing would be?”

  “Killing me.”

  The silence was deafening, but Isla expected it. The MacLeods and their women, everyone at the castle actually, saw everyone else as family. You didn’t ask family to kill you.

  Fallon sat forward, his brow furrowed with a mixture of outrage and confusion. “I think you had better explain.”

  “The wyrran have come. If they are dead—”

  “Hayden left them alone,” Quinn said.

  Isla nodded, trying to hide her surprise. She had wondered how Hayden reacted to being outside the shield. He hadn’t come to her, though she knew he wouldn’t. “They will report back to Deirdre that they found nothing.”

  “You don’t think they’ll tell her the castle has disappeared?” Cara asked.

  “They aren’t that intelligent. They will answer her question. Deirdre doesn’t know where I am, and the chances of me ending up here won’t be something she thinks about. Thus far. So, she won’t ask the wyrran.”

  Quinn said, “Are you sure of that?”

  “As sure as I can be,” Isla answered. “I spent five hundred years with her.”

  Lucan’s mouth twisted. “I doona know. Deirdre can be secretive.”

  “There’s no doubt she kept most things from me, but I know the wyrran. And I know that she’s sure I’ve run away. She’ll assume you would never trust me, so would either kill me or turn me away.”

  “How long do we have before she figures out you’re here?” Fallon asked.

  Isla shifted her feet and shrugged. “She’ll have her full power as soon as a Druid is brought to her for sacrifice. She’ll find me soon after.”

  “She’s thinned the Druids significantly,” Marcail said. “There aren’t many left, and the ones that are keep hidden to avoid detection.”

  “She no longer has my sister to aid her,” Isla said. “It could take months, but it could take as little as a few days. I would err on the side of caution.”

  Quinn nodded in agreement. “So what do you propose?”

  “I cannot leave now that my shield is in place. There are Warriors aplenty to stave off an attack, and the more Druids you have to protect, the more likely one will be taken. My shield will keep everyone safe that much longer.

  “Not to mention I am curious to see if Galen and Logan find anything that could help me. The chances are slim, but if anything could, it would be artifacts that could harm Deirdre.”

  Fallon glanced at Larena behind him before he asked, “And where does your death come in?”

  “I don’t want to continue as I am. If Deirdre gains her power before Galen returns, or if the artifact cannot help me, I would rather die than be put in a position where Deirdre controls me to get to any of you.”

  “Nay,” Marcail said. “You are strong, Isla. You’ve fought her and the evil. You can continue to fight her.”

  Isla remembered when she had looked at the world as Marcail did. That was long ago now, long ago and lost forever. “I fought her for Lavena and Grania. Lavena is gone, and Grania tried to kill me when I attempted to take her from the mountain. The dagger she had … I tried…”

  “It was an accident,” Quinn said. “No one blames you.”

  She swallowed and pressed on. “I survived and plotted and watched the years pass by for them. Deirdre has no hold over me now. Is it too much to ask that my wishes be granted?”

  “It isn’t,” Lucan said and stroked Cara’s cheek before she moved to stand beside him. “We just want to find another way.”

  “There isn’t one. I would have found it in five centuries.”

  Fallon rose to his feet and put his hands on his hips. “I would rather you ask us to deliver Deirdre’s head to you, but I give you my word I will do as you ask, just as I have before.”

  “As will I,” Lucan said and straightened to stand beside his brother.

  Quinn set Marcail from his lap. He stood and let out a ragged breath. “You have my vow as well.”

  “You’ve the promise of us three,” Fallon said. “We will see to it that the others know.”

  She bowed her head in gratitude. “Deirdre has been right to fear you three. You will be her downfall.”

  Larena walked around the chair to Fallon’s side. “Do you have a preference to who guards you?”

  “Whoever you see fit.”

  “We saw Hayden as that man,” Quinn said.

  Isla looked to the floor. If she was to stay, she would have to become used to seeing Hayden daily. And that was going to be more difficult than battling Deirdre. “You didn’t make a wise choice.”

  “I disagree,” Fallon said. “I was there when he found you on Cairn Toul.”

  “He wanted someone to protect. That isn’t me.”

  Lucan huffed. “And this morning? What do you call that? Every one of us saw him strike Ian. Because he thought you were in danger.”

  “You would have to speak to Hayden on that. I have no idea why he did what he did. I’m … he doesn’t like to be around me.” By the saints, it was almost impossible to say. Each time became harder and harder. “Respect Hayden’s and my wishes on this as well.”

  Fallon watched Isla walk out of the castle. He waited until the door closed behind her before he said, “Hayden may not like to be around her, but he needs her.”

  “You saw that as well?” Lucan asked. “It’s obvious to any who look.”

  Quinn shook his head. “I saw them kiss on the beach. It wasn’t a simple kiss either, but one of…”

  “Passion and longing,” Cara finished for him. “Why are they denying it?”

  Larena laid her head on Fallon’s shoulder. “He’s denying it. She’s just trying to hold herself together in the face of what he’s done.”

  “He would have killed Ian for her.” Fallon kissed Larena’s forehead. “I’ve fought beside Hayden. I’ve seen how deadly he can be, but today? That was something different.”

  “Like it was his woman’s life at stake,” Quinn said. “I would kill for Marcail, especially if I thought she was in peril.”

  Lucan met Fallon’s gaze. “We all would for our women.”

  Fallon glanced at the door again. He wished there was a way to help Hayden and Isla. “Who do we assign to watch her?”

  “Guard her,” Larena corrected. “We’re guarding a dear friend, Fallon.”

  He smiled into her smoky blue eyes. “Who do we ask to guard her, love?”

  “Ian,” Marcail suddenly said.

  Fallon jerked his gaze to his sister-in-law. “Have you lost your mind, Marcail? After he and Hayden nearly killed each other?”

  Cara laughed then. “Ah, but Fallon, that’s the point.”

  Fallon looked from Lucan to Quinn as the realization came to him. “Ian it is then. This should prove interesting to say the least.”

  “Very interesting,” Quinn said.

  *

  Isla kept to the shadows of the bailey. Warriors guarded the castle at all times. That hadn’t changed even with her shield in place.

  She hadn’t wanted to spend the night in the tower with her memories of Hayden. It had been hard enough the few hours she had stayed during the day.

  But on the off chance Hayden did come to her again, she couldn’t be there. She wouldn’t be able to turn him away, and for her sanity she had to do just that. She longed to feel his touch and taste his kisses. He was her greatest weakness, a weakness she could ill afford.

  She also couldn’t handle another night in his tender arms and then feel his distance and contempt in the light of day. It was destroying her as nothing else had. Hayden had
more power over her than Deirdre had ever thought to have.

  It terrified Isla, but it also made her realize just how her feelings for Hayden had grown. It was a dangerous game they played. Hayden had said it the first time, but only Isla knew just how true those words were.

  She made it to the village without being detected. She walked from cottage to cottage, using the shadows, until she found one set away from the others. It was just what she was looking for.

  It was where she would stay for the night. Alone with her memories. And her dreams.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Hayden fought against venturing to the tower for as long as he could. He told himself he was just going to wander the castle as he did many nights. He liked to scale the outside, to get different vantage points than others.

  Somehow he wasn’t surprised when he reached Isla’s tower that he found himself at her window. He tried not to look inside, and yet, he did just that.

  Hayden expected to see Isla in bed, or maybe combing her hair. What he didn’t foresee was an empty tower. He frowned, wondering where she was, wondering if she was safe.

  His gaze swept the round chamber before he jumped from the window. He shouldn’t be in there, but he couldn’t help himself. And with Isla gone, it gave him the excuse he needed to be in her domain.

  Her snow and wild pansy scent teased his senses. He glanced at the large bed, remembering taking her, making her his.

  His cock thickened just recalling Isla with her black hair spread around her and her lovely lips parted on a scream as she peaked.

  He recalled her small waist, the flare of her hips, her trim thighs parted so he could see her black curls that hid her sex. She had been stunning, one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.

  Hayden ran his hand over the pillow. He sank onto the bed and laid back. It was folly, but he would stay until he heard her on the stairs. She’d never know he was there, but he would know that she was all right.

  He hadn’t asked if she was injured from earlier. He’d been so enraged at Ian that his only thought had been to kill. It had come upon him quickly, consuming him.

  The bloodlust had been the most severe he had ever felt. After the first time when his family had been killed, he’d made sure to keep himself under tight control. Normally that wasn’t a problem. Why it should be now didn’t make sense to him.

  In the deepest recesses of his soul, he knew it had to do with Isla, yet he wasn’t ready to admit that even to himself.

  He threw an arm over his eyes and let himself doze. His superior hearing would alert him to Isla’s approach.

  Isla nestled herself in a corner of the cottage. For hours she stared into the darkness trying to think of nothing and failing. Her thoughts returned to Hayden time and again, of the passion he brought out in her, of the desire his presence caused her.

  She had kept herself alone, not befriending anyone in Cairn Toul. Now, she was surrounded by those who wanted to be her companion. It would — had been — so easy to let down her guard and allow herself to be friends.

  But more had happened. Hayden had happened, and Isla hadn’t been prepared for what he did to her body much less her heart. He touched a part of her no one else had, and her heart and soul trembled because of it.

  Her chest still ached at seeing him so close to the edge while he had been fighting Ian. What she had witnessed that day she was sure is what had occurred with the original Warriors who had fought the Romans.

  If Hayden went over the edge, he’d never be able to pull himself back to the man he was. Hayden was needed by the MacLeods. He was a warrior whose loyalty would never waiver, a warrior who would fight to the death. A warrior who would give his own life so that others would survive.

  Isla’s mind was full of Hayden. She couldn’t get him out of her thoughts no matter what she did, just as her body couldn’t forget what it felt like to have his hands on her. She rubbed the heel of her hands into her eyes and gritted her teeth.

  It felt so good to close her eyes. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was to sleep. Not the naps she gave into, but a deep, dreamless sleep that would permit her to feel refreshed and ready to face anything.

  She dropped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. The sun would be up in just a few hours. Time enough for her to have one of her short naps, just enough to regain her strength, but not long enough for the nightmares to take hold.

  Hayden came awake with a start, jerking upright in the bed and glancing around him. Dawn streaked the sky pink and purple and brought him to awareness.

  He’d fallen asleep in Isla’s bed, slept better than he had in weeks. More disturbing than that was that Isla had never returned to her chamber.

  Hayden leapt from the bed. In three strides he was at the window. With barely a thought he jumped up, his hands on either side of the windowsill. His gaze scanned the castle surroundings. Everything seemed normal.

  He knew Isla’s shield was still in place since he could feel her magic. It wasn’t as strong as when she herself wielded it, but there was a distinct feel to the shield’s magic. So much so that Hayden would know her magic anywhere.

  His thoughts turned to finding her. He vaulted from the window. The wind howled around him as he held his arms out to his side and waited to alight on the battlements below.

  He landed with his knees bent and his head down. Hayden didn’t pause before he straightened and turned to the door that led inside the castle.

  Hayden rarely slept in his own chamber, so it wouldn’t be odd for anyone to see him enter the great hall from the battlements.

  Hayden paused at the landing and peered down into the hall. The MacLeods were present, as was Ramsey, Camdyn, Arran, and Duncan. Malcolm, Broc, and Ian were missing, though.

  He was hungry, but Hayden couldn’t concentrate on food when Isla was nowhere to be found. It was ridiculous, this need of his to find her, to know that she was all right and unharmed. He wasn’t the one following Isla anymore.

  That stopped him in his tracks. Had the MacLeods given that duty to someone else? Hayden fisted his hands. It was a thought, one that wouldn’t go away even as the moments passed. Despite his curiosity, his most pressing concern was finding Isla.

  He knew she wasn’t in danger. No one at MacLeod Castle would harm her, and even if they did, she would survive.

  Unless they take her head. As she asked you to do.

  Hayden turned on his heel and began his search in the castle. It would have been easier to ask someone, anyone if they had seen her, but that would mean they knew he was looking for her.

  It would be better if he kept this to himself so he wouldn’t have to answer any questions he wasn’t yet ready to face himself.

  It didn’t take him long to conclude she wasn’t in the castle. He even walked through Cara’s garden and peered into the kitchens, but Isla wasn’t there.

  He looked on the beach next. The sun had risen higher, its golden light brightening the sky and glinting off the water. The sea beckoned, urging him to her shores. A swim would help chase away his dark mood, help to calm his anxiety. First, he needed to find Isla.

  Hayden turned his attention to the village. He was halfway there when he saw Ian walking with purpose toward the back of the village, to the very cottage Hayden had picked for himself.

  He halted, something telling Hayden to wait, to be patient and he would find what he needed. It was just a few moments later that Isla walked from the cottage, Ian behind her.

  The twin laughed at something Isla said. Isla herself had a small smile on her face, something Hayden had seen so rarely. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized he hadn’t heard her laugh.

  That caused his chest to constrict and his lungs to seize up, but it was nothing compared to the annoyance that rose up in him. Isla had a new watcher now — Ian.

  And Hayden didn’t like it.

  *

  Isla heard the laughter, the shrill, evil laughter that was Deirdre’s alone. She knew
before she opened her eyes she was in Cairn Toul.

  The smell of malevolence and death surrounded her. Evil lived and breathed in the depths of the mountain. It was as if the very stones gave birth to the wickedness that seeped into the ground.

  Or was it that the mountain hid a doorway into hell itself?

  Isla shivered. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She had been taken from Cairn Toul. Hayden had carried her broken and bloodied body away. She was at MacLeod Castle. Safe. For a while anyway.

  What had happened?

  She forced open her eyes and nearly gave in to the urge to weep when she saw her familiar and hated chamber in Cairn Toul. The plain stone walls, the small bed, the single chair.

  “Nay,” she whispered. “Nay.”

  Deirdre’s face appeared before her. It was so sheer Isla could see through it, but there was no mistaking the white hair and eyes. There was emptiness in Deirdre’s gaze, emptiness and rage.

  Isla waited for her to speak, waited to hear that Deirdre planned to torture her yet again. Or maybe, finally, give her death.

  But Deirdre didn’t speak. She just stared at Isla with those cold, cruel eyes.

  “Isla.”

  She came awake with a start, her heart pounding so loud she feared it might burst from her chest. Her hands were braced on the wall at either side of her as her body shook.

  “Isla?”

  She looked up to find Ian standing over her. His brow was puckered and his brown eyes watched her with worry and a hint of alarm.

  It took her a moment to realize she was in the cottage on MacLeod land. It had been a dream. As soon as Isla recognized that she breathed a sigh of relief and dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t stop trembling, though. It had all been so real.

  The sound of Ian moving and bending next to her filled the silence. “Bad dreams?”

  “Always,” she said. She raised her head and tried to steady her heart. Nightmares had plagued her ever since Deirdre had taken them captive. But this one had been different.

  “I thought you were given the north tower as yours?” Ian asked.