Ramos snapped his head around as he heard a fast-approaching horseman, raising his sword just in time to deflect the strike aimed at his head. He slashed down with his own weapon, landing a solid blow to his opponent’s shoulder. Another swing with the flat of his sword and his attacker hit the ground, rolling to avoid the hooves of their horses.
Ramos jerked the reins, forcing his mount to cut back south.
By this time Mairi squatted on the ground, one long leg sweeping out in front of her in a fluid move that knocked the legs from under her attacker before he reached her. She sprang to her feet and delivered a punishing kick to his ribs that curled him into a fetal position, followed by a stomp to his leg that brought a primal scream of pain from the man.
Where did she learn to fight like that?
Mairi turned toward the second man and repeated the beckoning motion. He backed up and drew his sword.
“No!” The bellow was pulled from somewhere deep inside Ramos.
Time seemed to slow as Ramos kicked his horse to a full gallop. Down the meadow and across the water they ran until he was there, solidly between her and the man who threatened her.
He leaped from his mount, tossing the reins toward Mairi.
“Take him. Get out of here.”
His sword in hand, he struck out at the man in front of him to drive him back. Back, away from Mairi.
It worked and Ramos continued to maneuver his way forward, his only goal for the moment to move the danger away from her.
Once they were far enough away, he lunged forward with deadly intent. His enemy met his thrust with a jab of his own, the sound of metal ringing out across the meadow.
This one was well trained in the art.
A small corner of his mind registered the rider approaching, passing along the other bank, the sound of water splashing as he crossed the stream.
“Ran, thank the Fae you’re here to help us.”
He heard Sallie call out, but the adversary he fought demanded his full attention. Besides, Ran was no threat. He was all but part of the family.
Ramos feinted to his left, pulling his opponent off balance. One final swing and it was over. A quick glance across the meadow showed him Caden had defeated one of his attackers while the other rode north.
North to where two mounted figures waited.
Waited and watched.
Ramos’s field of vision narrowed, a red haze of hate and fury closing in on him as he stared at the two watchers.
Reynard and Wyn, one leaning low over his mount while the other remained arrogantly regal in his bearing. Both of them patient, observant and detached, heedless of the destruction they caused.
As always, his father instigating a battle but staying back. Far enough away to avoid the action, but close enough to gather the life essence of any Mortals who were killed. Gather their essence and incorporate it into his own, prolonging his own filth-ridden existence.
A woman’s screech tore Ramos from his thoughts, pulled his attention from the figures waiting at the far end of the meadow. The red haze evaporated as the pounding of hooves approached, sending him diving to his left, just in time to avoid being trampled.
“Ramos!” Mairi screamed, her voice thick with emotion.
She needed him.
He scrambled to his feet, racing to where she knelt over Andrew.
When she turned her face to him, her expression tore at some deep corner of his being.
“Ran’s taken Sallie. Drew’s been…” Her words trailed off as she looked down at her cousin. Her fingers brushed the rusty patch of hair from the young man’s pale forehead and came away coated in blood. When she looked back up at Ramos, bright tears pooled in her eyes. “Drew’s badly hurt, Ramos. And I don’t have any idea what to do. You have to help me. Please.”
I am a worthless fool.
He should have realized his father would use Ran’s friendship with the family. It took no effort on his father’s part to place a human under a compulsion, and betrayal was part and parcel of Reynard’s make up. Ramos had only to think of all the years his father had lied to him, of how his father had betrayed him and led him into harming others.
How could he have been so stupid? Again.
How? It was easy. He’d allowed himself to be distracted. All his life he’d known the importance of keeping his feelings closed off. And now, here in this time when it mattered most, he repeatedly lost the battle to control his emotions.
Guilt ate at him as, with one last glance at the riders retreating to the north, he dropped to his knees to examine the boy on the ground.
He would deal with his father soon. He would see to it that the evil Nuadian Fae never betrayed anyone again. But for the moment, Mairi needed him.
Everywhere. There was blood everywhere.
Mairi looked at her hands, the hands she’d stroked over Andrew. They were both covered in blood. His blood.
Only Ramos, warm and solid, kneeling next to her, kept her from falling apart entirely.
Ramos would know what to do. He was always calm and in control. Not like her.
A horse approaching drew her eyes from her hands. Caden slid off his mount, his forearm soaked in blood, cradled against his chest. With his good arm he pulled Alycie from across his saddle, none too gently.
When her feet hit the ground, she threw herself at Caden, pummeling him with her fists.
Again using only his uninjured arm, he pushed her away and she stumbled, losing her balance and landing in the soft, wet carpet of grass.
“I hate you, Caden MacAlister. Hate you!” she screamed, her face blotched with spots of bright red.
“What’s the matter with you? You nearly got us both killed back there.” Caden stood over her, confusion evident in his every move. “It’s as though you dinna want me to save you, woman.”
“I dinna! I was to go with them. They promised me, and now you’ve stolen my only chance.” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
“I dinna understand any of this,” Caden whispered.
The sight of her strong, laughing cousin, his face creased in helpless concern, brought Mairi to her feet and across the distance between them.
Dropping to Alycie’s side, she jerked the girl’s hands from her face.
“What have you done?”
“He promised,” the girl sobbed. “If I would but lead you and Sallie to them, he promised they could root out the evil from yer family.”
“Root out the…” Mairi dropped the girl’s hands and stood, looking down at Alycie in disgust.
Tears still rolled down the girl’s cheeks, leaving trails in the dirt on her face.
“You betrayed the trust of people who accepted you without question. Why? What were you to get out of this bargain?”
“My freedom!” Alycie screamed. “The Duke’s brother promised they’d see me to the nunnery on Iona. He said they’d see to it I was accepted there. He promised to save me from marriage to Caden.”
Next to Mairi, Caden stiffened. “Marriage to me is so distasteful you’d sacrifice my cousin? My own sister?” His face had lost all expression, frozen into a mask of unconcern.
“Aye, it is. I’d sooner die than be wed to one of the devil’s own,” she whispered, returning to great, heaving sobs.
Caden leaned down and, grasping Alycie’s upper arms, he yanked her to her feet, pulling her face close to his. “Where have they taken Sallie?”
“I dinna ken the whole of their plan. Only what part I was to play,” she whimpered. “And I’ll thank you to remove yer hands from my person. I’ve no desire to be touched by the likes of you.”
Caden jerked his hands from her arms, backing away, shaking his head. “Dinna fret yerself, lass. I’ll no be touching you ever again. I release you from yer betrothal vows, Alycie Maxwell, and I’ll see yer taken to Iona.”
“You’ll do that for me?” She reached out toward his arm but he drew away sharply.
“No. I do it out of friendship with yer brothers, out of respect f
or yer family. I do it because if those men harm my sister, being in a nunnery is the only thing that will save you from my wrath.”
“I warned you, did I no?” Andrew’s weak words brought both Caden and Mairi quickly to his side.
“Lie still, Drew.” Ramos’s face was without expression as he checked the crude bandages he had fashioned around the young man’s forehead and his upper leg using pieces of his own shirt. He stood and walked to his horse, taking up the reins and bringing the animal back to where Mairi waited. “I’m going after Sallie.”
“I canna ask you to do that.” Caden looked up from where he knelt at Andrew’s side. “It’s my responsibility.”
“No. It’s mine. You need to get Drew and the women back to Dun Ard. To safety. You need to have that arm looked after.”
“Then I’m going with you.” Mairi ran to his side. It was only right. He shouldn’t go alone. Anything could happen to him and she’d never even know. Besides, all this was her fault. She should have known better, should have kept Sallie from coming out here.
“No. Caden needs your help in getting Drew back to Dun Ard. You must do this for them, Mairi.” He pulled her close, turning his back to the others and lowering his voice until only she could hear. “When you get there, go to Caden’s chambers and get my bag. Inside you’ll find a small leather roll tied up. It holds the syringes I brought along, injections of the antibiotic I gave you. If you use it on your cousins, they’ll have every chance of recovery. Don’t worry about Sallie. I’ll find her. I promise.”
“But…” Mairi didn’t want to go to Dun Ard. She wanted to go with Ramos. To help him.
“No buts. Just this once, do as I tell you.”
Mairi could only nod her agreement, the risk of tears too high to chance speaking.
A quick kiss to her forehead and he mounted up, galloping off across the meadow in the direction the Duke and his men had taken Sallie.
Mairi watched until he disappeared into the trees.
“Okay, Ramos,” she whispered. “I’ll do as you say for now.”
But once Caden and Drew are safe at Dun Ard, I’m coming after you.
Twenty-one
The mist returned before they’d gone more than a mile or two. As they traveled, it changed to a cold, sleeting rain. By the time they reached Dun Ard, a heavy, wet snow fell.
Mairi rode with Andrew, holding her arms around him to prevent his falling from the horse. Her muscles ached from his weight leaning against her. Even through her cold, wet woolen plaid she could feel the heat rising from his body. Already the fever had a firm grasp on him.
A cry went up at the gates, and before they’d reached the main courtyard a crowd had gathered. Mairi barely noticed as hands reached up to pull Drew from her grasp and help her down from her horse.
She pushed away as soon as her feet hit the ground, running to Caden’s chambers.
Inside and up the stairs she ran, breathless when she pushed through the door. Ramos’s bag lay on a neatly made pallet by the fire.
She fell to her knees and opened it, digging through the clothing. At first she thought it was gone, but then, at the very bottom, wrapped in a pair of trousers, she found it, the little leather bag Ramos had held that first day here at Dun Ard.
Clasping it tightly to her, she ran to her aunt’s chambers, sure that was where her cousins would have been taken by now.
Strong arms grabbed her as she entered the room.
Mairi pushed away, thrusting her weight to her left foot, fully intending to unleash everything she had on the attacker who kept her from helping her cousins.
Only the familiarity of his voice stopped her.
“Thank the Fae yer safe, Mairi. I dinna ken what I’d do if we lost you.” Blane pulled her close in a tight embrace. “Not again,” he whispered, a break in his voice.
She allowed Blane to embrace her for a moment as she caught her breath, her knees weak as the adrenaline that had flooded her system moments before left her. She pushed away, lifting a hand to her cousin’s cheek.
“Thank you, Blane.”
Once again she found herself fighting the tears that threatened so near the surface. Better she concentrate on the important matters at hand rather than allow herself to wallow in sentimentality.
“You’ve already dispatched yer men to join Ramos, aye?”
“It’s no safe to do so until morning, lass. With this snow, in the dark, they’d be of no use. We’ll be out on his trail at first light.”
This can’t be happening.
“His trail will be lost by morning, covered over by the snow.”
Ramos would need help. By tomorrow no one would be able to find where the Duke had taken Sallie. But protesting would do no good. Her cousin wouldn’t risk his men foolishly. And she couldn’t honestly expect him to.
At a soft touch on her shoulder, Mairi turned to find her aunt, worry clouding the woman’s expression.
“Do you plan to use something from yer pouch there?” Rosalyn pointed to the leather roll Mairi held.
“I do. Do you know what this is?”
Her aunt shrugged. “It’s the same pouch Ramos used the day he brought you to our gates, is it no?”
Mairi nodded her agreement and Rosalyn turned to Blane.
“I would be grateful if you’d clear the room of servants. Mairi and I will deal with the lads.”
As Blane ushered everyone from the room, Mairi hurried to Drew’s side, pressing her hand to his forehead. If anything, he felt even warmer to her now than he had when they’d ridden into the courtyard.
Quickly she untied the roll and laid it open. There were two syringes individually sealed in paper wrappers. Reading the label, she could see they were the antibiotic Ramos had referred to. A third, slightly larger sealed syringe stood by itself in another compartment of the pouch. Examining it, she realized it must be a twin to the one Ramos had used on her, containing both an antibiotic and sedative.
Mairi tore into the first package, determined not to let her aunt see her hands shaking. She’d helped with vaccinations and shots for the horses on her brother’s ranch. This couldn’t be so very different. At least she hoped not.
“What is it yer doing there, Cousin?” Caden sat up, peering across the bed as Mairi prepared to administer the injection to Drew.
“Leave Mairi be.” Rosalyn spoke to her eldest son without taking her eyes from Mairi’s hands.
“No, Aunt. He’s right to question me. This contains a medication that will help Drew’s body fight the infection that causes his fever,” she explained as she continued, tearing into a small sterile wipe and running it over her cousin’s arm.
When she finished with Drew, she moved to the other side of the bed, examining the wound on Caden’s forearm. Rosalyn had cleaned it, but there was no sense taking a chance.
“You think to stab me with one of those wee spears as well?” Caden asked.
“I do. Now bare your upper arm for me.”
Her cousin shrugged out of the tattered shirt he wore. “Did I hear Blane say he’d no send anyone out after Ramos tonight?”
Her stomach roiled at the thought, but she managed to respond. “You did.”
“Verra well. Finish up with me so I can be on my way. I’ll go after him myself.”
Rosalyn, who’d moved quietly to her side, clutched Mairi’s sleeve.
“No, Caden. You need rest,” Mairi replied. “To allow yerself time to begin healing.”
“I’ll heal later. Someone has to go before it’s too late.” Caden turned his head while she swiped the sterile pad over his arm, as if he didn’t want to watch the process.
Someone will.
“Perhaps. But it’s no going to be you, Caden MacAlister. Yer going to sleep and allow yer body the time it needs.” Mairi reached into the other pocket and pulled out the larger syringe. “Now lie back, Cousin, and be very still so I can have this over with.”
Caden did as she asked and didn’t even flinch when she pre
ssed the needle into his arm.
“Where did you come into possession of this strange medication?” he asked, his eyes blinking slowly.
“It came from very far away,” she whispered, smiling as his lids drooped down.
“Will he sleep as you did?” Rosalyn asked while she gathered up the syringes and paper Mairi had used.
“Aye, he should. But perhaps no as long,” Mairi answered, wrinkling her brow as her aunt moved to the fireplace and tossed everything into the roaring flames.
Rosalyn looked up and shrugged. “It’s what Ramos did. I suppose it wouldn’t do to have yer future things left about.”
Mairi nodded her agreement as she tied up the leather bundle and turned to leave.
“Why have they taken my Sallie?” Rosalyn had returned to her younger son’s side, draping a damp cloth over his heated forehead.
“The Duke wants her for the power of her Fae blood.”
Rosalyn dipped the cloth back into a pan of water and wrung it out before returning it to her son’s head. “With all the questions he asked, I feared it would be so.” She swiped at her cheek, wiping away the tears that fell. “But Sallie’s no so strong in the gifts. And she’s such an unbridled temper. Even worse than you were at her age.”
“Dinna worry, Rosalyn. Ramos will find her. We’ll no allow anything to happen to her. It’s why I came here.” Mairi stopped as she realized she’d been able to speak of her reason for having come.
“Thank you.”
Mairi left the chamber, closing the door behind her, worry and guilt clawing at her stomach as she hurried down the hall.
Why had the Faerie magic allowed her to speak of her true purpose only now?
Was it because events had already been set into motion that she would be unable to change, or, worse, was it because she was responsible for setting those events into motion?
Twenty-two
For the second time in twenty-four hours Mairi found herself sneaking away from Dun Ard.
This time it had been remarkably easier, she thought, as she kicked her horse, urging him to hurry in spite of the snow.
When she’d gone back to Caden’s room to return the leather pouch to Ramos’s bag, she’d helped herself to a pair of his pants and a shirt. After changing into his clothes, she’d bundled an old plaid around her, marched out to the stables, taken a horse and demanded exit at the inner gate.
Soul of a Highlander Page 22
