Midnight's Warrior

by Donna Grant

  “Tara thought it was Declan as well. She had her keys, ready to run.”

  “We could have caught her.”

  “Aye. She’s terrified of him.”

  Arran sighed. “If what Declan did to Saffron is any indication, Tara has every right to be afraid.”

  “Keep watch on the drive. I doona want a surprise.”

  “We’ll see to it. One of us will stay here and have a look around the grounds while the other goes to the road as lookout.”

  “Remember Declan’s X90 bullets.”

  Arran snorted. “As if I need reminding.”

  Ramsey ended the call and replaced the mobile in his pocket. He’d been ready to spring into action when he’d thought it was Declan who had arrived.

  What worried him was that he hadn’t decided whether he would first protect Tara by taking her away or first battle Declan. If he fought Declan, Ramsey could end it all right then.

  But if he got Tara away, he knew she would be safe at MacLeod Castle and not have to run anymore.

  He ran a hand down his face. The Druids at MacLeod Castle wanted him to tell Tara who he was and convince her to return with him to the castle.

  Ramsey wished it were that easy, but after learning Tara had run away from her home at eighteen, he knew earning her trust would be a slow process. There was no way he could do it in the short amount of time he suspected he had.

  Nor would he allow Tara to be brought to the castle against her will unless it was to hide from Declan. And even then it was Fallon’s rule that no one be kept against their will at the castle.

  So that left Ramsey exactly where he was. Waiting. And watching.

  He wouldn’t be nearly as concerned if Tara’s magic didn’t affect him so. A look down at his hands confirmed the swirling bands of magic had returned.

  How long would they stay this time? And that was just from touching her sweater. What if he actually touched her bare skin?

  The idea appealed to him entirely too much. Too damned much.

  Ramsey stayed on the main floor, and made sure he could hear Tara wherever he was. His advanced hearing made it easier for him to watch over her without her knowing it, but still he found he wanted to be nearer to her.

  It wasn’t long before the sun began to set and the rain turned into an icy mix. Ramsey had hoped for a snowstorm that would keep everyone off the roads.

  He chuckled as he realized he had exactly what he needed at the castle. With a quick dial on his mobile he had Arran on the phone. “I need you to do something.”

  “What?” Arran asked.

  “I need snow. Lots and lots of snow.”

  Arran laughed heartily. “Ah. You want to keep Declan from reaching the castle.”

  “Aye.”

  “For how long?”

  Ramsey rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m no’ certain. As long as we can manage it.”

  “I can give you the kind of snow you need for years, my friend.”

  “Nay. Just a few days. I need to try to get closer to Tara. Maybe I should convince her to get to MacLeod Castle.”

  “Ah, Cara and Marcail’s argument finally got to you, did it? Do you think you can persuade Tara?”

  “Nay, but it’s worth a try.”

  “Why now?”

  Ramsey recalled how desperately he wanted to battle Declan. “I doona know when Declan will arrive, but I know in my gut that he will. Saffron’s visions have no’ failed us yet. And in her vision Saffron saw that if Declan comes, he would kill Tara.”

  “Then I suggest you get close to Tara. And fast. Give me a few moments on the snow.”

  The phone clicked as the conversation was ended by Arran. Ramsey thought long and hard about how to approach Tara. He didn’t like that he was second-guessing himself now.

  But how could he have known what his reaction to her magic would be? Or how scared she was of Declan?

  Even now, he wasn’t sure which course to take. And that wasn’t like him at all.

  Ramsey heard the soft footfalls of Tara’s boots on the carpet and he headed toward the door to see she had gone outside in the rain, which almost instantly turned to snow.

  He hurried out to her and reached for the handle of Lord Huntington’s suitcase before she could. She jerked back and gasped.

  “Bloody hell! You move so silently I never heard you,” she said breathlessly.

  Ramsey shrugged and hefted the suitcase to the other hand so he could grab the second piece. “At least it isna raining anymore.”

  “No,” she said and glanced at the sky. Snowflakes fell on her eyelashes and she blinked them away. “Odd how it changed so suddenly, isn’t it?”

  “You never can tell about our weather.”

  She stepped away and the driver shut the trunk of the car. Together, Ramsey and Tara returned to the castle. He continued on to the stairs to take the luggage to Lord Huntington’s chamber while Tara made her way to the kitchen.

  Ramsey delivered the luggage in record time. He paused in the Duke’s rooms to look out the window. As promised, the snow was falling rapidly, and in no time at all the roads would be so thick with snow no one would venture out.

  But until then, Ramsey was going to have to keep an eye on Tara. Declan was as devious as Deirdre had been, so Ramsey wanted to be prepared for anything. And knowing Declan, anything was possible.

  Ramsey made the rounds of the castle, checking everything. He spotted Arran a couple of times, but only because of his enhanced eyesight. No mortal would have been able to see Arran in the darkness and snowfall.

  It was only when Lord Huntington’s female companion, a pretty middle-aged brunette, arrived and both had retired to their suite that Ramsey left the upstairs area.

  He stepped off the last stair and heard Tara call his name. Ramsey looked over his shoulder to see her head sticking out of the kitchen door.

  “Are you hungry? Chef made some extra for all of us.”

  Ramsey walked to her with a smile. “I’d be a fool to pass up his excellent dishes.”

  When he reached the staff table he found only two place settings. And by Tara’s wide eyes, he wasn’t the only one surprised.

  “Where did the others go?” she asked.

  Ramsey shrugged and held out her chair. “Maybe they doona like me.”

  “No. It’s probably me.”

  She sank into the chair as Ramsey took the one opposite her.

  “It’s no’ you. You’ve a friendly smile and kind eyes,” he told her.

  She chuckled and took a sip of wine. “And you’re entirely too generous with your compliments.”

  “I never give compliments unless I mean them.”

  She lifted her glass to him. “Then I thank you. I don’t get very many compliments.”

  “Why is that?” he asked as he cut into the braised chicken.

  She dabbed at her lips with her napkin and swallowed her bite. “You seem the kind of guy who has everything figured out. I’m sure you have me figured out.”

  “No’ so. I’d rather you tell me.”

  Ramsey was surprised at how much he was enjoying their conversation and dinner. It was an unexpected opportunity for him to learn more about Tara. The fact that he wanted to know more made caution swell within him.

  Gaining her trust or not, he shouldn’t want to know more.

  “Hmm.” She took another bite as she studied him. “I don’t normally tell anyone anything.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not safe.”

  “For them or you?”

  She looked down and swallowed. “Mostly me. It’s better if I don’t have any friends.”

  “Everyone needs friends, Tara.”

  Her blue-green gaze lifted to his. “Even if it isn’t safe?”

  “Especially when it isna safe.”

  “Are you offering?”

  Ramsey gave a slow nod. “Indeed I am.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Tara set down her fork and threaded her fingers tog
ether as she studied Ramsey. “Why?”

  “Why?” he repeated.

  “That’s what I asked. Why do you want to be my friend?”

  He shrugged and lowered his gaze to his plate to stab his fork into some green beans. “Why no’?”

  “I’m serious.”

  He chewed slowly before he lowered his fork and leaned back in his chair. Once he swallowed, he took a drink of wine to give his thoughts time to settle before he answered. “What are you afraid of?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Why are you afraid of having a friend?”

  She rolled her eyes and swiped at a strand of hair that fell in her face. “Some people have a problem trusting others. I’m in that category.”

  “Aye,” he said, as if he were unsurprised by her admission. “I’ve no’ given you a reason no’ to trust me.”

  “You’ve not given me a reason to trust you.”

  “We could go round and round all night like this.”

  Tara survived for ten years on the run by learning to read people, and despite Ramsey’s efforts, she could tell he was hiding something. But what?

  “Do you trust people?” she asked, more curious than she wanted to be.

  “Aye. It didna always come easy, but it became a necessity if I wanted to survive.”

  Now she was really interested. “Survive? Survive what?”

  He shrugged. “It was a figure of speech.”

  “I think you’re lying.”

  One side of his lips lifted in a crooked smile. “Is that right?”

  “It is. Just as I know you’re hiding something.”

  “And how is it you can see that, lass?”

  Tara leaned her forearms on the table and met Ramsey’s silver gaze. “I learned the hard way how to read people. It’s how I survive.”

  “Then tell me what you’ve read in me.”

  She knew she shouldn’t. Already things had gotten entirely too personal. The fact that she wanted to know more about Ramsey, and that she wanted to trust him, only complicated things.

  If she didn’t take a step back, she was going to find it difficult to leave when the time came. Which was why she was already thinking of leaving. If only that damned snowstorm hadn’t blown in.

  “Well?” Ramsey urged.

  Tara picked up her wine glass and swirled the golden liquid of the pino grigio. She tilted the glass to her lips and let the wine slide down her throat.

  The delicious food forgotten, she leaned back and took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to know?”

  “Do your best.”

  “All right. You’ve an old soul. You’re cautious, and you have secrets. Not a lot, but I suspect they’re dangerous secrets. You know modern tools, but you aren’t meant to hold them. You’re a warrior, a man who knows how to look after what’s his. You have close friends who you consider family, but…” She paused as she cocked her head to the side. “But you’ve left them for something important.”

  Tara blinked and looked away from Ramsey’s gaze and the confusion she glimpsed there. She took another drink of wine. “I told you I could read people.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Am I right?” she asked without looking up.

  “And if I said aye?”

  Slowly, her gaze lifted to his. “I would ask if your friends know your secrets?”

  “They do. Now, I think it’s my turn.”

  Tara’s body jerked. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re no’ the only one who can read people, lass. It’s only fair I get my turn.”

  She wanted to bolt from the kitchen, and from the castle. Then she realized Ramsey wouldn’t be able to tell anything about her. She was too good at hiding her true self from everyone, including herself.

  “Go ahead,” she said with a nonchalant shrug.

  Ramsey’s smile and the way his ashen gaze leveled on her made a shiver race down her spine. What did he think he knew?

  “You’ve been running a long time,” Ramsey said softly. “You’re a loner, but you’re also lonely. I can see it in your eyes when you watch families and friends together. Especially when you see a couple. You have secrets of your own, and you’re afraid of everything. You can no’ find peace, because you have no’ stopped running.”

  Tara shook her head in dismay. She rose to her feet so quickly her chair fell backward, breaking the silence. Ramsey stood and reached for her, but Tara jerked away.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “I’m a friend. If you believe nothing else, believe that.”

  With her hands shaking, she set down the wineglass and took a step back. “I can’t afford friends.”

  She turned and started to walk away. Tara reached the doorway when Ramsey’s words halted her.

  “Running again?”

  For a moment she wavered. She desperately wanted to collapse in the chair and spill all her secrets. She wanted to tell Ramsey everything, and maybe he could even help her.

  But Tara knew what kind of magic Declan had. If she involved Ramsey she was sentencing him to death. And she liked him too much to do that.

  So, once more she would stand alone.

  “Thank you for sharing a meal with me.” She glanced over her shoulder at Ramsey.

  Before she gave in and told him everything, Tara walked to her room and quietly shut the door. She locked it, and then bolted it. Not because she was afraid of Ramsey, but it was a habit she couldn’t let go of.

  Her eyes swam with unshed tears as she leaned her forehead against the door. She tried to hold back the tide of emotion, but Ramsey had opened the floodgates when he’d read her so perfectly.

  The first tear escaped, and then the others quickly followed. Her shoulders shook with the force of her loneliness and fear. She covered her mouth with her hands to hold back her sobs, but it was too late.

  * * *

  Ramsey laid his palm flat on Tara’s door. He hung his head as he heard the sound of her tears. He hadn’t wanted to make her cry. He hoped to let her see that he was there for her.

  Instead of making progress, he had taken a giant leap backward. And he knew if he hadn’t asked Arran for the snow that Tara would have left Dunnoth Tower. How would he explain it if he followed her? At least he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

  Tara was scared, but she wasn’t witless. She wouldn’t venture out in such weather.

  Ramsey stayed by the door for several more moments listening to the soul-deep sobs from within the room. Only when Tara’s tears began to lessen did he return to the kitchen and clean up after their meal.

  He couldn’t help walking past Tara’s room once more before he made his way outside. After he closed the door to the castle and locked it, Ramsey added a quick protection spell.

  “Will that keep Declan out?” Arran’s voice asked behind him.

  Ramsey wasn’t surprised to find his friend there. “Nay,” he answered as he turned to Arran. “But it will take him a few moments to get through the spell.”

  “Moments we could use in getting Tara out.”

  “Aye.”

  “Good idea,” Arran said.

  They fell in step as they walked to Ramsey’s cottage. The snowfall hadn’t stopped, and already it was piled thick on the ground so that they sank to their knees when they stepped through it.

  When Ramsey opened the door to his cottage, a fire raged in the hearth, and the smell of coffee filled the air. Charon turned from the stove and set two heavy mugs on the table before reaching for his own.

  “Thanks,” Ramsey said as he reached for the cup and sank into the chair.

  He felt Charon’s and Arran’s eyes on him as they took their seats and silently waited for him to tell them if anything had happened with Tara.

  “The snow will keep away any visitors, but I’ll head out in a few hours for another look anyway,” Charon said.

  Arran chuckled. “There willna be anyone on the roads, at least no’ coming here. I’ve made sure of that.
”

  “It willna keep Declan out for long,” Ramsey said. “If he wants Tara as desperately as we think he does, he’ll figure out a way to get here.”

  “Then we need to move things along,” Charon said.

  Ramsey set down the thick mug. “I think I might have scared Tara off tonight.”

  “What happened?” Arran asked.

  Ramsey raked a hand through his hair and dislodged the strip of leather he used to keep the strands tied back. He tossed the leather on the table and sighed. “She told me she has a gift for reading people, so I told her to read me.”

  “You didna,” Charon said with surprise.

  “I did. And she read me.”

  Arran leaned forward on the table. “Well?”

  “She’s good. Verra good, actually,” Ramsey confessed. “She didna get into specifics, but she obviously can read people.”

  “What did she say exactly?” Charon asked.

  “She said I had an old soul, and that I had a few secrets. That I left friends I considered family for something I deemed important. She said I was a warrior who would protect what was mine.”

  “Damn,” Charon murmured. “She is good.”

  “I tried to tell her she would need friends, but when that didna work, I asked if I could see if I could read her as well as she did me.”

  Arran rolled his eyes and sighed. “Well, doona keep us in suspense!”

  Ramsey leaned his elbows on the table. “Apparently, I did a good job. I didna give specifics, just general things as she did with me. But I hit a nerve, I think. She bolted to her room.”

  He didn’t tell them about her crying, because he knew Tara would be mortified if he knew. She was a strong person, who he suspected rarely gave in to such emotion.

  “What now?” Charon asked.

  Ramsey shook his head. “I doona know. I thought to show her she could lean on me, to trust me, but I think I’ve ruined it. If it wouldna be for the snow, she’d already be gone.”

  “Shite,” Arran said.

  Ramsey took a deep breath. He might have lost any chance of gaining Tara’s trust, but he wasn’t about to give up on protecting her.

  “Did both of you learn the layout?” he asked.

  Charon nodded as he swallowed a drink of coffee. “Aye. The landscape is easy enough so that we can spot anyone approaching. There are a few spots we could use to our advantage if we need it.”