by Donna Grant
His eyes were filled from corner to corner with the same deep, dark brown, watching her, his bare chest heaving.
“I’m fine,” she said.
He gave a nod, and they were both back in the battle. It didn’t take long for Saffron to realize not all of them had made it out of the labyrinth.
She sent a wyrran barreling into Camdyn, who quickly killed it, and chanced a glance at Laria and Deirdre. The twins were locked in battle.
Deirdre with her white hair that hung to the ground and black leather bodysuit that was molded to her like a second skin. Her hair swirled around her in an eerie display of magic.
Laria’s blond hair lifted behind her as if caught in the wind while her green skirts tangled about her legs. Both sisters sent the full force of their magic against the other.
It looked to be a deadlock until, somehow, Deirdre got the upper hand and began to push Laria back.
“We need to help,” Saffron said as she grabbed Dani’s arm and pointed.
There were eleven Druids from MacLeod Castle, but only five of them were aboveground and fighting. Saffron, Dani, Isla, Cara, and Marcail soon sent their magic to mix with Laria’s.
It took everything Saffron had not to recoil at the power of the drough magic from Deirdre. It reminded Saffron too much of Declan and the memories she wanted desperately to bury.
It wasn’t just the memories she had to deal with, however. There was strength in Deirdre’s black magic that Saffron hadn’t been prepared for.
Finally she understood why it had taken the others centuries to find a way to kill Deirdre. The knowledge scared her far more than she wanted to admit, because she couldn’t imagine Declan escaping as many times as Deirdre had.
Yet he had the same potent black magic. That same cloying drough magic.
But Saffron wasn’t about to give up. She gave a shout and channeled more of her magic against Deirdre.
* * *
Deirdre screamed her frustration. She couldn’t believe her sister’s magic was so powerful that Deirdre hadn’t ended her instantly.
She had thought it was be so easy to kill Laria. But Deirdre hadn’t been able to trap all the Druids in the maze. A few had managed to get out, and they soon added their magic to Laria’s.
A drough’s magic was amazingly powerful.
But a group of mies could overpower a drough.
In all her centuries of living Deirdre had never been bested. And she wasn’t going to be now. Because if Laria won, Deirdre wouldn’t just lose. She’d die.
She wasn’t ready to die, but by the way things were going, that’s exactly where she was headed. Deirdre decided it was time she pulled back and found another way to win. Because she would win.
“Until next time, sister!” she shouted before disappearing.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Declan watched the battle from a vantage point far enough away that Deirdre didn’t see him, but close enough that he was able to see what was going on. He could have stepped in and aided Deirdre. He could have helped her win.
But if he had, he wouldn’t have her where he wanted her.
Now that she had left without defeating Laria, Declan knew it was just a matter of time before Deirdre came to him.
He’d grown up hearing the amazing tales of Deirdre. She was the reason he’d embraced being a drough instead of turning his back on magic as others in his family had.
For so many nights Declan had dreamed of having Deirdre for his own. He’d brought her to his time. And now, she would be his.
Declan smiled and looked at Robbie. “It willna be long now.”
“You should have helped her. We could’ve ended the MacLeods once and for all. Then taken their Druids.”
“I have no need for Druids,” Declan said. “As for ending the MacLeods, doona worry, cousin. That will be happening verra shortly.”
Declan turned on his heel and made his way down the hill to where Robbie had parked the sleek black Jaguar.
“By the by, I think we might have a lead on Tara,” Robbie said as Declan opened the car door.
Declan paused and shifted his gaze to Robbie. “And what might that be?”
“We know she spent some time in Aberdeen three years ago. After that, her trail disappears. For a wee bit.” Robbie leaned his forearms on the hood of the car and smiled across to Declan. “Tara has gotten sloppy, Declan. We found her trail again in Edinburgh.”
“Good. Verra good. Now you need to find her and bring her to me.”
“All in good time,” Robbie said with a smile.
Declan knew that smile. Robbie wasn’t about to allow Tara to disappear on them. Not again. Tara had bested Robbie and made him look like a fool, and for that Robbie would hunt Tara until the end of her days.
As Declan reclined in the backseat of his car, he couldn’t help but grin. Everything was coming together just as he wanted. The only mishap was losing Saffron, but even that would be corrected. Soon.
Very soon.
* * *
Camdyn stared at the spot Deirdre had been just a moment before. He couldn’t believe she had gone, couldn’t believe she had left without them killing her.
“What happened?” he demanded of anyone who might answer.
Isla leaned against Hayden wearily and said, “We needed the other Druids.”
“I thought Laria was supposed to be able to kill her on her own.”
Laria turned to Camdyn then and sighed. “It isn’t as easy as that, Camdyn MacKenna. While my magic is strong, Deirdre has taken the magic of other Druids as well as having hers strengthened by being drough. I can hold my own against her, but to defeat her, to end her, I will need the Druids of MacLeod Castle.”
“Damn,” Hayden muttered. “That would’ve been nice to know before we started to battle her.”
Camdyn agreed silently. He looked to where Deirdre had caved in the exit to the labyrinth and easily called the earth to do his bidding. The ground opened, separated, and the others hurried out, their faces a mixture of fury, surprise, and confusion.
“What happened?” Fallon ordered.
Camdyn returned the earth to its rightful place and put his hands on his hips. “Deirdre left. Laria needs all the Druids from the castle to help her.”
“Bloody hell,” Lucan said as he ran a hand through his hair.
Camdyn caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Saffron with her eyes closed and a hand on Dani’s arm.
“We need to get back to the castle,” Camdyn said.
He kept an eye on Saffron as Fallon began jumping everyone back to the castle. Camdyn purposely made sure he was in the last group with Saffron.
Camdyn knew better than to touch her, or even get near Saffron, but he couldn’t help noticing the dark circles under her eyes or her pallor, which was ashen.
“I’m just tired,” he heard Saffron tell Dani.
She had only gotten a few hours of sleep while they had been in the labyrinth, and the maze itself had taken a hard toll on her.
When it was their turn for Fallon to jump them to the castle, Camdyn found himself standing next to Saffron since the others had put them together. He didn’t question it. The way Saffron’s magic clung around her, as if giving her extra support, told him how exhausted she was.
Just as Fallon put his hand on Camdyn’s shoulder, Camdyn heard Saffron suck in a breath. He looked over to find her eyes go milky white as a vision took hold of her.
There was no time to tell Fallon, and when they arrived in the great hall, Camdyn was the one who caught her against him when she started to fall.
He watched, helpless, as her eyes swirled from the vision. The magic that had clung to her now swelled and wrapped around him. It drew him, lured him with unmistakable ease.
Camdyn closed his eyes at the heady feel of it. Of how it seduced. Enthralled.
Captivated.
It was only the sound of Saffron dragging in a ragged breath that opened his
eyes. She blinked up at him before she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Ramsey,” she whispered.
Camdyn’s gaze searched the great hall until he found Ramsey toward the back and called to his friend, “Ramsey.”
Ramsey hurried to them, his brow knitted in concern. “What is it?”
“I doona know,” Camdyn said.
Saffron lifted her head, feeling weaker than she had a moment ago. She needed food, a bath, and sleep. And not necessarily in that order.
Somehow she wasn’t surprised to find herself in Camdyn’s arms. The fact that she enjoyed being there so much was the only thing that ruined it.
It took her two tries but she straightened, and was only able to step out of Camdyn’s hold with his help. Then she turned to face Ramsey. Ramsey’s gray eyes were trained on her. She rubbed her arms with her hands as chills ran through her while she thought of her vision.
It had been so clear, so vivid. That had never happened to her before, and it scared the hell out of her.
“Saffron. What did you see?” Ramsey urged.
She swallowed and took a deep breath. “I saw a woman. She was being chased and her very life was in danger.”
“By who?” Camdyn asked.
“I don’t know,” she said as she glanced at him. “He was … dangerous, evil. And she was petrified. I still feel her terror.”
Ramsey’s brow lifted in question. “You felt her fear?”
Saffron began to shake her head no, when she paused. “I didn’t feel it exactly, but I knew it. I saw you,” she told Ramsey. “You are part of the vision, and if Tara is to be saved, you have to find her before whatever is after her.”
“Tara?” Ramsey repeated the name.
“Yes. That’s her name.” Saffron hadn’t heard the name, hadn’t heard any voices, but she somehow knew it was Tara she had seen being chased. It was Tara who Ramsey stood beside, protecting her from evil.
Ramsey looked over her head to Camdyn, then turned his head to Fallon. “I can no’ leave now.”
Saffron wanted to argue that he did, but she had no idea of the timeline of her vision. It could happen that day or the next month. And as much as she wanted to help Tara, Saffron knew Deirdre had to be taken care of first.
She put a hand on Ramsey’s arm. “I’ll help you find Tara after we kill Deirdre.”
Ramsey covered her hand with his and smiled. Saffron blinked, her eyes feeling as if sand coated them. She extracted her hand and started for the stairs. She wanted out of her dirty clothes and into a hot shower that lasted for at least three days.
After that, maybe sleep.
Saffron couldn’t remember getting up the steps or walking to her room. As soon as she kicked her door closed she pulled her sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor. Her T-shirt and bra soon followed.
She had to hop on one foot to untie her hiking boot before she kicked it off and repeated the process with the other foot.
Her jeans, damp and dirty, and panties she yanked down over her hips and wiggled her way out of them as she walked to the bathroom. She used her feet to hold down the jeans as she pulled her legs out of them.
A giggle escaped her as she looked back and saw the trail of clothes leading from her door into the bathroom, but she didn’t care. She’d pick them up later.
Saffron turned on the water and then stood beneath the spray, letting the steam and spray soothe her tired, aching muscles. She put her hands on the shower wall and simply stood there, her eyes closed.
It wasn’t until she drifted off to sleep that she knew she had to get washed and get out of the shower before she collapsed.
* * *
Charon stayed in his squatting position, one finger idly rubbing his chin, as he stared at the spot where the battle had played out. Dead wyrran still littered the ground. Deirdre wouldn’t be pleased about her pets being killed.
Though Charon chafed at not having helped in the vile creatures’ slaughter.
He shouldn’t be surprised that the Warriors and Druids from MacLeod Castle had awoken Deirdre’s twin, Laria. What disappointed him, however, was that they had failed to kill Deirdre.
Charon had almost joined the Warriors as they killed wyrran, but he’d seen—and felt—the magic shift in Deirdre’s favor. Charon had spent too many years beneath her control, and he would rather die than be at her mercy again.
He wanted her dead. Desperately. But he wouldn’t put himself in a position where he was on the losing side. He’d made a home for himself, and his village depended on him.
Charon sighed as he thought about Ian’s urging him to join the Warriors in battling Deirdre. Maybe he should. Another Warrior against her would favor the MacLeods, and it would feel good to fight her.
But then Charon recalled Deirdre’s prison. He remembered what she had done to his family. And more importantly, what she had made him to do his father.
There was a hole in his chest, in his heart, for what he’d done. Nothing would ever fill that hole.
Charon rose to his feet and ran a hand down his face. For now, he could continue to watch from the sidelines.
As he turned to walk back to his Mercedes, which he’d parked a few miles away, he caught sight of something. Charon paused and stood silently as his gaze narrowed.
It was a person, a man. And he was staring at the same battle scene Charon had been watching. Who was this man? And was he on Deirdre’s side?
Charon’s jaw clenched when the man’s gaze lifted to him. Almost instantly Charon realized he was a Warrior. Only a Warrior would be able to see across such a vast distance so clearly.
The Warrior hadn’t joined Deirdre, nor had he helped the MacLeods. Whose side was he on?
Charon laughed at his own question. “What right do I have to that knowledge since I have no’ taken a side either?”
Without a backward glance at the Warrior, Charon started for his car. Once he reached the black CLS Mercedes, he slid behind the wheel and simply sat there.
Every instinct he had told him to go to the MacLeods. But he’d done the right thing once before and it had delivered him into Deirdre’s hands. He’d had his god unbound and had turned into a monster.
Then Deirdre had shoved his father in the cell with him. Charon would never forget straining to gain control over his god only to realize he had killed his father.
That haunted Charon even now.
He might want to help the MacLeods, knew he should. It was the right thing to do to fight against such evil as Deirdre.
But he’d learned his lesson the hard way the first time. He didn’t need to learn it again.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
Camdyn paced his cottage over and over. He sat at the table, sat on the bed, and paced some more. No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop thinking of Saffron.
Of her soft skin.
Of the sweet taste of her kisses.
Of her body that was made for sin.
Camdyn wanted to go to her. He wanted to find her and give in to the unquenchable desire that scorched his blood since kissing her so thoroughly in the labyrinth.
But if he did, if he gave in, he would set himself up for pain again.
He halted, amazed that he hadn’t thought about Allison in days. She had faded from his mind over the years to the point he couldn’t remember the color of her hair or the exact shade of her eyes.
It wasn’t until he’d been tempted by Saffron that Allison filled his mind once more. But even now his long dead wife had been overtaken by Saffron. It was as if everything around him was somehow connected to Saffron.
The only way to save himself would be to get as far away from the castle as he could. Even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn’t.
He’d waited too long to see Deirdre dead to leave now when his brethren needed him the most.
But he couldn’t stand the ache for Saffron another moment. He either needed to find release with another woman, or find Saffron and take her
as he’d thought about taking her from the first time he had held her in his arms.
Camdyn leaned his hands on the table and dropped his chin to his chest. He couldn’t remember wanting another woman as much as he wanted her. He couldn’t remember hungering for a taste of another woman as he hungered for her.
He straightened and stalked from his cottage. He jogged to the castle and leaped to the battlements, landing with his knees bent and a hand on the stones. He rose and looked around him.
Ramsey and Arran were in the bailey, and Logan was on the battlements coming toward him. There would be no going through the front door and greeting anyone still in the great hall. He was in no condition for small talk. With anyone.
Camdyn turned his back to Logan and started for the door that led into the castle. He had scarcely a moment’s notice that he wasn’t alone when Ian stepped out of the shadows and blocked his way to the door.
“Camdyn,” Ian said in greeting.
Camdyn clenched his jaw and nodded. “Ian.”
His friend sighed and glanced down at his feet before meeting Camdyn’s gaze once more. “Are you sure you should be doing this?”
“What am I doing?” Camdyn didn’t like the fact that Ian knew who he was going to see, because if Ian knew, then that meant the others probably did as well.
“Going to see Saffron.”
“So?”
“She’s been through a lot. Dani is worried you might hurt her.”
Camdyn fisted his hands. There was no doubt he would most likely hurt Saffron, but even that couldn’t make him stay away from her.
“You doona deny it?” Ian asked, surprise in his deep voice.
“I’m no’ fit for anyone, much less Saffron.”
Ian’s gaze sharpened, as if he’d just realized something. “Then why go to her?”
“Get out of my way.” There was nothing that would make Camdyn admit to any of them why he had to see Saffron. It was better if none of them, most especially Saffron, knew how much she affected him.
Cara and the other women were matchmakers. If there was a hint of something between him and Saffron, they would set about throwing them together any way they could.
