by Donna Grant
But Camdyn knew he would never forget.
He pushed off the door and took several steps toward the stairs when he found Ian leaning against the opposite wall. Camdyn halted as Ian’s words from the previous evening filled his head.
“I know that look,” Ian said. “That’s the look of a man who has found himself in a spot he doesna want to be in.”
Camdyn didn’t respond.
Ian shrugged and straightened from the wall. “Fallon has asked that everyone be in the great hall by ten.”
Camdyn stayed where he was for several long minutes after Ian walked away. Ian knew what he had done last night. Camdyn could see it in his eyes. There had also been disappointment there.
Though maybe Camdyn only saw that because he was disappointed himself that he had failed to keep away from Saffron. Because despite his words, Camdyn knew he was going to hurt her. And she didn’t deserve it.
It wasn’t her fault though. He was the one who couldn’t suffer losing someone else that he loved.
Camdyn took a deep breath and continued on to the stairs. When he reached the great hall he was surprised to only find Braden and Aiden at the table.
He gave them a nod in greeting, but didn’t stop to talk. The sooner he gathered food and returned with it to Saffron, the sooner he could get back to his own cottage.
But when Camdyn returned to Saffron’s chamber, the thought of going back to his cottage alone didn’t appeal to him. He could still smell her on his skin, taste her on his tongue.
And he wanted more. So very much more of her.
He was standing by the hearth holding the food and drinks in his hand when Saffron walked out of the bathroom in her gold robe. He knew the treasures beneath that robe. Camdyn held the plates tighter in an effort not to reach out and drag her against him.
“Hmm. That smells good,” she said as she grabbed a biscuit and pulled it apart.
Camdyn set the plates and orange juice down on the small table.
“What is it?” Saffron asked.
He looked at her to see her brow furrowed and her gaze searching his. How could he tell her that he’d done the unthinkable by coming to her last night? How could he tell her that no matter what, they could only have the one night together?
It was what he needed to tell her, but the very idea of never holding her again made his god roar with fury. Camdyn wasn’t sure he could stay away from her. Which was the crux of his problem.
“Camdyn?”
He shook his head and turned to the bathroom. “Nothing. I’m going to take a shower.”
Saffron took a bite of the biscuit as Camdyn turned on the shower. For a moment she had thought he was going to leave. She’d seen it in his eyes.
She drank deeply from the orange juice as she tried to tell herself to guard her heart. But it was too late. Her heart already belonged to Camdyn.
The thought gave her a moment’s alarm, but then she recalled how he had held her, how he had touched her. She remembered the taste of his kiss and the way he had looked at her.
And that alarm turned to joy.
She hadn’t expected to find love in Scotland.
Even though she knew it would probably end in disaster, she couldn’t push him away. Being with him, near him, steadied her. He gave her the courage to face the memories of her years with Declan and look ahead.
Camdyn was the one who had given her courage in the labyrinth. It was the knowledge that Camdyn was there with her that had helped her face the spiders.
She finished off her biscuit and was in the middle of blow-drying her hair when there was a knock on her door. Saffron opened it to find Laria.
Saffron was so shocked that for a moment she couldn’t speak. “Please, come in,” she said, and motioned Laria inside.
Laria smiled and entered the room. Saffron noted that her medieval gown was gone, replaced by a pale pink velour track suit that belonged to Larena.
No sooner had Saffron closed the door than Camdyn came out of the bathroom with a pair of unbuttoned jeans on, his hair still wet and dripping on his bare chest.
Laria raised a brow at him, a grin pulling at her lips. “Good morn, Camdyn.”
“Laria,” he said with a nod of his head.
Saffron cleared her throat and motioned to the food. “Are you hungry?”
“Nay,” Laria answered. “I came here to speak with both of you. Privately.”
Saffron met Camdyn’s gaze. While he pulled on his shirt, Saffron nervously waited for whatever it was Laria wanted of them.
Only after Laria sat in the chair at the table did Camdyn motion for her to take the seat opposite Laria. With no other recourse, Saffron did as he asked and watched as he seated his large frame on the long bench before the bed.
“What is it you want from us?” Camdyn asked.
Laria shrugged and looked from him to Saffron. “The labyrinth chose the two of you to find and wake me. Do you know why that is?”
“Because I touched the dragon head?” Saffron offered.
Laria shook her head. “Nay. The labyrinth chose the two of you because each of you has a connection to Deirdre that can help me defeat her.”
“We all have a connection to Deirdre,” Camdyn said. “She is the one who unbound our gods. Besides, other Warriors have been closer to her than I ever was.”
Laria’s smile was soft. “You take my words with literal meaning, Warrior. Open your minds and you will find what it is I speak of.”
Saffron frowned. “But I don’t even know Deirdre. I’ve never even met her. She doesn’t know of me either.”
“Not yet, but she will. Very soon,” Laria said. “And once she does, she’ll do everything to have you. Saffron, you’re a Seer. There were always so few Seers among Druids to begin with, but now that Druids have turned away from their magic, you’ve become even more special.”
“She was already imprisoned because she’s a Seer,” Camdyn ground out.
Saffron was surprised to hear the anger in his voice. She looked at him, but his gaze was focused on Laria. Saffron turned and found Laria staring at her.
“And now you’ve found your connection to Deirdre,” Laria said.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
Camdyn wanted to roar his fury. He wanted to deny everything Laria was telling them.
But he knew in the very depths of his soul it was the truth.
“How do you know this?” he demanded.
Laria’s fingers played with the ends of her long blond hair and looked into Saffron’s eyes. “When I touched Saffron to learn of your time and language, I felt a glimpse of something…”
“Cloying,” Saffron offered.
Laria nodded. “Aye. In that brief look I detected an evil that nearly matched my own sister’s.”
“Declan Wallace,” Camdyn said through clenched teeth. He couldn’t look at Saffron. If he did he would remember how she looked when he pulled her out of that prison.
And he would recall all the nights he helped her through her nightmares without her knowing of it. Declan had done all of that to her.
“Aye,” Laria whispered. “I learned from Danielle that Saffron was taken by Declan because she’s a Seer. Add that to the fact that Declan brought Deirdre forward in time. With as great of black magic as Declan has, it’s simply a matter of time before they unite.”
Camdyn shook his head. “Deirdre doesna share power.”
“She’ll kill him.”
Camdyn’s gaze jerked to Saffron at the husky sound of her voice and the surge of her magic to see her eyes had gone milky. He was at her side in an instant, his hands gripping her arms.
Laria rose and took Saffron’s hands. “What do you see?”
“Deirdre,” Saffron said. “I see Deirdre standing over Declan’s body. She’s killed him. And…”
Camdyn’s grip tightened when Saffron began to shake. “What is it?”
“Deirdre is heavy with child.” Saffron blinked, and when her lids rose
, tawny eyes swung to him. “I saw Declan killed.”
Laria began to pace before Camdyn could respond. He could see the excitement in Saffron’s gaze at the thought of Declan’s death, but there was more to it than that.
“This isn’t good,” Laria said as she stopped in the middle of the room. “If Deirdre is heavy with child, then I must have failed.”
“Or you didn’t fight her again,” Saffron said.
Camdyn let his hands drop as Saffron rose to walk to Laria. He straightened, his gaze caught by Laria’s intense one.
“What?” Saffron asked, and tightened the belt on her robe. “What is wrong with both of you? Declan needs to die. What better way than by Deirdre’s hand?”
Laria smiled sadly. “There was one other time in my life that I was in the presence of a Seer. She saved my life as well as gave me information with which to help me when the day came that I had to battle my own sister. Some things a Seer sees will help you. Others will hinder you.”
“There was nothing in my vision that I saw that would suggest you had been defeated,” Saffron argued.
Camdyn laid a hand on her shoulder and stood behind her. “What Laria is trying to say is that although it is good news for you that Declan dies by Deirdre’s hand, it is no’ necessarily good news for us.”
Saffron turned so she could see him. “Declan has to die. I cannot go through the rest of my life hiding from him. I won’t do it.”
“Nor will you have to,” Laria said. “Rest. I’ll see you both at the meeting Fallon has called. Saffron, please share your vision with the others then.”
Camdyn gave a nod to Laria before she left the chamber. No sooner had the door shut than Saffron whirled to face him.
“What are you keeping from me? I have to know,” she demanded.
He ran a hand down his face and lowered himself into a chair, staring at the food he’d gotten to eat. “I doona know anything for sure. What I’m about to say is just speculation.”
“Maybe,” she said as she took the other chair. “But I want to know.”
Camdyn tugged a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. “I doona believe Deirdre will allow Laria to wait long. It is a matter of hours, most likely, before Deirdre attacks.”
Saffron’s stomach fell to her feet with the weight of lead. But she wasn’t going to give up that easily. “Possibly. But it could be that they haven’t fought yet. My vision didn’t show me that. We cannot know for sure.”
“Nay, we can no’.”
She was about to say more when her cell phone rang. Saffron rose and walked to retrieve it from her purse. She sighed heavily when she saw her mother’s name pop on the screen. “It’s my mother.”
“I’ll go so you can talk privately. I must see to my duties anyway.”
She didn’t want him to leave, but with a castle this large, there was always something for everyone to do. With a sigh, she answered the phone as Camdyn shut the door behind him.
“Hello, Mother.”
“I wanted to give you another chance to apologize for the way you treated me,” Elise said.
Saffron rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed. “If this is about the money, I think we should end the conversation now.”
“It’s partly about the money. I’m actually calling to tell you I landed in London last night. Albert and I are going to fly up and see you if you’ll tell us where you are in Scotland.”
Saffron sat up. She wasn’t surprised her mother had tracked her to Scotland. Though she wasn’t exactly happy with her, Elise was still her mother and she didn’t want her endangered. “Now isn’t a good time, Mom.”
“I flew all the way from Colorado Springs,” Elise said, her voice getting higher the more agitated she became. “Why are you so selfish?”
“Maybe because you could be walking into a dangerous situation and I want to keep you safe?” Saffron said, trying the truth.
“Oh, please.” Elisa gave a delicate snort. “I’m your mother, and the only parent you have left. I thought you were dead, Saffron. I want to see my daughter.”
Saffron dropped her forehead into her hand and closed her eyes. Her mother always managed to make her feel guilty. “Fine. I’ll see you, but not until next month. Now is not a good time.”
There was a loud, drawn-out sigh. “At least reimburse me the first-class plane tickets for Albert and me for the inconvenience you’ve given us.”
“Mom, I’m just not going to do this now.”
Before she’d even finished speaking her mother had hung up on her.
Saffron looked at the phone before she tossed it on the bed. As if she didn’t already have enough to deal with, the threat of her mother being in Scotland was enough to send her into hiding.
She blew out a breath and rose from the bed to finish dressing. There were a lot of people in the castle, and she needed to help the others cook.
After a quick brush of her hair and a light dab of makeup, she chose a pair of khaki cargoes and a burgundy sweater. She opened the door to find Gwynn standing there with her fist raised, ready to knock.
“There you are,” Gwynn said with a laugh. “I wanted to see how you were feeling.”
“Better,” Saffron said as she exited her room and they started down the corridor to the stairs.
“I could hardly sleep last night after all that has happened,” Gwynn said.
Saffron smiled at her friend. “I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted.”
Gwynn turned her head, but not before Saffron saw the smile.
She stopped and turned Gwynn to face her. “What?”
Gwynn shrugged with a knowing look. “Nothing.”
“Gwynn.”
“Oh, all right,” Gwynn said with a laugh. “I saw Camdyn bringing food to your room this morning.”
Saffron hit the toe of her boot against the floor. “He did.”
“Did he stay the night?” Gwynn asked in a low, conspiratorial voice.
Saffron couldn’t stop the smile. “Yes.”
Gwynn yelped and covered her mouth with her hands as they both laughed. “I knew something was going on by the way he stayed next to you in the maze.”
“Well, it may not go anywhere,” Saffron said, a warning to Gwynn as well as herself
“Oh, yeah. Right,” she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
They started down the stairs to the great hall to find almost everyone there. Food was already on the table and people were eating.
Saffron took the seat next to Gwynn, and Dani soon sat on her other side. She turned to Dani to answer a question when her gaze fell on Camdyn, who stood against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his dark gaze on her.
Everything she’d been about to say just floated away. He’d left his hair loose so that it curled lightly around his face. A tight-fitting black shirt hugged his body, showing every defined muscle, muscles she had stroked just hours before. Sitting low on his hips were a pair of faded denim jeans.
He could have been the poster child for exactly what a bad boy should look like. Except Camdyn surpassed the bad boys she’d known and dated.
His immortality, the power that radiated from him as strong as the sun’s rays, and his confidence that said he had no trouble taking anyone out made her heart beat double.
Her attention was pulled from Camdyn and all the fantasies he evoked by the sound of Fallon’s voice.
“Our goal to wake Laria was achieved thanks to Camdyn and Saffron,” Fallon said. “But the real battle is only beginning. Before we get into that, I’ve been told Saffron had another vision this morning.”
Saffron licked her lips and stood when Dani urged her. “As some of you know, the visions I receive are sometimes very detailed. Other times, I get very little. The one I saw this morning only showed me three things.”
“What were those?” Lucan asked.
She looked around the table, swallowing hard. She recalled Camdyn’s words and knew that no matter how much she wanted her
vision to work to their benefit, the chances were slim. “I saw Deirdre standing over Declan’s body. She had killed him.”
Logan nodded, a smile on his face. “That would certainly solve our problem with how to kill Declan. What else did you see?”
This was the part she didn’t want to tell them. “Deirdre heavy with child.”
“No,” Marcail said, as she shook her head again and again. “No.”
Quinn wrapped his arms around his wife and looked to Saffron. “Are you sure? It was Deirdre?”
“I’m most positive. Why?”
Arran was the one who answered. “Deirdre captured Quinn because she wanted him to father a child, a child foretold through a prophecy that would hold evil in its purest form.”
Saffron’s knees grew weak, and she slowly lowered herself to the bench.
“That child can no’ be conceived,” Ian said. “If it’s born, our chance to win against such a force of evil is nearly impossible.”
A muscle jumped in Quinn’s jaw. “I’ll cut that baby from her stomach and kill it myself if I have to. Deirdre almost killed Marcail in her effort to have me in her bed. I willna allow her to become with child.”
“The baby is most likely Declan’s,” Camdyn said. “Why else would she kill him?”
“Because she doesna share power,” Galen said.
Saffron lifted her gaze to meet first Laria’s and then Camdyn’s. “Deirdre needs to be ended before she can conceive this child.”
“Exactly!” Hayden shouted, and pounded a fist on the table.
Saffron knew it was the right thing to do, but it meant that Declan would be around even longer. She had thought to let Deirdre kill Declan, and then Laria could kill Deirdre. Everything would have been tied up so nicely.
But life was never so polite and tidy.
“We will kill Declan,” Camdyn whispered in her ear from behind her.
She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. She hadn’t even seen him move from his spot. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Deirdre lifted her face to the harsh winter wind as it raced off the water and hugged her long coat against her. How she missed her fur-lined cloak.
