by Donna Grant
“It is my understanding that neither has Deirdre.”
Ramsey chuckled, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. “I know what you’re thinking, Fallon. I like it.”
“Aye,” Fallon said. “I propose that we make our own scroll.”
Hayden cursed and rose from his seat to pace. Galen ran a hand down his face while Lucan studied Fallon with a steady gaze.
“Do you really think we can do this?” Lucan asked. “If Deirdre suspects it’s false we’ll never get Quinn free.”
“Do we have another choice? I cannot stand the thought of Quinn in that dungeon another moment,” Fallon said through clenched teeth. “I’ve waited, just as you asked. And I agree, it was for the best. She was expecting us immediately, and we’ve taken the time to try and learn something that will help us. But the simple truth is, we know no more now than we did when Quinn was taken. I’m through waiting, Lucan.”
Ramsey leaned forward on the table. “I understand that, Fallon. He’s your brother. You would do anything for him, but what if she’s already broken him?”
“Then I’ll fix him.”
There was a moment of stunned silence and then chaos erupted as everyone spoke at once.
Fallon counted to ten before he slammed his hand on the table. “Enough!”
He looked at each man and woman at the table and took a deep breath. “All that matters to me is bringing Quinn home.”
“And what if he’s sided with Deirdre?” Galen asked. “Distance will not sever her hold on him.”
Fallon fisted his hand and looked into Lucan’s eyes. “I know Quinn. He will fight Deirdre with everything he’s worth. If she has pulled him to her side, it’s only with magic. We have Druids who can fight that magic.”
Sonya shook her head sadly. “How effectively is the question. Deirdre’s black magic is very powerful.”
“I willna leave Quinn with Deirdre no matter what.”
“I agree with Fallon,” Lucan said. “Quinn comes back with us.”
Hayden cursed and pushed his trencher away. “Quinn could be a spy.”
“Any one of you could be a spy,” Fallon stated. “Even knowing that we allowed you into our home. Why would I treat my brother any differently?”
Ramsey lifted his hand for silence as Hayden began to argue again. “Fallon has made excellent arguments, and even though I have my doubts that Quinn will be the same man he was before Deirdre captured him, we can do nothing else but bring him home.”
Fallon gave a nod to Ramsey. One by one the others agreed. Now all Fallon had to worry about was getting Quinn away from Deirdre and whatever horrors he brought back with him.
Larena watched from the shadows on the floor above while Fallon spoke to the others. She had planned to stay in the bath soaking, but the need to learn about her surroundings was too great. And, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to find Fallon.
She had dressed in the simple blue gown Cara had brought to her chamber. To her surprise, it fit perfectly. Cara had also supplied woollen hose and several pairs of shoes. Larena had found a pair that fit, and after combing her fingers through her hair she had left Fallon’s chamber.
It was the voices from the great hall that drew her down the corridor and the flights of stairs. Not wanting to be seen, she had kept to the shadows and observed the people below.
She wasn’t surprised to find Fallon at the head of the table. He had a natural ability to lead that others recognized. She suspected that even if he hadn’t been raised to be laird, he still would have been a leader.
Her gaze fastened on him and she watched as he ate and spoke to Lucan who sat on his right. There was an empty place to his left that she knew was saved for Quinn. That Fallon looked again and again at the empty seat told Larena just how desperately he wanted to have his brother back.
She tried to imagine how it would feel to have a sibling taken from her. As an only child, she found it difficult. She’d had friends, but the only other family she’d been raised with was her cousin Naill. He had been several years older than her and didn’t want to be bothered with a girl.
It was a new experience to watch the way Fallon and Lucan interacted. They had many of the same mannerisms, and she expected Quinn had some of those same traits. It was really too bad Quinn had been taken. She would have liked to see all three brothers together.
Larena shifted her gaze to the only women in the group. Cara sat beside Lucan while Sonya sat across from Cara. They carried on their own conversations, but both listened aptly when the men began their discussion.
She recognized Logan sitting at a separate table. The big blond seated with him looked sinister, with his furrowed brow and hard eyes. She would keep her eye on him. Men who looked as he did sought out trouble, and she wanted no part of that.
With her attention back on Fallon’s table she looked the other two men over. The black-haired one had his back to her, but after just a short observation she noticed that he didn’t speak as often as the others.
The other man, with dark blond hair, had an easy way about him, but there was also something in his gaze that spoke of unnamed horrors he had witnessed.
All of them were Warriors. Larena had never been around so many. In truth the only Warrior she knew by face was Camdyn MacKenna.
The men below most likely knew she was a Warrior by now. How would they react to her? Fallon was the only person she really knew, and they had known each other mere hours. Had she made the right decision in asking him to bring her here?
Then she remembered the attack in Edinburgh. Deirdre had discovered her. Deirdre’s reach seemed endless, and if Larena knew anything about Deirdre it was that the drough never gave up when she set her sights on something. And now, her sights were set on Larena.
It was good timing that Fallon had come to Edinburgh when he had. She would be dead now if he hadn’t been there. She owed him her life.
She covered her ring with her left hand. She could repay Fallon by giving him the Scroll, but every time she thought of it, she grew sick to her stomach.
Robena had drilled into her mind endlessly how important it was for the Scroll never to land in Deirdre’s hands. Everything Larena had fought for these last hundred years would be in vain if she handed the Scroll to Deirdre.
The change of tone below drew Larena out of her thoughts. She peered around the stone and listened as Fallon spoke. He was calm and in control, fully in his element in his castle. She loved watching him. He was amazing.
Larena wanted to go to him and kiss him.
She started toward him when she heard Fallon mention the Scroll. Her heart leaped into her chest when she heard him say he’d never intended to give Deirdre the real Scroll, only a fake.
Her fingers clutched her ring, ready to pull it off and show everyone the Scroll so they could copy the Celtic scrollwork that would let Deirdre know it was real.
But then she stopped. Fallon would want to know why she hadn’t told him in Edinburgh.
Larena hated lying to him. Fallon had told her things she knew he had never shared with anyone else, but she couldn’t do the same. There were some things, such as the Scroll, that the fewer people knew about them the better.
She took a deep breath and looked around the table to find Cara’s gaze on her. Larena shook her head, hoping Cara would keep quiet. Cara gave a small nod of her head in acknowledgment.
Larena knew she should go down to the great hall and introduce herself, but she couldn’t move. She turned away from the scene and leaned her back against the stone wall.
She had spent several years at the king’s castle, but she had always kept herself separate from others. Her inability to trust, Malcolm would say. Malcolm had been her only link, and even then she hadn’t allowed herself to become too attached to him since she knew she would leave him one day.
Now, below, there were six immortal Warriors. What the MacLeods had done by opening their castle was to create a family. The last time Larena had been part of a
family they had scorned her and driven her from her home.
But she had to stay with Fallon. If Deirdre captured her, it would only be a matter of time before she discovered what her ring was.
Larena sighed. She would do as she always did then and keep her distance from everyone. It was the only way she could survive.
She turned to walk down the stairs and found Fallon before her. Her lips parted as she gazed into his handsome face. He always took her breath away, and the need to touch him, to feel his arms around her, was crushing.
She hadn’t noticed before that he had traded his kilt for a tunic of deep red and leather breeches, faded with time and use, that were tucked into black boots. He looked more natural in this attire, and she couldn’t say which she liked better, the kilted Fallon or the casual one before her now.
“How did you know I was here?”
He shrugged. “I smelled your scent.”
A thrill went through her at his words, and she had to remind herself to keep her distance even though everything inside her cried out to be his.
“How do you feel?” The question was voiced in a calm manner, but the way his dark green eyes burned her body caused her blood to quicken.
“As if the attack never happened.”
“Good.” Fallon held out his hand. “Everyone is waiting to meet you, and I want to hear about the attack.”
She placed her hand in his, and then stopped him when he would have turned away. “Wait. I … I need a moment.”
“For what?”
“There are Warriors down there I don’t know.”
He regarded her silently for a moment. “My brother would never hurt you. He will protect you with his life. The others have proven their worth to me. They are here to put an end to Deirdre.”
“I know.” How could she explain it to him when she couldn’t understand it herself?
“Come,” he said with a pull of his hand. “Everything will be all right. Trust me.”
Trust. It was just a word, but it was something she didn’t allow herself to do. With Fallon, however, things were different.
She let him tug her onto the stairs. The conversation in the hall fell quiet as they descended. She swallowed, hating the eyes on her. It had been easy to blend in at the king’s castle, but she wouldn’t get that luxury here.
“Thank you,” she whispered to Fallon.
“For what?”
“For saving my life.”
He shrugged as if it meant nothing. There was something about Fallon that had changed. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he wasn’t the same man she had shared a bed with in Edinburgh.
Chapter Seventeen
Larena waited until she and Fallon had stopped by his chair before she pulled her hand from his grasp. She made herself look around the table instead of at the floor as she wished. With her hands clasped before her to help hide how they shook, she listened as Fallon introduced her.
“You’ve already met Lucan, Cara, and Sonya,” Fallon said. “Next to Cara is Galen Shaw.”
Larena smiled at Galen, noting he wore a kilt as if it were his second skin. His dark blue eyes looked her over before returning her smile.
“I’ve heard your name, Galen Shaw.”
Galen’s brows rose. “Have you now? And by whom?”
“Camdyn MacKenna.”
“You’ve spoken to Camdyn?” Galen asked as he sat up straighter.
She opened her mouth to reply when Fallon asked, “Who is Camdyn?”
“A Warrior,” Galen answered. “He prefers to keep to himself, but I left markings to let him know where I had gone.”
Larena nodded. “He found them. He stopped by Edinburgh Castle several weeks ago and told me.”
Galen laughed and slapped the table, clearly overjoyed with the news. “Camdyn is a fine Warrior, Fallon. He will be a great asset to us.”
“Then where is he?” Lucan asked.
“He’ll be here. Camdyn never breaks his word,” Galen said.
Fallon pointed across from Galen. “That is Ramsey MacDonald. He’s the quiet one.”
“My lady,” Ramsey said with a bow of his head.
Larena instantly liked the raven-haired Warrior. He didn’t sport a kilt, but there was a fire in his gray eyes that only Highlanders had. “Ramsey.”
“You’ve already met Logan,” Fallon said, as Logan gave her a wink. “The hulking one across from him is Hayden Campbell.”
Larena looked into eyes so dark they were nearly black. It was a startling contrast with his blond hair, but Hayden’s eyes seemed to convey the idea of menace just as his demeanor did. “Hayden.”
“Larena,” Hayden replied in a cool, deep voice.
Fallon pulled his chair out and motioned for her to take it. “Sit, please. Would you like something to eat?”
“Nay.” Larena took his chair, hating to be the center of attention. Fallon slid next to her in Quinn’s empty spot. She tried to read the emotion in his eyes, but he had closed himself off to her.
She should be relieved. She had wanted to distance herself anyway, right? Then why did it hurt so badly?
You wondered if things would change once you reached his castle. Now you know.
Aye. Now she knew.
“Can you tell us of the attack on you?” Lucan asked.
Larena took a deep breath to help fortify herself. She didn’t want to relive the attack, but there were things Fallon and the others needed to know.
“There were two of them. One of the Warriors had pale green skin and a nasty attitude. The other had dark blue skin and wings.”
“Wings?” Lucan repeated, his brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
Larena nodded. “I saw him fold them against his back. They were wings.”
“Could it be the same one?” Cara asked.
Fallon lifted one shoulder. “I imagine it is. Did they both attack you?” he asked Larena.
“Nay, only the pale green one. They told me Deirdre wanted to meet me. When I asked how she found out about me, they told me it was the wyrran. One had gotten into the castle. I killed it, but apparently there was another watching and it saw me transform,” she told Fallon.
“A wyrran? In Edinburgh?” Galen asked.
Fallon nodded. “Aye. It showed itself to a large crowd in the great hall. I went after it, but I lost it in the maze of corridors.”
“That’s when I found it,” Larena said. “I chased it out of the castle and killed it.”
Logan chuckled. “Impressive. Do you see many wyrran at the castle?”
“That was the first I’d seen at the castle,” Larena said, unable to keep the smile from her lips. Logan’s easy charm helped to ease her tension.
Sonya leaned forward. “Did you know you had been poisoned with drough blood?”
“I did. It was the winged Warrior who told me about the poison. He said Deirdre wanted me alive, so he suggested I find Fallon and have him bring me here.”
“Why?” Hayden asked. “That doesn’t sound like any of Deirdre’s Warriors I have encountered.”
Larena shifted in her chair and shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”
“I suppose they knew you were there from the wyrran as well?” Lucan asked Fallon.
Fallon ran a hand down his face before laying his palm on the table. “Apparently. They were counting on me to find Larena and bring her here to be healed.”
“If you’re correct, then they’ll be coming for Larena,” Ramsey said. “That means another attack, and this time Deirdre will send more Warriors.”
Hayden rose from the table and cursed. “We won last time, but they’ll know how many Warriors we have now. Deirdre won’t make the same mistake again. And we’re down one Warrior.”
“Nay, you’re not,” Larena said as she rose to her feet. “I can fight.”
Hayden’s lip curled in a sneer. “Fallon said he saw you change.”
“Do you think he lied to you?”
Silence greeted her question. Hayd
en moved toward her, and Logan and Galen rose to their feet.
“I believe Fallon, as we all do,” Hayden answered. “But I want to see for myself.”
Larena lifted a brow and glared at him. “I will want to see you transform as well. After all, being told you’re a Warrior doesn’t make it so, now does it?”
Logan chuckled and shook his head. He raked a hand through his light brown hair and returned to his seat. “She’s got you there, Hayden.”
She found Hayden looking at her with something akin to respect in his black eyes.
“Fair is fair,” he said, a heartbeat before his skin turned a dark red. Small red horns poked through his thick blond hair to stand straight up. His claws were red and gleaming, and his lips peeled back in a grin, showing her his impressive fangs.
Larena looked Hayden over before gazing into his red eyes. “Horns?”
“I have the god of massacre within me. What can Isay?”
“Thank you,” she said. She glanced at Fallon to find him watching her. His gaze steadied her, reminding her of his presence.
Larena usually transformed without her clothes since she used her power and turned herself invisible, but that wasn’t an option at the moment.
Once Hayden returned to his human form, Larena released her goddess and let the change overtake her. Chills raced over her skin as the goddess stretched inside her. Larena wiggled her fingers as her claws distended from them. The fangs filled her mouth, and she was careful not to cut her tongue or her lips.
“Shite,” Galen murmured.
Logan cleared his throat twice before he could speak. “You can say that again.”
Ramsey let out an appreciative whistle while Hayden bowed his head to her.
Larena glanced at her arm to see her skin shimmering as it always did.
Cara’s dark eyes were huge with awe. “Even her hair. Just as Fallon told us. She’s stunning.”
With every eye trained on her, Larena fought the urge to fidget. Then Fallon was on his feet beside her. His hand brushed hers, and she had the absurd notion to intertwine her fingers with his.
“Will you show them the rest?” he asked.
In answer, she made herself invisible and heard the audible gasps from Sonya and Cara. The effect wasn’t the same as when she’d done it for Fallon since she had been nude at the time. As it was, it looked as if there were nothing holding up her gown.
