minutes. Then have her undressed and in his bed even quicker.
But he’d been kept against his will for decades. He wasn’t about to do that to someone else, especially not Aisley.
“I’m no’ your enemy,” he told her.
“Prove it. Let me go.”
“I’ll follow you.”
She shrugged.
Phelan blew out a breath and moved aside so she had a clear path to her car. “I’ll earn your trust, beauty,” he said as she walked past him.
“Doubtful,” she replied with a snort.
Phelan waited until she was in her car and drove off before he grabbed his helmet and hurried to his bike to follow her.
CHAPTER
FOUR
MacLeod Castle
“How much longer?” Arran asked the room at large.
Lucan glanced at his elder brother, Fallon, to find him staring into the cold, empty hearth in the great hall. “Aiden and Britt will tell us when it’s done.”
“It” was the serum Britt had synthesized from their blood. Lucan wasn’t the only one uneasy about bringing a mortal with no magic into their battle, but Britt wasn’t just an amazing doctor. She had managed to gain Aiden’s love.
As uncle to Aiden, Lucan couldn’t be happier. He knew his nephew had been floundering about in their world of magic. Not that he blamed Quinn and Marcail for protecting their son. Lucan would do the same thing if he and Cara dared to have children.
Children. He let out a long sigh and shifted his gaze to his wife. Cara sat with some of the other Druids. Her chestnut curls were pulled away from her face in a ponytail. She smiled at something Danielle said, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
That’s when Lucan saw Cara glance up the stairs. She was as worried as the others. Most of last night they had sat in bed talking about Britt’s serum and how it could help the Warriors in their upcoming battle.
“What has you frowning?” Quinn asked as he came to stand beside him.
Lucan shrugged before he turned to his younger brother. “I lied to Cara last night.”
Quinn’s dark brows rose high in his forehead, surprise in his pale green eyes. “That’s a first. What was the lie?”
“She asked if the fighting would be over when we kill Wallace. I told her it would.”
Quinn crossed his arms over his chest, his small grin vanishing instantly. “I told Marcail that same lie several nights ago.”
“Were we wrong to bring them into this, Quinn?”
“Most assuredly. I’m a selfish bastard though, and couldna let Marcail out of my life. She would’ve been better had she never met me.”
“Ah, but would you have been better?”
Quinn had been on the verge of self-destruction. It had only been Marcail’s gentle touch and love that gave Quinn a reason to keep living.
“Nay,” Quinn answered without hesitation. “I look at all the Warriors in the castle and the women who stand with them, and I know each Warrior is better because of their women.”
“You’ve the right of it, brother. Can we honestly say the same for the Druids?”
Quinn was silent a long time before he shook his head. “Nay.”
Lucan tried to imagine life without Cara by his side the last four centuries. He had barely held it together for three hundred years before her, and only because he had to keep himself and his brothers united.
He tugged at the end of one long braid running from his temple. Cara was the only light in the darkness that was his life. The constant battles with
Cara was his reason to live through each battle. Without her … there would be nothing.
But, like Quinn, he’d been selfish. Even discovering Cara was a Druid and being hunted by Deirdre shouldn’t have been enough to tie her to him.
It had been sheer luck that they found Isla. Thanks to her potent magic there was the shield covering MacLeod Castle that didn’t just kept it hidden from the world, but prevented mortals inside it from aging.
Every time Cara left the castle she put her life in jeopardy. But it took all of them—Warriors and Druids alike—to battle the
“I hear everyone struck down by Wallace’s magic in Edinburgh is healing,” Lucan said.
Quinn said, “Aye. We’re all glad of that. Marcail was ready to go to Edinburgh with Sonya and try to heal them.”
Wallace. Why was it everything they spoke about at the castle was the bastard? He controlled their lives as well as ruined them.
“Will Aiden and Britt remain here once her work is complete?” Lucan asked to change the subject.
Quinn’s lips quirked downward at the corners. “I wanted to ask, but Marcail begged me no’ to. She’s afraid of what the answer will be.”
“Britt will be a target when she leaves.”
“Which is why Aiden will go with her.”
“So you think they’ll go?”
“I doona know,” he said after he blew out a breath. “I’d feel better if they remained, but Britt had a life before we entered it.”
Lucan gave a nod to Fallon as he joined them. “Aiden explained to Britt what she was getting into. She chose this.”
“Did she?” Quinn asked angrily. “Aiden could’ve gone to someone else. Perhaps we shouldna have allowed him on this course.”
Fallon grinned at Quinn. “Ah, but he is his father’s son. I’ve never met such a stubborn man as you.”
Quinn reached over and hit Fallon in the shoulder, the first real smile in days. “Stubborn? Shall we talk about you?”
Lucan watched the exchange, chuckling as he did. There had been a time when he never thought his brothers would be able to talk to each other again. Look at them now.
Their women had done that.
“What are you smirking about?” Fallon asked. “You’re just as stubborn, Lucan. It’s a MacLeod trait.”
Lucan grunted. “Oh, I know I’m obstinate. I’m the only one who dares to admit it though.”
After the laughter died, so did the smiles.
Fallon put his back to the great hall and the Warriors and Druids scattered throughout to face his brothers. “Any word from Phelan or Malcolm regarding Wallace?”
“Charon called and said Phelan had yet to find anything,” Quinn answered.
Lucan threw up his hands. “The only one who is able to get ahold of Malcolm is Larena. Ask your wife about him.”
“I did,” Fallon ground out in a low voice. “She said she’s left him a half-dozen messages, but he’s yet to return her calls.”
“We willna hear from him until he finds Wallace,” Quinn pointed out.
Lucan nodded. “True. I’m no’ happy with just the two of them looking.”
“None of us are,” Fallon said.
Quinn ran a hand down his face, showing his frustration. “What do you expect when you tell the women they can no’ go looking for him?”
