“Nay.”
“And you never heard them talk of magic or Druids?” Fallon asked.
Cara shook her head.
Quinn pushed his empty trencher away and drummed his fingers on the table. “Why does Deirdre want Cara and the necklace?”
“Deirdre?” Cara repeated. “Surely it cannot be the same Deirdre who awakened the god.”
“Believe me, it is,” Fallon said, hate dripping from every word. “She may not have a god inside her, but she is immortal thanks to her knowledge of black magic.”
Cara found what little appetite she had, had vanished. She hoped to never meet this Deirdre who had destroyed the MacLeod clan, the brothers, and now Cara’s people. Too late she remembered the village. “I want to see the village.”
Lucan’s stroking of her hand paused. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We haven’t had a chance to bury the dead.”
“I need to see it.” She looked into his green eyes and saw worry there. “Please, Lucan.”
The brothers exchanged a glance. Lucan let out a sigh and gave a quick jerk of his head. “Only if you promise not to wander off. We stay together.”
“Are you expecting those . . . things . . . to attack again so soon?”
Quinn snorted. “There’s no doubt the wyrran will attack again. They want you and that vial, not to mention Deirdre will do anything to get us back under her control. She’ll most certainly send her pets back for another attack.”
“With more Warriors,” Fallon added.
Cara turned her gaze to Lucan. His jaw was clenched, a muscle working in his cheek.
After a moment of silence, Quinn rose and leaned a foot on the bench. “If Cara is going to stay, and it looks like she is, she needs to know how to defend herself.”
“She doesna stand a chance against a Warrior.” Fallon sent a glance at Quinn that said he didn’t think Quinn was thinking straight.
Lucan, still holding her hand, leaned his other elbow on the table. “Quinn has a point. I don’t want Cara in another situation like she was in last night. Deirdre’s wyrrans aren’t immortal, and they’re small enough Cara should be able to hold her own against them.”
Fallon sighed heavily and rose from the table. “I suppose I’ll see if I can find her a weapon.”
Cara didn’t know whether to be glad they were going to show her how to protect herself or worried that they were going to show her how to protect herself.
When Fallon and Quinn moved away from the table Cara grasped Lucan’s arm. “Can’t I just hide like before?” she whispered.
His smile was tender as he looked at her. “If I thought that would keep you safe, aye. The Warriors were able to find you despite me putting you deep in the dungeons. That Warrior said he smelled you, which means he smelled the magic. Hiding will do you no good.”
“Wonderful,” she said, and briefly closed her eyes.
Lucan rose and held out his hand for her. “Everything will be all right. Trust me, Cara.”
“I do,” she said before she even realized the words passed her lips. She put her hand in his and let him pull her from the bench.
His eyes darkened when her body brushed his. She found it difficult to take a breath being so close to him, and even though she knew she should put some distance between them, she couldn’t.
Cara forgot to breathe when his hand cupped her face, his fingers sliding in her hair and teasing the skin at her neck. Tremors of delight, of anticipation, raced over her skin.
She tried to remind herself she was going to take the vows of a nun, but never feeling Lucan’s touch again seemed a sin in itself.
“I’m supposed to protect you,” Lucan murmured.
Cara rested her hands on his muscular chest and nodded. “You do.”
“Then who protects you from me?”
Before she could begin to understand what he meant, his mouth covered hers. His lips were firm, insistent, as they moved over hers seeking, devouring. She was powerless to pull away as she sank under his spell, her desire flaring to life like dry wood on a fire.
She clung to him, her hands fisting in his tunic as he pulled her against him. A moan tore from her throat at the feel of his hard body and his arousal that pushed against her stomach.
He slanted his mouth over hers, while he held her head with one hand and gripped her hip with the other. He groaned when his tongue slipped through her parted lips to mate with hers. He kissed with a skill that left her breathless. And wanting more.
A delicious heat spread from between her legs and settled in her stomach. Her breasts felt heavy, her nipples aching and hard.
When he ended the kiss, Cara opened her eyes to find her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers in his thick locks. She hadn’t even realized she had risen up on her toes.
“My God,” Lucan murmured.
Cara couldn’t agree more. Her gaze rose to find his eyes hooded, the desire there for her to see, to feel. She tried to swallow, but her body wasn’t her own. Her gown was confining, her skin too tight. The emotions inside her left her feeling confused . . . and wanting. Needy.
Somehow she managed to step away from Lucan, to loosen her hold on his tunic. It was with much reluctance that she let her hands fall from his chest. The absence of his heat was instant, the loss of his hard body against hers immediate.
What would the nuns think of her if they knew she longed to rub her body against his, to feel the rigid length of his arousal, to have him lie atop her with nothing but their skin touching?
Cara turned to face the door, anything to bring her heated emotions back under control. To her mortification, Fallon held open the door, watching them.
“Stay with us,” Lucan said as he guided her toward the door.
Lucan, his hand on her elbow, helped her down the slick steps of the castle to the bailey where Quinn awaited them.
“Fallon?” Quinn called.
Cara paused beside Lucan and turned to see the eldest MacLeod brother standing in the doorway of the castle.
Lucan’s brow furrowed and he took a step toward his brother. “What is it, Fallon?”
“I’ve not left the castle. In over two hundred years I’ve not left the castle.” When he raised his gaze to them, Cara saw the panic and desperation.
Lucan bounded up the steps and pulled Fallon out of the castle. “There’s no one left. It will be fine.”
“I need my wine.”
Fallon tried to return to the castle, but Lucan stopped him. “Nay, you don’t.”
A moment later Quinn was on the other side of Fallon. “Come, Brother. I’ve ventured out plenty of times, and no one saw me. Well, no one besides Angus,” he said with a grin.
Before Cara realized just how much Angus had known of the brothers, she was halted by Quinn’s smile. It transformed him. Gone was any trace of the god, and in his place was a handsome man with teasing green eyes and brown hair streaked with gold.
She watched the three brothers, wondering how many hearts they broke before their clan had been killed and they were turned immortal. All three were incredibly good-looking, but it was Lucan with his sea green eyes and secret smile that made her heart miss a beat.
Lucan and Quinn got Fallon down the steps and out of the bailey. He stopped after they walked under the gate house and turned to look at the castle.
“God’s bones. I’m amazed it’s still standing,” Fallon said.
Lucan chuckled. “Our ancestors built it. Of course it’s still standing. Not even Deirdre’s army could topple it.”
His comment brought a smile to Fallon’s lips. With a nod, the eldest brother turned toward the village. Cara
