was relatively sure Fallon had witnessed the kiss that morning.
Lucan could only imagine what his elder brother would say to him. Fallon would argue that there was no place for Cara in their lives. And he would be correct.
Fallon would argue that Cara was mortal and they were immortal. Again he would be correct.
Fallon would argue that if Lucan ever lost control of the god, he could very well kill Cara. Correct, again.
But for all the arguments, Lucan couldn’t stop the hunger inside him. He was like a starved man around Cara, and she the feast.
“We all need to belong somewhere,” Fallon said to break the growing silence. “We’re all just surprised that a woman of your beauty would choose to be a nun.”
Lucan bit his tongue to keep from lashing out at his brother for calling Cara beautiful. She was beauty personified, but the fact that Fallon had noticed—and commented—told Lucan Fallon might be as affected by the same hunger that ate at him.
And there was no way Lucan was going to share Cara with anyone—even his brother.
Fallon rolled his eyes, as if he could read Lucan’s mind.
Lucan glanced at Cara, but she was once more staring at her sewing. Quinn stood with his shoulder propped against the hearth, his face twisting in anger with each heartbeat.
“There has to be something!” Quinn bellowed to Cara. “Don’t just sit there as if you don’t care that a woman more evil than Satan himself is after you.”
Lucan rose and put himself between Quinn and Cara. His nails extended into claws and he let his eyes turn black. It had been a long time since they had fought, but Lucan wasn’t going to let Quinn take his anger out on Cara.
A soft hand touched his shoulder. “It’s all right,” Cara said. “Quinn is right.”
Lucan glared at Quinn, daring him to make a move toward her.
“Did last night make you recall what it was like to let the god out?” Quinn taunted Lucan. “If you’re looking for a fight, look no farther.”
Fallon slammed the palm of his hand against the stones. “Enough!” he bellowed. “Quinn, control your anger. Lucan, get ahold of your . . . self.”
Lucan knew he had been about to say “feelings.” Grateful that Fallon hadn’t let Cara know how much she affected Lucan, he gave a small nod.
When Lucan turned around, Cara stood in front of him. “Has anything happened recently?” he asked her.
“It is my eighteenth year.” She paused and licked her lips. “But I think it might be the spring equinox.”
Lucan jerked. He looked at Fallon first, then Quinn, to find his brothers were as shaken as he. Had hiding away in the castle, refusing to live in the world, thereby forgetting everything about it, helped them to erase the fact that their clan was destroyed on the spring equinox?
“What is it?” Cara asked. “Why do all three of you go pale?”
Lucan sank back into his chair. “Because the spring equinox was the day our clan was killed.”
“Butchered,” Quinn corrected.
Fallon ran a hand down his face. “How could we have forgotten?”
“I don’t think it’s mere coincidence,” Lucan said. “Deirdre must be using the equinox to strengthen her black magic. Somehow, it’s directing her to the people she seeks.”
Quinn pushed away from the hearth to pace. “Shite. This isna good.”
“How many of there are you now?” Cara asked. “You said there were two Warriors here last night. Does she have more?”
Lucan shrugged. “I do remember her telling us we were the first.”
“She’s had over three hundred years,” Fallon said. “I can only guess at the number she has gathered.”
Quinn snorted derisively. “And they’ll be attacking us.”
Cara shook out the gown she had been altering. “Surely some of them refused as you three did.”
“Possibly,” Lucan admitted. “I couldn’t begin to know where to look to find them, though.”
“Do you know any of the families of the original Warriors?”
“Nay,” Fallon answered. “Neither did Deirdre. It was something she searched for. She had hoped we would be able to tell her a few names, but of course we couldn’t. We didn’t know anything.”
Quinn stalked out of the great hall. “I’m going to check around the castle,” he called over his shoulder.
“I don’t believe they’ll attack tonight,” Lucan said. “I suspect Deirdre will spend a day or two gathering her forces to descend upon us. She wants Cara, but she’ll also try to take us three as well.”
Cara’s dark eyes fastened on him. “What do we do until then?”
He reached for the sword he had found for her. “Until then, you learn how to wield a blade.”
“In a day?” she asked with a startled laugh. “I’ll be lucky to be able to point it at anything.”
Lucan grinned. “I’ll make sure you do more than point it. Ready to begin your training?”
“Let me change first. Quinn will be relieved to see me out of his wife’s gown.”
Lucan watched her race up the stairs, her skirts lifted high enough that he caught a glimpse of her ankle. He swallowed back a moan when his gaze landed on her hips as they swayed gently with each step she took.
“Be careful,” Fallon said.
Lucan looked at his brother. “About what?”
Fallon gave him a bored look. “Don’t play dense with me, Lucan. I saw you kiss her this morning.”
“It was just a kiss.” Lucan hoped saying the words out loud would make them true.
“It was more than a kiss. I saw the way you’ve looked at her since the moment you brought her into the castle. Just remember what we are. We aren’t meant for women like her. We aren’t meant for anyone.”
Lucan didn’t want to believe, but he knew Fallon spoke the truth. “She trusts me. Do you know how long it’s been since a woman has looked at me? Since I’ve held a woman in my arms, felt her hair in my fingers? Can you even recall the sweet smell of a woman, the soft skin of her neck behind her ear, or the way a woman moans when she peaks?”
“Nay,” Fallon bit out. “I don’t remember any of those things, and it’s better that way. It doesn’t do anyone any good to want something they cannot have.”
“We all want something we cannot have, Fallon. The object is different for everyone, whether they are Warriors or mortals.”
Fallon’s face was lined with weariness and fatigue. “She’s a good woman, Lucan. A mortal who will die while we live on. Don’t promise her something you canna give her.”
And that was the crux of the matter. Lucan wanted to promise her anything and everything. Just so long as she stayed with him always.
CHAPTER NINE
Lucan waited in the bailey for Cara. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, the wind brisk from the sea. It had been days like this that he had ridden his favorite steed from the castle and raced over the land, the ground flying beneath his mount’s hooves.
How innocent Lucan had been then, thinking of the next girl he would tup and wondering what ruse he would play on Quinn. The days had seemed endless, Lucan’s future stretched before him like the stars in the night sky.
He caught a whiff of heather and swung around to find Cara watching him, her gaze pensive, as if she had known his thoughts. She smiled shyly and walked down the castle steps to stand before him.
“You were deep in thought.”
Lucan shrugged. “Just remembering my life before, when things had been simpler.”
“Did you have a good life?”
“Oh, aye. I did.”
