“Nothing,” Lucan hurried to say when Fallon started to speak. “Who is at the village?”
“The MacClure clan,” Quinn answered. “They’re going through the cottages now.”
“Did you see how many?”
“Of course.” Quinn rolled his eyes at the question.
“Well?” Lucan prompted.
“Only ten, but two left as soon as they saw what had happened.”
“More will be on the way,” Fallon said. “They’re going to want answers.”
Lucan nodded. “Just as we did. Part of me wants to give them answers.”
“They wouldn’t believe us.”
“I know.”
Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “Right now they’re more concerned with burying their dead.”
“A good thing, too.” Fallon sniffed the air. “The bodies would begin to smell soon.”
“I’ll go to the village,” Lucan said as he started to walk past his brothers.
Quinn stopped Lucan with a hand on his shoulder. “Stay near Cara. You’re the one who swore to protect her. I’ll go to the village and make sure none of the MacClures try and venture this way.”
Lucan watched Quinn leave.
“In three hundred years his anger hasn’t faded,” Fallon said. “Will it ever?”
“A more important question is how much longer does he have until he cannot control the god at all?”
Fallon shook his head. “You don’t seem to have a problem controlling Apodatoo.”
The urge to strike out at Fallon, to slam his fist into his brother’s face for revenge, overwhelmed Lucan. “Someone had to look after you two. Did I want to be the one who was forced to control it and my rage? Did I want to be the one who shouldered all the responsibility seeing to each of you through the years? Nay. I didn’t ask for any of it, but you certainly didn’t want the role.”
“Lucan,” Fallon started.
“You don’t get to make these decisions now. You gave up the right to lead us when you turned to the wine. Go back inside. Quinn and I will see to everything.”
Lucan turned on his heel and leapt onto the battlements with a single jump. From there, it was easy to leap and climb his way back to the tower where he would keep watch until dawn. There was nothing else for him to do, and he didn’t trust himself to go inside the castle.
That’s where Cara was.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cara stared at the space where Lucan had been. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and with the moonlight from the window she had seen all of him. She hadn’t been prepared to see him with the god set free, however. It had been frightening and a little . . . exciting.
To see him change like that, right before her eyes, had been startling. His skin had gone from the dark golden tan to black in the space of a blink. She had witnessed his claws before, but when his eyes had gone obsidian and his teeth lengthened, it had proven to her just how dangerous he was.
Dangerous, aye, but she also knew he wouldn’t harm her. He had proven it to her in so many different ways.
It also infuriated her because she knew he desired her, but his fear of how she would react to him held him back. Cara had always thought herself pious and innocent, but one kiss from Lucan Mac Leod and she was a wanton who thought only of his hands and mouth on her body.
Becoming a nun now was no longer something she wanted or could do. There was no way she could think of that life, not after sampling the desire that hummed through her blood even now.
That was twice in one night Lucan had brought her body to such a state of need only to leave her. She trembled with it but had no idea how to ease herself. Knowing Lucan was in as much pain did not calm her, though. In fact, it exasperated her even more.
She paced the chamber, her hands clenched into fists as she tried to slow her breathing and cool her heated body. It took longer than she would have liked because she kept thinking of Lucan, of his soul-stirring kisses and caresses that left her breathless.
It was only then that she realized she had been standing in the dark. Alone. Cara jerked to a stop and looked around the chamber.
She sank onto the bed and smiled. It had been a long time since she had faced the dark with such bravery. She wasn’t sure if she could do it again, or how much longer she could stay in the chamber without light, but she was amazed that she was there at all.
And she had Lucan to thank for that. He was the one who had tried to tell her it would be all right, that he was there to protect her. She hadn’t listened to him, but when he had kissed her all her attention had focused on him, with everything else forgotten.
Warriors could have stormed the castle and she wouldn’t have cared. Nothing mattered as long as she was in Lucan’s arms. It seemed cruel that she had found some measure of peace and security in the one man who didn’t think he was worthy to give it to her.
If anyone could protect her, it was Lucan.
She scooted back against the headboard and pulled the blankets around her. Lucan had told her to stay in the chamber until one of them came back for her. She hoped it was Lucan who came, because she was going to prove to him that she still wanted him—god and all.
The chance never came, however. She stood and readied for the day after she watched the sun break over the horizon. Her eyes were scratchy from lack of sleep and her head ached from thinking about Lucan and what could be lurking in the dark.
She feared for him. She feared for all three brothers, because despite the powerful god inside them, they weren’t ready for the coming battle. Oh, Quinn wanted a fight. That much was obvious. But his rage would get the best of him.
Fallon would readily draw his sword and stand by his brothers, but that wasn’t what they needed. They needed Fallon to release the god, to become a Warrior.
And Lucan. She sighed. Lucan would try to be all things for everyone because it was what he did. He would want to stand beside Quinn and watch his back as he ran headlong into the battle. Lucan would want to stay by Fallon because he understood why Fallon wouldn’t give in to the god. And Lucan would want to stay next to her to protect her.
Any way she looked at it, Lucan would die. He would be unfocused, his mind on too many people to protect himself and battle the Warriors.
Cara might not know a lot, but she understood that these Warriors had accepted the god inside them and knew just how powerful they were.
For over three hundred years the MacLeod brothers had denied what was inside them. Denied it and refused to learn what their limits were. That had to change if they were going to beat Deirdre.
Cara blew out a breath and straightened the bed. Once that chore was completed, there was no reason for her to stay in the chamber. She glanced out the window but saw little of the village.
Cara left the chamber and headed to the kitchen to prepare something to break their fast. She didn’t know where the brothers were, but she had to do something. She couldn’t sit any longer.
When she reached the kitchen she was surprised to find it clean and neat. There were three fireplaces where meat could be stewed in one of the large cauldrons or spitted. Off to the side she spotted a large buck tethered and awaiting slaughter. Thanks to hunting and the sea that teemed with fish, the MacLeods had plenty of meat.
Cara walked to one of the windows and glanced outside. She could still see where the garden had once been. Weeds had overtaken it. The few pots that stood next to the castle were broken, smashed in the attack on the castle so many years ago.
