soothed her. She took a deep breath and looked around. The cliffs were too high for her to climb, and the rocks that jutted out around the bay would be impossible to cross in her gown. Her only option was to return the way she had come and find some other route on the other side of the castle.
Cara lifted her skirts and started back up the path. She was halfway up and out of breath, her lungs burning, when she spotted another pathway that jutted to the left.
With a glance at the castle, she took it. The trail wasn’t near as steep, and it veered away from the castle, taking her along the coast. Cara lifted her skirts to her knees and lengthened her stride until she was running.
The farther away from the MacLeods she was, the better chance they had to live. When the ache in her side became unbearable, she stopped and leaned her hands on her knees. She glanced over her shoulder, amazed she had put so much distance between her and the castle.
Part of her wanted to return, wanted to make Lucan face the attraction between them. But she couldn’t. She would rather stay away and have him safe than risk his life.
She looked at the sun. It was almost midday. She needed to hurry if she wanted to get away before dark.
“Farewell, Lucan MacLeod.”
With one last, lingering look at the castle she took her skirts in hand and ran.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lucan clenched his hand into a fist and punched the stone wall in the bailey. The stones shattered and crumbled. His hand throbbed, but it only lasted a moment before he began to heal. He looked down at the rocks that fell to his feet and sighed.
His mother would have shaken her head for letting his temper get the better of him. For so many years he had kept his emotions in check. His control had been legendary in his clan. Yet one slender girl had shattered everything.
Lucan hadn’t asked for a woman, hadn’t wanted a woman.
He placed his hands on the walls and let his head hang between his shoulders. So he might have wanted a woman, but he never asked to feel such hunger for one as he did for Cara. His body craved the release found in a woman’s willing body. He yearned to hold a woman in his arms and thrust into her wet heat.
With Cara he felt so much more than the physical longing. And with those more complex feelings came hope. Lucan knew all too well there was no hope for him, no salvation for his brothers. They were destined to live as they were—isolated and alone, watching the world from the castle.
He didn’t have any answers; he never had. Returning to their home had been the one thing that kept the brothers together. In many ways, Lucan hadn’t wanted to live at the castle. There were too many memories, too much anger and resentment, in the stones to find any measure of peace. Yet it had calmed Quinn to a degree. In that instance, it had been worth it.
Somehow, someway, if they managed to escape Deirdre again, they were going to have to go out into the world and find a place. They couldn’t hide any longer. Too much had changed. They were Highlanders, yet they no longer fit in the Highlands.
Lucan squeezed his eyes closed. Cara was never far from his thoughts. He found himself thinking of her constantly. It had been the mere thought of her as he and Quinn had returned from the village that made Lucan search her out. When he had found her and Fallon in one of the crumbling towers, the board breaking under her, Lucan had known a moment of sheer panic.
Time had slowed to a crawl as she screamed and fell. He had been at the doorway, a good twenty strides from her, but he had leapt and grabbed her arm.
He had wanted to shake her and pummel Fallon for letting her fall. Lucan couldn’t let Cara out of his sight without her getting into some kind of trouble. Fallon, however, proved once again that he would rather let someone die than release his god.
Despite Lucan’s anger, he couldn’t fault Fallon. He had his own problems to deal with, just as they all did. Maybe someday Fallon would be able to face his.
Lucan pushed away from the wall and walked to the blacksmith shop. The last time he had used it was about a decade ago when he had made Fallon a new sword. Since Lucan needed to do something to occupy his mind and his body, he started the fire in the forge and reached for some iron. Cara needed a dagger.
* * *
Cara berated herself for leaving the castle without any food or water. She knew the area enough to know there was a stream nearby, but that would mean she would have to follow it instead of striking out across the land.
She had no idea where she was going, only that she wanted to put as much distance between her and the MacLeods as she could.
She wrapped her arms around herself. In her haste to leave, she had acted rashly and not prepared for a journey. She hadn’t thought about the nighttime and being alone in the dark. Without Lucan by her side would the demons haunt her again? The first thing she thought of was a fire, but it would attract unwanted attention.
Cara had veered from the sea about an hour ago. The landscape undulated, rocks cropping up everywhere but giving her no place to hide. There was a forest about two leagues away where many of the village men went to hunt on occasion. That would be her first destination.
She wondered how long it would take before the brothers realized she was gone. Would Lucan come for her? Her heart sped up at the prospect, but in reality she knew the answer was nay. They didn’t leave the castle. Especially not for someone who had brought Deirdre upon them.
Cara couldn’t wait to meet this woman. Lucan had said she was beautiful, and Cara hated Deirdre for that. The jealousy that raged within Cara was pointless, chiefly because she knew how much Lucan hated Deirdre. But the envy stayed nonetheless.
“Idiot, idiot, idiot,” Cara mumbled to herself.
* * *
Lucan was drenched in sweat from the exertion of pounding on the steel and the heat from the forge. The shape of the dagger had come along nicely. He lifted the iron in the tongs and inspected it. He had curved the blade, giving it a vicious point at the end of the weapon. The weight was good and light enough for Cara to wield.
He set down the tongs and reached for his tunic he had taken off hours earlier. He wiped the sweat from his face with his tunic and extinguished the forge. When he walked out of the blacksmith shop it was to find it well past midday. Which explained his hunger.
Lucan walked around the bailey to the kitchen and the well-worn path that would take him to the sea. He was surprised to find the gate that led out of the castle wall open but didn’t think much of it, since Quinn often went down to the water.
As Lucan made his way down the path, memories arose of him chasing after his father as they ran from the castle before Lucan’s mother caught them. The sky had been bright blue that day with occasional white, fluffy clouds that floated past. He and his father had spent the afternoon fishing and lying in the sand. It had been a glorious day.
When Lucan’s feet hit the sand he stopped and stared at the rock his father had stood on when he cast the net into the sea. He had seemed a giant then, tall and imposing.
With a shake of his head Lucan pushed aside those memories and removed his boots and trousers before he ran and dove into the sea. The cool water was wonderful against his heated flesh that had stood next to the forge for too long. Yet his muscles felt good and his control was back in place. He would be able to face Cara now and
