keep up, but she was no match for his strength. Night soon blanketed the land. When she could go no farther, Lucan lifted her in his arms without breaking stride and kept running.
Cara laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as her mind ran over everything Galen had told her. She didn’t want to believe her mother had practiced black magic. There had been too much laughter, too much good, in Cara’s life for her to believe her parents had been evil.
But the vial of her mother’s blood around Cara’s neck spoke otherwise. How she wished her mother were there so she could ask.
“We’ll get through this,” Lucan said.
She nodded, unable to reply. His words were meant to comfort and reassure, but she knew the truth of the situation, and it would take more than promises to keep her alive.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Fallon stood on the battlements, his gaze to the east where they had last seen Lucan.
“He should have returned by now,” Quinn said.
“He’ll be here.” Fallon hoped Quinn didn’t hear the fear in his voice.
“I should have gone with him.”
“He wanted us to stay here.”
Quinn leaned his hands on the stones and blew out a breath. “We aren’t prepared, Fallon. Deirdre will strike, and we’ll find ourselves as her prisoners in the mountain once more.”
“We’ll be ready.”
“Stop!” Quinn bellowed, his voice echoing in the silence. “Just stop,” he said more quietly. “Admit that you’re afraid. Admit that we don’t stand a chance.”
Fallon faced his youngest brother and wished to hell he’d been the man his brothers had needed him to be. “There is always a chance.”
“Don’t try and sound like Da.”
Fallon was walking past his brother to return to the great hall when Quinn’s voice stopped him.
“What is that?” Quinn asked.
Fallon turned and followed Quinn’s gaze. He saw someone running toward the castle with something in their arms. Then there was a familiar whistle. “It’s Lucan. And he has Cara.”
Before Fallon finished talking, Quinn had jumped over the battlements to land on the outside of the castle wall and raced toward Lucan. Fallon sagged against the stones. He stayed there but a moment more before he started toward the stairs that would take him to the bailey.
Fallon paused and looked at the bailey. He could jump it. He knew if he let his god out, he would land safely. It would be a small sacrifice, something to test himself and his god. Fallon hesitated a moment too long and stepped away from the edge.
He was a fool to think he was strong enough to control the god as Lucan did. Fallon was too much of a coward to even try. He ran down the stairs and met Lucan and Quinn in the bailey.
“Is she hurt?” Fallon asked when he saw that Lucan carried Cara.
“Nay,” she answered. “He won’t let me down.”
Lucan grunted. “She’s tired.”
Fallon followed Lucan inside the castle. He didn’t miss the look between Lucan and Cara when he sat her in one of the chairs before the hearth. Something had changed between them, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out what it was. Fallon was glad for his brother. After all they had been through, Lucan deserved some happiness.
Cara lifted her gaze to Fallon, then shifted to Quinn. “I’m sorry. I really thought I was doing the right thing in leaving.”
“You are welcome here as long as you need to stay,” Fallon said.
Her smile was genuine. “Thank you.”
“I have news,” Lucan said as he built a fire.
That got Quinn’s interest. “What kind of news?”
“A lot, actually,” Cara said. “I found another Warrior.”
Fallon glanced at Lucan. His tunic was gone and could have been torn in battle. “Did he attack?”
“Nay.” Lucan dusted off his hands and stood when he finished. “He knows of us, of how we escaped Deirdre. He said he’s been hiding from Deirdre as well, and there are others like him.”
“Others?” Quinn repeated.
“Aye, others,” Lucan said. “He said we’re going to need him and the other Warriors when Deirdre attacks.”
“I don’t know,” Fallon said, and ran a hand down his face. “All this time we’ve thought we were alone.”
“Galen said he’s been searching for all of you,” Cara said. “He could be a way to win against Deirdre.”
Quinn gave a snort. “Or he could be a way to utter defeat.”
“Do you have another option?”
Fallon hated to admit it, but Cara was right. One look at Lucan, though, and Fallon knew there was more. “What else happened?”
Lucan sighed. “First, I must get food for Cara. She hasn’t eaten since this morn.”
He stalked to the kitchen and pulled some of the roasted deer from the pit and put it on a trencher. There was a little bread left that he added as well.
For a moment he stared at the food. There had been a time when his trencher had been piled with various foods. He missed the meals he had taken for granted.
When he walked back into the great hall Cara was at the table pouring herself some wine from Fallon’s bottle. Lucan lifted a brow at his elder brother. Fallon didn’t share his wine easily.
“She looked as though she needed it,” Fallon said in way of an explanation.
Lucan placed the trencher between him and Cara and motioned for her to eat. Once she had selected a piece of meat, he took one for himself. He watched her eat, the way her lips closed over the meat and pulled the bite into her mouth, and the way her tongue licked the juice from her lips. He grew hard just watching her.
She glanced at him. By the way she smiled, she saw his hunger. If they were alone, he would haul her on top of the table and make love to her again.
But they weren’t alone, and if Quinn’s glare was any indication, everyone knew how much Lucan wanted her. The question was did they know he had already tasted her? Did they know he had sampled a slice of heaven that he didn’t plan to ever let go?
“Lucan,” Fallon urged.
He finished chewing his bite and put his elbows on the table. “Galen also knew of the Demon’s Kiss.”
“What?” Quinn demanded as he moved to stand at the foot of the table near him. “How?”
Lucan shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Fallon slid onto the bench across from him. “What did you learn?”
Cara’s hand slipped under the table and rested on his leg. She was afraid to tell them, afraid of what they would say. He covered her hand with his own and gave her a little squeeze of reassurance.
“We know why Deirdre wants Cara,” Lucan answered. “Deirdre, it seems, is a
Quinn crossed his arms over his chest and cursed. “A
“We had other things on our minds,” Fallon said.
It was true, but they should have recognized Deirdre for what she was. “Her use of black magic should have told us then.”
“But
Lucan looked at his younger brother. “Have they?”
