Dangerous Highlander

the story that the Warriors ceased being men at all and became monsters?”

Lucan nodded. “Aye. There was no trace of the men they were. They couldn’t distinguish loved ones from enemies after Rome was gone.”

Cara bit her lips as she looked at the men around her. “I think I know why Deirdre wants the spell.”

“Tell us,” Fallon said, his voice dripping with impatience.

“When the gods were first put in the men, the droughs gave them orders to drive Rome from our lands. Once Rome was gone, these Warriors turned on their own people.”

“Aye,” Galen said. “They killed others as well as themselves. They couldn’t stop fighting if they wanted to.”

She clasped her other hand around Lucan’s larger one that held hers. “Deirdre is a drough, which means she knows how to call up spells. Except my guess is both the drough and the mie realized once they were able to bind the gods that they would be better served to banish the spells forever.”

Quinn was shaking his head before she finished. “I don’t think so. The Druids would realize they had the power to release and bind a very powerful weapon at any time.”

“Then why didn’t they?” she argued. “When the Saxons landed, why didn’t they call forth the Warriors? I think the Druids feared what they had done, feared it so much they wanted no part of it.”

“Even the droughs?” Galen asked. “The drough fear very few things.”

Cara glanced at Lucan to find his brow furrowed as he listened to her. Fallon tapped a finger on his chin, his gaze on the table. She didn’t have any facts to support what she said. All she had was her gut feeling.

“I think,” she continued, “that Deirdre, being a drough and powerful in her black magic, found a way to unlock the gods, but she didn’t fully release them. If she had set the gods free as the ancient Druids had, none of you would be sitting here today.”

Lucan hissed out a breath. “God’s teeth, I think she’s right. All the stories I ever heard of the Warriors was how out of control they were. I’m able to control my god.”

“I canna believe it,” Galen said. His blue eyes were round, his expression surprised. “I could never piece together why Deirdre wanted the spell to bind us when she knew how to release the god.”

Quinn sank onto the bench beside Galen. “Holy hell.”

“Now I understand why she’s taking so long to attack,” Fallon said as he began to pace. “I thought it was because she wanted to ensure they captured us this time.”

“She wants to make sure she captures Cara because of the Demon’s Kiss, but also because Cara might know how to bind us,” Lucan said.

“But I don’t,” she argued. Yet none of them heard her.

Quinn looked up at Lucan. “We’re going to need more Warriors.”

Cara couldn’t agree more. “Galen, how soon do you think you could have other Warriors here?”

“A day or two or more,” he said. “I had already sent word that I ran into Lucan. As I told you both in the forest, we’ve been looking for you MacLeods for over a hundred years.”

“You keep saying ‘we,’ ” Fallon said. “Do you all live in a village?”

Galen shook his head. “We each went our own way when we escaped Deirdre. Some got out before I did, some after, but there are places across Scotland that we mark, messages we leave the others in the ancient Celtic language that none but us can read.”

Lucan leaned on the table with his elbow. “What I want to know is how so many Warriors continued to escape Deirdre? With all her black magic, I would think she would have stopped that.”

Cara had wondered the same thing. It didn’t make sense that so many got out.

Galen chuckled. “The dungeons in Cairn Toul run the depth of the mountain. Deirdre carved her city inside the mountain and stays at the top in her palace. Rarely does she venture down into the dungeon, and if she does, it’s never good.”

“You say the dungeons are filled?” Cara asked. “The entire mountain?” She knew Cairn Toul was a large mountain, stretching high into the clouds, but she couldn’t imagine the whole mountain filled with people locked away.

“Aye,” Galen said. “Her palace is huge and takes up a large portion of the mountain. She doesn’t just keep Druids and men she suspects hold the gods inside them; she imprisons anyone she wants. Many she turns into her slaves, using her magic to control their minds.”

Fallon blew out a breath. “How is she choosing the men she thinks have the gods inside them?”

“Mostly I think she’s guessing. One of the men she captured said there was a scroll of names the droughs had written when the men were first turned to Warriors. Deirdre wants that scroll. She asks everyone she questions about it.”

“Does it exist?” Quinn asked.

Galen poured himself some water from the ewer on the table. “I think it does, but no one knows who has it.”

Fallon reached down to the floor and then placed a bottle of wine on the table. “Did she get any names from the man?”

Galen drained his water. He set the goblet down and frowned. “Aye, she got five surnames.”

Silence reigned in the great hall. After a moment, Cara rose and went into the kitchen to gather some food. The news the MacLeod brothers were getting was taking a toll on them. They were going to need their strength in the days to come.

When she walked into the hall, her arms laden with a tray of food, the men were all deep in thought. She set the tray on the table and motioned to the food.

“Eat. We have much to discuss.”

She let out a sigh when the men filled their trenchers. Quinn and Fallon flanked Galen, but he didn’t seem to mind. She wanted to hear more about Deirdre and the Warriors. Anything to keep her from thinking about her magic running through her. And a future that grew more uncertain with each passing moment.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Lucan watched Cara carefully. He wasn’t fooled by how she maneuvered the conversation to Deirdre and the Warriors. Cara wasn’t ready to talk about her Druid powers, but she would have to soon. Too much was at stake for them not to be prepared for any eventuality.

He pulled some of the meat off his trencher and gave it to her. She smiled and ate the roasted venison. They would have to hunt and fish tomorrow, since the meat was almost gone. And with the way Galen ate, they would have to hunt daily.

“You said you let the others know you had found me,” Lucan said to Galen. “How will they know where to find you?”

“I left a mark on one of the big oaks in the forest, letting them know I was headed west. They’ll come this way.”

“If they come,” Quinn added.

Galen bit into an oatcake and swallowed before he answered. “I only leave the forest if it’s important. They’ll come.”

Fallon set down the wine after pouring a hefty amount into his goblet. “I think the more significant question is if they come in time.”

Lucan couldn’t argue with him there. “We’ll alternate patrols tonight.”

Quinn nodded as he ate.

“We need to set up a plan,” Fallon said.

Lucan had seen a change in Fallon over the past day. He still drank, but not as heavily. His eyes were more