Fury slammed into Lucan. His claws cutting, piercing, and slashing the purple skin, he attacked the Warrior. Lucan moved with movements so quick, the Warrior could only jerk with each gash of his body.
* * *
Cara watched in horror as Fallon fell, the purple-skinned Warrior wasting no time injuring him. She was glad when Lucan rushed to Fallon’s side, giving him time to rise and move away. It was just a moment later that Quinn joined Lucan but, instead of fighting, he helped Fallon to his feet.
A sharp pain ran through her leg. Unable to stop the cry from her lips, she turned and sank her dagger into the wyrran’s face. It screamed and clawed at the dagger.
Cara jerked it out and sliced off the wyrran’s head. When she looked up again, Galen and Ramsey were in the great hall fighting.
She jumped back to miss another wyrran’s claws and tripped over a dead wyrran. Cara landed hard on her back, but she rolled over and started to climb to her feet when something grabbed her from behind.
“This was much too easy,” said a rough, unfamiliar voice behind her.
Cara looked over her shoulder and saw the royal blue face of a Warrior. His smile was sinister, his fangs much too close to her skin for comfort. She struggled to get free, but he leapt onto the wall with her in his arms without difficulty.
“Lucan!” she yelled, and swung her dagger back toward the Warrior.
He jumped over the battle below and landed on the stairs, where he grabbed the wrist that held her dagger and squeezed. She clenched her teeth and held on as long as she could. Her bones brushed against one another, the pain unbearable. When her numb fingers could not hold on anymore, the dagger clattered to the stairs.
“Drop the sword or I break your arm,” the Warrior threatened. “Deirdre wants you alive, but a broken bone willna matter.”
Cara knew she had to stay strong to get away from him. If she was wounded it would only make things more difficult. She let the sword drop, feeling bereft without her weapons. She had nothing with which to battle the Warriors, but then again, even her weapons hadn’t been enough.
Once more the Warrior grabbed and jerked her against his chest. She clawed at his back with her nails and kicked with her feet in an effort to connect with his balls.
The Warrior turned, banging her head against the stone wall. The edges of her vision darkened as she fought to stay conscious. The Warrior continued up the stairs to the landing, his evil laugh making her skin crawl. Just before he turned, Cara raised her head and saw Lucan staring at her.
* * *
“Cara!”
Fallon jerked at the anguished cry of his brother. He turned and saw Lucan looking toward the stairs. Fallon caught a glimpse of Cara being carried away by a Warrior.
Deirdre must have planned it, because three other warriors attacked Lucan, preventing him from going after Cara. Fallon looked to Quinn, but just like Lucan, he was overtaken by Warriors.
Fallon forgot the pain of his healing chest and hurried after Cara before he was attacked as well. He followed Cara’s grunts and curses as the Warrior took her to the back tower. By the time Fallon reached it, he saw the Warrior was descending the cliff with Cara on his back.
Fallon paused as he recalled the look of horror and fear in Lucan’s eyes. Even when they had been in Deirdre’s mountain Lucan had never looked so . . . lost.
Lucan needed Cara. Ever since their clan had been destroyed, Lucan had taken care of his brothers. Lucan, who never asked for anything.
Fallon took in a shaky breath and lifted his arms so he could see his hands. He released the rage he’d kept pent up for centuries. The prickle rushed over his skin seconds before he turned black. He straightened his fingers and saw his nails lengthen into razor-sharp black claws.
Fear had kept him from transforming, but for Lucan he would face it—and the future.
Fallon threw back his head and bellowed as a surge of power warmed his skin. He looked over the castle and saw the Warrior and Cara staring up at him. Fallon’s claws scraped the rock as he vaulted over the side and plummeted down the cliff.
He stopped himself by grabbing a rock, the force jerking his arm out of its socket. Fallon ignored the pain and smiled when he saw how close he was to the Warrior.
“Hold on, Cara,” he called.
She lifted eyes wet with tears, clinging to the Warrior’s neck. Fallon couldn’t attack since Cara could lose her hold and fall into the churning sea below. But he also knew he couldn’t let the Warrior reach the bottom.
Fallon was going to have to think fast.
* * *
Lucan had never felt so helpless in his life. He fought, all the while screaming for Cara, against the Warriors trying to hold him. She was gone from him, he knew, but he couldn’t give up.
“Someone looking for a fight?” Logan yelled as he charged into the great hall, his silver skin bright against the chaos.
Lucan noticed Hayden behind him. Lucan killed one Warrior while Quinn tore off another’s head. The others scrambled out of the castle as if they’d been called away. Lucan didn’t care why they had left, only that they had.
No one tried to take him or his brothers. He stopped and looked around the hall. “Where is Fallon?”
Quinn pointed to the stairs. “He followed Cara.”
Lucan said a prayer of thanks and hurried after them. He couldn’t lose Cara, not now. Fallon had left a trail of overturned boards and doused torches to let his brothers know where he had gone.
When Lucan reached the top of the tower, he looked down to find Cara on the back of a Warrior while Fallon tried to stop him.
“My God,” Quinn breathed.
Lucan couldn’t believe Fallon had transformed. “I never thought he would turn again.”
Galen whistled softly from Lucan’s other side. “Fallon surprised us all.”
“We need to help,” Lucan said.
Quinn nodded. “What do you want us to do?”
Just then Cara screamed as the Warrior lost his hold and fell. Lucan’s chest tightened until the Warrior was able to catch hold and stop himself, but the impact made Cara’s hold slip.
A heartbeat before she caught the Warrior’s leg, halting her fall, Lucan screamed her name. He closed his eyes, his heart in his throat. “I’ve got to get to her.”
“We’ll help,” Quinn said.
“We cannot let him reach the bottom with Cara.”
Ramsey walked up beside him, his skin a dark bronze. He leaned over the tower, his claws scraping the stones. “I’ll get down there just in case he does.”
“I’ll go with him,” Hayden said.
Logan stepped forward. “I can stay up here if he decides to come back up.”
“And I’ll go this way,” Galen said, and pointed to the left where the cliffs met the castle. “In case he decides to try running across Scotland.”
Lucan gave a quick nod, then turned to Quinn.
Quinn smiled. “You aren’t going without me.”
Lucan wasted no time in climbing over the tower. He started descending toward Cara, praying with each beat of his heart that she survived. If she didn’t, he would storm Deirdre’s mountain himself and destroy the evil bitch.
He climbed quickly, and despite Fallon’s valiant try, the Warrior was able to still move down the cliff because of Cara. Whenever Fallon reached for Cara, the Warrior would kick his leg, sending Cara careening in the wind.
Lucan crawled to the other side of the Warrior while Quinn stayed above him. “Give me my woman,” Lucan demanded.
The Warrior laughed. “She was never yours, MacLeod. She’s a Druid and therefore belongs to Deirdre.”
“I’ll see Deirdre in Hell first.”
“No doubt.”
