helped to steady him. He leaned his face against the top of her head.
“This canna be happening.”
“We’ll get him back, Lucan,” she promised.
Hayden stood. “Cara’s right. We need to get Quinn back.”
“Deirdre isn’t stupid,” Fallon said as he walked to the table. “She knows Quinn may be strong, but without me and Lucan, he isn’t as valuable.”
Lucan sighed. “She knows we’ll come for him.”
“Aye. She will want us trapped with Quinn,” Fallon said.
“We need a plan,” Logan said. “But first, we need to find Cara a Druid.”
Cara pulled out of Lucan’s arms and nodded. “Logan is right. I can use my magic to help.”
“Against Deirdre?” Lucan shook his head. “She’s much too powerful.”
“But she won’t expect me to use any magic.”
“Or maybe she will,” Lucan argued. “I don’t want you near her.”
“Nor do I want you near her, but Quinn needs us.”
Ramsey shook his head. “A war is brewing. Deirdre knows we’ve banded together now. We surprised her, but it won’t happen again.”
“What do you suggest?” Fallon asked.
“We find the scroll of names. Galen can contact other Warriors he knows and bring them here. Everyone is going to have to take sides.”
Lucan glanced at Fallon. “Deirdre has black magic, an infinitesimal amount of wyrran, as well as God only knows how many Warriors. We don’t stand a chance.”
Fallon tapped a finger on his thigh. “I think Ramsey may be right. We need the scroll, if for nothing else than to keep it out of Deirdre’s hands.”
Lucan thought he knew where his brother was going. “Galen, didn’t you tell us that there are some Druids who know how to bind our gods?”
“Aye,” Galen answered. “Deirdre has hunted and killed most of them. I don’t know if there are any left.”
“But if there are, it would give us an advantage.”
Cara’s brow furrowed. “How? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand,” Hayden said. “If we can get inside Deirdre’s mountain and bind the Warriors she’s unleashed, it will give us an advantage.”
“Only if it doesn’t bind your gods as well,” Cara said. “It’s very risky.”
Lucan threaded his fingers with hers. “It’s all we have, love.”
Cara nodded, her brow furrowed, and moved to the kitchens to bring out food for their morning meal. Lucan was just about to ask Fallon if he had an idea where the scroll might be found when they heard the rumble of horses. Many horses.
Lucan and Fallon looked at each other before they rushed out of the castle to the battlements.
“It’s the MacClures,” Fallon said. “I had a feeling they might return.”
Lucan glared at the Highlanders who rode closer and closer to his home. He estimated there to be about fifty warriors. “Why?”
“I suspect they want the castle, but they aren’t going to get it.”
Lucan raised his brow as he looked at Fallon.
“This is ours,” Fallon said. “We’re MacLeods. Our lands were stolen before we had a chance to return. I’ll be damned if they think they can take our home.”
“The only way to keep the castle is to let the king know a MacLeod still lives.”
Fallon clenched his jaw. “Then I’ll see it done.”
Once more Lucan was taken by surprise. He hadn’t expected Fallon to volunteer to go; Lucan had thought he would be sent.
Before he could comment, Fallon walked around Lucan to the gate house. When the MacClures reached the castle, Fallon bellowed for them to halt.
The MacClure laird narrowed his eyes on Fallon. “Who are you to stop me from gaining entrance into my castle?”
“This isn’t your castle.” Fallon’s voice was smooth and even but hard as steel. “This is my castle, the MacLeod castle. You stole our lands, but you won’t take the castle.”
MacClure laughed. “You against fifty of my men? You don’t stand a chance, lad.”
Lucan walked to stand next to his brother. There was movement behind Lucan, and when he glanced over his shoulder he saw the others spread out on the battlements.
Fallon smirked. “As you can see,
“I’ll have my castle!” MacClure shouted.
To Lucan’s surprise, Fallon transformed and bared his fangs to MacClure. “Do you want to try?”
There were shouts and curses as the horses reared and tried to run away. Fallon might not be evil, but the god inside him was.
Lucan let his body change and glared at the laird. “Leave and never return. This castle is ours.”
MacClure wheeled his horse around, his men quickly following as they galloped off into the distance. The last one to leave was the woman they had seen in the village. Her black hair was pulled away from her face in a braid, but her pale blue eyes regarded them without fear. After a moment, she turned her horse and rode away.
Lucan blew out a breath as he transformed back. When he glanced at Fallon he, too, was once again a man. “I didn’t expect that.”
Fallon shrugged. “We’ve lost too much. I refuse to give up the castle as well. No longer are we going to live in it like ghosts. The first thing I want is a new gate built.”
“I’ll see it done.”
Lucan smiled as his brother jumped from the battlements. He had waited so long for Fallon to control the god, and now that he had, nothing was going to stand in his way. Lucan said a silent prayer of thanks and nodded to the others as they followed Fallon into the castle. Plans and strategies needed to be made, for Deirdre was a formidable foe who wouldn’t die easily.
As soon as Lucan entered the castle he found Cara waiting for him. There was one thing he wanted to do first. He walked to her and pulled her into his arms for a long, deep kiss. When he raised his head, her lips were swollen and her breathing ragged.
“Marry me.”
She blinked. “What?”
“When I almost lost you, I’ve never known such terror. In that instant, everything was clear to me. I love you with everything I have to give, Cara. I want you for my wife.”
“You already have me.”
He chuckled. “I know, but I want our union to be blessed by the church.”
“I know where to find a priest,” Logan said. “I can have him here in two days.”
Lucan nodded to him before he looked at Cara. “Well? Will you be my wife?”
“Despite the fact that I’m mortal and we may never find a Druid to bind your god?”
“Aye. One year with you is better than forever without you.”
“Oh, aye, Lucan MacLeod. I’ll marry you.”
He smiled just before he lowered his head for another kiss.
EPILOGUE
The sun shone brilliantly down upon the small group gathered in the bailey. Cara smiled up at Lucan, still amazed he had asked her to be his wife.
Logan had been true to his word. He had arrived with the priest just that morning. Fallon had gifted her with a beautiful gown the color of cream and threaded with black. It was a perfect day.
The other Warriors stood around her and Lucan with Fallon next to his brother. The only one missing was Quinn. His absence was hard on Lucan and Fallon, but their determination to get him back was strong.
Lucan had said his vows with a clear voice, but when it came Cara’s time, the words lodged in her throat. She
