to be. Soon, however, things will change and we will leave. It’s in your eyes. Anyone who knows what to look for will see it.”
She could only stand in muted astonishment. Was she so obvious? Of course, she had told the MacLeods she would leave, and Malcolm could have overheard the conversation.
“Does Larena know you plan to go away?” Isla asked.
Malcolm shoved the lock of hair back from his forehead. “I tried to tell her, but she willna listen. This is her home now.”
“From what I understand, it’s yours as well.”
“I have no home,” he stated flatly. “It was taken from me.”
Isla knew where the conversation was heading. She decided to take the direct approach. “And you blame me.”
Malcolm snorted and fisted his left hand. “You didna attack me. You didn’t use claws to scar my face and body. You didn’t make my arm useless.”
“You’re lucky to be alive, Malcolm. You should rejoice that Broc found you, and Sonya was able to heal you.”
“I should, but I don’t. They would have been better to let me die.” He blew out a harsh breath. “Doona think I’m not grateful to them. Fallon has allowed me to stay and taken me in as one of his own.”
“But you were to be laird,” she finished for him. “Your life was taken from you.”
“As yours was.”
Isla looked away, unable to look into his haunted eyes another moment. In his gaze she saw the sadness, the anger, the bitterness that she carried within herself. And she ached for him because there was nothing anyone could do for Malcolm.
“What is between you and Hayden?” Malcolm asked.
Isla jerked her head toward him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m left alone, but that doesna mean I donna see things. I saw the kiss you two shared on the beach. It surprised me considering how much Hayden despises
She kicked at a broken table leg. “If there was ever anything between us, it is long gone now.”
“I wonder,” Malcolm murmured before he turned and left.
Isla shook her head and continued working. Hours went by before she heard someone say her name. She looked up to find Cara in the doorway of the cottage, a water skin in her outstretched hand.
“Thank you,” Isla said as she took the water and drank deeply. She wiped her chin where water had dripped with the back of her hand and leaned against the door. She had worked nonstop for hours to occupy her mind, and it had worked just as she hoped.
Cara looked around the cottage. “You’ve been working hard.”
“I cannot sit around doing nothing. I must keep busy.” Now that she was idle, however, she found herself thinking about Hayden. Isla looked past Cara into the center of the village where the other Warriors gathered to rest.
She didn’t see Hayden, but she was sure he wasn’t far. No one had left the area since she had shielded it.
“He’s not here,” Cara said.
Isla glanced away hoping Cara wouldn’t say more. She should have known better.
“We should have told you someone would be following you.”
“Aye, you should have.” Isla looked at Cara, wanting to be angry, but one look at Cara’s honest, mahogany eyes, and Isla couldn’t find it in herself.
Cara licked her lips and fiddled with the wine skin. “Lucan and his brothers do trust you, but you admitted when Deirdre takes over, you are not yourself. They wanted to ensure everyone’s safety in case that happened.”
“I think they’re doing the right thing. Had I been told, I would have understood.”
Cara smiled, her face lighting up with joy. “I’m so glad. Why don’t you come with me and Marcail? We’re running low on herbs.”
Isla had spent most of her five hundred years alone. Maybe it was time she made herself join others. “I would like that.”
“Come then,” Cara said and took her hand as she pulled her from the cottage. “It is time to have some fun.”
As Isla followed her, she noticed that several Warriors watched them walk through the village. Isla wondered which of them was to follow her now.
Why had Hayden done it in the first place? And why did she even care?
They found Marcail waiting for them at the back of the village near the old convent. Cara slowed and glanced at the ruins.
“They took me in when no one else would,” Cara said. “The nuns cared for many abandoned children.”
Isla couldn’t look at the convent. To think of the children who had died there made her sick to her stomach. She gave Cara a moment and moved to join Marcail.
“What herbs are we searching for?” Isla asked.
“None.” Marcail laughed when Isla frowned. “I told Cara that to get her out of the castle. She’s worse than Quinn in coddling me.”
Isla chuckled at the devilment in Marcail’s eyes. Behind them Cara blew out a breath and mumbled something about getting even.
Marcail linked her arms with Isla. “Don’t get me wrong, I like Quinn being concerned, but sometimes it can be … well,” she with a shrug, “overwhelming.”
“I can imagine.” But Isla thought it would be nice to have someone worry about her like that.
Cara moved to Isla’s other side. “Don’t listen to her, Isla. Marcail loves that we fuss over her. It’ll be the first child born in MacLeod Castle in three hundred years. We’re all excited.”
“Do you and Larena want children of your own?” Isla asked.
“Very much so,” Cara said. “But not yet. Lucan … well, he doesn’t want to have a god inside him when we have a child. I told him it didn’t matter to me, but I conceded to his wishes. Larena has done the same for Fallon.”
“They drink a concoction Sonya makes for them that’s a mixture of herbs and magic.”
Isla knew exactly what they were talking about. “I know the one. I helped my mother make batches of it for our village. Every family would take turns brewing it each month.”
They reached the edge of Isla’s shield and she held out her hands to stop them. “We cannot go farther.”
“Then we’ll walk around it,” Marcail said with a smile.
Cara turned them to the right and they walked around the village toward the open expanse of land before the cliffs dropped off into the sea. It was a large distance. Enough that five other villages could have been placed there and still had room.
Isla listened to Cara and Marcail as they talked about baby names and their futures. It made Isla realize the huge void in her own life, an emptiness she now wanted to fill.
She immediately thought of Hayden. How could he be so tender, so loving during the night, but once the sun rose, he shunned her as if they hadn’t shared the most delicious pleasure imaginable?
“What’s making you frown?” Marcail asked. “I hope it isn’t Hayden. I’m waiting to see him to give him an earful after what he did this morning. That was uncalled for.”
Cara nodded vigorously. “He’s been acting strange every since … well, ever since he brought Isla here.”
Isla cringed. So she was the cause of his distress. Maybe it was better if she and Hayden kept their distance. It was obvious they weren’t good for each other.
As irritated as she was, Isla didn’t like the other two women being annoyed with him. “Hayden loathes
Both Marcail and Cara stared at her as if she’d grown horns. Which made Isla think of stroking Hayden’s red horns, and how his eyes had burned with desire.
“If I didn’t know better I’d think there was something between the two of you,” Cara said.
Maybe it was the knowing look that passed between Marcail and Cara, but Isla had the distinct impression
