Untamed Highlander

matted around his face. He was thin, more thin than usual, as if he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in weeks. Months even.

“Dunmore?” Peter said, his voice low and his eyes scanning the area chaotically.

Dunmore put his hands on his hips. “What’s got you so afraid?”

“Some people in the village found out what I was tellin’ ye. They didna like it much and banished me.”

“And the coin I’d given you?”

Peter shrugged and opened the door wider. He didn’t step outside, but he straightened to his full height. “I lost it while I fought for my life.”

“I didna figure it would take people long to realize you weren’t the kindhearted man you pretended to be. What would they care that you told me about the Druids?”

Peter folded his arms over his chest and shivered. “I … I didna know until they told me.”

“Told you what?” Dunmore asked and took a menacing step toward Peter. Something was wrong, but he cared little of Peter’s trouble. All he wanted was answers so he could find a Druid and return it to Deirdre.

“At one time my village had been occupied by Druids,” Peter said softly. He wiped at his nose and blew out a deep breath. “They used to come often and heal the sick. They would assist the harvests to grow in bad years as well.”

“So?”

“The more I told ye where the Druids were, the fewer of them came. The sick stayed sick. Bad harvests didn’t grow. The village went from thriving to dying in a matter of decades.”

Dunmore laughed and dropped his hands. “Just what I wanted to hear. You were doing your duty, Peter. And were rewarded handsomely.”

Peter’s gaze dropped to the ground and he turned away. Dunmore was no fool. Something else had happened.

“I need the location of at least one Druid, Peter. I’ll take you with me as a reward this time. You can live in the mountain with us and rejoice in our victories. No more hunger, no more cold nights.”

Peter shook his head so vigorously that he nearly toppled over. “Nay. I cannot.”

“Cannot or will not?” Dunmore demanded. “You were willing before. So what if the village tossed you out? I will give you all that you dream.”

Peter stepped into his hut and slammed the door. “They’ll kill me,” he screamed through the wooden door. “The Druids saved me as a child from a fever that took me two brothers. They saved me, and I betrayed them.”

“What you doona want to do is betray me now, Peter.” Dunmore ground his teeth together. He’d have to beat more information out of someone today. Not that he minded. He had always found great pleasure is bringing others pain.

“Go away,” Peter yelled. “I willna tell ye anything else.”

Dunmore walked to the cottage. He kicked open the door and stepped over the threshold. He scanned the small hut with one glance. It reeked of urine and something rotting.

Peter was huddled in a corner shaking. Dunmore grabbed him by the collar and jerked him forward. Peter was tall but weighed nothing, so it was easy for Dunmore to haul him outside.

Dunmore tossed Peter to the ground and smiled when he heard Peter wince and curl onto his side. “I’m just beginning, Peter. You’ve seen me beat others to death before. Doona think I’ll spare you.”

“What ye’ll do to me is nothing compared to what the others will do.”

Dunmore was growing tired of this. “What others? The Druids? They’re running for their lives, Peter. They doona have time to worry of your stinking flesh.”

“Nay. They keep watch on me.”

Dunmore motioned with his hand to tell the wyrran to take a look around and bring back anyone they found. If there was someone out there the wyrran would find them. Until then, he’d get what he needed from Peter.

An hour later Peter was dead. Dunmore cursed and kicked him in the gut. Peter had been so malnourished that with the first punch Dunmore had broken his ribs. No matter what Dunmore did to him or promised him, Peter would tell him nothing.

Dunmore growled his annoyance. He would not fail Deirdre, not now, not when she needed him.

The wyrran returned, their big yellow eyes watching him soberly. They were empty-handed as well. Peter had been terrified for nothing. And Dunmore didn’t have a location on a Druid.

He grabbed the reins to his horse and jumped onto his back. He didn’t have time to waste. He’d return to all the places where he’d found Druids before. There had to be one foolish enough to think they were safe.

As Dunmore rode away with the wyrran behind him, he never saw the falcon that watched from high in the trees.

*

Hayden bristled as he watched Ian and Isla enter the great hall deep in conversation. Once again Isla said something to make Ian chuckle, which only angered Hayden all the more.

He had been the one to awaken Isla’s passion. He had been the first one to taste her decadent body. Yet she had never tried to make him smile.

You never gave her reason to.

Hayden growled, hating his conscience at that moment.

“If looks could kill,” Camdyn mumbled from beside him.

Hayden glanced at the Warrior. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“It means exactly what he said,” Malcolm said.

Hayden glared at the only mortal man at MacLeod Castle. He respected Malcolm for putting his life on the line for their cause, but he didn’t like anyone poking their nose in his business.

Duncan smiled, clearly enjoying Hayden’s distress. “Are you envious of my brother, Hayden? I didna think you could get away from that drough fast enough.”

“She has a name,” Hayden ground out.

Duncan snorted derisively. “What do you care?”

Hayden stood as Ian walked to his brother’s side. Hayden knew he couldn’t sit across from Ian and not punch him. He could smell Isla’s snow and wild pansy scent on Ian, and it sent Hayden’s blood to boiling.

He strode from the great hall and didn’t look back. He’d eat later once the evening meal was over. Besides, someone needed to keep watch over the castle.

Hayden settled himself on the battlements near one of the crumbling merlons and tried to clear his thoughts. Fallon had taken most of the guards off rotating duty, and the castle was down to just a few. Isla’s shield allowed them to do things other than stand watch.

He gazed at the sky with its vibrant colors of orange and bronze and purple as the sun descended. Pinpricks of light began to show in the darkening sky as the moon awoke and took her place in the heavens.

It was Hayden’s favorite time of day. The world was going to sleep while a different world began to awaken. There was a moment between when the sun set and night took over where everything was gray and quiet.

It was usually a peaceful time, but once again all Hayden could think about was Isla and the turmoil that was now his life.

How he could want someone so fiercely who was everything he hated? It didn’t seem right that fate should give him something like this when he was doing everything he could to stop evil from taking over the world.

Maybe it was his punishment for killing so many droughs. He hadn’t murdered them, though. He had given them a fair chance at defeating him, and with their magic, many had nearly succeeded. But it was his need for vengeance that drove him onward.

How many years had he walked Scotland searching for droughs? He hadn’t ever stopped to wonder if they had families. All he had been concerned about was the evil inside them.

Looking back, he wondered if he’d done the right thing. What if he’d killed Isla on one of his many rampages? He’d never have known the feel of her lush body or enticing lips. His emotions wouldn’t be tied in knots right now either.

He turned and lifted his face to Isla’s tower. He’d see the light from her window whenever she lit the candle. He intended to have a few words with her.

If he hadn’t felt the obstruction of her hymen himself he’d think she’d been lying about being with other men.