Galen took two steps backward and slammed the wyrran against the tree. The creature’s claws sank deeper into his back, but when Galen stepped away, it fell unconscious to the ground.
Galen wasted no time in cutting off its head with his claws, but when he turned to the one he had kicked against a tree, he glimpsed it running toward the loch.
Toward Reaghan.
Galen didn’t think, just reacted. He chased after the wyrran, getting to it just as the creature stepped into the water.
The wyrran turned and raked its claws diagonally across Galen’s chest with first one hand and then the other, making an
He kicked the wyrran’s feet out from beneath it and used his boot on its neck to keep it down. The wyrran continued to slice at his legs and any other part of Galen it could reach.
Galen stared down at the despicable beast. “It’s time you die.” He plunged his hand into the wyrran’s chest and pulled out its heart.
He tossed the heart away, and only when he knew the wyrran was dead did he realize he was at the loch. He blinked, his chest tightening.
Slowly, tentatively, he turned his head and found Reaghan watching him with her mouth open and horror in her beautiful gray eyes.
ELEVEN
Reaghan could only stare in wonder — and more than a bit of fright — at the creature in front of her. She knew it was Galen by his kilt and the blond hair that flowed freely about his shoulders.
She swallowed as she took in the sight of skin the darkest green. And those claws!
Her heart raced, her blood ran like ice as she looked at him. She shivered from the time she’d spent in the cool loch, but also because of the wyrran attack. Those skinny, diminutive creatures made her stomach turn.
Despite her fear she realized Galen was killing the wee beasts. He was brutal, fierce in his slaying, but the blood and wounds over his body proved the wyrran had done their own damage.
And then Galen turned his head toward her.
Reaghan’s heart jumped in her throat as she stared into eyes she didn’t recognize. Gone were his beautiful cobalt eyes, and in their place were eyes as green as his skin. And the color bled through the entire eye.
She wanted to run. But she also wanted to go to him and see if he was all right. She didn’t know what to do, so she stood still, waiting for Galen to speak, to tell her everything would be all right.
He didn’t say anything. For long, heart-wrenching moments he just stared at her. There was something in his unusual eyes, something that made her yearn to take him in her arms and comfort him.
Reaghan licked her lips. “Galen?”
She heard the deep growl that came from him and flinched as he spun away. With her heart pounding, she started toward him.
From the stories she had heard she knew he was a Warrior, but she also knew he was not on Deirdre’s side. She had seen the truth of it in his eyes.
Though she had felt Galen’s kisses, knew the way his body moved over hers, she was apprehensive about getting near him in his Warrior form. The sheer power that radiated from him now was beyond belief, breathtaking, and more than a little daunting.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Reaghan swiveled her head to the right and saw a man atop a horse. His brown hair was streaked with gray at the temples, but it was the sneer on his face that made her gasp. There was so much hatred in that one look it made her take a step back.
She could feel his loathing, sense his need to capture her and take her … somewhere evil.
Wherever it was, it wasn’t good.
“Get to the village, Reaghan!” Galen yelled.
She glanced at him to see Galen’s gaze locked on the man. Reaghan hesitated, afraid to move, afraid the man might reach her before she could get away.
“He willna touch you.”
Galen’s promise, the deep, calming resonance of his voice, propelled her out of the water and behind him. Galen never took his eyes off the man.
She grabbed her gown, and with one last glance at Galen, she ran up the hill toward the village. She could hear the Druids and their frightened voices, the soft crying of some of the women.
Reaghan jerked her gown over her head and stumbled into the middle of the village where everyone stood huddled against each other.
“Reaghan!” Mairi shouted and jerked her into the group. “Are you hurt?”
“Nay, I was at the loch when the wyrran came. Galen and Logan are fighting them off.”
Mairi’s hand shook as she wrapped cold fingers around Reaghan’s wrist. “What makes those two men think they can defeat the wyrran?”
“I saw them fight the wyrran when one tried to get me. We will be safe,” Reaghan promised.
Mairi’s brown eyes regarded her silently for a moment. “What did you see?”
“I saw the wyrran die.” She wasn’t about to tell the elder the truth. They would cast Galen and Logan out of the village, even though they had defeated the wyrran.
The thought of never seeing Galen again, of never tasting his kisses again, of never feeling his arms around her, left Reagan distraught.
Despite what she had seen at the loch she couldn’t stop thinking of him. Galen was a good man, that she knew with certainty. He might have evil inside him, but he was a man of principle, a man who would fight evil until the end of his days.
*
Fury bubbled inside Galen when he caught sight of the man. The fact that the man was staring at Reaghan as if he’d found his salvation only made Galen’s rage burn brighter, hotter.
The only thing that would cleanse him of it was the man’s death. By Galen’s hand.
Once Reaghan was out of the loch and running to safety, the rider jerked his mount around and kicked him into a run. Galen wanted to see Reaghan to the village, but he had to go after the man and try to end this now.
Whoever he was, he was Deirdre’s. He might not have been created by black magic, but he had given himself to Deirdre in all ways. Now that he had seen Reaghan, he would chase her until he captured her.
Galen hesitated a moment more, listening to make sure no wyrran ambushed Reaghan. Only then did he smile, his god eager for more blood and death. It would take no time for Galen to catch the man, not with the speed his god gave him.
Just as Galen started after him, a wyrran jumped in his path. In two quick swipes of Galen’s claws the creature lay dead at his feet.
He could have sworn he had killed them all. Yet there had been another. What if there were more? What if the beasts were just waiting for someone to venture from the village? What if that someone was Reaghan?
Galen’s blood ran cold with that thought. He looked after the man, silently promising the bastard he would find and kill him very soon. Then Galen pivoted and started toward the village. He pushed his god down, waiting until his claws and fangs were gone and his skin had returned to normal before he showed himself to the villagers.
His gaze found Reaghan almost immediately. She stared at him, fear and worry mixing in the stunning gray depths of her eyes. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn’t do so yet. Mayhap not ever again.
