Cara laughed and shook her head as she walked toward the kitchen. “We’ve offered to teach you, Marcail.”
“I’ve made a muck of it every time,” Marcail answered with a conspiratorial wink to Reaghan.
Reaghan felt a pull toward these women, as if she needed to form a relationship with them. Something inside her told her it was important, and she was powerless to ignore the feeling.
“Go ahead,” Galen urged. “I’ll find you later.”
She wanted to go with the women, but she wasn’t ready to leave Galen. Her decision was made when Marcail took her hand and pulled her toward the kitchen.
“Hayden is looking for you,” Marcail said to Galen. As they turned to enter the kitchen, Marcail leaned close and grinned. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your time with Galen.”
“Is it that obvious?”
Larena laughed while she stirred something. “Oh, aye, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Not at all,” Sonya said. “I quite like watching those Warriors fall for their women.”
But Reaghan wasn’t fool enough to think Galen would ever be hers. If she couldn’t break the spell, she would lose her memories. She wouldn’t remember anything, but Galen would. How would he manage to cope with such an event?
As if sensing her darkening mood, Isla said, “Sometimes the future is impossible to predict.”
“But not Galen’s stomach,” Larena said.
Marcail sat between Isla and Sonya and rolled portions of dough into small balls. “I wasn’t jesting when I said I couldn’t cook. I come in here to be with them.”
“She does help,” Cara said.
Sonya snorted. “When she isn’t becoming ill.”
“Ill?” Reaghan said. “Is something wrong?”
Marcail’s smile lit up her entire face. “I’m carrying Quinn’s child.”
“Congratulations,” Reaghan said. She could feel the joy that surrounded Marcail, felt the excitement of the other women. “That’s such wonderful news.”
Cara bumped shoulders with Marcail. “We’re all terribly thrilled, but what we’d really like to know is your version of when Galen and Logan found your village.”
Reaghan stepped up to the large worktable and bit her lip as she recalled the first time her eyes met Galen’s.
*
Galen spotted Hayden on the roof of a cottage in the village. Everywhere Galen looked the Warriors were hurrying to repair the cottages now that the Druids had taken over the castle.
“We wondered if we’d see you at all since Reaghan is here now,” Ian, one of the twins, teased as Galen walked past him.
Galen rolled his eyes and continued on to the cottage where Hayden was patching the roof. “She’s a sight better than you smelly brutes.”
“True enough,” Fallon replied with a smile.
Galen couldn’t wipe the grin from his face. Just being with Reaghan made his day better. He leaped to the roof beside Hayden. “You wanted to see me.”
Hayden finished tying off the straw and nodded. He sat back, his legs bent and his arms resting on his knees. “How was Logan while you were gone? He said he needed time away. Did it do him any good?”
“Some,” Galen answered. He lowered himself beside Hayden and looked out over the village and the land surrounding the castle. “Something has changed in him.”
“It’s been going on for some time. I should have spoken to him sooner about it, but I thought he might get past it on his own.”
“He’s still a young immortal. We all go through a dark period.”
Hayden nodded wearily. “Aye, I ken. This seems to be different. I sense a darkness in him that is growing, and I can sense it because that darkness was with me for many decades.”
Galen fisted his hands as he tried to imagine Logan giving in to his god. “Aye. I saw it when Fallon jumped us to the castle and Logan put his hand on me. Do you think his god is about to take over?”
“I’m no’ sure.” Hayden blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “I knew Logan always hid his pain with his jesting and teasing.”
“He hid it well then because I never knew.”
“The demons of our past never go away,” Hayden murmured. “You can try to outrun them, but they always find you in the end.”
Galen grimaced at the truth of Hayden’s words. There was a part of his past he hadn’t been able to outrun. And he had tried. Was still trying. “What is it in Logan’s past that is rearing its ugly head?”
“That I doona know.”
“I thought you two shared everything.”
Hayden lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “I always knew Logan held something back. I think it’s what he’s been running from.”
“Have you told any of the others?”
“Nay. I wanted to talk to you first. I’d hoped Logan would return more himself, but he seems to have sunk further into the darkness.”
Galen fisted his hand as he thought of the image he’d seen in Logan’s mind. “Has Logan ever mentioned a younger brother?”
“Logan doesna speak of his family. Why?”
“I saw a glimpse into his mind while traveling. There was a young boy who had similar features to Logan. He was calling for Logan, begging Logan to come back, but Logan walked away.”
“God’s blood,” Hayden murmured.
Galen stood as he caught sight of Logan. “We all need to keep an eye on him. He may no’ want us to interfere, but we are brothers in this.”
“I willna allow Logan to fall to his god,” Hayden vowed. “I doona care what he says, I will fight for him.”
“Then we need to tell the others.”
“Agreed. I’ll see to it.”
Logan halted in the middle of the village, his face to the sky. “Galen,” he called and pointed upward.
Galen looked up and spotted the peregrine as it soared above them. “Shite.”
“What is it?” Quinn asked from the ground below them.
Galen jumped off the roof to land next to Quinn as the other Warriors gathered near. “Logan and I spotted it as we left for Loch Awe.”
“Then we saw it at the loch,” Logan said. “And on our return journey here.”
Galen met Logan’s gaze. “We sensed magic in it.”
“Deirdre, you think?” Lucan asked.
“Possibly,” Logan answered. “And I aim to find out.”
Fallon grabbed his arm to stop him. “No’ yet. Deirdre will come regardless. We need to stay together now that we have more Druids to protect.”
“And the artifact,” Hayden added.
“And Reaghan,” Fallon amended.
Galen met Quinn’s gaze. “Want to try and communicate with the falcon? Maybe with your power you can learn something.”
“Let’s see then,” Quinn said.
The next instant Quinn’s skin had turned the black of his god. Black bled through the whites of his eyes and covered everything in onyx. Galen held his breath, hoping Quinn would discover who was controlling the bird.
“I cannot communicate with the falcon. The peregrine is being controlled with magic,” Quinn said, his gaze locked on the bird. “However, she is allowing herself to be used thus.”
“Meaning?” Fallon asked.
Quinn blinked, black fading from his skin and eyes. His gaze swept the Warriors around him. “Meaning, I
