Shadow Highlander

“She’s verra beautiful.”

Galen glanced over his shoulder to find Ramsey leaning against the stones, relaxed and nonchalant. But Galen knew Ramsey well enough to know his friend had sought him out for a reason. “Reaghan is beautiful.”

“Why don’t you go to her?”

“She needs time,” Galen said. “So much has changed for her.”

Ramsey’s boot heels hit the stones as he walked to stand beside Galen. “In all the decades I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you look at a woman as you do Reaghan. Why do you hesitate to go to her?”

“All of you take for granted touching another. I was not given that luxury with my god. I knew I would have to live my life alone. I had accepted my fate. Until I dared to kiss Reaghan. From the instant I realized her mind was blocked to me, I have no’ been able to stay away.”

“So you only want her because you cannot see into her mind?”

Galen inhaled deeply, his mind a jumble. “I cannot deny that is part of why I want her. But in the great hall when Mairi was asking her to leave, the thought of never seeing Reaghan again, of never holding her again, nearly broke me in two.”

“So you do care for her.”

“Enough that when she does lose her memories I will free her to find another.”

Ramsey raised a black brow. “You would give her up even though you’ve found possibly the only woman you can touch without your power interfering?”

“I would.”

“And that, Galen, is what makes you a good man. Forget Mairi and her spiteful words. Focus on Reaghan and what time you have left.”

Ramsey’s words echoed in Galen’s mind long after his friend had walked away. Just how much time did he have left with Reaghan?

*

Mairi paced her chamber and seethed. Ever since coming to MacLeod Castle, since meeting Galen, Reaghan had changed. Gone was the girl so willing to please, and in her place was a woman who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t be bent to another’s will.

But Mairi had no choice but to ensure that Reaghan left with the rest of them. Mairi had vowed upon being named an elder that she would keep Reaghan with them.

“You were wrong to say those things,” Odara said from the corner where she had sat since Mairi’s return.

Mairi clucked her tongue. “It needed to be said. All of it.”

“How did you know about Galen’s power?”

“He told me he used his power for information about Reaghan.”

“And the other,” Odara pressed. “How did you know he had controlled another’s mind before?”

Mairi paused and turned to Odara. In their youth, both of them had been the prettiest girls in the village, and since there were few men, they had become rivals instead of friends. Odara might have won the man Mairi had wanted, but Mairi’s body had remained stronger, not bent and weak as Odara’s now was.

“I guessed.”

Odara’s green eyes narrowed. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, Mairi. The truth, if you please.”

“All right. I was told.”

“By who?”

Mairi smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Galen is a threat to us and Reaghan, and I need to see him dead.”

Odara’s hand went to her chest. “Dead? You plan to kill a Warrior?”

“Aye.”

THIRTY-FOUR

The mist was everywhere, choking out the light and the air around Reaghan. It clung to her as if seeking to invade her skin.

In the mist she saw flashes of a mountain she knew instantly as Cairn Toul. There was another, one that brought peace to her heart and a smile to her face. Foinaven. Her home.

She took a step back when a face suddenly stared back at her. The white hair faded into the mist, but the pale skin and white eyes were visible. The lips were twisted in a snarl, hatred and malice pouring from the image.

Deirdre.

The drough’s face faded, and in its place was one of remarkable beauty. Her blue eyes were clear and bright, her hair the color of gold. There were similarities between the woman and Deirdre, but whereas Deirdre was cold and evil, this woman was life and warmth.

No matter how hard Reaghan tried to think of the woman’s name, it eluded her. The more she tried the more an ache in the back of her head throbbed.

And then the woman’s face faded.

Reaghan reached out to touch it, to bring it back. She fell through the mist, falling endlessly. Spiraling downward into a chasm that swallowed her. She tried to scream, but no sound came from her mouth.

Her arms flailed, reaching for something, anything, to hold on to. There was nothing but the mist.

And a voice. Her voice.

You know how to break the spell.

*

Reaghan woke suddenly, her heart pounding in her chest. Her chamber was dark, quiet. Empty. There was no mist, no faces or memories.

Only the voice reverberating in her mind.

She sat up and threw off the covers. Her sleep had been scarce, and when she finally had fallen asleep, there had been the dream.

Galen had not come to her, but then again she knew he wouldn’t. Maybe it was for the best. Though she knew Mairi’s words were false, she wanted to prove to Mairi and everyone that she made her own decisions, not Galen.

Reaghan looked out her window and saw that dawn was not far off. She dressed and combed her hair before braiding it. Then she left her chamber and hurried to the kitchen.

Cara had told her they were all there in the mornings. Reaghan hoped the women hadn’t chosen that morning to sleep in, not when she desperately needed to speak with them.

They had been her salvation the day before. Reaghan hadn’t known what to do about Mairi, but they had. When she suggested she stay away from Galen to prove Galen hadn’t been controlling her mind, they had all agreed, but they doubted Galen wouldn’t come to her.

Reaghan knew what kind of man Galen was. He struggled with his powers and the god inside him just as every Warrior at MacLeod Castle did. Galen was a good man. She knew it in the depths of her soul.

When she entered the kitchen it was empty. Reaghan sighed and leaned against the wall. She went over her dream again in her mind. This one was so different from the previous ones. In the others she had seen places and people she knew, but it had been as if she were reliving events. Never before had there been a mist.

This new dream was different in so many ways. For one, the woman. Reaghan recognized her as she had so many others, but this time there wasn’t a name. Only a feeling, as though this woman were very important.

Then there was her own voice telling her she knew how to break the spell.