“That was their choice,” Odara said. “They knew what awaited them, and they chose certain death over these walls.”
“We aren’t going after them?” Sonya asked, her eyes round with disbelief.
Fallon sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “I vowed never to keep anyone prisoner, Sonya, and that’s exactly what I would be doing if I brought those Druids back.”
“They don’t know what they’re doing. It’s wrong of us to leave them to Deirdre,” she argued.
“I need everyone to stay inside the castle walls,” Fallon said. He looked around the hall. “No one leaves. No one. We have no idea when the attack will come, but we will be ready.”
Quinn rubbed his hands together. “Arran, Ian, Duncan, Hayden, and I will set up first watch.”
“I can take a quick flight over the area to see how close the MacClures are,” Broc offered.
Fallon nodded. “Good idea, Broc. Stay high enough so they cannot see you.”
“Of course.” Broc removed his tunic and started for the castle door, his skin already turning the dark, indigo blue of his god.
Galen watched as Broc’s wings spouted from his back. “I can take watch.”
“You will rest first,” Lucan said.
Galen wanted to argue, but he knew Lucan was right. He was no good to anyone in his current condition. “Just for a little while.”
“I’ll help him,” Reaghan said.
As soon as her slender hands came in contact with him, all Galen could think about was taking her in his arms and holding her. He wanted to part her sweet thighs and bury himself to the hilt.
He was afraid to touch Reaghan, afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands from her. She had pulled away from him yesterday and created a chasm Galen was afraid he’d never be able to span.
Galen put his arm around her shoulders and allowed her to take some of his weight. He was thankful she was there so he didn’t have to try to make the climb to his chamber by himself.
With the Druids now gone, Galen once more had his chamber, which was on the opposite side of the castle from Reaghan’s. He guided her to the room and pushed open the door.
Galen lifted his arm from her shoulders and stumbled into the chamber to collapse on his bed. He fully expected Reaghan to leave, so when he sensed her beside him, his heart beat double time.
“You shouldn’t have put your life in danger.”
He shrugged. “These people are my family, and that includes you. I would do anything to protect you.”
“You saw more in Mairi’s mind than you told us, didn’t you?”
“I did,” he admitted. “I saw evil more deadly, more intent, than you could imagine. I fear for us, Reaghan. I fear nothing we can do will ever defeat Deirdre.”
THIRTY-SIX
Reaghan’s stomach fell to her feet like a stone. “There has to be a way to end what she has begun. I refuse to believe she will win.”
Galen’s head jerked in a nod as he looked at her. “I agree. I’ve always believed goodness would overcome the evil of this world.”
She knew Galen was trying to calm her. She appreciated him telling her the truth, but it made her realize that she had to determine how to break the spell so that whatever information she held she could give to the Warriors.
She recalled her dream where she had told herself she knew how to break the spell. Why couldn’t she remember? Why, when Galen needed to have the information she had hidden. And what was it, exactly, she had hidden in her mind? What could be so important, so vital, that she had given up her life to protect it?
Galen had said Deirdre would have come looking for her. Did she hide something that could hinder — or God forbid,
There was no way she would have helped Deirdre. Not willingly anyway. Regardless of her past and the memories hidden from her, Reaghan would wager her soul she had set herself against Deirdre.
Reaghan sighed and lifted her gaze to talk to Galen. She smiled when she found him asleep. Slowly, carefully, she joined him on the bed until she was snuggled against his healing body. Then, she wound a lock of his hair around her finger and let her gaze wander over him.
The lines that had bracketed his mouth and eyes had eased. It was peculiar seeing Galen look so vulnerable, so drained. She had gotten used to his invincibility, his immortality and immense strength, but what had happened in the great hall proved he wasn’t as indestructible as she thought. He had taken a great risk for her and the others at MacLeod Castle.
A risk to his own life.
He hadn’t hesitated either. His only thought had been to save his family. Family he now considered her to be a part of.
“Oh, Galen,” she whispered.
She smiled when she traced her finger down his cleanly shaven jaw, remembering how he had teased her with his whiskers. Her finger smoothed over his wide lips. Those lips had brought her such wicked pleasures, such incredible kisses.
So much had happened since she had first caught sight of Galen. Her entire world had changed — for the better. She ached for the Druids who had been too afraid to see the Warriors were only protecting them.
Like Sonya, Reaghan had wanted to go after them. But Fallon’s words, as awful as they were to hear, had been correct. To make someone stay was to imprison them, which would do more harm than good.
She prayed her fellow Druids managed to escape, even though Reaghan knew in her heart Deirdre would capture them.
And Mairi. Reaghan’s eyes filled with tears as she thought of the elder. Had Mairi known Deirdre invaded her mind? Had Mairi fought against the evil?
Reaghan would probably never know the answers. Mairi was gone, no longer to be used by Deirdre. But Reaghan worried about Odara. She had thought Mairi was the strongest of the elders, but now Reaghan began to wonder if it hadn’t always been Odara.
Reaghan sighed and snuggled closer to Galen, seeking the warmth of his muscular body. She laid her hand atop his and linked their fingers.
Her thoughts of Mairi, Deirdre, and the coming attack began to fade as sleep lulled her. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt the dull ache that signaled a headache, but for the first time she wasn’t scared.
She would face the pain and whatever the future held with Galen at her side.
Odara looked at the MacLeod brothers around the table. It was surreal seeing them in the flesh after hearing the tales spoken about them.
It would be so easy for the Warriors to lash out at everything and everyone after what had happened to the brothers and their clan. Yet they had opened their home, had vowed to stand against Deirdre, and had found love.
That had been the deciding factor for Odara upon arriving at the castle. She knew the others had feared Galen and Logan, but she had come to like and respect the Warriors.
Just knowing she would be surrounded by thirteen Warriors had made Odara more than a little frightened. Until she met the Druids who lived at the castle and saw how they interacted with the Warriors. That had been enough for her.
Odara waited for the questions to begin. She knew the Druids of the castle would want to talk to her, and she wasn’t surprised to find the MacLeods with them.
“Why didn’t you fight against Mairi and her talk of leaving?” Sonya asked.
