Midnight's Surrender

when he was seven.”

“And her husband?”

Rennie’s brow furrowed. “He’s dead as well. It happened about ten years ago, not long after their son.”

“How did her husband die?”

“You know, I never learned that. You’re freaking me out, Dale. What is all this about?”

“She’s drough, Rennie.”

For several seconds she simply stared at him before she swallowed. “You’re sure?”

“There’s no denying the feel of drough magic, lass. Besides, I was around enough of them to know. I take it you didna know she was a Druid?”

“No. I mean, I knew the history of Coll. The MacLeans were droughs, but supposedly most of their magic was diluted over the years. My aunt didn’t seem to think Harriet was a problem.”

Dale took her by the arm and urged her toward the house since she was shaking, but he wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the information he just gave her. “Does she know you’re a Druid?”

“I … shit, I don’t know. With the families being around so long it would make sense that she does. Or at least assumes I could be.”

“She’s never used magic around you, has she?”

“No.” Her gaze took on a faraway look as they walked into the house.

He closed the door behind them, watching her. “What have you remembered?”

“The people on Coll are a little afraid of her. I never thought anything about it, but now it makes sense.”

“I want you to be careful of her. I doona have a good feeling about her.”

“Yeah, me either now.” Rennie removed her coat and hung it on a peg in the front hall. “I wonder how long she’ll let me live before she does away with me to get my land.”

“Who would the land go to if you died?”

Rennie rubbed her hands together and stomped her feet to remove the snow from her boots before she tugged them off. “I guess my mother, though she wants no part of it. Once she left here, she never looked back.”

Dale followed her into the kitchen where she put some bread in the toaster. “I think the first thing you need to do is try to figure out why Harriet wants your land. That in itself may tell you to what extremes she would go to in order to obtain it.”

“She was angry this morning. Really angry. And frustrated. Before, she’s always been so professional. Why would she be so different today?”

“I can go into the village and find out.”

“No,” she said as she whirled to face him. “Please don’t leave me. I know you’ll have to move on soon, but please. Not yet.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her. “I’ll no’ leave.”

The truth of those words shook him to his core.

Chapter Six

Two hours later Dale stood with Rennie surveying her land. He’d wanted her to take him around the property to see if he could pick up any kind of magic.

“There is nothing here but grass and rock,” she said, exasperation darkening her voice.

“Obviously there is something. Did your family always live on this piece of land?”

Her forehead furrowed as she turned to him. “Mostly, yes. At one time we had three times as much land but parts were sold off here and there when money was needed.”

“Who bought the land?”

Rennie shrugged, then paused as she remembered something. Dale waited impatiently for her to share it, but all she did was look from one place to the other. When she finally turned back to him, she was pale.

“Oh, God. I don’t think I would’ve realized it had you not asked.”

Dale could hear his god roar with growing fury at what was happening to Rennie, and he had to agree with Shomi. It didn’t take him long to deduce what had upset Rennie. “Harriet has the land?”

“Yes. It wasn’t sold to her or her family first, but she’s been systematically buying up as much land on Coll as she can.” Rennie put her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “How could I not have realized that? She told me several times over the years, and it just didn’t click.”

Dale took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze. “She doesna have your land.”

“Yet.”

“Ever. No’ unless you want to sell. If you want to remain, lass, I’ll help ensure that you do.”

She blinked, her light green eyes holding his. “You would do that for me?”

“I would.”

“Why?”

He took a step closer and ran his fingers along her cool cheek. Briefly, he thought about lying, then realized when it came to Rennie, everything changed for him. “Because I couldna walk away now if I tried.”

“You just met me. Do you feel compelled to help because you know I’m a Druid?”

It was a practical question, and it was part of his reasoning—but not nearly all of it. The need—primal and visceral—pounded within him to shield Rennie with everything he had.

“It is,” she said, the note of dejection hitting him squarely in the chest.

“Nay,” he hurried to tell her. “At least no’ all of my reasoning. Aye, I want to protect you because you’re a mie, but it is so much more than that.”

“I’ve known you for just a few hours, and yet I swear it’s as if I’ve known you my entire life. How is that possible?”

He shrugged and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve no answers. But I too feel as if I’ve known you forever. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“It’s scaring me,” she said as she leaned her head against his chest. “Feelings don’t grow so quickly. Do they?”

“I’ve seen the impossible done with magic, so I believe anything is possible.”

She pulled out of his arms, her smile tight. “Let me take you around the rest of the property.”

Dale remained beside her, listening to her describe the isle in the summer and how the tall grass swayed with the sea breeze. The longer he remained, the more he could see himself working the land as she did.

But more than that, he could see himself with her.

It left Dale uneasy. He had been prepared to spend decades or even centuries alone. It never occurred to him that he might find someone he wanted to be with.

Rennie was a calm, steady breeze to the storm that was his life. She was stable, solid in his ever-shifting world. He wanted to hold onto her with both hands.

If he did, he could bring her down. How could he live with himself knowing it was the yearning, the need he couldn’t contain that killed her? Because if evil ever found him again, he had no doubt it would zero in on Rennie and use it against him just as the Druids were used against the Warriors from MacLeod Castle.

Dale promised to help Rennie, but if he really wanted to help her, he would leave Coll and never look back.

Just thinking it made Shomi roar with fury and … fear. Fear from the god inside him? That was a first. Not even when the selmyr were killing him had Shomi been afraid.

“You’re deep in thought,” Rennie said.

Dale shrugged as they walked. “I’m just thinking.”

“About leaving?”

He jerked his gaze to her. “Are you a mind reader?”