“What do you want the Scroll for?” Larena asked.
“To get Quinn out of Deirdre’s mountain, if it’s real. As far as I know, it could just be part of a tale.”
Larena’s smoky blue eyes swung to his, anger simmering in their depths. “You want to give Deirdre the names to turn other Warriors to save your brother?”
Fallon didn’t tell her the rest of the plan. There was no need, not with how heated she had become. She either wouldn’t believe him or wouldn’t understand. “Wouldn’t you do the same for Malcolm or your father?”
The tension eased out of her. “I would do whatever it took to get them away from such evil.”
“Then you understand why this is so important?”
“I do,” she whispered. “Deirdre could have a trap for you and Lucan though.”
Fallon pulled her back down to his chest and let his fingers run through her long golden locks. “Maybe. Maybe not. I doona plan on ever being her prisoner again. But knowing my youngest brother has been in her mountain for over a month makes my stomach turn.”
“I can only imagine.”
Fallon said no more. Too much had probably already been said. At least Larena was still in his arms. She hadn’t run from him, nor had she looked at him with pity. There hadn’t been accusations. Only understanding in her beautiful eyes.
Hope blossomed in his chest for the first time in three hundred years.
Chapter Nine
Larena had never shared so much with someone before. The fact that Fallon was being so open with her helped her to trust him more. Still, there was much she wanted to know about him.
“The stories about what Deirdre did to your clan are told all over the Highlands.”
“I know,” he said in a flat voice.
“Will you tell me what happened that day?”
He paused for a moment, as if weighing her words. “Sometimes I can still smell the blood and death of that day. All the happy memories I had of my clan, my family, and my home were gone in a blink. I was the next laird, yet I was powerless to do anything to help my people.”
“You couldn’t have done anything against Deirdre.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But at the time I had no idea it was a Druid who had done this to me, to my brothers. Our lives were over in an instant. And then she brought us to hell.”
She caressed his chest, wishing she could take away some of his heartache. “I know the pain of having my god unbound, and though I didn’t know it was going to be me, I knew what was happening. You didn’t know anything, did you?”
“Nay. Deirdre chained us as soon as we entered her mountain. Lucan jerked at his chains so hard that they cut into his skin. There was so much blood, and nothing I said to him could still him. And then there was Quinn. He couldn’t stop yelling at her. I doona know if he knew what he was saying, the ache of losing his wife and son had nearly killed him. It all seemed so surreal at the time. I was the eldest, I needed to show my brothers that I could stay calm in the face of such a crises.”
She swallowed past the lump forming in her throat. “Fallon.”
“But the moment she started chanting, all my good intentions flew out the door. I was ripped apart by the pain, blinded by the fury at what was happening. I knew something had come to pass, and it wasn’t for the better. I wanted to kill her, to seek vengeance for what she had done to my people. I ripped at the chains, expecting to get nowhere like Lucan, and then they broke. My brothers followed suit. As much as I wanted to kill Deirdre, and I would have had the chance, too, I knew we had to leave. She was stunned that we were able to break away, but I took my brothers out of the mountain. And we ran and ran and ran.”
“I can’t believe you got away.”
“We caught her by surprise. She wasna expecting us to run. The wyrran that came after us we killed. We hid for many years in the mountains, moving constantly. Then, we returned to our castle.”
He paused and she could feel his pain as if it were her own. She ran her hand over his chest wishing she could heal the wounds deep inside him.
“Our lands were gone, our castle falling down, but we stayed. We hid in the darkness, keeping away from everyone and everything.”
For long moments they sat in silence. Larena didn’t know what to say in response to Fallon’s admission. His tale was similar to what she had heard as a child, but she had never known what had happened to him at Deirdre’s hands.
And somehow, hearing it from him made it so much worse. How anyone so evil and vile as Deirdre could come into such power seemed unbelievable.
“You’re going to fight her, aren’t you?”
“Aye,” he said, and smoothed his fingers through her hair. “Our castle will house anyone who seeks to hide from her or fight against her.”
“I want to fight with you.”
He smiled against her forehead. “I’m glad.”
“It’s almost dawn. We’ve been talking all night.”
Fallon chuckled. “I doona think I’ve ever spent so much time talking to a woman before. And here I could have been making love to you again.”
Larena rolled on top of his chest to look into his dark green eyes. “Hm. I quite enjoyed our talk.”
“Apparently, though I did all of it.”
“I’ve told you all there is to know about my life.”
He gripped her buttocks and rocked her against his arousal. “We’ve time for another round.”
She wanted nothing more, but she also wanted to leave Edinburgh as soon as she could. Ever since she had seen the wyrran she’d had an uneasy feeling.
“Do we have time?” she asked.
Fallon glanced out the window. “Shite. When can you be ready?”
“Give me at least until dawn.”
“Why not just leave Malcolm a missive?”
She wrinkled her nose. “After all he’s done for me, that isn’t fair. I’ll hurry to get ready, and if he hasn’t come to my chamber by then I’ll go find him.”
“All right. Meet me in the gardens. There is a bench surrounded by yellow roses.”
“I know the one,” she said, and reluctantly rolled from him and the bed. She stood next to him and bent to give him another kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”
He sat up as she moved to the window. “Doona be late,” he called just as she turned invisible.
“I won’t,” she promised.
Larena couldn’t stop smiling. Ever since she had returned from Fallon’s chamber, she had been walking in a daze. Fallon had not only returned her desire, but he was going to take her to his castle. And protect her.
She knew she should be more cautious. After all, the first time she had given herself to a man, it had ended with her father’s murder.
Was he? She trusted him with her life, she was trusting a man she barely knew. Then there was her biggest secret — the Scroll. Fallon wanted the Scroll to give to Deirdre. It was something she couldn’t allow.
But she had looked into Fallon’s eyes. Her instincts told her Fallon hadn’t lied when he vowed to protect her, but Larena knew she would also have to guard herself. Already she was thinking of being in his arms again. Nothing good could come of her unquenchable desire for Fallon.
For so long she had been on her own, hiding and running. It was going to be nice to have a place where she
