she wanted no part of that.
With her attention back on Fallon’s table she looked the other two men over. The black-haired one had his back to her, but after just a short observation she noticed that he didn’t speak as often as the others.
The other man, with dark blond hair, had an easy way about him, but there was also something in his gaze that spoke of unnamed horrors he had witnessed.
All of them were Warriors. Larena had never been around so many. In truth the only Warrior she knew by face was Camdyn MacKenna.
The men below most likely knew she was a Warrior by now. How would they react to her? Fallon was the only person she really knew, and they had known each other mere hours. Had she made the right decision in asking him to bring her here?
Then she remembered the attack in Edinburgh. Deirdre had discovered her. Deirdre’s reach seemed endless, and if Larena knew anything about Deirdre it was that the
It was good timing that Fallon had come to Edinburgh when he had. She would be dead now if he hadn’t been there. She owed him her life.
She covered her ring with her left hand. She could repay Fallon by giving him the Scroll, but every time she thought of it, she grew sick to her stomach.
Robena had drilled into her mind endlessly how important it was for the Scroll never to land in Deirdre’s hands. Everything Larena had fought for these last hundred years would be in vain if she handed the Scroll to Deirdre.
The change of tone below drew Larena out of her thoughts. She peered around the stone and listened as Fallon spoke. He was calm and in control, fully in his element in his castle. She loved watching him. He was amazing.
Larena wanted to go to him and kiss him.
She started toward him when she heard Fallon mention the Scroll. Her heart leaped into her chest when she heard him say he’d never intended to give Deirdre the real Scroll, only a fake.
Her fingers clutched her ring, ready to pull it off and show everyone the Scroll so they could copy the Celtic scrollwork that would let Deirdre know it was real.
But then she stopped. Fallon would want to know why she hadn’t told him in Edinburgh.
Larena hated lying to him. Fallon had told her things she knew he had never shared with anyone else, but she couldn’t do the same. There were some things, such as the Scroll, that the fewer people knew about them the better.
She took a deep breath and looked around the table to find Cara’s gaze on her. Larena shook her head, hoping Cara would keep quiet. Cara gave a small nod of her head in acknowledgment.
Larena knew she should go down to the great hall and introduce herself, but she couldn’t move. She turned away from the scene and leaned her back against the stone wall.
She had spent several years at the king’s castle, but she had always kept herself separate from others. Her inability to trust, Malcolm would say. Malcolm had been her only link, and even then she hadn’t allowed herself to become too attached to him since she knew she would leave him one day.
Now, below, there were six immortal Warriors. What the MacLeods had done by opening their castle was to create a family. The last time Larena had been part of a family they had scorned her and driven her from her home.
But she had to stay with Fallon. If Deirdre captured her, it would only be a matter of time before she discovered what her ring was.
Larena sighed. She would do as she always did then and keep her distance from everyone. It was the only way she could survive.
She turned to walk down the stairs and found Fallon before her. Her lips parted as she gazed into his handsome face. He always took her breath away, and the need to touch him, to feel his arms around her, was crushing.
She hadn’t noticed before that he had traded his kilt for a tunic of deep red and leather breeches, faded with time and use, that were tucked into black boots. He looked more natural in this attire, and she couldn’t say which she liked better, the kilted Fallon or the casual one before her now.
“How did you know I was here?”
He shrugged. “I smelled your scent.”
A thrill went through her at his words, and she had to remind herself to keep her distance even though everything inside her cried out to be his.
“How do you feel?” The question was voiced in a calm manner, but the way his dark green eyes burned her body caused her blood to quicken.
“As if the attack never happened.”
“Good.” Fallon held out his hand. “Everyone is waiting to meet you, and I want to hear about the attack.”
She placed her hand in his, and then stopped him when he would have turned away. “Wait. I … I need a moment.”
“For what?”
“There are Warriors down there I don’t know.”
He regarded her silently for a moment. “My brother would never hurt you. He will protect you with his life. The others have proven their worth to me. They are here to put an end to Deirdre.”
“I know.” How could she explain it to him when she couldn’t understand it herself?
“Come,” he said with a pull of his hand. “Everything will be all right. Trust me.”
Trust. It was just a word, but it was something she didn’t allow herself to do. With Fallon, however, things were different.
She let him tug her onto the stairs. The conversation in the hall fell quiet as they descended. She swallowed, hating the eyes on her. It had been easy to blend in at the king’s castle, but she wouldn’t get that luxury here.
“Thank you,” she whispered to Fallon.
“For what?”
“For saving my life.”
He shrugged as if it meant nothing. There was something about Fallon that had changed. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he wasn’t the same man she had shared a bed with in Edinburgh.
Chapter Seventeen
Larena waited until she and Fallon had stopped by his chair before she pulled her hand from his grasp. She made herself look around the table instead of at the floor as she wished. With her hands clasped before her to help hide how they shook, she listened as Fallon introduced her.
“You’ve already met Lucan, Cara, and Sonya,” Fallon said. “Next to Cara is Galen Shaw.”
Larena smiled at Galen, noting he wore a kilt as if it were his second skin. His dark blue eyes looked her over before returning her smile.
“I’ve heard your name, Galen Shaw.”
Galen’s brows rose. “Have you now? And by whom?”
“Camdyn MacKenna.”
“You’ve spoken to Camdyn?” Galen asked as he sat up straighter.
She opened her mouth to reply when Fallon asked, “Who is Camdyn?”
“A Warrior,” Galen answered. “He prefers to keep to himself, but I left markings to let him know where I had gone.”
Larena nodded. “He found them. He stopped by Edinburgh Castle several weeks ago and told me.”
Galen laughed and slapped the table, clearly overjoyed with the news. “Camdyn is a fine Warrior, Fallon. He
