“What about a trade?” Larena asked.
When Broc’s gaze slid to her, Fallon bared his fangs and growled. Broc’s knowing grin sent Fallon’s rage soaring. The need to kill him and defend Larena made Fallon take a step toward Broc.
“I’m glad to see you have healed,” Broc said.
Larena put her hand on Fallon’s arm to halt him. “No thanks to your friend.”
Fallon didn’t want her talking to Broc. He didn’t want her anywhere near the Warrior, but Fallon wasn’t fool enough to tell her to leave. Larena was a Warrior, and Fallon needed to remember she had powers and could take care of herself.
Still, his protective instincts couldn’t be contained.
“Larena,” he growled in warning. There was only so much more he was going to listen to before he attacked Broc.
She glanced at him, her smoky-blue eyes silently beseeching him to trust her.
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he would trust her once she began trusting him. But he kept silent.
Broc grunted at her words, drawing Fallon’s attention back to him. “James is no friend of mine. Deirdre was quite upset at what he did to you. If she didn’t need her Warriors so desperately, I do believe she would have killed him.”
Larena was thankful that Fallon had allowed her to speak to Broc. She could tell by Fallon’s tense body and the way his skin changed from normal to black every heartbeat or so that he battled his urge to release his god and attack.
Before she could ask Broc more, the winged Warrior turned his attention back to Fallon. “Attacks will begin soon.”
Fallon glared at Broc. “How do I know you speak the truth?”
“You don’t, but you’ll find out soon enough. Wyrran are on their way. Deirdre intends to keep you occupied here instead of forming a plan to free your brother.”
Larena’s stomach clenched in dread, and she looked between Lucan and Fallon. Lucan had already transformed, as had the others, and they stood waiting for Fallon to give the order to attack.
Fallon snorted and shook his head. “If that is Deirdre’s plan then she needs time with Quinn.”
“You’ve the right of it. She has plans for your brother,” Broc said.
“Just whose side are you on?”
Broc smiled. “That is a question, isn’t it?”
Then Broc’s grin faded as he lifted his face to sniff the wind. In a blink, he leaped into the air, his wings spread wide. He flipped over backward and landed on the roof of a cottage, his fangs bared.
Larena saw the dagger sail through the air toward the spot Broc had just been. She ducked and felt arms come around her and jerk her against a hard body before being pulled to the ground.
When she raised her head it was to find a man with long black hair, his skin, fangs, and eyes the color of darkest brown.
“Shite,” Fallon bellowed as he gained his feet. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded of the new arrival.
The newcomer turned his gaze from Broc to Fallon. “I’m Camdyn MacKenna.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Larena regained her feet, her blood pounding in her ears. She was startled to find her claws had extended without her knowing it. Her emotions were in a whirlwind, and if she didn’t get control soon, she would be no help to the others when the wyrran attacked.
Unlike Fallon, Larena believed Broc. Why the winged Warrior would give them that information she didn’t know, and didn’t care. It gave them an advantage. And they needed every advantage they could get.
Broc didn’t move from the rooftop. His gaze was narrowed on Camdyn, his growl of rage reverberating around them. Fallon and the others had their attention on Camdyn as well. It was the perfect time to ask Broc some questions she wanted answered.
Larena backed away from the men. Once she was clear, she ran and jumped onto the roof. Broc whirled around to face her, his fangs bared.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“I want to know why you didn’t attack me in Edinburgh.”
He shrugged. “Why does it matter?”
“There were two of you. You could have easily overpowered me.”
“My duties were to deliver James to the castle so he could subdue you. After that, I was to take you to Deirdre. My orders didn’t include attacking you.”
Larena studied Broc. His navy skin was so dark it appeared almost black. There was something in the way the Warrior spoke that made her realize he thought out each word carefully before he replied to anything.
“Did you know James had the blood on his claws before you arrived in Edinburgh?”
Broc’s navy gaze sparked with anger. “Nay. Though it doesna surprise me. James thought the idea of a female Warrior ludicrous. He believed you would be weak and unable to fight. When you bested him, he couldn’t stand it.”
It was the reaction Larena always expected from Warriors. “And the
“You’ve never been in Deirdre’s prison or you wouldna be asking me that. Deirdre has ways of torturing that you’ve never dreamed of. She can stretch out pain for months and years until you’re begging for death.”
Larena swallowed at the cold loathing in his voice. She, like Fallon, wondered just whose side Broc was on. It was obvious he hated Deirdre, but why then didn’t he escape from her as the others had? “And once James had
Broc sighed loudly. He kept his attention on the men below him, but he glanced at her often. “I knew from the way your wound bled and the pain you were in that you needed help immediately. I can fly fast, but not fast enough to get you to Deirdre before you died.”
“And you knew Fallon could?”
“Aye.”
He said no more, and Larena had to bite back her groan of anger. She opened her mouth to ask another question when the first wyrran came out of nowhere to land beside her on the roof.
Larena didn’t hesitate to transform. She was used to fighting naked while she was invisible, but there wasn’t time for that. And her skirts hampered her.
Fallon shouted her name, but she couldn’t answer him as a second wyrran joined the first. Larena jumped back to dodge claws as the second bit her leg.
Larena let out a shriek of fury and sank her claws into the chest of the wyrran that had bitten her and ripped out its heart. The first wyrran gave an ear-piercing scream, but before she could kill it, Broc ripped its head off.
“Stay vigilant,” he urged before he flew away.
Larena wasn’t able to watch him as more wyrran poured into the village. She took a step to jump from the roof and heard the distinctive sound of wood cracking. In the next heartbeat, she was falling through the roof to land with a thud on the ground.
Her head jerked up as the door was kicked in and Fallon came into view. Dust swirled around his black skin, making his fangs gleam.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.
She nodded. “Just dazed. I can fight the wyrran.”
He hesitated and she saw he was warring with himself to let her stay and fight or to order her to leave. There was no way she was going to run off, not when she could help. And they didn’t have time for an argument.
