“It’s the truth I’m concerned,” Lucan admitted.
Galen raised a dark blond brow. He was still in Warrior form, his dark green skin cloaking him in the forest. Galen flexed the claws of his right hand and gazed at the ground. “Quinn is burdened by the deaths of his wife and son, as you know. But there is more.”
“I know.” Lucan ran a hand down his face and lowered himself to a fallen log. He longed to dive into the cool waters of the loch, but there wasn’t time for small enjoyments such as that. “Fallon told me all that Quinn had admitted to him about his relationship with Elspeth.”
Lucan had thought Quinn and Elspeth had loved each other. True, it wasn’t the love like their parents, but Lucan had thought his brother was happy. None of them had known just how wretched Quinn had been.
“Do you think Quinn is lost to us?” Lucan asked Galen. The question lodged in his throat, but it was one he asked himself every hour of every day.
In a blink Galen’s dark green skin, claws, and fangs vanished. He looked at Lucan with knowing blue eyes and shrugged. “We willna know that until we arrive. There is one thing you can never doubt, Lucan.”
“What’s that?”
“You and Fallon are all Quinn has in this world. The bond that holds the three of you together is stronger than all of Deirdre’s magic.”
Lucan thought over his words as Galen walked away. Lucan’s gaze shifted to the other six who traveled with him. There was Fallon who had finally taken his place as leader, and his wife Larena. Then there was Galen, Ramsey, Logan who kept them all laughing with his jests, and Hayden who had a hatred for
Quinn’s life rested on the fate of seven Warriors who were coming to free him.
“I wish we could get there sooner as well,” Fallon said as he walked up.
Lucan had been angry at first that Fallon couldn’t use his power to jump them from the castle to Cairn Toul Mountain in a blink. It had been too many years since any of them had been to the mountain, and if Fallon jumped and landed them in the middle of a rock, they would all be dead. They had to be safe, and that meant traveling on foot.
“We’ll get there,” Lucan answered. “We run faster than horses and can maneuver quickly if need be.”
Fallon nodded, but Lucan saw the weariness on his brother’s face.
“Galen told me something I hadn’t considered.”
Fallon chuckled and pushed his long dark brown hair away from his face. “I’m not surprised. Tell me.”
“He said that the bond between us brothers is stronger than any of Deirdre’s magic.”
“Do you think he’s right?”
Lucan considered it a moment and nodded. “Aye, brother, I do. Quinn might be many things, but he will fight against Deirdre.”
“A man can only last so long in her mountain, Lucan.”
“Then we best hurry.”
Fallon jumped to his feet, his brow furrowed. It was a look Lucan knew well. His brother’s mind was spinning with a plan.
“Let’s split up,” Fallon said. “The wyrran can only attack one group at a time.”
“And the other?”
Fallon smiled, the gleam of battle shining in his dark green eyes. “The other forges ahead.”
Lucan clapped his brother on the back. “Let’s get moving then. Quinn has waited long enough for us.” He grabbed his still-damp tunic and pulled it over his head.
With a nod to Fallon, Lucan motioned for Hayden, Logan, and Galen to come to him and continued on the path. Fallon took Larena and Ramsey by a different route to Deirdre’s mountain.
Seven
Marcail found herself watching Quinn as her mind turned from the chanting and music she had sworn she heard yet again. Every time Quinn walked about the cave or spoke to his men, her gaze tracked him. His movements were fluid and powerful.
She noticed the way he and his men would search the Pit with their eyes relentlessly. It didn’t take her long to understand what Quinn had meant when he said he had put her in greater danger by saving her.
Even in the shadows of Quinn’s cave she could feel the eyes of other Warriors on her. There was no privacy for her, but as long as she stayed in the cave, she was safe.
Safe, however, was a relative word at the moment. As long as Deirdre held her, Marcail would never be secure. Despite knowing this, she couldn’t make herself leave Quinn. Deirdre might not kill her, but Deirdre would make sure she was dead.
The thought of never looking into Quinn’s pale green gaze again left Marcail feeling ill to her stomach. Every Druid in Britain knew how important the MacLeods were to their survival. Was it the idea, as Quinn had said, of him and his brothers in the tales she heard that made her look at him as her savior?
Marcail had seen into Quinn’s eyes. She had glimpsed for herself the shadows that haunted him, but she had also seen him take command. Every Warrior in the Pit regarded him as a leader. They might not all side with him, but they knew better than to question his authority.
Quinn turned and caught her staring at him. He frowned and asked her with just a shift of his head if everything was all right. She nodded and looked away. But it was too late. She saw him approach out of the corner of her eye.
“What is it?” he asked.
Marcail drew her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She had been sitting on the slab Quinn used for his bed ever since she had left him that morning. Her bottom was numb, but she was scared to move, terrified to bring more attention to herself.
“Marcail?”
“It’s nothing. I was just watching you with your men.”
He sat beside her and leaned his elbows on his knees. “None of the Warriors would dare to come inside my cave. You can move around freely.”
“And if Deirdre discovers me?”
“In truth, it’s only a matter of time before she does.”
Marcail licked her lips as her skin rippled with trepidation. “Why put off the inevitable then? I’m putting you, Arran, and the twins in danger by hiding here.”
Quinn straightened and turned his head to look at her. “Do you think we care what Deirdre will do to us? Marcail, she puts people she wants to break in the Pit. We will either turn to her side or die. It’s the only way any of us will be released.”
“So you think she will leave me in here?”
“It’s crossed my mind. You said yourself she wants you dead.”
Marcail hoped Quinn was right. She had a better chance of survival with Quinn than anywhere else. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am. My brothers are coming for me, and when they do, I’m taking you out of here.”
“Are you sure your brothers know you are here?”
Quinn smiled wryly. “Oh, aye. Deirdre told me she left them a missive. They know she has me.”
“How did Deirdre capture you?”
By the way Quinn frowned she wished she hadn’t asked. “Never mind,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What did the stories tell you about me and my brothers?”
She hesitated, unsure of where to begin. “We were told you three were the first Warriors Deirdre found, that she killed your entire clan to get to you three.”
“That’s truth. Deirdre killed everything from livestock to children and babies. Anything that was on MacLeod
