Quinn clasped Arran’s forearm before he did the same with Duncan’s. “Stay watchful,” he warned before he turned on his heel and walked to Broc.
Broc’s indigo Warrior eyes were trained on Quinn as he approached the door. When Quinn was a few steps from it, the door swung open and he stepped through it.
Quinn paused as the door banged shut behind him. Every fiber in his body wanted to turn around and take one last look at Marcail, but he didn’t dare. Not now, mayhap not ever again.
“Have you changed your mind?” Broc asked.
Was it Quinn’s imagination, or did Broc sound hopeful? “I have not.”
“Hm,” Broc said as his mouth flattened into a thin line. “Have you decided what boon you will ask?”
Quinn had thought of little else. “I have.”
“Then I will take you to Deirdre.”
He followed Broc through the hallways and up the stairways as they left the Pit behind. And yet, all Quinn could think about was Marcail, not the evil that awaited him. He should be concentrating on how he would fend off Deirdre for a day or two, not worrying if Marcail would be safe or not.
“You are preoccupied,” Broc said.
Quinn raised a brow. Broc hadn’t turned around once to look at him, so Quinn didn’t know how the winged Warrior knew what was going on with him. “I’d rather be taken to my own death than to Deirdre.”
“Then why do you go to her?” Broc halted and turned to face Quinn.
“I do it because I must.”
Broc lowered his gaze for a moment. “Are you sure about that, Quinn?”
“Why doona you tell me?” Quinn was in no mood for enigmatic words. “Do I have another choice?”
Broc shrugged. “You have insisted that your brothers will come for you.”
“And you’ve told me Deirdre sent wyrran to slow them down. Tell me, Broc, does Deirdre already have my brothers?”
“Nay,” Broc answered. “She intends to once you have agreed to give her the child of the prophecy.”
Quinn ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with everything. “Why canna she be content with me?”
“Because when the three of you fight as one, you are unstoppable.”
And that’s when Quinn realized how futile his efforts had been. It wouldn’t matter how long he stood against Deirdre. She would have what she wanted no matter how long it took her to gain it.
Quinn thought of Cara and how she and Lucan looked at each other. Just as Quinn’s parents had done. He didn’t want Lucan to lose the one woman who had captured his heart.
“You have to go to her now,” Broc said, his voice lowered.
Quinn looked at the dark blue Warrior with suspicion. “Why?”
“Because you’ve asked to see her. She expects you to comply. You must, Quinn. Your brothers are coming, but you need to give them some time.”
Quinn took a step back from the Warrior. “What are you trying to do?”
Broc cursed under his breath and moved closer to Quinn. “What do you think? I’m risking
“You expect me to believe you’ve sided with my brothers? I doona believe that any more than I do the absurdity of whatever destiny Deirdre thinks I have.”
“Then you are a greater idiot than I thought. Follow me, MacLeod.”
Quinn was grateful when Broc continued onward. He couldn’t stand to hear another word Broc said, not when it inspired hope to flare in his chest, hope that he knew would be dashed as soon as he realized he’d been played for a fool.
He prayed he could go through with everything. Just looking at Deirdre was a chore, and the thought of bedding her turned his stomach.
He’d do whatever he must for his brothers, Marcail, and the men who relied on him. Even if it meant sacrificing his soul to Deirdre, he would do it.
Broc halted outside a door and motioned for Quinn to proceed. Quinn glanced at the Warrior, but Broc wouldn’t look at him. Quinn pushed the door open and found himself once more in Deirdre’s chamber.
The last time he had been here he found himself naked in her bed. He wondered what she had done with him while he had been unconscious, but he hadn’t allowed his mind to dwell on it too long for fear of discovering what she had done.
Deirdre stood in the doorway to her bedchamber, her white hair touching the floor. She wore her normal black gown with material that hugged her shape.
“I was told you wished to speak with me?” she said with a knowing smile.
He nodded and folded his arms over his chest. “I did. I wonder, Deirdre, if you know all that William has been doing in your name.”
In an instant her smile was gone. She took a deep breath and narrowed her white eyes at him. “Explain yourself.”
“I asked to see you mere hours after you had taken Ian. William came for me, but refused to allow me to speak to you. Instead, he made me watch as they tortured Ian.”
“William wouldn’t bring you to me?”
He almost smiled at the anger that shook her voice. “Nay.”
“Get me William,” she commanded Broc.
Quinn glanced over his shoulder to find Broc watching him, a small smile upon his face, almost as if he approved at what Quinn had just done.
“William tells me you favor him over any other,” Quinn said after Broc had left to do Deirdre’s bidding.
She waved away his words. “William likes to be in command. I give him a little power every now and again.”
“To keep him in line?” Quinn asked. “Is your hold so tenuous that you must resort to such petty methods?”
Her lips thinned in anger. “You dare to question me?”
“I do.”
“I will show you just how powerful I am in this game you and I play, Quinn. Afterward, you will realize how fruitless it is to deny me anything.”
He snorted. “I doubt it.”
She opened her mouth to retort when William strode through the door with all the cocky confidence of one who had gotten all he desired.
“You wanted to see me, mistress,” he said. Then he caught sight of Quinn and that confidence faltered.
Quinn slowly smiled. He wanted William to suffer, because had Quinn been able to talk to Deirdre, Ian wouldn’t have been tortured.
Deirdre stepped in front of William and ran her hand down his bare chest to his breeches in an intimate caress. “Tell me, my dear William, did Quinn ask to see me before now?”
William looked from Quinn to Deirdre. “You said you didna want to be disturbed.”
“By everyone else, but you knew I was waiting to hear from Quinn. Didn’t you?” she said as she reached down and grabbed hold of his balls.
William winced as Deirdre squeezed. “Nay, mistress.”
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” Deirdre said between clenched teeth.
William’s chin lowered to his chest. “I doona want to share you.”
With a snarl, Deidre shoved William away from her. “Because of you a day has been wasted. You will be punished.”
“As you wish,” William murmured.
Quinn was surprised when Deirdre turned her unholy white eyes to him.
“How should he be punished?” she asked.
The answer was easy for Quinn. “I want him to suffer just as Ian suffered. Every hit, every cut, every bite of the whip, I want William to feel. And lest we forget, pull out his claws as well.”
William growled, his lip curling in anger. Quinn lowered his arms, ready to fight him, but Deirdre stepped
