any longer.
“I will come to you later,” Deirdre told Grania.
One of the veiled servants came forward to escort the child out of the chamber. Quinn glanced at each of the other three servants. All wore the black veils that covered their faces, and even their hair, completely.
“Why do you have them wear the veils?”
Deirdre smiled and lifted a white brow. “These are the ones who dared to defy me, the Druids who thought they had more magic than I.”
“So you enslaved them.”
“In a way,” she said with a shrug. “I made them see the error of their ways.”
“In other words, you tortured them until they begged for death and you then offered to make them slaves.”
She laughed and tilted her head. “You understand me better than most.”
“Doona flatter yourself. You’re evil. It isna difficult to decipher the things you’ve done in order to gain what you want. Now, tell me why the veils.”
She motioned a servant to her and removed the veil. “Would you like to look at this?”
Quinn hid his wince as he stared at the scarred and burned face of the servant. She had once been a proud Druid, but now she kept her eyes downcast and her face hidden. Even her dark red hair had been shorn from her head.
Deirdre tossed the veil to the servant and waved her away. “Don’t think to try and turn my servants against me. All of their magic is mine.”
“How did you manage that without killing them?”
A sly smile pulled at her thin lips. “There is much I am capable of doing with my power, Quinn. More than you could ever imagine.”
“Then why has it taken you this long to capture me?”
She sighed. “You’re growing tiresome.”
He looked down at her with disdain. “I don’t think you have the power you want everyone to think you have.”
“Shall I prove it to you then? Maybe another of your men from the Pit as an example?”
Quinn closed his mouth. He didn’t want to see anyone else hurt from his actions. “Leave them alone.”
She laughed, the sound harsh and hollow. “It doesn’t take much to halt that tongue of yours.”
Quinn turned to Lavena once more. The black flames devoured her, yet her body remained unscathed. But by Deirdre’s reaction when he tried to touch it, it would harm him.
He wondered if Isla knew how her sister was being used, and he guessed she did. Quinn tried to imagine what he’d feel if Lucan or Fallon was in Lavena’s place. One thing was for certain, he wouldn’t allow Deirdre to harm them. He’d kill them himself before Deirdre could put them in such a state.
“Do you not see how far my magic reaches, Quinn?”
He stiffened as Deirdre came to stand beside him. “I see that you will use and kill people however you want.”
“To show my good faith, I have offered you a boon as I’m sure Broc told you. What would you have me give you in return for freely granting me your seed?”
“My brothers,” he said, even though he knew she would refuse.
She shook her head and looked at him as if he were a child. “Broc has already told you I will not grant that. I need your brothers.”
Quinn didn’t think he could ever despise anyone as he did Deirdre. He knew Fallon and Lucan were the answer to whatever Deirdre had planned, and he knew it couldn’t be good.
“If you doona give me my brothers, I’ll return to the Pit.” He knew he was pushing Deirdre, but he didn’t care. As long as his brothers were free of Deirdre, Quinn could concentrate on getting his men and Marcail free.
“I said I refuse,” Deirdre answered, her tone hard.
Quinn shrugged. “Then I had better return to the Pit.”
He turned on his heel and started for the door. He wondered how long it would take her before she gave in, because he intended to make her give in or she would get nothing.
“Halt,” she said as he reached the doorway.
Quinn turned around with an exaggerated sigh. “What is it?”
“You know I need your seed.”
“As much as it revolts me, aye, I do.”
She narrowed her unusual white eyes and strode toward him. “I also need your brothers.”
“You canna have everything.”
“I can. And I will.”
“Not this time,” he said.
“A compromise then?”
Quinn regarded her silently for a moment. He would have to be careful and use all the cunning his father told him he had to ensure Lucan and Fallon were never caught by Deirdre. “I’m listening.”
“I will leave your brothers alone until our child is born. Once the child is born, I will have your brothers.”
Quinn considered his options, few that they were, and knew this was as good as he was going to get. “Tell me, why haven’t you used magic to get me to your bed?”
“If the child of the prophecy is to come into this world, it has to be done without magic.”
“And if I canna…perform with you?”
Deirdre’s nostrils flared in anger. “Oh, Quinn, I will ensure that you do.”
“Without magic?”
“Aye.”
There was no way he could bed her. She was everything he hated in the world.
“Do we have an arrangement?” she asked.
Since Quinn knew there was no way, without magic, that he could get hard and mount her, he nodded. “We have an arrangement.”
With a snap of Deirdre’s fingers a Warrior entered the chamber. “Call the others away from the MacLeods.”
“Mistress?” he asked.
“Do it. Now,” she demanded.
The Warrior rushed from the chamber to carry out her orders, and when Deirdre turned back to Quinn, he knew she would want him much sooner than he had prepared himself.
“I need to bathe,” he said before she could open her mouth. “And I need new clothes.”
She grinned, her gaze between his legs. “A kilt, perhaps?”
“I prefer the tunic and breeches I’ve always worn.”
“A pity,” she said with a sigh. “I will see it done. Come with me.”
They returned to her chambers where food had been set out. The smell of roasted pheasant, fish, and lamb made his mouth water and his stomach growl. It had been so long since he had had more than bread and water that he wanted to dive into the food and stuff his mouth with all of it at once.
“Help yourself,” Deirdre said as she sat to watch.
Quinn ignored her and reached for the lamb first. He tore off a piece of meat and stuffed it in his mouth. An explosion of taste had him almost moaning in satisfaction.
He soon had a trencher of food and sat to enjoy the small feast. A servant poured him a goblet of wine that only added to the enjoyment. The more he ate, the more he wanted, and he filled his trencher three times before he was full.
Quinn rested his elbows on the table and thought how much better the meal would have been if he’d been surrounded by his brothers, his men, and Marcail. Then, it truly would have been magnificent.
Instead, he was in Deirdre’s private chambers as she salivated, waiting for him to climb into her bed.
“Your bath is ready,” Deirdre’s voice broke into his thoughts.
Quinn rose without looking at her and followed the servant waiting to take him to the bath. A large wooden tub had been brought to the chamber and filled with steaming water. Heat rose from the bath, and Quinn couldn’t
