Colin turned around to face him. “You’re bent on this plan, am I right?”
“Aye,” Lachlan replied. “I’m going, even if I have to go alone.”
“I’m coming with ye,” Christie replied. “I see now why ye delayed giving your permission that I go to Urlu. I’ll come with ye, and after we deal to this situation, I’ll carry your message to our friends.”
Lachlan clapped the young man on the shoulder. “Good lad.” He did his best not to show how truly relieved he was to have Christie’s support. If Christie turned against him, he couldn’t hope to sway anybody else. Lachlan scanned the rest of the group. “Anybody else?”
They exchanged glances. Lachlan already sensed the Clan leaders pulling back. They all had families and territories to consider.
Colin spoke up. “I’m coming.”
“Me, too,” Aiden added.
“Och, the devil,” Clyde grumbled. “I suppose I’m with ye. We have all come this far together. We might as well go the distance.”
Lachlan embraced his comrades. “I’m grateful to ye lads. Now we have a mite of business to attend to. With Christie going along, we must name a successor to the Chieftainship, and that’s young Robert McLean from Calgary.”
“Are ye sure, mon?” Colin asked. “He’s but a lad.”
“He’s seventeen, and he’s our closest living relative,” Lachlan replied. “I was sixteen when I became Laird. If Christie comes back from this mission, he’ll be Laird in my place. Otherwise, all my titles and lands pass to Robert. Now, Ronald, I charge ye to draw up all the papers and meet me back here in two hours. We’ll sign everything over. In the meantime, lads, ye arm yourselves and be ready to move as soon as I sign off.”
The room broke up in excited conversation. Lachlan didn’t wait around to answer questions. That would only shake his nerves. He had to do this. He had to put Aegir in his place long term if this Clan was to enjoy any peace at all for the foreseeable future. He had to get Ivy back in safety, and he had to marry her. That’s all there was to it.
He went back to his room and shut the door. He didn’t need to arm for this fight. His power couldn’t match Aegir’s, but Lachlan would do his best, either way. If he died battling Aegir, at least he protected the Clan.
He waited one hour and fifty-five minutes before he left the room and returned to the Great Hall. He found Ronald Montgomery, Aiden, and the other three volunteers standing by the table. They bent over a large sheet of paper and studied the writing on it.
The men jumped when Lachlan strode into the room. “Is it all ready?” he asked.
Ronald waved to the paper. “Take a look. Ye can tell me if it meets your approval.”
“I dinnae need to see that.” Lachlan picked up a quill. “I trust ye.”
He scrawled his name at the bottom. “Now for three witnesses of your own Clan,” Ronald announced.
One after another, Christie, Clyde, and Colin all signed their names to the document naming Robert McLean heir to the Chieftainship of Clan McLean, should Lachlan and Christie not return.
Once the ink dried, the five men stood around staring at each other and the document in front of them. The deed was done. Nothing remained but to get busy. “Are ye lads ready to go?” Lachlan asked.
Christie nodded. “Ready when ye are, mon.”
At that moment, a shout went up from the roof. Running footsteps pounded down the hall outside, and the men rushed to the window. Lachlan expected this, but he didn’t expect it so soon.
Outside the castle, the biggest octopus Lachlan ever laid eyes on climbed out of the sea. Ten more lurked out of the ocean on every side of the castle. They waddled on their arms over the rocky land and cast their huge shadows over Duart’s towers and turrets.
Christie raced to another window. “They’re all around us.”
“Quick, Ronald,” Lachlan exclaimed. “Get the guard into position. Get every man outside to defend the place.”
“What about ye, mon?” Ronald asked. “Where are ye going?”
“Ye lads come with me,” he replied.
Clyde turned back. “We cannae. We must help them defend against….”
“No!” Lachlan cried. “Do ye no’ see? We cannae defend the place against them. The only way is to defeat Aegir. If we dinnae do that, the whole Isle’s lost.”
“But how….”
Lachlan grabbed him by the sleeve. “Follow me. Christie, ye and Colin stick close. We havnae much time.”
He charged out of the Great Hall with his men on his tail. Ronald went the other way. A moment later, Lachlan heard his orders booming down the passages. He had to trust his comrades to defend Duart while he did what he had to do.
He threw open the front door and barreled onto the field outside. The octopus touched the sky. Lachlan couldn’t see their eyes at that height. He didn’t care. He ran between them heading for the coast.
One of the octopus slithered its arms in front of him to block his way, but he only dodged around it. He lost sight of Christie and his cousins. He could only hope and pray they stayed with him. Otherwise, he’d be facing Aegir alone.
In the last analysis, he would be facing Aegir alone. He just didn’t want to admit it to himself. He wanted at least one friend down there to face insurmountable odds.
He zipped around another octopus. The wide ocean lay spread out before him. The surf crashed against the shore. Just a few more steps, and he would be there. He hated leaving Duart like this, but he had no choice.
He glanced back. Christie, Colin, Aiden, and Clyde were still with him. His spirits soared for what he had to do. His foot touched a film of water on the rocks.
At that moment, the ocean erupted out of its place. The familiar black wall of evil surged up before his eyes, but Lachlan never stopped running. Lights flickered in its depths, and in front of his face, a huge, disgusting monstrous face swirled out of the depths. It yawned open a mouth full of enormous, razor-sharp fangs, and its sightless black eyes rolled back to reveal a gaping, ravenous maw.
Lachlan’s heart fell into his shoes, but it was already too late to back down. He inhaled a deep breath and roared at the top of his lungs. “Follow me, lads!”
He took a flying leap off the last scrap of rock and dove straight into the demon’s mouth. The dark swallowed him, and he disappeared from view.
Chapter 27
Ivy waited in her room. She still wore the plain pants and shirt Lachlan got for her from Dougie. She never changed, and Aegir never gave her any other clothes. The bejeweled gowns and fancy decorations befitting a Queen were all in the past for her now.
Nothing impressed on her the cruel reality of her imprisonment more than that. She would never be a Queen again. The majesty of this room and the comfort of the bed only tormented her mind.
She didn’t look at Lachlan again after that first time. She knew what he looked like and smelled like and felt like. She knew she was pregnant. She didn’t have to hurt herself any more by looking.
She considered her problem all night, but she never came up with any way to escape. Now she awaited her fate. Something would happen, one way or the other. She would act when the time came, whenever that was.
Aegir’s octopus guard came to fetch her. How many times had she seen these creatures escorting Aegir’s prisoners and thought nothing of it? Now here she was, walking between them on the way to Aegir’s audience hall.
The undersea population crowded the hall to see the spectacle. Aegir sat on his throne. The smaller throne where Ivy used to sit wasn’t next to him anymore. It vanished along with every trace that he ever had a Queen.
The multitudes of swimming, slithering, bubble-blowing creatures didn’t seem to notice the irony of their Queen appearing before them as a prisoner. They saw her plain clothes. She could never be a Queen. She never had been one, and she never would be.
The guards flanked her, but Ivy didn’t try to get away. She didn’t even think about finding for a way to escape. What was th
e point? Aegir controlled the whole world. He would find her and bring her back, and his anger would only grow worse, the more she tried to flout him.
His voice boomed over the hall. “You are here to face trial for betraying me and breaking your pledge of marriage. What do you have to say in your own defense?”
“I have nothing to say in my own defense,” she muttered. “I’m guilty.”
The crowd murmured in surprise. Her response took Aegir aback. He must have expected her to argue with him or to spit curses. She just couldn’t care about any of this enough to bother.
“The punishment for these crimes is death,” Aegir told her. “On what grounds do you seek clemency for this sentence?”
“I don’t seek clemency,” Ivy returned. “If you want to execute me, go ahead and do it.”
The assembly’s agitation mounted. Aegir looked around. “Is that it? You wish for death?”
“I don’t wish for death. I never gave my pledge of my own free will. You know that as well as I do, but if you want me to pay for breaking it, I will. I seek no mercy from you. Just get it over with so we can all dispense with this farce.”
“This court,” Aegir bellowed, “is no farce. You demonstrate your disdain for this court with your words, but I still hold the power of life and death over you.”
“You don’t hold any power over me.” Her spirits returned, but she kept her voice under control. “This court, and your intentions toward me—everything about this whole realm is a farce. I don’t acknowledge your authority over me, but if you want to demonstrate to everyone what a tyrant and a despot you really are, by all means, go ahead and execute me. You couldn’t get a woman to agree to marry you of her own free will, so you had to delude me and mesmerize me with your power. Go ahead. Execute me. I want you to.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Aegir returned.
“What’s the matter?” she taunted. “Can’t you do it? Can’t you summon the power to kill me the way you keep threatening to? You have to do it now whether you want to or not. You wanted to see me crawl and beg for clemency, but I won’t do that. I would rather die.”
Aegir rose to his feet in front of the throne. Fire flashed in his eyes, and he extended one accusing finger at her. “You abominable witch! How dare you thumb your nose at my authority! Do you think I care about you at all? Do you think I won’t visit the worst tortures of the universe on you for betraying my affections?”
The audience hall erupted in shouts and exclamations. Ivy’s voice ripped out of her throat, but she couldn’t hear herself above the din. “Do you think I care what you do? You’ve already robbed me of my life once. You can’t do anything to me worse than you’ve already done. I don’t care anymore. I hate you! I would kill you if I could. I would destroy you so you never bother anyone again.”
Aegir raised one hand toward her. He didn’t leave his throne, but his power surged through the water and seized her off the floor. The crowd screamed and drew back. Ivy jerked against the immoveable grip holding her. She kicked and thrashed, but she couldn’t break loose.
Aegir levitated her off the floor. She glided through the water toward him and floated about ten feet off the ground. All of a sudden, something sharp stabbed into her body. She screamed in agony. More of these sharp stabs penetrated her being from all sides. They ripped her apart and pierced her to her core.
She couldn’t think. She moaned and sobbed in pain. Aegir twisted her in the air so he could see her face. She bared her teeth and spat venom at him. “You twisted prick! You foul-mouthed fiend! I hate you! I wish you were dead. I never loved you. You disgust me. I hope no one ever loves you for the rest of your miserable existence. I curse you. I curse you to a life of loneliness and misery for what you’ve done.”
The next tearing sensation stopped her words. She couldn’t even scream anymore. She washed out of consciousness, and when she came back into it, the pain made her wish she was dead.
How did she wind up in this situation? What could she have done differently to avoid this? Through the whole torturous experience, she could think only one thing. She hoped it wouldn’t hurt the baby. She couldn’t even hope she survived this. Nothing mattered but her baby’s life.
Aegir closed his fingers into a fist, and a demented smile screwed up his lips. He enjoyed this. He wanted to make her suffer before he crushed the life out of her. She summoned all her rage, but she couldn’t do a thing to stop this.
She cast her eye over the assembly. The creatures and beings around her watched the scene in horror. They didn’t respect or idolize Aegir for doing this. The more he tortured her, the more he drove his subjects away from him, and he didn’t even realize it.
The octopus guard stood impassive. They’d seen it all before. If only there was some way she could deflect Aegir’s attention for a brief instant, she might have a chance to get away. She couldn’t move one way or the other. That was the problem.
When she cast her eye over the audience, they looked away. None of them wanted to see this, but they dared not step out of line to cross Aegir. Doing so would only wind them up in her place. They all knew. Sacrificing themselves wouldn’t save her in the end.
Aegir manipulated her in his disembodied hand. He turned her around to face him. He wanted to see her crushed and looking into his eyes when he destroyed her. He brought her closer to his throne. He filled her whole view. She had to look her destruction in the face.
A mixture of amusement and sadistic pity mingled in his face. She never expected even he could become so depraved at having his desires subverted. What did she ever do to deserve this? She fell in love with someone else. That was all.
He turned his hand over and lowered her to the floor. The tearing agony of those stabbing pains pierced her guts. She writhed and screamed at his feet. He towered over her in majestic superiority. Just a few more inches, and she would give up the ghost.
She lay down on the stone floor. She turned her eyes up to the ceiling, and her vision blurred. If only she could see Lachlan one last time, she would die happy. She wouldn’t see him, though. She could only close her eyes and imagine him.
She glanced at Aegir one more time. She was free of him forever, and he knew it. The sooner he killed her, the sooner she never had to see him again. At that moment, a black body dropped out of the ceiling right onto Aegir’s head.
Ivy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A black wolf landed on Aegir’s shoulders. It gnashed its dripping fangs in his face and bit him in the head. Aegir whipped around to face the thing and lost his grip on Ivy.
In front of her eyes, four more wolves loped into the room. The crowd parted with a petrified shriek. The octopus guard swam forward to protect the throne, but two wolves veered aside to engage them. In seconds, the octopus had all they could do to hold the snarling creatures off.
Ivy struggled onto her knees. A jet black wolf ran past her in his way to the throne, but the wolf that dropped through the ceiling already pressed Aegir back. The animal ripped at his face and clawed his chest and shoulders to ribbons.
Aegir bellowed in rage. He turned one way and then the other, but he couldn’t shake that vicious creature off. The black wolf raced up the throne steps and sank his teeth into Aegir’s leg. Aegir rounded on the creature with a feral roar and kicked him down the steps. The wolf tumbled away with a yelp of pain and landed next to Ivy. It changed, and she found herself staring at Christie McLean.
Chapter 28
Blood-fueled rage clouded Lachlan’s mind. Nothing existed but the flesh to sink his teeth into, the blood rushing down his throat, the crunch of bone and the twitch of nerves shutting down.
Never in his life had he really unleashed his fighting fury on any opponent. He always kept something in reserve, if for no other reason than to preserve some notion of his own humanity.
Not anymore. He never had to worry about destroying Aegir. He might have surprised the Sea King in the midst of tormenting Ivy, but Lachlan couldn’t really make a d
ent in this adversary. As soon as Aegir recovered from his surprise, the game was up.
Anything Lachlan kept in reserve went out the window when he saw Aegir hurting Ivy. He would visit all the torments of Hell on this hideous demon before he was through. He ripped off chunks of Aegir’s scalp and spat out mouthfuls of hair. He tore off the seaweed crown and gouged his claws into Aegir’s eyes. No torture was bad enough for him.
The audience fled screaming from the hall. The wolves battled the octopus guard and sent them running for cover, too. Christie rushed in, and Aegir kicked him down the steps. Christie’s startled cry pierced Lachlan’s brain, and he lost all sense of proportion. He wriggled around in a circle and bit a big mouthful out of the side of Aegir’s neck. Lachlan flung himself into space. The flesh stretched and snapped.
Lachlan flew outward and landed hard on his side against the floor. He rolled to his knees and fixed his smoldering eyes on Aegir. The Sea King pressed his hand to his neck, and black liquid gushed between his fingers. The inky substance stained the water around the King’s head.
Aegir glared at Lachlan for an instant. Then the same maniacal grin spread over his face. He took his hand away, and Lachlan saw his neck perfectly intact. In the blink of an eye, Aegir erased the injury Lachlan caused him.
Aegir threw back his head and laughed. “You think you can defeat me, you skinny little dog? You think you can come here and throw your weight around? You’ll die, just like her. I’ll destroy her before your eyes, and then I’ll crush every bone in your body until you beg for death. Is that what you want? Is this really what you want?”
He scooped one big hand sideways and caught Ivy off the floor in his powerful grip. He jerked her into the air. She screamed in agony.
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