by Donna Grant
“I do apologize for sleeping so late. I normally wake with the sun,” she said as she took a seat beside the lady of the castle.
“I asked the servants to let you sleep,” Mina said. “I thought you might need it.
I was informed that you took advantage of our bathing chamber yesterday. How did you like it?”
Danielle smiled as she remembered the luxurious warmth of the water and the heavenly bliss of soaking for as long as she wanted. “Words cannot describe how wonderful it was.”
“I thought you might like it,” Mina said with a laugh. “Usually, Elle and Shannon are in there for hours.”
Danielle glanced beside her, expecting to see Gabriel, yet there was only empty space. She looked around her, searching for him.
“He went to speak with Hugh in the solar,” Mina said.
She turned to look at Mina and found Mina staring intently at her.
Mina cleared her throat and said, “Gabriel is a very handsome man.”
“I suppose so,” Danielle replied. She wasn’t about to tell Mina Gabriel was the most handsome man she had ever, or would ever, meet. “I must thank Shannon for allowing me to borrow her gowns.”
Mina waved away her words. “Think nothing of it. Consider them yours.”
Thankfully, food was placed in front of her then and Danielle concentrated on eating and not thinking of what how nice Mina was.
She had just finished eating when Gabriel walked to the dais. “I know it’s early, but I thought we would leave now. The horses are saddled and waiting,” he said.
“Of course,” Danielle said as she rose from her seat and reached for her cloak.
She was really looking forward to being on a horse again.
Mina touched her arm. “Be careful,” she warned.
Danielle nodded and followed Gabriel to the door where he stopped and took the cloak from her.
“Allow me,” he said.
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Danielle lowered her gaze as he swung the cloak around her then fastened it at her neck. The brush of his warm fingers on her skin left her tingling and unable to breathe.
As soon as the cloak was clasped, she stepped away from him.
Gabriel tried to control his breathing as he fought against pulling Danielle into his arms and smelling her hair once again. The smell had been familiar, just as her face had been.
“Ready?” he asked as he held open the door. Once she walked out, he followed behind her, nodding to Hugh as they strolled through the bailey.
Their horses stood ready, their breaths billowing around them. He pulled on his gloves and regretted not finding any for Danielle. Just as he was about to return to the castle, Roderick walked up and handed a pair of gloves to her.
“Thank you,” Danielle said and gave Roderick a smile.
For some reason that irritated Gabriel. He waited until Danielle had the gloves on before he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her atop her mount. He didn’t move to mount his own horse until he saw her take the reins properly.
A grin pulled at his lips. Just another sign she wasn’t a peasant. The clatter of horse hooves sounded around them as Hugh and Roderick rode up beside them.
Danielle gave him a questioning look.
“It’s safer with numbers,” he explained as Hugh and Roderick rode ahead of them.
“Ah, the Great Evil and its creatures.”
Gabriel flattened his lips. “Let’s hope for your sake we don’t run into any of them while we’re out.”
Out of the corner of his eye he watched her as they passed through the gate. She sat straight, almost queenly, and with an ease that only a practiced horsewoman could manage.
“Do you recall where you buried your bow?” he asked.
She nodded. “Over there,” she said as she pointed toward the forest.
Hugh gave him a nod as they set out in the direction she had pointed to.
Gabriel kept a vigilant lookout for anything that looked out of the ordinary. It was eerily quiet as they entered the forest. Almost too quiet.
He put his hand on his mount’s neck. The horse, long used to the rigors of being forced to endure evil, showed no signs of unease. Gabriel blew out a breath.
“Something the matter?” Danielle asked.
He shook his head. “Just keeping an eye out for trouble.”
“Are you expecting something to happen?”
“I always expect something to happen.”
“That’s not a very…good…way to live.”
He shrugged, not knowing what she was looking for in way of an answer. “It’s the way we live. It’s what I chose.”
Suddenly she stopped her mare and looked around them. Her gaze turned to him.
“What is it?”
Her face rapidly paled, and her eyes dilated. “There’s something out there.”
No sooner where the words out of her mouth than her mount began to prance and A WARRIOR’S HEART
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throw her head around. Gabriel made sure she had the horse under control before he hastily looked around the forest. He couldn’t see anything, but after a deep breath he smelled it—evil.
“Danielle,” he said as he turned back toward her.
She fought to keep her mare from bolting. “What’s out there?”
“I don’t know. We need to return to the castle. Now.”
As she struggled to turn her mare, Gabriel moved his mount closer to her to give her some aid. And that’s when he felt his horse began to quiver as he sidestepped.
“Damn,” he muttered.
“Gabriel,” Danielle screamed just as a shadow passed over them, her cry drowned out by loud clanging.
He barely had time to register they were under attack before her horse reared and Danielle went flying off the back. Though he couldn’t explain why, his blood froze in his veins at the thought of her injured.
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Chapter Eleven
“Danielle. Danielle, answer me,” Gabriel shouted as he vaulted from his mount and ran through the thick snow to her side.
By the time he reached her, she had rolled onto her stomach and slowly pushed to her hands and knees. “I’m all right. Just bruised my vanity is all,” she grumbled as she gained her feet then grimaced. “I think I might have twisted my ankle.”
Gabriel let loose a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He wrapped his arm around her waist to help hold her up as he tried not to think how nice her body molded to his. “Did you see what flew over us?”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “It was huge. And both ugly and beautiful.”
“It was a Harpy. Did you just see one?”
“One?” she repeated as she visibly shook. “Isn’t one enough?”
“They usually come in threes,” he said as he led her closer to the trees. “Your horse ran off, and mine will never make it back to the castle carrying both of us.”
“Go and get help then. I’ll stay hidden.”
He searched her hazel eyes and saw fear but determination as well. “You have no idea what it is that is out there do you?”
“I know enough to know that I must stay hidden. You’re the better rider, Gabriel.”
He shook his head. “Hugh and Roderick should have heard the clanging of the Harpy’s wings.”
“Gabriel,” she said to gain his attention. “I’m in no condition to run. Help me find a place to stay out of sight of the Harpy. Then, you can find Hugh and Roderick.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. You haven’t seen what the Harpies can do.”
She leaned against the tree and sighed as her breath billowed around her. “I think it’s turned colder.”
Just then Gabriel spotted the mist that had rolled around them. Something wasn’t right.
“Gabriel,” something whispered around him.
Gabriel took a step away from Danielle as her eyes grew round. “You heard that?”
She nodded slowly.
The mist grew around them, swirling and climbing with each passing moment.
Gabriel’s heart thundered in his chest. The skies grew dark and the stench of evil permeated the air.
“Danielle, don’t move,” he warned her. The last thing he wanted to do was mistake her for the evil while his vision was hampered by the darkening skies and thick mist.
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Something touched his arm and moved around his body before vanishing.
“Oh, Gabbbbriiiialllll,” the voice said, louder, more sinister. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Gabriel reached for his bow only to remember he had left it tied to his saddle.
He gripped his sword instead and unsheathed it. “Show yourself.”
Mocking laughter filled the air. “Oh, if only I could,” the voice murmured.
It was the Great Evil. Gabriel knew it in the pit of his heart and it scared the Hell out of him. “What do you want?”
“You.”
“You’ll never have me,” he retorted angrily.
“Gabriel,” he heard Roderick shout in the distance. “Gabriel, where are you?”
He opened his mouth to answer when something suddenly grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up and threw him back against a tree. Whatever it was held tightly and squeezed his neck.
Gabriel kicked at empty air in an attempt to break free.
“You’ll never be free of me,” the voice whispered in his ear. “Haven’t you realized that by now?”
“By the gods,” Roderick exclaimed.
Gabriel moved his gaze downward and saw Hugh and Roderick staring up at him atop their mounts.
“Gabriel?” Hugh asked quietly.
He tried to talk, to give them some clue the evil was there, but whatever held onto him only squeezed harder. Couldn’t they smell the evil? The scent was so strong it made his stomach roll.
His sword was yanked from his grip violently, and he watched as it fell to the ground in front of Hugh and Roderick. Where was Danielle? Was she scared? Why didn’t Hugh look for her?
“You’ve searched for clues to your past, Gabriel,” the evil whispered in his ears.
“All you had to do was ask me. I was there. I saw it all.”
Gabriel closed his eyes and growled as he struggled against the hold on him. He knew that a fall from the height he was at would most likely cause a break, or worse.
But he didn’t care, he just wanted away from the evil and the lies he spouted.
“Not lies,” the voice sounded around.
And just as abruptly as he was taken, the hold on him vanished. For a heartbeat, Gabriel wondered how badly the fall would hurt just before he fell to the ground.
He landed on thick snow that had fallen from the branches when he had been banged against the tree. He raised his head to the bare limbs, thankful they had let loose the snow.
“Gabriel, what the devil happened?” Roderick said as he helped him rise.
On his other side, Hugh gripped his arm and brought him to his feet. “Gabriel?”
he asked softly.
The mist swarmed around them then, and the smell of evil filled their nostrils.
“The time is at hand, Shields,” the voice screamed around them. “Prepare to die.”
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As the voice disappeared, so did the mist. Gabriel wasted little time in searching for his sword. Once he had it, he hastily sheathed it.
“Danielle,” he called.
“Gabriel,” Hugh barked. “We need to talk.”
He waved away Hugh’s words. “Not before I find Danielle.”
“I’m here, Gabriel,” she said as she hobbled out from behind two trees.
He rushed to her and wrapped his arm around her waist again. Her body shivered, but he doubted it had anything to do with the cold.
Once he walked her to Hugh and Roderick, he situated her up against a tree and turned to his leader. “The Harpy flew over us.”
“We never heard anything,” Roderick said. “It wasn’t until we heard Danielle scream that we knew something was wrong.”
Gabriel scratched his head. “I know what I saw. It was the Harpy. It didn’t attack us, just flew over us.”
“And what had you pinned to the tree?” Hugh asked softly, too softly.
Gabriel turned his gaze to Hugh. He couldn’t tell them all the voice had whispered in his ear. Not because it might be true, but because he didn’t want the Shields doubting his loyalty in anyway.
“He’s after me,” he finally decided to tell them. That much was the truth, he just didn’t know why.
“You?” Roderick repeated and paced before him. “Why you?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. I think he’s after all us, but he wants to divide us first.”
Hugh nodded. “It’s a perfect tactical move, one that I would make in his position.”
Gabriel sighed mentally and squeezed his eyes shut. He was suddenly very tired and cold. “We need to return. The Harpy frightened Danielle’s horse and caused her to fall. She sprained her ankle when she fell.”
“The mare will return to the castle,” Hugh said. “I think its safe enough now that we can all return.”
But Gabriel had a nagging question he needed an answer to. “Hugh, when you rode up and saw me hanging there. Did you smell the evil?”
For a long moment Hugh simply stared at Gabriel, his dark eyes revealing nothing. “Aye.”
Relief flooded Gabriel. He could never live with himself if his brethren thought he had betrayed them.
“We didn’t know what had you,” Roderick said. “We didn’t want to chance injuring you just to get at whatever had you.”
Gabriel turned to Roderick and nodded. He then moved to Danielle when the vicious scream rent the air.
“Harpy,” Hugh bellowed as everyone dove for cover.
Gabriel started to dive for cover when he spotted Danielle trying to limp around the tree. He pivoted and rushed to her, pushing her against the tree to shield her with his body.
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“Don’t move,” he whispered in her ear.
Her soft breath fanned his neck as her hands gripped his jerkin beneath his cloak.
“I can hear it,” she murmured, her lips brushing the exposed skin at his neck.
Gabriel nearly groaned aloud as his rod throbbed to life. “I will protect you.”
Her head moved as she looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to die.”
With the Harpy screaming around them and her metal wings clanging loudly, Gabriel knew trying to speak now would be impossible.
Instead, he moved closer to her, offering her his warmth and his body for protection. Her arms wrapped around his waist beneath his cloak. Gabriel gripped the tree tightly as he fought the urge to turn around and attack the Harpy.
“Nay,” Roderick yelled, drawing Gabriel’s attention.
His fellow Shield had moved until he was in line with Gabriel’s vision. And his friend knew him well enough to know just what Gabriel wanted to do. Fight.
“Not now,” Roderick mouthed.
Gabriel would wait, but only because he had Danielle to protect. Or else he’d be ending it now.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” the Harpy said from above them. “It’s time to die. Who would like to go first?”
“Don’t go,” Danielle begged him. “Please don’t go.”
There was an odd note in her voice, as if her very being depended on him not facing the creature.
“I won’t leave you willingly,” he finally agreed.
The loud banging of the Harpy’s wings stopped, and Gabriel could only guess that she had landed somewhere. But whe
re?
“She’s above and behind you, to your left,” Danielle whispered. “She’s resting on the limbs of a very old oak.”
Gabriel knew to move now would be folly. The Harpy had keen eyesight, but he must blend in fairly well to the surroundings for her not to have spotted him immediately.