A Warrior's Heart

by Donna Grant

  But one move, one twinge, and she would be on him instantly.

  “No takers?” the Harpy questioned. “It would be wise to understand that at least one of you will die this day. Who wants to sacrifice himself so the others can run to safety?”

  Gabriel sighed as he watched Roderick and Hugh exchange glances. If anyone was to die, it would be him. Hugh and Roderick both had wives that desperately waited for their return.

  “I have to face it,” he whispered to Danielle. “Understand, I do not leave you willingly, but because I cannot fathom facing either Mina or Elle and telling them their husbands died to save me.”

  “I thought you said you were immortal?”

  He smiled at her. “Everything must die,” he said as he took a step away, letting his hand linger for just a moment on her cheek before he unsheathed his sword and whirled around to face the creature.

  “You want a battle,” Gabriel bellowed, “I’m here. Come and get me.”

  “Damn you, Gabriel,” he heard Hugh shout, but he was too intent on the Harpy’s A WARRIOR’S HEART

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  smile of victory to think about anything else.

  He braced his feet apart as he waited for the attack. The Harpy didn’t let him wait for long as she spread her wings and dove toward him. While he knew the first hit would hurt, he didn’t expect to feel as though every bone in his body had been trampled by a hundred horses.

  He grunted as he landed on his back on the packed snow, sword still in hand.

  When he opened his eyes it was to see the Harpy standing over him.

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  Chapter Twelve

  “I was told you would give me great sport. Instead, you are nothing more than a flea to flick away.”

  Gabriel barely saw the Harpy raise her arm, her claws extended, through his haze of pain. He rolled away and came up on his feet. The Harpy growled in frustration, her blonde hair hanging in her bright blue eyes. Fair of face she might be, with upper body of a goddess, but the evil within her and the lower half of her nothing more than a metal bird was enough to make any man forget the beauty of her face.

  He gripped his sword with both hands and swung upwards. His blade bounced off the metal of her stomach but cut a long gnash beneath her bare breast.

  She screamed and backed away as blood poured from the wound.

  With his breath coming in great gasps, Gabriel wrapped his left arm around his ribs and waited for what the Harpy would do. He prayed that by now, Hugh and Roderick had gotten Danielle out of the forest and safely inside Stone Crest.

  With one last look at Gabriel, the Harpy spread her wings and soared into the air as she dodged the branches of trees. That had been easy. Too easy.

  “You did it,” Danielle yelled as she hobbled out from behind the tree. The smile on her face could have lit the darkest pit of despair.

  A prickling of warning was all Gabriel received before he raised his gaze to see the Harpy coming back at him…at Danielle.

  He raced towards her, praying he got to her before the creature. He dove at her, slamming into her body as he pushed her down onto the ground with him. He rolled several times before he stopped and looked down at her.

  Something warm and sticky ran down his side. “I told you to stay hidden.”

  She licked her lips. “I…I thought it was over.”

  “It’s never over, not until they’re dead.”

  She squirmed beneath him, and he gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his rod from swelling. “Don’t do that,” he said between clenched teeth.

  In an instant she stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief,but made the mistake of looking at her lips. They were plump, red, and slightly parted. The last thing he should be thinking about while facing death was bedding a woman.

  But, damn, that was all he seemed to be able to do around Danielle.

  Danielle couldn’t stop staring at Gabriel. Seeing him fight the creature, being thrown as if he weighed no more than a feather, was almost her undoing. She didn’t like the fear that had pooled like lead in her belly when she thought he might die.

  What was wrong with her? She had come here to kill him herself.

  That’s it. You want to be the one to kill him, not have him killed by some creature.

  Aye, that had to be the reason.

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  He moved away from her, and instantly she missed his warmth. He was helping her to her feet when Hugh and Roderick came running up.

  “You’re a fool,” Hugh said to Gabriel as he embraced him.

  Danielle watched the exchange with interest, noting how much both Hugh and Roderick cared for Gabriel. It was also obvious by the way Gabriel returned the embrace that he cared for Hugh just as much.

  “What were you thinking?” Roderick asked him. “We could have all attacked at the same time.”

  Hugh shook his head. “Nay, Gabriel should have stayed with Danielle.”

  “Nay,” Gabriel said, raising his voice slightly. “Do either of you forget that both of you have wives awaiting you?”

  The stark loneliness she saw for a moment in Gabriel’s silver depths stirred her very soul. But regardless of what he had become, he still had to pay for past deeds.

  “Come. We must return to the castle,” Hugh said after a moment of silence.

  The men turned as one. In their discussion, they had forgotten about her. She swallowed the pain in her ankle as she limped after them.

  She had gotten only two steps when Gabriel turned to her. “Forgive me,” he said and swept her into his arms.

  Her breath left her in a whoosh. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and looked anywhere but his face. His horse waited patiently for them with Hugh and Roderick’s mounts.

  He set her atop the horse, then climbed up behind her. It had been so long since someone had helped her without wanting something in exchange that for a moment, Danielle wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Because of her ankle, they walked the horses back to Stone Crest, though all three men kept a look out for the creature. By the time they reached the bailey, all Danielle wanted to do was soak in the steaming water of Mina’s giant tub.

  “I’ll need to see to your ankle,” Gabriel said as he reached up to help her down from the horse. His hands slid around her waist, setting her gently on her good foot.

  “Should I carry you in?”

  “Nay,” she said, embarrassed by the attention. “I’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to look at it either.”

  “Let him,” Roderick said as he and Hugh walked up. “Gabriel has a gift of healing I have never seen.”

  She raised her gaze to Gabriel. Aye, how had she forgotten his healing abilities?

  It was what had led her to him in the first place.

  For long moments she and Gabriel stared at each other, until the sound of running feet reached them. Danielle turned to see Mina and Elle throw themselves at their husbands.

  Envy wasn’t an emotion that Danielle had very much experience in, but she felt it keenly now. More so because being with Gabriel reminded her of all that she had lost, of all that she could have had.

  “What happened?” Mina asked as she stepped out of Hugh’s arms. “We heard A WARRIOR’S HEART

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  the Harpy. Did it attack you?”

  “Aye. Or rather it attacked Gabriel and Danielle,” he answered.

  Suddenly, every eye in the bailey was directed at Danielle. And she didn’t like it. “I’m all right. I just sprained my ankle.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gabriel brace his hand against his mount.

  After all he had been through she could imagine he was exhausted and need rest. And she needed to get her plan in order so she could carry through with it and then leave.

/>   “A sprain?” Elle said. “I think it’s more than that if the blood on your cloak is any indication.”

  Danielle looked at her cloak, but she knew the blood wasn’t hers. Her gaze snapped to Gabriel to see his face pale and tight with pain.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she accused as she pushed his cloak aside to look for the wound. What she saw made her weak.

  Blood. Everywhere. She looked to the saddle on his horse and saw the blood there as well.

  When her gaze returned to him, he gave her a small smile. “All will be fine.

  I’m immortal, remember?”

  “My arse,” Roderick growled as he took Gabriel’s arm and draped it over his shoulder. “Where’s your black bag?”

  “With me,” he mumbled. “Always with me.”

  Hugh raced ahead of them. “Mina.”

  “I’m getting everything,” Mina said as she raced into the castle.

  Danielle watched them take Gabriel away, watched how everyone in their concern dropped everything to tend to him. How did someone who had done so much evil have such devotion in their lives?

  “Danielle?”

  She jerked her gaze away from Gabriel’s retreating back to find Elle at her side.

  “He’s going to be fine,” Elle assured her.

  “Of

  course.”

  He better be. I’ve yet to kill him.

  Elle smiled. “I can help you into the castle. I think a nice soak in the tub will do you wonders.”

  Aye, that’s exactly where Danielle wanted to be. Why then did she feel as though she should be next to Gabriel to see if he would indeed heal?

  She accepted Elle’s assistance and slowly made her way into the castle and the bathing chamber. Elle helped her take off her shoes and clothes. It wasn’t until she was seated in the tub and the soothing water around her that she looked at Elle.

  “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  Elle, who had been folding Danielle’s clothes, stopped and looked at her. “What do you mean? I am nice because that is who I am.”

  “But you don’t know me. You don’t know why I’m here.”

  “You told us who you were and why you were here. Was it a lie?”

  “What if it was?”

  Elle chuckled as she went back to folding the clothes. “Ah, Danielle. Life has been hard for you I see. It’s not easy for you to trust, nor understand why someone A WARRIOR’S HEART

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  would trust you. Maybe now is the time to try.”

  Danielle could only stare at the beautiful auburn haired woman.

  But Elle only smiled. “Rest. I’m going to check on Gabriel, and I will return with fresh clothes for you.”

  “I can wear the same gown once it’s been washed. There’s no need for Shannon to keep lending me her gowns.”

  Elle laughed this time. “I see Mina didn’t tell you.”

  “Tell me what,” Danielle said, not liking that Mina had lied to her.

  “Your cloths are a gift from the Fae. In your chamber, the chest before your bed will be filled with all you need.”

  Danielle felt sick to her stomach. The Fae. “Why?” she croaked out.

  “Because it is what the Fae do,” she replied before leaving the chamber.

  Danielle rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and tried to stop the tears.

  The Fae, who she had never met, had given her a chest full of clothes.

  And what did the Great Evil give you? Not clothes. Not food. Not even a place to live. All he gave you was revenge.

  Though it was the truth, she had given her word to the Great Evil in exchange for finding Gabriel. She couldn’t go back on her word now. There would be consequences.

  Dire

  consequences.

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  Chapter Thirteen

  Gabriel gritted his teeth as Roderick and Hugh peeled away his cloak, leather jerkin, and tunic. The door to his chamber banged open, and Val and Cole rushed in.

  “What in the name of all that’s sacred happened?” Cole bellowed.

  Gabriel tried to shrug but regretted it as needles of pain ripped through him.

  Funny, he hadn’t felt anything until he reached the castle. Surely if he was an injured as Hugh thought, he would have felt something as he carried Danielle.

  “Where is she?” he asked Roderick.

  Roderick didn’t glance up from inspecting his ribs. “I assume Elle is taking care of her.”

  “Assume?” Gabriel thundered. He grimaced in pain and gritted his teeth until the worst of the throbbing had stopped. In a quieter voice he said, “She’s injured.”

  Roderick’s gaze sliced up to his.

  But it was Hugh that spoke. “Danielle has naught but a sprained ankle. You, however, have much more severe injuries.”

  Gabriel wanted to roll his eyes. “Aye, and I’m immortal, so they will heal.”

  “Not if we don’t stop the blood.”

  Val threw up his hands in disgust. “For the sake of the gods, will someone tell me and Cole what happened?”

  Gabriel waited for Hugh or Roderick to respond, and when they didn’t he knew he would have to. He sighed as he glanced at the two glaring Shields. “We were attacked.”

  “We gathered that,” Cole said tightly. “We want details, Gabriel. For once, just tell us without us having to ask every little detail.”

  Gabriel glanced away. He didn’t want to tell them anything, but he didn’t have a choice. He most certainly didn’t wish to tell them that the Great Evil had suspended him above the ground. Again, he didn’t have a choice.

  “Well?” Val prompted.

  Gabriel looked into Val’s pale green gaze. Val had been with him when he had discovered his immortality. And he had seen the dark side of Val, a side Val had never let any of them see before.

  “I was with Danielle hunting for her hidden bow. I wanted to see if she was lying about hiding it.”

  “And it afforded us an opportunity to do some searching before the storm hit,”

  Roderick said as he poked at Gabriel’s ribs.

  Gabriel hissed through his teeth. “Bloody hell, Roderick.”

  “Sorry,” he said as he sat up. “I think you have some cracked ribs.”

  Gabriel knew that already. He was more concerned with the fact Hugh and Mina hadn’t been able to stop the blood from the slice on his back yet. And the fact they said A WARRIOR’S HEART

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  nothing only added to the fear growing in his belly.

  He looked up and found Val and Cole watching him again, silently waiting for him to continue the story. “We had no sooner entered the woods than Danielle’s horse began to dance around. Before I could reach Danielle to help her, the Harpy flew over us causing her horse to rear and her to fall off.”

  “I suppose that’s how she sprained her ankle?” Cole asked.

  Gabriel nodded. “Then…,” he stopped, unable to talk about the mist and the voice that had called his name so eerily.

  Thankfully, Roderick intervened, “Hugh and I heard Danielle scream, and we raced to find them.”

  “The

  Harpy

  attacked

  you then?” Val asked.

  Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Even now he could still recall the stench of evil as it had surrounded him and spoke of his past.

  The hands on his back ceased, and he felt more than saw Hugh straighten.

  “Nay, Val. Roderick and I came upon Gabriel and the Great Evil. The evil had Gabriel. He could have killed him, and I felt sure that he would try.”

  Val cursed in Latin as he raked a hand through his hair.

  Cole on the other hand stood still as a statue with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Why didn’t he kill Gabriel? If he had him, what would have stopped him?”

  “I
don’t know,” Roderick said as he rose with a sigh. “Maybe it was because the son of a bitch doesn’t have a form!”

  “Enough,” Hugh bellowed. “Gabriel was right. The evil is trying to divide us.”

  “Its frustration that’s dividing us,” Roderick said as he stormed out of the chamber.

  Gabriel could barely lift his hand to his face he was so tired. His head ached, it hurt to breath, and it was near excruciating to move his arms.

  “Gabriel?”