by Donna Grant
* * *
Lucan strode wearily from the hospital to Cara, Broc, and Sonya, who waited for him across the street. He stopped in front of his wife, but couldn’t get the words past his lips that the magic of the mies had failed again.
Cara’s face crumpled, and Lucan pulled her into his arms, giving her the only comfort he could.
“I just knew it would work,” Sonya said. “We’re only missing Saffron, but that’s because she and Camdyn are hiding Emma.”
Emma. Every time Lucan thought of the baby, he felt a pang in his heart that demanded children of his own. Cara longed to hold her own baby, and it was a dream they had thought to have realized by now.
A dream that was fading as quickly as finding the spell that would bind their gods once more.
“Jason’s magic is too strong,” Broc said. “We’re doing no good here.”
“What else are we supposed to do?” Sonya asked her husband. “Do we continue to hide in the castle?”
Broc tucked a curl of red hair behind her ear. “Every second you’re out here is a chance Wallace has of getting to you.”
“Or to you,” Sonya argued.
Cara sniffed and lifted her head from Lucan’s chest. “Broc is right. We aren’t helping here. Maybe we do need Saffron.”
“What we need is more Druids,” Lucan said.
“There is another,” Fallon said as he appeared next to them.
Sonya jumped back with a gasp. “Dammit, Fallon. One day you’re going to land on top of someone.”
The pleased tilt of his lips that told Lucan his brother had good news. “What Druid do you mean?”
“Laura. She has her magic back,” Fallon said. “As Charon explained, her mother and sister were syphoning it from her.”
Cara’s brow furrowed at his words. “How did she get it back?”
“The selmyr killed Laura’s mother and sister, and all her magic was once more hers.”
“Well,” Sonya said as she blinked. “That’s good as long as Laura isn’t working with Jason.”
Fallon scratched his chin and stepped into the shadows as a car drove by. “Charon assures me that she’s on our side. He saved her seconds before the selmyr got to her. She went to her parents’ house to confront her mother and get her magic back. It just happened to be when the selmyr attacked.”
“Shit,” Broc whispered.
Fallon motioned them closer. “You can hear the rest of it from Laura and Charon. We need to go.”
“Go where?” Sonya demanded.
“Dreagan Industries.”
Lucan chuckled. “This isna exactly a good time to drink, brother.”
“It’s where Charon and Laura are. As well as some new … allies.”
“Allies?” Broc repeated, eyes narrowed. “How are they going to help?”
Fallon put his hand on Lucan’s shoulder and waited for the others to touch. “You have to see it to believe it.”
“Believe what?” Lucan asked.
His brother’s sly smile only made him more curious. The fact Fallon was being so cryptic worried Lucan, but before he could ask more about it, Fallon teleported them out of Edinburgh.
And landed them in the middle of an open area with several parked cars and buildings all around them.
A man stepped forward with blond hair and black eyes. “Welcome to Dreagan,” he said.
A loud roar got their attention, and they turned as one to see three dragons—green, amber, and blue—fly over the mountain and disappear from view.
Lucan looked at his brother to find Fallon’s smile growing larger. “Dragons?”
“Dragons,” Fallon replied with a nod, his eyes crinkled with excitement.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Laura pulled her hair back and twisted the length of dark waves before wrapping it into a bun. She secured it with some pins before placing her hands on the sink and staring at her reflection.
The rain hadn’t stopped for hours, and though she would have preferred to see the sun, Charon said the clouds helped to hide the dragons.
She looked into her green eyes that were exact replicas of her sister’s and father’s. There hadn’t been time to mourn the loss of her mother and Lacy.
Laura still couldn’t believe they were dead. After all they had done to her, she had wanted to confront them. How many times had she gone over in her head all she wanted to say to them?
Now she would never get that chance. The idea of not getting the anger and helplessness she’d felt at their hands off her chest hurt more than their deaths.
“What kind of person does that say I am?” she asked her reflection.
“You thinking of your mother and sister again?”
She saw Charon leaning against the bathroom doorway in the mirror and nodded. “I so wanted to tell them off.”
“So do it.”
Laura turned to face him. “What? They’re dead, Charon.”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug and said, “I know, but telling them off was no’ going to make them change their minds. It was about you healing. You willna be able to until you say everything you need to say.”
“To the air?”
“Pretend they’re in front of you.”
She’d done it often enough while lying in bed at night. It just seemed so pointless if she couldn’t say the words to their faces. “I’ll think on it.”
The skepticism covering his face told her he didn’t believe a word she said. “Cassie is waiting to take you down to breakfast. She, Elena, and Jane want to talk to you.”
“Are you coming?”
“Laith is going to show me around the nearby mountains so we can pick the best place of attack.”
Laura pushed away from the sink and walked past Charon into the bedroom to grab her hiking boots. “The battle won’t be out there?” she asked, and pointed out the window.
“It’s best to keep the battle as far from the Kings’ home as possible. It’ll still be on their land, just no’ close by.”
“Jason will still know its Dreagan land.”
“Perhaps,” Charon said, a shrewd look in his eyes.
Laura finished putting on her shoes and chuckled. “Have you thought of everything?”
“I’m sure I have no’.”
There was something in his voice that caught her attention. She walked to him and placed a hand on his cheek. “You’re not doubting yourself now, are you?”
“Con assures me the only way a King can be killed is with another King.”
“But?” she urged when he paused.
Charon took her hand and pulled it from his face to cradle before him. “Warriors and Druids can be killed. The selmyr have surrounded Dreagan. The odds of everyone living are slim.”
“That’s the way it is in every war. Why should it change now?”
“Because you’re here.”
Her heart missed a beat. She gazed into his chocolate-colored eyes and wished they had a few more hours alone. “You forget I watched you die. I don’t ever want to see that again. Ever,” she said over him when he tried to talk.
He kissed the hand he held, his mouth lifted in a half smile. “You’re mortal, Laura. I’ll heal from almost anything, but you willna.”
“We can debate this for eternity. You don’t want me to get hurt, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Now that we have that hashed out, we need to realize both of us will be needed in this battle.”
“Stubborn woman,” he murmured before he pulled her into his arms for a slow kiss that set her body on fire and raging out of control.
Laura ended the kiss before she couldn’t and stepped out of his arms. “Get moving, Warrior. You have a battle to plan.”
He gave her a wink and walked out of the room. Only then did she sink onto the bed and drop her head into her hands. How could she help the Druids when she knew nothing about her magic?
She could call it up, and it answered readily enough. But what was she to do with it?
“Blo
ody hell,” she said.
Charon was right. Sometimes things called for a harsh curse word.
* * *
All through the tour of the mountains and glens, Charon couldn’t stop thinking of Laura and their parting words. He was miles away from the mansion, but still he could feel the threads of her magic.
It was as if they were tethered to him, stretching no matter how far he went. Knowing she was still on Dreagan land calmed him.
When they were on their way back to the mansion, he felt the first stirrings of her magic. It stopped him in his tracks, the desire so pure, so potent he was instantly, achingly hard for her.
If she had been with him, he’d have had her up against a tree and her clothes off, plunging inside her. He lengthened his strides, but not even Laith’s shouts could slow him.
The closer he got to the mansion, the more he could feel Laura’s magic. It came at him in waves. Her magic would crash into him, shattering him with the heady, intoxicating feel of it, only to have it ebb away.
Just as he got control of his body, another wave of magic would crash into him. Charon’s body burned with a need so great, so intense that he had to find Laura immediately or explode from the desire.
He leaned a hand upon the outside of the mansion and shook off the water that coated him as he hurriedly kicked off his boots. He threw open the back door and stalked inside.
“Charon!” Laith called as he caught up with him.
Charon whirled around on the King as he reached the kitchen. “Leave me.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, mate?” Laith demanded.
Charon reached for the back of a chair as another wave of magic swallowed him. “Can you no’ feel it?”
“What? Laura’s magic? Is that what this is about?”
Only when her magic diminished was Charon able to lift his head. “Doona disturb us,” he said and used his speed to get up the stairs and down the long corridor before more magic assaulted him.
He threw open the door to find Laura standing in the middle of the room. She lowered her hands, which had been raised before her, and frowned when she caught sight of him.
“Charon?”
“My God, woman. Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked as he stalked inside and slammed the door behind him.
He gave her no time to answer as he pushed her against the wall and slanted his mouth over hers. The kiss was almost cruel in his need, but she moaned into his mouth, which only sent his already heated body into a frenzy of fiery need.
Her hands tore at his soaked shirt as he cupped her breast. She had one leg wrapped around his hips while he rocked his arousal against her.
Their heated exchange came to a grinding halt at the knock on their door.
“I’m going to kill whoever it is,” Charon said as he rested his forehead against hers.
Laura laughed and glanced at the door. “We had a few hours last night without being interrupted.”
“I warned Laith no’ to bother us now. I’m on fire for you.” When she frowned, Charon lifted his head and said, “I could feel your magic. You were using it.”
“Yes. I was trying to learn it. Is that why you came barging in here?”
“Aye.”
She looked at him beneath her lashes, a look that made his rod ache for her. “I like knowing that. Now I know how to call you.”
“Wench,” he said as he nipped her ear.
The pounding on the door began again. Charon sighed and stalked to the door. He yanked it open to find Hal standing there with a grin upon his face.
“What the hell are you smiling at?” Charon demanded.
“We’ve got a bet going on how many times we can interrupt the two of you.”
Charon leaned a hand on the doorway and growled. “You better have a good reason to be banging on the door, Dragon.”
“I do, Warrior,” he said, still grinning. “Your friends have arrived.”
“How many?”
“Fallon deposited four before he left again. Lucan, Cara, Broc, and Sonya are waiting for you and Laura below.”
Charon turned to Laura as Hal walked away. She was pale as she stood quietly by the window. Concern quickly washed away his desire. “They’re good people.”
“I know. You keep telling me that.”
“What are you afraid of?”
She shrugged and nervously bit her lip. “You didn’t trust me. What if they won’t either?”
“They will.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I told them they could.”
Her green eyes grew round. “You did that for me?”
“Aye.” He’d had a good reason to doubt her, and there was still a chance Jason had spelled her somehow. But Charon needed her beside him. Whatever else came, they would deal with it.
He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. Then he pulled her toward him and walked her to the door. “If there is one thing you can count on, it’s that every Druid down there is going to stand with you.”
“They’re powerful.”
He nodded as they left the room and started down the hallway. “Verra. Just as you are. You may no’ know how to fully use your magic, Laura, but I know the feel of magic. Yours is verra potent.”
She blinked up at him. “You think I need encouragement?”
“Nay, but I’m giving it to you anyway.”
By the time they reached the stairs, she began to relax. Charon loved the feel of her hand in his, and he loved the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at him.
“Cara was the first of the Druids at MacLeod Castle,” Charon explained. “Lucan saved her when she fell off the cliff. Sonya was the second, and came to the castle because the trees told her she was needed.”
“The trees?” Laura whispered in awe. “She can talk to the trees?”
“Aye. She came to teach Cara her magic, since Cara didna know she was a Druid. Lucan is the middle MacLeod brother. You can pick him out because he still wears the small braids at either of his temples. And the MacLeods themselves still wear their torcs.”
“So interesting. Who is Broc?”
“Ah, Broc,” Charon said as he thought of the Warrior. “He is the Warrior with wings. He spied on Deirdre for centuries.”
“What are their powers?”
“Lucan can call the darkness and shadows around him while Broc can find anyone, anywhere.”
Laura came to a halt outside the parlor. Voices from within could be heard, and she peered around the edge of the door for a glimpse inside.
“They’ll love you,” he said.
She jerked her head to him, some deep emotion moving through her eyes. “Will they?”
“Aye.” He pulled her into his arms and gazed into her eyes.
Charon gently placed his lips atop hers for a quick kiss. He knew their time alone had come to an end, and it tore at him. He wanted to roar his fury. There was no getting around leaving her.
There was evil to fight.
And his woman to protect.
He opened his mouth to tell her she was his when Fallon appeared in the foyer next to them.
Laura stepped out of Charon’s arms with a soft smile. And for the first time in his very long life, he felt as if he could do anything.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Aisley stopped short in the small grove of trees when Dale held up his hand to halt her. She waited, straining to listen to whatever he heard so effortlessly with his enhanced hearing.
A second later, Dale turned toward her, but he looked over her shoulder to Jason. “It’s quiet.”
“So?” Jason whispered impatiently. “They wouldna be making a lot of noise, would they?”
Aisley saw Dale curl his hands into tight fists until his knuckles turned white. It was a good thing Jason controlled Dale, or she imagined Dale would have already ripped his head off.
“Go have a look, Aisley,” Jason said as he nudged her roughly from behind.
; She ground her teeth together when she heard Mindy’s grating giggle. Aisley turned and glared at the Druid, a thought taking root. “I think Mindy should take one side while I take the other. Surrounding them.”
That silenced the bitch instantly. Aisley inwardly rejoiced when Mindy jerked her gaze to Jason and gasped in outrage when he gave a nod.
Dale gave Aisley a wink as she walked past, and hid his smile as he turned his back to Jason. It gave her some relief to know she wasn’t completely alone. Dale was the closest thing she had to a friend. She just hoped he lived long enough so she could repay him for all the times he had saved her ass.
Aisley peered at the crumbling ruin of a cottage that stood three hundred yards in front of her. In order to reach the structure, she was going to have to leave the safety of the trees.
There were two Warriors with Britt, and then the Druid, Aiden. She’d seen Aiden fight in the alley in Edinburgh. He could hold his own, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
There had been an intensity to the Druid, a recklessness that told her he cared about Britt and would do whatever it took to protect her.
How different her life would have been had she had someone like Aiden to watch over her. Aisley mentally shook her head to clear it of such thoughts and concentrated on the cabin.
Who would attack her? A Warrior or Aiden? Aisley imagined both scenarios as she crept out of the trees to the cottage. She took the right side while Mindy went to the left.
Aisley bent at the waist and jogged the last few feet until she was able to put her back against the cottage near a window. She slowly peeked through the broken shutters to see Britt sleeping in a chair.
Galen and Quinn were cautious. They would be patrolling the area, and then there was the fact they could feel a Druid’s magic. So the Warriors knew they were there. But where were the Warriors?
Something was off. Aisley knew it instantly. Whether it was a trap or not was still up in the air. She didn’t want to be caught by the Warriors of MacLeod Castle, but then again, they could just kill her instead of taking her captive.