by Donna Grant
“I don’t think so, but she used it as a learning piece for me. I knew there were evil Druids, so it seemed only natural to think that anything could be good or evil. It was up to the individual.”
“I’d have liked to meet your aunt.”
The corners of Rennie’s lips lifted in a smile. “She would’ve liked you. She was feisty and stubborn. She lived her entire life on Coll, only venturing off the isle a handful of times. She always came back though. She said this was her home. It was where she was born and where she would die.”
“She didna have children of her own?”
Rennie shook her head of dark hair. “No. It wasn’t for lack of her and my uncle trying however.” Rennie chuckled. “They used to joke about it, even though a baby was something both craved. Instead, they looked after any child on Coll that needed them. This house was a haven, of sorts.”
Dale lifted a lock of her hair in his fingers. “Will you follow in your aunt’s footsteps?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t born here.”
“That doesna mean anything. If you’ve found a place that fits you, then maybe you remain.”
“Alone,” she whispered forlornly.
Dale rolled them until he was on top of her, his body already hard for her. “Are you alone now?”
Her wicked grin lit up her eyes as she rocked her hips against his arousal. “Not now, no.”
“You’ve too much passion and life in you to live alone.”
“Have you seen the prospects on Coll? Not what you would call a buffet of choices.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to offer up himself. But Dale couldn’t do that. He might have given into his desires, but he knew he wasn’t the man for Rennie, no matter how much he might wish otherwise.
As if she knew something troubled him, Rennie cupped his cheek and frowned. “What is it? What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing,” he said and forced a smile before he jumped off the bed. “I’ll go see about the animals. Just as soon as I find my clothing.”
Rennie’s laugh had him grinning. “Look in the kitchen.”
Dale found his clothes and hastily dressed, noting the rip in his tee at the shoulder. It brought on another smile as he remembered how frantic they had been to get out of their clothes.
Once outside, he made his way through the snow and saw to the cattle, then found a shovel and began to remove the snow down the path from the house.
He glanced up to find Rennie at the kitchen window watching him. As he waved at her, he thought how domesticated he felt. Months ago he wasn’t sure how he would have reacted, but now, he found he liked it. A lot.
Not even the snow that fell in flurries around him seemed to dampen his thoughts. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of an approaching car that a wave of foreboding assaulted him.
Dale barely had time to react at seeing the silver vehicle come up the long drive before a wave of drough magic slammed into him. He winced, hating the feel of the nauseating magic.
He released his hold on the shovel and took a step toward the now-parked car before he caught sight of his hands and the pale green claws. He had called to his god without even knowing it. That in itself was enough to make him wary, but nothing so much as the scene playing before him—the same scene he had seen in the vision just that morning.
Dale ducked behind the barn when he heard Rennie walk outside and greet the redheaded woman. He used his enhanced hearing to keep note of the conversation while he desperately tried to get control of his rage and tamp down his god.
Rennie might have said she didn’t think he was evil, but he wasn’t sure she had ever seen a Warrior. If he was to show her what he really was, he wanted to do it at a time of his choosing, not by scaring her and her visitor.
“I’m not going to sell, Harriet,” Rennie said, her voice rising.
Dale was instantly on alert. So the drough wanted Rennie’s land. It was enough to put him on edge, as well as make him think the vision he had seen was something that could very well be coming.
The conversation quickly ended and Harriet got into her car and drove off. Dale remained behind the barn as he struggled to make his claws and green skin disappear.
He didn’t know how long he stood there before he heard Rennie approach. He glanced down at his hands to see his claws vanish just as she came around the corner of the barn.
“There you are,” she said as she held out a cup of coffee. “I guess you saw Harriet?”
Dale nodded. “Enhanced hearing and all.”
“Oh, right. I didn’t think about that.”
“She wants your land.”
Rennie didn’t pretend his statement was a question. She huddled in her coat and nodded. “She kept trying to buy it from my aunt for years. The day I arrived she met me at the ferry and gave me an offer.”
The news was enough to make his hackles rise. “What is it about the land that makes her want it so desperately?”
“Good question. It’s a good piece of land, but the only explanation she’s given me is that she wants to acquire more land on Coll.”
“She’s from here?”
“Born and raised. She’s a MacLean.”
Dale sipped the black coffee, not really tasting it, as he tussled with the idea of telling Rennie about his vision. “Your family has also been on Coll for generations, aye?”
“Yes. Oddly enough, both our families were two of the founding six families. Why?”
Dale looked away from her searching green eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“I’m stronger than I look. I’d appreciate the truth instead of trying to hide it from me. What is it you know?”
Dale returned his gaze to Rennie and saw the determined lift of her chin. “What do you know of Harriet?”
“Nothing much. She left Coll after primary school to attend a boarding school, then went to the University of Edinburgh. After she got her degree, she returned to Coll and married. Her husband was into real estate, so she joined his company. She had two children, but one died when she was just a few months old. Her son drowned when he was seven.”
“And her husband?”
Rennie’s brow furrowed. “He’s dead as well. It happened about ten years ago, not long after their son.”
“How did her husband die?”
“You know, I never learned that. You’re freaking me out, Dale. What is all this about?”
“She’s drough, Rennie.”
For several seconds she simply stared at him before she swallowed. “You’re sure?”
“There’s no denying the feel of drough magic, lass. Besides, I was around enough of them to know. I take it you didna know she was a Druid?”
“No. I mean, I knew the history of Coll. The MacLeans were droughs, but supposedly most of their magic was diluted over the years. My aunt didn’t seem to think Harriet was a problem.”
Dale took her by the arm and urged her toward the house since she was shaking, but he wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the information he just gave her. “Does she know you’re a Druid?”
“I … shit, I don’t know. With the families being around so long it would make sense that she does. Or at least assumes I could be.”
“She’s never used magic around you, has she?”
“No.” Her gaze took on a faraway look as they walked into the house.
He closed the door behind them, watching her. “What have you remembered?”
“The people on Coll are a little afraid of her. I never thought anything about it, but now it makes sense.”
“I want you to be careful of her. I doona have a good feeling about her.”
“Yeah, me either now.” Rennie removed her coat and hung it on a peg in the front hall. “I wonder how long she’ll let me live before she does away with me to get my land.”
“Who would the land go to if you died?”
Rennie rubbed her hands together and stomped her feet to remove the snow from her boots before she tugged them off. �
��I guess my mother, though she wants no part of it. Once she left here, she never looked back.”
Dale followed her into the kitchen where she put some bread in the toaster. “I think the first thing you need to do is try to figure out why Harriet wants your land. That in itself may tell you to what extremes she would go to in order to obtain it.”
“She was angry this morning. Really angry. And frustrated. Before, she’s always been so professional. Why would she be so different today?”
“I can go into the village and find out.”
“No,” she said as she whirled to face him. “Please don’t leave me. I know you’ll have to move on soon, but please. Not yet.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her. “I’ll no’ leave.”
The truth of those words shook him to his core.
Chapter Six
Two hours later Dale stood with Rennie surveying her land. He’d wanted her to take him around the property to see if he could pick up any kind of magic.
“There is nothing here but grass and rock,” she said, exasperation darkening her voice.
“Obviously there is something. Did your family always live on this piece of land?”
Her forehead furrowed as she turned to him. “Mostly, yes. At one time we had three times as much land but parts were sold off here and there when money was needed.”
“Who bought the land?”
Rennie shrugged, then paused as she remembered something. Dale waited impatiently for her to share it, but all she did was look from one place to the other. When she finally turned back to him, she was pale.
“Oh, God. I don’t think I would’ve realized it had you not asked.”
Dale could hear his god roar with growing fury at what was happening to Rennie, and he had to agree with Shomi. It didn’t take him long to deduce what had upset Rennie. “Harriet has the land?”
“Yes. It wasn’t sold to her or her family first, but she’s been systematically buying up as much land on Coll as she can.” Rennie put her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “How could I not have realized that? She told me several times over the years, and it just didn’t click.”
Dale took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze. “She doesna have your land.”
“Yet.”
“Ever. No’ unless you want to sell. If you want to remain, lass, I’ll help ensure that you do.”
She blinked, her light green eyes holding his. “You would do that for me?”
“I would.”
“Why?”
He took a step closer and ran his fingers along her cool cheek. Briefly, he thought about lying, then realized when it came to Rennie, everything changed for him. “Because I couldna walk away now if I tried.”
“You just met me. Do you feel compelled to help because you know I’m a Druid?”
It was a practical question, and it was part of his reasoning—but not nearly all of it. The need—primal and visceral—pounded within him to shield Rennie with everything he had.
“It is,” she said, the note of dejection hitting him squarely in the chest.
“Nay,” he hurried to tell her. “At least no’ all of my reasoning. Aye, I want to protect you because you’re a mie, but it is so much more than that.”
“I’ve known you for just a few hours, and yet I swear it’s as if I’ve known you my entire life. How is that possible?”
He shrugged and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve no answers. But I too feel as if I’ve known you forever. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
“It’s scaring me,” she said as she leaned her head against his chest. “Feelings don’t grow so quickly. Do they?”
“I’ve seen the impossible done with magic, so I believe anything is possible.”
She pulled out of his arms, her smile tight. “Let me take you around the rest of the property.”
Dale remained beside her, listening to her describe the isle in the summer and how the tall grass swayed with the sea breeze. The longer he remained, the more he could see himself working the land as she did.
But more than that, he could see himself with her.
It left Dale uneasy. He had been prepared to spend decades or even centuries alone. It never occurred to him that he might find someone he wanted to be with.
Rennie was a calm, steady breeze to the storm that was his life. She was stable, solid in his ever-shifting world. He wanted to hold onto her with both hands.
If he did, he could bring her down. How could he live with himself knowing it was the yearning, the need he couldn’t contain that killed her? Because if evil ever found him again, he had no doubt it would zero in on Rennie and use it against him just as the Druids were used against the Warriors from MacLeod Castle.
Dale promised to help Rennie, but if he really wanted to help her, he would leave Coll and never look back.
Just thinking it made Shomi roar with fury and … fear. Fear from the god inside him? That was a first. Not even when the selmyr were killing him had Shomi been afraid.
“You’re deep in thought,” Rennie said.
Dale shrugged as they walked. “I’m just thinking.”
“About leaving?”
He jerked his gaze to her. “Are you a mind reader?”
“No,” she said with a choked laugh. “There are times I wish I could read minds—like now. But no, I told you, my magic is pretty useless. I don’t have any kind of gift.”
“You have magic. That in itself is a gift.”
Rennie cut her eyes to him. “Perhaps. But you were thinking of leaving. Can I ask why?”
“To protect you.”
“I thought that’s why you wanted to stay?” she asked, confusion thickening her words.
Dale sighed. What a mess he was in. “Both are true. I told you evil has a way of seeking me out. I doona want to bring that to you.”
“Then don’t give in to any kind of evil.”
He glanced at her. “You make it sound easy.”
“It’s a choice. You have to be the one to make it.”
“And if they use you? What if my choice is to let you die or do what the evil wants?”
Rennie stopped walking and faced him. “I don’t know.”
“I do. I’d do whatever it took to keep you alive. That’s what evil does, Rennie. It knows just what to say or do to make a person agree to do evil in return.”
She rose up on her toes and kissed him. “Then we’ll make sure evil doesn’t come near us, and if it does, I’ll just use my magic to make sure it doesn’t use me against you.”
“You’re one amazing woman.”
Rennie beamed, even if she knew his statement wasn’t true. It still felt good to hear it. “I know,” she said and started walking again.
Ever since Harriet’s visit she had been on edge. With Dale beside her, she was able to rest a little easier because she knew he was a Warrior, but she hadn’t seen him fight.
The tales of the Warriors were legendary, but did that mean he could be as fierce as the Warriors of old? All she had to do was look at herself to know how messed up things could get.
Her family was known for its powerful magic, but she had gotten very little of it. So little in fact that she hadn’t received any type of special magic like others in her family.
Her mother, for example, was precognitive, and her aunt had been an empath. Even distant cousins could do more magic than she could. It was embarrassing, and when you added in the visions people got when they touched her, it made her a pariah.
“This is nothing but graze land for the cattle,” she said when they topped another small hill. “It’s a pasture I don’t use too much because it’s so far from the house. It was a favorite of my aunt’s though.”
Dale had gone quiet, his body almost vibrating he was so still. “A favorite of your aunt’s?”
“Yes. Does that mean anything?”
His dark eyes fastened on her intently. “Oh, aye, lass, it does. Do you no’ feel it?”
/>
“Feel what?”
“The magic. It’s strong and verra old.”
Rennie looked around the empty pasture. “Magic? Here?”
“I thought there was a chance of something, and we’ve found it.”
“What magic?” she asked irritably. “I don’t feel anything.”
He took her hand and pulled her down the hill after him through the snow. “You will. It’s old magic, Rennie. I can no’ believe I didna feel it before. I might have had I no’ been so focused on your magic.”
She couldn’t help but preen at his words. He liked the feel of her magic. That was wonderful to hear, just as it had been deliciously sensual to listen to him describe what her magic felt like.
Rennie moved as fast as she could. She didn’t know this pasture as well as the others, but Dale navigated them around partially hidden stones in the snow.
“My heart is pounding with excitement. This is like an adventure,” she said with a laugh while she watched Dale jump over the fence.
He grinned and held her hand as she climbed up to the top of the fence before his hands spanned her waist and he set her down beside him before they started walking again. “An adventure? Lass, you need to get out more.”
“I know. Have you seen much of the world?”
“More than I’d like to thanks to the military. I’ll be happy never to see Afghanistan again.”
“Ah.” Rennie bit her lip at her stupidity. Here she was thinking it was some kind of hunt, and Dale had seen actual combat in the military and out of it after he had become a Warrior.
“No need to act as if you’re walking on eggshells. I killed for the government and I killed to stay alive. I have to live with that.”
“You act as if it doesn’t bother you.”
“It bothers me.”
When he halted next to a large rock protruding over four feet from the ground, she thought it was to tell her more of his time in the military. Instead, he smiled and took her hand.
“Are you ready to discover your past?”
“No,” she said and then busted out laughing. Dale’s answering grin made her laugh even more. When she recovered she said, “My most grand adventure besides leaving home for Scotland is whatever I experience through movies.”