Forbidden Highlander (17 page)

“I know.” How could she explain it to him when she couldn’t understand it herself?

“Come,” he said with a pull of his hand. “Everything will be all right. Trust me.”

Trust. It was just a word, but it was something she didn’t allow herself to do. With Fallon, however, things were different.

She let him tug her onto the stairs. The conversation in the hall fell quiet as they descended. She swallowed, hating the eyes on her. It had been easy to blend in at the king’s castle, but she wouldn’t get that luxury here.

“Thank you,” she whispered to Fallon.

“For what?”

“For saving my life.”

He shrugged as if it meant nothing. There was something about Fallon that had changed. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he wasn’t the same man she had shared a bed with in Edinburgh.

Larena waited until she and Fallon had stopped by his chair before she pulled her hand from his grasp. She made herself look around the table instead of at the floor as she wished. With her hands clasped before her to help hide how they shook, she listened as Fallon introduced her.

“You’ve already met Lucan, Cara, and Sonya,” Fallon said. “Next to Cara is Galen Shaw.”

Larena smiled at Galen, noting he wore a kilt as if it were his second skin. His dark blue eyes looked her over before returning her smile.

“I’ve heard your name, Galen Shaw.”

Galen’s brows rose. “Have you now? And by whom?”

“Camdyn MacKenna.”

“You’ve spoken to Camdyn?” Galen asked as he sat up straighter.

She opened her mouth to reply when Fallon asked, “Who is Camdyn?”

“A Warrior,” Galen answered. “He prefers to keep to himself, but I left markings to let him know where I had gone.”

Larena nodded. “He found them. He stopped by Edinburgh Castle several weeks ago and told me.”

Galen laughed and slapped the table, clearly overjoyed with the news. “Camdyn is a fine Warrior, Fallon. He will be a great asset to us.”

“Then where is he?” Lucan asked.

“He’ll be here. Camdyn never breaks his word,” Galen said.

Fallon pointed across from Galen. “That is Ramsey MacDonald. He’s the quiet one.”

“My lady,” Ramsey said with a bow of his head.

Larena instantly liked the raven-haired Warrior. He didn’t sport a kilt, but there was a fire in his gray eyes that only Highlanders had. “Ramsey.”

“You’ve already met Logan,” Fallon said, as Logan gave her a wink. “The hulking one across from him is Hayden Campbell.”

Larena looked into eyes so dark they were nearly black. It was a startling contrast with his blond hair, but Hayden’s eyes seemed to convey the idea of menace just as his demeanor did. “Hayden.”

“Larena,” Hayden replied in a cool, deep voice.

Fallon pulled his chair out and motioned for her to take it. “Sit, please. Would you like something to eat?”

“Nay.” Larena took his chair, hating to be the center of attention. Fallon slid next to her in Quinn’s empty spot. She tried to read the emotion in his eyes, but he had closed himself off to her.

She should be relieved. She had wanted to distance herself anyway, right? Then why did it hurt so badly?

You wondered if things would change once you
reached
his castle. Now you know
.

Aye. Now she knew.

“Can you tell us of the attack on you?” Lucan asked.

Larena took a deep breath to help fortify herself. She didn’t want to relive the attack, but there were things Fallon and the others needed to know.

“There were two of them. One of the Warriors had pale green skin and a nasty attitude. The other had dark blue skin and wings.”

“Wings?” Lucan repeated, his brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”

Larena nodded. “I saw him fold them against his back. They were wings.”

“Could it be the same one?” Cara asked.

Fallon lifted one shoulder. “I imagine it is. Did they both attack you?” he asked Larena.

“Nay, only the pale green one. They told me Deirdre wanted to meet me. When I asked how she found out about me, they told me it was the wyrran. One had gotten into the castle. I killed it, but apparently there was another watching and it saw me transform,” she told Fallon.

“A wyrran? In Edinburgh?” Galen asked.

Fallon nodded. “Aye. It showed itself to a large crowd in the great hall. I went after it, but I lost it in the maze of corridors.”

“That’s when I found it,” Larena said. “I chased it out of the castle and killed it.”

Logan chuckled. “Impressive. Do you see many wyrran at the castle?”

“That was the first I’d seen at the castle,” Larena said, unable to keep the smile from her lips. Logan’s easy charm helped to ease her tension.

Sonya leaned forward. “Did you know you had been poisoned with
drough
blood?”

“I did. It was the winged Warrior who told me about the poison. He said Deirdre wanted me alive, so he suggested I find Fallon and have him bring me here.”

“Why?” Hayden asked. “That doesn’t sound like any of Deirdre’s Warriors I have encountered.”

Larena shifted in her chair and shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”

“I suppose they knew you were there from the wyrran as well?” Lucan asked Fallon.

Fallon ran a hand down his face before laying his palm on the table. “Apparently. They were counting on me to find Larena and bring her here to be healed.”

“If you’re correct, then they’ll be coming for Larena,” Ramsey said. “That means another attack, and this time Deirdre will send more Warriors.”

Hayden rose from the table and cursed. “We won last time, but they’ll know how many Warriors we have now. Deirdre won’t make the same mistake again. And we’re down one Warrior.”

“Nay, you’re not,” Larena said as she rose to her feet. “I can fight.”

Hayden’s lip curled in a sneer. “Fallon said he saw you change.”

“Do you think he lied to you?”

Silence greeted her question. Hayden moved toward her, and Logan and Galen rose to their feet.

“I believe Fallon, as we all do,” Hayden answered. “But I want to see for myself.”

Larena lifted a brow and glared at him. “I will want to see you transform as well. After all, being told you’re a Warrior doesn’t make it so, now does it?”

Logan chuckled and shook his head. He raked a hand through his light brown hair and returned to his seat. “She’s got you there, Hayden.”

She found Hayden looking at her with something akin to respect in his black eyes.

“Fair is fair,” he said, a heartbeat before his skin turned a dark red. Small red horns poked through his thick blond hair to stand straight up. His claws were red and gleaming, and his lips peeled back in a grin, showing her his impressive fangs.

Larena looked Hayden over before gazing into his red eyes. “Horns?”

“I have the god of massacre within me. What can Isay?”

“Thank you,” she said. She glanced at Fallon to find him watching her. His gaze steadied her, reminding her of his presence.

Larena usually transformed without her clothes since she used her power and turned herself invisible, but that wasn’t an option at the moment.

Once Hayden returned to his human form, Larena released her goddess and let the change overtake her. Chills raced over her skin as the goddess stretched inside her. Larena wiggled her fingers as her claws distended from them. The fangs filled her mouth, and she was careful not to cut her tongue or her lips.

“Shite,” Galen murmured.

Logan cleared his throat twice before he could speak. “You can say that again.”

Ramsey let out an appreciative whistle while Hayden bowed his head to her.

Larena glanced at her arm to see her skin shimmering as it always did.

Cara’s dark eyes were huge with awe. “Even her hair. Just as Fallon told us. She’s stunning.”

With every eye trained on her, Larena fought the urge to fidget. Then Fallon was on his feet beside her. His hand brushed hers, and she had the absurd notion to intertwine her fingers with his.

“Will you show them the rest?” he asked.

In answer, she made herself invisible and heard the audible gasps from Sonya and Cara. The effect wasn’t the same as when she’d done it for Fallon since she had been nude at the time. As it was, it looked as if there were nothing holding up her gown.

“Without your clothes, no one can see you, can they?” Ramsey asked.

“Nay,” she replied. “I can go anywhere undetected.”

One side of Galen’s lips turned up in a smile. “Larena will be a great advantage against Deirdre.”

Larena pushed her goddess back down and let herself return to normal. She resumed her seat, hoping the talk would turn away from her now.

But then Galen walked to her and transformed. She was so stunned that for a moment, she could only stare into his blinding green eyes. She’d always wondered why the entire eyes, even the whites, turned the color of the Warrior.

“I have the trickster god, Ycewold, inside me,” Galen said.

She gazed at his dark green skin, but before she could speak, Ramsey took his place. Ramsey’s skin was the color of deepest bronze, a beautiful contrast to his black hair.

Ramsey gave her a small bow. “I have Ethexia, the god of thieves, within me.”

Larena clenched her hands in her lap. She had expected to have to earn her way into these men’s worlds, but by showing her their god, they were telling her she was one of them.

Logan shoved Ramsey aside and grinned. “I have the god of betrayal, Athleaus, inside me.” As he spoke, his skin changed to silver. With a wink from his silver eyes, he returned to his seat.

Then Lucan stood. He had already transformed, and he looked at her with obsidian eyes. “I am one of three. Inside me is part of Apodatoo, the god of revenge.”

Larena wanted to ask him to wait before he changed so she could see more, but Fallon stood on her left and her attention shifted to him.

He stared at her for one heartbeat, two, then he transformed before her eyes. His skin, tanned from the sun, turned as black as pitch. Midnight claws stretched from his fingers, and fangs a startling white flashed at her through his lips.

His beautiful dark green eyes were gone, and in their place were eyes as black as the night sky. She rose to her feet and reached out to touch his arm. She had wondered what he would look like when he let loose his god, and she was awed.

“I am one of three.” Fallon’s voice filled the great hall, soft and commanding. “The god of revenge fills me.”

Larena’s fingers touched the golden boar head on Fallon’s torc. She had fought many wyrran in her years, and had seen only a few Warriors before now. Yet, she had to say Fallon was the most beautiful, the most imposing Warrior she had ever seen.

“Thank you,” she whispered and dropped her hand. Then in a louder voice with her eyes still on Fallon, she said, “Thank you. All of you.”

Fallon’s black gaze held hers captive. “You are one of us now. You have a home here.”

A home? She hadn’t had a home since she’d had to leave her father. Did she dare to hope for something she had dreamed of having for years? The answer was aye because the thought of leaving it all behind wasn’t something she could consider.

Her eyes began to burn with unshed tears. She hadn’t cried since she buried her father, so why did Fallon bring out her tears?

She blinked, and Fallon had leashed his god. Once more dark green eyes watched her. Larena couldn’t help but think that a major change had just happened in her life, in the space of a heartbeat.

Fallon and the others were offering her a home with them. They would be her family. But could she allow herself to get close to them? Did she dare?

Fallon wanted to pull Larena into his arms. He saw the vulnerability in her smoky-blue gaze, and it tugged at his heart in ways he never expected to feel about a woman.

He had been worried about how the others would react to having a female Warrior with them, but the men had shown their acceptance. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had they acted differently. Whatever was necessary most likely.

All that was left was Larena herself. Fallon knew she feared Deirdre. Not because Larena had ever met the
drough
, but because of the stories of Deirdre’s treachery. But was it enough to keep Larena at the castle?

Fallon motioned for Larena to keep her seat. He wanted her to get to know the others so she would feel safe, but more than that, he didn’t trust himself to be near her just yet.

The memories of their lovemaking were still vivid in his mind, and his body yearned to have her once more. However, he knew she needed time. How much, he didn’t know.

He turned and started toward the castle door when Lucan’s voice halted him.

“Where are you going?” his brother asked.

Fallon paused with his hand on the latch. “To have a look around.”

He pulled the door open and stepped into the sunshine before Lucan could ask more questions. Fallon felt the pull of his god, a pull he had heard more and more since he had stopped drinking the wine.

It never crossed his mind to deny his god. He ran and leaped onto the battlements, a smile on his face at finally doing what his brother had done for centuries, and surveyed the land. He’d denied the powers of his god for so long, that he found he quite enjoyed being able to do things that regular men couldn’t do.

No MacClures had returned to claim the castle or their destroyed village since Fallon and the others had transformed and warned them never to return.

In a way, Fallon wanted the MacClures to return. They had dared to take his lands while he had been battling evil. He needed to fight and who better than the clan that had taken his lands and castle?

Most of the cottages in the village had either been burned or ripped apart by the wyrran and Deirdre’s Warriors. Lucan had told him he and the other Warriors had taken whatever they could from the village and filled the castle with it.

There were a few empty chambers in the castle, but Fallon had the unshakable feeling there wasn’t going to be enough room for everyone. They could pack more people into the castle if Warriors were to share chambers.