She’d tried to ask what he was doing, but he simply held a finger to her lips. Aisley stayed quiet and listened as Arran had not only found Ronnie and the Warrior, but was stopped from killing him by someone else.
Someone with a voice that made her skin prickle with awareness. The voice was smooth, and deliciously deep. She wanted to see the face that went with such an amazing voice, but Dale wouldn’t let her move.
She then heard a female voice that wasn’t Ronnie’s. It was someone watching over Ronnie, but Aisley hadn’t seen a woman near their target.
And then there was the Druid who had taken out one of their
droughs
. With wind.
Wind!
Aisley couldn’t believe the
mie
had the ability to communicate with the wind, and if she could, why didn’t the
mie
know of her and Dale’s presence?
Several moments passed after Arran walked away before Dale rolled off her. Aisley rose up on her elbows. “What now?”
“They have Jordan,” Dale said.
“Will he talk?”
Dale shrugged and stayed on his back with his gaze to the sky. “I knew there would be other Warriors from MacLeod Castle here, but I didna expect so many.”
“You and Jason keep underestimating them. It’ll get you both killed.”
Dale turned his head to look at her. “You as well when they discover who you are. And you know it’s just a matter of time before they do.”
“So why save me?”
“Because I like you,” he said with a shrug.
Aisley rose up to hesitantly look over the grass. “They have Jordan surrounded. It looks like they’re questioning him.”
“Where is Ronnie and the other female?”
“I don’t see either.”
“She’s no’ far,” Dale said after a moment. “We have one more shot to get her.”
“I saw what Arran did to one of you tonight. Do you want him to do the same to you? Because he will. He’ll do that to anyone who threatens Ronnie.”
“What’s so special about her?” Dale asked, confusion marring his face.
Aisley picked a piece of grass from Dale’s goatee. “He’s in love with her.”
“You can hide her from him.”
Aisley looked at her hands and felt the magic within her. It had always been powerful, but that was nothing compared to what flowed within her now.
Black magic. Dark magic.
Either way, it was evil.
And so was she.
“Jason will kill you if we fail. We have no choice but to get her,” she said.
Dale gave a nod and got to his feet. “We’re far enough away from the magic of the dig that I should be able to locate Ronnie.”
Aisley closed her eyes as Dale moved away. Every day her soul grew blacker and blacker. She wasn’t sure why she continued to fight it. She was bound for Hell anyway after performing the
drough
ceremony.
But she hated who she was, despised who she had become. All because she’d been too weak to say no.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
Ronnie was in shock. She knew it, but couldn’t pull herself out of it.
She’d woken out of a troubled sleep to the sound of a roar. A Warrior’s roar. It had been joined by others, and she had instinctively known it hadn’t been Arran or his friends.
For long moments she’d sat on her cot and listened to the sounds of battle. It wasn’t until she heard Arran’s bellow of pain that she’d rushed out of her tent.
She’d stared in fascination, and a fair amount of fear, as the man who had made such sweet love to her literally tore apart the other Warrior.
When Arran coldly cut off the Warrior’s head, she found herself glad he did. She inwardly rejoiced, and that made her sick at herself. What kind of person was she that she’d cheered another’s death?
It’s not the person she was, or was it? Was that what happened to someone who had their life threatened? Did a person forget who they really were when evil tracked them?
Or was this new person she’d become always there and she hadn’t known it?
Ronnie hadn’t been able to look Arran in the eye. Not because of what he’d done, but because of what she’d done. He had been protecting her, just as he’d vowed to do.
The joy inside her at the death of a man, even an evil man, made her realize she didn’t know who she was. And if she didn’t know who she was, how could Arran?
So she’d walked away from him.
Ronnie had seen Andy quickly getting everyone away from the site, and so she followed him. She hadn’t gotten far before a Warrior found her.
His hold had been so tight and powerful that no amount of wiggling or punching affected him. Arran had that kind of power, but never once had he used it on her. He’d been kind and gentle, even when she opened the chamber and released something deadly into the world.
Or when she told him to leave.
He had stolen from her, but she wasn’t angry about the thefts. She was hurt that he would do that to her.
It didn’t take her long to realize that the Warrior who had her wasn’t going to let her go. And since she’d walked away from Arran, no one knew what had become of her.
And then, suddenly, Arran was there.
He spun the Warrior away from her and tossed him to the ground as if he were nothing more than a bag of leaves. Pain ripped up her arm, and Ronnie looked down to see a gash that ran the length of her forearm.
She hastily put pressure on it, dimly aware that another Warrior had joined Arran. Soft hands touched Ronnie’s shoulder, but she was so close to passing out from the alarm and pain that she couldn’t focus her eyes.
There was so much she wanted to say to Arran. And she wanted to feel his arms around her again. She wanted his comfort, his steady hands to soothe her and tell her everything was going to be all right. No matter how she tried to get the words past her lips, nothing worked.
“I’m Larena,” said a woman near her.
Ronnie swayed, but arms she couldn’t see caught her.
“Oh, my. Maybe I shouldn’t have sent the men away. Ronnie, you need to listen carefully.”
Ronnie swallowed and struggled to keep her breathing even. She could no longer feel her fingers, and even though she kept pressure on the wound, blood still flowed thick down her arm to drip from her fingers.
“I’m Larena,” the woman repeated. “I’m a female Warrior.”
The invisible one.
Ronnie tried to say the words, but it was too difficult.
“I’m invisible right now because of my power,” Larena whispered, and turned Ronnie toward the vehicles. “Can you get to the cars? Any car?”
Ronnie took a hesitant step, and then another. She managed two more before her legs gave out.
“I’ve got you,” Larena said, catching her before she hit the ground.
Suddenly, Ronnie was picked up and carried. She closed her eyes since it was too difficult to keep them open. No longer could she hear the sounds of battle.
“Arran,” she whispered.
Was it over? Was she safe again?
No sooner had that thought gone through her mind than Larena cried out. And then Ronnie was falling.
She landed hard on the ground with a rock jabbing into her side. Ronnie forced her eyes to open and saw the pale green Warrior punching what looked like air. But his hands were landing against something solid.
Larena.
He extended his claws and was swinging them downward when a shot fired. Something fell in the grass beside Ronnie. A moment later, and she saw Larena’s nude body lying on her side with a bullet in her back.
“Why did you do that?” Dale demanded of someone.
“The X90 will kill her just as surely as you beheading her,” said a woman.
Ronnie grabbed a handful of grass and tried to pull herself away. They had killed Larena. All because Larena had been helping her.
A pair of boots stepped in front of Ronnie’s face.
“We’ve finally got you,” said the woman.
Ronnie looked up to see a woman with cold eyes and black hair pulled back in a ponytail before she passed out.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Arran’s patience deserted him when the Warriors had thought to come for Ronnie again. The fact that the Warrior they captured refused to tell them anything only made Arran’s frustration grow.
“Easy,” Fallon said. “We need information from him.”
Logan stood off to the side with Gwynn behind him. Logan made sure to keep between Gwynn and the unwelcome Warrior. Not that Arran blamed him. Logan was protecting his woman.
The only other one there who had someone to worry about was Fallon, but everyone knew Larena could take care of herself. With her power of invisibility, she was the one least likely to be injured.
“Just tell us what we want to know,” Quinn told the Warrior.
Arran still hadn’t tamped down his god. Malcolm and Phelan also kept their gods unbound, but no one seemed surprised. Arran wanted to be the one to hold the Warrior along with Ian, but Fallon had Hayden do the honors instead.
The talking wasn’t enough for Arran. He needed answers, answers the Warrior wasn’t providing them.
Lucan narrowed his gaze on Arran. Arran knew his anger was there for all to see. It was a living, breathing thing inside him, but there was nothing he could do to shut it off.
He feared it would never shut off again until Ronnie was in his arms once more.
“I’m no’ telling you anything,” the Warrior said to Quinn. “I couldna even if I wanted to.”
“What do you mean?” Galen asked.
The Warrior cackled. “It was made clear that if I told anyone who unbound my god, something awful would happen.”
Broc snorted. “You’re a Warrior. You have power, strength, and speed. Why are you answering to anyone but yourself?”
“You answer to the MacLeod.”
Broc crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Fallon. “He might be leader of us, but in the end, I answer to myself. I stay with the MacLeods because they are family.”
“Say what you want.” The Warrior smirked and turned his gaze to Arran. “There’s nothing you can do that will keep us from getting the Druid. Nothing.”
Arran had heard enough. He lunged for the Warrior, only to be brought up short by Lucan and Charon, who held him back.
“This willna solve anything,” Lucan said.
Arran growled, his anger festering the longer his enemy continued to smile. “I willna allow them near her.”
“There’s another way,” Charon whispered.
Arran paused and looked at the man he had hated for so long. There was a calculating gleam in Charon’s dark gaze, one that Arran recognized all too well.
He relaxed, and they released him. Arran turned his attention to the prisoner.
“Whoever made you must have great power,” Charon said to the Warrior.
The Warrior shrugged as best he could, considering Hayden and Ian held him by his arms. “Oh, aye. He does.”
“He,” Logan said with a sly grin.
The Warrior’s grin faded. “What of it?”
Charon walked in front of the Warrior and then turned and did it again. “Does this Druid have many Warriors?”
“Some.”
“Some,” Charon repeated, and glanced at Arran. “This Druid considers himself verra powerful, does he no’?”
“Oh, aye. Verra. He is. I’ve seen his magic.”
“Do you know there are two different kinds of Druids?”
Arran bit back his sneer as he realized Charon was putting the Warrior at ease answering mundane questions.
The Warrior gave a quick shake of his head. “I recall something about that. No’ that it matters.”
“It should, but we’ll get back to that later. Did this Druid tell you the story of how the first Warriors were created?”
“I doona give a shit about that. Look at me! I’m a god!”
Charon paused in his pacing and raised a dark brow. Strands of his hair had come loose from the queue, and anyone who didn’t know him might not see the anger simmering just below the surface as he smiled easily. “You have a god inside you. It’s two different things.”
“No’ to my way of thinking.”
“This Druid who unleashed your god, has he shared his plans with you?”
The Warrior shook his head. “Nay. He tells us some, but I doona ask a lot of questions.”
“Where does he conduct his magic and unbind the gods? A warehouse in Glasgow maybe?”
“His home, of course.”
Arran had to keep still as Charon got more information than any before him. There was no denying Charon’s skill. It made Arran rethink how he’d always thought Charon foolish for returning to the village he’d grown up in.
“How many Druids does he have?” Charon asked.
The Warrior hooted. “More than ever come around the house. There are a couple I’d like to warm my bed.”
“I’m sure,” Charon said, his lips flattening. “So, does Jason Wallace have a specific interest in Ronnie? Or does he want her just because she’s a Druid?”
“Jason told us that he needs her because there’s a possibility she can find magical artifacts.” As soon as the words left the Warrior’s mouth, he gave a great roar and tried to yank free. “You bastard!”
Charon smiled coldly. “Intelligence is clearly something you need to master.”
Arran took a step toward the Warrior when he screamed in pain. Arran stopped and watched as the Warrior’s chest suddenly split open and his heart erupted for all to see.
Hayden released the now dead Warrior to watch him fall to the ground. “Fascinating.”
“You could say that,” Fallon said.
Arran looked around. “I need to make sure Ronnie is all right.”
“Larena is with her,” Quinn said.
But Arran ignored him. “Broc, can you find Larena and make sure she and Ronnie are all right?”
With a nod, Broc closed his eyes and used the power of his god to locate Ronnie. It took just a few seconds before his eyes snapped open. “Ronnie is with a
drough
and a Warrior.”
Fallon pushed past his brothers and stood before Broc, panic in his green eyes. “Where is Larena? Where is my wife, Broc?”
Once more Broc searched, and this time when he opened his eyes, there was sadness there. “She’s here, but injured. Follow me.”
Logan and Hayden stayed behind to guard Gwynn while the rest of them raced after Broc. Arran came to a halt as Fallon let out a bellow and fell to his knees beside Larena’s unmoving form.