Arran still held out hope he was wrong about Pete, even when he knew in his gut he wasn’t. But when Pete held up a cracked trencher to the light behind him, Arran’s suspicions were confirmed.
He stood half in the shadows, half in the light, and simply watched Pete check the contents of the crate. Arran was glad Ronnie wasn’t there to see this. She’d be devastated.
It wasn’t until Pete began to repack the box that Arran said, “Going somewhere?”
Pete’s head snapped up, his eyes searching the darkness in the direction Arran stood. “Who’s there?”
“What amazes me is that you actually thought you could get away with it.”
“Who’s there?” Pete shouted again.
Arran inwardly cheered when he noted the perspiration dotting Pete’s brow and the way his nervousness grew the longer Arran held his silence.
“Dammit. Show yourself!” Pete yelled, and took a step back from the crate to a table behind him.
Arran slowly moved into the light.
Pete’s eyes grew large. “
You
. What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“I have certain … friends,” Arran said. “I came to retrieve what’s Ronnie’s.”
“She’ll never miss this stuff. I’ve been taking little things from her from the very beginning. If that fool Max had not gotten greedy, Ronnie would’ve never known.”
“She’s always known,” Arran stated calmly. “Always.”
That gave Pete pause, but then his apprehension doubled. “Did Ronnie send you?”
“Does it matter? Make things easy on yourself and return the items. Doona make me take them from you, because you’ll regret it.”
Pete’s arm swung around, and Arran found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol.
“I don’t think so,” Pete said. “I need this money. So I’ve taken a few things. Big deal. Ronnie gets the glory and moves on to another dig.”
“So jealousy prompted this?”
“Not at first. But when my funding dried up and I was being told the money was going to her, what was I supposed to do? Archeology is my life.”
The tide of rage Arran had been holding back broke through. “And you were like a father to her!” He took a step toward Pete. “How could you? How did you even look her in the eye?”
“A man has to do what he has to do,” Pete said, the gun never wavering.
Arran jerked his chin at the weapon. “Go ahead. Shoot. I guarantee you willna leave here alive.”
“You’re not alone?” Pete asked, his brow furrowing.
Arran simply grinned. “Oh, Pete. There is much about me you doona know, but you’re about to find out.”
All around him, Arran could hear the others taking up position. They wouldn’t show themselves unless Arran asked them to. They were there to watch his back.
Arran took another step, quickly closing the distance between him and Pete.
“Stay back,” Pete warned.
He sneered at the gun. “There isna much in this world I fear, and your weapon is certainly no’ one of them. Put it down and walk away.”
“You’d allow me to walk away.”
“Aye. Give me the items you’ve stolen and keep away from Ronnie. Stay away from any archeological dig site, and you’ll never see me again.”
Pete frowned. “You’re not here to arrest me?”
“I can if it would make you feel better. Make your decision, but quickly, because my patience is running out.”
“Who are you?” Pete demanded.
Arran glanced at the floor. “I’m of no consequence. Unfortunately, you hurt someone I care about, and I can no’ let you get away with it.”
Pete seemed to consider his words. He looked at the crate and then back at Arran. “I’ve got debts. I have to sell these for the money or I’m dead.”
Arran allowed his god to poke through enough to change his eyes to complete white. “If you doona do as I say, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Holy mother of God,” Pete said, and stumbled backwards, his eyes widened in horror. “What are you?”
“Your worst nightmare. Walk away now, Pete. It’s the last time I give you this offer.”
Pete began to lower his gun, but just as Arran thought he would turn away, Pete raised his arm and fired the weapon. Arran leaned to the side and easily dodged the bullet.
He turned his head to Pete and growled, the sound rumbling deep within him and echoing around the warehouse. He was still full of rage from the battle at Wallace mansion. Knowing Ronnie had been tricked only notched his anger up by degrees.
There was a soft swish as someone jumped from the top of the shelves to the ground. The next thing Arran knew, Ian and Quinn stood on either side of him.
Pete gave an alarmed cry and dropped his gun as he turned and ran. He was slow and clumsy because of his size and age, but the fact he was leaving was good enough for Arran.
Arran saw a shadow move as it followed Pete. And he knew Lucan was making sure Pete didn’t return.
“What now?” Ian asked.
Arran walked to the crate and set his hands on the side. “Now, I return these to Ronnie. And all of you go home.”
“Are you going to tell Ronnie who took the items?” Camdyn asked.
Arran turned his head to look at Fallon. “Take them home, and check on Malcolm and Charon.”
“Wait!” Ian said, but Fallon had already put his hand on him.
Arran let out a breath once he was alone. He dropped his chin to his chest and briefly squeezed his eyes closed. The first part was done. Now all he needed to do was get the artifacts back to Ronnie without her seeing him.
She’d made her wishes regarding him clear, and though a part of him wanted to fight her and make her listen to him, he knew that would only make things worse.
By making sure Pete stayed away, he was already taking away her father figure. At least she had Andy.
Arran remembered the way Ronnie’s body had reacted to his touch, how her passion had erupted when they came together. After having her, how would he get through eternity without her?
“You look how I feel.”
Arran’s head snapped up to find Fallon standing in front of him on the other side of the crate. “What are you doing here?”
“I can no’ stay at the castle. There are too many memories of Larena. The women keep trying to get me to stay, and I know it’s because Larena has to be buried and they want me to grieve.”
“What are you going to do?”
Fallon shrugged. “I can no longer think of the future. I’ll get through today, and then think about tomorrow when it comes.”
“The men need you.”
“Nay,” Fallon said with a slow shake of his head. “None of you need me to lead. All of you do it yourselves just fine.”
Arran wanted to argue with him, yet he understood exactly how Fallon felt.
“Are you going to talk to her?” Fallon asked.
He shook his head and pushed off the crate. “It’s better if I doona.”
“I think you’re wrong there. I think you should talk to Ronnie, tell her what happened. Make her see it was Pete who stole, no’ you.”
“Nay. I willna hurt her that way.”
“So you’ll allow her to think the worst of you? That doesna sound like the Arran I knew.”
Arran smiled wryly. “That’s because I’m no longer that man.”
“You care deeply for her.”
It wasn’t a question. “Deeply.”
“Do you love her?”
Arran looked away from Fallon as he faced a question he hadn’t been able to ask himself. But it was out there, and now he had to face it. Yet suddenly, it didn’t frighten him as he expected. “Aye. More than anything.”
“You’re allowing your pride to keep you away, then?”
“She asked that I never speak to her again. I’m granting her wish.”
“And making yourself miserable in the process.”
Arran slid his gaze to meet Fallon’s. “You didna see her face. You didna see the anguish in her eyes, or hear it in her voice. She’s hurt profoundly, Fallon, and there is nothing I can say that will reach her. Even if I tell her it was Pete who stole, she willna believe me.”
“Aye.” Fallon inhaled deeply. “I see your point. Maybe you should’ve brought her here to see it was Pete.”
“It would’ve killed her. I would no’ do that to her. I was in a position to save her that pain, and that’s what I did. I didna mean anything to her. Let her despise me, no’ the man she thinks of as a father.”
Fallon walked around the crate and clapped Arran on the shoulder. “You’re a good man. But I think you’re wrong in thinking you didna mean anything to her. You forget, my friend, I watched her as well at Wallace’s. She had eyes only for you. There was worry—and pride—as she watched you fight.”
Arran had no words in response. He didn’t want to be a good man. He wanted Ronnie, but in order to have her, he had to destroy her world. What kind of man did that to the woman he loved?
“Let me take you to her,” Fallon said. “We’ll leave the artifacts, and then you can see if you want to talk to her.”
Arran opened his mouth to answer, and in the next instant Fallon had jumped them from the warehouse to Ronnie’s tent at the dig site.
“Shite,” Arran muttered as he stepped away from Fallon. He could feel Ronnie’s magic.
It surrounded him like a blanket, soft, comforting. Powerful. Alluring and erotic. His cock swelled with need and his hands clenched air, wishing it was her.
He wanted to go to her, to pull her into his arms and kiss her for hours. He wanted to lay her down and make love to her in a thousand different ways. He wanted to tell her of his love, of the way he wanted her in his life.
He wanted so many things, but the time for them had come and gone. After all the many years of his life, he’d finally found the woman for him. And he’d lost her.
“Take me home,” he begged.
Fallon said not a word as he touched his arm and they teleported away.
Just before Ronnie entered her tent.
* * *
Ronnie rushed into her tent because she’d heard Arran’s voice. Her stomach fell to her feet when she found her tent empty save for the large crate.
“Oh, Arran,” she whispered as she pulled out an artifact.
He hadn’t stayed because she’d said she never wanted to see him again. But she did want to see him. She wanted to see him, to talk to him.
To hold him.
God, how she missed his touch. She’d thought she could go through life without needing someone, but she’d been proved wrong so effortlessly.
Her artifacts were returned, but she’d rather have her Warrior beside her. If only she’d gotten to her tent sooner. If only she’d never said those cruel words to him. She hastily blinked to keep the tears at bay.
Ronnie moved aside the straw and saw something among the packing material. She reached down and pulled out a cell phone. Her heart pounded with dread as she recognized the beat-up old phone she’d seen countless times.
She flipped open the phone and saw Pete’s name carved crudely above the numbers. Her world began to spin as realization crashed upon her.
It wasn’t Arran who had stolen. It was Pete. Arran had known, but he hadn’t told her. Not that she’d given him the chance, or believed him when he swore he hadn’t taken anything.
Ronnie tossed down the phone and grabbed the keys to the Range Rover Arran had driven. She ran to the SUV and climbed inside.
She might not know how to find MacLeod Castle, but she knew where to start looking—MacLeod land.
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
Arran stood in the great hall of MacLeod Castle and briefly watched the Druids still embracing their husbands after their return.
He’d never felt more out of place than he did at that moment, because all he could think of was how right it would have been for Ronnie to be among the Druids.
How right it would have been to walk into her arms after battle and simply hold her.
The knowledge that it would never happen was what made him start for the door. Until everyone caught sight of Fallon.
It was all the women talking at once that made Arran turn around and find out what was going on. Fallon was soon surrounded, but even with enhanced hearing, it was difficult for Arran to discern what the women were trying to say.
Fallon closed his eyes as if it pained him too much to even be in the castle. Arran understood the discomfort of his friend. He might not have had Ronnie for over four hundred years, but the little time they’d had together left a mark that would forever alter him.
Arran was turning to leave when something moved on the stairs out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Larena. She was staring at Fallon, her smoky blue eyes filled with tears.
As one, the Druids grew quiet. Only then did Fallon open his eyes. And he caught sight of Larena. He slowly pushed his way out of the Druids as Larena descended the stairs.
For several minutes they simply stared at each other, and then Fallon pulled her against him, his told tight as he buried his head in her blond hair.
Arran was happy for his friend, but it made his heart ache even more. He left the hall quietly and shut the door behind him. The sun had once more claimed the sky though it was only four in the morning.
He walked down the stairs and across the bailey to the gatehouse. The gates of MacLeod Castle stayed open now, but there had been a time when Arran and the others had them bolted and they patrolled the battlements waiting for an attack from Deirdre.
Though he didn’t miss the attacks, he missed how simple life had been. It had been easy to hide who they were. It had also been easy to keep people away from the castle.
Arran let out a long sigh and walked beneath the gatehouse where he paused for just a moment trying to decide where he would go. To the cottages that had once been a small village a little ways from the castle? Or to the cliffs?
It was the call of the water, the smell of the sea that pulled at Arran. He turned right and made his way to the cliffs.
He’d come here often through his time at the castle. The first time he’d seen the castle sitting at the edge of the cliffs he’d been in awe at the sheer magnificence of it, the beauty that had held him spellbound even before he’d felt the touch of magic.
The stones had been weathered by wind and rain, but the castle was built to last, and MacLeod Castle showed that best of all. It had survived many battles, and even being burned by Deirdre. It had seen untold number of deaths, but instead of being a place to stay away from, it offered hope to any who sought it.