Dangerous Highlander

CHAPTER THREE

Cara’s mind reeled. MacLeod Castle. She racked her brain for what had happened to bring her here.

She remembered staring at the ruins, entranced with them. Almost as if they had called to her, beckoned her. Then she had taken off her necklace because it had burned her.

The wind had snatched it from her hand, but she had managed to grab it. She remembered feeling the soft ground shift beneath her, then give way before she could move to safety.

Then she’d stopped. When she had looked up it was to find . . . Lucan. He had held her by one arm, struggling to keep her from falling while his sea green eyes begged her to hold on. She had slipped from his grasp; of that she was certain.

The horror of falling, knowing she would hit the rocks below and die, still made her heart pound in her chest. But she didn’t remember anything after seeing his eyes grow large as her hand slipped out of his.

Could his brother, Fallon was his name, have been below to catch her as he claimed? It was the only explanation, but a part of her continued to be wary.

The men were keeping something from her. It was an odd feeling of certainty, the same type of feeling she’d had over the past few weeks as if someone watched her.

There was a roar that was immediately drowned out by thunder, but there was no mistaking the sound. She jumped and scooted closer to the fire.

The image of the other man who had become angry at seeing her in the gown flashed in her mind. Had it been a trick of the candles, or had his teeth elongated?

She glanced at the door, wondering if she could make it. They had told her she wasn’t a prisoner, but she wasn’t sure how much to believe.

“We won’t stop you.”

She looked to find Fallon with his elbows on the table and a bottle of wine in his grip. His hair was the color of freshly tilled earth, dark and thick. He was handsome enough with his strong jaw and wide, firm lips, but it was his dark green eyes that bespoke pain silent and profound.

He gestured to the door, his gaze not moving from the bottle. “Leave.”

“I’m not safe here, then?”

He chuckled and lifted the bottle to his lips. He drank deeply and shrugged. “Lucan won’t let anything happen to you. He’s the best of us. I don’t know what’s worse, though, the storm or staying here.”

Despite the fact that Fallon was inebriated, she saw the truth of his words in his eyes when he glanced at her. Fear snaked down her spine. Her necklace, which she’d found in her hand, vibrated beneath her gown between her breasts. It had never done that before, but it made her distinctly aware of her surroundings.

Who were these men? Was it mere coincidence they had two of the same names as the brothers of the MacLeod legend? Was the third named Quinn?

Did she really want to know?

Angus had told her monsters resided in the castle. It could be the old man had known far more than he had been willing to say.

Cara squeezed her toes together. Her feet were like ice on the bare stones, but she hadn’t been able to find her shoes or stockings when she raced from the chamber. The storm was fierce, but she should be able to make it back to the village.

In the dark? Alone?

She inwardly cringed at the fear that always took hold of her when night fell. She took a step to the door, the light from the fire and the candelabras making her hesitate. When Fallon did nothing but look at her, she took another step. Her hand was upon the latch to open the door when Lucan walked into the hall, a platter of food in his hand.

His gaze locked with hers as he froze. She licked her lips and realized her chances of getting free were slim. And it was the longing and loneliness she saw in his green eyes that gave her pause.

Lucan was tall and broad shouldered, a wall of solid muscle and rippling with sex appeal. He was gorgeous and dangerously powerful. His tunic did nothing to hide his muscular chest, which tapered to a narrow waist, then to long legs that bulged with muscles encased in brown breeches. His ebony locks fell past his shoulders in waves, and he wore a single small braid on either side of his temples like the warriors of old.

At the collar of his dark green tunic she saw the thick gold torc around his neck. He didn’t wear a kilt or any tartan that would tell which clan they belonged to, which was odd. Any Highlander, and these men were most certainly Highlanders, always wore his tartan.

Her heart skipped a beat when she let herself really look into Lucan’s face. He had dark brows that slashed over eyes thickly fringed with black lashes. His nose was slightly bent from a break, but it paled in comparison to his mouth. Lips full and wide parted, then tilted down in a frown. A tremor shivered through her as she wondered what it would feel like kissing those lips.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she grimaced. She was to be a nun. A nun shouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts, even if they were her deepest desires.

“Don’t leave,” Lucan said.

Cara saw Fallon’s gaze narrow out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t. Lucan’s gaze wouldn’t release her, and she was caught in his hypnotic eyes as they pulled her toward him.

Lucan set the platter on the table. “No one should be out in such weather.”

As if on cue, lightning lit the sky before hitting its mark with an earth-shattering crash. The boom resounded around them a heartbeat before thunder rumbled threateningly.

“You’re not a prisoner here. I give you my word,” Lucan continued. “You’ll be safer here until the storm blows over.”

Cara glanced at Fallon to see him watching her, his face unreadable. What should she do? From the conversation she had heard coming down the stairs, they wanted her gone.

Not everyone. Lucan wants you to stay.

Every fiber of her being told her if she stayed, her life would be forever changed. But how could she leave in this weather? In the dark?

She could hear the wind, knew the gusts could push her off the cliff if she wasn’t careful. She had managed to survive death once that day. Did she want to test it again so soon?

With a sigh, Cara dropped her hand from the latch and walked to the table. “Until the storm stops then.” She was ravenous. She’d had little in the way of food for her noon meal because she had wanted to get to the mushrooms.

She sat and reached for the platter. The meat was cold but delicious. She quickly ate it and the few bites of cheese and bread. When she looked up, Lucan had taken the seat across from her and next to Fallon.

It was disconcerting to have both men staring. Now that she was closer to them she could see that while Fallon’s hair was dark, it wasn’t black like Lucan’s. Fallon’s eyes were a dark green while Lucan’s were a vibrant green, making his black lashes more prominent.

She looked at Lucan’s lips again. They were so . . . sensual. She blinked, surprised at her thoughts. Her stomach fluttered and the vial warmed against her skin. She jerked her gaze to his eyes to find him watching her, his stare intense, hot. Her blood heated. No longer did she have the chill that she hadn’t been able to shake since waking in the strange chamber.

“I never thanked you,” she blurted out, needing to fill the silence.

Lucan shrugged away her words.

Fallon drummed his fingers on the table. “Might we have the name of the woman we saved?”

Cara closed her eyes in embarrassment. When she opened her gaze, she focused on Fallon. He didn’t make her feel . . . off balance as his brother did. “My apologies. I’m Cara.”

“Cara.”

She shivered at the sound of her name on Lucan’s lips. Despite her internal warning, she found herself staring into his eyes. “Aye.”

“Do you live in the village, Cara?” Fallon asked.

Without taking her gaze from Lucan, she answered, “Aye.”

“Are you married?” Lucan asked.

Cara clasped her hands in her lap beneath the table. “Nay.”

Fallon pushed the bottle between one hand and the other. “Parents?”

She frowned, unsure why they needed to know about her parents. She understood that as the eldest, Fallon wanted to discover all he could about her, but why? She didn’t talk about her parents. To anyone, not even the nuns. Why then? It wasn’t like she could harm the brothers.

Then she realized that she could. No one was supposed to be in the castle.

“Does it matter?” she asked.

Fallon snorted. “It does to me.”

“Enough,” Lucan said in a voice as hard as steel.

Cara licked her lips, unused to having someone take up for her. She lifted her gaze from the table and looked around the hall. There had been work done to it that wasn’t visible from the outside. It wasn’t as extravagant as she assumed the hall was in its prime, but it was enough to shelter them from the elements.

“You three live here?” she asked.

Fallon threw Lucan a glance. “When the need arises.”

Another crash sounded behind her. She jumped and glanced at the door behind her. Something was certainly going on in MacLeod Castle, but what? Her curiosity had always gotten her into trouble. And though a part of her told her to run and never look back, another part—a dangerous part—told her to find out.

Lightning lit the hall, and when it faded, Cara found black eyes staring at her from behind Lucan and Fallon. She opened her mouth to scream, for she had never seen eyes completely black, without a trace of color.

“Quinn,” Lucan barked as he jumped to his feet.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Cara demanded as fear laced through her. She had been mistaken to think she was safe. She stood and backed away from the table. “You were the one who watched me from the window.”

All three men jerked their gazes to her, their brows furrowed.

Quinn snorted. “I’ve never seen you before today.”

“I know.” She took another step back, suddenly terrified. “It was once I was here. You were in the window, your eyes glowing yellow as you watched me.”

Instead of the refusal, or even an explanation, as she had expected, Fallon’s face paled and Lucan placed his hands on the table as he leaned toward her and searched her face.

“What happened?” Lucan asked. “I need every detail, Cara.”

She was unable to stop the wave of alarm and anger she felt from the three men. She took another step back and looked at Lucan. His gaze was steady, strong, and nonthreatening. It dampened some of her fear. “I . . . I opened my eyes to see,” she said with a shrug, “. . . something in the window. Its eyes were yellow in the darkness.”

“Shite,” Quinn grumbled, and turned away.

Fallon stood and tossed the bottle of wine in the fire, causing the flames to hiss as the liquid fell on them. “Quinn.”

“I’m on it,” Quinn said as he bounded up the stairs.

Cara’s heart raced, her breathing difficult. What were they doing? Surely what she had seen had been her imagination. Right?

Then why did you say something?

Because, deep down, she knew what she saw was real.

No one’s eyes can glow yellow.

And no one’s eyes can turn black, either.

She turned toward the castle door to find Lucan standing before her. Her hands fisted in her skirts as she tried to control the panic that ate at her every night. The dark. The monsters. They never went away.

“Come with me.” He held out his hand. His sea green eyes promised safety, but they couldn’t mask the desire she saw there as well. “I will protect you, Cara. I give you my word.”

There was anther boom. Thunder again? Or something else? She couldn’t go out in the storm and the darkness. There was only one choice. She swallowed past the lump of dread in her throat and placed her hand in Lucan’s big, warm one.

He pulled her after him as he raced from the great hall through a doorway and down a set of stairs. Her feet, numb from the stones, faltered on the steps. His arm wrapped around her, steadying her.

Her heart slammed into her chest at the feel of his hard muscles against her. She inhaled the smell of sandalwood, lightning, and power. A heady mix that left her breathless and all too aware of the big male who held her against his hard body.

Even when she had her balance, he didn’t remove his arm, and God help her, Cara found she liked having his warmth, his strength.

She should be wary of him, but the current that ran through the castle was one of battle. Battle from something that was evil and . . . wrong, and she wanted no part of it.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they traveled deeper under the castle.

“Somewhere safe.”

There was no light, and she stumbled in the darkness again. This time, Lucan lifted her in his arms. She gripped his thick shoulders, the muscles beneath her hands moving and bunching as he carried her.

“I canna see,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry. I can.”

“How?” she wanted to ask, but instead held on tighter as he increased his speed. The stairs ended and he ran on what sounded like dirt. She thought she heard the squeal of a rat, but it could have come from her.

She had never liked being frightened. Late at night when the wind would move over the land, she would huddle in her blankets, squeezing her eyes shut for fear of what she might see if she opened them.

Suddenly Lucan slowed, then stopped. He set her down beside him and rattled a chain. His fingers closed around her wrist as a door squeaked open.

“Stay here,” Lucan murmured.

Cara wrapped her arms around herself. She was used to the Highland weather, but the damp down here was seeping into her bones. It didn’t help that she didn’t have her shoes or stockings to help warm her legs.

Light flared and she glanced inside the room to see Lucan setting a torch in its holder on the wall. He motioned her forward.

Her gaze fell on the door and the lock he had opened. “Am I to be locked away now?”

Lucan shook his head. “I’ve no time for explanations, only time to get you safe.”

“From what? The storm?”

“The creature you saw.”

She stilled. The hairs on her arms stood on end as a fear raked down her back. “Creature?”

“I don’t know why it’s here. But we will find out.”

He pulled her inside the room and turned to leave. The thought of staying by herself made her blood turn to ice even as sweat covered her skin.

“Where are you going?” She tried to hide the panic in her voice but failed.

Lucan cupped her face with one hand, his green gaze startling in its fierce intensity. It was the look of a Highlander, a warrior willing to fight to the end.

“I’m going to protect you. And find my answers.” He said the last in a voice laced with steel.

Cara watched as he closed the door behind him before she touched her cheek where his hand had been. No man had willingly made contact with her as Lucan had. Her skin was still warm from his touch, and the smell of sandalwood lingered in the small chamber. She didn’t know Lucan, but for some unexplained reason she trusted him. Her life was in his hands against . . . creatures.

When she had seen the yellow eyes, she’d promptly shut her own, afraid she hadn’t been dreaming. It left her body shaking to know she had been awake.

She pulled her mother’s necklace from beneath her gown and wrapped her fingers around the vial. It was warm to the touch and pulsed with energy. Normally, she held the vial when she needed comfort, but this time it did nothing to calm her.

Cara’s legs gave out and she slid down the wall to the dirt floor. She drew her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, and lowered her forehead to her knees.

She should have listened to old Angus and stayed away from the castle. He’d known there were monsters.

Cara’s head snapped up, realization dawning. Angus had known.