Forbidden Highlander

Chapter Twenty-Three

Larena regained her feet, her blood pounding in her ears. She was startled to find her claws had extended without her knowing it. Her emotions were in a whirlwind, and if she didn’t get control soon, she would be no help to the others when the wyrran attacked.

Unlike Fallon, Larena believed Broc. Why the winged Warrior would give them that information she didn’t know, and didn’t care. It gave them an advantage. And they needed every advantage they could get.

Broc didn’t move from the rooftop. His gaze was narrowed on Camdyn, his growl of rage reverberating around them. Fallon and the others had their attention on Camdyn as well. It was the perfect time to ask Broc some questions she wanted answered.

Larena backed away from the men. Once she was clear, she ran and jumped onto the roof. Broc whirled around to face her, his fangs bared.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“I want to know why you didn’t attack me in Edinburgh.”

He shrugged. “Why does it matter?”

“There were two of you. You could have easily overpowered me.”

“My duties were to deliver James to the castle so he could subdue you. After that, I was to take you to Deirdre. My orders didn’t include attacking you.”

Larena studied Broc. His navy skin was so dark it appeared almost black. There was something in the way the Warrior spoke that made her realize he thought out each word carefully before he replied to anything.

“Did you know James had the blood on his claws before you arrived in Edinburgh?”

Broc’s navy gaze sparked with anger. “Nay. Though it doesna surprise me. James thought the idea of a female Warrior ludicrous. He believed you would be weak and unable to fight. When you bested him, he couldn’t stand it.”

It was the reaction Larena always expected from Warriors. “And the drough blood? How did you know its reaction to us?”

“You’ve never been in Deirdre’s prison or you wouldna be asking me that. Deirdre has ways of torturing that you’ve never dreamed of. She can stretch out pain for months and years until you’re begging for death.”

Larena swallowed at the cold loathing in his voice. She, like Fallon, wondered just whose side Broc was on. It was obvious he hated Deirdre, but why then didn’t he escape from her as the others had? “And once James had subdued me? Why didn’t you take me to Deirdre?”

Broc sighed loudly. He kept his attention on the men below him, but he glanced at her often. “I knew from the way your wound bled and the pain you were in that you needed help immediately. I can fly fast, but not fast enough to get you to Deirdre before you died.”

“And you knew Fallon could?”

“Aye.”

He said no more, and Larena had to bite back her groan of anger. She opened her mouth to ask another question when the first wyrran came out of nowhere to land beside her on the roof.

Larena didn’t hesitate to transform. She was used to fighting naked while she was invisible, but there wasn’t time for that. And her skirts hampered her.

Fallon shouted her name, but she couldn’t answer him as a second wyrran joined the first. Larena jumped back to dodge claws as the second bit her leg.

Larena let out a shriek of fury and sank her claws into the chest of the wyrran that had bitten her and ripped out its heart. The first wyrran gave an ear-piercing scream, but before she could kill it, Broc ripped its head off.

“Stay vigilant,” he urged before he flew away.

Larena wasn’t able to watch him as more wyrran poured into the village. She took a step to jump from the roof and heard the distinctive sound of wood cracking. In the next heartbeat, she was falling through the roof to land with a thud on the ground.

Her head jerked up as the door was kicked in and Fallon came into view. Dust swirled around his black skin, making his fangs gleam.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.

She nodded. “Just dazed. I can fight the wyrran.”

He hesitated and she saw he was warring with himself to let her stay and fight or to order her to leave. There was no way she was going to run off, not when she could help. And they didn’t have time for an argument.

When Fallon took her hand and turned toward the door, Larena gave a sigh of relief. She knew it was ingrained in Fallon to protect women, but she wasn’t just any woman. She was a Warrior. And she would prove it to him.

Larena spotted the wyrran coming for Fallon before he did. She pivoted and leaped in front of the yellow-skinned creature. All around her the sounds of battle filled the air. The screams of frustration and pain from the wyrran, and the bellows and roars of anger from the Warriors. It was so deafening she couldn’t hear herself think.

Her claws sank into the wyrran’s neck, the sickening sound of flesh giving way and blood splattering on her hands and arms reminding her how easily life could be taken away.

Larena didn’t stop to ponder it though. She extracted her claws from the dead wyrran and turned to look for another. Her eyes scanned the village to find Galen and Logan with the last two wyrran. The Warriors made quick work of the evil yellow beings.

“Where are the rest of you?” Logan asked before he threw back his head and let out a loud roar, blood coating his silver skin.

Galen and Lucan were grinning at each other like young lads who had just felled their first deer. Camdyn stood off by himself and already had reverted to his human form, but even he had a gleam of satisfaction in his dark eyes.

Only Fallon stared down at the dead wyrran in silence. His black skin, claws, and fangs melted away as if they had never been. Larena walked toward him and pushed her goddess back down. He raised his head as she approached, and one side of his mouth lifted in a smile.

She loved that lopsided grin. “What is it?”

Fallon shrugged. “I canna help thinking over Broc’s words. I hesitated to believe him about the wyrran. Why would he tell us, do you think?”

“I’m not sure. When I was on the roof with him, he killed a wyrran that was about to attack me.”

“Interesting,” Fallon murmured. “It would be nice to have a spy in Deirdre’s mountain, but I know nothing of Broc.”

“And you cannot chance trusting him.”

Fallon nodded. “The attack is making me reevaluate everything he told me however. I think we need to heed his words, or at least be prepared for any event.”

Larena cupped his jaw and smiled. They stared into each other’s eyes, lost in the moment. It was shattered by the arrival of Ramsey and Hayden.

“What in the name of all that’s holy happened?” Hayden demanded.

Logan clapped him on the back and smiled. “Wyrran attacked. After we had a visit from one of Deirdre’s Warriors named Broc. Then, Camdyn arrived and tried to kill Broc. It was very interesting.”

Larena chuckled when Hayden sent a murderous glare to Logan.

Hayden cursed long and loud. “I missed an opportunity to kill wyrran?”

“Doona worry,” Fallon said. “I have a feeling you’ll get your chance again soon enough.”

The teasing ended when Galen walked to Camdyn and held out his arm. The men clasped forearms and exchanged a few whispered words.

Galen turned to them, his lips peeled back in a wide smile. “I’d like to introduce Camdyn MacKenna.”

Larena remained by Fallon’s side as Galen named each of them off to the newest Warrior. Camdyn was tall and thick shouldered. He didn’t bother to wear a saffron shirt beneath his kilt, and despite being a Warrior, he had several daggers attached to his waist and one in the top of each boot. She guessed a few others were hidden as well.

When Camdyn turned his dark gaze to her, she smiled in greeting.

“Camdyn,” Fallon said. “Larena told us of the message you gave her.”

Camdyn nodded. “Aye.”

“That was some time ago. Where have you been?”

“Around,” was all Camdyn said. He turned to Larena. “It is good to see you again.”

“You as well,” she said.

Fallon scratched his jaw. It was obvious by the way Galen had greeted Camdyn that they were friends. Galen trusted him, and Fallon would as well. But first, he wanted some answers.

“Around? Around where?”

Camdyn shrugged a meaty shoulder. “I wanted to make sure what Galen said about you MacLeods was true.”

“You spied on us,” Lucan said.

“I did,” Camdyn admitted. “Galen wouldn’t have left the forest unless he had found the MacLeods, but Deirdre’s treachery knows no bounds. I needed to be sure it was really you,” he said to Fallon.

“And are you?” Fallon asked.

Camdyn gave a curt nod. “I am. I intended to make myself known today, but then I sensed a presence. I stayed hidden to see what it was.”

“Broc,” Galen said.

“Aye. The winged Warrior,” Camdyn agreed.

Ramsey stepped forward then, his gaze scanning the skies. “Where is Broc?”

“I don’t know,” Fallon said. It might have been the way Ramsey looked to the sky, or the way he asked about Broc, but Fallon had an idea that Ramsey knew the Warrior.

“Let’s get back to the castle,” Lucan said. “If I don’t return soon to let Cara know I’m all right she’ll have my head.”

Fallon nodded and everyone started back to the castle but him. Larena hesitated, but he waved her on. He wanted to be alone when he spoke with Ramsey.

“Ramsey,” he called. “May I have a word?”

The Warrior stopped and slowly turned to face him. “I suppose you want to know about Broc?”

Fallon glanced to make sure the others were far enough away. “Aye. You know him?”

“I do. I met him in Deirdre’s dungeons.”

He wasn’t surprised that Ramsey answered honestly, but how much he would tell Fallon was yet to be determined. “How long did you know him?”

Ramsey shrugged and looked away. “The entire fifty years she held me. He was already there when I arrived. You lose track of time in that mountain.”

“I know. Why didn’t he escape with you?”

“Escape is not what you think about after a while.” Ramsey’s gray gaze slid back to Fallon. His eyes had hardened and his lips thinned with his memories. “You only think about surviving the next round of torture, wondering if you’re going to break and align yourself with her.”

“Is that what Broc did?”

“I doona know.”

Fallon considered Ramsey’s words for a moment. There was a connection between the two men. He wasn’t sure how strong it was, but it bore investigating. Ramsey could be a spy for Deirdre. God knew she had enough of them. “You’ve given me your advice many times since you’ve arrived, Ramsey. Your mind is quick and your suggestions good. I wonder, though, have I trusted you too quickly? Are you spying for Deirdre?”

Ramsey’s skin shifted from normal to bronze in a blink. “I should kill you for suggesting I’m loyal to that evil bitch.” He inhaled and gained control of the anger that had caught him unawares, as Fallon had intended.

“It is your job to make sure we can be trusted,” Ramsey continued. “If I were in your place, I would ask the same questions. I tell you now, the answer is nay. I’m not spying for Deirdre. I want to see her dead.”

There was no deceit in Ramsey’s gray eyes. He spoke the truth, and Fallon believed him. “I had to ask.”

“I know. It is what makes you a great leader.”

Fallon hadn’t expected praise. He liked Ramsey, and the thought of him being a spy had turned Fallon’s blood cold. “The things Broc said made me wonder just whose side he’s on. He has helped us several times. He killed a wyrran to save Larena today, and he told us of the attacks.”

“He told you of the wyrran attack? Why?”

“I have no idea. Then he told us Deirdre is doing it to keep us occupied so that we can’t make plans to free Quinn. Lucan guessed that she is doing it to give her more time with Quinn.”

Ramsey raked a hand through his hair. “I doubt she would have wanted you to know that information. For whatever reason Broc told us, we need to heed him.”

“I’ve already assumed as much. Do you think he could be swayed to join us?”

Several moments passed before Ramsey responded. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

It wasn’t the answer Fallon wanted, but until he spoke to Broc and asked, he wouldn’t know for sure. Fallon didn’t know if Broc would return to give him that chance, but he had a feeling he might. Whatever motivated the winged Warrior to help them would probably make him come back again.