Shadow Highlander

SEVENTEEN

Reaghan felt the loss of Galen’s heat instantly. She hadn’t wanted to let go of him.

But now that he was gone, the throbbing consumed her. Her stomach pitched violently, and she feared she would become sick, spilling what little food she had consumed.

Hands began to tug at her dress and limp body. She wanted to yell at them to leave her alone, but all her strength was being used to stop her nausea.

The cool air on her wet skin made her shiver, which only increased the pain in her head. She rolled into a ball and prayed they would leave her alone. Finally, a blanket was placed on top of her. She snuggled beneath the warmth, wishing someone would warm her feet. They were so cold they ached nearly as much as her head.

“How is she?” she heard Galen ask.

Reaghan tried to open her eyes so she could see him, but she had her back to the room. The bed was up against a wall, and it would take too much of her waning strength to turn over.

She winced as wood popped from a fire. People were speaking, their voices low and their words unintelligible, but she knew they were packed close together.

Outside the sound of the rain was a constant roar punctuated by the thunder and flashes of lightning. The storm was ferocious and would delay them.

Reaghan hated her weakness and the pain that assaulted her. She had felt the headache coming before they halted for the noon meal. Two in one day. Two brutal ones at that.

It frightened her just as much as her unknown past did.

A wave of renewed pain washed over her. Reaghan gripped the blanket with all her might, wishing it was Galen and hoping she could stay out of the darkness that wanted to take her.

She didn’t know how she knew the darkness wanted her. Maybe it was the way it came at her quicker, more forcefully, each time, but she was powerless to stay conscious when it swarmed over her.

Her lips parted and she whispered Galen’s name. She tried to shout, but was too weak for more than the murmur she was able to form.

She needed Galen. His strength was the only thing that could keep the darkness away. While he had carried her, she’d been in pain, but the darkness hadn’t dared to come.

Now it collected around her, and in one fell swoop took her under.

*

Galen watched as Reaghan’s hand went slack on the covers. He had built the fire as quickly as he could, but then Mairi had wanted to talk about the storm and their journey.

He knew she was worried about Reaghan and was talking to quell her own fear. He listened to her as long as he could before he excused himself and weaved his way through the Druids to the bed, only to find Reaghan unconscious.

“It’s all right,” Odara said. “This is better for her. She can no longer feel the pain.” As her words penetrated his mind, he turned his head to look down at her. Odara’s bent form hovered near the bed, her wrinkled face lined with worry. “What do you know of these headaches?” “Only that they will get worse. And Mairi cannot stand to watch Reaghan in pain.”

“Does this have something to do with Reaghan’s magic?”

Odara’s eyes snapped up to his. “What did you ask?”

“Her magic?” Galen repeated. “It was her magic we felt upon finding the loch. She has more magic than all of you combined.” “I know. Reaghan’s magic is very strong.”

“So why make her believe she has none? And does it have anything to do with her headaches?” “In a way,” Mairi grudgingly answered as she joined them.

Galen looked from Mairi to Odara. “And the other? Why make her believe she has no magic?” Odara shrugged and smoothed a hand over her wet hair, which was pulled back in a tight braid. “We thought it would be best.” “She seeks answers. If you doona tell her, she will find someone who will. You are her family, the people she trusts. Whatever the answers are, however distasteful, they should come from you.” Galen bent and placed a hand on Reaghan’s brow. Her skin was hot to the touch and a fine sheen of sweat covered her face. He wanted to lie beside her and gather her in his arms, but he needed to keep watch since Logan had left to hunt.

“When she wakes she will be better,” Odara said. “I’ll stay with her, Warrior, and let you know as soon as she opens her eyes.” Galen sighed and straightened. “Thank you.”

He turned from the bed before he gave in and lay down beside her. Mairi’s gaze met his before she turned and exited the cottage. Her intent was clear. She wanted to speak with him. Galen didn’t waste a moment following her.

“You wanted to talk?” he asked as he closed the door behind him and stepped into the downpour.

“Thank you for helping us with Reaghan.”

Galen walked closer to Mairi. “I would have helped anyone in need. Do you still fear me?” “I cannot help what I’ve been raised to believe, Galen. I see you with Reaghan and I know there is something growing between the two of you.” “Maybe.”

“She is important to me, to our people.”

He narrowed his gaze and advanced on her. There was a sinking feeling in his gut, as he began to suspect just how important Reaghan was. “How?” “I cannot tell you. I’ve taken a vow, Galen.”

Despite the tremor in her voice and the misery in her gaze, Galen had to know. “I’m going to ask you once more, Mairi. Tell me how Reaghan is important.” “Reaghan is ours to protect. Leave it at that, I beg you.”

It was fear and worry for Reaghan that made Galen take another step toward Mairi. He knew he shouldn’t use his power, knew he would regret it later. But Reaghan’s life could be in danger. Whatever it was Mairi and Odara kept secret must be terrible indeed to inflict such sorrow.

All Galen knew was that he had to have Reaghan in his life. Being with her allowed him to be normal, allowed him to forget the powers his god gave him.

He wouldn’t let her be harmed. And if using his power made Mairi more afraid of him, he would shoulder that as long as he knew Reaghan was safe.

As much as Galen didn’t want to, he grabbed Mairi’s arms. Instantly images of her talking to Reaghan and watching over Reaghan flashed in his mind.

Galen pushed deeper, searching for more. There was an image of Reaghan standing at the loch, but she was dressed in a gown from another era. Then he saw Reaghan with Mairi once more down at the loch. The two leaned over the water so their reflections were visible. Reaghan’s was the same, but Mairi was just a young girl barely older than ten summers.

Galen dropped his hands, his lungs burning for air as he processed what he had seen. “What have you done to Reaghan?” “I have done nothing,” Mairi stated as she blinked from the rain that fell into her eyes.

“I saw her with you when you were just a young girl. You two were looking into the loch at your reflections.” Mairi’s face paled and she raised a trembling hand to her mouth. “How did you…?”

“My god gives me the power to read people’s minds. Reaghan told me of a parchment she found regarding her and the Foinaven Mountain. She knows you are keeping things from her.” Mairi’s hand shook as she wiped at her face. “We would never harm her. It is our duty to protect her.” “You keep saying that,” Galen bellowed over the storm.

Lightning lit the sky as he paced in front of Mairi, unmindful that the rain was coming down even harder.

“Galen, there are things you don’t know, things you cannot know.”

He paused and leaned down so his face was near hers. There would be no more half-truths. He would know all of it. “I can find out. Shall I dig deeper into your mind?” “You see images,” Mairi said, though she shrank away. “But you do not hear what is going on.” “I can hear what a person is thinking. All I have to do is touch you.”

For long, heart-thudding moments, Mairi stared into his eyes. She finally sighed and lowered her gaze. The rain ran down her weathered face, falling into her deep wrinkles. “You came for the artifact.” “I did, but how is this relevant to Reaghan?”

“Galen, Reaghan is the artifact.”

Galen blinked and stepped back from the elder. He shook his head as her words sank in. He had known. Somehow, deep down, he had known, but he hadn’t wanted to believe. “How?” “What is happening to Reaghan she did to herself in an effort to keep hidden from Deirdre.” Galen couldn’t breathe. His world was tilting around him, threatening to break apart at the seams. “Why? I need to understand, Mairi.” “Galen?” Logan said as he walked around the cottage. “Is everything all right?”

“Nay,” Galen answered, his throat hoarse as he yelled. “Everything is not all right. Reaghan is the artifact, Logan. Reaghan.” Mairi took a step toward Galen. “You cannot let her know.”

“Explain yourself,” Logan commanded.

“Every ten years Reaghan loses her memories.”

Galen took in a steadying breath. “Why every ten years? Why not just once?”

“How would you explain to everyone a woman who doesn’t age? She is reborn, so to speak, every ten years. We use the same story each time so no one gets confused.” Galen closed his eyes. “The fever.”

“Aye,” Mairi answered. “There is a fever during that time, so we aren’t lying to her. It begins with the headaches. They will grow more frequent and more severe until it is time and her magic takes hold, wiping away the last ten years of the life she’s led.” “So she will remember nothing when she wakes from this fever?” Though Galen knew the answer, he had to ask.

“Nothing.” Mairi wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I’ve seen this occur many times. She will be all right.” He nodded and glanced at the cottage.

Logan snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “You say it’s to hide from Deirdre. Why?” Mairi looked from Logan to Galen. “The spell to take her memories is so that if Reaghan were ever captured by Deirdre, Deirdre would never be able to sift through layer after layer of erased memories to find the one thing Reaghan is keeping hidden.” “And what is that?” Galen asked. “What is Reaghan hiding?”

“I’m not exactly sure.”

Logan growled.

Mairi threw up her hands and hastily said, “I swear, Galen. I’m not lying. The reason was lost through the years.” “How long has she been in your village?” Galen asked.

“At least three hundred years.”

Logan whistled long and low. Galen rubbed the back of his neck. “So your village has been hiding her for three hundred years?” “I think you had best start from the beginning,” Logan said.

Mairi shook her head slowly. “I swore never to tell anyone but another elder.”

“Things have changed,” Galen said. “We can protect Reaghan, but you must help us.”

After taking a deep breath, Mairi began. “The story has been passed down so many times I’m not sure what is truth anymore.” “Just tell us what you know,” Logan urged.

“The story is told that Reaghan came to our village all those years ago with a proposition. She would use her magic, as powerful as it was, to help shield the village from Deirdre and in exchange we would protect her. She explained the spell she would perform would erase her memories and continue to do so every ten years until such time as the spell would need to be broken and all her memories returned.” Galen frowned. “How do we break the spell?”

“I have no idea,” Mairi answered. “The spell took a great amount of magic. In some stories it is said a man came with her to help with the spell, but the enchantment took such magic that he died.” Galen had thought he would get answers, and all he was getting was more questions. How much of Mairi’s story was truth he had no idea, and that was what frustrated him the most. “Do you know what she’s hiding from Deirdre?” “Knowledge of some kind, I believe.”

Logan scratched his neck and grimaced. “Just what kind of knowledge does Reaghan hold that would make her want to put that kind of spell on herself?” “Knowledge that could either harm or kill Deirdre perhaps?” Galen said.

Logan smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Now, that is good news.”

“Not if Deirdre gets her hands on Reaghan,” Mairi said.

Galen nodded and put his hands on his hips. “Isla told us Deirdre planned to raid your village for the artifact. If Deirdre knew Reaghan was that object, she would have told Isla she was after a person.” “So Deirdre doesn’t know,” Logan said.

“Maybe no’, but the man with the wyrran was certainly after Reaghan.”

“Coincidence?” Mairi asked.

Galen thought back to the way the man had stared at Reaghan. There wasn’t recognition as if he knew her, only intent. “I doona think so. I think the attack by the wyrran was merely a raid to look for Druids.” “But once Deirdre discovers where the attack took place she’ll likely piece things together,” Logan said.

“Let’s hope no’.”

Mairi walked to the cottage door and paused with her hand on the latch. “We must keep Reaghan safe. At all costs.” “Of course,” Galen agreed.

“I will gather together what food we have left for our meal this evening,” Mairi said before she entered the cottage.

Galen waited until she was inside before he bent over and placed his hands on his knees and gulped in air. “It never entered my mind what we sought was a person.” Logan moved to stand beside him. “This explains almost everything.”

Almost, but not all. Galen straightened as another streak of lightning forked across the sky. Trails from the droplets of rain ran down his face, but he paid them no heed. “Reaghan is looking for answers to her past. I wonder if this occurs each time she’s about to lose her memories.” “Maybe some part of her knows what is happening, and she’s scared so she looks to find answers.” “Answers that could break the spell, perhaps?”

Logan shrugged. “Anything is possible. I wondered when you would use your power to gain your answers. I was watching the entire time.” Galen twisted his lips. “I gather you would no’ have waited?”

“No’ if I feared for the safety of my woman.”

Galen was about to say Reaghan wasn’t his woman, but he couldn’t get the words past his lips. He knew she wasn’t, but saints help him, he wanted her to be.

“We’re battling Deirdre, Logan. I have no time for a woman.”

Logan chuckled and leaned against the cottage. “Tell that to the MacLeods. They found their women among this mess Deirdre has created. If they could, why no’ you?” Why not him?

“At least now I know why I cannot read her mind.” Galen chose to ignore Logan’s question. He didn’t want to think of Reaghan as his or why he wanted her so desperately.

“Her magic,” Logan said. “The reason shouldn’t matter, my friend, no’ if you have found happiness with her.” They had shared a night of passionate lovemaking. Was that happiness? At the time Galen would have said aye. Now, he knew too much, and knowing just what Reaghan was, meant he couldn’t have her.

Galen rubbed the back of his neck. “Reaghan’s magic was strong enough to keep wiping away her memories every ten years. If it’s that important that she would do this to herself, then Mairi was right when she said Reaghan wasn’t meant for me.” “So Reaghan cannot have happiness?” Logan pushed off the cottage wall and scowled at Galen. “You of all people know everyone deserves some contentment in their lives. Whatever she is hiding can be kept secret at MacLeod Castle where she will be safer. I can also guarantee that with her exotic looks, one of the other Warriors will step forward to woo her.” The thought set Galen’s blood to boiling. He took a menacing step toward Logan and growled, only then noticing his god was loose as a fang sliced his tongue.

Logan grinned knowingly. “I thought that might get you riled. You want her. Claim her, Galen, before someone else does.”