Untamed Highlander

TWENTY-FOUR

From the cave, Hayden heard Isla’s shouting, sending him to his feet immediately. He never hesitated, just knew he needed to get to her. He vaulted to the top of the cliffs before he could think twice and saw her standing solitary before Warriors running toward her.

He didn’t think, just reacted. In an instant his god was released and Hayden was racing to her. He’d never run so fast in his life. His only thought was to protect.

No matter how fast he ran, no matter the powers of his god, he couldn’t get to Isla in time to prevent Ian from barreling into her.

When Ian’s body slammed her into the ground, Hayden roared his fury and launched himself at Ian. Hayden’s claws sunk deep into Ian’s back before he rolled and tossed Ian away from Isla.

Ian came to his feet with his knees bent and his arms held away from his body. Hayden raked his gaze over Ian’s pale blue skin. He would have thought it would be Duncan attacking Isla, not Ian.

“You want a fight?” Ian asked as he stepped to his right. “I’ll be the one to give it to you.”

Hayden followed suit, his gaze trained on Ian and no one else. He smiled as his muscles readied for battle. He hadn’t been known as the greatest warrior of his clan for nothing. Battle was in Hayden’s blood, and it had nothing to do with his god.

He knew the instant Ian was going to attack by the shift in his shoulders. Hayden was ready for him. They clashed violently, brutally. Hayden grunted as Ian’s claws scraped down his arm in deep grooves.

Blood gushed, and for a moment Hayden couldn’t use his arm. But he began to heal almost at once. He pulled back his arm and slammed it into Ian’s chest, his claws sinking deep.

Ian’s pale blue Warrior eyes widened before he growled and punched Hayden in the kidneys. Hayden staggered backward, his claws breaking free of Ian. He growled and readied to attack again.

Before he and Ian could collide, they were surrounded by the others. Hayden fought against the hands holding him, eager to get back to tearing Ian apart. He and Ian never broke eye contact, never stopped fighting.

“Enough, Hayden,” Lucan snarled.

But Hayden was beyond hearing. He was in kill mode, and he wouldn’t stop until Ian was dead.

He watched as Ian’s twin, Duncan, and Quinn tried to restrain Ian. Somehow Ian got an arm free, and then he was coming for Hayden.

Hayden stopped struggling, and instantly the hands holding him loosened. It was just what he wanted. He threw off his fellow Warriors and launched himself at Ian.

He would make Ian pay for harming Isla.

Pain exploded in Hayden as Ian’s claws ripped through skin and muscles. But Hayden gave as good as he got. He would finish Ian if it was the last thing he did.

Isla could only stare in shocked horror at the image of Hayden in all his Warrior glory throwing Ian off her. She should have tried to get Hayden’s attention then, to tell him Ian hadn’t attacked her.

In fact, Ian had protected her when they’d fallen to the ground.

As soon as Hayden and Ian began to fight she knew there wasn’t going to be a friendly ending. The Warriors surrounded the fighters, preventing Isla from seeing the battle.

She began to climb to her feet when she felt hands on either side of her. When she looked up she found Marcail and Cara.

“What just happened?” Cara asked.

Marcail swallowed, visibly shaken. “It looks like Hayden was protecting Isla. He must have thought Ian attacked her.”

Isla would never get the image out of her head at Hayden’s face twisted in anger, his claws outstretched as he launched himself at Ian.

Cara wrung her hands. “Someone needs to do something.”

“They shouldn’t be fighting against themselves,” Isla said. “This is what Deirdre would want. To divide us.”

Marcail patted Isla’s arm. “Quinn and the others will see it’s stopped. See? Even now they break them apart.”

But Isla knew better. She’d seen that same look before that was in Hayden’s eyes. Nothing would stop him until his opponent was dead.

A moment later, Hayden and Ian had both slipped free of their comrades and were at each other again. Isla couldn’t take it any longer. Even if they hated her, she had to put a stop to it.

She stepped away from Cara and Marcail, ignoring their calls for her to get back. Every time Hayden’s blood was spilled she cringed. Even knowing he wouldn’t die didn’t help.

“Step away,” she said as she approached the men.

Arran glanced at her before he quickly moved to the side. Fallon came toward her and was about to say something when she held up a hand, never taking her eyes off Hayden and Ian.

“Don’t. If you want this halted, you need to trust me.”

Fallon swore softly. “All right.”

Isla moved deeper through the men until she stood in the inner circle with Hayden and Ian. They were oblivious to her and everything around them. That would work to her advantage.

She had one chance to break them apart and get their attention. She prayed it was enough.

Isla called to her magic, felt it move and swirl within her. She splayed her fingers and held her hands above her stomach. The magic gathered at the center of her abdomen, growing and growing until she could barely contain it.

She held it as long as she could before she lifted her hands toward Hayden and Ian. The blast of magic that shot from her was so strong she had to take a step back to keep balanced.

Her magic held Hayden and Ian apart no matter how hard they fought. She glanced from one to the other, afraid at the savagery she saw in their eyes.

“Hayden,” she called. When he didn’t respond she tried again. “Hayden, look at me!”

Finally his red Warrior gaze shifted to her. “I need to finish this.”

“It is finished.”

“He attacked you!”

Isla never knew which Hayden she was going to be talking to. The one who wanted her in his arms, whose touch made her yearn for more. Or the man who couldn’t stand the sight of her.

“What do you care?” she said, but didn’t give him a chance to respond. “There are wyrran. Ian and the others were coming to battle them. I tried to prevent them.”

Hayden’s eyes narrowed on her, his jaw clenched. “Let me down. Now.”

Isla knew Hayden would only go back to fighting Ian, and she couldn’t have that. With a wave of her hand she pushed him through her shield. At the same time she released Ian who gave her a small nod.

“What have you done?” Lucan demanded.

Isla, however, was too busy watching Hayden to want to answer. If Deirdre had known how close to losing control Hayden was she would’ve set out to capture him in an instant. Hayden could lose himself in his god with the slightest of nudges.

Fallon stepped in front of her, blocking her gaze. “Answer, Lucan,” he demanded.

“I’m trying to save him. None of you, especially Hayden, realize how close he is to losing it all. He’s much closer than Quinn ever was.”

She turned on her heel and started toward the castle. Hayden needed something to kill, and she’d given it to him. The wyrran.

Hayden stumbled backward at the force of Isla’s magic. He felt her shield pass through him, knew she had tossed him out. The veil of anger and blood lust slowly fell away with the touch of her magic to leave him feeling lost and empty.

He looked around. The castle was there, he knew it was, but he couldn’t see it. It looked as though the land was barren, no people, no buildings, and most certainly no castle.

There was a sound to his right and he turned his head and saw the wyrran. “God’s blood,” he murmured.

Everything Isla had told him was the truth. Why did she want the wyrran left alone? There had to be a reason. And even though every instinct inside him cried out to kill the evil creatures, he moved back through the shield instead.

“Hayden,” Ramsey said as he took a step toward him.

Hayden looked at the men around him, the Warriors he called his brothers. His gaze landed on Ian and humiliation washed over him. He of all people knew better than to attack those that fought with him.

“Ian,” he began.

Ian held up a hand to stop him. “There’s no need.”

But Hayden knew there was. “I’m sorry. I doona know what came over me.”

Actually, he knew exactly what came over him — the need to defend Isla. It had been instinctual, primal, and so profound he had thought of nothing else.

Was he fighting his attraction to Isla based purely on his family’s memory? Did his instincts know something he didn’t? He’d never denied them before, had trusted them with his life, but now he questioned everything.

Isla did that to him. She twisted everything, turned everything about until he didn’t know which way was up.

“Hayden?”

Ramsey’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked into his friend’s gray eyes and saw a wealth of wisdom there. Ramsey might be able to help him.

“I’ve only ever felt rage like that once before,” Hayden lowered his voice so the others couldn’t hear. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the wyrran over his shoulder. “I never thought to feel it again.”

Isla’s shield was holding, preventing the wyrran from going forward or seeing anything inside. A few moments later, they turned and walked away.

Ramsey crossed his arms over his chest. “When your family was killed?”

Hayden nodded and closed his eyes. The memories of seeing his family slaughtered still haunted him.

“We’re all balanced on the edge of a blade. Sometimes it’s effortless to control what’s inside us. Other times, it’s impossible.”

Hayden looked at Ramsey. “If only it were that simple.”

“What else is going on? Is it Isla?”

It was most certainly Isla, but that was private. Whatever his feelings for Isla, he had to figure them out on his own. “Nay,” he lied.

Ramsey lifted a black brow in question. “We all heard you this morn in the hall, yet you would kill one of your own to protect her? I think there’s more than what you’re telling me. I understand your need for privacy, but that is long gone now.”

Hayden thought of Isla’s alluring mouth, her sweet kisses, and her unmatched passion. He thought of how it felt to hold her warm body against him, how she could turn him ablaze with just one touch.

“It’s … I cannot,” Hayden finally said.

Ramsey dropped his arms and nodded. “I think I understand. Your hatred for drough has driven you all these one hundred and eighty years. The world is either good or evil to you, with no gray areas. Now that you’ve found one of those gray areas, you doona know what to do.”

It wasn’t quite so simple as that, yet Ramsey had a point. “Do you see the world as good or evil?”

“Nay. There is good in everyone just as there is evil in everyone. Look at us. We fight for the side of good, yet we have some of the greatest evil ever to walk the earth inside us. Are we good? Or are we evil? The same can, and should be applied, to Isla.”

“Maybe,” Hayden replied.

Ramsey sighed heavily. “You are fighting the very thing that is pulling you to her. You are fighting yourself, Hayden. If you aren’t careful you will destroy her along with you. I admit the world would be much easier if we could categorize everything into black or white, but nothing is that simple or that uncomplicated.”

Hayden’s head began to pound. His world had changed with the death of his family and his god being unbound. He didn’t want to go through that kind of upheaval again, yet that’s exactly where he found himself.

He had nearly lost it all the first time. He wasn’t sure he could survive a second.