Wicked Highlander

Epilogue

Quinn couldn’t stop smiling. Marcail not only returned his love, but would now be his wife. It felt right, as nothing ever had before. Even knowing that his god might never be bound and Marcail was mortal wasn’t enough to dampen his spirits and hope for their future.

“It’s good to see you smiling again,” Lucan said as he came to stand on Quinn’s right.

Quinn nodded and raised his goblet to Marcail who stood with Cara and Sonya at the other end of the great hall. Sonya had told them earlier about Marcail’s pregnancy. Quinn was awed and overjoyed, though a thread of fear hadn’t left him since the news.

“It feels good to smile,” Quinn admitted.

Fallon moved to Quinn’s left. “How things have changed around here. I think our parents would approve.”

“They would,” Quinn agreed. “We’ve defeated Deirdre, gotten our castle returned thanks to Malcolm’s influence with the king, found great women to share our lives with, and we have a new family.”

“I can drink to that,” Lucan said and raised his goblet.

Fallon laughed and raised his next to Lucan’s. It had come as a shock to Quinn to discover Fallon had stopped drinking wine. Water would be found in his goblet now.

“To our future,” Quinn said and put his goblet alongside his brothers’.

Lucan smiled and said, “And our women.”

They each drank deeply and let out a sigh.

It was Fallon who spoke first. “What do we do now that Deirdre is gone?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Quinn said. “There is no need for Warriors. I think we should find the spell to bind our gods. Marcail is willing to try.”

Lucan nodded as he lowered his goblet from his mouth. “I agree. I’d like to grow old with my wife.”

Quinn happened to concur with Lucan. Not to mention that with the baby on the way, Quinn wanted a normal life for his new family.

“I wonder if we should go back to the mountain,” Fallon said.

Quinn looked at his brother to see if Fallon was serious. “Why?”

“There might be those that need our help that couldna get out. Not to mention, I’d like to make sure all the wyrran are dead.”

Lucan rubbed his jaw. “Fallon has a point. Maybe we should return. Other Druids could be hurt or trapped.”

The thought of returning to that mountain left Quinn in a cold sweat. He knew Deirdre was dead, had seen her body with his own eyes, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling she wasn’t gone forever as he had told Marcail.

“I’ll take Hayden and go in the morn,” Fallon said.

Quinn laughed. “Ah, your power to jump from one place to another. That’s a nice power.”

Fallon shrugged but didn’t bother to hide his smile. “It is, though I canna jump somewhere I’ve never been before. Speaking of powers, do you have one you never told us about?”

“I can speak to animals.”

Lucan whistled. “When did that begin?”

“While in Deirdre’s dungeon. I hated the rats. Once I figured out how to keep them away, they never bothered me again.”

“Ah,” Lucan said. “You were the reason all those animals attacked Deirdre.”

“God help any mortal man fool enough to try and take this castle from us,” Fallon said.

Larena walked up and put her arms around Fallon. “Are you already plotting a war?”

“They are never content, are they?” Cara said as she joined Lucan.

Quinn smiled and took Marcail’s hand in his as he pulled her against his chest so he could wrap an arm around her. He glanced at the cuff around her upper arm with the wolf’s head on it, matching his torc and bonding them forever. “We’ll do whatever it takes to keep our women safe.”

“I expect nothing less from a Warrior,” Marcail said before she rose up on her toes to kiss him.

The hall erupted in cheers. Quinn laughed with Marcail. It was going to take some getting used to, having a life so full of love and happiness, but he was ready to find out.

Isla stumbled in the snow and fell to her knees. She had gotten turned around as she tried to walk down the mountain, and now she feared she would never leave it.

Her fingers were frozen and she could no longer feel her feet, which was why she kept tripping over things. Snow had begun to fall, hampering her vision, but then again, on Cairn Toul, there was always snow.

She pushed off the snow and saw the blood where her hand had been. She needed to see to her wounds soon. Already she had lost so much blood. Anyone looking for her simply had to follow the blood to find her.

A tear fell from her eyes. She wiped it away and tried to push Grania from her mind. It had been an accident killing her niece, but the pain of what she had done would haunt her forever.

If Deirdre didn’t find her first.