Chapter 24
Sonya saw Broc’s hesitation and felt a resounding ache in her heart. The years with Deirdre had left scars on Broc that no one could see, scars that might never go away or mend.
All Sonya knew to do was heal him as her magic urged her to do. It wasn’t an open wound she was healing, but the man himself. If he would let her.
She twirled a lock of his long blond hair around her finger. “Do you think I fear you?”
“Nay,” he answered without pause.
“Have you changed your mind about wanting me?”
“God’s blood, nay,” he said through clenched teeth. “Sonya, I fear I will hurt you. No’ even the threat of the curse can hold back my need for you. Whenever we touch or kiss, I begin to lose control in ways I cannot explain.”
She smiled and urged, “Try.”
He closed his eyes and sighed, but his hands never stopped touching her, caressing her. “If you knew the things I had done, you wouldna allow me to touch you.”
“I know you saved me and Anice when you didn’t have to. I know you betrayed Deirdre and stood with the MacLeods when you could have run. That’s all I need to know. The things you did for Deirdre are in the past. Let them go.”
His eyes opened, and his brown depths searched her amber ones. “And you would absolve me of the sins of my past?”
“I would.” She kissed first one cheek, then the other. “Let go of your past. It’s only through the sins you hold yourself accountable for that Deirdre still has a hold on you. You’ve seen she isn’t as all-powerful as she has told everyone.”
“She isna all-powerful, but I’ve seen the things she can do.”
And that’s when Sonya understood what really drove Broc. “You’re afraid of what she’ll do to me.”
“I am. If we’re still here when she arrives, she will do anything to take you from me. You have no’ seen what she does to Druids. I have. I willna have that happen to you.” His hands came up on either side of her face. “I couldna live if she took you.”
She didn’t want Broc to know how scared she was of Deirdre. What Druid in their right mind wouldn’t fear someone who hunted and killed them?
“We will find the tomb and the artifact,” Sonya declared. “And we will be on our way to MacLeod Castle before Deirdre ever arrives in Glencoe.”
“What makes you so sure?” he asked as the corners of his lips began to lift.
“I have you.”
His thumbs caressed her skin near her mouth. “Is that so?”
“It certainly is.”
Broc looked around her and chuckled. “Our meal is burning.”
Sonya would rather have forgotten the pheasants and kissed Broc again, but they had to eat. Or, at least, she did. She rolled off Broc as he sat up and lifted one of the birds over the fire. He handed it to her and took the second.
She tried to peel of a section of meat and burned her fingers. Sonya blew on them before she did the same to the meat in an effort to cool it down enough so she could eat.
Finally, she was able to tear off some of the meat and bit into it. She glanced up to find Broc watching her. She stopped, startled by the intensity of his gaze and the longing that flared in his depths.
If there had ever been a question of whether Broc desired her or not, she had her answer right then.
Fallon MacLeod paced the battlements. There was still no sign of Broc or Sonya. He had a bad feeling in his gut, a feeling which told him Deirdre was somehow involved.
“Don’t even think about it,” said a feminine voice behind him.
He turned to his wife and forced a smile. “I doona know what you’re talking about.”
Larena put her hands on her hips and raised a blond brow. Her golden locks where pulled back in a braid, and she wore her usual tunic and breeches. As the lone female Warrior who had the power to turn invisible, it was easier for her to fight without skirts hindering her.
And Fallon needed all the Warriors he could find. Even if it meant putting the most precious thing in the world to him in harm’s way.
Besides, Larena had a mind of her own.
“You know exactly what I speak of.” She dodged his hands as he tried to pull her against him. “You think Deirdre has Broc and possibly Sonya. You’re contemplating, even as I speak, about jumping to Cairn Toul to see for yourself.”
Fallon grimaced. His wife knew him entirely too well. “Aye, I'm thinking of doing just that. I cannot leave either of them in Deirdre’s hands. You know that.”
“I do,” she said in a softer tone. She closed the distance between them and took his hands in hers. “I also know how deeply Broc feels for Sonya, even if he will not admit it. I have no doubt he’s found her.”
“And if Deirdre has Sonya, Broc went after her.”
“Precisely. If anyone knows their way about that mountain as well as Deirdre, it’s Broc.”
“How long do I give him before I begin to search?”
Larena turned her smoky blue eyes to the distance before she looked back at Fallon. “Another day. We’re all worried, Fallon. Sonya is like a sister to me, to all the women. And the only Warrior able to find her is with her.”
“I ken we have no idea where to begin searching, but I have to try.”
“We all have to try. They are family.”
“I knew I chose you for a reason.”
She playfully punched his shoulder. “You chose me? If I remember correctly, Fallon MacLeod—and I always remember correctly—I was the one who picked you. You wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I was a fool,” he admitted as he wrapped his arms around her. “But it didna take me long to realize my mistake.”
She smiled and rose up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. “That is the truth, my Warrior laird.”
Fallon was content to hold her as the world continued to fall apart around them. He knew Larena worried about her cousin, Malcolm, as well, but she hadn’t spoken of him since Fallon had tried to convince her it was best to let Malcolm alone.
“Quinn and Arran are with Ramsey trying to calm him,” Larena said. “Lucan said he’s never seen Ramsey so distraught.”
Fallon sighed and squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. “Ramsey willna wait much longer before he sets out to find Broc.”
“That may be exactly what Deirdre wants.”
“It’s crossed my mind. She could capture us one by one if she’s a mind to.”
Larena leaned back to look at Fallon. “If Ramsey leaves, you know Hayden and Logan will go with him.”
“I will go with him also,” Fallon said.
“Then we all go.”
“And who will be here to protect the Druids? We cannot bring them with us.”
Larena’s eyes narrowed. “You will not leave me behind, Fallon MacLeod. I’ve proven how beneficial I can be in gaining entrance to Deirdre’s mountain.”
“I’d never dream of leaving you behind,” he promised. “With Marcail expecting, I imagine Quinn willna want to leave.”
“Arran, Ian, and Duncan will stay with Quinn as well then.”
“Most likely.”
She cupped his cheek, her brow furrowed. “You’ve already thought all of this out, haven’t you?”
“It’s my duty.”
“And you do it so well.”
Fallon basked in her praise as he escorted her inside the castle. But his good mood soon vanished. He needed to talk to Ramsey before Ramsey did something rash. They could ill afford for Deirdre to capture any one of them.
Sonya sat with her knees against her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs as she studied Broc at the cave’s entrance. Ever since their conversation he had been withdrawn. Almost as if he regretted the intimacy they had shared. Or worse, it could be the curse he was so sure of.
She hoped it wasn’t the case.
The way Broc stared at the stars fascinated her. She wanted so desperately to join him, but she had a sense he needed to be alone.
Sonya rested her chin on her knees while she picked at her skirts.
“Do you know Deirdre didna allow any of us out of our Warrior form? She wanted to be able to see our god.”
She looked up at Broc’s words. His back was still to her, but his words had carried easily enough through the cave. “Why?”
“At first I thought it was to prove to her what we were. In fact, it was because the longer we stayed in our god form, the harder it is to control when our god is visible.”
“You don’t have a problem controlling your god.”
He snorted and lowered his chin to his chest. “I spent so many years with my god visible that it doesna feel right no’ to look down and see the blue skin or my claws, no’ to feel the fangs in my mouth or the weight of the wings upon my back.”
“You are both a man and a Warrior.”
“Am I?”
“Aye. Do you not believe me?”
Finally, he turned to face her. “When I look into your eyes, I can forget everything.”
“Then come look,” Sonya said and held out her hand.
Broc walked in slow, measured steps until he stood before her. He squatted and lifted a lock of her hair to his nose.
Shivers raced over her skin as he inhaled. She would never have guessed he hid such horrors inside him, but she had gotten a glimpse of them. It was no wonder he held himself away from everyone.
“You’re a stunning woman, Sonya. Why would you want me?”
“Why not you?”
He rubbed the curl between his fingers before he let it drop beside her breast. “I should try and convince you to turn away from me.”
“I wouldn’t listen.”
His brow furrowed, his dark brown eyes troubled as he stared at her. “It would be best. For both of us. I couldna live with myself if the curse took you.”
“What do you want? What is it that you want out of life?”
“You.”
Sonya was taken aback by his words. She swallowed as warmth spread through her chest. Hope. Happiness. Anticipation.
She saw the heat in Broc’s eyes, felt the desire which drew her to him. This thing that was between them, that had always been between them, strengthened, tightened, pulling them closer and closer.
“Desire this hot can burn out fast,” Broc murmured as he shifted to his knees.
Sonya also moved to her knees, their bodies a hand’s width apart. “Possibly. I’d like to find out.”
“I fear there’s no turning back for me.”
She had no time to respond as his head lowered. And he covered her lips with his.