Chapter 31
Sonya saw Broc close himself off once again. She wanted to go to him, to tell him ... she didn't know what to tell him. She hadn’t had time to think of all that had happened between them, of everything that had changed.
And the things which hadn’t.
The entire time she had been with the other women they had asked her countless questions, questions she had refused to answer. Her mind had been in a whirl since returning to MacLeod Castle.
She and Broc had been trying so hard to get back, but now that they were, she wanted to find the cave again. She wanted the closeness that had developed between her and Broc to grow.
Instead, she feared back at the castle it would be as if they had never been, as if the love she felt for him had only been a dream.
Sonya took in a deep breath and faced the Druids and Warriors she had called family. She owed them an explanation for leaving.
She looked to Broc for strength, but he refused to meet her gaze.
Sonya gripped the table for support and focused on Fallon, who sat at the other end of the table. “I know everyone has questions, and I intend to answer them. I left because...because sometimes that is the only option someone believes they have.”
“Did someone do something to you?” Cara asked.
Sonya fought not to look at Broc. “As I told Fallon not too long ago, I feared that one day when my dealing was needed most, it would abandon me.”
Galen’s dark blue eyes held a wealth of sadness. “You thought because you couldna save Reaghan that your healing magic had left.”
“I couldn’t heal her. She died, Galen.”
“But my magic saved me,” Reaghan said.
Sonya looked at the couple. Fate had brought Reaghan and Galen together, but it was love which kept them bound. She envied their bond. “All of what you say is true. What you do not know is that Braden was gravely injured just before then. I barely managed to heal him.”
“So,” Quinn said, “in your mind, your magic failed.”
“Precisely. And then I saw Anice...”
Sonya couldn’t finish. She hadn’t mourned her sister as she should have. Anice had been blood family, but somewhere along their lives a vast chasm had separated them.
Fallon shoved aside his long, brown hair and leaned his elbows on the table. “As you’ve told us, you cannot bring life to the dead. There was nothing you could do for Anice.”
“I know,” Sonya said. “I shouldn’t have left. You are my family now. Thank you for sending Broc to find me.”
“We didna send him,” Lucan said.
Sonya looked to Broc, but he had his head down, his shoulder length blond hair blocking his face. She lowered herself onto the seat and dragged in a ragged breath.
“Where did Broc find you?”
“He said you were injured. What happened?”
“Broc said you followed him to Cairn Toul.”
“Cairn Toul? You went in that evil place?”
“Did Deirdre see you?”
“What about this new artifact Deirdre is after?”
The questions came at Sonya at such a rapid succession that she didn’t know who asked what. She decided the best place was to start at the beginning.
Everyone grew quiet as she began her tale. She skipped over her time in the tomb, however. The only one who interrupted her was Broc when he filled in his parts of the story.
She was careful to leave out any hints that she and Broc had made love. It was Broc who ended their story with how he flew back to MacLeod Castle for Fallon.
“That’s quite an adventure,” Larena said. “To have gone into Cairn Toul for Broc took a lot of courage."
Sonya shrugged and touched the amulet which hung beneath her gown. “Anyone would have done it.”
“I doubt it. Especially knowing what awaited them in that mountain,” Ramsey said with his black brows raised.
“What happened while you were in the burial chamber?” Broc asked as he slowly raised his head to look at her.
She swallowed hard. “I omitted that part of the story because I believe what I found will aid us.”
“How?” Marcail asked.
“It could be in combination with the artifacts or another way.”
Fallon gave a small nod. “Tell us what you found.”
“As Broc explained, there were weapons everywhere in the tomb. I had begun to look for one to use in case Deirdre somehow managed to get inside. I saw a sword held by the corpse and wanted a closer look.”
“Why?” Arran asked, curious as ever. “It was just a sword.”
“So, I thought. Embedded atop the pommel was a garnet the size of a child’s fist. But that’s not what drew my interest. It was the intricate knot work of the Celts along the blade as well as more Gaelic markings.”
Broc clasped his hands together on the table. “She mentioned them to me as Fallon jumped us here. We can always return to the burial mound so the markings can be read.”
“There was something else,” Sonya said. “I saw something around the neck of the body. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was meant to take it.”
“Show me,” Broc urged.
Sonya pulled out the amulet and lifted the leather strap over her head. She then tossed the amulet to Broc.
He caught it in one hand and looked at it. “Connecting spirals.”
Galen, Fallon, and Broc shared a look. The amulet was passed from person to person before it made its way back to Sonya.
She ran her fingers over the spirals as she had done countless times since she first saw it. “The double spirals connected as they represent the equinoxes.”
“When the day and the night are of equal length,” Isla finished. “The equinoxes have always been potent days for a Druid, mie or drough, to use their magic.”
Broc’s head swiveled to her, his dark, sultry eyes studying her intently before he said, “Sonya will be the bearer of this amulet. She found it, and so it should be her right.”
There was a loud consensus as everyone agreed. Sonya slipped the amulet over her head and let the weight of the gold drop between her breasts.
“Broc,” Isla called. “You said there were Warriors who attacked Deirdre and her wyrran, making it easy for you to get away from the burial mound. Did you recognize any of the Warriors?”
Broc shook his head. “There were many locked in Deirdre’s dungeons, and many more who served her. Although I found it odd that there was one Warrior who stood atop the mound and watched.”
“What color was he?” Isla asked as she leaned forward, expectation and hope flaring in her ice blue eyes.
“Gold.”
“It was Phelan. He was there!”
Broc flatted his lips and shook his head. “I'm sorry, Isla. I had no idea.”
“When we returned to the mound, there was nothing,” Galen said. “No evidence of wyrran, Deirdre, or any other Warriors.”
Isla smiled sadly as Hayden put his arm around her shoulders. “Phelan’s power is that he can alter any surroundings to whatever he wants. There were no Warriors there besides him. He only made you think there were.”
“And Deirdre,” Ramsey added. “She and her wyrran were fighting them.”
“Do you think Deirdre captured Phelan again?” Sonya asked.
Broc shook his head. “Nay. For whatever reason, Phelan helped us. We owe him a debt of thanks.”
“That we will repay soon,” Fallon stated. “Isla has asked us to find him.”
Broc grimaced. “I’ll find him, but I willna force him to come here. It will be his decision.”
“That is all I can ask,” Isla said and lowered her ice blue eyes.
A moment later, Sonya and the other women rose to begin cooking supper. Broc tried not to watch her, tried not to notice how her hips swayed as she walked, or how the ends of her hair brushed against the sides of her breasts.
Tried and failed.
The attraction he felt for Sonya had grown during their time alone. What it had grown into, he wasn’t sure he could say, much less acknowledge. There were too many things standing in their way. His immortality was the largest.
As soon as the women disappeared into the kitchen, Fallon leaned forward. “We need to send someone to the Isle of Eigg to find this Tablet of Orn.”
“As curious as I am to find it, I’m no’ leaving Marcail,” Quinn said.
Lucan tugged on a braid at his temple. “Marcail needs you, and we need Warriors to remain behind to protect the Druids.”
“I’d like to go,” Logan offered.
Broc looked at the youngest of them. Logan had only been a Warrior for one hundred and fifteen years, the one who always had a jest, always knew what to say to make someone smile.
But ever since he had left with Galen to find Reaghan, something had changed. They were all concerned about him. Each Warrior had a past they would rather forget.
Broc knew all too well about trying to outrun your past. It never worked.
When everyone looked at him, Logan rolled his eyes. “I’m hoping to determine who is controlling the damned peregrine that is still keeping watch on us.”
Hayden shrugged. "I've seen the falcon less and less over the last few days.”
“It’s still there,” Ramsey said.
Logan slapped his hands on the table, making it shake.
“I have to know who is controlling that bird.”
“It could be anyone,” Broc said. "How do you expect to discover who is commanding it?”
Logan grinned the smile of a man with a plan. “It followed Galen and me when we left. I suspect it will follow whoever leaves again.”
“If it wants to keep track of us, why did it no’ follow Broc?" Hayden asked.
“It could be Broc was too fast, or that it just didna care."
Broc scratched his chin as he realized where Logan was heading. “But you think it will care about you?”
Logan shrugged. “I think it will follow anyone who leaves on foot.”
"I'd like to see if your theory is correct,” Quinn, said. “Since I couldna use my power to communicate with the falcon as I should have, there’s obviously magic involved.”
Duncan leaned forward. “I’ll go with Logan.”
Every eye turned to Duncan. Broc shifted his gaze to Ian, Duncan’s twin. The two shared a silent nod, the bond of twins going deeper than Broc could imagine.
“So be it,” Fallon said.
“So, be what?” Larena asked as she and the other women returned to the great hall with trenchers of food.
Logan took a trencher from Reaghan. "Duncan and I are going to the Isle of Figg."
Sonya’s gaze snapped to Broc’s. He saw the need that leapt into her eyes to go with the Warriors. He himself had thought to find the tablet when he'd read of its location.
“I’d like to go as well,” Sonya said.
Broc and Fallon said nay in unison.
Sonya’s eyes blazed with anger as she stared at Broc.
"You are too valuable, Sonya,” Fallon said into the silence. "We need you and your healing magic here. Besides, you have the amulet to guard now. "
Broc sighed and glanced down at his hands. That wasn’t the reason he would have used, but Fallon was right. She was too important
None more so than to Broc.