Chapter 38
Ian had been sitting with the others in the great hall as they readied for supper. He had been laughing at something Arran and Camdyn were arguing over when it happened.
It was as though a blade of ice sliced him in half. The link that had always bound him and Duncan was severed. Vanished. Disappeared.
There was only one thing that could do that—death. The grief that ripped through Ian was crushing. He tried to rise from the table but only managed to trip in his haste.
He bellowed in rage and grief as his fangs filled his mouth. He couldn’t wrap his head around Duncan being gone, couldn’t fathom his twin no longer being with him.
Ian could hear the others around him, their voices and concern, as they tried to understand what was going on.
But he was lost.
While he roared in anguish, his body seized. His muscles refused to move, while his fangs and claws grew longer. Barmire, the god of battle, raged inside him.
Fury the like Ian had never felt swallowed him. He wanted death and blood. But more than anything, he wanted revenge for his brother.
Whoever had killed him would suffer.
And Ian would start with the one who was supposed have watched his brother’s back—Logan.
Arran looked from Ian to Quinn as everyone struggled to keep Ian on the ground. He fought them mercilessly, his roars deafening.
“What is happening to him?” Lucan demanded.
Arran sighed as Quinn gave a small nod of his head. “It must have something to do with Duncan.”
“Not just something,” Marcail said. “I saw Duncan react similarly when Ian was being tortured in Cairn Toul.”
“This is different,” Quinn said. “This is...”
“What I imagine I resembled when my god was unbound,” Ramsey finished.
The Warriors shared a look, the unspoken realization sweeping the hall. Duncan was dead.
“Who?” Fallon asked as he put his full weight on Ian’s shoulders to keep him down.
Broc grunted. “You know who. Deirdre. She told me she was going to kill Lucan and Fallon so the god you three share would then only be yours.”
“Holy Hell,” Quinn mumbled.
Hayden, the largest of the Warriors, was practically sitting on top of Ian. “Isla!” he called to his wife. “Use your magic!”
As one, the Druids of MacLeod Castle stepped forward and focused their magic on Ian. In a matter of seconds, he was unconscious.
Galen rose to his feet and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “What do we do with him now? When he wakes, it’ll be the same.”
“Aye,” Ramsey said. “He’s suffering at the loss of his brother, but more than that, his god is trying to take, over. Ian’s rage might very well allow it.”
“Shite,” Fallon said as he rose to his feet and punched the wall, his fist going through the stone. “This isna what we need right now.”
Lucan let out a weary breath. “If Duncan is dead, do we assume Logan is as well?”
“I’m no’ sure,” Quinn answered. “Deirdre could have taken him.”
“Taken or dead. Either way, it has set us back,” Camdyn said.
Arran ran a hand down his face. Ian, Duncan, and Quinn had been his closest friends while they’d been held by Deirdre. To know that one of them was gone forever was inconceivable.
Quinn clapped Arran on the shoulder. “Duncan will be avenged.”
“I have no doubt.” Those at MacLeod Castle were a family, a very close family. What you did to one, you did to all. “I fear that we’ll lose Ian as well. What if he cannot control the addition of Duncan’s portion of their god?”
“He will. I know it.” Quinn looked at the now still form of Ian. “If anyone can, it’s Ian. He’s had two centuries learning his god. Duncan’s half should be easy enough to control once Ian gets past his grief.”
The hall grew quiet as each of them realized the next few weeks and months were going to be the hardest to watch as Ian struggled.
The door to the castle was thrown open and Logan stepped inside, a body hanging over his shoulder. He was covered in blood. “I’ve brought Duncan’s body home.”
“So, he is dead,” Fallon said softly.
Logan nodded. “It was Deirdre. She had three Warriors with her, one of which was Malcolm.”
Larena sucked in a shaky breath and turned to Fallon as his arms wrapped around her. “Nay. Not Malcolm,” she whispered.
Logan knew Larena and her cousin had been close, but everyone needed to know what had happened. “Malcolm struck the killing blow, Larena.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the air began to shimmer around Ian.
“Get back,” Logan called. “Everyone get back.”
“What is it?” Broc demanded as he tugged Sonya away from Ian. “The magic feels... wrong.”
Logan shrugged. “I doona know, but I saw it surround Deirdre, the wyrran, and the Warriors. And then they vanished.”
The hall was gripped in silence as they all watched the shimmer cloak Ian. Then, in a blink, he was gone.
“It’s Deirdre,” Lucan said.
“Nay,” Isla said as she took in a steadying breath. “That magic was...different. It takes a very powerful Druid to cast a spell over a distance.”
Logan nodded. “She’s right. Deirdre was furious when she felt it. And she fought against it.”
“Something more powerful than Deirdre?” Ramsey said thoughtfully. “This doesna bode well.”
Broc swallowed as he watched the Druids surround the spot where Ian had just been. So much had happened. With Deirdre they knew what to expect, knew what she was about. She might surprise them on occasion, but at least they could guess what her next move might be.
If there was someone else they had to fight, they first had to discover who it was. And why they were all of a sudden making an appearance.
The magic of the spell turned sour. A sign of black magic. Sonya turned to Broc, her face pale. Isla clutched her chest, and Reaghan put her hand on the wall to steady herself.
“What is going on?” Broc asked through clenched teeth.
Hayden went to Isla. “I’d also like to know. I feel Isla’s fear.”
Reaghan waited until Galen put an arm around her before she said, “Very potent black magic. The spell is vastly complicated.”
“It’s a spell I’ve heard about but never knew anyone who dared to use it,” Isla explained.
“What is it?” Quinn demanded.
Sonya lifted her face to Broc. “It’s a spell that pulls someone through time.”
It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the castle. For a heartbeat Broc couldn’t breathe. “How? Why?”
Arran shifted his feet, his hands clenching and unclenching at his side. “Find Deirdre, Broc. You’re the only one who can tell us if she really has been moved through time.”
Broc kissed the top of Sonya’s head and released his god. Indigo colored his skin and wings sprouted from his back. He thought of Deirdre, and for once he didn’t find her immediately.
Sweat beaded his skin as his god’s power surged through him, seeking Deirdre throughout all time. His muscles locked, his body shaking with the effort it took him. But then he found her.
Her thread was faint, but that wasn’t what made his stomach turn. It was the knowledge that she had, indeed, been pulled through time.
He turned his attention next to Ian. It took him even longer than it had to find Deirdre, and by the time he did, his legs could barely hold him up.
Broc opened his eyes and looked at each individual in the castle. “Deirdre is four centuries into the future. And so is Ian, though he isna with her.”
Marcail’s knees buckled. Quinn helped her into a seat, his hand held protectively over her swelling stomach.
“She’s no longer a threat then since she isn’t here,” Cara said.
Ramsey shook his head slowly. “If only that were true. In the future, everything could change. We’ve no idea who pulled Deirdre forward, or why.”
“We doona know why Ian was taken either,” Logan said.
“I do know it was the same magic. That isna all that happened in Mallaig. I found the falcon, or rather who was controlling it. It’s a group of Druids of Eigg.
The one who was able to see through the peregrine’s eyes to watch us was named Brenna.
They felt Deirdre’s magic and came to battle her. ”
“Except she was taken,” Camdyn said.
Logan nodded. “The Druids on Eigg were watching us to see what we would do. They doona trust us, that was made clear by their leader Kerwyn. I doona think it matters, though. The only recourse we have now is to follow Ian and Deirdre.”
Lucan blew out a harsh breath. “Maybe no’ all of us.”
Logan nodded. “That was my thought as well.”
“I know the spell,” Isla said into the stillness that had once more descended. “And with the combined magic of the Druids here, we might be able to make it work.”
Reaghan licked her lips. “Together we can do it.”
“Though,” Isla said as she looked around her, “there’s no guarantee that whoever goes will land together.”
Logan stepped forward. “It doesna matter. I’m going to look for Ian as well as the Tablet of Om. Doesna matter what century Deirdre is in. She still needs to die.”
“Include me,” Camdyn said as he stepped forward.
Broc looked to Ramsey and saw his friend push away from the wall.
“Me as well,” Ramsey said.
Arran’s body was rigid as he moved beside the other three. “Deirdre needs to pay for killing Duncan. And Ian will need someone he trusts in his present state.”
Broc looked around the hall at the other Warriors and their women. To the four stepping through time, it would be just a matter of heartbeats before they would see the castle again.
To everyone else, it would be centuries.
Ramsey turned to Isla. “You can strengthen the shield around the castle to hold off time for those inside.”
Isla frowned as her eyes took on a faraway look. “Because we will need all of us to awaken Laria.”
Ramsey nodded. “Precisely.”
Fallon rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the four Warriors who would travel through time. “Be careful. We doona know what Deirdre is about.”
“Which is why we need to get there soon,” Logan said.
Sonya pulled out of Broc’s arms to go with the other Druids who were now circling the four Warriors.
He couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever see them again as the castle began to hum with magic. The Druids’ chanting grew louder the stronger their magic became.
Broc wished he would have spoken to Ramsey one last time. His gaze met Ramsey’s silver ones. His friend gave him a ghost of a smile, and then he and the others were surrounded by shimmering air.
Then they were gone.
“Godspeed, my brothers,” Broc murmured.