Highland Mist (22 page)

He kept telling himself he wanted her alive to be able to trade with MacNeil for Iona, but it was more than that if he was honest with himself. Of all the times in his life to find someone as alluring as Glenna, now was the worst.

His mind should be focused on MacNeil not when he would be able to bed Glenna. He had a maniac riding toward him, an unknown attacker hiding in his clan and the powers he had never wanted were failing him.

Yet his mind stayed on Glenna.

* * * * *

Gregor nodded to a guard as he neared the gatehouse. He slipped into the shadows and past the guards like a wisp of wind. A group of men traveled to the forest, and he quickly joined their group.

Once they reached the forest, Gregor slowed his pace until he was able to slip into the thick trees without being seen. He whistled and his horse trotted to him.

“Good, lass,” he said, and rubbed the soft nose. The sound of horse hooves reached his ears a second before it came into view.

“You can pet the beast later. We’ve wasted enough time. We must go now,” Effie demanded.

Gregor ground his teeth together in an effort to keep what he wanted to say quiet and swung atop his horse and cast one last glance at MacInnes Castle before he urged the horse into a run.

* * * * *

Glenna leaned her head against the back of the chair, feeling better just being out of bed. She was much improved, but her body and throat still ached from the attack. A glance out the window showed her the sun had set and the moon made its ascent.

“You’re looking better by the hour.”

She glanced up to find Conall standing in the doorway. “I feel much better thanks to Moira’s skill.”

Nothing had been said of their night together, Beltaine or the Otherworld beings. Glenna longed to speak to him about it, to make sure it wasn’t all a dream.

“Did you and Moira…talk?”

“Of course we did.” Something in the way he asked the question got her attention. It was as if he expected something.

He rocked back on his heels, his hands clasped behind his back. “Did she tell you the prophecy?”

Suspicion began to grow in her heart. He was trying to tell her something.

“Why?”

“I’m just curious.”

“You’re never curious, Conall. You make a decision and never waver from it. You hate all things Druid.”

“Not all,” he said, and moved to take the chair opposite her. “I don’t hate you.”

“Only because I saved Ailsa’s life.”

He took hold of her hand. “You’ve done a lot more than that.”

“Eventually you’d come to hate what I am.” She looked away from him, not wanting to see the distaste for what she was shining in his beautiful silver eyes.

“You don’t have to be a Druid.”

She jerked her eyes to him. “What?”

“My family for generations have married Druids and have had the calling. I didn’t follow it.”

“Only because you became laird.”

A flash of pain flickered in his silver depths. “The point is you don’t have to follow the call.”

“It’s what I am.”

In a heartbeat he was out of his chair and kneeling in front of her. “I can’t tell you the pain it caused me when I thought you’d died.”

“Conall…”

“Shh,” he said, and put a finger on her mouth before tracing her bottom lip with his thumb. “We do things differently in the Highlands. You wouldn’t know because MacNeil locked you away.”

She searched his eyes but couldn’t figure out what he was trying to tell her. She opened her mouth to ask but found her breath stolen by a fiery kiss.

He plundered her mouth and sapped her willpower to think. Then his lips softened, nibbling and sucking her mouth. When he raised his head, she could barely string two thoughts together. She raised her eyes to find him walking toward the door.

“Aren’t you going to finish what you were telling me?”

He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, a satisfied smile on his face. “I did.”

Chapter Sixteen

Glenna rubbed her eyes. “Men.”

“What are you grumbling about?” Moira asked as she walked in the chamber.

“Men.”

Moira laughed. “Since I saw Conall leaving, I gather you’re referring to him.”

“He was trying to tell me something. Kept saying I didn’t have to follow the Druids’ call.”

Moira dropped the wooden bowl and whirled around to face Glenna, her face ashen as she clutched her hands to her chest. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

“Then I think it’s time you told me,” Glenna said, and folded her arms over her chest.

Several heartbeats later Moira sighed and pulled the chair out. “Conall refuses to acknowledge his Druid blood and in doing so is causing great friction within himself.”

“He blames the Druids for Iona’s disappearance.”

“What you don’t know is that he wanted to be a Druid priest. His father told him he needed to be laird of their clan. When he made the decision to be laird, Conall closed off all memories of Druids.”

“How does that affect me?”

Moira twirled a blonde lock around her finger. “The prophecy that I told you about involves him. It began when he took you from the MacNeil.”

Glenna’s stomach fell to her feet with a thud. “There’s more.”

“Aye. He’ll be a part of the three Druids who bring down the MacNeil.”

“Who are the other two?”

“Your sisters,” she answered after a lengthy pause.

The room spun around her at Moira’s words. “So. It’s true.”

“You know?” Moira asked, the doubt shining in her eyes.

“A couple of days ago two women welcomed me after they learned I wasn’t a MacNeil. When they asked who my real parents were, they told me that the Sinclairs had three girls. Where are my sisters?” she demanded.

Moira visibly swallowed. “One has been raised in another household just as you were.”

“And you haven’t brought her here yet?” She was furious. Just thinking her sister had to suffer what she did was like a knife in her heart.

“She has no idea the people aren’t her real parents and they’ve treated her wonderfully. We didn’t want to send for her until the time of the prophecy was near.”

“Has she been trained as a Druid?”

Moira nodded her head.

“When is the prophecy to begin?”

“Soon,” Moira answered, and bent her head.

“Soon,” Glenna repeated. “Don’t you think you ought to get her?”

“It isn’t time. There are other things that must be taken care of first.”

Glenna stared hard at Moira, waiting to hear more. Finally she said, “And my other sister?”

“She was raised by the Druids,” Moira said, and slowly raised her face.

Glenna blinked and rose to her feet on shaky legs. “You? You’re my sister?” Anger and jubilation at finding her family mingled together. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You needed time,” Moira began. “You didn’t take finding out MacNeil wasn’t your father very well, and I didn’t want to push too much on you at one time.”

“What else are you keeping from me?” Glenna knew she was screaming but anger had taken hold. Out the corner of her eye she saw the fire roar to life but she couldn’t stop it.

Moira stood and held out a hand to her. “Nothing. I wanted to give you time to adjust.”

“You’re lying.” She knew it just as she felt the air in her lungs. There was much more Moira kept secret, and Glenna simply couldn’t stand to be kept in the dark any longer. It would stop.

Now.

Rage blinded her. She heard Moira screaming, but couldn’t see what was wrong. It wasn’t until a heavy weight hit her and brought her to the floor that the rage departed.

She turned and saw men stamping out fire that had spread from the hearth. Moira’s gown was scorched, her face black from the smoke.

“What happened?” Conall asked.

Glenna turned her head and found him lying atop her. She needed to get away, to find some peace. “Get me out of here.”

Without a word he stood and gathered her in his arms. He walked her outside to the battlements and gently set her on her feet. He stood beside her, his arms crossed over his bulging chest, as she stared at the stars.

She needed to talk, needed to explain what happened. “Moira told me of my sisters.”

“Ah.”

She smiled despite herself. Ever the laird, he would give nothing away. “You knew.”

“Aye, but she asked for me not to tell you. Is that why you became so angry?”

“She’s keeping something else from me. I was very angry at finding out she kept her identity from me, but when I asked her if there was anything else and she said nay…”

She turned toward him. “I’ve never felt such rage. I couldn’t control it.”

“Like how MacNeil used you?”

“Much worse.”

“You were an innocent.”

She raised her eyes. “Not so innocent.”

“Tell me,” he urged, and brushed her hair back.

She licked her lips. “I got angry at MacNeil because he wouldn’t let me go out with the other young girls. He wouldn’t explain why, just refused. The next thing I knew the barn caught on fire and a young lad was burned very badly. He almost died.”

“But he didn’t,” Conall said.

She didn’t protest when he enveloped her in his arms. She needed his strength and much more if she let herself dream. To have a family of her own and a man that would stand beside her was a dream she had had for a long time. He had even listened as she told him her deepest, darkest secret and he was still beside her. He would make a great husband.

“Why haven’t you taken a wife?”

He started at the question. “I hadn’t found her yet.”

“What happened in my chamber reinforces my need to be with the Druids.” She pulled out of his arms and missed his warmth. “I’m a danger to everyone. I must learn to control it.”

“You’ll learn to control it.”

“I need the Druids for that. They call to me. Beltaine proved that.”

“Beltaine calls everyone,” he argued.

“Those Otherworldly beings gave me my powers for a reason. To deny it would be to deny my heart.”

Conall had known this was coming from the moment he walked into her chamber and saw it nearly ablaze. Moira had been correct in saying Glenna’s powers were great. But he couldn’t let her go. The thought of going a day without seeing her beautiful smile, without touching her dark tresses, without hearing her musical voice saying his name wasn’t something he could do.

“Don’t fash yourself about it now. You gained a sister this night. Rejoice in that.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

He was rewarded with a smile that could have breathed life into the dead it was so beautiful. And she was his.

Mine
.

She didn’t know it yet, but the time was drawing near when she would.

* * * * *

The Shadow threw his goblet across the room. Not only had he been unable to kill Glenna, now he must reevaluate his plans. His mind simply refused to believe Moira was her sister.

How had he missed that? It had been well hidden among the Druids. He had to keep Glenna and Moira apart. They had strength in numbers, and his time was growing short.

The Fae had suddenly developed an intense interest in the goings-on of MacInnes Castle. He must kill Glenna as soon as possible since his plan to toss her over the battlements was interrupted by the arrival of Conall. Without Glenna he could convince Moira to come to his side.

* * * * *

MacNeil raised his face to the moon and sighed contentedly. Soon. Soon everything he had always wanted would be his. It would show the MacInnes that a feud with the MacNeils meant only death. He would have MacInnes Castle as his new fortress, and he would rid Scotland of every last Druid.

A thought in the back of his mind kept nagging at him that things might not go to plan, but he pushed it away. He had killed Glenna’s sisters. The prophecy could no longer come to pass.

He had done it because his father had been a coward. He had looked up to his father until he had refused to kill the Sinclair girls just because they were the daughters of the woman he loved. MacNeil hadn’t hesitated in murdering his father to ensure his life would continue. It had been humiliating to have his father in love with a woman half his age.

A rustle behind him drew his attention. He turned slowly and saw the woman stretching beneath the covers. A bare leg crept out of the covers and the tip of her breast peaked out as she raised her arms above her head. She would be the one to give him an heir. The others had lacked the resilience. Only a strong woman would give him the sons he needed.

“Come to bed,” she purred, and held out her slim hand.