Donna Grant - Shadow Highlander

The only choice Galen would then have would be to convince the Druids to return with him and Logan to the castle.

“I’m afraid we don’t have an extra cottage for your use,” Nessa said.

Logan smiled charmingly. “Doona fash yourself. Galen and I enjoy sleeping under the stars.”

Nessa humphed and turned on her heel to walk away.

“She is wary of strangers,” Odara said.

Galen looked at Nessa’s retreating back, her white hair showing a few dark strands, and her plump figure. Her lips were constantly puckered, as if she had bitten into something sour and never got the taste out of her mouth. “It’s understandable. In these times, you have to keep yourself safe.”

“We may look weak and frail, but we can defend ourselves,” Mairi stated.

Logan leaned a shoulder against a giant oak and winked at the women. “We’ve encountered the magic of Druids before. We know better than to anger you.”

“If what you say is true and you have Druids at MacLeod Castle, what kind of magic do they have?” Odara asked.

Of the three, she was the most curious. Her bright red hair had faded, but he could still see the color through the silver that now colored her hair. Her green eyes regarded him steadily, as if waiting to see if he lied.

“We have a healer who is also able to communicate with trees. Another was raised in a nunnery and had no idea of her magic until she came to the castle. She’s learning, and quickly. We also have a Druid who can use her magic to take people’s emotions from them unto herself,” Logan said.

Galen nodded. “Then there is Isla, who led us here. She and her sister were captured by Deirdre five hundred years ago. Deirdre forced her to the drough ceremony, but she did it unwillingly so the evil never took hold of her. Her magic is the strongest I’ve ever seen.”

Mairi twisted her lips in revulsion. “And you trust this drough ?”

“The MacLeods trust her, so aye. We trust her.”

Galen could sense magic, luminous and intoxicating. Reaghan’s magic. She was near, just behind him to the left. She hadn’t gone far once she had taken them to the elders. She stayed close enough to hear their conversation, and he wondered if she had anything else to add to the elder’s comments.

“These MacLeods,” Odara said. “Are they men? Or are they … something else?”

“You mean are they Warriors?” Logan asked.

Galen sighed heavily and ground his teeth together. Logan gave him a small nod to let Galen know he thought they should tell the elders the truth. There was no reason not to, Galen supposed.

“The MacLeods — Fallon, Lucan, and Quinn — were the brothers Deirdre captured three hundred years ago. She unbound the god inside them and turned them into Warriors. They escaped and have been fighting her ever since,” Galen answered.

Mairi fisted her hands before smoothing her palms down the front of her gown. “You cannot trust Warriors. They are pure evil.”

Logan pushed off the tree and folded his arms across his chest. Gone was his easy smile. His hazel eyes were dangerously hard, his nostrils flaring. “Just like with people, some are evil and some are good. The MacLeods had their entire clan and family destroyed. Why would they align themselves with Deirdre?”

“The gods inside them are evil. Everyone knows what happened with the first Warriors,” Odara said.

“The gods are no’ in control of the MacLeods,” Galen answered. “The spell Deirdre found only freed the gods partially.”

Odara snorted. “Surely you’ve seen what they change into?”

“Aye,” Galen said. “We have. Every time Deirdre has attacked the castle it’s the MacLeods in Warrior form who have beaten her back and protected the Druids.”

Mairi softly touched Odara’s arm before she could say more. Mairi then turned her brown gaze to Galen and Logan. “We need to think over all that you’ve told us.”

Galen watched them stride away. He scrubbed a hand down his face, unsure if they had done the right thing by admitting the MacLeods were Warriors. It didn’t matter now. What was done was done.

“I knew it was going to be difficult, but not like this,” Logan muttered testily.

Galen nodded in agreement. He surveyed the village but all the Druids looked away from him when he caught their eye.

Reaghan’s magic seemed to envelop him, and he turned to her, careful not to touch her. His gaze discovered her hiding behind a tree. He could tell by the set of her mouth she wanted to ask questions, and he was willing to answer, especially if she could tell him something about the artifact.

She moved from behind the tree and started toward them when Mairi shouted her name. With one last look at him, Reaghan turned and disappeared behind a cottage.

“Shite,” Galen grumbled as he leaned an arm against a pine trunk.

Logan, his feet braced apart and his arms at his side, said, “What now?”

“I doona know. I’ve no’ wish to frighten them, but we cannot just sit around waiting for them to tell us anything.”

“We doona wait. We start to ask questions.”

Reaghan grudgingly went to Mairi. She had wanted to speak to Galen more, but she couldn’t ignore a summons by Mairi. Reaghan would talk to Galen and learn more about the MacLeods, these Warriors they spoke of, and more importantly the Druids they said were there.

What the two men had told her had reinforced Reaghan’s belief that she could find more Druids. She wasn’t fool enough to think she wouldn’t have to keep a watchful eye out for Deirdre and her wyrran, but she could do it.

She would do it.

Maybe she could go to MacLeod Castle. Whoever these MacLeods were, they put their lives on the line to protect Druids from Deirdre. Maybe she could help them in some small way. Someone certainly had to.

Reaghan entered Mairi’s cottage and quietly shut the door behind her. It was one of the roomiest cottages in their village and had a gorgeous view of the loch. Mairi stood looking at that view now, her back to Reaghan.

“What do you think of the newcomers?”

Reaghan clasped her hands behind her back. “Why do you wish to know my opinion?”

“You found them. You spoke with them first.”

Reaghan licked her lips and thought of Galen, of his striking features and blue, blue eyes. She thought of how her body had come alive, how an awareness of him had stolen over her. “I believe they were sent by a Druid. I saw the truth of it in their eyes. I also believe they are fighting to keep Deirdre from winning.”

Mairi turned to face Reaghan, her wrinkled brow furrowed deeply and her hands fisted in her skirts. “There is much you do not know.”

“You mean about the Warriors? I’ve heard the tales. If there can be good and evil Druids, why couldn’t there be good and evil Warriors?”

“Because Druids are born with nothing but good in them. The gods inside the Warriors are the purest form of evil, Reaghan. They were so malicious, so destructive, that they were locked away in Hell by their own kind. What does that say?”

“That the gods are very powerful.”

“And the Warriors cannot be trusted.”

“I don’t believe that,” Reaghan argued. “Aye, we were born with pure magic, but inside every man and woman there is both good and evil. The choice a man or woman makes decides whether they will live a life of good or evil. A drough makes a choice to become evil. The Warriors didn’t have a choice when the gods were put inside them. I don’t see why some couldn’t fight on the side of good.”

Mairi let out a long, frustrated breath. “Mayhap you’re right, but regardless, you cannot trust these men.”

“They spoke of an artifact. You acted as though you knew exactly what they sought. Why have I never heard of it before?”