Donna Grant: Forbidden Highlander

His father had taught him better than that. Yet, he’d had to do something to control the fury or it would have taken him down a path he might never have recovered from. Even now, as he thought of Larena and how he had lost her, the anger shifted in his chest and threatened to burst forth again.

He cracked open an eye and saw the branches of a tree swaying to his right. He tried to remember the direction he had run. He had run north, away from the castle. But how far north?

He tensed as he heard a twig break in the silence. The usual sounds of the night weren’t there, only the eerie, unnatural stillness.

And then he knew.

Wyrran.

Fallon opened his eyes further to get a better look. His advanced hearing could pick up the tiniest sound, letting him know the wyrran were close. Too close.

Fallon rolled to his side and jumped to his feet in one smooth movement. He leaped behind the nearest tree just as he spotted the first wyrran loping through the forest. He began to hear the clicks and soft shrieks that were synonymous with the creatures. There were dozens of them as well as Warriors. Fallon had to warn the others for he knew they were going to attack his castle.

His skin tingled as he unleashed his god. He ran his tongue over his fangs and sank his claws into the bark of the tree. There was no way he would allow the wyrran to capture Larena or harm anyone else at his castle.

A single Warrior walked while the others ran alongside the wyrrans. Fallon kept his gaze on the winged Warrior as he came to a stop beside him. Fallon tensed, waiting to be attacked.

Broc turned his head and his eyes locked with his. Fallon waited for the Warrior to alert the others. Yet, Broc did nothing. After a moment, he shot into the air and spread his wings.

Shite!

Fallon didn’t know what to think anymore. He didn’t understand why Broc hadn’t told the other Warriors about him. Deirdre would have had yet another MacLeod brother, and Lucan would have been on his own. But Fallon didn’t have time to wonder about it.

He focused his thoughts on the great hall, gathering all his power around him. In his next breath he was back at his castle standing beside one of the tables.

“Damn, Fallon,” Hayden said as he leaped from his seat at the table. “What is it?”

“Wyrran are coming. Gather the others and prepare. Where is Lucan?”

“Here,” his brother said as he jumped from the floor above to the great hall. “How many?”

“Too many. Get the women and head to the dungeons. Guard the Druids, brother.”

Lucan gave a curt nod. “And you?”

“I’m going to try to give you some time.”

Hayden moved to stand beside him. “I’ll come with you.”

Cara raced down the stairs, her face white with fear. “Sonya and Larena are in the village tending to Malcolm.”

Fallon cursed, torn between going to Larena and heading off the attack.

“Go,” Ramsey said as he strode to the castle door, his skin turning bronze as he transformed mid-stride. “I’ll make sure Sonya and Malcolm are safe.”

With one last look at his brother, Fallon put his hand on Hayden and flashed them both to a spot of land away from the castle and village, but close enough that they could get back if needed.

Fallon jumped onto a rock that rose out of the earth like the fist of an ancient god. He seethed with anger at Deirdre’s attack and his ire for not having Malcolm moved to the castle sooner. Malcolm and Sonya couldn’t battle against the onslaught of evil coming their way.

And Larena.

He closed his eyes and wished he were beside her. She was a Warrior, but he was used to protecting women. She was his woman. He was a Highlander, and Highland men always sheltered their women.

“Larena,” Fallon whispered.

“She’ll be fine,” Hayden said.

Fallon looked at the red-skinned Warrior that had taken up position on an outcropping of rocks to his left. Smoke rose from the tips of Hayden’s horns and his fingers.

Fallon didn’t pretend to not understand Hayden. “I pray you’re right.”

“Ramsey and the others will get Malcolm and Sonya to the castle. We’ll have the most fun though.” Hayden’s fangs gleamed in the moonlight as he flashed Fallon a smile.

Fallon nodded. He longed to sink his claws into a wyrran, to tear a Warrior’s heart out. His god lusted for blood, and Fallon was going to give it to him this night.

“Here they come,” he murmured.

Hayden crouched down, his arms spread to the side and his claws ready to slash. Fallon glanced at the sky and saw Broc soar above them. Was the winged Warrior heading to the castle to try and take Larena?

Fallon didn’t have time to worry about it as the wyrran and Warriors came into view. He threw back his head and let out a war cry any MacLeod would have been proud of. Hayden’s howl of rage rose to meet his.

The first wyrran jumped next to Fallon, and he lifted it over his head and then slammed the small yellow body on the stone. The wyrran’s head smashed against the rock and split open.

Fallon barely had time to kick it out of the way as two more wyrran and a Warrior descended on him. He glanced at Hayden to see he was shooting flames from his hands. Fallon had no idea the red Warrior could call fire to him as his power.

Fallon grunted as a punch landed in his gut. He rammed his elbow into a Warrior and then slashed his claws across the Warrior’s arm. Fallon grinned before he kicked a wyrran in the face.

An ear-piercing shriek filled the air as the wyrran went sailing off the boulder onto the ground to be trampled by its kin.

Fallon bit back a cry as the second wyrran raked his back with its claws. As he fought against the pain, the Warrior moved to stand in front of him and grabbed both of Fallon’s arms to hold them out to his side. Fallon recognized the blue-skinned Warrior from his previous attacks on the castle.

“You cannot beat us,” William said. “To fight against the inevitable is useless.”

Fallon grinned before he sank his fangs into the Warrior’s neck. Blood flowed through his mouth and over his chin. He gagged at the metallic taste of it, but wouldn’t let go, even when the Warrior jerked against him.

Once his arms were free, Fallon plunged his claws into William’s sides. Fallon ignored the pain caused by the wyrran that continued to claw his back and legs. All his focus was on the Warrior and killing him.

Suddenly, the blue-skinned Warrior wrenched backward, blood gushing from the bite wound on his neck and the five cuts on either side of him.

Fallon spat out the blood and turned to the wyrran behind him. He wrapped his hands around the wyrran’s head and, with a yank, snapped its neck. Fallon roared into the night, his god, Apodatoo, demanding more blood, more death.

When he looked around, Fallon saw that the other Warriors and wyrran were ignoring them and heading toward the castle.

“Fallon, they’ve reached the castle,” Hayden shouted.

Larena!

Fallon leaped to Hayden’s boulder and grabbed his arm as they jumped to the village.

Larena leaped from her chair as Ramsey burst into the cottage. One look at his bronze skin, claws, and fangs, and she knew something was wrong.

“What is it?” Sonya asked from the kitchen.

Ramsey glanced from Malcolm lying on the bed to Sonya. “An attack. We need to get you and Malcolm to the castle. Now.”

“If we move him, we chance ruining his arm forever,” Sonya argued as she rushed to the bed.

Ramsey strode to Malcolm’s side and bent to lift him. “If we don’t, he’s dead.”

“Where is Fallon?” Larena asked. “He can take Malcolm and Sonya in an instant.”