Donna Grant: Dangerous Highlander

“What is it?”

Quinn’s chest rose and fell rapidly, the rain dripping from his black skin. “I heard Fallon.”

Lucan opened his hearing. It took him a moment, but he finally heard Fallon’s voice. “Shite. He’s below the castle. Where I hid Cara.”

* * *

Cara covered her ears with her hands, but nothing drowned out the sounds coming from above. The inhuman screeches, the eerie screams. It reminded her too much of the night her parents died, a night she fought every day to forget.

She tried to hum, anything to mask the sounds. At least there was light from the torch. She wouldn’t be so calm if it were dark. How she loathed the dark.

Her fingers began to tingle, and this time she gave in to the urge to touch something. She placed her hands on the dirt floor as another boom shook the castle.

As suddenly as the battle in the castle began, it ended. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and fixed her gaze on the door, silently waiting for Lucan to come for her.

There was a light scratch on the door that sounded like claws. She rose to her feet, assuming it was Lucan or his brothers. Until the door rattled on its hinges.

She took a step back and ran to the wall, her gaze darting to the door and the dust and dirt that flew every time it was jerked.

“I know you’re in there. I can smell you and your magic,” a deep, raspy voice called from the other side of the door.

She glanced around the small chamber. Magic? What was he talking about? She had no magic. There was also nowhere to escape, no place to hide. The only thing separating her from whatever was on the other side was a wooden door that was centuries old. How long could it last?

As soon as the thought flitted through her mind, the wood cracked. An evil laugh filled the chamber as the man doubled his efforts in pulling apart the door.

The wood splintered with a loud crack. Cara flattened herself against the stone wall, her heart in her throat. She screamed when an ash-colored hand pushed through the hole in the door.

The monster’s claws scraped on the wood, gouging the door with five long streaks. Cara squeezed herself into a corner, icy prickles of terror racing over her skin. With one yank, the door was wrenched in two. She screamed again when a face, the same ash color, came into her line of sight.

Thick horns rose through the man’s blond hair atop his head. He laughed, peeling back his lips to show his fangs. His eyes were the same color as his skin and scanned her up and down as he chuckled.

“What a reward I will get for being the one to find you.” He pulled the rest of the door off its hinges and made to step into the chamber.

He got no more than one foot inside before the tip of a sword pushed through his stomach. Cara’s heart stopped as the creature looked down at the blade protruding from his abdomen. A heartbeat later the beast was jerked out of the chamber, his claws raking down the sides of the stones.

Cara caught a glimpse of Fallon, his tunic covered in blood.

“Are you all right?” Fallon asked.

She nodded.

“I’ll keep him occupied. Get out and find Lucan.”

Fallon moved into the darkness of the corridor. Grunts and growls filled the space as Fallon and the monster fought. Cara started toward the doorway and stopped when she saw seedlings had sprouted where her hands had been. With no time to think about it, she reached for the torch. No matter how much she strained, it wouldn’t loosen from the holder.

Cara blinked back the tears that threatened. Her fear had made her too frightened to move the night her parents were killed. If she didn’t do something now, she would receive the same fate as they had.

Yet she couldn’t see. How could she get past the monster if she didn’t know where he was?

“Cara!” Fallon shouted. “Run. Now!”

She lifted her skirts and shouldered her way through the broken door, all the while praying she didn’t crash into anything. She could hear Fallon and the other man—monster—in their skirmish. Fallon grunted and something heavy hit the wall.

Cara tried to dart past them, but something bumped into her, knocking her off her feet. She pitched forward, her skirts forgotten as she put her hands out to catch herself. She landed with a hard thud and hit her chin on the ground, biting her tongue.

Tears welled in her eyes as pain swam through her and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She tried to get to her feet, but something grabbed her ankle. The laugh that echoed around her sent a chill of foreboding through her.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” The monster jerked back on her ankle, pulling her toward him.

Cara clawed at the ground, dirt clumping under her fingernails. She kicked back with her other foot and missed. The second time she tried, she connected with something. There was a grunt, and then the beast cursed and gave her leg a vicious yank.

With her breath coming in ragged gasps, she began to pray, mumbling the prayers the nuns had taught her to help ease her fears.

“You belong to us,” the monster said. “You and the Demon’s Kiss.” The beast’s hands gripped her waist, hauling her next to him.

Cara knew if the creature left with her Lucan would never find her. No one would ever find her. That was enough for her to put aside her terror and strike out with her hands and feet. She hit the monster multiple times, but he never eased his hold.

When he gained his feet and started walking, Cara knew she had one last chance in Fallon, if he wasn’t dead. “Fallon. Fallon, please!”

One moment she was being held above the ground, and the next she was on her stomach with a heavy weight atop her. She tried to move, but the creature was too heavy. He pinned her to the ground and laughed in her ear.

Then she heard Lucan’s voice yell her name in the dark. She tried to wiggle from underneath the weight only to have a large hand wrap around her arm, his claws digging into her skin.

“If you want them to live, don’t move,” the beast murmured.

Cara blinked and tried to see in the darkness. Everything had gotten quiet. The only sound she heard was her own harsh breathing.

“Cara!” Lucan called. “Are you hurt?”

The beast squeezed her arm. “Dinna answer him.”

“He can see,” she whispered, not knowing whether the beast could or not.

There was movement near her, coming closer with each heartbeat. Cara clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering in fear and cold.

She was jerked to her feet, the creature behind her with one of his claws at her neck.

“Back off, MacLeod. If you don’t want her throat slit, you’ll let me pass.”

“Why are you here?” Fallon asked from her left.

She sent up a silent prayer of thanks that he was still alive.

The beast laughed, the sound unnatural. And evil. “I’ve come for the Demon’s Kiss. And the woman.”

The silence that met his statement told Cara the MacLeods had no idea what the Demon’s Kiss was either.

“You have two choices. You can let her go and fight me, or you can die where you stand.” Lucan’s voice had grown closer with each word.

The creature growled. “I’m not leaving without the woman.”

“Then you die.”

The monster let out a loud bellow of pain, but he didn’t release her. Cara squeezed her eyes shut, thankful it was too dark for her to see anything. The sounds of blades sinking into flesh were terrifying enough.

By the beast’s yells, all three brothers were attacking him with their fists and weapons. Finally, his hold on her relaxed enough for her to get free.

Cara stumbled in the dark, one hand on the stone wall to catch her balance. She didn’t know which way she was headed, and it didn’t matter anymore. She had to get out of the dark and into the light.