Midnight's Warrior (29 page)

“You are leading a clan. Just no’ the MacLeods,” Galen said with a wry smile.

Ramsey had to admit Galen had a point. But he still wasn’t sure about any of it.

Tara’s hand rested upon his arm. “I’ve not been back to my family in ten years. I long to go, but I know I can never return. You can go back, Ramsey.”

Ramsey looked into her clear blue-green eyes, amazed that she was able to look at the world so neatly, and despite everything, find a way to make it suit.

Ramsey turned to Fallon. “All right.”

“Good,” Galen said with a smile as he leaned on the back of the chair in front of him.

Fallon stood. “We need to leave soon. I doona want to be out there too long. I still doona trust Declan. And I willna be able to stay the entire time. I’m taking Larena, Gwynn, and Logan to London to search for the scroll.”

Ramsey looked about the great hall, a sudden feeling of dread coming over him. “Fallon, I doona think we should all go at once.”

“Why?” he asked, concern flattening his lips.

“I doona know. Just a feeling.”

Galen turned and called out, “Saffron, have you had any visions recently?”

Saffron shook her head of long, silver-blond hair. “None. Why?”

“Ramsey has a bad feeling about these trips everyone is taking,” Fallon answered.

“I just doona think we should all go at once,” Ramsey stated. “If we stagger, then if Declan does strike, we can answer quickly.”

Fallon shrugged. “I think it’s a good idea. Consider it done.”

Ramsey felt a little better, but it still didn’t dispel his worry. He looked down at Tara. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll be here,” she said with a smile.

Ramsey walked to Galen and Fallon.

“Fallon hasna been to Torrachilty, and neither have I. So, think of it,” Galen said.

With Galen’s ability to read someone’s mind, he could see what Ramsey saw, then put that image into Fallon’s mind so Fallon could teleport them. Ramsey let the forest fill his mind as Galen laid his hand upon his head.

The sounds, the smells.

And suddenly Ramsey was standing in Torrachilty Forest.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Ramsey didn’t move, didn’t breathe as he listened to the lively sounds of the forest. Even in the coldest, darkest winter the forest had always been alive with sounds.

In the distance he could hear the Black Water River full of salmon as it thundered off the Falls of Rogie. Wind whispered through the trees. Pine and spruce were most prevalent in the forest, but there were also pockets of ash, oak, and birch.

Ramsey smiled as he heard the claws of a pine marten as it clambered along a tree limb. He could well imagine the dark, silky coat of the sleek animal.

He couldn’t believe he was back in the forest. His home.

“Ramsey?” Galen asked.

Ramsey opened his eyes and drank in the sight of the trees reaching toward the sky, their limbs heavy with snow.

“I’m all right,” he answered. Though, in truth, he wasn’t sure if he’d just lied to his friends or not.

Fallon glanced around the area. “How far are we from your village?”

“No’ far,” Ramsey said. He didn’t say anything more as he turned left and started walking.

Even after all the centuries he still knew his way blindfolded through the dense forest. So much had changed, yet so much had stayed the same.

The closer he walked toward the river, the louder the water became. Ramsey paused as he passed a tree and looked down to find a wildcat.

The animal stared at Ramsey with its pale green eyes. Its coat was of a medium brown color with black stripes, and a small piece was missing off the top of the cat’s left ear.

Ramsey used to track these cats, which were believed to be the descendants of house cats. They were stealthy creatures, and did remarkably well in any climate and terrain.

“He’s a fighter,” Galen said with a grin. “You can see it in his eyes.”

Fallon chuckled. “He’s a Scot. Of course he’s a fighter.”

Ramsey lifted his gaze before him. Just through the grove of trees ahead and over a small rise was where his village had been located. But he didn’t immediately continue on.

He’d been too content while looking around the forest and remembering his childhood that it took him a moment to notice the forest.

“It’s quiet here. Too quiet,” he whispered.

Fallon’s black claws lengthened from his fingers. “Declan?”

“Nay,” Galen said with a single shake of his head. “The magic is older.”

And then Ramsey knew. They were feeling the residual magic from when Deirdre had destroyed his village.

He didn’t say another word to his friends as he ran through the snow. He needed to reach his village to see it first.

His heart pounded in his chest as he leaped over a fallen tree and slowed as his village came into view. Ramsey put his hand against a tree and took in the emptiness around him.

Gone were the cottages, the well-tended gardens, and the pens for the sheep and goats. Nothing remained but the echo of laughter that only he heard.

“I’m so sorry,” Fallon said softly from behind him.

Ramsey had expected to find exactly this, but expecting it and actually seeing it were two different things. “I’m tempted to bring Deirdre back from the dead so I can kill her again.”

Galen snorted. “She’s burning in Hell, but I agree. It doesna seem enough after everything she’s done.”

Ramsey pushed off the tree and walked to where the middle of the village had been. “This is where I stood, where each male Druid stood, as we were put through test after test. All around,” he said as he pointed in every direction, “were cottages.”

“What clan claimed these lands?” Fallon asked.

Ramsey looked at him and smiled. “We did. None dared to cross us.”

Galen chuckled. “I can well imagine what neighboring clans thought of you. But I’m having a hard time picturing warrior Druids. You trained with swords?”

“And spears and bows,” Ramsey answered. “Anything that could be used as a weapon. Our magic would penetrate the weapons and make them doubly effective.”

Fallon whistled. “I’d have loved to have seen your people in battle.”

Ramsey squatted and shoved aside the snow. He used his claws to dig through the hard ground until they scraped against stone. For the next few moments he moved aside the dirt until one stone showed.

Ten minutes later and all twenty stones were visible. Each held a carving of a Celtic symbol.

“I feel their magic,” Galen said, his voice filled with awe.

Ramsey ran his finger over one of the stones. “These stones tested us, and protected us. They hold powerful magic.”

“They look ancient,” Fallon commented as he bent and ran a finger over one.

“They are. Though I have no idea how old, they’ve been passed down through my people for generations too far back to count.”

“Amazing,” Galen mumbled.

Ramsey took a deep breath and raised his head. “We shouldna have been defeated. They should have survived.”

“Anything left would be buried under seven hundred years of soil.” Fallon caught his gaze. “Tell us where to look, Ramsey. Tell us where they might have left something behind for someone to find.”

Ramsey stood and thought of each elder. “None of the elders would have dared leave anything just anyone could stumble upon. It would have been put somewhere safe, somewhere secluded…”

He trailed off as his gaze lifted to the hill to his right. “Only once did I wake and follow my father as he went to join the elders. They met at midnight once or twice a year. One time I followed them.”

“Where?” Fallon asked.

Ramsey pointed to the hill. “There. Hidden there is an entrance into a cave.”

Galen started forward. “Let’s get moving then.”

It took no time to climb the hill as they followed the path that Ramsey remembered. Finding the entrance was another matter entirely.

“Do you recall where it was?” Fallon asked.

Ramsey shrugged. “My father later told me that the entrance moved each time.”

Galen rolled his eyes and said, “Let me guess. The entrance is hidden by magic.”

“Of course.”

“Of course,” Galen mimicked sarcastically.

Fallon let out a sigh. “Can you use your magic, Ramsey?”

Without a doubt Ramsey knew he could. But did he dare? “I’d rather you both got far enough away from me so I didna harm you.”

Galen turned on his heel and retreated back down the hill. “Fair enough.”

Ramsey shook his head at his friend. Only when Fallon had joined Galen did Ramsey look at the steep hill before him. He couldn’t climb any higher. Ramsey would have to work his magic from where he stood.

He drew in a deep breath and sought out his magic. It swelled within him, filling, flooding him from each fingertip to each toe. He felt alive with the magic inside him.

Ramsey placed his hand on the slope before him as words from a spell summoning a door fell from his lips. He couldn’t believe he remembered the spell, or why he knew it would work.

The hill seemed to inhale as his magic passed through his hand into the earth. And then a section of earth slid away to reveal the entrance to the cave.

His god bellowed excitedly inside him as his magic called him, beckoned him to surrender to it. It would be so easy for Ramsey to give in, to let his magic take him as he’d done when he was younger.

But he hadn’t had a primeval god inside him then. Ramsey ignored the call of his magic and concentrated on reining it back. Slowly but surely he got command.

With a sigh, he looked at the opening of the cave and into the darkness within.

“That was easy,” Galen called from below.

Ramsey held out his hand, stopping them from venturing forward. “That was too easy,” he muttered to himself.

He reached out his other hand and was thrown backward as a blast of magic slammed into him. Ramsey caught hold of a tree before he rolled too far down the hill.

“Ramsey?” Fallon called.

He glanced at them. “I’m unhurt. Stay there.”

Ramsey climbed his way back to the cave entrance and glared at it. The spell to get in would cost him much more. Possibly too much more.

He turned to Fallon and Galen and said, “I need a promise from both of you that if I can no’ get myself under control you’ll do what needs to be done to stop me.”

The men both nodded, their faces a mixture of concern and dread.

“If they only knew what could happen they wouldna ask this of me,” Ramsey whispered to himself as he turned back to the cave.

His fingers itched with the magic inside him, as if it couldn’t wait to get out. Just as he couldn’t wait to release it. He’d always loved using magic. He’d felt more alive, more powerful … more everything with his magic.

Ramsey took a deep breath and slowly released it as he lifted his hands to the invisible barrier that blocked his way.

He tried spell after spell, but nothing worked to weaken the barrier. Each time he used his magic it became more and more difficult to pull it back.

How many more times could he use it before he was taken completely? The idea of it didn’t frighten him as much as it had before, which told him he was fast losing control.

Ramsey bent over at the waist and rested his hands upon his knees. His head ached from trying to hold back his magic as well as from all the spells running amok inside his brain.

He held his head with both hands and let out a roar of fury.

The sound of footsteps rushing up the hill had Ramsey whirling around to face his friends. “Nay!” he bellowed.

Galen’s brows shot up. “It’s just me, old friend.”

“Get back.”

“Look at yourself,” Fallon said.

Ramsey glanced at his hands to see his skin flickering from normal to bronze and his claws out. He could well imagine his eyes had transformed as well.

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “Get back,” he repeated. “Please.”

Thankfully, Fallon and Galen did as he requested. Ramsey didn’t waste another moment before he faced the cave again. He swallowed and searched his mind until he found the spell he’d hoped not to have to use.

As soon as the words began to fall from his lips his magic expanded inside him so that he thought his skin would explode from the force of it.

The magic grew and grew until it came into contact with the barrier of the cave. Every time his magic pushed against it, it pushed back.

Ramsey peeled back his lips with a growl and dropped his guard so that all of his magic could be used. With a roar, he gave a final shove against the invisible wall. It crumbled beneath the weight of his magic, but by then it was too late.

The magic had taken him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Tara hated that Ramsey was gone. It seemed her entire world dimmed when he wasn’t around.

“Stop being such a imbecile,” she mumbled to herself. “One night doesn’t make him yours for life.”

Odd how that thought made her almost giddy. If only all she had to worry about was what was going on between her and Ramsey, but Declan was never far from her thoughts.

And to her chagrin, neither was her mother now that Ramsey had told her she was dying. Despite everything her mother had done, even killing her grandmother, Tara still wanted to see her.

Tara started when she realized Marcail and Saffron were standing next to her. “I’m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts.”

“We were just making sure you were all right,” Marcail said.

Saffron smiled and nodded to Tara’s hands. “You touched Ramsey and the ribbons of magic didn’t show. Can you turn them on and off so easily?”

Tara lifted her hand and rubbed her thumb over her fingers. “I’m not the one controlling it. I never thought I was, and how it began and then halted, I have no idea.”

“I do,” Reaghan said as she walked up, a kind smile on her face. “I saw Ramsey the other morning on his way to the tower.”

Tara knew if she were the kind of woman to blush her face would be flaming. “Oh,” was all she could manage.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Marcail grinned, her turquoise eyes sliding to Quinn. “These Warriors are certainly difficult to resist.”