Midnight's Warrior (32 page)

He jumped from the bed and lifted Tara in his arms. When he turned to the door he found everyone watching him.

Arran looked from the dagger embedded in the stone to the blood on Ramsey’s shirt. “She stabbed you?”

“Aye.”

Phelan’s lips twisted in confusion. “I doona know whether to ask how she stabbed you or where she got the dagger.”

“She stabbed me because she caught me by surprise,” Ramsey answered. “As for the dagger, I doona know.”

Ian walked into the chamber and yanked the blanket off the bed before he tucked it under his arm. “The girls have gone below to begin a spell on one of the cells in the dungeon so Tara can no’ get out.”

Ramsey gave a nod of thanks as he walked from the room. With each step his anger grew, and the need for revenge filled him. He would have to control the vengeance if he was going to use his magic, because revenge could turn a good person to evil quickly.

And though Ramsey knew he wasn’t without his faults and bad deeds, he didn’t consider himself evil. Yet the god inside him was.

It was a constant battle he fought against his god, and the first time Ethexia found a way to overtake Ramsey, he would.

Ramsey didn’t say a word as he walked down to the dungeon. Below the castle, the dungeon was dark and dank, with only a few torches to light the way for the Druids.

As he walked down the middle of the cells Druids lined the aisle. A small cot had been brought into the square, iron-barred prison. Ramsey gently placed Tara on the cot before he straightened and walked out.

He pulled the door closed behind him. After another look at her, he put his hand on the iron and bound the prison with magic. He also allowed the magic to penetrate deep within the ground so no one would be able to free her except those within the castle.

Ramsey lowered his hand as he saw Tara begin to move. Her eyes flew open as she pinned him with a lethal stare.

“I know what you did to me,” she said as she sat up. “I know how you bound my magic because you feared I had too much.”

Ramsey inwardly winced at her words. “None of that is true.”

“It is! Declan told me all of it. He opened my eyes!”

“He’s brainwashed you,” Ramsey replied calmly when all he wanted to do was bash his hand into the stones to release some of the anger inside him. “Do you no’ recall the friends you made here?”

Her lips lifted in a sneer as she took in the others. “Every one of you used me. And I’ll have my vengeance.”

Ramsey didn’t know what pained him more, that Tara actually believed the words she was saying or that Declan had harmed her in the process of turning her to his side. Because Ramsey knew Tara may not show physical harm, but Declan had hurt her. Ramsey would stake his life on it.

“Think what you want,” Ramsey said before anyone else could reply. “You claim it is the truth you have now. Do you remember before? Running from Declan because he’s evil?”

Tara laughed. “It was you and the rest of the Warriors I was running from. I remember the maroon Warrior in Edinburgh.” Tara then looked to Isla, Larena, Fallon, and Broc. “I remember all of you chasing me.”

Isla started to respond, but Ramsey held up a hand to stop her.

He turned back to Tara. “Think what you will. For now, you’ll stay in here. There will be food brought to you, and anything else you might need.”

“I need out.”

“Except that,” Ramsey said, and released a breath.

Tara folded her arms over her chest. “So you plan on keeping me here forever? Wasn’t it enough that you made me think my family evil so I would run from them? Wasn’t it enough that I spent ten years looking over my shoulder and running from everything I considered a threat?”

Ramsey didn’t reply. He knew there was nothing he could say to Tara that would change her mind. And getting inside her mind to try and alter whatever Declan had done wasn’t an option now that Tara had effectively locked everyone out.

It took everything Ramsey had to turn and walk away from her, especially when all he wanted to do was take her in his arms. Had he finally found a woman who fit in his world and touched his soul only to lose her?

It wasn’t until Ramsey was back in the great hall that he noticed how his fellow Warriors surrounded him, the Druids standing in a larger circle around his brethren. He saw the worry and concern etched onto the Warriors’ faces.

“Say something,” Larena urged.

Ramsey had learned early on that as the only female Warrior, Larena could hold her own against any of them. Anyone that underestimated her quickly realized their mistake.

“What do you want me to say?” Ramsey asked. “Declan has effectively altered Tara’s mind by some form of torture. I have no idea how deep Declan has gone, or if it can be reversed.”

Camdyn crossed his arms over his chest. “Or if we should.”

There was that, but Ramsey didn’t want to think that far ahead. He wasn’t ready to give up all hope just yet.

“What’s your plan?” Broc asked.

Ramsey wasn’t surprised Broc would know he’d already begun forming a plan. While in Deirdre’s mountain they had formed countless strategies for every conceivable option.

“I’m going after Declan.” The announcement didn’t seem to alarm everyone as Ramsey had expected.

Logan nodded, his face thoughtful. “When do you leave?”

“Now.”

It was Fallon who shook his head and said, “Nay, Ramsey. Give it some time. Think about this.”

“For once I’m no’ going to think. For once I’m going to act. Declan used Tara. He would have her kill us all and go to him. The first chance she gets she’s going to escape,” Ramsey said, realizing his voice had risen.

He took a breath and looked at the faces around him. “I beg each of you, doona let your guard down with Tara. She thinks we’re the ones who have harmed her. She’s like a cornered animal now, and she’ll strike at any of us.”

“I hear you,” Lucan said. “But I agree with Fallon. Give it a day, Ramsey. Let us plan.”

“Us?” he repeated and smiled wryly. “There is no ‘us.’ By the time I’m finished with Declan I may no’ even be here. I doona want any of you near his mansion because of it.”

Hayden snorted and raised a blond brow. “If you think I’m going to allow you to go to that evil place alone, then you’d better lock me in the dungeon as well.”

“Hayden’s right,” Arran said. “Declan’s forces might have outnumbered us in the north, but we nearly got him.”

Ramsey raked a hand through his hair. “That was on neutral ground. At his mansion there will be spells and wards preventing anyone from gaining accesses.”

“Unless you’re a Druid,” Larena said as she looked pointedly at Ramsey.

Charon chuckled. “She’s got a point. Think what we could do if Declan believes only Ramsey has come for him. Think of how easily we could take out his forces.”

Ramsey couldn’t believe everyone didn’t understand how important it was that he go alone. Even Galen and Fallon who had witnessed him supposedly glowing, and Arran whom he’d nearly killed agreed that they should all attack.

“I know I’m no’ one of you, but I’ve listened to all this with interest.”

Ramsey turned to find Phelan behind him leaning against the wall, one foot braced on the stones. “And?” Ramsey asked.

Phelan’s blue-gray eyes met his. “If we’re going to take this son of a bitch out, then it needs to be done with all of us. And aye, before you say something sarcastic, Camdyn, I’m including myself in this.”

“Then it’s settled,” Quinn said.

Ramsey knew he couldn’t talk them out of coming, but he’d be damned if he would allow himself to harm them. “This is shite, just so you know. But if any of you come, make sure you’re far away when I use my magic.”

“I agree,” Fallon said. “I saw enough earlier to know that it’s better for everyone.”

Isla pushed her way past Hayden’s form and glared first at Hayden then at Ramsey with her ice blue eyes. “If you think you’re leaving us Druids out of this fight, you need to rethink things.”

“Over my dead body!” Hayden shouted.

Soon Arran, Charon, and Phelan were standing with Ramsey as they watched the couples argue about whether the women were going or not. It didn’t take long for the women to claim a victory.

Ramsey looked at everyone as the hall quieted down. “All right. But someone must stay here to make sure Tara doesna leave.”

“That will be me,” Fiona said.

Since she had very little magic they agreed to allow her to stay.

“Do you have a plan?” Broc asked Ramsey again.

Ramsey’s smile was slow. “Oh, aye. I do.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Declan tapped his finger on the arm of the leather sofa in his office as he sipped his whisky. Things couldn’t have gone better with Tara.

The Warriors of MacLeod Castle had a habit of getting in the way, but Declan had found a way around them. Now nothing they could try would change what he’d done.

“When will she arrive?” Robbie asked as he refilled his glass with whisky.

Declan shrugged. “It doesna matter when Tara will arrive. She will. And that’s all that matters.”

“The MacLeods might try to keep her.”

“They can certainly try.”

Robbie turned and leaned against the sideboard while he swirled the whisky. “What did you do to Tara exactly?”

“Ah, that’s the brilliant part, cousin.” Declan leaned forward, wincing slightly as his body protested the sudden movement. “I wish I’d thought of this sooner. All these years wasted on trying to find Tara. Just think if I had had both her and Deirdre.”

Robbie chuckled before he drained the whisky in one swallow. “Now that would have been something.”

“Tara was strong, but with the right torture, I managed to break through her defenses in her mind and alter her perceptions of everything. Instead of fearing me, she now fears all the Warriors.”

“That was brilliant. So she’s now truly ours?”

Declan’s gaze narrowed and he slowly sat back on the couch. “She’s mine, aye. Mine to command.”

“Of course,” Robbie said hastily.

Declan took a swallow of whisky and asked, “Have you found more men?”

“I’ve got another three coming in tomorrow from South Africa. Do you really think the MacLeods would be stupid enough to attack?”

“I think they’ll try.” Declan wiped his mouth with his hand and thought again of the Warrior who had tried to gain access to Tara’s mind. “There could be a Warrior who has grown attached to her.”

“I’d say it was the one from Dunnoth Tower, but he’s dead.”

Declan made a sound in the back of his throat. “Aye. He should be. There’s something that still bothers me about that entire event, cousin. Where was the Druid who sent that blast of magic?”

“I’ve no idea,” Robbie replied with a slight shrug.

“Warriors can no’ be Druids, right? There’s nothing that would suggest that, yet…”

“You think there might be one?”

Declan clenched his jaw as pain radiated throughout his body when he gained his feet. He walked to his desk and sank into the high-backed black leather chair. After he set aside his glass he opened his laptop and pulled up the files he’d stored there on Druids.

“In all my years and all my research on Druids I doona remember anything that would suggest that any of us became Warriors.”

Robbie walked around behind Declan and looked at the screen. “Surely if there was a Warrior who was also part Druid, he would have attacked Deirdre well before she grew too powerful.”

A laugh escaped Declan, and he closed the computer. “You’re right. I just can no’ stop thinking of that Warrior or the magic that was sent at me.” Magic that was even now eating at him, agonizingly slowly, but eating just the same.

“But think about it. If they had someone who was half Druid, half Warrior, he’d have already come to battle you.”

“And no one will be able to defeat me, even if they try.” Declan was smiling as he braced his hands on his desk and stood. “I think it’s time for dinner, Robbie.”

Declan didn’t think any more about the MacLeods as he made his way into the dining room to the food that awaited him.

*   *   *

Ramsey, Broc, Isla, and Phelan were the first ones Fallon jumped to Declan’s mansion. Within minutes everyone, including Fiona’s son, Braden, and Marcail and Quinn’s son, Aiden, were at Declan’s.

Twenty-four pairs of eyes looked at Ramsey from their hiding spot about three hundred yards from Declan’s mansion.

“I count only four guards patrolling,” Camdyn whispered.

Broc grunted. “Aye, but I feel layers upon layers of magic.”

“His spells,” Ramsey said with a nod. “Declan wanted to make sure if we ever returned that we wouldna be getting into his house.”

Logan’s smile was huge when he said, “Because we scare the hell out of him.”

Hayden elbowed Logan, but smiled just the same. “So what is the plan, Ramsey?”

Ramsey looked at Larena. “I’m going inside, but I willna be alone.”

“Wait,” Fallon said when he understood Ramsey’s meaning. “Larena is a Warrior. She willna be able to get through those wards.”

“By the time I’m through, you’ll all be able to get in.”

Larena placed a calming hand atop Fallon’s and looked at Ramsey. “What do you want me to do?”

Ramsey looked past Larena’s shoulder to the lights coming from the mansion. Dark was falling, and it needed to be deep into the night for Ramsey’s plan to work, besides it would take him awhile to get through the spells.

“I want you to enter his house while invisible. Find Declan’s room or wherever he keeps his spells. There will be a book or two full of them. I need them destroyed.”

Quinn frowned. “Why? They’re just spells, and he’s probably memorized them by now.”

“No, my love,” Marcail said. “There are thousands of spells. We can’t remember them all, which is why so many Druids write them down. It’s why we have three books full of them at the castle.”

Ian shifted in the snow. “Quinn’s right. Why destroy them? Bring them back to the castle. There could be something in those spells that our Druids can use.”

“Those books are full of black magic spells,” Ramsey pointed out. “I doona think bringing them into MacLeod Castle would be ideal.”