hour!”
* * *
Tara told Liz she was ill in order to be alone, and it hadn’t been a lie. She was sick. Not just from all she had discovered about Ramsey, but because she couldn’t leave. She was essentially trapped.
A light tap on her window had her jerking her head up from her pillow to find Charon standing outside looking at her. She knew what Warriors were and how they had come into being. She knew they were immortal and had powers individual to each god.
She also knew—and had seen—that their skin changed the preferred color of whatever god was inside them. Along with fangs and claws.
Tara didn’t know what Charon was up to. If he wanted to, he could force his way in. For all she knew his power was the ability to walk through walls.
But she wasn’t in the mood to listen to anything anyone had to say, especially a Warrior. She laid her head back down and shut her eyes.
A second later there was a louder, more forceful tap.
Tara slammed her hands on the bed and growled as she jumped from the bed to stand in front of the window. “What?” she demanded.
“I would talk with you. Let me in.”
She shook her head at Charon.
“Fine,” he said calmly. “We can talk through the window.”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Tara muttered as she threw open the window. She leaned her hands on the sill. “I really don’t care to hear anything you have to say.”
“Actually, I think you do.”
He didn’t try to sweet-talk his way in, or lie. His simple statement did what it was supposed to do—draw her curiosity.
“Did Ramsey send you?”
Charon shook his head, his dark eyes meeting hers. “Nay.”
With her ability to read people, Tara saw another soul who didn’t trust easily, someone who might not have run as she had, but who had closed himself off to everyone.
She stepped away from the window, and he promptly climbed through. Once inside he closed the window and leaned against it. He didn’t crowd her, almost as if he were going out of his way to make her feel safe.
“I know you doona trust us,” he said. “And you have every right no’ to. All that Ramsey told you was the truth. For centuries the Warriors at MacLeod Castle have been fighting Deirdre, and more recently Declan.”
“Why?”
He gave her a flat look. “Why do you think, lass? Because Deirdre and Declan are evil, and they must be stopped. The Warriors fight because it is what they believe in, and it won us the day with Deirdre’s death once and for all.”
“You keep saying ‘they.’ Are you not one of the MacLeod Warriors?”
She watched how all expression left his face. His eyes became shuttered, and his entire body stiffened slightly. She had hit a nerve without meaning to.
“Nay, I’m no’.”
“The fact that you are here with two of those Warriors makes me think that you are one of them.”
Charon shook his head, his long dark hair damp from the snow moving with him. “You’d be wrong. After getting free of Deirdre, I spent the last four hundred years in my village, protecting my people. I didna help the MacLeods, and if it wasna for an overwhelming urge to go to the Orkney Isles, I doubt I’d have taken a stand against Deirdre this last time.”
His confession stunned her, almost as much as the knowledge that he was telling her the truth even though it didn’t exactly put him in a good light.
“Why?” she asked again.
“Things happened in Cairn Toul, Tara. Things I didna have control over because of my god. I must live with what I did. I didna believe I had the right to find a home or a place with the others at MacLeod Castle. I still doona, but Fallon asked me to help. How could I refuse when I knew what we were up against? Most of the Warriors there are married. I couldna walk away and let one of them take my place.”
Tara lowered herself onto her bed and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because you need to know who we are.”
Tara slowly let
* * *
Tara told Liz she was ill in order to be alone, and it hadn’t been a lie. She was sick. Not just from all she had discovered about Ramsey, but because she couldn’t leave. She was essentially trapped.
A light tap on her window had her jerking her head up from her pillow to find Charon standing outside looking at her. She knew what Warriors were and how they had come into being. She knew they were immortal and had powers individual to each god.
She also knew—and had seen—that their skin changed the preferred color of whatever god was inside them. Along with fangs and claws.
Tara didn’t know what Charon was up to. If he wanted to, he could force his way in. For all she knew his power was the ability to walk through walls.
But she wasn’t in the mood to listen to anything anyone had to say, especially a Warrior. She laid her head back down and shut her eyes.
A second later there was a louder, more forceful tap.
Tara slammed her hands on the bed and growled as she jumped from the bed to stand in front of the window. “What?” she demanded.
“I would talk with you. Let me in.”
She shook her head at Charon.
“Fine,” he said calmly. “We can talk through the window.”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Tara muttered as she threw open the window. She leaned her hands on the sill. “I really don’t care to hear anything you have to say.”
“Actually, I think you do.”
He didn’t try to sweet-talk his way in, or lie. His simple statement did what it was supposed to do—draw her curiosity.
“Did Ramsey send you?”
Charon shook his head, his dark eyes meeting hers. “Nay.”
With her ability to read people, Tara saw another soul who didn’t trust easily, someone who might not have run as she had, but who had closed himself off to everyone.
She stepped away from the window, and he promptly climbed through. Once inside he closed the window and leaned against it. He didn’t crowd her, almost as if he were going out of his way to make her feel safe.
“I know you doona trust us,” he said. “And you have every right no’ to. All that Ramsey told you was the truth. For centuries the Warriors at MacLeod Castle have been fighting Deirdre, and more recently Declan.”
“Why?”
He gave her a flat look. “Why do you think, lass? Because Deirdre and Declan are evil, and they must be stopped. The Warriors fight because it is what they believe in, and it won us the day with Deirdre’s death once and for all.”
“You keep saying ‘they.’ Are you not one of the MacLeod Warriors?”
She watched how all expression left his face. His eyes became shuttered, and his entire body stiffened slightly. She had hit a nerve without meaning to.
“Nay, I’m no’.”
“The fact that you are here with two of those Warriors makes me think that you are one of them.”
Charon shook his head, his long dark hair damp from the snow moving with him. “You’d be wrong. After getting free of Deirdre, I spent the last four hundred years in my village, protecting my people. I didna help the MacLeods, and if it wasna for an overwhelming urge to go to the Orkney Isles, I doubt I’d have taken a stand against Deirdre this last time.”
His confession stunned her, almost as much as the knowledge that he was telling her the truth even though it didn’t exactly put him in a good light.
“Why?” she asked again.
“Things happened in Cairn Toul, Tara. Things I didna have control over because of my god. I must live with what I did. I didna believe I had the right to find a home or a place with the others at MacLeod Castle. I still doona, but Fallon asked me to help. How could I refuse when I knew what we were up against? Most of the Warriors there are married. I couldna walk away and let one of them take my place.”
Tara lowered herself onto her bed and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because you need to know who we are.”
Tara slowly let
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