Highlander's Faerie (Highlander Heat #5)

“John?” Archie grasped his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”


’Twas as if someone had taken a spear and thrust it right through his heart. He patted his back to be sure no one had attacked him from behind. The pain slowly receded but not the sheer ache in his soul. That could be only one thing. “’Tis Katherine. Something’s happened to her. I have to go.”

With one hand on the ground, he shoved to his feet then raced toward his tethered horse. Behind him, Archie ordered Eric and the others to continue following the warrior’s tracks then sprinted after him.

John mounted and rode hard toward Dunyvaig. He urged his black destrier faster down the narrow forest path edging the cliffs. Below, the sea roared and crashed against the jagged rock wall.

White-hot terror cut through him. ’Twas as if his soul-deep connection with Katherine was stretching to its farthest point, tearing at his chest. Everything within him demanded he find her.

Fisting his horse’s reins, he burst out of the forest and plunged down the hillside toward an isolated bay, the very one he’d searched following Katherine’s nightmare, and the very one he checked again each day. Across the rocky beach a scrap of black and white tartan fluttered where it had snagged between two boulders, while out at sea a skiff’s white sail caught the moonlight then disappeared in the dark toward the north.

“What it is?” Archie called as he rode in beside him.

“Katherine’s gone. I can feel the depth of my loss through our bond. We need to sail to Mull.” She was on that skiff, and he was certain of it. “The warrior has her.”

He slammed his knees into his steed, jumped a fallen tree across his path and raced toward Dunyvaig. He’d make chase, and as quickly as he could.





Chapter 6


After two days of bitter wind in her face and a night on the cold ground when they’d stopped at the Isle of Jura’s northern tip to rest, the sea journey to Mull was almost done.

Katherine huddled within her black and white plaid as Duart Castle rose like a fortress in the moonlight ahead. The MacLean stronghold sat prominently at the point where the Sound of Mull intersected with Loch Linne and the Firth of Lorne. Land rose from the water in every direction. The stronghold held a very favorable position with its unhindered views.

A few hundred feet inland, the castle’s massive gray tower windows were lit with candlelight, its fortified walls topped with battlements and guardsmen roaming the ramparts. Lachlan MacLean’s vast holdings stretched across several isles, from Mull to Jura and to Coll, yet this was his favored stronghold.

“We’re almost there.” Finlay lowered the sail and plunged his oars into the depths of the water as he maneuvered the skiff toward the sea-gate.

Near the stone landing, two large men waded into the water. Each seized a side of the skiff as they came abreast of them. They guided the boat the last few feet and nestled it next to the stone stairs.

Another warrior appeared out of the dark along the castle trail, his massive claymore strapped across his back. Dressed in black leather trews and an emerald silk tunic, the colors matched his midnight-black hair and vivid green eyes to perfection. The warrior eyed Finlay. “We thought you’d been captured. Welcome home, cousin.”

“The MacDonalds searched for me, but I managed to evade them.” He bounded onto the landing and gripped the warrior in a firm forearm hold then motioned toward her. “I’ve brought you a gift, Captain, a bargaining chip to be used against the MacDonalds.”

The dark-haired warrior scrutinized her. “A bargaining chip? All I see a lass dressed in lad’s clothing.”

“This is Lachlan’s faerie. She was there when we battled for the Rhinns.”

The warrior edged forward, one thumb sliding under his claymore’s front belted strap. “I wasnae there, but I heard Lachlan’s faerie has long white-blond hair, that she came forth from the guardians’ circle and is of both clans, her father a MacLean and her mother a MacDonald. I’ll have your name, lass.”

She fought the chill in her bones and stood to gain some height. “Katherine MacLean, and I was already on my way here when I met Finlay. I’ve come willingly, or willingly enough. I also won’t be considered as a bargaining chip. I’m here to learn more about my MacLean kin.” She tugged the cap from her head and her locks fell in a soft swish to her waist. “Here is your proof of who I am.”

He watched her, one brow slowly rising then resting a hand on Finlay’s shoulder, he said, “I understand why you would bring her here, but using women and children as pawns in our war bothers me. She’s also a MacLean, one of our own. I’ll need to think on what we’re to do.”