Highlander's Magic (Highlander Heat #2)

“Are we almost there?” Soft, silky words. Each one tingled my toes.

“There’s a small rise up ahead. Beyond that the river flows.” I couldn’t get there fast enough. I crested the slope, and spread out before us, fields of lush green grass rippled like quicksilver. The mighty river snaked through it all. “These lower fields are thick because of the controlled river releases. Maslin, one of our warriors, has the water skill and drives the water as far as he can inland.”

“There appears to be a lot of cattle here already.”

A large herd grazed, but nowhere near close to our number of stock. “Usually we have thirty-five thousand head, although with the current drought, we’re slightly shy of that. Dralion is such an inhospitable land. The cattle and horses we rear on this station provide for those back home. We have to save every animal we can from the threat of the fires.”

“I’ll help you. I promise.” He searched the horizon. “I don’t see anyone else on horseback.”

Neither did I. A bonus for now. “The cattle won’t want to move much from here. We’ll make camp though and keep an eye out in case any get restless. Fires have a terrible habit of spreading when the winds get up. If any warriors turn up though, keep your head down.”

“I won’t cause any problems.” He smoothed down my arms, around my hands then took the reins from me. “There’s no ash in the air here. I can’t scent a thing.”

“Lieska!” A horse and rider rode in from behind. Hope. Her blond hair breezed over her shoulders. What a sight for sore eyes.

“Hey, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.” I waved to her.

“Silas is right behind me. We brought some cattle in too.” Breathing fast, she pointed along the darkened rise. “Ah, there’s the gear Goldie told me she’d dropped off. Bedrolls and such. She ’pathed me and said the four of us can monitor this end of the river belt. Have you spoken to Goldie?”

“No.” And I really should have.

“I’ll let her know we’ve all arrived. Won’t be a sec.”

I searched for Silas among the cattle moving past us from the herd they’d brought in. Our own had joined the other cattle on the plains.

Another horse and rider’s silhouette appeared, bringing in the stragglers. Silas. He rode tall and strong as he came abreast of us, the moonlight glinting off his short red-gold hair. Dressed in leather pants and a dark shirt, a sword gleaming at his side, he could pass for one of our warriors.

He cocked a brow as he eyed Cole. “I see you found your mate.”

“I did, but my released mate. Thanks for the bringing me in.”

“No problem. So you’ve spoken the words of release then?”

“Ah, not formally.” Cole shuffled in the saddle, creaking the leather. “We’ll get onto that, ah, sometime.”

Heck, that was something we needed to do. The note I’d left him didn’t appear to be good enough. A formal release was best. We should do that now we had time. Yeah, why hadn’t we done that already?

Hope cleared her throat. “Okay, Goldie’s rounding up around the farthest outreaches with some of the other warriors. She said to say hi to you all.”

“Ha. Sure she did.” Silas snorted then patted his horse’s neck. “So she knows about Cole here being mated to Lieska?”

“Um.” Hope twiddled with her reins. “I mentioned it, and then had to cut her off when she started screaming in my head.” She flicked my arm. “You should have told her. Goldie would’ve understood.”

“Hello. You’re the one who said screaming. You’re lucky she understands the position you and Faith are in.”

“I’m fortunate Dad does too.” She cut a look toward Silas. “Don’t say it.”

“I didn’t say a word.” He sighed, long and loud. “At least he’s not as bad as your grandfather, not that I care to meet either of them.”

“I said don’t say it.” She slid off her saddle and jumped to the ground with a light thud.

King Donaldo would certainly cause problems if he ever heard of his granddaughters’ bonds. All hell would break loose for starters, then, well I didn’t even care to contemplate what would come next.

Cole rubbed my arms. “Why do you feel so tense?”

I covered his hands with mine. “Donaldo rules with precision and determination. For him there is no gray, just black and white. Our people and yours can’t mix.”

“We don’t. Your dome over Dralion ensures it.” He dismounted, reached for me and swung me down beside him. With his hands still on my hips, he brushed a kiss over the top of my head.

I looked into his soulful eyes. “Except we’re not in Dralion right now, and his own granddaughters have mixed.”

“That was their choice, and now I know what’s happened, I’m glad no one’s taken that choice from them.”

“You are?”

“My parents are soul-bound and…” He dragged in a deep breath then shook his head. “Never mind. That’s not for us.”