“Just stay here and you’ll be fine,” Darius said and shut the door behind him as he walked out. He paused in the hallway and looked at Kellan. “Should we lock it?”
Kellan started to shake his head, then frowned. “Kyle loves his sister, but he’s friends with Dennis. Once he sees the man Dennis really is, he might want to go down and protect Lily.”
“We can no’ have him in the way. So, we lock it.”
Kellan put a hand on his arm to stop him. He whispered, “He’ll hear it and no’ trust us. I’ll stay behind and watch him. If he tries to leave, I’ll stop him.”
Darius looked at the door, thinking of the mortal within. He was young and foolish, and easily swayed. “I’ll stay.”
Kellan was at his heels as he walked away. “Why?”
“Why no’?” Darius asked over his shoulder.
“You’ve just woken.”
“And you have a mate.” Darius halted at the top of the stairs and Kellan came even with him. “Go to her.”
Kellan blew out a breath. “Darius, you’ve only just woken—”
“I didna go back to sleep after we helped the Warriors. I remained in my cave. I’m back, Kellan, and I’m fine.”
“Are you?” Kellan asked, his eyes intense.
Darius held Kellan’s gaze. “I’m going to pretend you didna ask that. Get to your position. I’m going to hide here and see if Kyle remains in the room.”
Several tense seconds passed before Kellan descended the stairs. Darius looked at his hands and slowly fisted them.
He wasn’t all right. And he feared he never would be.
*
This was Lily’s second trip past the hedgerow, and she was as taken aback by the glory of Dreagan as she had been the first time. If Dreagan was beautiful around the distillery, behind the hedges it was a heaven.
“What are you doing?” Dennis grumbled as he pulled her along.
Lily was looking at the sheep and cattle. She glanced at the manor, finding the dark gray structure intriguing and magnificent. But it was nothing compared to what lay around her.
The mountain behind the manor rose tall and sturdy, the craggy slopes sporting bright green grass between the rocks. On either side of the mountain were smaller slopes leading into a valley. Lily couldn’t see onto the other side, but the valley she was in made her feel as if she were home.
There was a large pasture alongside the manor that was open, the grass thick. That’s where she was, and Lily wanted to see more. Dennis was pulling her toward the sheep pens. They were empty now, the sheep dotting the hillsides. They passed a building that was obviously a work shed where they sheared the sheep.
Lily tried to see inside, imagining Rhys working there. It brought a smile to her face to think of him bending over and trimming the wool from the animals.
“What are you smiling about?” Dennis demanded.
Lily looked at him and made a face. “I was thinking about sheep.”
He rolled his eyes and yanked her after him. Lily glanced around in hopes that she would see Rhys. She knew he was out there, as were the others. But where were they? What were they waiting for?
Dennis took her around the sheep pens and up a steep incline of one of the rolling hills. He stopped, his breathing heavy, as he looked around.
“Lost?” she asked hopefully.
He threw her a dark look. “No.”
“You don’t even know where you’re going, do you?”
Dennis chuckled and spread his free arm wide. “Look around you, sweetheart. There are sixty thousand acres before us.”
“You aren’t seriously going to walk all of it?”
“Do I look that dumb?”
She had to bite the inside of her mouth not to answer.
“Of course not,” Dennis said and made a sound at the back of his throat.
The longer Lily stood with him, the more anxious she became. It was almost as if he were waiting on someone, which surely couldn’t be right.
“I saw you with him.”
Lily slid her gaze to Dennis. She didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. The night in Edinburgh was branded in her memories.
“I don’t remember you ever being so … sensual with me,” Dennis said with a sneer. “You certainly never let me hold you against a window naked so I could pound inside you.”
Lily swallowed, but she didn’t look away. “You were never man enough to make me want to do that.”
“And he is?”
“He’s a thousand times more of a man than you’ll ever hope to be.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt free. As if the chains around her suddenly fell away, chains she hadn’t even known held her back.
“You may change your mind about your precious Rhys once you know who he really is.”
Dennis said it so calmly, so coolly that her stomach dropped to her feet like lead. He knew what Rhys was.