She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at her hands. No longer could she feel the magic inside her, and no matter how much she called to it, it didn’t answer. “You told me of the Druids, and I was hesitant to believe you. Yet I did because you’ve never lied to me. I have magic. Or rather, I did.”
“What does that mean?” Charon asked as he stared intently at her.
Laura wasn’t quite ready to tell him everything yet. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were?”
“The obvious reason is because you were no’ a Druid, or at least I didna think you were.”
“But you told me of the Druids.”
“I had no choice,” Charon said between clenched teeth and lowered his gaze to the floor. “I didna want to tell you that much, but Wallace was determined to have you, and you wouldna listen to reason. I was prepared to do anything to ensure you were kept out of his clutches.”
The old hurts returned with a vengeance, and even though she knew Charon hadn’t had anything to do with her family controlling her, she couldn’t stop the emotions filling her. “So, just because you said so, I’m supposed to do it.”
His gaze snapped to hers. “You’re damned right. I was trying to save your life.”
“I swore when I left my family that no one would ever tell me what to do again!” she yelled, hating how her rage was taking her, confusing past hurts with current concerns, especially after Lacy’s visit.
“People tell you what to do every bloody day, Laura!”
She dug her fingers into her palms as her body began to shake from her rage. “Is this where you make love to me again to convince me to do what you want?”
In the blink of an eye, he had her on her back, her arms over her head and his face inches from hers. “You think I brought you to my bed so you’d do my will?”
His voice was too soft, too mellow. It belied the fire that burned in his deep brown gaze. “You told me to do something, and when I didn’t do it, you tried another approach.”
“Do you think so little of yourself? What I did was find another plan.” His voice was low, deadly, as he pushed away from her and stood. His body stood still as stone. “Besides, you’re the one who kissed me. I didna call for Fallon and have him take you, kicking and screaming, to MacLeod Castle. I risked everything to keep you safe.”
His words drew her up short.
“You don’t understand—”
“You’re damned right I doona,” he interrupted. “Because you willna tell me. Keep your secrets. God knows I’ve kept mine.”
She closed her eyes against the pain his words caused, pain because she knew how stupid she had been in not leaving Ferness when he told her to. When she thought he’d died, she blamed herself, knowing it was her pride in not leaving when he asked.
And now she would argue with him again.
Laura wanted Charon to tell her all she wanted to know about Druids and Warriors, and she’d foolishly tried to use anger to get him to do it.
The truth was, she knew the evil was Jason. He had used magic to control her, lied to her, and kidnapped her. Charon and Phelan had done nothing but try to protect her.
Someone who hadn’t endured her youth wouldn’t understand why she didn’t want to be told what to do. How could she explain to someone that there wasn’t an aspect of her life that her family hadn’t controlled?
Twice she had dared to rebel, and twice she had been punished. Her father was always gone on business, but neither of her parents had ever laid a hand on her. No, her mother had other ways of exacting punishment.
Charon rose and walked to the door, but stopped with his hand on the knob. “The others will want to talk to you. Reaghan is a Druid who can tell if a person is lying by looking in their eyes. Dani can search your mind to see if there’s a spell controlling you.”
“By all means, send them up,” Laura said as she pushed off the covers and swung her legs over the bed. Clean clothes had been set out on a chair, and she was anxious to get out of her dirty ones. “The sooner everyone understands the only one controlling me is me, the sooner I can leave.”
“You are no’ a prisoner here. It’s one of Fallon’s rules. No one is held against their will.”
“First bit of good news I’ve heard today.”
Laura hurt. Not from any wound, but from her heart. The night Charon made love to her had been special. There was a connection, or at least she’d thought there was.
She wished she could stop lashing out at him because of what happened to her. It was as if her world were in a raging storm and she couldn’t see land in sight.