Charon didn’t like being reminded that he had nearly died. Twice. The second time he had only been healed by Laura’s magic. And that had been purely by accident, since she hadn’t known what she was doing.
“Why is no one at MacLeod Castle?”
“That’s the first I heard about it,” Phelan said softly. “We’re scattered, Charon. We’re more powerful as a group, and Wallace knows it.”
Charon put his hand on the window as lightning forked in the darkening sky, showing him several more dragons flying through the clouds. “Then we group once more.”
“How? Especially with what’s happening in Edinburgh?”
“We’ll have to make a choice. Wallace knows we’ll help innocents. He’s counting on it.”
Phelan snorted. “He’s now the one underestimating us.”
“Exactly. Talk to those at the cottage. I’m going to call Fallon.”
Charon disconnected the call and immediately tried Fallon, but couldn’t get him on the line. He tried Larena’s, Lucan’s, Hayden’s, and even Broc’s phones before he tossed his mobile on the table.
“They aren’t answering?” Laura asked.
Charon faced her and shrugged. “Phelan knows only a little more than I do about their whereabouts. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“Then go to them.”
“In Edinburgh? No’ a good place to bring the dragons.”
She tossed aside the covers and walked into the bathroom. “Give me a few minutes to take a shower. By the way, clothes would be nice. Don’t think I can wear this oversized shirt while I’m battling Jason.”
When he didn’t reply, she turned at the door and looked at him. After losing her mother and sister, how could he tell her he still wasn’t completely sure of her loyalty?
The Warriors and Druids needed to be unified, because Charon had a feeling if they lost this battle with Wallace, it was over for good.
“I went to my parents’ home to get my magic back,” she said.
Gone was her smile. She looked sad and weary, and Charon wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t believe her still or because she lost her family. Or both.
“How were you going to do that?”
She shook her head with a half smile as she looked at the floor. “I kept asking myself that as I drove to them. I had no magic, and I knew they could hurt me with their own, but I had to try.” Her gaze lifted to his. “I had to try for you. I knew the only way for you to believe I was on your side was to get my magic back and use it against Jason.”
Charon crossed the room in four strides. He rested his hands on her shoulders, ever amazed at the remarkable woman that she was. There were tricks Declan and Deirdre had used to get into a Druid’s mind to control them.
There was no need for Laura to know about that. Once he got her back with the other Druids, he would ask Dani to look into Laura’s mind and see if Wallace had bespelled her.
“You could’ve been killed,” he said.
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “You didn’t leave me much of a choice. My life hasn’t exactly been a good one, but I found a home in Ferness. You gave me that, Charon. You gave me a job and even though you might not realize it, you helped give meaning to my life.”
“Is that why you fell so easily into my bed?” he teased, unaccustomed to such praise from anyone.
She didn’t smile in return. Instead, she rose up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around him, her face breaths from his. “No, you fool of a man. I fell into your bed because I’ve wanted to be there since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
He moaned at the touch of her lips on his. Charon tried to hold back his desire and let her take the lead in the kiss, but his need was too great.
With a slight turn of his body, he had her pinned against the bathroom door. He slanted his mouth over hers and showed her just how much he yearned for her in his arms.
Her soft, pliant body only made his blood scorch through his veins. They had no time for pleasures of the flesh, but he couldn’t release her, couldn’t think of anything but the Druid in his arms.
“Charon!” called a voice outside the bedroom door before there was a knock.
Charon grudgingly ended the kiss. “I don’t think as long as we’re around the Dragon Kings that I’m going to be able to do more than kiss you.”
“It doesn’t appear that way, does it?” she asked with a laugh.
The pounding on the door started again. Charon released Laura and waited until she shut the door to the bathroom before he opened the bedroom door.
He frowned when he saw Guy standing with his face set in grim lines. “What is it?”