Highland Fires Read Free

before he swung his
head around to her. “Do you always go where you aren’t
welcome?”
    Her ire prickled at his comment, but she bit
her tongue and refused to take the bait. “I do not, but desperate
times call for desperate measures.”
    He threw back his head and laughed, the sound
not at all friendly. “I find that humorous when a Fae can venture
any where they want. You no more need my help than the sun does in
climbing the sky.”
    Ahryn knew it was time she showed him her
secret. She withdrew her right hand from the folds of her skirts
and held it in front of her.
    His eyes lowered to her hand. “It’s an
ancient Celtic slave bracelet.”
    “Very good.” She tried, but failed, to keep
the sarcasm from her voice. “However, it is not just any Celtic
slave bracelet. It was made specifically to capture a Fae.”
    Lugus’ blue eyes narrowed as he swung around
on his stool to face her. “I’ve never heard of such.”
    “I, myself, had never heard of it. It was
only after it was on and I tried to leave that I discovered just
how different this bracelet was.”
    “How long have you been here?”
    Ahryn glanced out the open
window. “Two months.” 

    “Have all your abilities disappeared?”
    She swallowed and licked her lips. “Do you
mean to ask if I still hear other Fae? Nay, I do not. Everything
ceased when the bracelet was clasped to my wrist,” she said and
lowered her hand. Every time she saw her hand, anger at herself
nearly drowned her, so she kept it out of sight.
    “And how am I to help?”
    She had known this question would come, but
now that it was here, she found it hard to answer. “I know who you
are. Although you may be mortal now, you’re the only one that can
help me return to the Realm of the Fae.”
    He crossed his arms over his muscular chest,
and she noticed a tattoo of a horse surrounded by ancient knotwork
on his right forearm. “If you know who I am and why I’m mortal, you
would also know that I cannot venture into the Realm of the
Fae.”
    Ahryn didn’t try to hide her disappointment.
In truth, she didn’t know why he was now mortal but had hoped to
bluff him into thinking she did. “I didn’t know that. I assumed you
were still able to travel to different realms.”
    Her last hope was now gone, and her curiosity
would keep her trapped on Earth for eternity. She took a deep
breath and turned to the door. There was no use staying now. She
would return to Marcus and face whatever wrath he had.
    Lugus hated that he was affected by the
devastation on the female’s face. She wasn’t his concern. He
couldn’t help her.
    Or did he just not want to?
    “What is your name?” he asked as her hand
reached for the door.
    Startled Fae eyes jerked to his face.
“Ahryn.”
    It was a beautiful name, he thought to
himself. “How did you get to my isle?”
    “How does anyone get to this isle? I stole a
boat and rowed all night.” She looked down at her feet. “I didn’t
expect him to find me so soon.”
    Lugus had to admit that his curiosity was now
piqued. “Who?”
    Slowly, her mystical blue eyes rose to his.
“Who is the most powerful man around? Lord Marcus MacGregor is the
one that searches for me. The soldiers have seen me, so he will
return to claim me.”
    He thought over her words for a moment.
Regardless if he sent her away that instant, his island would be
invaded by the baron and his soldiers. There were very few places
he could hide either himself or Ahryn for any length of time. Yet,
before he could make any kind of decision, he needed to know more
of the facts.
    Lugus moved his hand and clenched his jaw as
his swollen, bloodied knuckles cried out in protest. He rose from
the stool and went to the fire where he had water boiling to wash
his cuts. It was one of the many things he had had to learn to do
once he became mortal.
    He reached for a strip of cloth and quickly
dunked it in the boiling water. It scalded his hand as he tried to
wring out the