“What promise could ye possibly give to me?” Torin lifted his sword, wishing he had the safety of his sturdy targe to shield him from Arach’s attack. He braced himself for a blast of Arach’s flame. Torin didn’t trust the beast to leave him without inflicting some sort of pain—no matter what the bastard said.
But the beast rose higher, fluttering his ratty wings open and closed like a great demonic butterfly. Arach rose higher into the air as an updraft stretched the shimmering gray skin held taught between the oily black ribbing attached to his shoulders.
With another lazy flap of his wings, Arach slowly pointed his body toward the horizon. Angling his multi-horned head back in Torin’s direction, he gave an exaggerated wink of one great glowing eye. “I promise that when I rip the heart out of your lover’s chest, I shall allow ye to hold it quivering and warm in your hands while I rip out your own.”
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
“What on earth happened here?” Emma pinched her nose and covered her mouth with a shaking hand while her face contorted with disgust.
“Arach.”
“Arach?” She pushed escaped strands of hair away from her face while squinting against the foul rising wind. “What exactly is an Arach?”
How could he explain the cruelty of the vile beast to her? Torin scanned the scorched bleakness of the desolate valley rolling out from the base of the cliff. Not a hint of green remained on the stark landscape. The boulders and rocks scattered across the yellowed soil of the barren expanse appeared bleached on one side and blackened and scorched on the other.
An acrid, residual odor tainted the wind, a disgusting mix of sulfur, stale smoke, and rotting flesh. Bloated carcasses of half-burnt sheep dotted the length of the uneven ground all the way to the horizon.
“The beast, Arach, comes from another realm. He has walked this world for centuries, bringing destruction and chaos wherever he goes.”
“Another realm?” She kept her nose and mouth shielded with one hand, while holding her wind-whipped ponytail tight against her neck with the other. “How did he end up here?”
“Through the portal.” Torin watched her reaction closely. He had to awaken her protective spirit, nudge loose the instinctive defensiveness of a true stone guardian. If she didn’t desire to protect the ancient gateways, the full control of the magic would not come easily to her call. “Arach breached the portal from a reality rife with disease, destruction and every misery known to humans. This beast thrives on carnage, desolation, and fear. He is known as the destroyer of worlds.”
Emma turned, scanning the vista, her scowl deepened as she moved closer to the edge of the cliff. Her brows knotted into curled lines of reddish-brown fury above a pair of squinting eyes. “Who left the portal open? Who allowed him passage through?”
Torin stiffened against the unspoken accusation echoing in her tone. How could he make her understand? Turning into the foul, stinking wind, he crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his chin in the air. “I did.”
Silence met this curt confession. He didn’t dare look Emma in the face. How could he bear the condemnation he would surely find brewing in her eyes?
A sudden gust whipped down the hillside, stirring the powdered debris into whirling dust-devils dancing across the ground. Emma’s continued silence chilled his flesh more effectively than the raw biting wind. He turned toward her, tensing more at her unreadable face. What the hell was the woman thinking? “Say something, Emma.”
“I am waiting for you to tell me why,” she said. “You seem to treasure this land and those standing stones more than mostpeople value gold. There had to be a reason for what happened. Nothing in this world is ever black and white.”
Relief coursed through him. His heart melted at her words. Sweet Emma. She might be a stubborn lass but at least she didn’t damn him before hearing his side. Uncrossing his arms as though downing his shield, he flexed his fingers as though the pumping action might help him spew out his tale. How could he tell her about Eilean? Make her understand his confusion and forgive him for all the errors of his past?
“There was a time when the people of my clan filled this land from shore to shore. It was our duty to guard the sacred stones and protect the gateway from intruders such as Arach.” Torin stole a glance at Emma’s face.Damnaigh.Her cloaked expression didn’t reveal her thoughts and his emotions ran too high to enable the reading of her mind.Damnaigh.He cringed at the Gaelic curse word echoing through his mind. He must calm himself and get control. Things never fared well whenever his silent curses reverted to his ancient tongue.
Sucking in a chest full of the dank, stale air, he cringed and plowed on. “A joining was arranged by my advisors, the elders of my clan. A life mate was chosen for me.” He cut his gaze back to Emma’s guarded expression, knotting his hands tighter against his sides when she didn’t even nod. “A wife from another gifted clan across the water was found. The woman’s blood would mix with ours and strengthen the magic running through our people.”
Emma smoothed a wild strand of hair out of her eyes and pulled her coat closer about her throat. “What has that got to do with leaving the portal unguarded? Did Arach sneak through during the wedding feast or something?”
“No.” Torin turned away to stare across the ravaged land, squinting against a cloud of debris stirred by the rising wind. If only it had been that simple. Maybe if he didn’t look at herwhile he talked, this telling might come easier. “When Eilean discovered she carried my child, she accidentally took her life while trying to rid herself of the babe.”
“What?” Emma grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. “Eilean was your wife, right?”
“Yes.” He shied away from her intense stare, lowering his gaze to his feet. He had faced horrifying monsters and worse while guarding the portal but he’d never faced anything as fearsome as the look on Emma’s face.Lore, please let her understand.
She stepped closer, ducked her way under his bent head and peered up into his face. “If Eilean was your wife, why didn’t she want to have the baby? Was she forced to marry you against her will or something? I hear that happened a lot back then.”
“No.” Torin took a step back, turning away to escape Emma’s scrutiny.Damnaigh,if the woman’s gaze didn’t burn as hot as Arach’s blaze.“No one ever forced Eilean to do anything. She was of Brude descent, a strong beautiful woman who came to our clan of her own free will.”
Emma frowned, swiping her hair out of her eyes with an impatient flip of her hand. “Then why? It doesn’t make sense. Why would she want to get rid of the baby?” The fierceness of the wind howling down the hillside almost drowned out Emma’s words. Almost.
“As I said…” Torin shifted his stance and cleared his throat. “Eilean was a verra comely maid. None were immune to her beauty.” His jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth. With a sweeping motion of one hand to span his body from head to toe, his mouth tensed into a grimace of disgust. “And I was…am…this.”
“What do you mean you were…are…this? There is nothing wrong with you.” Emma whacked his upper arm with the flatof her hand, her scowl darkening like a storm gathering on the horizon.
