“Why are you—” Dermid began, but one look from Torquil silenced him.
His plaid and boots followed, all folded into a neat stack.
“Do not fail me, brother. I do not forgive easily,” he warned. “Stand back.”
He squatted to the ground, willing the transformation to begin.
The change started in his face, just as it had the one other time he’d tried this. Tearing and stretching his skin and his bones as his skull enlarged and lengthened. Only the rapid change in the shape of his mouth prevented him from screaming out in pain.
“By Odin,” Dermid whimpered, falling back, scrambling away like a bug on the forest floor.
It took his arms and legs next. Long claws ripped through the flesh of his hands and feet, even as his arms and legs grew longer and thicker, with heavy fur sprouting through his skin.
His bones cracked as his rib cage expanded and his backbone doubled, then tripled in length.
This, all this, he could stand. It was the next phase that demanded all his will.
Pain, like burning hot pokers, seared though his mind as he fought the beast for control. The body would do him little good if it wasn’t his to command.
With the beast confined to one small corner, Torquil shook his body, feeling the air ripple through his thick fur. The metallic tang of blood flavored his mouth. His blood, left behind when the deadly fangs erupted from his jaws.
He stretched, feeling the power in his new limbs and muscles before turning his gaze on the sniveling half human huddled against the tree. It would be so easy to snap that weak little neck between his own massive jaws. He stalked toward Dermid, slow and determined, intentionally striking fear until the idiot called out.
“Spare me, my lord! I live to serve you.”
Indeed, that was the only reason he yet lived.
With a toss of his head, he started forward, waiting until Dermid gathered his clothing and followed.
Now he was ready. He could already scent the direction his prey had taken.
He would hunt them and find them, and when he did, he would make them regret their decision to deceive him.
Thirty-nine
AS GOOD ASit had felt to stand after a day of running full speed on horseback, lying down was close to heaven.
Dani stretched out on her woolens, enjoying the pull of her muscles as they lengthened out. With temperatures dropping as the sun prepared to sink below the horizon, it wouldn’t be long before she’d need to cocoon herself in the wrap, but for now, after the day she’d had, she was determined to simply enjoy.
Not that she planned to spend this night wrapped up alone.
She rolled on her back, feeling the silly grin stretch the corners of her mouth. Though they were far from being safe here, it was the closest she’d felt to it in days.
Elesyria dropped to sit beside her wearing her own silly grin. “I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have the Magic coursing through my veins once again. Thank you, Christiana. I shall never forget the gift of freedom you have given me.”
“You would do well to save yer thanks, Faerie, for that which I have asked of you. Or at least until we ken for sure that we have freedom and no simply the illusion of freedom.” Malcolm’s sister leaned her back against a large tree, her face drawn in a frown. “I only wish I had brought my rune stones.”
“You needn’t worry,” Elesryia assured. “Those guardsmen are likely still sitting in the wagon where we left them. Though my powers were weakened when we left Tordenet Castle, I put everything I had into the effort.”
“Mayhap,” Christiana agreed. “But it’s no the guards we left behind what concern me. It’s Torquil. I’ve no a single doubt that he kens the truth and follows us even now.”
“I don’t understand why your brother is so set on making all of you miserable. He’s obviously a powerful and wealthy man. The meals, the servants, the possessions—everything at Tordenet Castle indicated there was no want there, so, why is he so intent on taking over the MacGahan holdings? It isn’t like he needs one more group of people to rule.”
It was one of the questions that had puzzled Dani from the moment she’d set foot in Tordenet Castle.
“You mistake my brother’s intent. Torquil doesn’t seek to rule the MacGahan alone. Torquil seeks to return the glory of the old gods. He would rule the whole of the world.”
So he was crazy. Like some antihero in a B-grade movie, wanting to take over the world for fun and profit.
