Something told Lachlan to look for Synne again. When he did, he saw she had two arrows nocked. She gave him a nod. He then stepped from behind the tree and faced the women. “You two sure talk a lot.”
“Who are you?”
He shrugged, trying to determine which of them was speaking. “Does it matter?”
“You aren’t the Hunter.”
Lachlan smiled. “You’re on MacCullum land, which means, you’re trespassing. You have one chance to leave.”
“Leave? We’re not going anywhere without the Hunter.”
“I’m the only one here.”
“Lies.”
The word was hissed. It enveloped Lachlan to the point where he felt suffocated by it. He tried to move, attempted to get his sword up as the witches approached, but he couldn’t. He was the strongest warrior of his clan, but he couldn’t even save himself against two witches. This is what awaited them if the Coven came.
Lachlan wanted to look at Synne, but he didn’t. He kept his eyes on the witches. As they neared, he tried to see their faces inside their hoods, but only darkness met his gaze. As dots flashed in his vision, he knew he was dying. He glanced at Synne to see her pull back her arm, ready to loose the arrows. That’s when he smiled at the witches.
One hooded head leaned forward as if trying to determine what he was grinning at. In the next instant, both witches jerked as the arrows found their marks. Lachlan drew in a much-needed breath as their magic ceased, and the two fell forward.
He bent to turn them over when suddenly the bodies began to disintegrate. He jumped back as they became ash, leaving only their clothes behind.
“We need to get moving,” Synne said as she walked past him and released a low whistle.
Lachlan watched as her mare and his gelding trotted to them. “Did your arrows do that?”
“My arrows killed them, but when witches die, they burn from the inside out and turn to ash,” she told him as she readied her mare. “We need to go.”
He nodded and straightened as he began saddling the gelding. He thought back to his grandmother and now understood why his father hadn’t let him see the body. “Should we no’ do something with the clothes so no one will know what happened?”
“More witches are coming. There isn’t time for that.” She mounted and looked at him. “You need to get to your clan. Keep everyone out of the forest. They’re after me, but they’ll be happy to kill anyone in their way—as you experienced.”
Lachlan put his sword in its scabbard and threaded his arm and head through the strap so it lay against his back. Then he was atop his horse. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You were my diversion. I should be thanking you. Now, if you’ll point me in the right direction, I’ll lead the Coven away from here.”
“Nay.”
She blinked. “Nay?”
“I’m coming with you.”
7
He couldn’t be serious. But the longer Synne looked into Lachlan’s gray eyes, the more she realized that he was. “You can’t come with me.”
“Aye, lass, I can.”
“Your clan needs you.”
“And you need someone to watch your back.”
She blew out a breath. “I’m trained for this. I can handle myself.”
“I’m no’ saying otherwise. What I’m telling you is that you need fighters against the Coven. I’m a good warrior. I can help.”
Synne had to admit it would be nice to have someone with her. She and Lachlan worked well as a team, and if the Coven were coming after her, she would need all the help she could get.
“I’ll no’ let you down, lass,” Lachlan said when she didn’t answer him.
She licked her lips and looked at what was left of the two dead witches. “We got lucky this time. Next time, we might not.”
“That’s the way of battle.”
“While that’s true, you aren’t used to battling witches. Then there’s your clan. You can’t just leave without telling them, and I need to find the Varroki.”
Lachlan smiled. “I willna be taking time to speak to my father, nor will I be leaving without telling them. I’ve another plan.”
Synne wished she were strong enough to say that she would be fine on her own, but she not only wanted Lachlan with her, she also needed him. All this time, she’d thought she was strong enough to be a Hunter on her own, but she wasn’t. Why hadn’t Edra and Radnar told her? Why hadn’t they pointed out her weaknesses so she could work on them?
She knew it was unfair to be angry with them, but she couldn’t help it. She was mad. At the world, at the injustice of what the Coven had done, at…everything.
“Synne, we can do this,” Lachlan said in a soft voice.
She swung her eyes to him and gave him a nod. Synne didn’t try to speak because the words wouldn’t come. They were lodged in her throat as she fought back tears for the family she’d known that was now gone.
“Follow me,” he told her.
Synne didn’t look back as she nudged her mare into a trot. She and Lachlan didn’t speak for another hour as they traveled through the forest. No matter how hard she looked, she didn’t see any more witches. She took every opportunity to touch the trees as she passed. None of them alerted her to danger. Still, she didn’t let her guard down.
She’d believed that after Sybbyl had destroyed the abbey, she would be safe as she found her way to Blackglade. Sybbyl had no way of knowing how many Hunters there were, so the witch couldn’t know if all of them had been killed in her attack or not. How then were witches after her? No matter how Synne looked at it, she couldn’t figure it out.
Then she realized that it was a moot point. Sybbyl had a bone of the First Witch. That gave her more power than any other witch in the Coven. That meant there was likely no end to what she could do. Which didn’t bode well for Synne, Leoma, or Helena.
Or the Varroki.
Synne thought about Malene. She was the Lady of the Varroki and supremely powerful in her own right. So much so, that Synne believed Malene could take out the Coven and Sybbyl by herself. But Malene didn’t see it that way. The Varroki had begun as a way to fight against the Coven, and they would continue in that vein until the very end.
When Lachlan finally slowed, Synne pulled herself from her thoughts. She came up alongside him as he halted his gelding. Their gazes met as their knees brushed. Something electric and energizing passed between them. It made her heart skip a beat, but if Lachlan felt it, he didn’t show it. So, she didn’t say anything.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“One of my clansmen is stationed just over that rise. I’m going to tell him what we’re doing,” he told her.
Synne shifted in the saddle. “How much are you going to say?”
“Enough that he knows this is important. I’m no’ daft enough to mention witches or magic, but the words I pass to my father will get the point across.”
“The forest has been quiet.”
Lachlan looked past her and nodded. “You expect another attack soon.”
“I do.”