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rain had slackened, people were
still loath to get out in the weather, which provided Lugus and
Ahryn the opportunity they needed to get into the castle gate.
Lugus had never ventured to the castle and now he wished he had so
he would know the layout.
    “To the left,” Ahryn said.
    Lugus let her lead them to a store room of
sorts that hadn’t been used in years. It smelled as though it
hadn’t gotten fresh air in decades, but it was a place to hide.
Once they were inside and the door barred, Lugus jerked off his wet
tunic and wrung it out.
    “That blanket is wet. You need to get out of
that and your shift,” he said not looking at her.
    He heard movement behind him and guessed she
had done as he suggested. When the blanket at his feet vanished, he
knew she had taken it to wrap around herself.
    “I wish I could give you a
fire.” 

    “I’ll be fine,” she said and seated herself
on an empty chest. “I just need to warm up.”
    Ahryn tried not to stare at Lugus. It wasn’t
as if she hadn’t seen him bare-chested just the night before, but
he drew her gaze nonetheless. With the blanket wrapped securely
around her, she reached up and wrung the water from her hair. She
felt his gaze on her and raised her eyes to him.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    He shrugged as if it had meant nothing to
him. She still had no idea what had changed his mind about helping
her, but she was glad that he had. Maybe with his help she might
succeed in returning to the Realm of the Fae, and once there she
would make sure she sought out King Theron and told him what Lugus
had done for her.
    She became uncomfortable in the silence. “How
long will we stay here?”
    He raised his gaze to her and lifted a brow.
“When you stop shivering and it’s safe for us to leave.”
    She looked away. Out of the corner of her eye
she saw Lugus slide down the wall and stretch his legs in front of
him. With his head leaned back and his hands clasped at his waist,
he closed his eyes.
    Ahryn let her gaze linger on his well defined
chest and abdomen. His neck and arms were just as large, and she
suspected it was the years he had spent forging the weapons that
had given him such a delicious body. Most Fae men, though muscular,
weren’t as defined as Lugus.
    Everything about him still spoke of the Fae,
but there was something else, something dark about him as well that
drew her. Maybe it was the sadness in his eyes, but regardless of
what it was, she knew she wanted to spend more time with him.
    Fate had put her in his hands. However things
turned out now, she would accept it. At least she was attempting to
make it back to her realm. She had been smart enough to realize
that though she might be able to sneak out of the castle and reach
Lugus’ isle, she wouldn’t get farther than that before Marcus
caught her. And she had been right. She had barely stepped foot on
the isle before Marcus’ soldiers arrived.
    But with Lugus by her side, she just might
make it to a gateway. She was eager to find out if he knew of a
gateway, but when she raised her gaze his eyes were still closed.
She might be insatiably curious, but she wasn’t mean spirited.
    Alone with her thoughts, her mind wandered to
her family and the Realm of the Fae. She missed the beauty and
grandeur of her realm. She missed the magic that Earth lacked.
    Slowly, the chill that had encased her began
to ebb away. She still recalled the chilling waters that had nearly
pulled her down to their dark depths. It had been Lugus that had
saved her from certain death and then had to watch his home being
burned. It had been beyond cruel of Marcus.
    Her gaze sought Lugus again. He was exactly
who she needed to take her to the gateway. She just hoped he didn’t
discover who she really was before then.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Lugus struggled to bring Moira’s face into
focus. He had memorized her beauty so that he would never forget,
yet even now, only a few years later, he couldn’t remember the
exact shade