The Highlander's Dark Seduction (Secrets of the Darroch Clan) by Joanne Rock Page B

have I done?” she whispered, shaking her head slowly. “Magnus? I didn’t mean to—”
    “You did nothing wrong.” He stepped closer, needing to reassure her. “What did my brother say? Why did he wish to see you?”
    He kept his voice steady, not wanting to alarm her any more. Her skin had paled. Her hands trembled as he picked them up and folded them in his own.
    “He said he was worried about you. That you took great risks tonight and that he—” She shook her head. “He said he would never be able to find his own destiny if you did not find yours.”
    “He has a gift for clever speech that I do not.” Magnus did not wish to rush her in the retelling. He needed every last detail to understand what had happened tonight. To him. To Alexander. And what consequences it would have for all the Darroch clan. “Did he ask anything…about me?”
    Elizabeth bit her lip as she nodded. “He asked if I had developed an attachment for you.”
    An attachment. What a weak word to describe the bond Elizabeth and he shared.
    “And?” he prodded, sensing that Iain paced nearby in the corridor. Probably Lillian as well.
    They would have all sensed something amiss in the air tonight when Magnus had been released from his wandering.
    “I told him the truth.” She said it softly, her eyes meeting his. “I spoke the words when he encouraged me to. I did not think—”
    “Elizabeth. I must know.” His heart slowed. His body tensed. Waiting. “What did you say?”
    Her lips parted though no words came out.
    Magnus squeezed her hands. “Please.”
    “I love you, Magnus Darroch.” She confided words that changed everything. Words that meant everything. “I did not understand there was a risk if I said it even—
here
. To him!”
    She was all his. For all time.
    He could hardly comprehend what that meant. He tipped his head to hers. So grateful for her fearless strength and tender heart. He laid a kiss on her forehead.
    “You did nothing wrong. My brother was determined to make you speak it.” He lifted his head to shout into the ceiling and call to Alexander wherever he might be. “You had no right to do this, Alexander, damn you,” Magnus called out to him, feeling Alexander’s essence still close enough to hear him.
    They had been cursed together for one hundred years and twins even longer. He did not need
sidhe
magic to know his brother’s heart and mind.
    “Just as you had no right to choose for me,” Alexander answered in a voice loud enough—real enough—that even Elizabeth could hear. “I will find my own way. I will break my own curse and I will be true to our vow to free our sister. You know that if my love had come to these woods before yours, you would have done the same for me. Our bond is that true, brother.”
    With a last whisper of farewell from Alexander, Magnus felt his twin fade with a laugh they’d shared so many times as children. He understood Alexander was right. There was no choice once Elizabeth stepped into these woods. This was their destiny. The battle might be more difficult alone, but no Darroch brother would surrender. Ever. Alexander would prevail long enough to find love and break the last bond of the curse for their sister.
    Magnus had not cried today. Not once. Not ever. Even though he had lost the woman who was his destiny. Even though he’d had to break her heart.
    Now though, when everything he craved most was handed to him by his brother, he did not try to hide the tears in his eyes.
    “I am so sorry.” Elizabeth stepped closer to him, her voice a strangled whisper. “I only meant to ask his advice. I did not think that…” She dropped onto a small bench beside an ancient tapestry.
    Magnus swiped a hand over his face before he reached to touch her. She was so real. So solid and strong and blessedly mortal. He felt it in her as much as he could now feel it in himself. His curse had been broken.
    He cupped her face and savored the feel of her. She was his