The Scot's Quest - Keira Montclair Page 0,67

be? She had to admit, Alasdair knew her better than anyone.

Dyna clucked her tongue to keep from saying something she’d regret. “They won’t be there—I know it—but aye, we should stop and change clothes. See if our sires are back. They need to send out more patrols. Loki’s group and ours is not enough. You all know how difficult it is to track someone in the Highlands.”

The others might not be ready to move along as quickly as she would want to. But Derric would go with her.

Wouldn’t he?

Did she want him to go with her?

Hellfire, but she surely did. The more she was around him, the more she wanted him around. It made no sense at all, but she couldn’t deny it. The truth of it sat heavily on her shoulders.

They traveled without incident and made it nearly to Grant land just as the sun was falling. She and Derric rode in the rear simply because their horses were more tired than the rest.

“You’ve overworked your mount, Dyna,” Els said, listening to her horse’s breathing.

“I know. ’Tis part of the reason I’m stopping. Derric and I both need fresh mounts. We worked these two too hard coming down the mountains. I should have slowed, but…”

“Don’t second guess yourself, Diamond. We may never have caught them,” Derric said. “You made a difference in the battle, even before your cousins came. Even before the spectral swords.”

She gave him a quick look of appreciation, then reined in her horse, slowing further. She yelled to her cousins, “We’re on Grant land. I’m taking my horse to the burn, then we’ll follow.”

Alasdair shouted back, “Corbett, you’ll stay with her.”

Derric smiled, probably because the man who’d warned him away from Dyna was now asking him to stay by her side. It also didn’t escape her notice that Alasdair rarely asked for things. He tossed out orders like Grandsire did, knowing they’d be followed.

She supposed serving as laird of MacLintock Castle, with Emmalin, had encouraged that practice.

Pointing off toward the burn, she moved off the main path into the woods. She climbed down and led her horse over to the bubbling burn, leaning over to wrap her arms around his neck as a gesture of appreciation. “You did a fine job, Mid-Four.” They’d taken to naming Midnight’s descendants by number, partly because all of the grandchildren had wanted a horse named Midnight.

“Mid-Four?” Derric asked.

“Aye, when we were younger, we argued about which of us were allowed to name a horse Midnight. Papa made sure I had one of his stallions, so I wished to name him after his powerful sire. But so did Alasdair. And Els and Alick quickly joined in our argument. Grandpapa came into the middle of us and whistled, ceasing our argument in a hurry. Then he pointed to Alasdair, ‘Midnight One; Two for you, Els; Three for Alick. Dyna, you are the youngest, so your mount will be Midnight Four.’ Alick and Els chose other names though. And he also gave me one of Midnight’s daughters. I love Misty. She’s sweet, but she tires easily.”

Derric dismounted, patting his horse as he led him to the burn. When he came up next to Dyna’s horse, he said, “You did a fine job, Mid-Four,” he said, leaning over to whisper in the beast’s ear. “You were right. ’Twas Alex Grant.”

Dyna snorted. “Are you not a big soft one around horses. How did I never notice before? What else do I not know about you, Corbett?”

He stepped so close that she thought he was about to kiss her, but instead he leaned into her ear. “You’ll learn someday how I can make you scream my name with desire.”

That deserved another snort from her along with a snicker. “You cannot wait to prove yourself, can you?”

He smiled, kissed her cheek and moved over to the burn to wash his face. “You have a fine horse, Diamond, if he could pick up a man’s scent that easily.”

She leaned against a tree and slowly nodded, staring at her beloved horse who picked his head up to nicker as if to give his own input into the conversation. “But now that I think on it, Mid-Four probably smelled Grandsire’s scent at the overlook. I’ll bet he and Loki met there to talk. ’Tis Loki’s favorite spot, too. When he was young, they’d have to drag him away from there.”

Derric fussed over the two beasts a bit more before giving her his full attention. “Bloody hell, but the power you