Highland Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon #6) - Genevieve Jack Page 0,30

was someone or something near the back of the cell, but the stooped figure looked more animal than a man. She strained her eyes to see. The size of a bear, he was crouched on his haunches, his skin dirty but mounded with muscle that tapered along his spine and disappeared into a pair of filthy breeches that strained at the thighs. His feet were bare. He rocked on his heels, his auburn hair hiding his face.

“Xavier?” she whispered.

His head rose, but he didn’t turn to face her. Glenna frowned beside her.

“How long has he been down here?” Avery asked.

“Too long,” the oread answered.

“How is it that you’re the only one who remembers his name?”

“Lachlan’s mind control doesn’t work on me, only humans. I’ve been hiding in this castle since they captured him, but I can’t open the cell. It’s enchanted, ye ken.”

Inspecting the door to the cage, Avery was surprised to find there was no lock. There wasn’t even a place for a key. She stared, bewildered. How was she supposed to pick a lock when there was no lock to pick?

She placed her hand on the bars in frustration. They felt cold, icy, and her palms tingled as if the metal was charged with electricity. Weird.

“Xavier?” she whispered again. “Nathaniel sent me.”

This time Xavier did turn his head, and something deep inside her clenched. If his portrait had affected her, his presence did even more so. Everything about him was larger than life. He was Conan the Barbarian. He was a god, a titan, a warrior who could pull her apart with his bare hands. She could feel his blue gaze hot against her skin as if he were touching her.

She tugged on the bars, testing them. A shock ran up her arm.

“Ow.” Her elbow twanged like she’d struck her funny bone, and then by some miracle the door gave. She swung it open wide. Strange… it wasn’t locked.

“You’ve done it,” Glenna whispered, her voice laden with awe.

Avery wasn’t sure what she’d done other than pull open the door, but she understood they were on borrowed time. They had to leave now, under cover of darkness, or they had no hope of escaping. “Xavier, my name is Avery. I’m a friend of Nathaniel’s. We need to go.”

He rose slowly, his eyes widening as they roved over the open door. She blinked. He charged. And all the air left her lungs with an oomph as his shoulder hit her gut and her feet left the floor.

Chapter Ten

The woman on his shoulder had to be an enchantress. After all, she’d said Nathaniel had sent her, and his brother reached for magic the way Xavier reached for his sword. But how would Nathaniel know he needed help? And how had she gotten past the wards to find him?

Although he longed to ask her a dozen questions, there would be time enough once he delivered them both to safety. He bounded through the door, slamming it unmercifully into the guard behind it. Lachlan’s man flew, his head cracking against the stone wall. Xavier swept the man’s sword into his hand. He wasn’t one to turn his nose up at an opportunity.

He took the stairs two at a time, the stone making a strange noise with every step. It was an ugh sound. No, it wasn’t the stone; it was the girl. He shifted her on his shoulder and heard her take a wheezing breath. A pang of guilt jabbed through him. She was a lovely wee thing, and he was manhandling her like a sack of wheat.

“Sorry, lass. Almost there.”

A guard appeared in the hall in front of him, sword raised. “Halt!”

Xavier slapped the sword with his own, freeing it from the man’s grip with brute force, then kicked the man squarely in the chest. He heard ribs crack and the guard collapsed, wheezing. He leaped over the body, trying not to think about who it was he’d just incapacitated. It was better if he didn’t know.

He tore out the back of the castle and headed straight for the stables, ripping the door off Tàirn’s stall with one hand. The jet-black stallion whinnied in greeting, nudging his shoulder before lipping the woman’s face.

“Och. Blah. Put me down!” she cried, wiping away the equine kiss.

He set the woman on her feet.

“Tàirn is mine, the fastest horse in here. He’ll get us out.”

She wheezed at him, her chest rising and falling in pants. He hoped he hadn’t bruised her too badly. Hurriedly, he tossed