Page 137 of Forbidden

“I put him on his back in the field. Then I asked him if what Erik had said about his memory was true.”

“And?”

“Duncan said it was.”

“You believed him,” Meg said.

“Aye. He remembered nothing. The hell-witch has stolen his soul.”

Meg flinched at the naked loathing in Simon’s voice. She knew he hated necromancy as few men hated anything.

But she didn’t know why.

“I now knew all that was required,” Simon said. “I made my excuses to Erik, found Sven, and set off for Blackthorne Keep as fast as our horses could carry us.”

Absently, Dominic ran his fingertips over the cool silver of the Glendruid Wolf. Then he turned and looked at Simon and Sven with eyes whose icy clarity precisely matched those of the huge pin.

“Rest for a time,” Dominic said. “When you are ready, the three of us will ride for the Disputed Lands.”

“What will you accomplish with just three men?” Meg asked. “Stone Ring Keep can hold out for months against such a small force.”

“To take any more warriors would endanger Blackthorne Keep.”

Dominic’s expression softened as he smiled at his red-haired wife. He touched Meg’s lower lip with his thumb in a brief, sensual caress.

“Besides,” Dominic added, “don’t you remember what I taught you about the best way to take a well-defended keep?”

“Treachery,” Meg said huskily. “From within.”

“Aye.”

“What will you do?” she asked.

“Somehow they stole Duncan from us. We shall steal him back.”

“How?” Simon asked.

“With a net,” Dominic said succinctly.

“And then?”

“We will teach Duncan who he is,” Dominic said. “Then we will send him back to Stone Ring Keep. When he is inside, he will open the gates for us.”

Sven laughed softly.

Simon simply smiled. “How like you, brother. Bold, yet bloodless.”

“There’s little point to killing good men when better means are available,” Dominic said, shrugging.

“We had best hurry to be about our treacherous business,” Meg said. “The sooner we—”

“We?” Dominic interrupted.

“Aye, husband. We.”

All amusement and sensual indulgence vanished from Dominic’s expression.

“Nay,” he said flatly. “You’re carrying the future of Blackthorne Keep in your womb. You will stay here.”