He took another step, captivated by the longing in her words. He was next to her now. “Aye.”
Emma pressed a kiss into her palm, then gently blew her wish into the night.
Aidan pulled her into his arms. “I’ve been a fool, Emma.”
Her eyes swam with unshed tears. “No, Aidan. I’ve been a fool. I understand how you feel now. You were trying to show the Monaghans that I was an unsuitable choice, to save Brianagh’s reputation. And I allowed myself to believe you cared about me, even though I’m certain I knew deep down that it wasn’t real. You’re right—we can’t have a relationship. Who knows when Reilly will return me to the future? We can’t—”
Aidan couldn’t help it. Emma’s sweet smell, her voice, her beauty and wit and everything in between called out to him, and he needed to kiss her. More than he needed to eat, or sleep, or breathe.
He grasped her face with both his hands and threaded his fingers into her soft hair. He lowered his lips to hers, his entire being centered on their mouths. He traced her lips with his tongue, silently asking her to open for him, and when she finally sighed and granted him access, his body celebrated.
Home.
He deepened the kiss, tasting every inch of her mouth. Emma’s arms wrapped around his waist, and she melted into him, her body fitting against his. He removed her hair pins, his mouth never leaving hers, and their tongues tangled in a sweet, lilting melody only they knew.
Because she’s the one, his soul whispered.
Aidan pulled back momentarily, searching the depths of her eyes. Her face, softened with wonder, rested in his hands, and he knew he could never let her go.
She staggered back, her face pinched with grief, and she shook her head vehemently. “No, Aidan. I’m—you’re—this is business only.”
He stood frozen, unable to move in the face of her declaration.
“Protection. Name only. I can’t do more than that.” Her voice broke on the last word, and a sob escaped her.
“What did you wish for when you sent your kiss to the sea?” Aidan asked, his voice hoarse.
She looked at him with wet eyes. “To go home.”
Chapter 20
“Something’s wrong.”
Late in the evening, Aidan stared down into his still-full cup, disgusted at himself. He couldn’t even drink himself into a proper stupor to forget his colossal mistakes. “Aye,” he muttered. “I’m a bigger fool than even you thought.”
Nioclas slammed his hands down, causing the table to shake and Aidan to look up, startled.
“Nay, brother. Your wife has gone missing.”
“She must have left with O’Malley.”
“Nay, she hasn’t,” Nioclas shot back, his patience wearing thin. “O’Malley sits with my own sweet wife in my solar. Cian is with them, distraught, and her entire guard is searching the grounds.”
Aidan shoved back his chair and pushed Nioclas out of his way. “To your solar, then, and tell me what happened!”
Together, they hurried to the solar, as Nioclas told him that Emma hadn’t left their chamber after Aidan. When a chambermaid entered to bring her dinner, the room was empty, and her entire guard swore up and down that she hadn’t left the room.
“The passageways?” Aidan surmised.
The castle had winding tunnels that connected the rooms, but they all eventually led outside, deep into the forest. Many times it proved a wise way to hide people and precious items when the castle was under attack.
Nioclas pushed open the door to the solar. “Aye, it’s the only logical way. The window is too high, and she’s angry, not suicidal.”
“How do you know she’s angry?” Aidan asked. “Eavesdropping, Nick?”
He glared at Aidan. “You left your bedchamber not more than fifteen minutes after entering it. You either shirked your duties to consummate the marriage, or you don’t love the lass. Either way, the entire clan is less than pleased with you.”
“That’s enough,” he snapped. “Are the guards on their way to the forest?”
“Nay. They’re searching the passageways, but she could have left hours ago,” Cian reported.
Aidan opened the door. “I’m headed for the forest.”
“We all are,” Reilly agreed. “I’ll have Bernard saddle the horses.”
“No time,” Aidan called over his shoulder, halfway down the hallway. “We’ll do it ourselves.”
“I’ll join you,” Nioclas called. He gave swift instructions to the guards, then kissed Brianagh. “Stay, in case she returns.”
She nodded. “I’ll stay. Come back safely.” She looked at Reilly. “The same to you. Bring her back. To whenever she wants to go.”
In minutes, the four men thundered out of the castle walls, toward the forest line in the distance. The closer they got, the tighter Aidan’s throat became.
• • •
Emma shivered, the chill of the night seeping in through her woolen bodice. She sat on a tree root, looking anywhere but at the silver glint of the revolver in Ben’s hand.
His dark hair was almost blue in the moonlight, his skin a wrinkled mess. He looked even worse than the last time they’d come face to face.
Which she had thought might truly be the last she ever saw of him.
When the wall behind the hearth in her chamber had swung open, Emma was too surprised to scream for help. And when Ben pointed the gun at her and calmly commanded her to place her hands in front of her so he could bind them, she did. Then, when he demanded she walk, Emma’s legs did as they were told, despite their wobbly shaking the entire mile out to the forest.
After emerging from a well-concealed exit deep within the forest, they walked down a small hill, then deeper into the trees until they approached a small clearing. At first glance, Emma swore it looked like the fairy rings she’d read about in her traveler’s guide to Ireland. A circle of trees, ringed inside with large mushrooms, stood before them, the air seeming to shimmer in the moonlight.
Emma got the shivers just thinking about stepping inside its circumference.
Ben had no interest in entering the circle; he had Emma sit on the exposed tree root and wait.
“How are you here?” Emma whispered, afraid if she spoke too quickly, he might pull the trigger.
His eyes were wild. “I told you I’d find you, Emmaline. I watched a man come in and out of the forest by your lover’s house. I followed him. I thought at first I was crazy, that I was seeing things. But no, no. It was real. He kept disappearing.”
He stepped forward and traced a hand down her face.
She shuddered, and his expression grew angry.
“I followed him the other night. He did something with his voice, and he disappeared again. But this time I ran into the same spot he was and then I was falling…and there you were, walking along the beach with him. You looked so happy, like you used to with me. But that doesn’t matter. You’ll get us back. Then we can fix us.”
Emma’s heart jumped into her throat.
Ben looked up to the sky. He continued calmly, “I know you think you married him today, Emmaline. See, I found that little entrance into the castle all on my own. It was overgrown, but I was so hungry. Sometimes my medicine makes me hungry.”
“Medicine?”
“Why do you think I need the money, Em? I need my medicine!”
Drugs.
“But I’m here now, and I’ll take you back home, and we’ll live together forever.”
“You wanted to kill me, Ben!”
“Oh, I was just a little upset that you took another man to your bed. But I’ll move past it because you’re mine, and I don’t want you dead yet. I need your new bank password first.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. The man was certifiably insane; she was certain of it.
“There was a large deposit placed into your account a few weeks ago. But the account has a lot of security on it now, which is unfortunate. It doesn’t matter, though, because I have you now and you’re going to gi
ve me your money so I can pay off the people I owe.”
“Who do you owe, Ben?”
His red, watery eyes flashed. “I just need to get a little more, okay?”
“More what?”
He glared at her. “I just need a small hit, then I’ll be okay. Then we can get married and get the house with the fence you always wanted. Don’t you want that anymore, Emmaline? Or did your new boyfriend convince you an old pile of stones was better?”
She glanced at the gun in his hand, but didn’t answer him. Instead, she asked, “How do you think we’re going to go back?”
“We’re waiting for your boyfriend to find you. I saw him carry you to that cave. I’ll give him the choice of sending us back through this grass ring here, or killing you both.”
Emma felt ill.
The barrel of the gun slammed into the base of Emma’s neck, making her gasp.
“You’re not paying attention to me, Emmaline. You know how I hate it when you don’t pay attention.”
“Step away from her, MacDermott,” Aidan commanded, emerging from behind a tree. Cian, Nioclas, and Reilly followed suit, each holding their swords.
They all froze when they saw the gun. Ben leveled it at Aidan’s chest.
“Glad you could join us. Emma and I need to go somewhere a bit more futuristic, if you know what I mean. You’re going to help us get there.”
• • •
“What is that he holds?” Nioclas asked in a hushed tone.
“The deadliest, fastest weapon you were never meant to see,” Aidan muttered. He raised his voice. “What do you want?”
“Emma,” Ben replied steadily. “But you’ve always known that, haven’t you?”
Aidan stepped forward and Ben tightened his grip on the gun. “One more step and I’ll shoot you. Then her.”
“I can take you back,” Aidan bluffed. “I’ll give you all the money you want. Just let her go.” Aidan’s eyes met Emma’s, and hers filled with tears with his next words. “I love her, too, MacDermott. I’ll do whatever you want to keep her safe.”
Ben’s hand started to shake with anger. “She’s mine!” He turned to Emma, keeping the gun on Aidan. “Tell him you’re mine, Emmaline. Or I swear to God I’ll kill him for trying to steal you.”
“I’m yo—”
“No, Emma. It will never end if you tell him that,” Aidan said solemnly. “You’re not his. You belong only to you.”
Ben looked at her. “Are you choosing him over me?”
“I love Aidan,” she said, her voice strong. “I’ll never love you, Ben. After loving Aidan, I don’t think I ever did love you.”
Calmly, Ben swung the gun at her and pulled the trigger.
“No!” Aidan shouted, rushing forward as Emma crumpled to the ground.
Another shot sounded, but Aidan couldn’t look away from Emma, soaked in her own blood. “Emmaline!”
She didn’t respond, and Aidan felt for her heart. “No healer here can help this wound,” he said, his voice raw. He looked over at Ben, lifeless on the ground, then searched out Reilly. “You’ve got to take her, O’Malley. Save her.” His voice broke on a sob. “Please.”
Reilly didn’t hesitate. He knelt and slid his left arm under Emma, then held out his right hand, fingers splayed, and murmured something in a language Aidan couldn’t understand. He quickly twisted his outstretched fingers into a tight ball, curling in from his smallest finger to his thumb, and an almost feral sound burst from his lips. The air shimmered, and Reilly swept Emma’s lifeless body from Aidan’s arms before rushing into the fairy ring. It swallowed them both.
Aidan looked first at MacDermott’s lifeless body, then at the spot where his love had disappeared. All that was left was a puddle of blood, and his own broken heart.
Chapter 21
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Her left shoulder blade burned. She tried to move, but the pain was too intense. She let out a moan.
“God, Emma. Emma, can you hear me?”
“Reilly?” she tried to say, but her throat was too dry. A straw was placed at her lips, and she greedily drank the cool, crisp water. She couldn’t remember anything tasting so good.
“Emma, you’re in the hospital. Just rest. There will be plenty of time later for talking,” Reilly’s voice said from somewhere near her.
Another voice—a woman’s. Irish accent, English language. “I’ll give her some more pain medication. She’s due for her next dose, anyway.”
“Where’s Aidan?” she tried again, but her tongue felt thick and foreign. Why couldn’t she open her eyes?
“You’re safe here. Sleep, Emmaline.”
She couldn’t do anything but comply with Reilly’s softly spoken command.
• • •
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Emma’s eyes felt as though they were made of sandpaper. She blinked, working through the grit, until she could focus on something.
A fluorescent light, switched off, on a drop ceiling.
Her fuzzy brain couldn’t grasp that, so she carefully turned her head to the left and found the source of the incessant beeping. A blue machine displaying green digital numbers stared at her. Every few beeps, a piece of paper dropped from it, landing in a wire basket.
She moved her eyes from the machine, and realized she was in a bed. The white blanket was tucked around her tightly, and she noticed the safety bar alongside her leg.
Colin sat nearby in a black plastic chair, with his elbows resting on his knees. His folded hands propped his head.
She swallowed, and before she could even attempt speech, he placed a straw against her lips. She drank, savoring the water, and when she finished she gave him a smile of gratitude.
“Where’s Aidan?”
Her voice was scratchy from disuse, her throat raw.
Colin placed the pink plastic cup on the side table. “How are you feeling?”
She tried to sit up, but her back screamed in protest. She gasped, and Colin helped her to readjust.
“Emma, don’t try to move. You were shot, and they had to do some serious digging to get all of the bullet pieces out of your shoulder.”
“Shot?”
“Yes. Relax. Reilly’s talking to the nurse now; he’ll be back in a moment. You had us worried for a while there.”
“Colin, where’s Aidan?” Emma asked again.
Colin’s eyes were so deep, as though they held secrets a normal human couldn’t possibly understand. And so sad, as though his heart were breaking right alongside hers.
“You made it home, Emma…but Aidan didn’t.”
Her world stopped. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she tried to form words, but nothing came out. Her monitor started beeping rapidly, and she let out a sob, ignoring the pain ripping through her at the movement.
She had one coherent thought slamming through her brain: She didn’t care if he didn’t love her. She didn’t want to live, if it wasn’t with Aidan.
• • •
Six weeks later, Emma sat in a very stuffy office. The lettering on the door read FINN O’ROURKE, ESQ., SOLICITOR.
She still didn’t know why she’d been asked to come.
She didn’t care, either.
She knew Colin was worried about her. Reilly, too. According to the hospital, about a month ago she was released into the custody of her cousins, who were her next of kin. She had a passport that said she was Emmaline Perkins MacWilliam. A marriage certificate verified that, too.
Aidan had certainly ensured she had full clan protection on this side of the time continuum, too.
Her heart hurt too much when she thought about anything having to do with a certain green-eyed warrior, so she focused on where she was at present. Diplomas lined the wall. A mahogany desk stood about two armlengths away. A black leather chair, probably placed on the tallest setting so the lawyer would look larger and more commanding, sat behind it.
The door opened, and a stocky man entered. He shook her limp hand, apologized
for his tardiness, and set a folder on the desk.
“Mrs. MacWilliam, I’m very sorry about your loss. As you may or may not be aware, Mr. MacWilliam set up some provisions for you, in the case that he went missing or passed away.” Mr. O’Rourke forewent the leather chair and perched on the edge of the desk. He picked up the folder, and Emma noticed it was more of a binder.
A white binder.
Tears threatened, but she held them at bay. The man was still talking, and she tried to pay attention, more to stop the emotion than anything else.
Emotion was very, very bad.
“He left you everything he had,” Mr. O’Rourke said. “That is standard procedure for most married couples, and you can rest assured that he had this all fully legalized and witnessed. There won’t be any problems as far as your joint account, and Mr. MacWilliam’s other accounts overseas are in your name also. He didn’t have life insurance, but he did leave you this.” Mr. O’Rourke pulled a sealed envelope from the binder and handed it to her.
She glanced at the wax seal, and her eyes filled with tears.
A silver M, ivy twisted about it, with a sword straight through. His letter. His symbol.
The tears came fast and furious, and with a murmured “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Mr. O’Rourke placed a box of tissues on his desk and quietly left, allowing her privacy.
After a few moments, Emma wiped the tears, and studied the envelope. She even sniffed it, hoping to catch his scent, but all she smelled was the paper.
The stab of disappointment cut through her like a knife.
Carefully, so as to not disturb the wax, she used a letter opener on the desk to slit the envelope. She pulled out a piece of parchment, and she stifled a sob. She smoothed the paper onto the desk. The parchment was something he’d touched—it was as close as she would ever get to him again.
She began to read.
Dear Emmaline,
An Enchanted Spring: Mists of Fate - Book Two Page 24