“What about Laurel and Kate? Do you believe they are here because something has gone awry, as well?”
Brachan shook his head, dismounted, and stepped away from his horse to walk and stretch. Marcus joined him.
“No. I believe there were souls that needed them here. Machara wasna the only destiny that awaited them on The Isle.”
“That seems a rather romantic notion for you to have—that love is the reason they were tied to this time?”
Brachan shrugged, and Marcus thought he saw his friend’s cheeks flush in slight embarrassment.
“I may not have much experience with love, but I know the power of it. Besides, look who ’tis that ye have fallen in love with—a lassie from yer verra own time. Mayhap she isna meant to be here either.”
Marcus wasn’t following. “What do you mean?”
“Raudrich believes that Ross must have always had magic, while yers dinna show up until ye arrived here. Ross ran from something—mayhap ’twas his duty. Mayhap Ross was meant to be one of The Eight, and ye and Silva were meant to find one another in yer own time. If Ross was meant to be one of us, he would never have met Silva in yer time. She would never have been here.”
Brachan’s theory was a stretch. Yes, Raudrich had told them that Ross had left Allen territory for a long time, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was running from anything.
Before he could voice his doubt, Brachan spoke again.
“I may verra well be wrong, but none of us will know until we find this man and speak to him. Something is off. Otherwise, I canna believe that any man would leave his wife as he did. She needs to know the truth. I canna believe Raudrich has allowed this to go on so long without her knowing. Ye heard Raudrich speak of how powerful Ross’ powers must be for him to have been able to hide them so well. Even if he was never meant to be one of The Eight, what if he has the power to save Freya?”
Dread settled in Marcus’ gut. He’d intended to speak to Raudrich for weeks now—to demand that he tell Silva the truth about her husband, but he always found it far too easy to talk himself out of such a conversation.
With each passing day, he could see Silva healing. Her smiles came more easily. Her brow was far less furrowed. She was opening herself to him more, as well. While he’d never pushed her, he sensed she was as attracted to him as he was to her. In time, he knew they would find their way to one another just as they had the night of Laurel and Raudrich’s wedding.
But once Silva learned of her husband’s betrayal, Marcus knew she would slip back into the abyss from which she’d just emerged. He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Silva so broken.
But what if Brachan was right? What if Ross’ magic was strong enough to free Freya? Was he so selfish that he would sacrifice Freya’s chance at returning to her old life?
He knew that he wasn’t. Besides, how would Silva feel if she found out that he had known the truth about her husband all along and hadn’t told her?
It was time for everything to come out in the open. The truth had to be told for everyone’s sake.
“You’re right. The moment we return, I will speak with Raudrich. If he doesn’t agree to tell Silva right away, then I’ll tell her myself.”
The home of the young man who’d given them shelter before glowed like a beacon as they passed through the same small, unfriendly town on their way back home. Marcus couldn’t wait to knock on the boy’s door and be invited inside to sit by the fire. He’d make sure the boy was paid for his hospitality, but he had no doubt that the boy would open his home to them once again.
Tired and starving, Marcus dismounted as they neared the home and took off at a jog to knock on the door. It only took a moment for the door to fly open.
“Aye? What do ye want?”
Rather than the tall, skinny fair-skinned boy he expected, a bearded, red-faced man with a terrible scowl answered the door.
Shocked, Marcus struggled to answer the stranger that stood before him.
“Forgive me. We were looking for Jimmie. Does he…does he live here?”
The man snorted and shook his head. “Is that what he told ye? The boy is a liar and a thief. I travel away from my home for a fortnight, and the lad breaks into my home and pretends ’tis his home.”
Shocked, Marcus looked back uncomfortably over his shoulder at the sound of Brachan’s voice.
“Do ye know where we might find the lad?”
The man nodded and pointed to the stables behind the house.
“Aye. Tied up with my horses. And with my horses is where he shall stay. I’ll not have either of ye going to see him. He’s agreed to work for me for six weeks in exchange for me not turning him over to our laird for a beating, but I doona trust him. At night, I tie him up so he willna leave.”
Marcus’ teeth clenched together in anger. “You can’t just keep someone prisoner.”
The man laughed. Marcus jerked away from Brachan’s hand that had just landed on his shoulder.
“I’m not keeping him prisoner. I gave the lad a choice. He could work to make amends for entering my home and living off my means, or he could be beaten for his crime. He agreed to stay.”
“Then why do you have him tied?”
The man began to close the door as he spoke. “I already told ye, the boy will leave otherwise. Now, leave my home. If ye know Jimmie, ye are no friend of mine.”
Seething, Marcus walked away from the home and began to pace around his horse in circles.
He only stopped when he heard Brachan laughing.
“Are ye truly so surprised, Marcus? The lad was not a verra good liar. He dinna know where anything was inside the home, and he never seemed at ease while we were here. In truth, I only hoped that we’d get lucky and the true owner of the home would still be gone by the time we passed back through.”
It had never crossed Marcus’ mind that the home hadn’t belonged to the boy. “Yes, I’m surprised. It never occurred to me that the boy was lying.”
Brachan had already mounted his horse and was riding in the direction of the stables.
“Aye, he was, but I suspect the lad had good reason. Regardless, he helped us when no one else would. Let’s free him and bring him with us. We can always use good men around the castle.”
New Year’s Eve
* * *
While our trip to the mystic had done much to improve Olivia’s temperament, the woman’s words had only served to make me even more uneasy about everything than I already was. The portal at Cagair wasn’t Ross’ only lie. There were more lies, worse ones, ones that I knew would upend my life once again when they were uncovered.
Did I want to uncover them? I honestly wasn’t sure. My life at Castle Murray had been more enjoyable than I’d dreamed possible. Would it really be so wrong for me to truly let go of everything in my past?
“Hurry and get your ale glass ready, Silva. It’s nearly midnight.”
I stirred as Laurel cheerfully grabbed my shoulder, stirring me from my thoughts.
It seemed almost serendipitous to me that such a choice would lay before me at the start of a new year. I could search and prod and seek out anything and everything that Ross had hidden from me, or I could accept that perhaps I’d only known part of the man I’d married and simply let it all go.
I stood to make my way over to the table where Henry stood pouring ale for everyone when I noticed riders approaching the stables.
Marcus was finally home.
I don’t think I even realized just how much I’d missed him. In that moment, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my new year—I wanted to let the past, every last bit of it, finally go.
“Here ye go, lass. Best join the others so we can toast to the New Year.”
I smiled at how well these seventeenth century Scots had adjusted to Laurel and Kate’s introduction to more modern traditions before gently waving away the cup he extended in my direction.
“You go ahead. I think Marcus and Brachan have returned. I’m going
to go greet them.”
I ran to the stables, a freedom I’d not felt in ages settling over me as I hurried to look for Marcus.
Ross was gone. He was never coming back. He could keep his secrets.
If happiness was within my grasp, I wasn’t going to deny myself a moment longer.
I burst into the stables with what was probably a little too much enthusiasm before I forced myself to calm down and slowly walk over to Marcus, who’d only just turned toward the sound of my entry.
“Silva! God, it’s good to see you.”
He opened his arms to me as I walked toward him. I said nothing until I stood one small step away from him.
Rather than falling into his hug, I reached my palms up to his face to draw him near to me.
“Happy New Year, Marcus. I missed you so much.”
He kept his eyes open as I pulled him toward me, his gaze conveying all of the questions and confusion I was certain he felt, but he didn’t pull away from my kiss as I pressed my lips toward his.
It only took a moment for him to surrender to it, and as he wrapped me in his arms, I could hear the cheers of the others in the distance.
My only resolution for the new year would be joy—joy without guilt, without worry, and most importantly, without any more secrets.
Chapter 19
Of course he’d hoped she would be excited to see him. God knew how much he’d missed her while he was away. But however much he hoped, a greeting like what he received never crossed his mind. Marcus rarely allowed his imagination to run wild when it came to Silva. He cared about her too much to set himself up for the disappointment that would come if she was never able to give him hope.
But last night she’d given him hope, and it was more reason than ever before for him to have the conversation with Raudrich that he’d been putting off for far too long.
Marcus paused outside Raudrich and Laurel’s bedchamber and listened for any embarrassing noises before knocking. The last thing he wanted to do was interrupt the two of them in bed—he’d done that once before, and it hadn’t ended well for anyone involved.
When he heard nothing, he gave the door a soft knock and waited for one of them to answer.
To his surprise, Laurel answered. She immediately threw her arms around him.
“Marcus! Did Raudrich send you up here to comfort me? He knows how maddening this latest manuscript has been. He also knows he’s shit at saying the right thing to perk me up.”
Marcus laughed as he wrapped his arms around his best friend. “He didn’t, actually, but I’m happy to provide you with some encouragement, all the same.”
Pulling away just enough to grasp onto Laurel’s shoulders, Marcus looked down into her eyes and prepared to give her the speech he always used when Laurel needed an extra dose of encouragement. With her, tough love was always best. He suspected that’s why Raudrich was so terrible at it—he could never bring himself to say a rude word to Laurel.
Marcus had known Laurel long enough to have no problem with it at all.
“Laurel, you listen to me. You pull this every single time you get about a quarter of the way through a manuscript. Finishing it is inevitable. Your wallowing in self-doubt and procrastination only delays the amount of time between now and the time when you’re finished, which you know is the best feeling in the world. You’re a grown-up, and grown-ups have jobs that they have to do whether they’re feeling like it or not—regardless of whether the muse shows up to help them. Get over yourself and get in there and sit down to write. Don’t come out of your room until you’ve met your word count goal for the day. If you just sit down and focus, it will go by much more quickly than you think.”
He stopped and waited for Laurel to sort through her emotions once he finished. It was always the same. At first, her eyes would flash with anger, then her lip would tremble as if she might cry, and finally, with one big, deep, frustrated breath, she would sigh and nod before straightening up with resolve.
“You’re right. Thank you. That’s just what I needed. All right.” She spun away from him. “Back to it I go.”
He had to hurry to call out to her before she slammed the door his face. “Laurel, do you know where Raudrich is? I need to speak to him.”
“I think he said something about fixing something or other in Nicol’s room.”
“Okay, I’ll find him. Now, get back to work.”
Laurel laughed as she closed the door to him.
He could hear Raudrich banging around in their Master’s bedchamber the moment he turned the corner to the long hallway that led to it.
Whatever it was, Marcus was certain it could’ve been easily fixed with magic, but he didn’t blame Raudrich for wanting to work with his hands. As wonderful and convenient as their magic was, he often found that he gained more pleasure from doing hard work by hand.
He called out to Raudrich as he reached the open doorway. “Can I give you a hand with something?”
He stepped inside Nicol’s room to find Raudrich bent over the scattered pieces of a chair as he worked to put it back together again.
“’Twould be a great help if ye hold this steady while I hammer this in.”
Obligingly, Marcus went to grip the pieces together. “What happened to this?”
Raudrich shrugged and shook his head with concern. “I can only assume that he threw it.” Raudrich paused and motioned to the wall of glass before continuing. “The window was cracked straight down. I had to fix it with magic. The whole room was a mess when he stormed away from the castle this morn. I doona know what caused it, but something sent him into a rage, and now he has left.”
Marcus’ mind immediately went to Freya. He would go to her as soon as the sun began to set tonight. He had no doubt that whatever had upset Nicol had something to do with her.
“I need to speak to you, Raudrich. Do you mind if I close the door so perhaps we won’t be disturbed?”
When Raudrich nodded, Marcus set the pieces of the chair back down for just a moment so he could shut the bedchamber door.
“Do you think Machara can hear us up here?”
Raudrich shook his head. “A year ago, aye, she could have, but not weakened as she is now. ’Tis safe for ye to say whatever ye need to.”
“Why have you waited so long to tell Silva about Ross, Raudrich?”
Raudrich sighed and set down his tools as he stood and began to pace the room. “I doona wish to hurt her, Marcus. Ye’ve seen how she has changed these past months here. She’s healing from her grief. She enjoys it here. Once she learns that Ross still lives, she will go in search of him. I worry about what is in store for her when she finds him. If he wanted her, he wouldna have left her. I doona want her to have her heart broken twice.”
The thought of Silva in any sort of pain made him miserable, but Silva wasn’t as weak as Raudrich believed her to be. Even if Brachan was wrong, and Ross couldn’t do anything to help them or Freya, Silva deserved to know the truth.
“Brachan has a theory about why Ross faked his own death.”
“Does he?”
Marcus thought Raudrich couldn’t have looked any more disinterested. He was certain that would change the moment he shared Brachan’s suspicions.
“Yes. He believes that Ross was meant to be one of The Eight. That he knew it and that he fled to avoid his responsibility.”
Raudrich stopped his pacing and moved to sit on the edge of Nicol’s bed. “Do ye mean he believes ’tis Ross that should be here rather than me?”
Marcus shook his head. “No. He thinks I’m the one that’s not supposed to be here. As accustomed as I’ve grown to my life here, I’m inclined to agree with him. Raudrich, I think it’s time that I tell you what I’ve been up to these past few months. There may be a way for us to save Freya, but if Brachan is right, we will need Ross to do it.”
By nightfall, they’d come to an agreement. Ross had to be found. And Silva had to know the truth. They would tell her together, and she could choose i
f she wanted to be a part of their search. If not, they would do everything possible to shield her from him once they located him.
The choice would be hers, and finally, the truth would be out.
Chapter 20
I’d shocked Marcus. Even though he’d eagerly matched and returned my kiss, he’d not quite known how to react to me after I pulled away. We chatted for a few short moments before he introduced me to the young boy they’d brought back, Jimmie, but Marcus fumbled over his words the entire time. Once our kiss ended, I could barely get him to look me in the eye.
I was almost certain Jimmie would mean trouble for Liv. He was handsome and charismatic, and I was quite sure she wouldn’t give him any option other than to fall in love with her. It was bound to mean chaos for all of us.
Shortly after I met Jimmie, the rest of the group became aware of Marcus and Brachan’s return, and before long, all three men were so bombarded with greetings and questions that I decided to slip away for the night.
The next day, I hoped Marcus would seek me out so he could catch me up on everything they’d learned and so we could talk about our kiss. Instead, the entire day passed without me even bumping into him.
When he wasn’t at dinner, I decided to go in search for him.
It came as no real surprise to me when I heard his voice upon entering the garden. Of course, he was with Freya.
“Marcus? Freya? Will I be intruding if I join you?”
Freya’s voice drifted toward me as I neared them. “O’course not, lass. Marcus was just about to bid me goodnight. I believe he needs to speak with ye anyway.”
As I stepped into their line of sight, Freya stood, her ghostly form rising effortlessly from the bench she floated above. She walked toward me, giving me a quick wink as she passed and rounded the corner to disappear to some other part of the garden.
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