I couldn’t believe I got to go home.
I also couldn’t believe I was about to leave. What the hell was up with that?
Ninety-five percent of me wanted to get the hell out.
But that five percent?
Or to be honest maybe like eleven percent?
That part was not in a hurry about leaving. When I got home I would need to unpack that with a therapist after some jalapeño poppers, a margarita, and some street tacos with extra street. Not the dusty medieval street, the cosmopolitan kind of street.
The fire in the hearth was dying down, a soft red glow that I stared at because the rest of the room was pitch black.
The air felt thick with smoke and dust and that rock-wall smell — mildew and wet. My mattress, not much more than straw and a few feathers, on boards, under a wool blanket, was so uncomfortable but now familiar, would I miss it too?
As we were falling asleep, Lizbeth asked, “May I speak tae ye on something, Madame Hayley?”
“Of course.”
“I have been watchin’ Fraoch and he is wantin’ ye for his wife. I was wonderin’ what be your intention with him?”
“I don’t — I... do you think so?”
“Aye, I daena ken how it works in your time, but here he has made his intentions plain. He is nae intent on ye, twould be a sin, of course, as ye are married. He is fearful of sinnin’.”
I watched the embers in the hearth. “I shouldn’t have lied to him about it.”
“Och, but ye did, and twas sensible tae do it. If ye haena, would ye have married him?”
“No, definitely not. I mean, what would that even...?”
“Then tis good he thinks tae pursue ye is a sin. While ye have been here he has spent a great deal of time in prayer.”
My eyes went wide. “Really, over me?”
“Aye. I like ye verra much, Madame Hayley. I wish I could say ye are always welcome, but I daena think ye should return. Twill be too difficult for Fraoch. We will see tae him tae find a wife. I have been leavin’ him tae Madame Greer’s care, but I see he is verra alone much of the time. I will apply m’self tae findin’ him a young bride and we will get him settled. Sean is glad tae have him around tae ride intae battle, he will be a strong warrior, a good hunter, but without a wife he is apt for causin’ trouble.”
“Yeah, he deserves better, he’s a good guy.”
“Aye, I am glad ye see it that way as well. I believe I ken a young woman tae place him with. I will begin once ye are gone.”
“Perfect. Yeah, that makes sense.”
Magnus spent the morning with his brother. He thought he would have more time with his family, but once he knew the length of time I had been here, he was going to turn around to take me home.
I said, “You could stay, as long as you want, I’ll tell Katie you’ll be home tomorrow.”
“Nae, Archie is still new tae this and Kaitlyn is nervous about our family’s safety. I daena want them tae worry. I will go home.”
After saying our goodbyes, we met in the Great Hall.
Fraoch arrived to accompany us to the clearing and bring our horses home. He was wearing a clean shirt. His hair slicked back, wet at the top, oily. Magnus smirked and said, “Ye look as if ye have fallen in the lard.”
The scent of roses about him was very strong.
I knew in my heart he was doing this for me, but I had been doing my best to ignore it, or to think of it as just something all men might do with women, but then Lizbeth had used the word ‘wife’ and... I had grown heavy about leaving.
We galloped from the castle gates, our horse hooves thundering on the dirt, a cloud of dust behind us. Green grassy fields stretched around our path, the smell of the stables, the thick dark woods beyond — I would miss this place. If it had hot showers and decent bedding I might never leave. Maybe antibiotics. Spices. Chocolate and coffee.
I rode behind Magnus, Fraoch behind me. I could feel his eyes on me. Hard.
We arrived at the clearing. Magnus swung from his horse and began unbuckling bags, setting sacks around his feet.
Fraoch swung from his horse and ambled over to help me slide down from Gatorbelle though we had long ago established I didn’t need help. His hand brushed mine as he adjusted a buckle.
I glanced away. Standing very close, really close, he said, “Could I be speakin’ tae ye in private, Madame Hayley?”
“Sure.”
He wrapped Gatorbelle’s reins around the branch of a tree.
I glanced at Magnus, pretending to be busy at something, purposely not watching us.
We stepped to the side. Fraoch looked uncomfortable like he wasn’t ready to know what to say. His eyes swept the space. “Tis where ye landed many days ago.”
“True,” after a pause, I asked, “was there something you wanted to say?”
Another very long, painful pause — he wore a struggle on his face. Finally he said, “Nae. I am pleased for ye that ye get tae go home.”
I met his eyes and held them, looking into mine. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
He broke our eye contact to look at the ground. “Aye, I dinna mind the work of it.”
I watched him standing there awkwardly. “Yeah, I... yeah. Take care of yourself, okay, Fraoch? Don’t forget to take your vitamins and... Just, please, take care of yourself.”
“Aye, I will.”
Then Magnus, glancing at us, said, “We should leave now, Madame Hayley.”
“Yes, of course.” I tried for a regal, straight back, strong and sure as I crunched through the leaves in my trainers to stand in front of Magnus.
Fraoch asked, “Og Maggy, dost ye need anythin’ else?”
“Nae, I will return soon, Fraoch, thank ye for your help.”
“Then I will go.” Fraoch moved slowly to the edge of the clearing.
Magnus asked me, “Are ye ready?”
“No. Not at all.” I added, “Will Kaitlyn mind if I put my forehead right here?” I pointed just above his pec.
“Nae, tuck in, Madame Hayley, we have tae get through it taegether.”
I leaned forward, my forehead on his chest, staring down at my feet while Magnus held the vessel between us. He twisted and turned it. I was scared about the trip, and very excited to be going home, but there was something else...
Wind and storm rose around us. I turned my head to see if Fraoch was okay.
He was walking away, through the forest, headed not toward the castle, but the other way, toward his man cave. I closed my eyes because tears were threatening to come.
Twenty - Kaitlyn
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I glanced over — Quentin.
His text read: Get to the closet.
Shit. I jumped up, slid my arms around Archie, pulled him up, and raced with him down the hall. I pressed into the dark closet, tucked in under clothes, behind the shoes, and held Archie as he began to squirm awake.
“Shhhhh, shhhhh. Don’t wake up, stay asleep, I’ve got you,” I whispered, gently rocking him. And then — fuck, realized I hadn’t brought my phone.
I had no idea what time it was, who or what or why. I didn’t know where anyone else was or literally anything...
Long long long minutes passed.
Footsteps.
Coming down my hallway.
My heart raced, fear stuck in my throat. Archie was sleeping but I held my hand on his cheek, thinking, stay asleep baby, stay asleep, let me figure out who this is.
James’s voice whispered, “Katie?”
I sobbed, “Yes.”
The door opened. He blinded me in the light of a headlamp, held out his hand to hoist me up, his other hand held a gun. Without a word he led me, carrying Archie, through my room and across the living room. Then we crept down the steps to the garage.
Emma was there, holding Ben, awake, writhing, wanting to get out of her arms. Beaty was beside her. We were all in our pajamas — yanked from sleep, thrown into a panic. Not one of us had on shoes. Why d
idn’t I get shoes while I had been in the freaking closet?
James pressed his finger to his lips then led us through the side door to the outside, cool winter, windy air, dark and brisk. He whispered, “At the end of the road, my truck — hustle.”
We ran the hundred feet or so. Emma grabbed the door handle, yanked it open. Beaty jumped into the back seat. Emma shoved Ben into her arms and scrambled in behind him. They all slid across as I passed Archie up and climbed in last.
All these movements hurt like hell — my bruised ribs were not ready for this kind of panicked activity. I winced as I lurched myself up onto the seat. James asked, “Clear?”
“Yes.”
He slammed the door then ran around the truck and dove into the driver’s seat.
“Keep your heads down,” he ordered.
We hunched over and sat quietly, not moving.
A few moments later the passenger door opened and Zach jumped in. “I’m here, go go go.”
James roared the truck to life and raced us away from our home.
Beaty, Emma, and I huddled with the kids in the back seat. I kept my eyes clamped shut, but had to keep checking to make sure everyone was okay. The boys were great considering I wanted to scream my head off.
“What happened?”
James careened the truck around a corner. “Quentin called me, said the monitor lit up like a Christmas tree. Told me to get you to safety. He’s following the storm.”
“It wasn’t Magnus? It could have been Magnus.”
“No, it wasn’t Magnus, Quentin’s sure of it.”
“Can I get up now?”
“Yeah. Shit man. That was intense.” James called Quentin. “Hey, we’re on Atlantic. Yeah man, all of them. I’m headed to DJ’s house. You remember, he bred the Weimaraners? Yeah, there’s a trailer ... I know, it’s just temporary.”
Beaty asked, “Where be Quentin?”
Zach said, “He’s headed with the other guards toward the center of the storm.”
To all of us he said, “He’ll meet us at the trailer in a bit.”
He turned on some country music and we drove over the bridge, off the island, headed to Yulee.
The trailer was cramped and dark and cold. I lugged Archie up the steps and down the length of it and dropped onto a threadbare, disgusting couch.
Zach asked James, “Best you could think of?”
I said, “We should be at a hotel.” The couch had a ripped arm and a gross stain. I didn’t want to complain but this was not...
It was not much longer or bigger than an RV. Zach had to stoop because he was so tall.
I raised an arm so Beaty could tuck in against my side and curl around her legs. Archie fell asleep against my chest again.
Ben fussed, but Emma got him settled at the other end of the couch. Zach said, “Well, look on the bright side, if we need to get out of here we can just hook our hiding place to the truck and drag ourselves to a proper hiding place.”
“Very funny, it was all I could think of quick-like.”
I said, “I left my phone, I know it sucks, against protocol, but I didn’t realize we were evacuating.”
James said, “I’ll tell Quentin.”
And then we sat there, in a stifling, dusty, moldy trailer, with only the light in the bathroom on. “What time is it?”
“Four a.m.” James went out to stand in the long grass and watch down the road. Zach joined him.
Beaty said quietly, “Tis verra scary here sometimes.”
I whispered, “You lived through battles before though, men fighting outside the castle walls, right?”
“Aye... but this is different. Here I daena ken who is comin’ or when.”
I asked Emma, “You cool?”
“Not really. Tired of being scared. I kind of thought the monitor would mean we’d be safe at our house, not locked in a trailer in Yulee.”
“Me too.”
I must have fallen asleep — head lolling on the back of the couch. The door opened and woke me up, the sun was rising, light streaming in the broken-ass blinds. I looked groggily at James as he passed me his phone.
Quentin’s voice, “Katie, sorry about this. You cool?”
“Not really.” Something caught my eye, a cockroach scurrying past my feet. Ugh. “Can’t we do a hotel until Magnus gets back?”
“There were storms last night, not predicted. The monitor picked up a vessel on Talbot Island and then another one in Savannah. We checked the one south of us but by the time we got there—”
“No one.”
“Yep. No one. No vessel. The monitor has nothing.”
“What if it was just someone checking on us? Maybe they left?”
“Sure, but more likely since they came from the north and south, it’s not just a ‘checking on us.’ They’ve hidden the vessel somehow. My guess is right now they’re surrounding us... There’s something else you need to know.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Your phone is getting text messages.”
“Uh oh.”
“Yeah, they say scary shit. So don’t worry about—”
“What do they say... tell me. It’ll be better than my imagination, I promise.”
“The gist is ‘I know where you are.’ Also, ‘you’re under arrest’ and ‘you need to turn yourself in’. They’re coming to your phone about every three minutes.”
“I’m so glad I don’t have it now.”
“Me too. They’re definitely tracking it. I dumped it at the warehouse, but I would guess our house is gone.”
I said, “You won’t let Magnus go there, right?”
“Nah, I’ve still got the monitor, I’m watching for him. There’s another thing...”
Archie climbed down from my lap and said, “I hungwy.”
I covered the phone with my hand. “I know, sweetie, we’ll get some food,” to Quentin I said, “What?”
“They sent a video, Katie. You — placed under arrest for murder. You’re surrounded by future-soldiers. You’re in handcuffs.”
I put my head in my hands. “I’ve never been arrested before.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
“So they have a future video of me. They’re fucking taunting me with a video of themselves arresting me — that happened? God, I can’t breathe.”
Quentin’s voice, “Keep calm, Katie, we have you hidden, you’re safe. This is just a thing they have, it might even be photoshopped. It was probably photoshopped or, like, staged. It looked like you, but it was probably that tech that puts your face on someone else’s body.”
“Yeah, of course, we’re always writing a new story and all. Did you watch the video? Do you remember what I was wearing?”
“Yeah, sweatpants, green, and a T-shirt, it was funny because it read: Team Edward, on it and—”
I looked down.
Yep.
“I’m wearing that right now.”
Quentin faltered. Then he simply said, “Shit.” Then he added, “Put Zach on the phone.” And then that was it. I looked at Archie, trying to figure out how to talk, to act normal, to be brave and strong and motherly.
I went for simple. “Need potty?”
He nodded so I held his hand and took him to the tiny disgusting bathroom.
“I’m so hungry.”
Zach said, “I’ve got cash, I can go get something.”
We all decided on McDonald’s and Zach left to pick up our order.
It took forty-five minutes and we were all hot, tired, stir-crazy, and hungry by the time he returned.
I was famished but also too nervous to eat. My hands shook as I opened the wrapper around Archie’s breakfast sandwich while he bounced up and down saying, “Good, good, good!”
James yanked open the door and stuck his head into the trailer. “Quentin called again, still no news.”
I asked, “Did he tell you about the video?”
“Yep. That’s bullshit, Katie. I don’t know how they’re doing
it but don’t worry about it.” He glanced around the room. “Maybe everyone should turn their phones completely off in case we’re a part of it.”
I groaned. “You know, here’s the thing, they shouldn’t be a part of it. We should get Emma and Ben and Zach out of here. Beaty should go with them.”
Zach shook his head. “We don’t know anything yet, we need to stay tight until we have a plan.”
I thought for a moment. “I need Hayley to find us a new place to stay. In lieu of that, Emma, will you call my mom and tell her you want a house for Beaty? At least four bedrooms, tell her the paperwork should be in Beaty’s name or Quentin’s or... Crap, I don’t know. Does that make sense?”
Zach shook his head. “We don’t know. We just have to wait. I don’t know if the island is safe for you anymore. At all. Ever.”
“Crap.” I leaned back on the couch and tried to be the kind of person who could take care of Archie while completely freaking out.
About an hour later, Quentin’s text to James read: Storm.
Twenty-one - Magnus
Someone shifted beside me. I raised my head.
Quentin said, “Boss, got a situation.”
I opened an eye tae see Quentin standin’, facing away, gun drawn, speakin’ quietly tae me over his shoulder.
“What is it?” I tried to sit up but it was painful and took a moment.
“Shit’s going down and every minute here is a dangerous minute. As soon as you can walk we—”
I pulled myself tae standing with a groan.
“Good.” He thrust a gun in my hand. It took me a moment to understand what it was. He leaned down and lifted an unconscious Hayley up drapin’ her across his shoulder.
I grabbed all m’bags. “Is Kaitlyn all—”
“She’s safe, but move to my truck, fast.”
He lugged Hayley tae the truck, and shoved her in the front seat. I tossed the bags intae the trunk. “Get in the back seat and keep your head down.”
When he climbed in the driver’s seat he strapped a belt across Hayley’s sleeping form, started the truck, and drove it ontae the road headed north. He pushed a button and spoke, “Call James.”
Again My Love (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 9) Page 8