“He is Piper’s direct ancestor.” Lachlan shrugged. “I must trust him, or lose her.”
“Or lose your own life,” he grumbled. “Why must ye insist on this path?” Quinn strode angrily ahead and turned, giving Lachlan a beseeching look.
Lachlan still saw him as a ten year old lad, angry he couldn’t go along on a hunt, forced to stay behind with their sister and her nurse. He knew if he tried to rumple his hair at this point in their lives he’d receive a solid punch in the jaw, so stood there and smiled ruefully at him.
“It is just my path,” he said, walking past him toward the castle. “Stay alert, and warn the others. We must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. I dinna know if Pietro will be able to give us advance warning. It shall have to look good.”
“Christ, Lachlan. I dinna like this at all.”
“Dinna fear, lad.” Lachlan clapped him on the shoulder.
Quinn headed to the stable while Lachlan went to act like a clueless leader, while underneath he was ever mindful of his looming demise.
The next day passed without incident. Bella jumped at every person who spoke which caused his nerves to be raw and on edge, but no matter how hard he tried to shake her, she stayed stubbornly close to his side.
“Afraid ye’ll miss the spectacle?” he asked, as she chased him down to dinner.
She’d sat through a meeting with his advisors that morning, watched him purchase a new horse for the stables, and lingered around outside the privy. He was close to mad from her hovering.
“Well, I canna have ye be genuinely killed and ruin Pietro’s fine plan,” she hissed, turning away when a plate of liver was placed before her. She took one tiny bite, turned green and shoved the plate across the table. “I shall be glad when this is over. The fear of it all is making me feel worse than I already do.”
Her grumbling was a strange comfort to him and he smiled down at her as he ate his own meal. It would be mere days and he would be gone from this place. Well, not the place exactly. He’d still be at Castle Glen, but he wanted to remember everything the way it was now, from the caustic looks cast his way from every direction, to the tapestries on the walls and the rushes at his feet. He wouldn’t miss a damn bit of it, and couldn’t wait to see all the future people and things he’d grown to love.
He didn’t have to wait long, as that very night Pietro roughly shook him awake what seemed only minutes after he fell asleep on his pallet in the corner.
Lachlan sat up, grabbing his weapons and wrapping his kilt around him. He looked at the empty bed on the other side of the room. “Where’s Bella?” he croaked.
“I sent her to her maid’s chamber. My men are waiting outside while I escort ye out of bed, but I had to make sure she was out of harm’s way, in case any of them got too exuberant and followed me. They really want your head on a stake.” He paced like a caged tiger, looking sick.
“That’s lovely,” Lachlan said. “We must see they dinna get it.”
“Aye,” Pietro said absently, glancing toward the door.
“Do ye have it all worked out?” Lachlan asked, taking Pietro by the arm to get him to focus.
“Just let me take care of things,” Pietro said, pulling away in irritation. Lachlan raised an eyebrow, but followed him toward the door. “Do ye have everything ye need to get back?”
Lachlan patted his sporran, making sure he had his vial of herbs. Pietro thrust a rolled up piece of parchment at him.
“Give this to Piper to give to my parents, will ye? They may not understand, but I can’t stand them thinking I abandoned them. She can maybe show them something from the castle history books if I end up in any of them.”
Lachlan felt a flush of shame for leaving his own family. They would have no way of knowing what happened to him, no luxury of checking historical papers for mentions of his name.
He might not actually die tonight, but for all intents and purposes, to Quinn and Catriona, he would be dead. A powerful, agonizing indecision overtook him, until he was pulled back into the present predicament by Pietro waving his hand in front of his face.
“We must go,” he said urgently.
Lachlan followed. Whether or not he found his way through time back to Piper, he had to leave this place now. Bella’s child had to be rightfully claimed by its true father. Once he was away, he could decide to stay or go.
Outside in the courtyard, it was suspiciously quiet, not even the night guards were stationed at their posts. He looked to Pietro, who was now openly sweating. Lachlan’s faith in him dwindled more with each step they took toward the forest.
“What exactly is going to happen?” he asked quietly.
For all he knew, they were surrounded in the dark night by men waiting to knock him over the head and string him up. A spark of distrust ignited and he let his hand rest above his sword. Dinna be stupid, he told himself. Ye wouldna even have a sword if Pietro meant to betray ye.
Pietro stopped several hundred yards from the tree line and pointed to a small flickering light in the distance, just inside the forest.
“They’re awaiting us there. I was supposed to bring ye out here on some trumped up reason. They really are quite daft to think ye would fall for such a thing. But that’s the whole basis of my plan.” He swallowed hard and ran his hands several times through his hair. He made a grunting noise as if he might lose his most recent meal.
Lachlan stared at him, hand still close to the hilt of his sword. “What is to happen next?” he asked calmly.
Pietro nodded. “Well, I was to get ye up there so they could have at ye, but of course ye would see right through something like that, right?”
“Pietro, lad. Calm yourself and spit it out.”
“So, ye must hit me and run off in the opposite direction.”
Lachlan was more than ready to hit the wee buffoon. “That’s the plan? That I should hit ye and run off? Do ye no’ think they would come after me?”
“Aye, but ye’ll be gone. I shall run in after ye and confirm that ye’re dead. Killed by my own hands.” He held up his hands and laughed hopelessly. “Listen, it was the best I could do on such short notice. I’ll find a way to make them believe, all right? I’ll set the woods on fire if I have to. Just trust me, okay?”
“I strongly advise against setting the woods on fire,” Lachlan said.
“I strongly advise ye to get the hell out of here while ye still can,” Pietro retorted.
“Be good to Bella,” Lachlan said. “And good luck to ye.” He gave Pietro a wry smile before crashing his fist into his jaw and taking off toward the trees.
***
He ran smack into a tiny figure who jumped out from behind a tree to block his path.
“Bella, what are ye doing out here? Are ye mad? I could have killed ye.” He gripped her arms to keep her from flying backwards into the mass of roots and forest undergrowth. She held a small wooden bucket that sloshed with a thick, dark liquid. “Tell me that isna blood,” he said.
“I could tell ye, but it would be a lie,” she told him, squinting up at him in the pale light of the moon.
“Pietro thinks ye’re with your maid,” Lachlan said.
“I am with my maid, she’s hiding off in the trees.”
“This plan of Pietro’s …” he shook his head.
“Aye, I know. ‘Tis no’ verra good at all, poor man. He’s lovely and strong, but none so good at the lies and treachery.”
Lachlan grunted. “Well, he better get good at it, to lead your lot. He canna really think they’ll just let me go.”
A grin spread over her face as she held up the pail. “I’m good enough for the both of us. Hence the pig’s blood, from the kitchen. To make it seem more realistic.”
He shook his head. “I fear for the future with the two of ye in charge of anything.”
Bella laughed, then grew serious. “Ye must go,” she said, fruitlessly shoving his chest and glancing nervously behind her. “None of them can be trusted.”
&nbs
p; He half faced the trees, torn between a clean escape and his duty. “I canna leave without speaking to my brother,” he said.
“Aye, and I reckoned that,” she said with a tender smile. So like her many times great-granddaughter, it tore at his heart. “He’ll be waiting for ye further in.” Instead of shoving him again, she clung to the edges of his plaid, searching his face. “Thank ye, Lachlan. I can hardly believe it, but ye’ve changed my life.”
“For the better, I hope,” he said, oddly choked up. He couldn’t believe he might actually miss the wee harridan.
She nodded her head vigorously and reached up to his shoulders, trying to pull him closer. “Verra much for the better,” she said.
He leaned down, for a disconcerting moment thinking she wanted to kiss him farewell.
“I’m sorry for this,” she said, pulling a nasty little knife out of her sleeve. She grasped a handful of his hair and yanked his head forward. With a vicious swipe, she hacked off his ponytail. Letting him go, she leaned back with the hair in her fist. “They’ll need a trophy,” she explained apologetically.
“Bloodthirsty Glens,” he muttered, running his hand over the ragged ends of his newly shortened hair.
“Ye’re so fair of face, ye hardly needed so much hair anyway,” she said, her smile wobbling. “Go now, before they catch up to us. I shall take care of everything. I know you dinna care for such things, but I shall make sure people remember ye well.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Goodbye, Bella.”
Much deeper in the forest he found Quinn sitting on a tree stump, looking forlorn. He looked up when he heard Lachlan approach and smiled.
“About time,” he said, tipping his head to the side to get a better look at Lachlan’s hair. “That’s a good look on ye.”
“Shut it, idiot,” Lachlan said, placing his hand on Quinn’s shoulder and squeezing it.
“Are ye going to cry, Lach?” he asked, standing up. He stood just shy of Lachlan’s great height.
“Aye, I just may,” he said. “Let me look at ye, lad.” He took a step back and tried to memorize his younger brother’s face. “It’s a great burden I leave ye with,” he said. “I am sorry for it.”
“Ye love the wee lass so verra much?” Quinn asked. “That ye must leave your own time and all that ye own for her?”
“I do,” he said simply.
“Well, then. Ye must go. Catie and I would rather ye be gone than moping around for the rest of your days.”
“Ah, Catriona,” breathed Lachlan, closing his eyes and trying to conjure his baby sister’s face. It had been so long since he’d seen her. He’d never see her again. “She is the most important thing, aye? The crops can fail and the keep can fall, but ye must make sure she is properly settled.”
Quinn nodded seriously. “I understand,” he said.
“Ye must make sure she gets her daft season. It was her mother’s last wish. She was English, but she was good to us, though you probably dinna remember her.”
“I remember her a bit. She used to sing to me.”
“Aye, the poor woman loved us like we were her own, and no thanks or help at all from our bloody sire.” He took a deep breath. “I wish ye could have known our mother, and had a better image of our da. He wasna always the wastrel ye knew, but his broken heart wouldna let him get back to the man he once was. I am sorry ye never had a real father, like ye should have.”
Quinn looked down at the ground, kicking at the dirt before he looked back up at Lachlan. “I had ye, brother.”
Lachlan felt a strange prickling behind his eyes while his throat closed up. He shook his head, trying to get back on track, no time for emotions. “But Catie. The lass has no idea how verra rich she is. Ye must make sure to keep the fortune hunters away from her. No gamblers, no drinkers. I know her ma wanted her to have the English season, but try to put a good Scottish lad in her sights. But dinna make her hate her own people …” Lachlan trailed off, sure he was missing something.
“It shall be done,” Quinn promised.
He grabbed Lachlan around the neck and before Lachlan could barely hug him back, he turned and left.
He knew he didn’t have much time. He could already hear shouts in the distance. They must have discovered he’d got away and were now scrambling through the forest to find him. He took a deep breath of the chilly eighteenth century air and when he could no longer hear Quinn’s footsteps, took the vial of herbs from his sporran.
Chapter 13
Evelyn rubbed her bleary eyes and looked out the kitchen window, unable to focus on the terrible handwriting for another second. She wanted to rest her eyes on the cool grey skies and the trees rustling in the wind. She felt antsy and itchy all over and got up, nearly knocking the bench over in her haste to be away from the paper laden table.
Magnus was still sleeping and she decided to walk around in the courtyard for a few minutes. Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, she escaped the confines of the castle, breathing in the crisp air.
Piper had been gone for four days. She had forbidden Evelyn to go with her when she did the spell, begging her to stay safely far away. Evelyn followed her that night anyway and hid behind the trees, hoping first that the spell would fail, and barring that, that she would get taken along in the blast radius so she could keep an eye on her.
Something didn’t sit right with her about the whole plan to find Rose, and it wasn’t plain old worry either. Piper had left the diary behind, and Evelyn read it through several times. It was sad, what happened to her, tragic really. Evelyn knew firsthand what it was like to be targeted by Daria.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to actually like Rose. Everything she’d ever heard about her, she’d been an awful mother and a completely absent grandmother. Evelyn closed her eyes and imagined Sam being lost to her for twenty years. It tore her up to think of it, but would she leave Magnus? She couldn’t think that Sam would want her to leave their child, even if he was grown. It wasn’t like moving back to Texas or something. Rose had traveled to another time, as good as dead to Piper and her mother.
Propping open the kitchen door so she could hear Magnus if he woke, she headed to the edge of the courtyard and looked down at the stable. She closed her eyes, letting the cold breeze waft over her, revitalizing her weary mind.
When she opened them, she dropped the water bottle and yelped in dismay, blinking several times to clear her vision. Surely not. She prayed her eyes didn’t lie.
“Lachlan?” She covered the distance to him in hurried steps and planted her hands flat on his brick hard chest. Yes, he was really there, standing like a plaid covered mountain beside the decorative shrubbery.
“Aye, I’ve made it back at last,” he said in his low rumble.
Evelyn threw her arms around him. “We thought—,” she started, pushing away to get a better look at him. He was surprisingly clean and healthy looking. “Are you all right? Do I need to get Dr. Stone?” She circled around him, looking for blood stains.
He laughed. “I am well, thank ye.”
Her mind raced, emotions tumbling over one another, and she grabbed his hand, tugging him toward the kitchen.
Inside, he spied the bassinet and leaned over it. “The wee lad has grown,” he said, looking stricken. “How long have I been gone?”
“Two months,” Evelyn said, trying to get him to sit by pushing on his rock of a shoulder. He obliged her and sank into a kitchen chair. “What happened?” she asked, sitting across from him and leaning over, barely able to believe he was really there. “We thought you were dead.” It felt awkward just hanging there, when he was clearly alive. “Sorry, but there were papers.”
He shook his head abruptly. “Where is Piper?” he asked, then looked chagrined. “My apologies, lass. The story is long and convoluted. I’d rather no’ tell it twice.”
She reached over and placed her hand on his wrist and his eyes flew wide with grief.
“No, no. She’s alive. But she isn’
t here, Lachlan.”
His face relaxed but not by much when he put together what she meant. “She’s gone back? To look for me?” He got up and took a few steps.
“She went back yes, but not to look for you. She thought you died in a battle here. She’s looking for her grandmother. It’s another long story,” she said. “Oh my God, Lachlan. You’re alive.” It hit her all at once and she blinked back tears of relief and bewilderment.
“She went alone?” he asked roughly. Feeling ashamed all over again, she reached over and touched Magnus’s cheek. Lachlan closed his eyes. “Once again, my apologies. I didna mean that ye should have gone with her. I know she would have killed ye had ye tried.”
“I didn’t want her to go at all, but she thought … it’s not great,” she finished weakly, wondering if Lachlan knew that Piper had been possessed. How could she possibly explain that?
“I have to find her,” he said, turning back and gripping the edge of the table. His eyes blazed stormy blue.
Evelyn nodded. “Yes, you do. But not right now. You look exhausted, and I need to tell you everything we learned. And Sam and Mellie will want to see you.” She stopped her avalanche of words and tipped her head to the side. “And what happened to your hair?”
“Bella Glen,” he said with a frown, putting his hand to the back of his neck. “Is it so verra bad?”
“It’s pretty bad.” Evelyn tried not to smile too widely as she looked him over. He was alive, when all the historical documents pronounced him dead, and he had a tomb in the crypt. It was a miracle. “Go change into some of your modern clothes and we’ll go into town and get it fixed. And I’ll tell you everything. And you need to tell me how you fooled the historians into thinking you were dead.”
Lachlan’s face relaxed into his trademarked beautiful smile and he laughed. “Again, that would be the doings of Bella Glen.” He squeezed her shoulder and went to change.
***
Reckoning (Book 4 of Lost Highlander series) Page 11