Ian (6 page)

“What is it?” asked Coira from her side.
“Did ye ken the man ye saw in the flames?”

“I’m . . . no’ sure,” she said, not understanding any of this. “But I dinna think I want te try an
y more o’ these pagan rituals again, Coira.”

“But Zara
, the old gypsy is inside the pub readin’ fortunes fer e’eryone tonight. Let’s go see her, Kyla, as she is supposed te be able te see inte the future.”

“I’ll go with ye
,” said Kyla, “but I dinna want her te read me fortune. Becooz I dinna think I want te ken me future any more.”

Chapter 6

Ian was so upset by the ghostly figure of Tearlach that he’d seen in the flames, that he headed right to the pub. Once inside, he didn’t wait for Callum to serve him, he grabbed a bottle of mountain magic and took a swig himself.

“Ian, what’s got ye so spooked?” asked Callum, talking
over his shoulder as he served the customers. It was busy and he couldn’t stop to visit.

“Why do ye say thet?” He raised the bottle and took another swig.

“Becooz ye have a look on yer face I’ve ne’er seen before.” He reached out and grabbed the bottle of whisky away from him. “And ye’re drinkin’ all me mountain magic without payin’ fer it, thet’s why.”

Old
Callum MacKeefe was the pubkeeper and also Storm’s grandfather. Rumors had it that when the man disappeared for many years that he’d gone crazy. Now, Ian knew what that felt like. Because he himself had disappeared for a year, and because of it he felt as if he were going crazy as well.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling a coin from his pouch a
nd laying it on the drink board to pay for the whisky.

“Dinna fash yerself,” said the old man
, flipping a rag over his shoulder that he’d used to wipe his hands. “Ye ken I dinna charge any of the MacKeefes fer the brew. But jest leave some whisky fer the payin’ customers, thet’s all I ask.”

“
O’ course.” He reached out to pick up the coin, but when he did, Zara, the old gypsy who was good friends with their chieftain’s wife grabbed his hand and turned it over.

“Let me read yer palm,” she said. “Tonight is the night when futures are told.”

“Nay, Zara, leave me alone.” He pulled his hand away.

“Something is upsetting you. Care to tell me what it is?”

“Nay, I’m fine. Really.”

“Here,” said
Callum handing him a lit beeswax candle that was stuck into the neck of an empty bottle. “We need more light in here. Put it on the end of the drink board.”

Ian
took the candle from Callum, but at the same time his wolfhound ran across the room and jumped up on him, and some of the wax splashed onto the drink board.

“Take it easy, Kyle,” Ian
said, running a hand over his hound’s head, and carefully placing the candle down. “There’ll be no livin’ with auld Callum if ye burn down his pub.”

The hound barked at him playfully, then dropped to the ground looking for scraps of food among the rushes.

Ian was about to walk away when Zara stopped him.

“Look!” she said
, pointing at the spilled wax in front of them.

“Och, sorry me hound made a mes
s. I can clean it up.” He reached forward but she held out her hand and stopped him. She continued staring downward.

“Do you see w
hat I see in the spilled wax?” she asked in a low voice.

“Zara, dinna tell me ye are goin’ te read me future
from wax dribbles.”

“There’s darkness in your past,” she said, s
taring down at the wax that had now hardened. “And danger in your future.”

“Ye probably say the
t te e’eryone ye read a fortune fer. Keep the coin fer yer trouble,” he said, nodding toward the coin he’d placed down earlier.

“Someone you love is going to
be in even more danger than you,” she said.

“I dinna love anyone,” he said with a laugh, “so ye are wrong, auld woman.”

“You may not know it yet, but you will soon. And whatever you do . . . don’t let her go away from you or you’ll never see her again.”

“I dinna ken what ye mean.”

“I think you do.” Zara looked up to him and studied his face. “Open your eyes as well as your heart, Ian, or you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Her word
s reminded him a lot of the beggar woman’s with the soul cake. He didn’t like everyone telling him what to do.

“Jest leave me alone.” He took off for the stabl
es to get some sleep, with his wolfhound following at his heels. He couldn’t wait to get back to the MacKeefe camp and away from all these pagan practices. He never should have let Aidan and Onyx talk him into coming here in the first place.

And after tonight, on
every All Hallow’s Eve, he was planning on staying in bed until the damn celebrations were over.

* * *

Kyla was up early the next morning, having slept in the hayloft next to
Coira. Effie and Aidan were up there as well, and while Onyx was there too, his wife and children had slept in the rooms above the pub. And right below them, outside the stall that held his horse, Ian slept in the hay with his hound curled up next to him.

He’d been sound asleep when she and the others came up to the loft last night, and she wondered why he didn’t have a woman or two curled up to him. She stretched, and Aidan’s squirrel crawled over
and settled on her stomach. She giggled since it tickled, and sat up and petted the animal.

“Reid?” she heard Aidan’s voice as he sat up in the hay and looked
around for his pet.

“I have him, Aidan,” she said. “And dinna worry, becooz Onyx left Tawpie outside in the trees last night.” She was talking about Onyx’s wildcat.

“Kyla, what were ye doin’ with thet platter by the fire last night?” asked Aidan pointing right behind her.

Her stomach clenched. Damn, he must have seen her after all.
She looked over to Coira who had just opened her eyes. The platter was half-hidden in the hay behind them.

“Jest
usin’ it te look inte as I brushed me hair,” she said. “Why?”

“Becooz auld Callum isna happy ye took it. He said he needed it and ye ne’er brought it back.”

“I’ll return it right away so he has it fer the rest o’ the celebrations tonight.” She quickly slipped into her shoes and grabbed the platter, heading for the ladder.

“
We’re no’ stayin’ fer the rest of the festivities,” said Aidan, stretching and yawning.

“Neither are we,” said Onyx from the other side of him, sitting up as well.

“Why no’?” asked Kyla.

“Well,
” said Onyx, “I’m takin’ me family te visit with me sister, Amber in Canterbury fer awhile.”

“I see
,” she said. “Are ye goin’ with him, Aidan?”

“Nay,” said Effie,
answering for him as she sat up next to him. “Aidan is takin’ Coira and me te see the MacDuffs. I want te tell them I am bairned.”

“The
t’s right,” said Coira from next to her. “Now thet we ken some o’ the people from our clan after all the years o’ livin’ in secret, we want te get closer te our new family. Why dinna ye come with, Kyla?”

K
yla suddenly felt so out of place. Everyone belonged somewhere and had people they loved. Spouses, children, and even new lives together. And she felt like a spinster with no one whom she could call her own.

“Nay, I dinna think so. I’ll jest head on back te the MacKeefe camp and wait fer ye there.”

“No’ by yerself,” said Aidan. “I heard in the pub last night thet the MacGillivrays have been raidin’ the area. Rumor has it they’re stealing sheep and cattle and even rapin’ the lassies they find on the road.”

“I can take care o’ meself,” she said. “I ken how te fight and I have me bow and arrows as well as me dagger te protect meself.”

“Kyla, he’s right,” said Onyx. “Ye dinna want te be on the road alone.”

“Ian can take her back te c
amp,” suggested Effie. “She’ll be safe with him along te protect her.”

Kyla shook her head, trying to signal to Effie that she
didn’t want to be alone with him, but before she could relay her message, Ian appeared at the top of the ladder.

“Did I hear me name mentioned?” he asked.

Kyla’s eyes fastened to his open leine, displaying not only his strong chest, but all the way down to his taut stomach. His hair was mussed from sleeping, and the stubble on his face made him look ruggedly handsome.

“Aye, I need ye te take me sister back te camp,” said A
idan, standing and brushing off his clothes. “We’re leavin’ right away, and since the MacGillivrays are on the rampage, it’s probably best ye get her back te MacKeefe territory where she’ll be with the rest o’ the clan and safe.”

“O’
course, I’d be happy te do thet.” Ian looked over and smiled at her just then and she wished he hadn’t. Because his smile was drawing her in, and the thought of traveling alone with him for nearly two days was going to drive her mad.

“Well, it’s settled then,” said Aidan, walking over and placing a kiss atop
her head. “Now ye be a guid lass and mind Ian, and do whate’er he tells ye too, me wee sister.”

“I’m no a child, Aidan,” she said, pushing his hand from her. “And though I’ll be travelin’ with him, I assure ye I willna be doin’ anythin’ he wants me to, so dinna even think I would.”
She stormed over to the ladder, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, move aside,” she told Ian, “and let’s get goin’ already.”

He moved aside, and as she descended the ladder, she heard her brother
from behind her.

“Whate’er ye’ve done te ruffle her feathers, Ian, jest kiss and make up already or she’ll make yer life hell.”

“Whate’er ye want, guid friend,” she heard Ian saying. “After all, ye ken I’d do anythin’ fer ye, as Kyla is like a wee sister te me as well.”

That was all she needed to hear. She was furious now. And if it was the last thing she ever did, she would make sure that by the time they got back to the Highlands, he would never think of her as a little sister again.

Chapter 7

The sun was setting when Ian decided they’d make camp for the night. Kyla had been riding in front of him on his horse, since the clan didn’t have enough horses for everyone to have their own.
His wolfhound followed at their side and often led the way, as it instinctively knew they were going home.

Kyla’s
unbound hair had been blowing up into his face, and the scent of sage and lavender drifted from her, telling him she’d been collecting herbs again. She’d turned out to be one of their best healers of the clan.

She hadn’t spoken much to him the entire day, and he knew that he couldn’t let this go on any longer. He had to try to talk to her and let her know that nothing would ever happen
again between them because it just wasn’t right.

“Kyla, we’re goin’ te stop here fer the night,” he told her.

“Fine,” she said, hopping off the horse before he had the chance to help her down. They would make it to the MacKeefe camp tomorrow by midday, and he knew once he got there she’d avoid him again, and he’d never have another chance to talk to her about what happened in the stables. “Do ye want me te start the fire or would ye rather I hunt fer somethin’ te eat?” she asked nonchalantly, reaching for her bow and arrows attached to the horse.

“Neither.” He gave her the reins of the horse
instead. “I want ye te water the horse and brush him down. I’ll take care o’ e’erythin’ else.”

“Whate
’er ye say.” She took the reins, not even looking at him, and headed for the water. He just shook his head, knowing it was going to be a long night.

Kyla got to the water’s edge and took care of the horse, glad to be away from Ian. She had no idea that her brother was going to decide to take the extra horse with him for Coira because they were traveling farther. If she had known, she would have decided to go with them to see the MacDuffs after all. That is, rather than to ride in Ian’s embrace, with his strong arms around her and being settled in between his thighs all day.

Every bump they went over pushed his body into hers, and she felt so hot
and bothered right now that she thought she’d burst into flame. She was trying her hardest to forget about him, but it wasn’t easy. He’d kept pulling her closer, and every time he spoke, his mouth pressed up next to her ear. She’d tried not to talk much. She couldn’t. Because she liked too much the feel of his rumbling chest against her back every time his low voice came out of his mouth to answer.

She
knew she needed to do something to cool the raging fires within her, and looked around to make sure he was nowhere near. When she didn’t see him, she figured she’d have a few minutes for a dip in the stream, so she pulled off her clothes and slipped into the water.