Redeeming Vows (14 page)

“Maybe we shouldn’t.”

His lips were soft, warm and oh, so inviting. A part of her melted into him, if that were possible. He stood there kissing her, slowly, as if he had all the time in the world to do so and wasn’t going to be rushed. His fingers kneaded the back of her head before descending on her neck to coax her head farther back. Only then did his tongue find its way into her mouth to start a slow, lazy exploration there.

Warmth spread quickly throughout her body, making her completely aware of how long she’d wanted to be back in his embrace.

Lord, he felt good. Liz wrapped both arms around his firm body, avoiding the sword strapped to his waist and pulled him even closer. Under the soft fabric of her dress, her nipples pebbled, aching for attention. Fin made no move to touch her more than what he was doing right then. He kissed her so thoroughly she literally had to break away to breathe. Only then did he move his lips to her jaw and feathered his way to the lobe of her ear. When his teeth nibbled on her sensitive flesh, Liz’s knees threatened to buckle from under her. “Oh, Fin.”

He found her lips again. More urgent this time.

His hand slid past her hip and rounded over her butt. When he pressed her into his frame, Liz knew how aroused Fin was. The hard length of him pressed against the folds of her skirt and nestled against her core.

“I want you, Elizabeth,” he managed between kisses.

Her hand swept over his back, wishing she could lift his shirt from his shoulders and touch his naked 115

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skin. “Feeling’s mutual, Finlay.”

He chuckled before reaching for her lips again.

Liz sighed and allowed Fin whatever he wanted to take. He started walking her backwards to what Liz hoped was more privacy. Although they were outside the general camp, they were still very exposed.

Before they moved far, the sound of someone calling Fin’s name stopped them. Liz opened her eyes to find Fin covering her frame with his, as if to protect her from prying eyes.

Logan strode to them, his eyes focused on Fin.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

Fin turned toward his friend, keeping Liz directly behind him. Liz glanced down at her dress, surprised to find the bodice askew. She reached down and straightened her dress.

“Yer father asked that I bring ye back.”

“Is something amiss?”

“Nothing eminent, but lairds are gathering to discuss several areas of concern. Ian asked that ye be there.”

Liz placed a hand on Fin’s arm. “You should go.”

Logan widened his smile toward her before turning on his heel and leaving them alone.

“Do you ever get the feeling that we are never going to be alone?” he asked.

“Maybe the gods don’t want us alone.”

Fin swept a hand around her waist and quickly tilted her back for one more kiss. Breathless, he pulled away and said, “Now that I’ve tasted ye more thoroughly, lass, I’ll not be gone long.”

Liz lifted an eyebrow. “Promises, promises.”

He growled, kissed her again, and then set her back to her feet. “Come, let’s find out what is happening.”

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Long tables filled the hall, reminding Fin of more warring times. Times when gatherings like this happened in the home he’d grown up in. Duncan and Todd sat to his right, Logan to his left. His father sat with Lancaster, Brisbane, and many other heads of households and lairds of the highlands. The only women in the room served ale and dodged the hands of men.

They knew by the kind of invitation sent to this event that there was more to the gathering than the celebration of a marriage.

“I’ve lost more men in the past year than in our last battle,” Brisbane told the council. “Married men with no desire to leave on their own accord.”

Brisbane’s voice boomed over the rumblings in the room.

“Where did ye find their bodies?” someone asked.

“No bodies were found. These men disappeared without a trace. I hoped to find out from you if men had joined your ranks. If anyone else is having such trouble.”

“There have been several villagers fleeing outside our home.” Fin recognized the man speaking as a distant neighbor to the Lancasters. His land was small by comparison, but his men were known as some of the bloodiest on the field.

“What of your knights?”

“Nay.”

“Two of my men are missing.”

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Fin leaned over and whispered into Duncan’s ear. “Grainna.”

“Must be,” he replied.

The room erupted into many voices, all speaking at once. Several knights were unaccounted for. One had managed to disappear during their recent travel. The numbers were much larger than Fin expected.

The English in the south were suspect, but according to several of Brisbane’s friends, they too were missing men. The need to gather all the men in the room now was to keep peace and to merge their minds to find a solution.

“Something else concerns me,” Lancaster spoke over the men, quieting them down. “Other happenings have been overshadowing the happiness of my land.”

Fin held his breath, knowing where the conversation was headed.

“Last fall the water in our stream grew vile, forcing several villagers in search for a fresh source.

Some didn’t return, others did and reported a small band of men abducting the stragglers in their group.”

“What do the two things have in common?”

Laird MacClain asked.

“The villagers believe the river was poisoned.”

“An entire river?” Several men laughed.

“What of ye, MacCoinnich? Yer south of Lancaster, did ye notice a stench in your drinking supply?”

Ian squared his shoulders and replied with careful words. “Nay, yet we did have a flock of crows die a strange death close by. Perhaps victim to the rancid water Lancaster speaks of.”

Fin stroked the short beard on his chin and considered his father’s words. They hadn’t lost men, but some villagers fled because of the magical 118

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attacks from Grainna.

Lancaster turned to Ian again. “I remember tales spoken from my grandfather of a plague upon his land. Undrinkable water, animals dying, and villagers disappearing. Some said a witch was responsible.”

“A witch?” Brisbane asked. “There is no such thing.”

Fin held perfectly still. Duncan’s eyes found his.

“Don’t laugh or deny what ye have no way of knowing.” This warning came from the only man of the cloth in the room. The priest went on. “Does the Bible not speak of witches?”

“Forgive me, Father, but we are not speaking of biblical times. We are discussing what is happening now.”

“Where is it written that there are no witches now? Mayhap they are better hidden among us, but there is no reason to believe they are not here.”

Several men dismissed the priest’s ramblings while others seemed to take in his words a little too close.

“Do not suffer a witch to live. If evil resides inside a person, ’tis our duty to God to remove the spirit.” The priest eyed the men in the room daring them to say anything.

Fin noted several reactions, from dismissive to serious. Some lairds in the room started each day in prayer with a man of the cloth. Several didn’t have the luxury nor the desire to spend such time in prayer. A few would think nothing of what the man said and think only of how to fix their problems with war and bloodshed. Fin didn’t worry about the men of war. ’Twas the others that bothered him. Letting loose those men on Grainna would suit all their needs. But exposing her would most likely expose them. And that simply wouldn’t do.

“Witches and spirits,” Logan said beside him.

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“Methinks the man has been spending too much time in his cups.”

Fin forced a laugh and a quick agreement, but said little else.

Before the gathering adjourned, several men from distant clans agreed to scout the area for a cause of the bleeding of Brisbane’s men. They would comb the area during the wedding festivities and report back before the lairds and their ladies returned to their own homes.

****

Apparently Lancaster isn’t as blind to Grainna’s antics as we’d have liked.”

“Aye,” Lora chimed in. “Ian tells me to forbid the use of the simplest of our gifts while we’re here.”

“I guess that means I won’t be trying to be a wolf anytime soon.”

Liz didn’t mind that.

“I get the feeling that coming here was a bad idea,” Tara said. “If Grainna walked in here right now, we’d be forced to ward her off and be exposed in front of all these people.”

Rubbing her nervous stomach, Liz added,

“There’s got to be something we can do, some way to keep who we are away from everyone out there.”

Outside their tent were too many people to count. Granted, Liz and the others had charmed the material covering them in a way to keep their words only for the ears of those inside. No one could lurk outside and overhear anything they said. But they didn’t spend all their time inside the tent.

“I wouldn’t mind a premonition either.” Lora rubbed the back of her neck while she spoke. “I’ve not had one in months.”

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of the Ancients, the only one who’d manifested for them to see. She appeared preceding their last showdown with Grainna, warning them of their impending battle. Even if she didn’t have all the answers, she’d given them enough advice to keep them alive and safe.

Not knowing what to expect weighed on Liz more than she’d like to admit. In her other life, the one back in the twenty-first century, there where very few things left to chance. Her bills were always paid on time, her car’s maintenance always up to date. Everything was in control. Completely the opposite of how she lived her life now.

“Even if we could call the Ancients to us, how would we explain a flying ghost in our tent if she were seen?”

Amber was right. Having the Ancients hanging around could be nearly as dangerous as Grainna.

The crowd of people would turn into a riot against them if they thought the MacCoinnichs were possessed, or somehow responsible for their problems.

“What if the Ancients approached everyone here and told them to band together in unity?”

“I don’t foresee that happening,” said Lora. “’Tis never happened in the past.”

“Yeah, but if it did, we wouldn’t be singled out.”

At least that’s what Liz thought. She really wanted the Ancients to step up to the plate and help a little more than they were. Seemed to her, the Elders screwed up by not making Grainna’s curse more difficult to break.

“Careful, Mom,” Simon warned, obviously hearing her inner thoughts.

“You know, buddy, peeking inside my head without my permission is going to bring on some serious consequences if you’re not careful.”

Simon smirked. “What are you going to do, take 121

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away video games for the week?”

Liz reached over, grabbed a pillow, and tossed it at her son. “I mean it, Simon.”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

****

Grainna had sent her there as a test. Her loyalty and usefulness needed to be proven in order for her to survive.

Although Tatiana dressed in a gown befitting the station of one of the guests, she knew she didn’t belong. Surely everyone around her could smell out an imposter such as she.

The wedding was two days away according to the conversations she’d overheard when she’d arrived in the makeshift village. Tatiana needed to find one of the youngest MacCoinnichs. Cian, Amber, or even Simon would do. She needed to befriend them and then wait for further instructions.

She knew she’d find one of the MacCoinnichs.

That much she had seen in her own future. What frightened her most was her inability to discern what Grainna would ask of her.

The woman’s hatred of this particular clan blackened her eyes every time she spoke of them.

Would she ask Tatiana to kill for her? More importantly, could she consider doing such a thing?

Tatiana’s gaze swept over the crowd searching for her goal. The descriptions Grainna gave her painted a picture in her mind, but she didn’t know exactly what the MacCoinnichs looked like. With her jaw clenched in desperation, her eyes searched the people for any familiar sign.

Behind her, a commotion forced her attention. A group of young men boasted over the horde of people.

“My aim is better than any Scot’s.”

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A handsome dark haired young man with about as many years as she, stepped forward. “Is that a challenge?”

“It is. If you’re up for it, Scot.”

Tatiana leaned in and listened to the exchange.

The Scot wore a kilt, while the blond English lad did not. “I’m more than ready for the likes of ye.”

The blond laughed alongside his friends, and moved in the wake of his peers into a position to make the match. Unable to stop herself, Tatiana followed the crowd. The kilted one glanced around, his gaze landing on hers for only a second. The smile she didn’t realize she wore fell quickly as she snatched her gaze away. When she glanced back up, the boy still looked her way. Their eyes locked, and his lips turned up into a slight smile.

Without thinking, Tatiana turned around, ready to flee but found a crush of young people behind her, all pushing in the direction of the contest.

By the time she peered in his direction again, the lad held a crossbow in his hand and stood facing an open field.

Ahead of him, a younger boy ran to place two pieces of fruit upon a nearby stump of a fallen tree.

“Is this good?” the boy yelled.

The Scot nodded to his challenger. “Would ye like to go first?”

Instead of answering, the blond lifted his bow, took aim, and fired.

The arrow found the heart of the fruit, and his friends hollered in triumph.