Rage Page 3

  Rob shook his head as if rousing himself. He got to his feet and gave her a wan smile. “Thank you for the respite. I did, indeed, need it.” He walked to the door and paused as he looked back at her. “I doona suppose I could learn your name?”

  “Elin.” She owed him that, at least.

  “Elin,” he said as if testing it out. “This cottage sat empty for years. It once belonged to one of my father’s closest friends, who preferred his solitude. He would be happy that someone has found a home here. If anyone bothers you, mention my name. They’ll leave you alone.”

  With one final grin, he was gone. Leaving Elin there to think about the sickness, the possible curse, and that Rob was tied to the laird of his clan. If there were ever any indication that she should keep to herself, it was that. One wrong move and that impressive sword he wielded would be plunged into her heart.

  4

  Three days of hell that never ended. Rob shoved a hand through his hair, feeling helpless as he stood over his youngest brother’s bed. Roddy was only twelve. Their mother had died in childbirth, and their father when Roddy was only ten. His baby brother had lost so much already. It didn’t seem fair that he had been struck by this illness.

  A soft knock on the door brought Rob’s gaze up. A young head poked in and told him, “There’s someone at the gate to see you.”

  “Send them away,” he said. He wasn’t going to leave Roddy’s side.

  “She willna leave. Said she would stay at the gate until you came. I didna know Sassenachs could be so stubborn. She doesna care that we have an illness here.”

  Rob jumped to his feet. “Elin’s here?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer as he stalked from the room. Why had she come? Was she in trouble? Had someone bothered her? His steps quickened as he made his way to the gate. One look at his face had the guards opening it just as he reached it. He stepped through to find her standing about twenty feet from the gate, holding a basket.

  His gaze raked over her. She looked hale and hearty. The thick plait of her hair lay over one shoulder as she stood there, watching him with dark eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, harsher than intended.

  She swallowed nervously but held his gaze. “I lied. I know a little about herbs.”

  He frowned, wondering why she had lied. Then he realized he didn’t care. “You can help?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I have to try. Especially after what you did for me.”

  Her admission was a reminder that no one knew what to do. “I’ll try anything. Both my younger brothers are sick now.”

  She squared her shoulders and walked to him. Rob reached for the basket. “I have it,” she told him.

  “I’m no’ letting you through the gate.”

  Deep brown eyes calmly watched him. “I need to be inside to fix the tea.”

  “Nay. We’re no’ allowing anyone else inside who hasna already been. Nor are we permitting anyone to leave. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You forget that I’ve already been in contact with you. If I were going to get sick, I would have fallen ill already.”

  “I’ll no’ chance it. Tell me what to do with the herbs. I’ll follow your instructions perfectly.”

  Elin hesitated before reluctantly handing over the basket. “I’ve already mixed everything together.”

  “What’s in it?” he asked as he looked at the assortment of herbs.

  “The normal. Rose, lavender, and sage for headache. Coriander to reduce fever. Mint and wormwood for stomach sickness. Steep it all together in boiling water. Add some honey to help with the taste. Make everyone drink it. Everyone. Those who are sick and everyone who isn’t. Three times a day for two days.”

  He glanced at the dark clouds overhead. It was a long walk to her cottage, and it was about to rain. But he couldn’t allow her inside the castle gates.

  “I’ll be fine,” she assured him with a small smile.

  Rob was about to argue when she turned on her heel and walked away. He was torn between calling her back and racing inside to begin her instructions. In the end, the welfare of the sick won out. He gave her one last lingering look before racing to the kitchens and repeating her instructions for the tea. Rob waited until the first batch was made and brought cups to both of his sick brothers, managing to get them each to drink some. Only after everyone else had had theirs did he drink a cup.

  He carried out Elin’s directions to the letter. And by the middle of the second day, his brothers’ fevers had subsided. No one else came down with the illness during that time either.

  “Who is this woman?” Donald asked.

  Rob scratched the beard on his face. He couldn’t wait to remove it. “A Sassenach living in Alan’s abandoned cottage.”

  “She didna come to us,” he said.

  Rob shrugged. “I gave her permission.”

  Donald’s lips compressed. “You should’ve told me sooner. I should thank her myself.”

  After the third day, his younger brothers were sitting up in bed and drinking broth. By the fourth, it seemed as if the sickness had left the castle. There were no new cases, and those who had been sick were improving.

  On the morning of the fifth day, Rob saddled his horse and rode to Elin’s cottage. He told himself that the anticipation he felt was because of his gratitude. Then, he caught sight of her.

  “It worked,” he told her with a smile as he dismounted. “Whatever you used worked. I doona understand it because it seems similar to what our healer used, but I doona care. My brothers are better. No one else has died.”

  She smiled. “I’m happy to hear it.”

  From the first moment he met her, Rob had known that she was hiding something. He wanted to ask what it was but decided not to. Fear had made her run away, and he didn’t want to put her in danger again. She had saved them, and in his eyes, he owed her. If she wanted to stay, then he would ensure that she could. “How can I repay you?”

  “There’s no need.”

  “I disagree.”

  She glanced away. “I lied to you about being able to help.”

  “You had your reasons.”

  “That you’ve not asked about.”

  He noted the way the sunlight brought out the copper highlights in her hair. “You helped in the end.”

  “It might not have worked.”

  “It did. There’s no need to worry about what might have happened.” Her look told him that it was very important. Rob debated pushing her to tell him her secret. “I doona know why you’re hiding, but you’ll be safe here for as long as you wish to stay. I’ll make sure of that.”

  She looked away. “Don’t make promises like that.”

  “I’m the laird’s brother. No one will question me.”

  “Except your brother.”

  “You saved our brothers, our clan. Donald has nothing but gratitude.”

  Elin’s gaze slid back to him. “For now.”

  “You’ve had others turn on you before.” He should’ve realized that sooner. Her hesitation, her caution. She was preparing for things to change.

  “My mother. She helped a lord’s wife with a difficult birth. They died, and the lord blamed my mother. Said she was a witch. They hung her. My sister and I were young. We found her at the edge of town. We had to fend for ourselves after that. I’ve learned not to trust anyone.”

  Rob knew that some viewed anything they couldn’t understand as evil. They hadn’t just killed a mother. They had left two children on their own without thought. It angered him, but he had seen it before—and likely would again. “I’m sorry. I hope you can learn to trust me.”

  “You returned me to the cottage. I…owed you,” she said carefully.

  “Now I owe you.”

  Rob returned to Elin the next day with supplies. When he entered the cottage, there were two fish cooking over the fire.

  “You didn’t need to bring me anything,” Elin said.

  He held out the bag. “Just take it.”

  Grudgingly, she accepted the bag and pulled out cheese, barley cakes, honey, and venison.

  “This is too much,” she murmured in excitement as she looked at everything.

  He shrugged with a grin. “I disagree.”

  There was a smile on her face as she looked at him. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  And it was.

  “The fish will be done soon. Would you like to join me?”

  “Aye,” he said softly so she wouldn’t know how glad he was that she’d asked.

  She fussed with the items before going still and looking his way. “No one else is sick?”

  “None. Our healer wishes to talk to you. She says there was nothing in the tea that she, herself, hadn’t gathered. She wants to know what you used.”

  Elin looked at the fish, checking them. “Nothing. Maybe it was the amounts I used.”

  “She would like to know in case the illness returns.”

  “It won’t.”

  Elin said it with such conviction that Rob knew there was more to it than she let on. “How do you know?”

  Her head jerked to him. Elin studied him for a long moment. “Just a guess.”

  Rob nodded. She wasn’t ready to tell him. He turned the conversation to something else. “Are you running from someone?”

  “No one in particular.”

  “So, you are running?”

  She sighed and pressed her lips together. “Let’s just say that I like seclusion.”

  “You’re young. You should have a husband, kids.”

  She didn’t reply, only returned her attention to the fish.

  “What of your sister? Perhaps the two of you together might be good.”

  “She lost her way. Took a…diffe
rent path. It led to her death.”

  The more she talked, the more Rob knew that Elin was hiding from something. “I’m sorry.”

  “Avis made her choices. I made mine.”

  “If you’re in danger, I can help.”

  Elin glanced at him. “I appreciate the offer, but there’s nothing anyone can do.”

  “There’s a lot I can do. You’re under the protection of the Mackenzie clan. That speaks volumes here.”

  She took the fish off the heat and set one on a plate that she handed to him, placing the other on hers. “You’d do well to forget you know me.”

  “That isna going to happen, lass. Everyone wants to know about the Sassenach who healed us.”

  Was it his imagination, or did she go pale at his words?

  Her gaze snapped to his. “They don’t know where I am, do they? You didn’t tell anyone, did you? Please, tell me no one knows.”

  The fear he had seen when he first met her returned. He held up his hands to assure her. “No one knows.” Well, no one but him and his brothers, but they wouldn’t do anything. He’d make sure of that. So, there was no need to tell her.

  She calmed at his words. “I need seclusion.”

  “You’ll have it.”

  He took a bite of the fish and watched her. For someone who wanted their seclusion, she had walked to the castle and had been prepared to come inside. Nothing she did made sense, but the one thing Rob knew was that she clearly dreaded anyone finding her.

  He didn’t know why she had helped to heal his clan, but he would repay that kindness by keeping her hidden.

  From everyone.

  5

  Elin stood at the door of the cottage and watched Rob ride away. She released a shaky breath. Going to the castle to see if magic had indeed been used had propelled her to spell the herbs she’d gathered. She hadn’t even needed to get that close to the keep to sense the magic. Based on what Rob had told her, she’d taken a chance on what spell to use. Fortunately, it had worked. The curse had been broken. And all with the witch who had cast it upon the laird and clan none the wiser.

  Yet she hadn’t rested easy. When Rob arrived, she’d kept expecting him to announce that he knew she had magic. Imagine her surprise when he did nothing of the sort. She wished she could’ve relaxed during their meal, but she had been too nervous.

  Now, he was riding away again. She quickly put him out of her mind. Elin spent the rest of the day coming up with plans for where to go if she had to run again. She kept her bag near the door and never went out without her bow and arrows. Though that still wasn’t enough. She decided to stash items near the locations she would head to if she did have to run.

  If. That was laughable. It was only a matter of time. The longer she pretended that she was safe, the bigger the target she painted on herself. The only way she would live was to expect the worst at all times.

  Though how long could she do that? She might plan for years in advance, but there would come a time when she was sick or too old to get away fast enough. She squeezed her eyes closed as she thought about her mother hanging from the tree, the creak of the rope in the dawn, and the flutter of her mother’s hair in the breeze. She did not want to die that way. And she wouldn’t. If it came down to it, she would use magic to get away. Her mother hadn’t resorted to magic to protect her and Avis, but Elin didn’t have anyone to safeguard other than herself.

  A pang went through her heart. She had no family, no friends, no one she could turn to. It was the loneliest feeling. It tore at her soul, slicing away pieces bit by bit so that she hardly noticed. The last thing she wanted was to turn out like her sister. She would rather die than allow that to happen.

  There was only one place for Elin. The hidden city of the Varroki: Blackglade. But she had betrayed them to help her sister. There was no way the witches and warlocks would grant her entry, and she would never put them in a position where they had to deny her. She’d hoped by helping them and the Hunters in the final battle with the Coven that it might wipe away some of her transgression. The fact that they weren’t hunting her proved that it had. But she didn’t expect them to forgive her entirely.

  More witches were out there, but she didn’t look for them. Some might think that a good idea since they could stand together. All Elin thought about was how much easier it would be for others to learn what she was. Which made her keep to herself. Always alone.

  The loneliness was a dull blade twisting with each day.

  She forgot Rob and the castle, focused on herself, and watched for anyone who got too close. She kept honing her archery skills. And she did not use magic.

  A week after his visit, Rob returned. She ignored the leap in her heart at his arrival. Though, after he left, she admitted that it had been nice to have something other than a one-sided conversation with the wildlife and trees. Rob didn’t come empty-handed on this visit either. When he handed her a small bag of flour, she couldn’t contain her delight. In exchange, she shared a brace of rabbits.

  The following week, he returned again. Then the week after. And the one after that. She kept telling herself not to look for him, but each week, she found herself scanning the hilltop, waiting to see the outline of him and his horse. And he was always there.

  He brought something each time. Soap. Candles. Venison. Vegetables. And they always shared a meal and conversation.

  Spring turned to summer, and Rob’s visits turned to twice a week. He showed her areas around the cottage where she could find wild fruit. He took her downriver to a location that had better fishing. He also showed her the border of his clan’s land.

  With each visit, she found herself relaxing a little more. He never spoke about magic, never hinted that he knew anything. A friendship blossomed. He shared stories of his family. How his mother had died birthing his youngest brother, and how his father had passed a few years ago, leaving his elder brother as laird.

  Rob never spoke of his responsibility, but Elin saw it. She heard it in his words and saw it in his actions. She suspected that he might have begun visiting first out of some obligation, but she truly believed that they shared a mutual appreciation for each other now. He knew she could take care of herself, yet he still came to see her. Twice a week. That wasn’t obligation. That was…

  She didn’t want to label it. It was bad enough that she eagerly awaited his visits. She had tried to ignore the way her heart leapt each time he arrived or how melancholic she became when it was time for him to leave. She told herself that it was because she was lonely. That was the only reason.

  But she knew that for the lie it was.

  Rob was handsome, kind, strong, and generous. He was, in fact, someone she would’ve considered taking as a husband in any other life. But that could never be. Even knowing that didn’t stop her from wishing otherwise. She left that to her daydreams, and all the while, grew closer to him. The friendship was so much more than she could’ve hoped for. It was much more than she’d had in a long time. Otherwise, she would be back to the lonely, solitary creature she had been before Rob came into her life.

  Today, he had taken her on a walk. They sat on the hillside of a mountain, heather blossoming as far as the eye could see over mountains and down into the glens. A blanket of purple covered the mountains, and it was a glorious sight. There was a loch below, the water still and as reflective as a mirror. The beauty of it kept her silent. She wanted to put everything to memory.

  “You like it?”

  She smiled at Rob’s question. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so magnificent.”

  “It’s my favorite time of the year,” he confessed.

  Elin glanced at him to find his gaze taking in the scenery. “Thank you for sharing this.”

  He grinned and met her gaze. “I can no’ take full credit. You would’ve seen them yourself when you went hunting.”

  “Maybe. I’m still glad you brought me.”

  “Me, too.”

  Their gazes lingered. Elin became aware of it and hastily looked away as she cleared her throat. Rob reclined on his side, propped up on an elbow. one knee bent, and his kilt falling back to reveal a corded thigh. He twirled a long stem of grass in his other hand. He had his light brown hair pulled in a queue, and his sword lay on the other side of him—always within reach.