THISTLE DOWN MANOR
SCOTLAND
PRESENT DAY
I don’t understand. What is this?” Sarah Douglas McCullough leaned awkwardly against the door frame of the guest bedroom, staring down at the large brown envelope in her hands.
“My insurance policy, so to speak.” Mairi laughed. “It’s the research I’ve done—information I’ve gathered, things like that. I dinna want to take a chance on losing it.” She knew Sarah would assume it was research related to the doctoral dissertation she was preparing. No sense in correcting the woman. “I’m driving up to Sithean Fardach tomorrow. I only intend to be gone for a short while, but it’s my first time back to the castle and I’m a little concerned about how I’m going to handle it.”
She wasn’t lying to her hostess. Exactly. She was going up to the family castle. Right after a short side trip through the Faerie Glen on her way there. Then, if things worked out as she hoped in the Glen, one quick, well-planned detour and she should still be back to the castle in time to call Sarah tomorrow night.
After all, Cate had told her that when she had gone to the thirteenth century, she had returned within the space of a few minutes. There was no reason to expect her experience to be any different.
“You can leave this in your room, if you like. I assure you, no one will bother any of your things while you’re gone.” Sarah’s confusion was evident in her voice as she looked up from the package she held.
“Oh no, it’s no that. It’s just…” Mairi paused. She’d need to be cautious with what she said or risk exposing her plan too soon. “There’s a note inside for Cate. They dinna know I’ve come here.” She paused again, allowing time for the shock to pass across the other woman’s face.
“I see.” Sarah looked down at the package again. “Cate told me you hadn’t wanted to come back since…well, since your arrival.”
“No. It was too painful to see the changes, to be reminded of what was gone, lost.” Her family, everyone she’d cared about, her whole life. “But it’s time now. Time for me to face things and deal with them. On my own.” Deal with more than just the memories.
“I still don’t understand this.” Sarah nodded toward the envelope.
“I know this will sound silly, perhaps melodramatic even, but I’m no sure how things will work out for me here.” She shrugged, stalling to find her footing on the delicate path she wove between the actual truth and the perception she wanted Sarah to accept as truth. “I’m no sure I’ll be able to handle seeing the place. I’d hate to lose all that work because I panic and leave there in a rush. If for any reason you dinna hear from me by tomorrow night, I’d verra much appreciate yer opening that envelope and calling Cate. She’ll know how to get those things back to me.
“Please understand. This is something I need to do. My brother is, has always been, and I’m sure will always be, the most overprotective man on the face of the planet. He loves me, but he treats me like a child. He’s no likely to accept my doing this on my own.”
“I certainly understand overprotective men. Believe me.” Sarah smiled.
“On top of that, I dinna want to bother them right now. Between the children and Connor’s accident, Cate has her hands full.”
“No, I don’t see him as the model, quiet patient. How long did the doctor say he’d be laid up?”
“At least six weeks before he can put any weight on the ankle, though it’ll likely be a few less with the way we heal. When it first happened, they thought it might require surgery, but finally decided on the cast and keeping him off his feet.”
“All right, Mairi. I’ll hold on to your package if it makes you feel better.”
“Thank you.” Mairi leaned forward and awkwardly hugged the other woman, stretching around her stomach. “You’d best get off your feet as you promised Ian you would. I think he might have been serious about coming up to make sure you lie down for a while.”
“Oh, he was completely serious. How do you think I know so much about overprotective men?” She laughed and put her free hand at the small of her back as she turned and headed down the hall. “I can hardly wait for these babies to make their appearance. Thank goodness it’s any day now.”
“Good night, Sarah, and thank you. For everything.”
Mairi stepped into her room and closed the door. That had gone even better than she had hoped, with far fewer questions than she had imagined there might be.
Ian and Sarah had been remarkably gracious when she had shown up at their door, inviting her in and treating her like family. Dinner was quite an interesting affair, with one of Ian’s friends dropping by, an attractive but unusual man named Dallyn, who had stared at her throughout the entire meal.
She kicked off her shoes and looked around the room. Everything was falling into place. Now that she had her safety net arranged, she could proceed. Tomorrow she’d rise early and head for the Highlands, where she would put Part Two of her plan into action.
“Yer supposed to be in bed asleep, no sitting in a chair, staring out into the night. What’s wrong?” Ian stood at the doorway of his darkened bedroom.
“I’m just a bit worried,” Sarah said.
“I know. I felt it. That’s why I sent Dallyn off to home so I could come see after you. What are you fretting over, luv?” He walked to her chair, reaching down to stroke the golden curls he so loved.
“I’m not exactly sure. There’s just something not quite right with our guest.” Sarah reached up for his hand, pulling it down to rest against her cheek. “A sense about her of purpose and frustration, a banked anger of some sort.”
“Aye. That’s what Dallyn said as well.”
“Really? What else did he say?”
“Just that she seemed awfully tense, like a bowstring set to fire.”
“There’s more to it than that. She wasn’t being dishonest with me, but she wasn’t telling the whole truth either. She asked the oddest favor.”
Ian reached down and pulled Sarah from the chair. She was exhausted, he could tell from the dark circles visible to him even in the pale moonlight shining through the window. “You need yer rest. Come on to bed, luv. You can tell me all about it there.” While he held her close.
Tomorrow he would speak of it to Dallyn.
Mairi awoke in a panic. The unfamiliar bedroom was dark, the shadows in the corners large and threatening. She sat upright in bed, her hand clamped over her mouth to prevent the scream she felt building.
It had only been a dream, but it was the same as always. Not just some random nightmare, but the nightmare she had actually lived through. The one that had changed who she was.
Though sweat covered her brow, she shivered.
Even now, nine years later, she could taste the fear and desperation, a slick, putrid coating on her tongue; she who had never experienced fear before that night.
She could still feel her arms wrenched back tightly behind her, held helpless as Lyall’s hot breath spidered across her cheek.
“What a fine gift you’ll make to ensure my new ally, wee Mairi.”
“How could you betray me like this?” How bitter that betrayal felt coming in the form of her cousin, the man she loved like a brother, the man she thought had cared for her. The cousin she had trusted with her life.
“Betray you?” His maddened eyes sparkled as he laughed at her. “I canna betray a fool. And you, my trusting little cousin, are indeed a fool. Foolish to trust in stories of Faeries and magic; foolish to believe I could ever care for you so much that I’d risk my own future for the likes of you.”
She had tried to lash out at him, kick him, but Lyall had jumped back, laughing at her feeble attempts. The man who held her arms pinned behind her tightened his hold, joining in the derisive laughter, his stale breath curdling in her nostrils.
Lyall stepped forward and removed the binding from her braid, fanning her hair out loose. Then he tugged at the neck of her shift, lowering the material to expose her shoulders and more of her than she would ever have shown.
“There. A much better display of our wares.” His laughter was that of a madman.
She had screamed as the hot breath of the man who held her flowed across her bared skin when he lowered his head, tracing the line of her neck with his tongue.
“No, Malcolm, I’m afraid I must deny you this. She’s no for the likes of you. We must turn her over unharmed and pure.” Lyall rubbed a strand of her hair between his fingers.
Robbed of any way to fight back, she had called him names then, spit at him before he had silenced her with a harsh backhanded blow.
“Take her to Dun Ard. Lock her in a storage room to wait for her bridegroom. He’ll beat some respect into her, I fancy.”
Mairi shivered again, the emotions fresh and raw, as if she could still feel Malcolm’s touch when he threw her across the saddle of his horse, his hands moving over her body on the ride back to Dun Ard.
Lying back down, she consciously slowed her panicked breathing, waiting for her racing heart to slow as well. She wiped at the tears silently tracking down her face and renewed her determination.
Rosalyn had been like a mother to her and deserved better than to lose her only daughter. Mairi would not allow the fear to prevent her from going back to help her aunt. It was time to face the fear, to move beyond it.
Tomorrow she would take the first step by claiming her right to the magic.
Tomorrow she would go to the Faerie Glen and confront Pol.