He had to be very close now.
When Ramos had found the campsite early this morning, the ashes from the fire pit had still been warm. He had known then that the time to confront his father was at hand.
After a full day of riding hard, following his father’s tracks, Ramos became aware of the sounds and smells from the seaport town ahead of him.
Cromarty would be the site where he would avenge himself.
Redeem, not avenge.
Redeem himself. That was what he’d meant. Wasn’t it?
Ramos shook his head in a physical attempt to throw off the doubt left behind by Mairi’s earlier accusation. Her words had followed him on his journey, eating away at the back of his mind whenever he dropped his mental guard.
It wasn’t revenge he sought. She was wrong. She had to be. It was guilt that plagued his soul, not simple, selfish hatred of the man who had betrayed him.
He couldn’t afford to second-guess himself at this point. He was too near his goal.
Ramos slowed his mount, his Fae senses on full alert. He would need to be cautious, planning every move carefully. His father was close by.
He would begin his search for Reynard near the docks. Every instinct told him his father would be headed home to Switzerland and the comfort of Adira. Home to lick the wounds of his failure.
Reynard hated failing at anything. He would be angry and at his most dangerous now, requiring all the more patience and caution on Ramos’s part. He was a full-blooded Fae living on the Mortal Plain. According to everything Ramos had ever been taught, there was nothing in this world that could bring harm to his father. He could only be destroyed in the Realm of Faerie. The one place he was forbidden to go.
It wasn’t difficult to locate the little hole in the wall where passage on various ships departing the port could be booked. After slipping a single gold coin to the grizzled old man behind the counter, Ramos found it equally easy to verify that Reynard had indeed booked passage. Another coin and the clerk eagerly divulged the location of the inn where Reynard lodged, waiting for his ship’s sailing date.
Ramos’s steps slowed as he neared the entrance to the Dolphin’s Head Inn. The stench of unwashed bodies and old ale assaulted his nose as he pushed open the door.
Slipping inside, he gratefully blended into the shadows, the crowd in the tavern making his entry all the more difficult to detect.
He spotted Reynard almost immediately, across the room at a table in the corner, his face a mask of unconcerned disdain as he surveyed his surroundings.
Staying to the dark edges of the room, Ramos found a small, dirty table against the wall and ordered ale. The old man who delivered the metal cup to him grinned a toothless smile before snatching up the coin Ramos tossed to the table.
Taking his first sip, he studied his father and considered how to deal with the situation. Although Mairi would be trapped in this time if he didn’t fulfill his destiny, the seeds of doubt she had planted continued to grow. If he couldn’t reassure himself of the purity of his motivation, he didn’t think he could challenge his father. And if he did challenge him, he had no idea how he would defeat the man.
Even if he could find some way to destroy Reynard, Mairi’s warning against violating the Faerie edict about altering history rang in his ears. Was killing Reynard worth such a risk to the future of all mankind?
Ramos finished his drink, lost in his dark dilemma, all the while watching the lone figure across the room.
It suddenly struck him that his father was always alone. From the first moment Ramos had been brought to Reynard’s villa to live, he had never known the Fae to trust or confide in anyone. For so many years, he had hoped to become that confidant to Reynard. He had longed to be the one person his father would turn to for aid in his fight against the evil enemy.
Of course, that was before he found out Reynard and his people were the evil enemy.
Before he learned his father had lied to him, betrayed him, used him his entire life. Before he accepted that Reynard had no more care for him—his own son—than someone he considered an adversary.
Before he had been forced to admit that his father had never loved him.
Ramos looked down at his clenched, trembling hand, the empty cup he held crushed under the force of his emotion.
What had he expected? In fairness, Reynard had never feigned fatherly affection. He had never claimed to love his son.
Only one person had ever claimed to love him.
Mairi.
The one person for whom he would gladly sacrifice his life. The one person he loved in return.
Perhaps she had been closer to the truth than he realized when she accused him of wanting revenge in seeking his father. Was it also the truth when she declared her love for him? Had she meant it when she’d said she would rather spend forever in this time with him than go home without him?
He could think of only one way to find out.