Even if the magic didn’t work, it certainly was pretty here.
Ellie looked around the pool she’d finally reached. The little stream she’d followed spread out and the water slowed before it hit the rocks and picked up speed again, crashing its way down the mountainside. A small forest of trees grew up around the pool, sheltering the area and filtering the last rays of sunlight as they danced on the water, casting a last pinkish golden glow over the ripples.
This had to be the place.
She dropped to a flat, mossy spot along the bank and eased the wet slipper off her foot, wincing at the blister she’d developed on her hike. This little trip had certainly been another example of the “act first, think later” policy she was getting so good at.
When her foot first slid into the water, she should have realized right then a walk of any length would be a problem. In fact, now that she took the time to think about it, there were several things she might have considered a little more thoroughly before she’d scampered off down the mountain.
She should have thought to bring her knives along, just in case. Hadn’t she listened to Caden and the others discussing the possibility that Catriona’s brother might come after them? As she waited for the moon to rise in the sky, a tendril of panic swirled in her stomach, building, sparking every concern her mind could dredge up, her thoughts randomly hopping from one problem to the next.
She hoped Anna wouldn’t get in trouble for having shown her the way out of Dun Ard.
Perhaps she should have said something to Rosalyn about leaving. After all, the woman had gone out of her way to make Ellie feel welcome, as if she were actually part of the family. What kind of a guest just took off?
And what about Baby and Missy? Would anyone think to take care of her poor dogs when she was gone?
What if the whole magic-at-the-river thing didn’t even work?
It will work.
It had to. Because if it didn’t, it would only confirm her worst fears. That Caden was The One. The same Caden who thought her a poster child for improper, inappropriate women. The same Caden who was so anxious to be rid of her, he thought to pass her off to his younger brother.
She wouldn’t stand for being treated like some handme-down to be discarded when he’d grown tired of her.
The magic will work.
Anna had said the magic was strongest near water when the moon rose. That had to explain it.
This would work.
But when it did, would any of the people she’d come to care for worry about what had happened to her?
Would Caden?
“Stop it!” she ordered herself aloud. This was getting her nowhere. “Shoulda, coulda, woulda. I got to let it go.” She shook her head in irritation.
She was not going to talk herself out of this. Going home was exactly what she needed to do.
Be sensible!
Caden wouldn’t worry about her being gone. He’d be relieved. He wouldn’t have to deal with her grossly inappropriate behavior anymore. And think of the trouble she’d be saving his poor brother, the one Caden had tried to dump her on.
No, working herself up into a fine lather over what she couldn’t change was pointless. She needed to put her energies into figuring out what she would do once she got home. Worrying about “what if” did nothing to help.
In fact, all it did was upset her more.
The longer she sat, the harder she found it to fend off her growing unease. She’d made herself so anxious, her imagination was even doing a number on her now, making her feel as if someone watched her from the cover of the surrounding trees.
What had looked sheltering and idyllic barely an hour past now appeared menacing as she peered into the great pockets of dark in their depths, trying to rid herself of the feeling.
Fear shot through her at a sound of crackling underbrush. It might be only an animal, but then again…
She left the thought unfinished, fear whipping the adrenaline to flood her system as she rose to her feet, faced the water and looked up at the sliver of a moon rising in the inky sky.
Caden’s face filled her mind but she pushed it away, fighting the sense of loss that remained when it was gone. The fear must be responsible for her thinking of him. It was only comfort and safety she sought. Nothing more. Once she got back to her own time, she’d never think of him again.
She wouldn’t. Not ever.
Her hands shook and she clasped them to her breast to still their trembling.
Please let those damn Faeries be listening just this once.
“Take me home. Take me where I need to be, where I belong.”
Caden followed Ellie’s tracks down the side of the mountain until he could be sure she had indeed stuck to Anna’s advice to stay by the stream the whole way. Once he eliminated all doubt, he’d be free to take a faster way to the auld pool and could save time.
That was increasingly important to him now that the sun had set.
He had just made his decision to turn away and head straight for her destination when he spotted something unusual. Something that made him climb down from his mount to investigate more closely.
Fresh horse tracks. One clearly on top of the small print Ellie had left behind.
Someone followed her. Someone on horseback.
In his haste Caden had almost missed it. Another ten minutes and there wouldn’t have been enough light to have seen the tracks.
He was torn now. If he left the trail to save time, what else might he miss?
He couldn’t take that chance. Not with Ellie’s safety hanging in the balance. He kicked his horse, urging it to move faster, the familiar old guilt threatening to drown him once again.
If his brothers were right—if she’d left because of him and anything were to happen to her—it would be his fault.
He couldn’t live with that.
The fear curdled his blood, eating at him, forcing him to drive his animal harder, faster.
He’d sooner see the Fae take her home than have anyone here bring her to harm.
His need to see her, to know for sure she was unharmed overrode everything else. It was more important even than finding out if she cared for him as his family seemed to think.
That idea was still too large for him to accept.
If she did, why had she denied it? Could it be as Blane had said, only her pride that forced those words from her lips? Pride such as that which drove her need to seek revenge on the man who had stolen her home?
If only he’d opened his eyes to the possibility earlier, perhaps he could have changed this. If only he hadn’t been so desperate to avoid her, he would have been there today to prevent her running away.
If only, if only, if only.
The litany beat in his head in time to the pounding of his horse’s hooves as the copse of trees surrounding the auld pool came into sight, the forest a darker black against the night sky.
He slowed his horse, preferring to arrive unnoticed by whoever it was following Ellie.
Ahead, at the edge of the little forest, he could just distinguish the outline of a mounted figure, waiting, watching.
Too late for surprise, he moved slowly toward the man, pulling his sword as he did so. When he neared, the figure moved forward into the moonlight, showing himself.
“MacDowell?” His hold on his sword slackened. What was Simeon doing here?
“It’s about time you showed up, MacAlister. I’ve better things to do with my time than nursemaid yer woman.”
“She’s no my…” Caden clamped his teeth together on the denial. His relationship with Ellie was none of MacDowell’s business. “What are you doing out here, following her?”
The warrior stared at him hard. “What would you have me do? I saw a lone figure scrambling down the mountainside as I returned to Dun Ard. I followed. When I realized it was a woman, I could no turn away and leave her unattended. And once I got close enough to see which woman it was, I dinna doubt you’d be along eventually.”
“She’s unharmed?” Caden had to force himself to ask the question at the front of his thoughts.
“I would have allowed nothing else.” Simeon sounded almost offended at the question. “Through the trees, she sits at the edge of the water, talking to herself.” Simeon shook his head. “Daft female.”
Caden’s irritation at MacDowell’s being there warred with his relief that it wasn’t someone else who had followed Ellie.
“You can go. I have this well in hand now.” Thanks to his tangled emotions, he couldn’t help the gruff dismissal.
The knight snorted his response. “And welcome to it, you are.” With a tug of his reins, he and his mount disappeared into the night, following the path Caden had just traveled.
At the tree line, Caden dismounted and led his horse through the forest on foot, looping his reins over a low branch once he caught sight of Ellie by the water.
She turned to stare his direction and for an instant the moonlight glinted off her long black hair, giving her a glow that reminded him of what she was and who had sent her here.
The Fae.
For the first time, it didn’t matter in the least.
And just like that, he knew. Knew in the depths of his soul.
Drew had been right about one thing, Ellie was nothing like Alycie.
As of this moment, he didn’t care who had sent her or why. She was here. With a Faerie heritage to match his own.
To hell with what his brothers needed. To hell with what he owed them or anyone else. Right or wrong, he wanted Ellie for his very own. And he would do whatever it took to have her.
As he watched, she rose to her feet and clasped her hands to her breast, her voice broken as if she fought tears when she uttered the words that struck fear to his heart, words that drew him forward to the spot where she stood.
“Take me home. Take me where I need to be, where I belong.”