Ree shook her head. “That’s impossible. How could I teach it to you?”
“It hasnae happened yet,” he replied, stepping toward her, his eyes flashing. “Ye must have taught it to me before ye went back to yer own time.”
Ree jumped up and paced around the room. “What are you saying? If I didn’t teach you the spell, none of this would have happened? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Think on it, lass,” he replied, watching her move. “The Gunns guard their secrets with their lives. None of them would tell me that spell. Ye’re the only one that kens it.”
Ree continued to pace around while in deep thought. “If that’s true, I could stop all this from happening by keeping the spell to myself. I could change the course of time.”
Ned straightened his back. “Aye. Ye could.”
She stopped in her tracks to stare at him. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying? She hadn’t taught him the spell yet, and why would she now? Would she remember this if she changed time so he could never send her back? Her mind froze at the last thought, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole. What mattered was this man sitting in front of her. He didn’t say so out loud, but he must be divining the hidden subtext the same way she did. He knew as well as she did what it all meant.
Whatever happened, past or future, they were on their way to something huge, something that would consume them both in a cosmic vortex of forces that would alter the course of time.
He got to his feet. “Well, ye must be tired. Ye can stay in here. I’ll bunk down in the hold with the crew. No one will bother ye in here. Ye can rest as long as ye like, and I’ll send the cabin boy to bring ye something to eat. I’ll come and see ye later.” He turned to leave, taking a final glance at her over his shoulder. His ice-blue eyes glimmered briefly before he faced the door once more, took a deep breath, and left the cabin.
Ree stared at the closed door where he disappeared. She didn’t doubt Ned’s word. He’d taken her into his confidence. He wouldn’t have done that if he planned to kill her or throw her to his men. She was safe on this ship. No one would cross him by coming near her. She would never face another situation like the one she’d suffered on the deck.
The ship rocked and swayed under her feet, and water slapped against the hull far away, swaddling her in delicious peace for the first time since…
When had she last experienced this quiet, soothing tranquility? She never stopped working long enough to get it back home. She’d always driven herself to the brink of exhaustion even when she didn’t need to. For the first time she could remember, she had nowhere to go and nothing to do. Nothing stopped her from sitting down at that table and staring out the window at the ripple behind the ship. Nothing stopped her from falling asleep for the next twenty-four hours.
She sat down on the bench behind the table. The sun glittered on the galleon’s wake and hypnotized her into a trance as she thought about everything he’d told her.
He’d included her in his inner world. He must really trust her and planned to involve her in the same sweeping circumstances that affected his people. Now that she knew the full secret, she was involved whether she liked it or not. Whether she helped him or the Gunns, she was part of this now.
She realized she already knew which side she was on. She didn’t trust Malcolm Gunn as far as she could throw him. He made her skin crawl. Ned, on the other hand, had ambushed her at the duck pond. He threw her into the most treacherous situation of her life, but it was to save his own people. Ree could get behind that, would be willing to help Ned in his mission just as it was the right thing to do. Although, could she really trust Ned?
She wasn’t sure. Regardless, she couldn’t betray the Angui and hand them over to their enemy. That’s what the Gunns were. That’s what Malcolm was—Ned’s enemy. And as long as she was committed to helping Ned, Malcolm was her enemy too.
She crossed the cabin and stretched out on the bed—Ned’s bed. She buried her face in the pillow, taking a deep breath as the weight of the last day slipped from her shoulders. The masculine scent imprinted there sent an image floating through her mind as she closed her eyes.
She saw Ned sitting on the bench next to her at the duck pond. His eyes widened, and a delicate smile played on his lips when he looked down at her artificial leg. He hadn’t drawn back in horror or run for the hills.
She drifted off to sleep with Ned on her mind. In her dreams she saw him, one moment in his business suit far off into the future. Confident, handsome, captivating. The image melted into the other version of Ned: standing on the deck of the Prometheus in his captain’s suit, barking orders at his men, gazing out onto the horizon. A leader; strong, enigmatic, mystifying. The man she was now with in the past.
Chapter 7
Niall tripped down the ladder to the lower hold, then strode between the swinging hammocks until he found an empty one along the side of the hold. He sat down and reclined back, then folded one elbow under his head and closed his eyes. Ree. That name kept repeating in his mind. Ree Hamilton.
He hadn’t seen a woman as incredible as her in centuries. He’d sent her back in time as a present to himself, and aside from the obvious connection with saving his people, he wondered what else his future self was thinking when he’d chosen Ree Hamilton. She would help him plan how to track her down and send her back and then help him find the Cipher’s Kiss, but there was also something about her. Her strength despite the shock she must have experienced, being dropped back in time and learning about immortals. The confident way she carried herself. And something in her eyes… He had to gain her trust, and maybe one day something more. He would calculate exactly what to do and when so as not to mess this up, even if it meant sleeping in the hold for the next three hundred years. What was three hundred years anyway?
Familiar footsteps rang across the floor, stopping him from drifting deeper into slumber.
A booming voice echoed off the bulkheads. “What are ye doing down here? Dinnae tell me ye left that woman alone in yer cabin?”
Niall opened his eyes and looked up at Gilias. “I left her alone, and ye and the rest of the men will do the same. She’s under me personal protection as long as she remains on this ship.”
“The men winnae like it,” Gilias replied. “They’re all on deck waiting for ye to send her up to them like ye promised.”
“They’ll have to get used to it,” he replied. “She’s no’ coming up—no’ for that, at least.”
Gilias frowned. “What’s the matter with ye? What are ye doing moping down here?”
Niall turned his face away. “Never ye mind. Pay no attention to me.”
“I have to pay attention when ye act like this. Did ye take the woman? Is that what’s bothering ye?”
Niall’s eyes snapped open, and he fixed his gaze on his friend. “I didnae take the woman, and I winnae take the woman. Dinnae ever let me hear ye refer to her in the same breath with that again if ye ken what’s good for ye.”
Gilias’s mouth fell open, his eyes wide.
Niall knew this would happen. He hadn’t wanted to face it, but it was inevitable. “Listen, me friend,” he said. “You dinnae understand, so I see I have to explain it to ye. She’s one of them. Understand? She’s one of the ones we’ve been looking for.”
“How can she be?” Gilias asked. “We dinnae have the elixir yet.”
“She’s one of them,” Niall replied. “She might be the most important one. She’s going to help us find the elixir. I dinnae ken how. I only ken she’s much more valuable to us safe and happy and unharmed than she ever would be on the deck with the men.”
“What am I supposed to tell them, then?” Gilias asked.
Niall closed his eyes again. “Tell them I’m in love with her.”
Gilias gasped.
His eyes closed, Niall finally heard Gilias stomp away after several moments. He didn’t understand his own behavior any better than Gilias did. None of this made sense. He only knew he
had to safeguard Ree no matter what. He had to make sure she got through this in one piece, and not just physically. He had to win her confidence and gain her secrets, not just for now, but for all eternity.
What a strange sensation it was, to consider a woman for the immortal future. He’d been on his own so long, he could hardly remember feeling this way about any woman. Memories of his wife and children remained as fresh and clear now as the day he’d lost them, but the emotions had dulled over the centuries. Now they exploded to life as never before. He wanted to rush back to the cabin and tell Ree everything, but that would only overwhelm her. He had to take his time and make sure she accepted everything in her own comfortable way.
While Ned lay there thinking, another set of footsteps approached. He listened. They didn’t bang down the gangway like Gilias had. They tiptoed across the boards on bare feet.
Ned pried his eyes open and saw a young man lurking behind the bulkhead. His tussled brown head peeked out and then ducked out of sight again.
Ned called out to him. “Ye can come out. Ye dinnae have to sneak about.”
The young man crept into view but didn’t approach. He wore a kilt like every other man on deck, but he carried no weapons. Instead of a pilfered military jacket, he wore a plain white shirt.
“What is it ye want, lad?” Ned asked.
The young man looked right and left. He looked everywhere but at Ned. “Begging yer pardon, Captain Sir.”
“How many times have I told ye that it’s Captain Lewis?” Ned interrupted. “When are ye going to learn?”
“I’m sorry, Captain Sir. It’s just…ye ken that woman in yer cabin, Sir?”
“Out with it, lad,” Ned snapped. “What about her?”
“She said, Sir…” the boy stammered. “Well, Sir, she tried to talk to me. She asked me a bunch of questions. I wasnae sure what ye wanted me to tell her…ye ken, about…ye ken, meself.”
Ned bolted upright. “Is that all? What did she ask you?”
“She wanted to ken where I was born, and who me people are, and a bunch of other sensitive questions, Sir,” the boy replied. “I wasnae sure exactly what ye wanted her to ken…about me, I mean.”
Ned reclined back in his hammock. “Tell her whatever ye please about yerself, lad. Do ye want to tell her the truth? I dinnae care.”
“Och, aye, Sir,” he exclaimed. “She’s a kind lady, that one is. I took her meal to the cabin like ye told me to, and she started talking the minute I walked in the door. I…I never said so many words to a lady in me life.”
Ned smiled and sat up one more time. “Look at me, Duncan.”
The boy cast a furtive glance his way before gathering the courage to fully meet Ned’s gaze. “Sir?”
“Listen to me, lad. Ye can trust the lady. Tell her all yer secrets. I dinnae care, and she might be able to help you in a way I cannae.”
“But if she finds out… I mean, if she finds out I’m no’ one of yer men, she’ll…”
“Ye are one of me men,” Ned replied. “Ye’re as much one of me men as any other.”
“But, Sir…” Duncan exclaimed. “I’m no’…”
“Did ye no’ guard the helm while the men were ashore during that last raid?” Ned asked. “Did ye no’ command the guns for the attack while the others went ashore to destroy the village?”
“Aye, Sir,” Duncan said. “But…”
“Do ye think for an instant I would trust either of those jobs to any prisoner from the bilge? Ye’re one of me men, lad. Ye’re one of me best men, and ye can tell the lady that if she asks. Tell her I found ye starving on the streets of Dundee and took ye on board me ship, and now ye’re me right hand man and I cannae run the ship without ye.”
Duncan’s eyes widened. He broke into a grin and almost burst out laughing. “Thank ye, Sir. I’ll go and tell her so right this instant.”
Ned leaned back. “Ye might want to wait until ye take her next meal.”
If Duncan heard him, Ned didn’t know. It didn’t matter. He closed his eyes to go back to sleep.
A loud splash outside jolted him alert again. The sea sloshed against the hull and rocked the boat hard to one side. He tumbled out of his hammock and raced up on deck. He reached the poop deck just as a giant fountain of water erupted from the ocean and sprayed water droplets all over the ship.
Ned seized the spyglass out of Gilias’s hands and spun around to scan the shore. “What’s going on?”
“Nine hundred ton merchantman off the port bow,” Gilias called back. “They’re pulling alongside to give us their broadside.”
“All hands to the guns!” Ned roared. “How did they find us so fast?”
“They must have followed us from the village,” Gilias replied. “I cannae think of any other way.”
Ned spun around and narrowed his eyes at his friend.
“What, man?” Gilias asked.
“That woman said the Gunns were in the village. They may have…” Ned shook himself out of his thoughts. “No, they couldn’t have.”
Gilias met his captain’s gaze for a second, then ran down the deck to join the men swarming around the cannons lining the starboard side of the ship’s deck.
Ned put his spyglass to his eye and stared at the attacking ship. The merchantman swiveled on the wind to come alongside the Prometheus.
Gilias strode behind the deck gunners with his saber held aloft, the wind whipping his hair and beard to one side as he thundered across the deck. “Stand ready to fire!”
The men worked feverishly. One man poured gunpowder down a tiny hole in the base while another inserted the damper into the opposite end. He tamped down the powder while a third man heaved the cannonball into position. As soon as the damper man removed his rod, the third man dropped the ball into place. Two more men shoved the gun forward to poke its black nose through the port in the ship’s side.
Gilias bellowed, “Fire!”
The damper man touched a torch to the powder, and the guns exploded.
Ten guns went off along the galleon’s port side. At the same instant, seven guns went off on the merchantman. Two balls ripped through the Prometheus’s hull, and one shattered the foremast. It toppled like a tree trunk, the sails crumpling onto the deck.
Gilias roared to the men. “Reload!”
Ned took the spyglass away from his eye to check the surrounding sea for any other ships closing in. When he did, he caught sight of something white coming up the steps to the poop. He turned around to find Ree at his side.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Get below!” he thundered.
“What?” she yelled back. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
“They’re coming after ye. That’s what’s going on,” he shouted. “Now get below before ye get yer head blown off.”
“Who’s coming after me?” she asked.
He moved his face close to hers and boomed at the top of his lungs. “Malcolm!”
Chapter 8
Ree stared in horror at Ned’s contorted face. Cannonballs sailed all around her, but time stood still. The ship vibrated with one impact after another, but she couldn’t get her mind to work.
Malcolm was coming after her? She’d said those words with her own voice but never really believed it. Did she want Malcolm to rescue her from these pirates?
She never got a chance to answer that question before another ball struck the poop deck, shattering through the railing and whistling past Ned’s knees. Splintered wood flew in all directions. Shards hit Ree in the face, sending her staggering back.
Ned lost his balance and ran into her, sending them both somersaulting off the poop deck, onto the lower foredeck below. Ree slammed down on the hard boards, and Ned’s weight landed on top of her, knocking the wind out of her.
The next thing she knew, another volley of gunfire pounded against her ears. The galleon’s cannons slammed back against their harnesses and bounced into place within inches of her head
.
Ned clambered up and offered his hand to help her up just as another impact sounded against the hull. Ree pitched forward into his arms. The next instant, something else struck the galleon, but it wasn’t a cannonball.
The bearded Highlander who had captured Ree spun around and pointed overboard with his saber. “Incoming!”
Ree looked up and saw the other ship looming huge and menacing in front of her eyes. It bumped into the Prometheus, wavered off for a fraction of a second, and swerved in to collide with her one more time. Men swung in on ropes to board the Prometheus.
The big Highlander bellowed to the crew. “All hands to the rails! Meet ’em hand to hand, lads!”
The men at the guns barely got to their feet before the rush of men landed on the deck. All these men wore kilts so Ree couldn’t tell friend from foe. She couldn’t have told them apart even if she’d known who was who.
Were the Gunns her friends or her enemies? Were they coming to kidnap her or to free her from her kidnappers? Nothing made sense anymore. She looked all around, frantic to find a safe place, and then glanced up and saw a tall, familiar figure hanging in the merchantman’s rigging.
Malcolm Gunn held the starboard shroud in one hand and a sword in the other. He scanned the deck until he spotted Ree; then his features hardened into a cruel mask of determination. Ree knew in that moment that Ned was right. Malcolm came all this way and attacked the Prometheus for one reason only: to get her back.
A hundred men swarmed the deck. The gunners rocketed to their feet, and steel met steel in a knock-down, drag-out fight to the death. Groans and yells took the place of booming cannons. Swords clanged and scraped off one another. Men pounced on other men in a desperate fury to snuff the life out of their adversaries.
A bunch of men hurtled toward Ree. Her eyes bulged. She spun left and right in panicked semicircles.
Ned whipped around with his sword drawn and blocked their weapons from coming near her.
She stumbled back out of the way while he engaged them all at once, then looked up one more time, and her heart stopped. Malcolm glared down at her as he flung himself at the starboard shroud, then swung his legs around it and slid down like a fireman down a pole. He took a running leap onto the galleon and headed straight for her.
Pirates of the Angui (Cipher's Kiss Book 1): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance Page 6
