Love Beyond Wanting

by Bethany Claire

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. The last thing Laurel needed was to hear how upset I was at the possibility of losing her. I wanted to tell her that it was going to be okay, but I couldn’t lie to her. I couldn’t be certain that it would be.

  “I love you too, Kate. Let me know the moment you’ve beaten that bitch, okay?”

  She let out a small laugh, agreed to call me, and hung up the phone.

  For months, I’d gone without tears, and now, for the second time in just as many weeks, I was left sobbing, but this time, I could see no distraction in sight.

  Chapter 8

  That night I had—like I often do—the strangest dream. I was in Scotland. Or, at least, I assumed I was in Scotland from the green, rolling landscape and the view of the ocean out on the horizon. I stood in the most beautiful clearing, with vibrant flowers surrounding me. What could only be described as a throne sat in the middle of a wide circle amongst the flowers. It was warm with no breeze, and I stood next to a tall man whose face was blurry to me. We approached the throne with trepidation, but suddenly I was pulled away from my traveling companion and tossed in front of the tall chair. When I glanced up, the seat was no longer empty. An otherworldly form of a man occupied the seat. My entire body felt alive in the strangest way. I looked down to see that my right arm was now whole, and I felt happier than I’d ever felt in my life. But just as quickly as I’d been placed before the throne, I was jerked away, tumbling backwards into an abyss. It made no sense, but it felt incredibly real.

  The very next morning, I woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. Expecting that Mom would answer it, I didn’t move until the third ring. Eventually, I stood and stepped out into the living room, only to see a note from my mom taped to the door. Gone to the gym. Be back soon. There’s cereal out on the counter.

  I opened the door to find a nerdy-looking teenager bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other rather impatiently.

  “Are you Kate Adams?”

  I nodded without smiling. His chipper mood was pissing me off.

  He extended a legal-sized envelope in my direction. “This is for you then.” I watched as he glanced to my missing right arm. “Can you…can you sign?”

  I reached out and jerked the envelope and the pen from his hand.

  “I’m left-handed.”

  “Oh.” His face lifted. “Well, that’s lucky, ain’t it?”

  For the first time in days, I smiled. It was so much easier dealing with people who were frank about my injury than those who danced around it and stared at me awkwardly as if I couldn’t see them.

  “I suppose it is. Thank you for this. Hang on just a second.”

  Carrying the package inside, I grabbed some cash from my purse and gave him a tip before bidding him farewell.

  As soon as I closed the door, I moved to open the envelope. Inside was a set of documents—everything I needed for Mr. Crinkles to be able to travel. There was also a small hard case and letter in the very bottom.

  Dear Kate,

  Take a deep breath, dear. Surely you know I wouldn’t let this stand. Of course, Mr. Crinkles must travel with you.

  As for your other worry, Laurel will call you soon, but she’s fine. She ran her fiancé through with a sword, but he will heal in time, and Machara is still locked away in her cell. So take one more deep breath, shake off that gloomy mood, and get ready for your new life in Scotland!

  Remember what I told you, Kate. You had a reckless streak even before your accident. I’m afraid it may have grown even worse since losing your arm. There are many parts of our life where it serves us to be fearless: love, our passions, our work, but I’ve never been one who believed it wise to be fearless when it comes to our lives. I guess I treasure my own far too much for that. As far as I know, you only get one. I’d like to see you live a long one. So…while I don’t know just how Machara will test you, just don’t be a foolish idiot in how you respond to her.

  I’ll be watching from afar to see how things turn out for you.

  With bated breath and love,

  Morna

  P.S. I’ve spent a bit of time watching your mother as well, dear, and she’s a little more high-strung than I imagined. And David—well he’s a man of great intellect and will rage against his new reality. Inside the case is a small vial of something I cooked up for you. Whenever you decide to tell them about the time travel, put a few drops in their drinks. Don’t worry, it won’t affect their personalities at all, it will just make them accept the news a little more easily.

  Chapter 9

  The Isle of Eight Lairds—1651

  *

  “Paton said ye wished to see me?”

  For the second time in a matter of weeks, Maddock stepped into Raudrich’s bedchamber to visit with his injury-laden friend. The first set of injuries had been caused by the newest member of The Eight, Marcus, who’d broken his nose after finding him in bed with an unknowing Laurel. The second had come only days ago at the hand of his fiancée who’d run him straight through with a sword in order to save him from Machara.

  Maddock neared Raudrich’s bed as he shifted to prop himself up.

  “Aye, I just wanted to tell ye that if ye ever listen to another one of Laurel’s foolish orders again, I shall break both yer kneecaps.”

  Maddock laughed and crossed his arms casually over his chest.

  “Ye do know that she saved us all, aye? If we hadna agreed to help her, she wouldna have been able to go through with her plan. And if she hadna gone through with her plan, she’d be dead, and ye’d be dead, and Machara would be free. Thus, we would all be dead.”

  “Do ye think ye could’ve used the word ‘dead’ any more times in that sentence, Maddock?”

  He shook his head. “I doona think the point can be overemphasized. She saved our necks, Raudrich. Ye ought to be grateful for her.”

  Maddock watched as Raudrich grunted and ground his teeth.

  “I am grateful to her, but I’m angry at every last one of ye for willingly putting her in danger.”

  He’d hated it at the time. He cared for Laurel immensely, but he’d seen sense in her plan, and he wasn’t willing to apologize for his part in it.

  “Aye, we know ye are angry. We’ve all heard the same from Marcus. ’Twas the right thing to do, and I’d do it again. Ye know that.”

  “Knock knock.”

  Maddock turned toward the sound of Laurel’s voice in the doorway and smiled at her as she entered.

  “Yer fiancé is daft if he thinks any of us regret doing as ye bid us to.”

  Laurel walked up next to him, winked at her soon-to-be husband, and answered him. “Yes, well. I don’t regret it either.”

  “Not even stabbing me with a sword, lass?”

  Maddock laughed as Laurel dismissed him with her hand.

  “Not even that. Now, Maddock and I are going to leave you to rest. I need to speak with him about something.”

  Before Maddock could say anything else, Laurel latched onto his hand and began to pull him out into the hall.

  Once the bedroom door was shut between them and Raudrich, she spoke. “Maddock, you know not only where I’m from but when, right?”

  The Eight had known for years—ever since Raudrich’s fast friendship with Sydney—that there were out-of-time lassies who often found themselves in Scotland at the hands of a witch none of them had ever met.

  “Aye, I do. Why?”

  “Well, I was hoping you might be willing to travel to Cagair and help escort my sister, my mother, and Marcus’ dad back here. I trust you completely.”

  It pleased him to hear that he had Laurel’s trust, and after his conversation with Harry, he was especially eager to meet Laurel’s sister.

  “O’course, I can. I’ll leave at once.”

  Laurel raised one brow and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You agreed to that too quickly. Why?”

  He smiled mischievously. “If yer sister is half as pleasant as ye are, her presence wil
l only bring more light to this castle.”

  She looked at him knowingly. “She’s taken, Maddock.”

  “Married? Harry dinna tell me that.”

  Laurel looked surprised as she tilted her head gently to the side. “Harry? How does he know about Kate?”

  “He only knows what Marcus told him.”

  “Ah.” Laurel nodded, understanding. “Well, she’s not married, but she’s been dating the same man for several years now.”

  Maddock smiled, his hope resurfacing. “If she isna married, she isna taken. Besides, ye said nothing of this man coming back. I canna see how anyone can maintain a relationship with one of them living in our time and the other living hundreds of years in the future.”

  “Fair point. I guess with everything that’s been going on, I’d not given much thought to what Kate might do about Dillon. But, you don’t even know her. How can you be so sure that you’ll like her so much?”

  “I canna be sure, but if she’s anything like ye, I shall like her verra much indeed.”

  Laurel smiled and leaned in to hug him. “Oh, Maddock, you’re my favorite, too. Be careful, okay? And don’t tell Paton what I said about the favorite thing since he’s already agreed to go with you.”

  His smile disappeared at the realization that she’d not asked him first. “Favorite, ye say? Surely, if ’twas true, ye would’ve spoken to me before Paton.”

  “I only spoke to Paton first because I saw him first. I couldn’t find you. So, listen. I really am sorry I have to ask you guys to do this anyway. Sydney had originally told me she and Callum would see them here, but she just received the happy news that she’s pregnant, and I don’t want her to travel that far while she’s expecting. You do know the way to Cagair, don’t you?”

  He’d not traveled nearly as much as Raudrich, but his knowledge of Scotland was still wide.

  “Aye, lass. I know where ’tis. Do ye mean for us to meet them in the Cagair of this time or theirs?”

  Laurel shrugged. “That’s up to you, really. Sydney and Callum will still be there and will help introduce them to everything, but if you’d like to go forward while you’re there and see what it’s like, I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t.”

  He definitely wanted to go forward.

  *

  Boston—Two Days Later—Present Day

  *

  Just as we were getting ready to head to the airport, Laurel called with a huge piece of news that she somehow neglected to tell me during our last phone call—she was engaged to Raudrich.

  While I was genuinely thrilled for her, my own relationship status had me about ready to pull my hair out.

  For days, Dillon had been trying to get ahold of me. For the last ten days, his name had popped up on my phone. Each time I sent it to voicemail.

  “Don’t you want to answer that? You were the one to end it, weren’t you? What could he have done to cause you to be so cold to him?”

  With all of our bags loaded in the car downstairs, there was just one thing left for me to do before we headed to the airport—doctor up the coffees I’d picked up with the potion Morna had sent with Mr. Crinkles’ travel documents.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Mom. It’s over and nothing good would come from Dillon and me rehashing things. Here.” I quickly swirled her coffee and extended it in her direction. “You carry this. I’ll grab Mr. Crinkles. Let’s get out of here.”

  With any luck, we’d arrive in Edinburgh with both Mom and David fully onboard with the concept of time travel.

  Chapter 10

  Edinburgh, Scotland

  *

  Despite Laurel’s insistence that there were people at Cagair Castle who would welcome us whenever we decided to show up, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was very bad manners to just show up at someone’s home unannounced. So, as Mom and David waited for our suitcases at baggage claim, I moved away to connect to the airport wi-fi so I could look up the number to call Cagair Castle.

  A man’s voice answered on the second ring. “’Ello.”

  “Hi…um…” I hesitated and my cheeks warmed as I realized I really should’ve planned what I was going to say before dialing. “This is going to seem like a very strange phone call. Do you mind if I ask who I’m speaking with?”

  “Certainly, lass. My name is Orick. Might I ask ye the same question?”

  “Yes, of course. My name is Kate. Is there…would it be possible for me to speak to either Sydney or Gillian?”

  “I’m sorry, lass, but I’m afraid they’ve gone out for a bit.” He paused, and I couldn’t help but wonder if what he couldn’t say was that they’d gone into the past using the castle’s stairwell. “And they are unreachable at the moment. Are ye certain that I canna help ye?”

  “Sure. Maybe. Do you know Morna?”

  It seemed to me that was the most important question I could ask him. If he did know Morna, then surely he knew about the magic, and I could speak freely with him without sounding like a lunatic.

  The man laughed, and his tone changed to one of recognition.

  “Ah. I thought it strange that the phone was ringing. Rarely happens. Ye must be Laurel’s sister, aye? Sydney told us to be expecting ye. Come on then. The lassies should be back by evening. If they are not, I’ll see that rooms are ready for ye. How many others are with ye?”

  I let out a big sigh of relief.

  “Oh, thank you so, so much. Just me and two others.”

  “Perfect. I’ll see that three spare rooms are ready for this evening. Safe travels. We shall see ye soon.”

  He hung up before I could say goodbye. By the time I turned around, my mother was standing right next to me, her hand inside Mr. Crinkles’ carrier to pet him. She glanced at the phone and then back at me, and her cheeks flushed with excitement.

  “Was that Dillon? Did you finally give in and answer the phone?”

  I sighed and shook my head. Morna’s potion had worked wonderfully. It had been way too easy to tell them everything on the plane. They listened quietly, took a minute to collect themselves, and then somehow—obviously due to the magic—were able to come to the conclusion that everything I said made sense. They both had no desire to be separated from their children, so they were as ready to go into the past as I was. Unfortunately, the potion seemed to have no effect on my mother’s desire to meddle in my love life.

  “No, it wasn’t Dillon. I called Cagair Castle just to let them know that we were on our way there. I’m not going to be speaking to Dillon again. Please let it go.”

  She pinched her lips together and furrowed her brows. “Okay, dear, I just really think it would be best if you spoke to him. It’s possible he really needs to get ahold of you.”

  Ignoring her, I threw my head to the side to motion toward the rental car building and walked on ahead.

  “Let’s get going. I’m eager to get there.”

  *

  Cagair Castle

  *

  At the advice of Sydney and Gillian—both of whom were beautiful, kind, and had husbands that looked like male models—we agreed to wait until after dinner to be shown to our rooms. They both believed that if we saw them now, we’d be too tempted to rest, and the best thing we could do to adjust to the time change would be to power through the rest of the day.

  Instead, we spent a lovely day at the castle exploring the grounds with the owners and having a lovely dinner filled with great conversation.

  Once dinner was over, and it was deemed late enough for us to go to sleep, Gillian led us to our rooms.

  David looked awestruck as he stared down the hallway lined with doors. He was such an enjoyable travel companion. He was so gleeful about everything. “There are so many rooms. How do you not forget which one is yours?”

  “Well, all of our rooms are in another wing that has fewer rooms, so that makes it a little easier. This room is yours, David. There are extra pillows and blankets in the wardrobe, and there are towels in the cabinet in the
bathroom. If you need anything else, I’ll hang around in the sitting room for awhile to make sure that you guys are settled.”

  He nodded, thanked her, and opened the door to the room. Before stepping inside, he turned to ask one last question. “What are the other room assignments?”

  I felt my brows lift at his question. Why did he need to know which rooms we were staying in? I looked over at Gillian to see that her confused expression matched my own.

  Before she could respond, David attempted to course correct. “You know, just in case there’s some emergency and I need to rescue them. If I had to open every door, I might not make it in time.”

  I smiled at him and leaned in to give him a hug goodnight. “You would rescue us, wouldn’t you, David?”

  He squeezed me tightly before pulling away. “Of course I would. Now which room is whose?”

  “Myla is in the third room from the stairwell on the other side of the hall, and Kate is closest to the stairwell on the other side.”

  David smiled and gave a quick nod before disappearing into his room.

  Gillian moved to loop her right arm with my left as she walked me over to the room they’d set aside for me.

  “They’re both as lovely as you are. All right, here is your room. The rooms are set up in much the same way so you can find pillows and towels in the same places I told David. The only difference between this room and the others is that it shares a connecting bathroom with the room next to it, but don’t worry, it’s unoccupied. Since your escorts have yet to arrive, I suspect they won’t get here until morning.”

  “Escorts?” I was under the impression that Sydney and her husband would be seeing us to the Isle.

  “Oh.” Gillian shook her head as if she just remembered. “We all thought you knew. Sydney found out she was pregnant a few weeks ago and doesn’t feel comfortable traveling that far in such cool weather. Your sister is sending Maddock and Paton—two of the other men on the Isle—to see you guys back.”