Lachlan cast his gaze at the waves. “Is that what ye think? Ye think I should marry Martha?”
“Why not? What’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing’s wrong with her.”
Ivy fell silent. Lachlan stood still, but his mind seethed in torment. Martha! Ivy thought he wanted Martha, or that he should marry Martha.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “Of course Martha loves me. Martha would give anything to be my wife. She would indeed give everything to my Clan. I couldnae ask for a better match, but I dinnae want Martha. I never have.”
She spun around to stare at him. Then her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. She already knew what he meant.
He walked up close to her. He kept his voice low, even though no one could hear him. “Ye ken I dinnae want Martha, but if ye want to go back to your own home, tell me now. Ye neednae stay here with all this madness going on.”
She raised her deep big eyes to his face. She knew as well as he did. That charge of electric attraction between them couldn’t be denied. “I couldn’t go back if I wanted to. There’s no way.”
“We’ll find a way.”
“How?” she asked. “It was only an accident that brought me here in the first place.”
He couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her what Kincaid told him. Something held him back. His heart screamed to trust her, to confide in her, to beg her not to go, but something help him back.
What could he say to her—that he was Aegir’s grandson, that his father slept with a Sea Princess? He couldn’t say those words out loud. Saying them might make them true. He could live with them in the realm of fantasy, in some wizard’s fevered dreams. He couldn’t live with them between him and Ivy.
He thought fast to come up with something to say to her. “It’s as I say. Ye have only to decide what ye want to do, and we’ll do it. Ye have only to decide what’ll make ye happy. Ye dinnae concern yourself with Martha or me. What happens between Martha and me is none of your concern, and naught to do with this bother.” He waved his hand over the ocean.
“We’re all gonna die, aren’t we?” she asked. “If I stay here, we will.”
He couldn’t answer that. He often felt the same way, so who was he to argue with her? They both fell into a brooding silence. They watched the ocean heaving in its bed. It complained and groaned in the depths of its soul.
At last, Ivy sighed. “I guess I better go.”
“Where’ll ye go, lassie?” Lachlan asked. “Down there, or somewhere else?”
Ivy jumped. “Down there? You mean, back to Aegir?”
“Is that no’ what ye came out here to do?” he asked. “If it isnae, I’m much mistaken.”
She wilted. “You’re right. I did come out here for that. I thought I could put a stop to all this if I went back and married him.”
“Dinnae do that, lassie,” he exclaimed. “Dinnae do that.”
“But if I stay here, I’ll only put all of you in danger. You know it’s true. If I go back, at least you’ll be safe.”
“I dinnae care,” he blurted out. “I’d rather die.”
She gasped out loud. “Don’t say that!”
“It’s true,” he shot back. “Aw, what’s the use in hiding it any longer? I dinnae want ye going back to Aegir, and I dinnae want ye going back to your own world. Stay here.”
“And put all of you at risk?” she asked. “Is that what you’re really asking me to do? I thought you would want to protect your people at all costs.”
“That’s a cost too high,” he replied. “I searched long and hard for ye, and now you’re here, I’ll no’ give ye up, especially if ye want to stay. Ye have no reason to go if ye dinnae wish to. Stay here. Stay here with….” He broke off.
Her eyes searched his soul. She knew exactly what he was saying. Fear and excitement and sadness all tumbled in a confused swirl in her face. “That would mean…”
He couldn’t hold back. He bent down and kissed her. He pulled away before her lips could catch him. There. He did it. He crossed the barrier and showed her, in no uncertain terms, how he felt about her.
Her eyes sparkled—or was that the sea reflecting the sun off their moist surface? He couldn’t figure out whether she liked it or not, but at least he did it. He no longer had to wonder.
The next instant, some unstoppable magnetic force pulled them together. Nothing could resist that draw. They came at each other at the same time. Their lips locked, and Ivy threw her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the ground in a frenzy of kissing.
He set her feet on the rock. He had to touch her all over before she vanished out of his grasp. He stroked her hair and her cheeks. She rubbed his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. He traced her waist down to her hips. Was she real? Was he really kissing her like this in sight of the ocean from whence she came?
Was Aegir watching right now? Was he seeing his old nemesis kissing the woman he took for a bride? The thought gave Lachlan a perverse thrill. He didn’t care anymore. He threw that and all the other consequences to the wind.
He wanted this woman. He wanted her from the first moment he met her on that hill overlooking the Isle of Jura, and now he had her in his arms. He would never give her up to anyone or anything. He thumbed his nose at fate and all the forces of Nature to get her and keep her.
She vibrated in his hands, all alive and responsive. Her breath caught in her throat when he weaseled his tongue into her mouth. He slid his hands down her back to that round choice ass of hers. He scooped her off her feet and crushed her body against him.
She mewed into his mouth. Her perfumed scent breezed into his nostrils when she exhaled. Her essence shot a lightning bolt of wicked desire to his crotch, and he hardened against her.
All of a sudden, his eyes flew open and he found her staring deep into the center of his being. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He read that in her eyes. If he wanted her, he could take her right here and now.
His desire died within him, and he lowered her to the ground. Her feet touched the rock. “What is it?” she breathed. “What’s the matter?”
How could he explain? He couldn’t kiss her under false pretenses, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. That was asking too much when he only found out the truth himself.
He would rather die than keep anything from her. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She cupped his chin to raise his eyes to her penetrating gaze. “What’s wrong, Lachlan? Tell me.”
He fought her hand to look down at the ground. Looking into those eyes of hers hurt worse than any injury he ever suffered. He shook his head.
She jerked away from him. “There’s something you’re not telling me. It’s Martha, isn’t it? What’s the matter? Are you promised to her or something?”
He turned his back on her. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t kiss her and come that close to possessing her, only to feel her slip through his fingers now. He bent down to gaze into the tidal pool at his feet. Crabs and worms scuttled around on the bottom beneath the clear water.
He had to tell her. He couldn’t want her, and take the steps to get her, if he kept this secret from her. He wanted to love her, and he wanted her to love him. He couldn’t do that if she didn’t know the real him.
“It’s no’ Martha,” he murmured.
She came up behind him. Her nearness infected his being with unstoppable longing. He never yearned for anything like this before. “What is it, then? Please tell me, Lachlan. I need to know.”
“Aye,” he replied. “I ken ye do. It’s like this…”
He bent down to trail his fingers in the pool. The coolness embraced his skin. All of a sudden, that icy chill swept up his arm. In a fraction of a second, it enveloped his whole body and closed over his head. It dragged him into the pool, and the water closed over his head.
Chapter 15
Ivy stared down at the place where Lachlan used to be. She blinked, but she couldn’t get her mind to compre
hend what just happened. She looked through the crystal clear water to the small creatures squirming around on the bottom.
She swallowed hard. “Lachlan?”
The endless hum of the surf answered her. One instant, Lachlan McLean squatted by that pool with his fingers disturbing the water’s surface. The next moment, he vanished.
None of this made sense. He’d been about to tell her something—something important. Now he was gone. What should she do? She couldn’t think of one sensible thing to do. She could run up and down the beach, calling his name. He would still be just as gone.
The fabric of space in front of her still bore the imprint of his square, strong frame. His taste and his touch still clung to her skin. Even now, his kiss lingered on her lips. He wanted her. He loved her, even, and she loved him, but something held them apart.
She knew when she said it that it wasn’t Martha. It was something huge, something dangerous, something mind-blowing. That was the only explanation for why he would vanish like that when he got ready to tell her.
She had to get out of here. She had to get help. She had to do something, she didn’t know what. She spun on her heel and started walking. She marched back to the Tower House and pounded on the door.
Christie opened it. Before he could say a word, she blurted out, “Lachlan disappeared.”
“Disappeared!” he gasped. “Where? When? How?”
She waved her hand. “It happened just now, out there on the beach. I don’t know how. One minute he was there. The next minute, he vanished, just like that.”
Christie opened his mouth and closed it again. Just then, Arch and Clyde turned a corner on their way somewhere. Christie grabbed his brother’s arm. “Lachlan’s vanished.”
“Vanished!” Arch thundered.
“I dinnae ken how,” Christie replied. “He’s gone.”
“Impossible!” Arch bellowed.
“It’s true,” Ivy told him. “I saw it myself. One minute he was standing right in front of me. The next thing, he was gone.”
“What happened?” Clyde asked. “What was he doing when it happened?”
“He was squatting down by a pool of water,” Ivy replied. “He was just about to tell me something, some big secret, and he was worried about it. He said, ‘It’s like this…’ and then it happened. He just went poof! and he was gone.”
Arch rushed around her. “They have taken him. Aegir’s taken him. We must find him and bring him back. Arm, lads, and tumble out.”
A sharp voice cracked across the entrance hall. “You’ll no find him nor bring him back. Leave him.”
Everybody spun around at once. There stood Kincaid in the doorway. His face smoldered black and furious.
“Leave him, ye say!” Arch roared. “I’ll no’ leave him. They have taken him. Is that no’ obvious to your wee brain? We’ll no’ leave him. We’ll track him to the ends of the Earth.”
“They have taken him nowhere,” Kincaid snarled. “No one’s taken him where he didnae want to go himself.”
“That’s impossible,” Ivy exclaimed. “He was in the middle of a sentence. He wouldn’t have just winked out like that if he really wanted to go somewhere.”
“Where could he go?” Christie asked. “His Clan, his work, his whole life is here.”
“No’ his whole life.” Kincaid pushed himself off the door frame. “You’ll no’ find him, so I advise ye no’ to try. Besides, ye have a bigger fish to catch with Aegir attacking again.”
“Again?” Ivy asked. “What do you mean?”
“Ye can forget about Lachlan,” he replied. “Aegir’ll keep ye busy for the next wee while.”
He walked away and left Ivy and the men staring after him. “Glakit wizard,” Arch grumbled.
“I guess that means Aegir will be attacking again soon,” Ivy remarked.
“I dinnae ken why he could tell us that, but he’ll no’ tell us where Lachlan is,” Christie added.
“He probably doesn’t know,” Ivy replied. “That’s probably his arrogant way of deflecting questions he can’t answer.”
“He kens something,” Arch snarled. “I’ll wager my eye teeth on that. He kens something to do with Lachlan disappearing like that, and he’ll no’ tell us.”
“I agree with you,” Ivy said, “but he doesn’t seem all that concerned for Lachlan’s safety. That must mean Lachlan’s all right, wherever he is, and even if he wasn’t, there’d be nothing we could do. If he’s right about Aegir attacking again, we should focus on that.”
“How can we?” Clyde asked. “How can we fight Aegir? From what we have seen, only Kincaid can defeat Aegir.”
“Either way,” Ivy replied, “we have to be ready to defend this place.”
“Forget defending it,” Arch barked. “We should go down the tunnel to the river the way Martha and the others did. Leave this place to the sharks, I say.”
“It wouldnae do no good,” Colin pointed out. “They’d come after us, as long as Ivy was with us, and I dinnae plan to leave her here while we slope off to Duart in safety. Do ye?”
Ivy stared at the men debating their future. “That’s it! Martha!”
She raced out of the room. Christie called after her. “What about Martha?”
Ivy didn’t stop to explain. She ran through the castle. She poked her head into every room until she found Martha in the kitchen. “Martha!”
“What is it, lass?” Martha asked.
Ivy rushed up to her. “Martha! You have to listen to me. Lachlan’s disappeared, but I need you to think about something. This is important.”
“Lachlan—disappeared?” Martha gasped. “How?”
Ivy flapped her hands. “Never mind that. He was about to tell me something, something important, maybe something about you. Can you think what that might have been?”
Martha raised her eyebrows. “There’s naught to tell. Ye ken that yourself, lassie.”
“Please, think about it, Martha. This is serious, and now Kincaid says Aegir is planning another attack. Can you think of anything he might have wanted to tell me about you, maybe something about the two of you, something that would have…?” She broke off. How could she say those words out loud?
“Something that would have what, lass?” Martha asked. “I have told ye all I ken.”
“Something that would have stopped him from loving me,” Ivy blurted out. “You said he hadn’t stopped thinking about me since he found out I was under the ocean. Is there anything you can tell me about him that would have gotten in the way of us…you know, being together?”
Martha blinked. The wheels churned in her mind. “I cannae think on it, lass. I swear it.”
Ivy collapsed on the bench by the table. “I should have known it was no use.”
Martha rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be all right, lass. Wherever he is, he’ll be all right. He always is.”
“This is all my fault,” Ivy moaned. “I never wanted this to happen. I only wanted everyone to be safe and happy.”
“Ye have done your part in it,” Martha replied, “and you’ll do more besides afore this thing is done. Something took Lachlan away, and it wasnae ye, was it now?”
Ivy raised her eyes to Martha’s face. “It wasn’t me, but maybe it happened because of me. Maybe Aegir…”
“Hmm?” Martha prompted.
“We were kissing, all right?” Ivy cried. “We were kissing out there by the beach. Aegir must have seen, and that’s why he took Lachlan away. Lachlan put his hand in the water, and it just happened.”
“If it happened, then it’s no fault of your own,” Martha returned. “That’s between Aegir and Lachlan. What I dinnae understand is why he took Lachlan and no’ ye.”
Ivy gasped. “What did you say?”
“Why would Aegir take Lachlan when he could have taken ye—or both of ye?” Martha asked. “Why only Lachlan? He had ye both within inches of his realm, did he no’?”
“I…I guess he did.”
“He could
have, but he didnae,” Martha pointed out. “To me, it seems it’s no’ Aegir that took him.”
“You’re right!” Ivy exclaimed. “It couldn’t have been, so who was it?”
“Maybe no one,” Martha replied.
Ivy’s head shot up, and her eyes met Martha’s direct gaze. In that moment, Ivy understood the truth. Martha knew something. Martha probably knew more than Kincaid about where Lachlan went, but she wouldn’t tell Ivy. She wouldn’t tell anybody.
That thunderbolt of clarity cast a blazing light over the whole situation. Martha knew, and if she didn’t tell, she had good reason to keep it to herself. Ivy didn’t need to know—not yet. She shouldn’t ask. She should leave it alone in the dark.
She saw Martha for the first time. Tall and brave and clear-headed—Martha might not be a wolf like the McLeans, but she was something else, something mysterious and powerful.
“Martha…” she began.
Martha’s laughter interrupted her. “Come with me, lassie. If we’re to face another assault from those creatures, we must arm ourselves. We cannae count on the lads to do it for us. Come. We have work to do.”
Before Ivy could answer, Martha seized her hand and dragged her out of the kitchen. The more Ivy watched Martha, the more convinced she became that her new friend possessed some hidden quality Ivy didn’t understand.
A normal Highland maid, or even a normal Highland lady, wouldn’t rise to this occasion like Martha had. Martha changed her clothes. She took up a weapon. She transformed into something completely new without missing a heartbeat.
She hauled Ivy out of the kitchen to the entrance hall, where she turned down a staircase Ivy never knew was there. Martha took her down into a dark cellar where a single lantern burned overhead. “Now then,” Martha breathed. “Where to start?”
“What is this place?” Ivy whispered.
Martha took the lantern off its peg and passed it along one wall. “It’s the armory. This is where the lads keep all their weapons. What’ll ye take—a rapier, or an axe, or a dirk? I have got me saber already, so I’ll take a dirk, myself.”
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