No Other Woman (No Other Series)

by Shannon Drake

  He frowned, staring at her peculiarly. "You don't think that my nights are well spent?"

  "We've both just agreed that Miss Connor is exceptional."

  "So we have." He arched a brow. "Ah, my dear Lady MacGinnis? Could you be... jealous?"

  "Certainly not. I seek some other poor damsel for you to plague."

  He came to her. She found herself backed all the way against the wall. He lifted her chin, meeting her eyes.

  "Not jealous, eh?"

  "Never. Although..."

  "Aye?"

  "It easily might have been," she murmured softly. "Your brother's sister-in-law is a very lovely young woman."

  "Very lovely indeed."

  "So then... who knows what might have been."

  "Had she not had a lover—and I not had you?"

  "Are you so certain that you have me?"

  "I am certain only of the past, m'lady. Who knows what might have been had our lives been different. The lovely young Miss Connor has her past, and I have my own."

  "The past, Laird Douglas. What of the future?"

  "What can one know of the future when we must first survive the present?"

  He stared at her, the expression in his eyes demanding, and provocative.

  Yet then, even David was taken by surprise, for the door suddenly burst open when he was completely unprepared.

  Totally exposed.

  It was Skylar who had come upon them, anxious and upset—yet still with the presence of mind to close the door swiftly once she had entered.

  "Edwina, the woman from the tavern, is here, with your great-uncle. She's very upset. She's come about some very unpleasant dreams, and... oh, God!" Skylar buried her face in her hands.

  David walked to her quickly, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Skylar, Edwina often has dreams, but you shouldn't be upset, she comes to warn people so that they can be careful when she feels they are in danger."

  "No, no," Skylar moaned, blinking back tears. "She came because she was worried about Sabrina and—"

  "And?" Shawna said worriedly.

  "I can't find Sabrina! I went to get her to talk to Edwina, and I couldn't find her anywhere!"

  "Skylar! We'll find her. She's an independent young woman with—with a lot on her mind," Shawna said, trying to be reassuring. But she was concerned herself. "Sabrina is not a part of whatever nonsense is going on here. We'll find her. I'm sure she's fine."

  "I'm afraid not," Skylar whispered. "Edwina is certain that—"

  "Certain that what?" David asked hoarsely.

  "That Sabrina has met with some evil!" Sabrina said.

  "Why should she be so certain?" Shawna queried, a sinking feeling wrapping about her heart.

  "Because," Sabrina said, hesitating just briefly, "because Sabrina was somehow woven into her dream. She appeared as an angel in Edwina's dream, whispering to her."

  "And saying?" David demanded.

  Skylar moistened her lips to speak. "Saying that the charred corpse of David Douglas has come to life, and walks the earth. Seeking vengeance. And that, in a reign of death, he shall have it."

  Chapter 14

  Shawna wound up searching through Castle MacGinnis with her great-uncle Lowell and Aidan. Since Castle MacGinnis was far smaller than Castle Rock, it had been involved in far less political maneuvering throughout the years than the Douglas stronghold at Craig Rock. While Lowell methodically went room by room through the ground floor and the crypts beneath, Shawna searched the upstairs rooms and turrets with Aidan.

  Working the main turret in a circular fashion, Shawna met up with Aidan in Castle MacGinnis's master's chambers, composed of an office area with desk and file drawers beneath one of the great windows, bedchamber, library area, and dressing room. Aidan looked beneath the desk while Shawna searched the wardrobes.

  "This is madness," Aidan said with exasperation at last. "Why would she come here?"

  "I don't know, but she must be somewhere," Shawna replied, equally frustrated. "Either that, or Edwina is right, and she has met with some terrible fate, but even if that is so..." she began, her voice trailing away with a catch.

  "Even then, we should find her body, is that what you mean?"

  "No, of course not!" Shawna cried. She sank to the floor, staring at Aidan. "Oh, God, Aidan, I pray so desperately that nothing has happened to her!"

  "We're searching the wrong place."

  "Maybe not."

  "Why would she come to Castle MacGinnis?" Aidan demanded.

  Shawna hesitated. "I don't know. I did show the place to her when we went riding. Maybe she needed to get away from her family. I mean, we all need to get away at times, right?"

  "She could get away at Castle Rock."

  "Who knows what she might have been thinking—or feeling. Maybe she wanted to get away from the Douglas household. This remains the MacGinnis stronghold."

  "That it does," Aidan muttered, and she thought there was a note of bitterness in his tone.

  "Is something wrong, Aidan?" she asked quietly. "I had thought that Gawain was the only one really bitter about the return of the Douglas."

  "Should we be bitter?" Aidan asked, his handsome features curled into a wry grin as he sat by her, his back against the bed. "Let's see, the Douglases hold the choice land and we work it to reap the benefits for others. We tend their cattle, collect their rents, and give them the larger portion of the proceeds from the mines at every turn."

  "Most of their income from the mines is turned back into the property."

  "We are little but tenants here, no better than the Andersons."

  "How can you say that? We do hold our own property."

  "Well, you are Lady MacGinnis."

  "If you're angry with me for that, Aidan—"

  He exhaled a long, weary sigh. "I'm not angry with you for anything, and in truth, all I begrudge Laird Douglas is America."

  "What?" Shawna said, stunned.

  "I want to leave," he told her. "I want to see the wild American West, I want to see massive herds of buffalo on the plain, I want to be a part of a new world."

  "Dear God, Aidan, I'd had no idea—"

  "No one does."

  "But why don't you go to America?"

  "Because my father is old, and I am all that he has."

  "But Gawain is here, and Alaric and Alistair. And I would look after him, Aidan—"

  "It isn't the same."

  "But—"

  "It isn't the same, and that's that. My father is bound to the land, to tradition. Maybe, if I've any youth left once he has passed on..."

  "You could go with Hawk Douglas when he returns home," Shawna said firmly.

  "Are we so sure that Laird Douglas will return home?"

  "Of course. His interests lie with the Sioux people, and there is terrible trouble brewing in America. He—he will go home. And pray God, he will go home with his sister-in-law!"

  Aidan squeezed her hand. "She is not in Castle MacGinnis, but we will find her. And Hawk will go home with his wife and his sister-in-law, but will he sell us his property?" Aidan queried.

  "I—I don't know," Shawna faltered, looking downward. "But if he does," she said quickly, "you could go to America with him. Just for a visit. Surely, you could trust me with your father so long!"

  Aidan smiled, and Shawna was startled to realize the wealth of dreams which had taken root and flourished within him when she had thought him so determined and responsible a man, dedicated to his own homeland and property.

  "Surely, I could trust Father with you! Though why we are so passionate to create our dynasties, I don't know. Look how fertile they were in days past, yet now Alaric and I have passed thirty, Alistair will not remain long in his twenties, and even you, dear Shawna, are certainly well into marriageable age—yet not one of us has procreated to keep this great property we fight for in the family!"

  "I think all of Craig Rock would have to die out to rid the place of Douglas and MacGinnis blood," Shawna said "Aye, that
's true enough." He gazed at her curiously. "Tell me, has cousin Alistair been playing fast and loose with the Anderson clan? The lad you've taken in at Castle Rock bears a strong resemblance to the family."

  "Alistair claims innocence. You've taken me quite by surprise with your dreaming, Aidan. Perhaps you're simply more discreet with your affairs?"

  "How politely put, cousin! Nay, the lad's not mine, and though the Anderson lasses be fair enough, their father is a warthog, and I'd have nothing to do with the likes of any related to him."

  Shawna came to her feet, reaching down a hand to Aidan. "We're forgetting, Sabrina is missing."

  "She's not here, not at Castle MacGinnis." He accepted her hand and stood, but then stared down at her with serious concern. "Shawna, you're always defending the ways of others. Highlanders should go kilted when we choose, and in Prince Albert's more somber and gentlemanly apparel if we so choose as well. Presbyterians should leave Catholics alone, and those who damned well wish it should worship at the Anglican Church. And those who adhere to the Wicca should practice their witchcraft. But perhaps their practices are not so benign as you want to believe. Perhaps witches became associated with devil worship for good reason. Perhaps Edwina's own clan of witches has done the lass in, required her for some sacrifice."

  "Aidan! Don't even suggest such a thing!"

  He shrugged unhappily. "We're about to celebrate the Night of the Moon Maiden. Maybe there's more to their ancient celebration of the event than we've suspected in recent years."

  "Aidan! You cannot believe that!"

  "I don't know what I believe," Aidan told her. He shook his head tiredly. "She's simply disappeared. With no clue at all."

  Shawna turned away from him suddenly. Perhaps there was a clue, yet she didn't dare speak of it now, to Aidan. Her handkerchief had been found in the chapel, laden with chloroform. Someone had taken her handkerchief, soaked it in the drug.

  Someone had seized hold of her in the tunnels, and that same person—or persons—had seized hold of Sabrina as well.

  "Events have grown quite strange around here in the last few days," Aidan continued. "The cave-in, the boy disappearing in the shaft... reappearing and speaking about a beast saving him. The arrival of the great Laird Douglas from America."

  Events were far stranger than Aidan knew.

  At the bottom of the loch lay a dead man, weighted down to disappear, as enemies of the Highlands had been weighted down to feed the water creatures for centuries.

  And strangest of all, Laird David Douglas lived, hiding out within the walls of his castle, in the caves beneath the ground. Five years ago, someone had attempted to kill him, but another man had been burned, and David had somehow miraculously escaped....

  She kept far too many secrets. From her own blood.

  She looked down at her hands. She had no choice.

  "Something bad has happened to Sabrina, and that's surely a fact," Shawna said. "We must find her."

  "Then again, perhaps she has run off. Perhaps she found love, and ran away."

  "Not Sabrina."

  "Don't fool yourself, cousin. Every woman can fall prey to the sins of the flesh."

  The way that he stared at her brought a flush to her cheeks, and she was suddenly anxious to move again. And she knew—as no one else did, except for David!—that Sabrina had a great deal on her mind.

  But Sabrina hadn't just irresponsibly disappeared. Shawna was certain of it.

  "Let's get your father, and head back to Castle Rock."

  "As you wish, Lady MacGinnis," Aidan said, bowing slightly, and for just the slightest second, she was afraid.

  Of her own cousin. Of her own blood.

  * * *

  "There are far more underground tunnels than those of which I am aware," David said. He'd met his brother in the mine shaft where the cave-in had taken place, where lines were up for the miners not to cross back into dangerous territory. Hawk was deeply concerned about his sister-in-law, yet he was trying very hard to search for her with his mind focused, not allowing his emotions to cloud his thoughts. David spoke to him about the recent events that had taken place as they searched the mines for Sabrina.

  "I brought the lad through the water the other day here—" David said, hunkering down and pointed to where the very narrow shaft gave way to a tunnel below. "It was flooded then, but the distance was short enough, and he's a terribly bright little lad."

  "I would imagine," Hawk commented, coming down on the balls of his feet at his brother's side. Staring through the hole he murmured, "He looks like a MacGinnis."

  "Aye, that he does," David agreed. He sat back for a moment. "I have the feeling Shawna must believe one of her cousins fathered the wee lad, the way she was so determined to take him in. Then again, he possesses quite a bit of charm, and perhaps she needed no reason to seek to take him in. I was quite taken by the lad myself, and whatever happens here, I'm glad the boy will be safe out of the mines, and working at the castle."

  "So Castle Rock itself should be safe enough?" Hawk queried.

  David shrugged. "I've access to nearly every room within it. There are peepholes in the tunnels beyond the walls. I can see and hear what goes on within the castle, and whatever evil is at play there, I don't think much goes on within the walls. Whoever seeks to do away with our family tries hard to do so by natural means—to all appearances. Sabrina was outside of the castle when she was taken."

  "You're certain?"

  David hesitated. He hadn't told Hawk about Shawna's handkerchief because he hadn't wanted Skylar to know about it. He and Hawk had tried to convince Skylar that Sabrina had gone riding, and lost track of time and her sense of responsibility. Now he told his brother, "I found a handkerchief soaked in chloroform—one of Shawna's—in the chapel. But I don't think that she was taken from the chapel. The handkerchief was all balled up as if it had fallen from a pocket."

  "Surely, you don't think that Shawna actually drugged and kidnapped Sabrina?"

  "Of course not."

  "Good, since that probably exonerates Shawna from any evil designs upon me in the tunnels, doesn't it?"

  David scowled, then shrugged. "Fine, if Shawna is such an innocent, then what is going on, and who in God's name is she trying to protect?"

  "Perhaps she isn't protecting anyone."

  "She isn't telling me everything."

  "Have you told her everything?"

  "I don't talk about the years I lost," David said bitterly. "They are best forgotten. They—"

  He broke off suddenly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at his brother.

  They had both heard the sound. A strange, quick sound, a creaking sound. David drew a finger to his lips and made a motion to Hawk.

  It looked as if there was nothing more than a break in the rock wall of the tunnel to their left. As if the cave-in had created a crack. Yet, as David moved around, he could see that the thin break in the rock was complete—and that a man could slip through it. And seeing how the Highland cliffs here were filled with caverns and tunnels, it seemed likely that they might find another extension of the tunnels through the crack.

  They approached the break from opposite sides, David reaching it just before Hawk. As he came to the break, he heard movement, and swiftly, if somewhat recklessly, crawled through the opening, expecting to fall under attack at any moment.

  But whoever watched them, and listened to them, did not intend to attack.

  The watcher sought only to run.

  "Hurry!" David cried to his brother, entering into a cavern where he found himself in total darkness, but hearing now the steady thud of footfalls upon the earth as the watcher tried to escape.

  Trying to adapt to the blackness, David followed fleetly, trusting the earth beneath his feet since he had heard the footfalls upon it just seconds before.

  He heard his brother behind him as he closed in on the runner. He catapulted himself forward, his arms thrust out in the blackness.

  Encircling a body.

>   They plowed to the earth together. David drew his knife from the sheath at his calf just as Hawk struck a match against the wall, illuminating the cave.

  "Sweet Jesu, you!" David thundered down at the face below him.

  "You are alive!" the watcher said in astonishment, heedless of the blade beneath his nose.

  "Aye, and anxious to know what goes on—and where the lass may be!" David said angrily.

  "Let me up. I pose no danger to you."

  David glanced at his brother. Hawk's barely perceptible nod assured him that it would be unlikely that the man could take them both by surprise and escape them.

  "All right, MacGinnis," David said. "Get up. And explain why in God's name you are spying upon me."

  "Aye, Douglas, I shall do so. If you will promise to explain to me why you wish to make us all think you haunt us when you are a flesh-and-blood man!"

  "Let's make these explanations swift," Hawk said softly. "Remember, we still seek Sabrina—unless, MacGinnis, you know where she might be."

  "I seek her myself."

  "And I seek the truth," David said flatly.

  "I'll give you what I have of it."

  * * *

  By late afternoon, all of Craig Rock had been turned upside down, and no trace of Sabrina had been found. Constable Clark had come up from the city, but he had been less concerned than the people of Craig Rock, for he was quite convinced that young women frequently disappeared from small villages at whim, since he'd had a daughter himself who had run off to see the world. He spoke with Shawna, Gawain, Hawk, and Skylar in the great hall at Castle Rock, taking information from Skylar and trying to assure her that Sabrina was most probably quite fine and off on some lark while his own two men continued to search the property and the area beyond with Lowell, Aidan, Alaric, and Alistair.

  As the day had passed, Shawna felt a greater and greater sense of dismay.

  David had assured her that he would cover Castle Rock on his own search—slipping through all those secret corridors and stairways that were unknown to the others. He had apparently found nothing. While she and Aidan had searched Castle MacGinnis, the others had scoured the village, the mines, the fields, the stables, and more.