The column marched for hours, and Jamie got heavier and heavier. Callum felt his legs starting to give out. He stumbled, and Sadie moved in. “Take a rest. Catch your breath.”
“I’ll stop when we get there,” he muttered back. “If I stop ’ere, I’ll ne’er get him back on.”
He pushed himself forward. Jamie stopped arguing after the first hour or so and rode in silence except for the occasional gasp of pain. Callum ignored that, too—at least he tried to. Why didn’t Sadie understand how her presence made this whole ordeal harder for him? Why couldn’t she just go with Lachlan and leave him alone?
Lachlan’s injury must be worse than Jamie’s. Jamie could afford to lose a leg. He could still fight as a dragon with one leg. Lachlan couldn’t afford to lose his head. The whole party depended on Lachlan.
Callum’s heart spasmed when he thought about Sadie with Lachlan instead of him. He went through his miserable life alone, and when he finally found a woman he wanted, a woman he ached for, she belonged to someone else.
No, if he was going to lose her to someone, it might as well be Lachlan McLean. Callum couldn’t bring himself to envy Lachlan. He admired the young Laird. Of everyone, Lachlan deserved Sadie. They worked together all these weeks to keep the Clan going. They would keep doing it long after Callum went his solitary way and disappeared into nothing.
Once inside the forest, the canopy deepened the twilight. Darkness closed in until Callum spied a light shining through the gloom. He couldn’t feel his legs anymore. He staggered into an open field between high pointed peaks.
A fire blazed in the distance. Callum bent his head and closed his eyes for the last agonizing push. He made it to the fire and lowered Jamie to the ground before he collapsed panting onto the grass.
A cluster of standing stones surrounded the fire. The party circled the blaze. Women worked over their children and the wounded. The cook stirred a pot resting in the coals.
Lachlan strolled over to Callum. He stood next to Sadie, but he addressed his remarks to Callum. “Ye did weel tae bring him all that way. He’s a mite o’ersized tae be trundled aboot like a bairn.”
“I’m no bairn,” Jamie snapped.
Callum looked away. He refused to see Lachlan and Sadie standing side by side right in front of him. “That’s all he’ll e’er be tae me,” he muttered. “I mun’ wrap him up in swaddles and bear him home tae me brother wi’ an apple in his mouth.”
Lachlan laughed. “That’s the spirit.”
Sadie turned to Lachlan. “How’s your neck, Lachlan? Does the bite hurt?”
“It’s naught.” He unwound the bandages and tossed them away. “It’s a bit o’ bother, naught more. Ye’ll see fer yerself.”
Sadie inspected the wound. Two neat punctures marked the skin above the jugular. Other than that, Lachlan was perfectly fine.
“If Jamie’s awright tae travel, we’ll make fer Duart in the mornin’,” Lachlan told Callum. “Get yer rest, fer I’ll no see ye carry the lad all that way. I need ye fightin’. Summat the others can carry him.”
“I can fight on me own,” Jamie chimed in, but no one paid any attention.
Callum flung himself back on the grass. “I’ll no carry him like that again. I’d break meself if I tried, but I had tae get him ’ere afore I quit.”
Lachlan nodded. “Ye mun’ be the ainly one o’ us that could do it. Now rest ye, and we’ll make a plan fer’t in the mornin’.”
He walked away and sat down next to Christie. Sadie squatted down at Callum’s side. “I guess he’s all right. I’m surprised.”
“He’s awright,” Callum replied. “He’s just heavy. That’s all.”
“I meant Lachlan,” she told him. “I always thought the vampire’s bite turned a person into a vampire, but I’ve seen enough since I got here to know it’s not true—it’s not true here, anyways. That bite will heal and he’ll be good as new, as long as we get it disinfected in time. I only wish we had some alcohol now.”
“Weel, we dinnae ha’e it,” Callum snapped. “We mun’ get on our way and forget the rest.”
Her head whipped around, and she stared at him. Then she sighed. “You’re worried about Jamie. I understand.”
He said nothing. He couldn’t look at her. She would never believe he wasn’t worried about Jamie. Jamie’s Urlu blood would deal with his leg. He wouldn’t die like all those McLeans that got ripped open by the vampires.
No, he worried for himself. That’s who really worried him. He couldn’t go on with this situation hanging over his head. The longer she sat at his side, the more the terrible truth hit him between the eyes.
He had to find a way to get away from her. He couldn’t be around a woman and want her as bad as this when he couldn’t have her. He dreaded the day she found out he was an Urlu. He never wanted to see that terrified horror in her eyes.
He couldn’t watch Lachlan touch her and feel happy about it. He would rather never see her again, wish Lachlan well, and leave their two Clans friends and neighbors the way they were before he showed up at the Tower House.
Her hand appeared on his knee. “You should get some food and some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Jamie.”
He glanced across the fire and saw Lachlan watching them. He couldn’t allow this to continue. He had to end it now. He turned his head and fixed his eyes on her. “Ne’er ye mind aboot Jamie. I’ll mind Jamie. Ye concern yerself wi’ Lachlan. He needs ye more than I to.”
Her eyes flew open. “What do you mean? He doesn’t need me at all.”
Callum shrugged. “He wants ye. That’s certain. Ye belaing tae him, and I’ll no make trouble fer ye. Go alaing, and dinnae keep hangin’ aboot me fer all that.”
He knew when he said it he would hurt her. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to drive her away.
“But I thought…,” she stammered, “when you…. on the roof…. what was all that about? Are you telling me it never happened? What did you do it for if you didn’t want….?”
“Oh, it happened,” he replied. “I wish it han’t, but it did and I cinnae take it back. Ye belaing tae Lachlan, though. That’s all there is tae it, so go alaing tae him and dinnae bother aboot me.”
She yanked her hand back. “I do not belong to Lachlan. I don’t belong to anybody. I wouldn’t have kissed you like that if I did. He wants me, but I already told him I didn’t because…” She broke off.
He studied her. He did his best to understand her. “Ye….ye dinnae?”
“No, I don’t, you big dope. What do you think I am? Do you think I would give myself to Lachlan and then do…. that, with you on the roof? Jeez, you’re just as thick-headed as the rest.”
She started to jump up, but he caught her and pulled her down. He murmured low so only she could hear. “Ye dinnae want a mon like me. Do ye hear? Ye dinnae ken what I am or what I belaing tae. Ye want a mon, a real mon, not a…”
“I’ll be the one to decide what I want and who I want,” she hissed back. “Don’t you ever tell me what I want and what I don’t want, ’cuz that’s none of your business, Mister. I have never kissed Lachlan the way we kissed on the roof. Do you get that? I don’t want Lachlan. I don’t want a….” She stopped herself from saying something.
“A what?” he asked. “A Laird, and Chief o’ his Clan. Oh, I ken what a woman wants, and it isnae me. I ken that.”
She looked away with a shake of her head. “You don’t know what he is. You see what everyone else sees. You see what’s on the outside. You don’t see what’s underneath.”
“Neither do you,” he returned. “Ye see what ye want tae see. If ye kenned, ye’d be all too glad tae accept him and forget aboot me.”
She leveled him with ferocious eyes. “I’ll never forget you. You can turn me away, but you can’t stop me remembering. You kissed me, and now you’re turning me away because you think I belong to Lachlan. One of these days, you’re gonna realize.”
She got up and walked away. She vanished into the twilight. Callum passed
his hand across his eyes. He didn’t need this. For the millionth time, he made a solemn vow to get out of here at the first opportunity.
He propped himself back on his elbow when he spied Jamie regarding him. “What do ye want, lad?”
“She’s one o’ ’em, awright.” Jamie remarked.
Callum closed his eyes and sighed. “Aye. She’s one o’ ’em, but it’s no matter. She’ll no come away o’ the McLeans. She’ll marry Lachlan, and there’s the end o’ it.”
“She sounds a mite set against it tae me,” Jamie observed.
Callum shook his head. “He’ll win her, and there’s the end o’ it.”
“Is that the reason ye didnae want tae show yer dragon? Ye dinnae want her tae find out.”
“I didnae want tae show me dragon afore we e’er set foot on McLean land,” Callum reminded him. “She’ll find out one way or the other, as Lachlan kens it. Either way, he’ll ha’e her. He’ll ha’e whate’er he wishes, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Perhaps she’ll like it,” Jamie suggested. “Perhaps she’ll find it intriguin’ the way Elle and Carmen do.”
Callum grunted under his breath. “Not bloody likely.”
He let the conversation die on that note. He stared up at the stars a while, but his thoughts wouldn’t leave him in peace. What if….? Just what if Jamie was right? What if Sadie didn’t mind about him being Urlu? What if she really didn’t like Lachlan and he had a chance to win her himself? Then what?
His eyes migrated across the fire to where Lachlan sat in conference with his brothers and their relatives. Christie rested against one of the standing stones while Arch and Carson flanked Lachlan.
Callum expected to see Sadie there. He didn’t really know what he expected, but she wasn’t there. She didn’t sit at Lachlan’s feet and gaze up at him with adoring eyes. She didn’t sit on his lap where he could touch her and kiss her. She didn’t work over his wounds or Christie’s wounds.
Where was she? What was she thinking about right now? She was thinking how he threw her away. He kissed her and then he pushed her out into the cold. Her words played over in his mind. I have never kissed Lachlan the way we kissed on the roof. Do you get that? I don’t want Lachlan. I don’t want a….
What was she about to say? He studied Lachlan closer. She knew something about him. She knew something that made her turn him down as a suitor. What was it?
You don’t know what he is. You see what everyone else sees. You see what’s on the outside. You don’t see what’s underneath.
He surveyed the McLeans one more time. Now that she told him to look, he saw something hidden under the surface. He couldn’t make out what it was, but it was there. If only he had Fergus’s sight, he could see it. Then he would know what to do.
Whatever it was didn’t strike him as dangerous. It was just there. It gave them all a distinct stamp that bound them together as a family. He saw plenty of families in his life, but this went way beyond physical resemblance.
Arch and Christie looked nothing alike, but they both harbored some secret characteristic under their skin. It made them kindred in more than blood. Callum puzzled over it a long time, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Jamie whistled in his sleep. Callum bent over and felt his brother’s forehead. The boy didn’t sweat or flush with fever. The blood dried around his bandages. He was okay for now, but he couldn’t travel long. Callum had to get him to safety.
Jamie’s injury threw a wrench in Callum’s plans. They would have to wait at Duart Castle, the Clan McLean seat, until Jamie recovered enough to travel. How long would that take?
Callum lurched to his feet and staggered out into the dark. He walked to the edge of the field and emptied his bladder into the bushes. He watched the moonlight play over the standing stones. The spot cast an eerie pall over the landscape.
Those stones definitely spread a blanket of protection over the party. They would shelter the fugitives until morning. Then, when they tried to travel again, all hell would break loose.
Callum stayed outside the circle of stones until he got too cold. He had to go back, but he didn’t want to. Too many questions nagged him. He trusted the McLeans and he liked Lachlan. He didn’t want to trust them when they kept some secret from him.
Didn’t he try to keep his Urlu nature a secret from them? He didn’t want Lachlan to find out, but somehow Lachlan already knew. Well, there was no sense crying over spilt milk.
Why didn’t Callum just bite the bullet and use his power? He and Jamie could wipe those vampires out in a matter of minutes. They could fly the party to Duart in seconds, so why did he hold back?
He did it for Sadie. He didn’t want her to find out, but why? He wouldn’t get her anyway. What difference did it make if she found out?
Something smashed through the bushes on his right. Callum whipped around to see Christie burst through the undergrowth. The boy didn’t see Callum until he almost collided with him.
Christie started back with a cry.
“Wheesht, lad!” Callum exclaimed. “It’s ainly me.”
Christie smacked his lips. “I’m a mess, mon. I keep seein’ those things afore me eyes. I keep waitin’ fer ’em tae strike again.”
“They’ll no strike tonight,” Callum replied. “Ye’re safe fer now, and ye ha’e yer brothers near ye. There’s none o’ us’ll let ’em get ye out ’ere.”
Christie sighed. “I ha’e ye tae thank fer tonight. I’ll no ferget that, mon. Ye can take me word on that.”
“Aw, lad, it was naught. When the time comes, we all o’ us help each other. Ye’ll no face those things withoot the rest o’ us tae defend ye. Wheesht, e’en the lassie defended ye.”
Christie stiffened. “Ye’ll no make a joke out o’ her. I’ll no allow it.”
“It’s no joke,” Callum replied. “Turns out she’s a mite better wi’ a sword than anyone hoped. It’s a shame she wasted so many weeks caring fer the wounded when she could ha’e cleared the land o’ ’em laing ago.”
Christie gazed toward the fire and shook his head. “She’s no wasted anywhere. She’s the prize we’re all fightin’ tae win.”
“Ye!” Callum exclaimed. “Ye’re fightin’ tae win her!”
“I cinnae win her,” Christie murmured. “She has eyes fer none but Lachlan. I’m naught but a lad tae her, and I dinnae ha’e the strength tae win her if I tried. I’d ne’er challenge Lachlan, and if it wasnae him, it would be one o’ the others.”
“One o’ the others?” Callum asked.
“Aye. Dinnae tell me ye ha’e no seen the way the others look at her. Ye ha’e seen her wi’ Blair, but ye ha’e no seen her wi’ Arch, and Clyde, and Alec, and…weel, all o’ ’em.”
Callum shuddered. “What’re ye sayin’, lad? Are ye sayin’ she’s…. she’s courted ’em all?”
“Courted ’em! Ne’er! She ne’er courted anyone. She’s naught but unfailin’ly kind tae one and all, but she owns their hearts. Ye can see it when she speaks tae ’em, or tends their wounds, or…or anything else she does. They worship her. E’ery one o’ ’em does.”
Callum let out a shaky breath. “I can understand why.”
“Och, aye,” Christie exclaimed. “She’s pure gold, that one. If Lachlan doesnae win her, there’s naught but a dozen other hands stretched out tae her. She’ll no see a wee lad right in front o’ her.”
Callum slapped him on the back. “Dinnae concern yerself wi’ that, lad. Ye’ll ha’e yer own lass one o’ these days, and if she doesnae see ye, ye’re better fer’t. She doesnae see me, either. Now come on. We’ll go alaing back tae the fire.”
He escorted the boy back to his brothers, and Callum took his own place next to Jamie. So that was the other side of the story. Every man wanted Sadie, from Lachlan all the way down to humble old Christie.
Of course they wanted her. She was their angel. She took care of them. She saved their lives from the contagion of the vampire’s bite, and when she couldn’t do that, she picked
up a sword and got herself bitten in battle to save them all over again. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want a woman like that?
Okay, he admitted it to himself at last. He wanted her, but he would never get her. She belonged to the McLeans. They loved her. They would never let a stranger take her from them.
Chapter 13
Sadie woke out of a sound sleep to a pop of some stick crackling in the flames. She sat up and looked around the circle. People lay asleep all around her. The McLean brothers snored. She couldn’t see Callum and Jamie on the other side of the fire for all the bodies in the way.
Peaceful slumber draped over the scene. Thank the stars the party found these stones in time. They all needed rest before they faced the vampires again. They might not even make it as far as Duart Castle.
She got to her feet and took a stroll out into the dark. She got far enough away that she could see the stars overhead. How long had it been since she took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to gaze at the stars? She certainly didn’t do it back home. She didn’t get a chance to do it at the Tower House, either. She gave every second of her time to her patients no matter where she was.
She didn’t even do it when she kissed Callum on the roof. That memory still burned a fiery path through her guts. She didn’t care what anybody said or did. She wanted to kiss him, and she would do it again if she got a chance. She liked kissing him. He excited her and attracted her like no other man she ever met.
She skirted the moon-washed fringes where the field met the trees. This country really was beautiful if she could forget the vampires for a few minutes—the vampires and the infection sneaking up on almost everyone in their party. She shivered. She had to find some disinfectant, and fast.
She stopped at the point farthest from the camp. She observed the tiny scene from outside. The fire pierced a bright hole in the night. Black sky and stars dwarfed it to nothing. All those human lives accounted for nothing in the larger context of space and time.
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