Morna's Legacy 04 - Love Beyond Measure

by Bethany Claire

  I nodded, sniffling as I tried to keep from crying again. “I just need him back.”

  “I know. Let’s go to him, aye?”

  I wanted to leave immediately, to let Morna spell me and send me hurtling back through time toward my son, but I couldn’t get Eoghanan’s wound out of my mind.

  “Eoghanan, Morna said that she’d slowly been building your strength to travel back, that the time between now and your home was too far for you yet. What does that mean? It’s your skin, isn’t it? It’s still not healed well enough.”

  “Aye, but I’ll do me best to survive it. The first time Morna sent me back, she sent me to the park where I saw ye and Cooper. When she pulled me back here, me wound split open and bled verra badly.”

  “Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Nope. Sorry.” I pulled away, opening the door and leaving to search for Morna. I spoke as he followed me. “There is no way in hell that I am letting you go back with me. The park wasn’t that long ago. What do you think will happen to you if you’re sent back multiple centuries?”

  “I doona care. I willna allow ye to go without me.” He grabbed my arm and spun me toward him, gripping me tightly.

  “You won’t allow me?”

  “No, and Morna willna allow it either.”

  Jerking away from him, I called for her. “Morna, I’m ready to go. Eoghanan is staying here.”

  “No. I willna do it, lass.” He wasn’t screaming like I was; he said it quietly, calmly, completely unflustered by the possibility of his imminent death.

  “He’s right. I willna spell ye back unless he goes with ye.” Morna appeared suddenly in the hallway, spools of medicinal cloth in her arms.

  “What if it kills him? What is all that for?”

  Morna shook her head, clearly annoyed, and held them up in Eoghanan’s direction.

  “Ye must think that I am no a verra good witch. I willna let the lad die. Now. Come with me.”

  “How would I know what kind of witch you are? I didn’t even know witches actually existed until today.”

  She ignored me, instead leading us into Eoghanan’s room where she’d stripped the bed of its blankets, leaving only a sheet. “Eoghanan, strip yer clothes. I will bind ye up so that when the scar rips open, at least it will be held in place when ye come back together.” She glanced over at me briefly. “Give him some privacy, unless ye wish to see every inch of him.”

  Eoghanan laughed, “She’s already seen me. Still,” he winked at me, “perhaps ye might want to step out just a moment.”

  *

  Morna called me back inside nearly thirty minutes later. No matter how un-funny the situation, the sight of Eoghanan wrapped up like a mummy had Morna smiling with unexpressed laughter.

  “What’s the matter with the both of you? You don’t even know if this is going to work.”

  “Doona worry, it will work. I’ve made a special salve to place upon it. As long as the bandages are no removed for a few days, it should do the trick. ’Tis something I could have done to him much earlier, but he needed to remain here a while longer, even if he dinna know it at the time.”

  “Why’s that?” Everyone—Eoghanan, Cooper, Jeffrey—they all seemed to adore Morna. I wasn’t quite there yet. She was too cryptic and had a penchant for meddling that had turned everything I thought I knew about the world, and my own life, upside down.

  “If he’d left when he could’ve, he wouldna have met ye, lass. At least thank me for that, for whether ye are ready to say it yet or no, ye know well enough that the two of ye are a fine match.”

  I couldn’t very well argue with that. She was right, but it still left me feeling awkward and shy. I fumbled for something else to say. “Why didn’t you just stitch him?”

  “I am a witch, no a seamstress. I’m too squeamish to go about sewing him up from head to toe. Are ye ready?”

  She didn’t wait for me to answer, moving quickly on from the end of her question to muttering words I couldn’t understand.

  Eoghanan reached for my hand. I took it gladly as pain started to radiate through my body.

  “Doona let go, lass. ’Twill all be over soon.”

  Chapter 22

  McMillan Castle

  1647

  “Mooommmm…Moooommmm…”

  Some part of my brain registered the word, drawn out as if it were in a song each time. My head ached something dreadful, and I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing an hour ago or where I was now.

  I racked my brain for the answer. When it came to me I threw myself forward, opening my eyes as he pounced on me, throwing his little arms around my neck. “Cooper!” The movement jarred my head. With my arms still wrapped around him, I grabbed my forehead, willing the throbbing to stop.

  “Aye, I havena experienced it meself, but me wife says the ache in yer head is the worst part. At least ye dinna land in the pond.” I opened my eyes to see a man slightly taller than Eoghanan, clad in a kilt, with dark hair and brooding eyes in front of me.

  Eoghanan sat up next to me. Blood seeped through the cloth wound around him. “I doona wish to argue with ye, but ’tis no me head that hurts.”

  I shifted, swinging Cooper’s weight onto my side so that I could lean over and check on him. “You are a stupid, stupid man. You should not have come.”

  “’Tis no nearly as bad as I expected, lass. Morna said it might bleed a little.”

  He struggled to stand, and the tall man reached out a hand to assist him. Once he was standing, I could see that he was right. He only bled a little.

  My nerves relaxed and I stood up, Cooper still clinging to my hip.

  “Are you okay?” I reached up and brushed his hair back, examining his head for apparent injury, just like every mom in every TV movie did when she found her missing child. I realized that it was a pointless gesture and stopped, settling instead for planting a big kiss on the top of his head.

  “Yeah, Mom, I’m awesome! Everything is lit by candles, and I got to pee in a bucket! Even the bathtub is just a big old bucket that they carry into your room. I only wish that they had dragons. I really thought there would be some here.” His voice drifted a little as he reflected on his disappointment.

  I heard footsteps approaching and another voice joined the conversation. I turned to see Jeffrey walking along with a stunning red head, her belly swollen with the later months of pregnancy. I moved to hug Jeffrey as she spoke to me.

  “You must be Grace. I’m Mitsy.” She extended a hand, which I took, and she continued. “I have some ibuprofen for your head that should help. I know it’s got to be hurting you. The time travel thing is a bitch.” She quickly glanced down at Cooper who snorted slightly at the word. She began apologizing profusely. “Gosh, I’m sorry. I have a tendency to speak without thinking.” She patted her stomach. “Poor kid. I am so not ready for this.”

  The man who stood next to Eoghanan, the man whose name I still didn’t know, reached over to grab the woman’s hand, pulling her into him. “No one is ever ready, but ye will be a wonderful mother.”

  “He’s very right. You can’t be ready, not really, until the baby is here. Even then, you’re just learning as you go. Um…you have ibruprofen?”

  Mitsy laughed, nodding excitedly. “Yes, Morna often sends modern-ish things to Conall Castle for Bri, and I grabbed some the last time I was there.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t know who Bri was, but I didn’t ask.

  “Grace.” Eoghanan stepped closer to me, placing a hand on the small of my back. “This is me brother, Baodan. He is Laird here at McMillan Castle, and ye have already met Mitsy, for she has better manners and has already introduced herself.”

  Mitsy laughed and threw her arms around Eoghanan. She clung to him despite his bandages, and he gladly embraced her. I could sense the strong friendship between them. I expected that their relationship was part of the reason he’d not questioned my relationship with Jeffrey once he’d calmed down and allowed me to explain it to him.

  �
��I’m so glad you’re back, E-o.” Her voice was soft and near cracking, but she held back her tears.

  She’d called him E-o, just like Cooper, and I realized that Mitsy was the beloved ‘girlfriend’ he’d mentioned. I really needed to teach him the definition of that word.

  “I’ve been so worried about you. I mean, I trusted Morna to take care of you, but…I still can’t believe you did that. You’re a stupid, stupid man.”

  Eoghanan laughed loudly, prying Mitsy off of him. “I doona think I like that word. I’ve been called it too many times today.”

  “What did he do?” My question seemed to interrupt their moment a little, but I wanted to know. In this time, a sword injury made much more sense, but Eoghanan’s previous description of the event had been much too vague.

  “Oh,” Mitsy gave Eoghanan a look that said she was surprised I didn’t already know. “Their brother was a crazy sociopath who murdered anyone who inconvenienced him. He tried to do the same to me, but Eoghanan jumped in the way of the sword. Then I killed the bastard.” She looked at Cooper apologetically once again. “Sorry.”

  Cooper waved a hand dismissively. He’d heard his Grandfather curse plenty.

  “Oh.” I was saying that word a lot lately. She’d explained it only a fraction better than Eoghanan, and it did nothing to satisfy my curiosity. I looked over in Eoghanan’s direction and decided further probing could wait. He’d wilted a bit and now stood leaning harshly onto his left foot. He looked like he might fall over at any moment.

  Cooper must have noticed the same thing, and he squirmed in my arms so that I would set him down. He ran over to Eoghanan’s side, leaning against his left leg as if trying to prop him up. “Hey, you don’t look so good, E-o. You alright?”

  Eoghanan placed a hand on the top of Cooper’s head. He tried to smile at him, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He started to grow paler with each passing second.

  “I’m verra tired. I think we should go inside. Baodan, would ye help me to me chambers?”

  Baodan was at his side in an instant, propping him up against his shoulder. Baodan smiled back at his wife—a silent conversation where I was sure he’d asked her to see to the rest of us. Once Baodan and Eoghanan were inside the castle, Mitsy spoke.

  “You’re lucky you got an explanation before you showed up here. Jeffrey had a bit of a meltdown.”

  “I did not.” He attempted to argue, but his eyes were still glazed over with lingering shock.

  Mitsy nodded. “Definite meltdown,” she mouthed the words silently to me, smiling before speaking aloud once again. “Anyway, once we got him settled down, he and Cooper spent most of the night exploring the place. I think they’ll be fine if we leave them on their own. I’m in desperate need of some modern-day girl talk.”

  Chapter 23

  “Hey, stranger.” I stepped inside Eoghanan’s chamber for the first time, three days after we’d arrived. I’d kept my distance hoping that without a distraction, he’d be more apt to stay in bed and rest.

  At least, this is the reason I told myself so I wouldn’t feel guilty. Truthfully, I’d taken advantage of his need to rest by giving myself time to think.

  All of it was true—the fact that Morna was a witch, her ability to send those she wished hurtling through time—I could no longer deny any of it. And now, I had to accept what that meant.

  Nothing more could ever happen between Eoghanan and me.

  I’d hoped that a few days away from him would allow me to gain some perspective. That after wandering around the castle and observing all of the strange differences between this time and my own that I would feel out of place, ready to return home.

  I didn’t feel that way at all.

  I loved it here—the simplicity, the inaccessibility of it. I knew if it was only myself I could stay here forever. All of the castle, as well as Eoghanan’s family, could not be more warm and kind. Accustomed to strange, time-traveling Americans, due to Mitsy and Bri who I’d yet to meet, we’d settled in quite nicely among them.

  Cooper seemed to love it as well. He used the castle as a sort of massive playground, determined to discover every secret nook and passageway. Jeffrey, I thought, looked at it as a vacation. After years of working the grind of a law firm, he reveled in being able to do what he considered “manly” tasks like horseback riding and learning how to shoot an arrow.

  Still, it was easy for them to enjoy the changes for a short amount of time, an impossibility to ask them to do it forever.

  I’d set my mind to speaking to Eoghanan about this, to explaining to him that the three of us would need to return home soon. I walked into his room and, after greeting him, took in the droopy, glazed, plastered look on his face.

  “Grace, lass.” He said my name slowly. He was drunk, I could tell by his droopy eyes, but he wasn’t so drunk yet that he’d lost his concern for his own behavior. He didn’t want me to know that he was drunk.

  “I apologize for this, lass. ’Tis me own doing, not his.”

  It was Baodan’s voice, and I turned toward it. “Why?”

  “’Tis time to remove his bandages, but the blood has dried the cloth to him. When I went to remove the bandages from the side of his face…” he paused, “I doona think he screamed like that when the blade tore through him. I thought it best to give him something to dull the pain so that the rest of the removal may not be so painful.”

  “Ah, good idea. Do you need me to leave? I can come back later.”

  “No, doona leave, Grace.” Eoghanan called to me, swinging his feet over the side of the bed to try and stand. “I’d like for ye to remove them from me.”

  Baodan gave me no chance to answer him, moving across the room to push his brother back down on the bed. “Ye doona truly wish that lad. When ye are sober, ye will regret asking it of her.”

  Eoghanan persisted. “Aye, I do wish it. I am no all that drunk, Baodan. Now, leave us be.”

  Baodan retreated from Eoghanan’s side, but lingered in front of me a moment, a question in his eyes.

  “I don’t mind. Really, we’ll be fine.”

  Nodding once, Baodan left, closing the door behind him. As I walked toward Eoghanan, he smiled a lazy smile that made my insides flutter. I’d yet to see such an unrestrained grin from him. He usually thought too much to appear this relaxed. It was an incredibly endearing look.

  I had a sneaking suspicion the conversation I needed to have with him wouldn’t happen today.

  “Are you sure you want me to do this? I’m not really qualified. I’m not a witch or a nurse, so…”

  I now stood right next to his bed, and he reached up and pulled me down so that I sat on its edge. “Aye, lass. Yer hands will be far more gentle than me brother’s.”

  “Okay,” I ran my fingertips over the exposed scar that ran down the side of his face. Whatever Morna had placed upon it had altered the skin completely. Only days before the line had been red, angry, relatively new. Now its shade was a close match to the rest of his skin and had the look of a much older scar. It had healed as much as it ever would. “It looks so much better, Eoghanan.”

  “Aye?”

  I couldn’t tell if he’d heard a word I said. His eyes were closed, and he was enjoying the feel of my fingertips as they trailed his face. When they reached the base of his neck where the remaining wrap started, he grabbed my hand, bringing it up to his lips and kissed my palm.

  “I love yer hands, lass, and the way ye make me feel when ye touch me. Do ye remember when ye cut me hair?” His words were slow, slightly slurred, and incredibly sexy.

  “Yes, I do. What about it?”

  He still gripped my hand, trailing slow kisses up my arm as he spoke. “All I could think of was what these hands of yers would feel like digging into me shoulders as I claimed ye, pushing meself deeper and deeper inside ye. How ye would shudder beneath me…”

  “Okay…” I jerked away, standing up as fast as I could, doing a strange little dance where I shook out my hands and hopped fr
om foot to foot to clear my head and the disastrous thoughts that were flooding it as he spoke. “I think you are further into the bottle than you think, mister. Whether you thought it or not, you would never say that out loud to me sober.”

  He smiled, getting up from the bed so that he stood in front of me, smiling that same lazy grin. “Aye, mayhap so, Grace, though every word is the truth.”

  For the moment I was glad that the majority of his body was still wrapped up tightly, but I was about to have to unwrap him like some sort of man candy present, and if he didn’t stop talking, I worried I might jump him and beg him to do to me just exactly what he’d imagined.

  “Are you ready to get started?” I didn’t allow him the chance to answer, gripping the top of the fabric near his neck, tugging to test out just how tightly it was bound. “Does that hurt?”

  “No, no in the way that me face did.”

  I nodded, continuing to pull at the bandage, “Good. I’m going to keep going then.”

  He said nothing. For the following minutes I worked quietly, pulling and then reaching around him to gather the fabric, repeating the motion over and over. He didn’t scream, didn’t wince, he simply watched me so intently that tension began to build quite evidently in the room. Each time I leaned forward to wind the cloth around his back, I was tempted to linger.

  I wanted nothing more than for him to grab me, kiss me, and take me to his bed, but my rational mind told me to keep to my work. No matter how much I wanted to tell that rational voice in my head to go hang, I inevitably had to leave here; it would be foolish to complicate things further.

  “Where have ye been, Grace?”

  The question caught me off guard. Despite the fact that I feigned ignorance, I knew exactly what he meant. “What do you mean? I’ve been right here.”