CHAPTER NINE
–Willow–
NOTHING WAS STRANGER than when I woke up outside Sutherland Castle because I felt like a ghost with one foot in reality and one foot in the Morrow. Or so I assumed because I could see everyone else clearly, but they couldn’t see me. Well, except for Sloan.
Even so, I was surprised he wanted me to stay close when I could end up being thrust out of the Morrow at any time, just like he was, while Dugal Sutherland and his mother, Elspet, paraded down to my willow with him in tow.
Surprised but okay with it because again, I liked being close to Sloan, even in this strange in-between place where I found myself.
Not just that, but I knew without a doubt he would protect me from Dugal, who was tall and broad-shouldered like Sloan but scary dark somehow, and Elspet, with her tightly tied silver hair and beady black eyes, so sinister she made my skin crawl.
I felt comforted by Sloan's presence until the last thing I expected appeared, and I feared his reaction when he found out. Feared he might do something to get himself killed because the way Dugal looked at him with stormy gray, piercing eyes was truly frightening.
Especially now the mark had appeared on him, of all people…again.
I assured Sloan I was still in the Morrow as Dugal stared him down, and had no choice but to tell him what he desperately needed to know. I had no choice but to voice it because I couldn’t risk Sloan looking at me and revealing my presence if I showed him.
“I’ve got it too, Sloan,” I said gently, doing my best to bank my fear because I knew exactly what kind of man Dugal was and saw the hatred in his eyes. “When Dugal touched the willow tree and his tattoo appeared, mine did too.”
“Bloody hell,” he cursed into my mind, but kept his eyes locked with Dugal’s and his expression calm, proving he was cool under fire, yet I heard the emotion in his brogue.
“Dinnae remain close to me after all, Willow. Ye should get as far away from me and this lot as ye can. Go back to MacLeod Castle for now. Anywhere but here.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Not that I knew how to transport myself somewhere else within the unraveling spell, anyway.
“Leaving you alone with these two isn’t an option.
” Not after the way they glared at him with such hate.
“I know they’ve assured the king they can be trusted, but I’m certain they can’t be.
Your instincts to keep me close were right. ”
I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I did.
Nonetheless, I would never abandon him here or anywhere else, for that matter.
Much less let him out of my sight. And we were in luck because for the first time ever, I could approach a castle rather than admire it from afar.
So I followed when they led him back to Sutherland Castle despite his grumblings for me to remain safe.
Granted, it was strange walking over the drawbridge and beneath the portcullises into a bustling courtyard without anyone knowing I was there, but at the same time, it was pretty incredible.
It was late afternoon now and busy with warriors passing by on horseback and people selling wares from carts, yet somehow things felt subdued in a way I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
If anything, I sensed the same unease I’d felt since finding out about my mom’s ring.
I tried not to think about that right now, though, given I wore the same mark as Dugal, and his was the first castle in medieval Scotland I could enter, hinting that the unraveling spell had literally led me to his doorstep.
I knew Sloan was connecting all those dots, too, despite his calm expression.
“See him back to his chambers,” Elspet spat at a guardsman, gesturing loosely in Sloan’s direction. “We will summon him later to talk business.”
“What does she mean by that?” I wondered, walking beside him through the front door into an impressive great hall full of tapestries depicting nature and animals, which, honestly, didn’t do much for me.
“I dinnae know as there is no business to attend until your arrival.”
“Right, that,” I muttered, dreading my first shift. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”
“Nor I,” he replied, as we followed the guardsman up a set of stairs that ran along the back wall leading to a long, narrow corridor. “Whatever happens, I willnae let him have you, Willow. You have my word.”
While I appreciated him saying it, we both knew he might have no choice. Otherwise, there would be war between the clans, with the MacLeods on the wrong side.
“Then we will be on the wrong side,” Sloan vowed, his inner tone so thick with vehemence I feared it might get us in trouble because in the end I knew he would do whatever it took to keep me out of Dugal’s clutches.
“And I will,” he swore, after the guard closed the door behind us, leaving us in a simple chamber with an arrow-slit window, a few sparse furnishings, and a wooden trunk.
Now that it was safe, he finally turned and looked right into my ghostly eyes.
“I know ‘twould probably be best to assure you otherwise so you arenae frightened, but I cannae because Dugal’s a monster, lass.” He shook his head, never more serious.
“And I willnae see him harm you. ‘Twould be unthinkable.”
“Then let’s not think about it,” I said, knowing him well enough to redirect the conversation and calm him down so he could think logically again.
That meant focusing on the one thing I suspected could do that.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” I went on, drifting to the window, however narrow its opening.
“Tell me about King Robert. I know Aspen found him kind and smart with enough humor to make him likable. He only grew serious when talking about the English, and I get it.” I cocked my head, wondering if I would get to meet him along the way.
“But what’s your take, given you’re with him more often and at the border, no less. ”
“I see what you’re doing here, lass,” he mused, joining me at the window.
“Robert’s all those things and more. He’s of sounder mind than most realize, a clever strategist like his grandfather, Robert the Bruce, and ruthless when he needs to be.
He loves this country every bit as much as I do, and I’m honored to serve him and call him a friend. He’s a man well worth dying for.”
“I would say all of that is worth keeping in mind,” I said, somehow still overly aware of Sloan’s proximity despite the divide between us.
But then, he’d been in my head and heart for a long time.
“It has to be worth it, Sloan.” I searched his eyes, trying to make him see.
“He has to be worth it above all others because he represents everything you love.”
“But he doesnae represent ye,” he said roughly.
“And I love ye above all the rest, Willow. My love and devotion to ye is everlasting, no matter what happens within these walls or on what side of the Morrow.” He tried to touch my cheek, but couldn’t any more than he could before, with the centuries between us.
“’Twill never change.” He shook his head. “It cannae.”
I was about to tell him it had to, as long as he was with Lorna, and worse yet, if I was destined for Dugal, but Flame startled me when he scurried out from under the bed. Clearly able to see me too, he looked at me and perked his ears before looking at the door.
“’Tis all right,” I heard a soft voice say from the other side of the door. “My mother-by-marriage sent me with a change of clothing for our guest.”
“Ye mean our prisoner,” the guard groused while opening the door.
He allowed in a pretty young woman with softly rounded cheeks and deep olive-green eyes, whom I liked immediately despite not knowing her.
But I did know her, didn’t I? Because I only needed to look at her to know she had to be Lilias, my newly discovered half sister, and I didn’t fail to notice how the guard watched her like a hawk, either.
“My laird and husband requested ye wear these,” Lilias said, loud enough for the guard to hear as she handed Sloan the folded clothes. “He willnae see ye in MacLeod colors whilst yer on Sutherland land in his castle, ye ken?”
“Despite being here at the king’s behest and speaking kindly on behalf of the Sutherlands?” Sloan returned, sounding frustrated for the guard’s sake despite the kindness that flickered in his eyes when he looked at Lilias.
“Aye.” I swore she looked right at me and offered a small smile of reassurance before looking at Sloan again. “Ye’re to change, and then the guard shall escort ye to the dining chamber.”
She turned away, but not before I swore she winked at where Flame had tucked himself under the bed once more, and left the chamber quickly, allowing the guard to close the door behind her.
“She could see me, Sloan,” I said, convinced. “And Flame, too. I’m certain of it.”
“’Twould not surprise me as her gifts lie in communicating with animals.” He sifted through the clothing as if looking for something. “And it stands to reason if that's where her powers lie, and Flame can see within the Morrow, then she can too.”
“How interesting,” I murmured, finding it not just intriguing but perhaps a little too convenient all things considered. “What are you looking for, anyway?”
“Anything Lilias might have tucked in here, given she helped Flame get the Viking dagger into that trunk, so if anyone here is going to help us, ‘twill be her.” It seemed he found what he was looking for because he smiled and pulled out a tiny scroll. “Ah ha!”
“Hey, wait a minute,” I exclaimed, recognizing the parchment and handwriting when he unrolled it. “I think that might be for me.”
“Aye?”
“Yes.” I smiled, relieved to have heard from her, however brief the message. “It’s from Storm.”
“So it seems,” he murmured, reading it.
Whatever you do, Willow, don’t let him use magic to change clothing. Elspet and Dugal are waiting for that, hoping to find you. xo
No sooner did we read the words than the tiny piece of parchment caught on a gust of wind, flew through the window, hit a narrow slice of late-day sunlight, and vanished.
“Storm certainly does appear to be tracking all this, aye?” he marveled, though I heard the hesitation in his voice because there seemed to be so much going on behind the scenes. “As does Lilias.”
“Yeah, and it sounds like they’re working together, which is a good thing,” I said. “Especially if you were considering chanting yourself into those clothes.”
“I was,” he conceded, eyeing them with disgust. “If I have to wear the bloody things.”
I said nothing to that because I didn’t like Dugal growing so hostile so fast. Not when I believed Sloan should be given diplomatic immunity.
If they even had that here, because he was doing everything he said he would to the best of his ability, at least as far as they knew, so this didn’t bode well.
Nevertheless, Sloan honored their request and undressed while I stood by, trying not to gawk, but it was damn difficult. I had seen him partially undressed when he was a teenager, but that boy had nothing on this man. Not even a teeny, tiny bit, not that there was anything small about him.
I swallowed hard, and heat burned under my skin even in the Morrow, at the sight of his broad-shouldered, muscular torso, to everything below, because gone was the bashful boy who only let me see so much.
Instead, it became abundantly clear based on the slow, easy smile he issued me that he was enjoying this every bit as much as I was.
Something made more than obvious by his impressive erection.
Forget a heavy swallow, it became impossible to breathe when I didn’t look away like I should have because he wasn’t mine.
For the life of me, I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off it if I tried.
My traitorous gaze lingered, imagining it was mine and how good it would feel inside me, before a heavy rap came at the door, and snapped me out of my lustful reverie.
A good thing, too, because Sloan was promised to another, and I needed to remember that.
Especially when I laid eyes on Lorna, very soon after.