Chapter 11
Eian felt all of the blood drain from his face even as his heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears.
No! Oh god no… How could the woman he wanted above all others be the daughter of his family’s sworn enemy?
The one who had nearly killed his brother Drust and would not hesitate to wipe out the entire Mac Coinnach clan and all of their allies?
Not just an enemy, but an evil, twisted bastard who would stop at nothing to wield more dark power and hurt innocent people.
How could such evil and darkness spawn something so beautiful and good?
If this was true, then Allia was nothing like her sire…
nothing… in fact she was the complete opposite of Mored.
She would never even consider hurting others. Unless… unless he had been fooled…
Icy fingers of dread ran down his spine as Eian leaned slowly back against the cold stone behind him, his eyes on the ground at his feet, but not seeing it.
The last few days had certainly seemed too good to be true, but did that mean they were?
Was it all a ruse? The beautiful daughter of his enemy sent to lure the unsuspecting younger brother of the Mac Coinnach chief?
Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense.
His chest squeezed tight and he felt like he might vomit.
Everything that had been so right just moments ago was now so very wrong.
And just what would he have done for her?
Would he have betrayed his own family to be with her?
Probably. But then, he must have been under a powerful spell, to feel as strongly as he did about her.
He should have known he would never have fallen that hard, or that fast, without some sort of magical intervention.
She made me believe I had found my mate…
He had known all along that being a mated man was just not in his nature, hadn’t he?
And Leon… was he in on the whole thing? He was Allia’s uncle on her mother’s side, so perhaps he was unaware…
no, he was aware. The other warrior had just said as much.
Had even thanked Eian for taking her off the clan’s hands.
As his horrified mind raced through all of the possibilities, he heard a voice and looked up at the man who was still standing there, watching him with a look of growing concern.
The warrior looked quite nervous that he had said something wrong. “Are ye no’ well, man? Ye did ken the story, did ye no’? Certainly the laird would no’ have…”
“If ye’ll excuse me”, Eian interrupted absently, “I have some things to do.”
He walked away with ground-eating strides, not really knowing where he was headed. The strange numbness he had felt at first was quickly giving way to gut-wrenching pain, and he moved faster and faster, as if he could outrun it.
He ended up in the hills, right in front of the cave where he had found that damned charm.
Now that he thought about it, Allia had probably dropped it in there for him to find, perhaps even on the very morning.
Perhaps the damn thing was even the source of the spell he was under.
Anger flowed through him, hot and thick.
But it couldn’t wash away the burning ache in his chest, the emptiness and hurt that threatened to turn him inside out.
Even knowing who she was, daughter of a man bent on harnessing the power of dark magic, he still wanted her, badly.
His heart ached for her even now. Must still be under the damned spell.
And a very powerful spell it was; it had to be, because he and his brothers were strong enough not to be susceptible to most magical trickery.
He hadn’t even sensed it, hadn’t even had a chance to fight.
Only a very talented spell-caster could have fooled him so thoroughly, even down to the magic of the mating.
It had all felt so real, so right. How in the name of all that was holy could he have been so blind?
He fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands and trying to think.
He would have to go and find someone who could break the enchantment, then he would be able to see things clearly again.
Bren could do it, but Eian didn’t really want to go crawling home to his brother and admit the enemy had used his greatest weakness to get one over on him.
He did still have his pride, after all. Or what little was left of it now. No, he couldn’t go to Bren.
He would travel north instead, along the coast and past the Torridon hills, to find his great uncle, Alisdair.
The man was somewhat of a hermit, living alone and honing his Druid skills and knowledge by communing with the natural world instead of his fellow men, but he was also a powerful wizard who would be able to remove any and all taint from his mind.
He wasn’t so sure about how his heart would fare…
or his body, which craved her even now. Or what would be left of it all after he admitted to being tricked by his enemy.
He would have to travel on foot. The mountain passes were too high and rugged for any horse.
Even Dair. And he had to leave now, before he could be cast with another spell or tricked in some other way when he was already reeling from the shock of it all.
He wouldn’t be able to confront Allia until he was free of her hold.
It was too dangerous, because he could just be sucked right back in.
Heading back to the keep, he slipped into the kitchens to gather supplies, and then set out for the north.
He did not look back, and he did not say goodbye.
He knew that if he so much as looked on Allia’s face, he might lose himself again and stay with her despite everything.
Och, the sooner he was out from under this damn spell, the better!
Only… it had been bliss, and he was deeply grieved to know that not only was it not real, but that he would never actually feel that way again. He didn’t have a mate, after all.
The trek through the mountains was arduous, but Eian didn’t care.
He needed the physical exertion to dull his constant thoughts, and the undeniable urge to turn around and go back to Lochain.
It took every ounce of his will to keep moving forward.
The dark magic would not win, he told himself.
He was stronger, and he would prevail. And then he would make Mored pay for using his own damned lust against him.
Make him pay because he had almost fallen for it.
No, he had fallen for it, and now he was handfasted to the daughter of his worst enemy.
He would take care of that little detail when he returned, and Leon would be made to account for his actions.
God, he wished his heart didn’t ache so!
The nights were the worst. He lay out in the open, under the stars, and slept little, if at all.
He knew now what it was to be heartbroken, and as hard as he tried to conjure up enough rage to cut Allia out of his heart, it was not enough.
Even though they had been together only a short time, he missed her as if she had been a part of him for his whole life.
He was empty and aching and desperately miserable.
Finally, he arrived at his great uncle’s home on the other side of the mountains, near the shore of a shimmering highland sea loch.
He found Alisdair in the cave that he had fashioned into a home.
Eian had been to this place several times before with one or the other of his brothers when they had needed advice or instruction after their father’s death, but Eian still couldn’t quite believe the man actually lived in a cave.
Even if it was well-furnished and comfortable.
He stood in the entrance, shifting his weight from foot to foot, waiting impatiently to be acknowledged by his uncle.
Alisdair was bent over a small table towards the back of the chamber, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.
When he was finished, he carefully put the quill down and turned around, folding his arms over the plaid draped loosely across his chest, and regarding Eian with a critical eye.
“Come in, then lad. Och, but ye look terrible! What have ye done to yerself?”
“It’s good to see ye too, Uncle Alisdair.
” He ducked his head to step through the opening into the larger space inside.
“I’ve been travelling for more than a week to get here, is all.
And it’s no’ an easy journey.” Of course it was made all the harder by the grief burning in his heart that just wouldn’t let him rest. He thought of Allia constantly, and his body ached for her so much that he didn’t think he had slept for more than a couple of hours each night.
The thought that he would never see her again…
Bloody hell, he couldn’t wait for the spell to be broken so that he could find some semblance of peace again.
“Mmmpphh. Whiskey?” Alisdair motioned to a chair near the stone wall, worn smooth centuries ago when this had been a sea cave.
Now, one could sit here and look out at the sea loch and the ocean beyond, the shimmering blue water peaceful and calm today.
Eian could see why Alisdair chose this place, but he could not truly enjoy its beauty when he was so broken.
***
Allia had been looking for Eian all afternoon, but he was nowhere to be found.
Strange, since he had been practically glued to her side since the rescue.
And since their wedding night… her heart fluttered in her chest at the memory.
How could she have gotten so lucky? Eian Mac Coinnach had turned out to be everything she never even knew she wanted, and more.
She tried not to worry as she ducked into the stable door, because he had been training with the other men that morning, so he couldn’t have gone far.
She had stopped to watch the incredible show of masculine brawn, along with nearly every other woman who could spare a moment.
But where would he have gone after that?
Maybe he was grooming Dair. She looked through all of the stalls, but the big stallion was gone.
Had Eian gone out for a ride? Wouldn’t he have told her if he was leaving the castle for any length of time?
Then she spotted the stallion out in the paddock with some of the other horses.
No, Eian wouldn’t have gone anywhere without Dair.
Her brow furrowed in thought, she headed back to the keep.
Maybe Leon knew where he had gone. She paused mid-step in the door when she saw her uncle was standing near the fireplace, talking to a couple of the guards.
“Damn it! He wasn’t supposed to find out! That wasn’t part of the plan. Now what the hell do we do? Where did the fool go? Did anyone follow him?”
Allia’s heart sped up and a cold shiver raced down her spine.
Somehow she knew right away that they were talking about Eian.
God, what had happened? Was it bad news about one of his brothers?
If so, why hadn’t he told her? She entered the room and headed straight for her uncle with brisk determination.
When he saw her, Leon’s face fell and he slapped a frustrated palm to his forehead with a groan.
The guards slinked away as if they wanted no part of what was to come.
“Lass…”
“Where is he? Where’s Eian?”
He held his hands out in front of him, whether to calm her or keep her from attacking him, she didn’t know. “I dinna ken where he went…”
“But you know why? What happened? Why would he leave? Why would he leave without at least saying goodbye?” Her bottom lip began to tremble, but she refused to let the tears come. “What happened?” She could only imagine the worst. Had someone died? Had Creagmor been attacked?
Leon gave a resigned sigh. “Hell, I should have kenned ye would find out sooner or later, and Mac Coinnach too… but I didna think he would just leave his mate. I misjudged his character, lass, and for that I’m sorry.
I wanted ye to have a man ye could care for…
one that would honor and protect ye, as yer mam would have wanted. ”