Chapter 9
Declan didn’t let go of her hand until they’d crossed the village boundary and stood just outside her cottage. Even then, his fingers lingered, like he needed to assure himself she was still there—whole, unharmed.
Aura’s knees wobbled, though she stood upright.
“Spending so much time in the woods learning about plants, I always make sure to keep alert to my surroundings, which saved me more than once from unsavory characters. I never gave thought to my safety when I believed I heard a cat’s cry, and I went to help the poor creature if I could.
With all the chaos going on here, I should have known better. ”
Declan’s jaw tightened. “Nonsense. You had no reason to suspect you were in danger from a cat’s cry for help. You should be safe here and I intend to see that you are.”
She shook her head. “How did he know I was here and not in my own cottage?” She shuddered at the thought of being caught there alone with no one to help her. No Declan to come to her rescue.
Declan reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair from her face, his thumb grazing her cheek. “A good question. How did he know where you were when you only moved here?”
She met his gaze. “Do you think this has something to do with the wish?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Though that would be the logical assumption. A father paying to get you out of the way, leaving it open for his daughter to have me.”
Aura smiled and proclaimed, “Well, she cannot have you. You belong to me.”
“Aye, and you belong to me and no one—absolutely no one—will take you from me.”
To her ears, it sounded as though he actually meant it and her heart and stomach responded with a flurry of flutters.
She was not ignorant of what she might be feeling.
She and her two sisters would talk about falling in love and how it might feel.
That was when she was so very young and full of hope and dreams. Then she got older.
Her sisters grew more beautiful with age while she grew plainer, and her hopes and dreams faded.
She cared not for a man’s features, only that they pleased her and that he had a caring heart and would love her no matter what.
His remark made it sound as though he truly cared about her, but could it be only wishful thinking on her part?
She brushed the thought aside. This was not the time for frivolous thoughts.
“As soon as the cleric arrives, we will wed, Hopefully, that will put a stop to a lot of this nonsense. I will see that guards are posted here at the cottage and see about having the clearing searched where you were to be left.” He paused for a breath.
“Maybe you should retire to the keep for the rest of the day.”
She shook her head. “I have too much to do and I won’t let this frighten me away from what I love doing… working with and learning about my plants.”
Declan finally and reluctantly let his arm drop away from her waist. “No one touches you.”
Except me.
The words rang strong in his head and though he did not quite understand the fervor in which he felt them, it made no less of a difference to him.
Your marriage will be for life.
Wasn’t that what the witch had told him? Oddly enough, he didn’t mind the thought. He might barely know Aura, but for some reason he felt content with her, and he had never known that with any woman he had ever been with, and he liked the feeling.
“Guards will be at your door should you need anything, and I will return when I finish talking with Hamish.” He turned to walk away, then stopped. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I am, thanks to you.” She smiled, turned, and entered her cottage.
He felt a strange thud in his chest and then a sudden emptiness came over him as if he was missing something when she disappeared behind her door.
He pushed it aside, having no time to think about anything but keeping Aura safe.
He headed toward the keep, his jaw set tight.
Whatever threat had come for Aura had just made itself his enemy.
And Declan MacCrone didn’t take threats lightly.
Declan found Hamish in the Great Hall, a scroll spread open in front of him and a tankard in his hand, muttering over clan inventory and whatever wasn’t adding up his way. He didn’t look up until Declan’s footsteps echoed through the stone chamber.
“You’re back quick. Didn’t expect to see you until—”
“We have a problem,” Declan cut in sharply.
Hamish immediately straightened. “What is it?”
“Aura. Someone tried to abduct her.”
“What?” Hamish said, too stunned to say much more.
“She heard a sound behind her cottage, thought it was a cat in need of help, and a man forced her into the woods with a blade to her back.”
Hamish swore under his breath and slammed down the tankard. “Was she harmed?”
“Nay,” Declan said, though his tone was grim. “Shaken, but she held her own. I found them before he could get far.”
Hamish’s eyes narrowed. “And?”
“The fellow said he was paid to abduct her and leave her in a specific place… a ring of stones south of the village. Are you familiar with it?”
Hamish nodded. “Aye, a place most avoid believing it is a place of dark magic, so some say.”
The witch came to mind right away, and Declan wondered if this was her doing. But surely, she didn’t need to hire someone to abduct Aura, she could just work her magic and see it done.
“I posted two guards near her cottage, and I will search the ring of stones myself to see if anyone or anything can be found.”
“Aye, I’ll see that men are gathered to accompany you,” Hamish assured him. “Could be a father who wants you for his daughter.”
“The thought did cross mine and Aura’s minds and seems the most logical explanation, but I want to be sure.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
Declan stepped in closer. “I would say keep this quiet, but that’s impossible with the guards being posted. But do you think someone in the village could be involved?”
“Not likely,” Hamish said, not even taking a moment to consider it.
“The clan is too pleased with how you have made sure men hunt for food, cottages get repaired, and more. You are bringing the clan back to life and they are grateful. And though all know your marriage is one of convenience, it still brings them joy. They would do nothing to harm the peace you’ve brought them. ”
“It must be one of the fathers, and when I get my hands on him…” Declan’s hands closed in tight fists.
Hamish studied him for a moment, then softened his voice. “You care for her.”
Declan didn’t answer right away. “She is a good woman who has offered to help me, and I won’t see anything happen to her.”
Hamish’s smile grew as he watched as Delcan strode toward the door. “Well, I’ll be… he’s falling in love with the lass and doesn’t even know it.”
Declan entered Aura’s cottage after receiving no response to his knock to find her seated at the table, her head bent down busy using her pestle to grind dried leaves in her mortar.
Her focus was on her chore, even the strand of hair that had fallen in her face was ignored.
She chewed at her bottom lip as she worked, plumping it and turning it rosy.
Her slim fingers worked with skilled practice and though she must have done this tedious chore repeatedly, she appeared quite content.
“Aura,” he said gently.
Her hands froze and her head popped up, her eyes turning wide.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you. I rapped at the door, but you didn’t answer.” How was it he hadn’t noticed the touch of glimmer in her brown eyes? It was almost as if the brown color shielded people from its beauty.
He stared at her strangely, but then she was a bit disheveled, having gotten lost in her work.
Her work.
“I thought of some plants to combine to make a brew that perhaps could soften the effects of the wish, but I need certain plants to add to it to make it more potent, which means a trip into the woods.”
“Not without me,” he said firmly.
She smiled and pushed the loose strand of hair out of her face, leaving a smudge of ground leaves on her cheek. “I had the same thought.”
“I’m afraid it will have to wait. Hamish has gathered a few volunteers to go with me to the place where you were to be left. It seems that the ring of stones is a place feared by many. It is believed dark magic exists there.”
Aura hurried her apron off. “The witch. She may be the cause of all this. I am going with you.”
Declan’s chuckle was not one of humor. “Not likely.”
Aura’s eyes turned wide. “Why not? I may spy something there, a plant, a root, an amulet that could help me better understand the cause of your problem.”
Bloody hell if that didn’t make sense, Declan thought.
She hurried around the table and tapped at his chest. “I can see in your eyes that what I said makes perfect sense.”
He muttered beneath his breath.
“This is an opportunity,” Aura said, a sense of excitement in her voice. “We can’t risk losing it. It could mean freeing you of this wretched wish.”
It was an opportunity but not the kind she was talking about. It was an opportunity to ease the ache that had been nagging at him since he entered the cottage and watched her lip grow plumper from her absent-minded chewing. The ache to… kiss her.
“You must let me go with you,” she insisted.
He silently warned himself to ignore his urging, though he couldn’t ignore the smudge on her face and unwisely brushed it away with a swipe of his thumb.
Aura’s breath caught for a moment, then she whispered, “Please do this.”
It was as if she begged him to kiss her and naturally, he couldn’t deny her.