Chapter 26
The bairn’s cry from within Dunvegan destroyed the fragile hold Lachlan had on his emotions, the gut-wrenching pain twisting his insides. An innocent child—his child—had been murdered because of who Lachlan was, the bairn’s life snuffed out before it drew a single breath. And now, if the old crone spoke the truth, he had a son with a woman whose madness rivaled that of his old nursemaid.
“Lachlan?” Evangeline’s hand slipped into his as she waited for him to enter his cousin’s home. “Are you all right?”
“Aye.” He attempted a reassuring smile.
“No, you are not.” With a quick glance around the empty entry hall, she drew him back outside and closed the door quietly behind them.
He leaned against the cool gray stone for support, inhaling deeply of the rain-scented night air in an attempt to regain control over the barrage of feelings that threatened to bring him to his knees. Evangeline remained silent, as though she sensed how close he was to coming apart. He took comfort in the knowledge she’d stand by him no matter the cost. She knew him, understood the demons he battled as she’d battled her own.
She brought his hand to her cheek, pressing her soft lips to his palm. Raising her gaze to his, she said, “We can’t change the past nor can we take on the guilt for another’s actions. You were not responsible for what happened to the Lamonts and your child. I won’t allow you to take the blame for what that evil witch did.”
“And will ye do the same, Evie? Will ye no longer bear the burden of guilt fer yer mother’s actions?” he asked, drawing her into his arms.
“It’s not the same,” she muttered into his tunic.
“Aye, ’tis, and well ye ken it.” He smoothed his hand over her long silky mane. “’Twill take time, but mayhap together we will find a way to put our pasts behind us.”
She eased back to look him in the eye. “I promise you we will find Lamont and Ursula. If there is a child, and he is yours, he will not remain with them a moment longer than he has to.” She took a deep breath then squared her shoulders as if setting out for battle. “We ... we will take him back to live with us in the Enchanted Isles.”
“Thank ye. I ken ’tis no’ an easy offer fer ye to make.” Her pained expression made it difficult to contain his laughter, and she narrowed her gaze on him. “I ... I adore ye, my bonny wife.” He’d almost said
love
, but held back. It was not an emotion he thought himself capable of, although, he admitted, if he felt it for anyone it would be Evie. Her quiet words of support were all he’d needed to regain his composure. She was right. Together they would find Ursula and Lamont, and God help them if they’d harmed his son.
Thunder rumbled over the Cuillans—the mountain range that dominated the skyline—and a clap of lightning illuminated the thick stand of pines ringing Dunvegan’s courtyard. “The skies are aboot ready to open up. We should go inside,” he suggested as two drops of rain splattered onto his forehead.
From within, footsteps as loud as the distant thunder followed by high-pitched squeals rattled the door of the keep.
“I quite like the rain,” Evangeline said, snuggling against him as though she meant to remain there for the night.
“Doona worry, I’ll protect ye from the bairns.” Framing her face, he added, “And I’ll make our excuses so we can retire early and then I’ll make good on my promise to ye.”
“What—”
The heavy oak door swung open and his cousin stuck his head out. “Mrs. Mac thought she saw ye. Get in here before ye’re soaked to the skin,” Rory said, motioning for them to come inside.
Placing his hands on his wife’s shoulders, Lachlan had to firmly push her resistant frame through the door, smothering a laugh as he did so.
“If we woulda kent ye were comin’, we’d have held dinner fer ye. Are ye hungry?” Rory gave his head a shake, then grinned. “What am I thinkin’? Ye’re always hungry.”
“Nay, doona go to any trouble on our account. Where is everyone?”
“’Tis no trouble. Mrs. Mac,” his cousin bellowed.
“Rory, would you stop shouting, Syrena is trying to settle the babies. What do you need Mrs. Mac for? She’s only now managed to get Alex and Jamie in their bath.” Frowning at her husband as she came down the stairs, Aileanna turned her attention to Lachlan and Evangeline once she’d reached the bottom step. “I’m sorry, this place is a madhouse. Go on up to my solar. Aidan will welcome your company.”
“Aye, he will. Alasdair’s been talkin’ his ear off fer the last hour.”
Hands on her hips, Aileanna rounded on her husband. “Rory MacLeod, my father doesn’t visit that often. The least you could do is be civil to him when he does.”
“No’ that often? He’s here so much he might as well move in.” Rory groaned when Aileanna’s face crumpled and she appeared close to tears. Taking her into his arms, he said, “I’m sorry,
mo chridhe
. I promise, I’ll try harder to get along with the ... your da.”
’Tis the bairn
, he mouthed over her head, gesturing for them to go up. “You’re tired, Aileanna. Why doona ye get an early night?”
She sighed, leaning heavily against her husband. “I wish I could, but I have to get Olivia and Ava ready for bed.”
“I’m sure Evangeline wouldna mind helpin’ with the bairns.” Rory cast a hopeful look in Lachlan’s wife’s direction.
Evangeline froze halfway up the stairs, shooting a perturbed look at Lachlan.
He shrugged and she scowled at him before turning to say, “Of course. Lachlan and I will be glad to help.”
“Thank you,” Aileanna said, allowing her husband to guide her up the stairs. “Olivia’s room is beside the one Syrena occupies. I’ve put her and Ava together, but Mrs. Mac has them with her in the boys’ room at the moment.”
“I’ll meet you in the solar once I see Aileanna settled, Lan.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Evangeline grabbed Lachlan’s arm when they reached the landing and he’d turned in the direction of Aileanna’s solar.
“Now, Evie,” he grinned, “ye ken I have much to discuss with my brother.”
“Men.” She lowered her voice and thumped her fingers on his chest. “You are very good at making babies, but when it comes to caring for them, you are nowhere to be found.”
He wrapped his hand around her fingers. Bringing them to his lips, he nipped the tips. “Ye must admit the makin’ of the bairns is the best part.”
She freed her hand from his and turned on her heel with a disgusted sigh, muttering under her breath as she marched down the hall. Aye, Lachlan thought, noting the way the trews hugged his wife’s bonny arse, his chat with his cousin and brother would be a brief one.
An hour after she’d left her husband on the landing, Evangeline entered the solar. Lachlan looked up from where he sat by the hearth and choked on his ale. “What?” she asked, unable to keep the sharp edge from her tone. Not only was she exhausted from wrestling the two-year-old hellions, she was a wet and bedraggled mess. Olivia and Ava had jumped into the bath after Jamie and Alex had run shrieking from the room at Evangeline’s presence.
Rory’s and Aidan’s jaws dropped when she turned to greet them.
“Fer Chrissakes, Evie,” Lachlan muttered, grabbing a length of plaid from the chair beside him. He strode toward her and wrapped the colorful red wool around her shoulders. “Yer tunic doesna leave much to the imagination.”
She glanced down, the damp white fabric had molded to her breasts. “Oh,” she murmured, her cheeks heating. Lachlan held out the chair beside him, but she shook her head, lowering herself to the floor to sit between his legs where she’d be assured of the fire’s warmth. He combed his fingers through her hair, and she swallowed a moan of pleasure.
“Would ye like somethin’ to drink, Evangeline?” Rory offered.
“No, thank you.” She tipped her chin at the mug resting on Lachlan’s thigh. “Lachlan will share his.”
“Nay, he won’t. No’ after the last time,” Lachlan said, giving her hair a gentle tug.
Syrena entered the solar, closing the door behind her with a drawn-out sigh. “They’re finally asleep.” Looking at Evangeline and Lachlan, she beamed like a proud mother. “I knew you’d work it out.”
Lachlan’s big hand curled around Evangeline’s neck, his thumb caressing the skin at the base of her throat.
“Syrena, Lan has brought us some disturbin’ news.” Aidan held out his hand, urging his wife to sit. She took the chair beside him.
“What is it?”
“Lamont and Ursula are in the Hebrides.” Lachlan’s hand tightened almost imperceptibly around Evangeline’s neck. She laid her palm on his thigh. “The old crone said a child accompanies them. She claims the bairn is mine.”
Syrena gasped, reaching for her husband’s hand. “Oh, Lachlan, what are you going to do?”
Evangeline noticed her friend didn’t question the validity of the claim. Syrena must have known the full extent of what Lachlan had suffered. It was not surprising. Lachlan had a strong connection with his sister-by-marriage. As children they’d communicated in their minds—Syrena from the Fae realm, Lachlan from the Mortal.
“I’m goin’ to find them.”
“ ’Twill no’ be easy, there’s too many places fer them to hide. And there will be those willin’ to hide them,” Aidan said. His eyes sharpened when his gaze shifted from his brother to Evangeline. She lowered hers, certain he would see her anger. She could not hide it, not after learning he’d been willing to banish Lachlan from Lewes and thought him capable of setting fire to the Lamonts’ home, taking the lives of the woman he’d loved and his unborn child.
Aidan scrubbed his hands over his face then looked at her. “I imagine my brother has told ye what went on with the Lamonts and I can see ye’re fashed with me, Evangeline. I admit I didna handle the situation well, but doona doubt my love fer my brother.”
“Ye have nothin’ to apologize fer, Aidan. I ken I was no’ easy to deal with back then. My wife tends to be somewhat overprotective of me is all. It must be my bonny looks and charmin’—”
She interrupted him with a snort. Aidan’s gray gaze warmed and he smiled.
“As to what ye said about Lamont and Ursula hidin’, I’m thinkin’ they’ll no’ have given up their beliefs and there will be talk soon enough of strange goin’s on,” Lachlan said.
Rory rubbed his mug, his brow furrowed. “Any goin’s on in particular?”
“Have ye heard somethin’?” Lachlan asked.
“It may be nothin’, but Alasdair was tellin’ the lads a tall tale earlier.”
“The one aboot the water horse?” Aidan asked.
“Aye, did he speak to you aboot it as well?”
Aidan nodded. “He managed to tell me a bit before Alex and Jamie dragged him out of here after their bath wantin’ to hear more aboot it.”
“Anytime ye’d like to share the story with me would be good,” Lachlan said dryly.
Rory rolled his eyes. “There’s been a sightin’of a monster in the loch. Several of the villagers have seen the beast and will no longer fish there. ’Tis said to look like a dragon or, as Aidan said, a water horse. Alasdair and some of his men took a boat out a few days past but saw nothin’.”
“Is it near Armadale?”
“Aye, in Loch Ness, at the foot of Armadale.”
Hearing where the monster had been sighted, Evangeline’s heart thudded in her chest so hard and fast she felt faint. She pressed her fingers to her temples in an attempt to banish the loud buzzing in her head.
“Evangeline, what is it?” Syrena’s voice seemed to come from a great distance.
Lachlan reached down, bringing her onto his lap, his arms tightening around her. “Tell me, Evie, what’s wrong?”
Drawing comfort from his embrace, she raised her gaze to his. “Above Loch Ness lies another door to the underworld.”
His worried gaze searched hers. “Are ye sure?”
“Yes.” She nodded, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat. “It’s the same door my mother opened to release the dark lords twenty-six years ago.”