What made things worse was that she was pretty sure Kai was aware of all of this, and was enjoying her unease. Bastard. Yet she couldn’t say anything about it without making it obvious she was discomforted, and she wouldnotgive him the satisfaction.
Oh, heck. She should never have bothered getting out of bed this morning. What idiotic notion had made her decide to go climbing today? She had no idea who these men were or what they were doing but it was clear they were all as crazy as Irene MacAskill. Why else would they dress the way they did—like they were some sort of medieval warrior—or be out here playing this ridiculous war game or reenactment or whatever it was?
As they crossed the moors, Caitlin tried to concentrate on her surroundings and the direction in which they were traveling. Kai might have stolen her GPS but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her eyes. That way, the moment she had a chance to escape, she would at least know in which direction they’d headed and how to retrace her way back to the cliff.
Sure, Kai had promised to let her go when they reached this ‘rendezvous’ but she didn’t trust his word one little bit. Why would she? They were all clearly lunatics. Nope. The second she could manage it, she was off.
As they traveled, the landscape changed from rocky crags to rolling hills covered in heather. It was wild but beautiful.
Kai caught her eye and grinned, as if to say “see, it’s not so bad.” Caitlin made no response and instead glanced over her shoulder at the men riding in the wagon. The taller one—Conall? —looked relaxed. He was lying back with his feet up on the edge of the wagon, reading a book. The other two—Emeric and Oskar?—were not so relaxed.
“Get yer bloody elbow out of my face!” the red-headed one, Oskar, growled.
“I wouldnae have my elbow in yer face if ye’d just shove over and give me some room. Yer fat arse is taking up all the space!” Emeric, who had light brown hair held back by a headband, shot back.
“Myfat arse? Ye are a fine one to talk! God give me strength! I canna travel all the way to Aberfeldy with ye in my ear ‘ole. I’ll end up braining ye!”
Kai swiveled in his seat. “I’llbrain the pair of ye if ye dinna belt up! Would ye rather get out and walk?”
That shut them up. The two men lapsed into sullen silence, shooting each other dark looks.
Kai winked at Caitlin. “Isnae this fun? It’s like being on a family trip. Ma and Pa, with three squalling brats in the back!”
“Hey!” Conall said, looking up from his book. “What do ye meanthreesqualling brats? I havenae been doing any squalling!”
Caitlin surprised herself by smiling at their banter.
Kai chuckled at her reaction, the sound low and rough. “See, even the lass thinks we’re a bunch of squalling brats.”
“I never said that.”
“But ye were thinking it,” Kai said, the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement. “I can tell.” He leaned back and pulled a spare blanket from a pile next to where she’d stowed her climbing harness, and handed it to her. “Here ye go, lass. It will get cold up here. No sense in freezing yer arse off.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.
Caitlin watched Kai out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t figure him out. He smiled a lot and was all friendliness and charm but she couldn’t help remembering how he’d drawn his blade in a flash and threatened to slit Alfred’s throat with it. Would he really have done that? Surely not. Surely that was just an empty threat? Surely it was all just part of the act? Right?
She shivered and returned her attention to the landscape, searching for anything familiar with which she could orient herself. The rolling hills were dotted with patches of yellow gorse and flocks of grouse, the only signs of life in this desolate place. Where were the tourists and the hikers? Where were the cars and the roads and the little cottages?
The further they went, the more uneasy Caitlin felt. Nothing seemed right, nothing seemed normal. She glanced over at Kai again and he gave her another reassuring nod.
“Can I have my GPS back?” she blurted suddenly.
He frowned at her. “Yer what?”
“My GPS—the thing Alfred knocked out of my hand. I saw you pick it up.”
“Ah, that. What did ye call it? A GPS?” He reached into a pouch tied at his waist, took out the little device, and examined it. “What does it do?”
Did he seriously not know what a GPS was? “It tells me where I am. Handy when you’re somewhere like this.”In the middle of nowhere with a bunch of crazy men.
He nodded. “Aye, I can imagine it would be. A word of advice, lass. If I give ye this back, keep it somewhere out of sight. If anyone sees it ye might find yerself facing a worse reaction than Alfred’s.”
She remembered Alfred’s reaction.Witchcraft! This thing be demon-touched!Alfred was clearly as insane as the rest of them.
She clenched her jaw and took the GPS from him. She glanced down at the device and pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life and showed her current location. The little green dot on the screen was surrounded by nothing but empty space.
“This can’t be right. There’s nothing here.”
