Her laughter rang out loud and clear, echoing across the pool and startling birds from nearby trees. “While I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Chieftain MacTaggart, I assure you, I do not wish tocouple.My interest in you is purely in getting you the medical help you need before going along my merry way.”
“Insolent wench.”
She laughed at him again. “Undo your trousers so I can pull them off. They’re next.”
“By trousers, I assume ye mean my trews?”
“Yes.” She emitted another insulting chortle, then cleared her throat. “Yourtrews.”
He undid the flap at the waist, then let his arms drop to his sides. “Done, m’lady.”
“M’lady,” she repeated, making his insult sound as though she took it as a compliment instead of the slander he intended. “I rather fancy that. Thank you ever so much, m’lord.”
“I prefer the address ofHimselfto that ofm’lord.My chieftainship means more to me than my earldom.”
She didn’t comment. Nor did she laugh this time. Simply yanked off his trews by the ankles, jolting him so hard, he hissed through clenched teeth. “God’s beard, woman!”
“Sorry.” But it didn’t sound as if she meant it. “Do you need a breather before we get your tunic off?”
“A breather?” He was breathing. Was the woman addled?
“Your consistent difficulty with language concerns me.” She crouched by his head, pulled out that infernal stick with the blazing tip, and aimed it at his eyes again. “Let me check the dilation of your pupils.”
Before he formed an argument, she leaned over and blinded him with the thing. But damned if she didn’t smell nice as she did it. Sweeter than the roses his sister nurtured in their private gardens.
She sat back on her heels, frowning as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Pupils react normally.” With a shake of her head, she glanced at the black strap on her wrist. “Blast, I keep forgetting this thing’s gone to pot.” She tapped on its surface, then shook her head again. “I wish someone would hurry and find us so your MRI could be done sooner rather than later.” Still looking perplexed, she slid an arm under his shoulders and nudged. “Help me out, my fine burly Scotsman. Tall and muscular as you are, I bet you weigh over twenty stone.”
“Use yer magic as ye did when ye dragged me free of the water.” He glared up at her, enjoying the scent of her floating all around him.
“The buoyancy of the water plus slippery grass came to my aid then. I wish there was such a thing as magic. You’ll note I didn’t pull you far and probably won’t be able to move you come morning.” She patted his chest. “Now, come on. This is the last of it, then into the bag you go.”
A witch who didn’t believe in magic? Or was it just words to throw him off? Bracing himself for another surge of pain, he sat up and allowed her to pull his wetléineoff over his head.
“Don’t lay down yet. Hold on.” She rubbed her finger and thumb along the edge of the blanket, making it hiss like a snake. Then she separated its layers and folded as much of it aside as possible. “Now, then. Shift your bum over. Down you go. Tuck your feet inside.”
Once he’d done as she ordered, she made the bag hiss again, opening it the rest of the way but keeping him covered. “If you get chilly later, you can zip it closed. I didn’t want you to feel too constricted.” She patted his leg through the thick covering. “Do you feel you might keep down a power bar and more water? The protein and fluids will help you.”
“I dinna ken,” he mumbled, leery about what a power bar might be. Some form of torture, most likely.
“Well, I’ll get one for you and tear the package open. They can be testy little buggers. Try it whenever you wish.”
She rummaged through her belongings again, emerging with a shiny object that crackled like brittle parchment. Biting the end of it, she tore the corner, peeled it open, and showed it to him. “Salted caramel. It’s a favorite of mine. Quite scrummy, really.” She placed it on the corner of his pallet and rose. “I’ll get your water.”
The English had yet to appear; she had bandaged him, gotten him warm and dry, and now fetched him water and food. Aside from the strange magic of her wee fire box and light stick, she never mumbled any incantations or attempted to do him any harm. Perhaps Mistress Evie was a kind and decent woman, after all. A healer who had saved him from drowning and sinking to the bottom of the fairy pool. But then again, she might be one of the Fae—which was a damn sight worse than any witch.
He risked a taste of the thing she called a bar of power. Perhaps it would gift him with the strength of ten if it came from the Fae. Chewy. Like a tough piece of meat not boiled long enough. But sweet. And salty. A damn sight tastier than any dried meat or oatcake. “’Tis good,” he said when she handed him a cup of water.
“I’m glad you like it.” But she seemed distracted. Troubled.
“Does someone approach? Do you sense evil?”
“Sense evil?” Brow cocked to an amused angle, she shifted in place with an uneasy glance around. “No. No evil to speak of. Just birds and woodland animals. No motors. No noise at all. That’s the problem. There’s also no sign of the lights from the car park nor that of a living soul other than you and I. It’s not—normal.” She pointed eastward. “I know the trees are thick, but with the sun nearly set, the sky should still be lighter in that direction. I distinctly remember security lights at the corners of the park.”
“There is nothing to the east but the sea, lass.” He resettled himself on the fine pallet and studied the odd wrapping of the confection she had called abar.Such tiny script and long words. He prided himself on being an educated man. To be a proper chieftain demanded it. But the meanings on this bit of strange paper eluded him. “What does all this say?”
She took it from him and shoved it into a pocket of her bundle. “Mumbo jumbo that doesn’t really matter. They’re all pretty much the same.” With a long stick, she poked at the fire. Its glow lit her face, revealing her turmoil.
“Tell me,” he ordered, pillowing his head on his arm. It still throbbed like a drumbeat, but the pain had dulled some, becoming a great deal more bearable than before.
