Kenna clutched squalling Caedan close as she scooped his brother up from the cradle and curled him against her body. Both women held their children shielded toward the wall, keeping their bodies between their babies and the unearthly howling windows.
Despite Granny’s warning to move slowly, Mairi rushed to Granny’s side and pulled her close. “What is it?” The unholy moan deepened and the strips of wood lining the windows rattled harder against the stones.
“The darkness,” Granny said. Her voice disappeared in the din of the howling wind racing through the room.
The grief-filled wail immediately stopped. The windows banged back into place and the room went silent as though nothing unusual had just happened.
Shouting came from the other side of the door. It exploded open with such force, it bounced off the wall. Gray burst into the room first, sword drawn and ready. Colum followed, rushing forward with the odd hopping gait caused by his twisted knee. Ronan stormed in last, a pair of long-bladed daggers held ready in each hand. He crossed the room in three great strides until he towered in front of Mairi, keeping her snug to his back as he scanned the room.
“What the devil happened here?” His murderous scowl startled Mairi. She had never seen such raw fury. His almost beastly growl lowered to a soft, ragged hiss. “Tell me, lass. Are ye whole? Are ye well?”
She opened her mouth but couldn’t make a sound. How could she explain the feeling of being trapped by an unknown force? She tried to swallow the knot of terror closing off her throat. All she could manage was a weak nod toward the once again sunny windows.
Ronan looked at the windows, then turned to Colum and Gray. “The evil ye spoke of?”
“Aye.” Gray slowly sheathed his sword, strode across the room, and gathered Chloe and Trulie into his arms.
“It was scawwy,” Chloe squeaked as she wrapped her tiny arms around her father’s neck. “Make it go way and not come back.”
Gray nodded and rubbed little Chloe’s back. “I will my wee one. I swear it.”
Colum limped across the room to Kenna and curled both her and the babes into his arms. “The roaring swept through the bailey first. It was a great black cloud that rose from the sea.”
Mairi tightened her arm around Granny’s trembling shoulders. Granny never trembled. She didn’t fear anything. “What was it, Granny? Do you have any idea?”
Granny gently slid free of Mairi’s embrace and moved to the fire. She held her gnarled hands out to the flames and stared at the glowing coals.
Mairi turned back to Ronan. She needed answers. She needed the truth. She needed all the details. “When it first started, I heard her say it was the darkness—something related to the curse. It’s time you told me everything.”
A shadow fell across his features for a brief moment then disappeared just as quickly. Without a word, he bent and placed first one dagger and then the other into the leather sheaths strapped to his calves. His movements were slow and purposeful, almost painful, as though he was trapped in a battle with his own demons. He straightened and faced her, his expression chilling her to the bone.
“I leave at dawn.”
“You leave at dawn?” Mairi shook her head. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I can trust no other to fetchMáthairand Graham. I willna risk another’s life to bring them here so this evil can be purged.” He slowly made his way across the room toward the windows, glaring at the oiled squares of parchment as though the entire ordeal was their fault. “If she completed the trip back to Draegonmare, it will take nearly a month to get there and back at this time of year, barring any winter storms. If she merely took to the Highland wilderness for safety, I will return sooner.”
“I’m going with you.” Mairi ignored her sisters’ sharp intake of breath at her announcement. “But before we leave, I need the truth.”
“Perhaps we best leave the two of ye to yer discussions.” Gray motioned them all toward the door.
Mairi held up a hand. “No. I want you all here. I want my family around me . . . to witness.” She kept her gaze locked on Ronan. Apprehension glimmered in his eyes. Good.His reckoning was at hand. If he didn’t tell her the complete truth this time . . . She swallowed hard and silently swore an oath to herself. If he didn’t tell her the complete truth this time, she would never trust him again. “Tell me, Ronan. All of it. I want the details of this curse.”
His shoulders slumped with a weary sigh as he stared down at the floor. “Ye already ken the details well enough. Mistress Eliza and I already explained.”
“I don’t think so.” Mairi eased a pace closer, calculating every word and move. He wasn’t weaseling around the truth this time. “I know the results of the curse—the immortality and the Fates’ reprimand of the Sinclairs. I know the riddle you said your mother heard when the curse took her. But you’ve always been a bit vague when it came to the explicit details and the exact way to break the curse. I know I’m supposedly the secret ingredient, but what is the rest of the recipe for this magical curse-breaking elixir?”
Ronan slowly lifted his head. He clasped his hands in front of his waist and widened his stance. His face hardened into an emotionless mask as he rolled his shoulders.
“Ye must wed me.”
“Wed you?”
“Aye.” He nodded. “And Graham andMáthairmust be present to witness.”
Mairi fisted her hands in the folds of her skirt, willing herself not to react. Ronan had never said they had to get married to break the curse. She thought it was just a matter of her laying hands on his mother and friend and healing them. She eased in a deep shaking breath. It all made sense now. The protective attentiveness and incredible sex were nothing more than a calculated strategy to lower her defenses. Ronan needed a token wife, and she was the gold coin stamped with the winning number. A cold certainty settled over her as her heart resurrected its old protective walls. Fine.She would get the job done, then shed herself of her sham of a marriage by jumping back to the future. After all, once she returned to the twenty-first century, her husband would be considered long dead.
Mairi straightened her shoulders and swallowed hard. She refused to give him the satisfaction of an explosive reaction—which was what he expected from the look of dread currently plastered across his face. “Is that all of it? Are there any other details I need to know about this . . .” Mairi flipped her hand as though shooing away a fly. “About this . . . curse?”
