“If I don’t return . . . ” Lilia’s voice faded to nothing. She took a deep breath, gave Alberti a quick glance, then looked back at Vivienne. “The papers are in the safe. You and Alberti have copies but my originals are in the safe. Everything goes to both of you . . . because I love you.”
Vivienne pulled Lilia into a quick hug, then took her by the shoulders. “Send word if ye decide to stay there, aye? We’ll need to know that you’re well so we dinna worry.” She turned and looked back at Alberti, who agreed with a quick nod. “And if ye come back . . . we’ll have ye a stoking hot pot of coffee and a bottle a booze a waitin’.”
Lilia’s brave smile trembled the barest bit as she gave a single nod, then turned away. She cleared her throat with a nervous cough, resettled the bag on her shoulders, and headed toward the door. “Are you two ready?” She stopped and glanced back at Angus then arched a brow at Graham.
Nay.He would never be ready to ride through that hellish maelstrom again but he would damn well do it for her. “Aye.” Graham scooped up his shield and the remaining bag, securing them both firmly and tightening the canvas straps across his chest.
Angus didn’t answer, just stepped forward with his white-knuckled fists clenching the straps of the pack lashed to his back.
Lilia pushed through the back door, not looking back. “To the backyard then. Time to light the fires and get the party started.”
CHAPTER19
Lilia tucked and rolled around the boxy bag belted at her waist before she made full contact with the hillside rushing up to meet her. She didn’t care if she broke her neck; Eliza’s remains weren’t going to get busted into a pile of dust and wood chips on her watch.
A deep throaty growl and a string of hissed Gaelic that was more than likely terms Granny would never approve of came from her left. A strangled shout and profanity she completely understood echoed from her right. A hard thud, shaking leaves and snapping branches all around, signaled Angus’s and Graham’s completed landing. Hopefully, they had survived as well as she had.
“Are you all right?” She hitched forward a few steps, trying to roll the soreness out of one shoulder as she walked. She’d whacked the ground pretty hard on the final roll that had brought her to a stop. The joint didn’t seem to be dislocated but from the feel of it, her muscles weren’t going to let her forget she’d had a rough landing. “Graham. Angus. Are you both okay?”
Graham barked out a strained “Aye!” The dense shrubbery rattled and snapped as he forced his way through the tangle of branches and crawled free of the brush. “Lore a’mighty. I dinna ken how yer family ever gets used to such madness.”
“Practice.” Lilia brushed dust and dirt from her jeans as she looked around. “Granny says the more we jump the better we’ll get at landing but I don’t know.” She shook her head, still rubbing and rolling her throbbing shoulder. “The girls and I have never been able to break free of the time cloud with Granny’s finesse and grace.”
“Sons a bitches, I’ll never do that again.” Angus staggered out of a ragged growth of saplings and brambles, ripping a thorny vine free of his plaid.
Graham squinted up at the quickly clearing sky, then looked around the craggy jut of land covered with wind-twisted saplings, ragged bushes, and low-growing ground cover hearty enough to withstand the harsh gusts coming in from the sea. “This is a far sight higher than I expected.” He walked over to a steep precipice and looked across the land. He studied their location then turned to his left and nodded at a gentler bit of slope shearing downward. “We’ll have to travel west a bit. ’Tis too severe a climb to go straight down.”
Angus huffed his way over to Graham, still limping and pulling thistles from the rear of his plaid. Gingerly stepping close to the edge, he scowled down at the sheer drop. “Aye. That drop would try the sure-footedness of a wee Highland goat.”
Re-buckling the bag holding Eliza’s remains, Lilia joined the men standing at the edge of the cliff. “I was afraid to shoot any closer to the sea. I didn’t want to land us in the water.” A cool breeze blew against her face as the first glimmering rays of the rising sun broke across the waves rippling to the horizon.
The savage land unfolded before her like a jagged tartan of shadowed greens, muted blues, and grays. Swatches of purple and pink winked up through the early morning mist swirling around the base of the mountainside. Heather—next to her pink roses, heather was Eliza’s favorite flower. How fitting it should be blooming now.
Lilia inhaled a deep breath of the briny air and a sense of calm settled across her. This place was beautiful but at the same time rugged and strong. The shushing whispers of the wind stroking down the sides of the mountain brought a smile to her. The land here was endless and stubborn and proud of its beauty. Just like Eliza. “We should reach the sea well before sunset—don’t you think so?”
Graham shrugged his pack more evenly across his back with a nod. “Aye. ’Tis not verra far and downhill all the way. Come,mo nighean bhan,let us be on our way.” He motioned Angus forward. “Take the lead, man. Ye are better than most at finding the surest footing.”
Falling in step behind Angus on the narrow way down the mountainside, Lilia hooked her thumbs through the straps of the backpack, alternately watching her footing and glancing around the land. It was so untouched here, so pristine, as though humans had yet to discover this magical part of the world.
Then it hit her. Just as she was about to shimmy around a good-sized boulder. Greed. Excitement. Revenge. Bloodlust.Waves of the cold dark emotions rushed across her like the skin-tingling energy of a building storm.
“Graham?” She backed toward him while glancing around. Where was the source of those deadly emotions?
“What is it, sweetling?” He hurried to her, concern knotting his brows. “Ye sound alarmed. What fashes ye, lass?”
“Is there ill afoot?” Angus scrambled back around the curve of the path; sword already drawn.
She covered Graham’s hand with hers and concentrated. Unease. Caring. Worry. Love.Those were his emotions—not the ones she had felt just moments ago. Angus pinged out waves of alarm and no small amount of thirst for battle like a high-tech satellite.
She squeezed Graham’s hand, struggling not to let her fear quiver into her voice. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Got to stay calm. Must focus.“Someone else is here that shouldn’t be. I feel it.”
Graham drew her close and tucked her back against the mountain. He placed himself in front of her like a human shield. “Where? What did ye see?” He unsheathed his sword, his narrow-eyed gaze searching the area.
“I didn’tseethem.” She closed her eyes and concentrated, emotionally scanning the area. Dammit. Where were they? She held her breath, straining to recapture the negativity that only moments ago had slammed into her. A frustrated snort escaped her as she opened her eyes.“I’ve lost them. The feelings are gone. But someone was here. I’m sure of it.”
“I dinna care for this. Not a soul kens we’re here.” Graham’s knuckles whitened as he moved his sword in a slow warning arc while scanning the area.
“I know I didn’t imagine it. Someone was here.”She shook her head and rested her hand on Graham’s rock-hard arm. “They’re gone now. I’m positive. If they come close enough, I’ll feel them again and warn you.” She glanced up at the sky. “It’s getting lighter. If we want to reach the outcropping Eliza told me about by this afternoon, we need to get moving.”
