Could she possibly believe he’d taken what he’d wanted and would now just leave her behind? That he could forget about her? He’d wanted to tell her about their mission for the priory, to tell her she had no idea of what she sparked in him with her spirited ways. He’d not told her. He wished to be alone with her again, and this time he’d keep his hands to himself.
Not likely.
The frown Niall was turning on Lachlann made him realize he’d not answered yet. He nodded his head, not really sure what it was he’d been asked.
“Well, to start, it appears there is nothing for us to find here,” Niall said. “We’ve wasted our time.”
When Ethne jerked her head up, Lachlann’s stomach dropped. He turned his glare on Niall to shut the man up.
“We need to step outside.” Hit with the realization that it might be too late to fix this, Lachlann’s voice sounded unnaturally high.
“What? Ye just said ’twas fine,” Aldred blurted out.
“’Twas not what I meant.”
Ethne’s eyes never wavered from Lachlann, a deep crease between her brows, and her mending forgotten.
He met her gaze. “I believe we have come to the right place.”
The right place regardless of what they sought, he’d found her. His shy smile was not returned.
Niall and Aldred were waiting to hear the reasons for such information, the tension pouring out of them. Not unlike a hungry heron on the edge of a loch, desperate to catch a fish. Damn! He just needed to get them outside.
“I need a moment to speak to Ethne.”
“Ye’ve not spoken a word to her?” Niall glanced toward her, but then quickly looked away. His expression was tight, no doubt catching her sense of outrage as well.
She confronted him. “What is it ye’ve come for?” She stood. The material forgotten, it dropped to the ground. “Are ye not simply pilgrims, coming to visit a holy sight?” She looked heavenward and sighed. A defeated sound. She crossed her arms and confronted them with her stern tone. “Was Uradech correct?”
When her gaze finally landed on Lachlann again, it was no longer trust that he saw. The trust she’d put in him had dissipated like smoke right before his eyes. And he could think of no way to contain it.
“We’ve come from Restenneth Priory…on a mission,” Niall said.
Ethne faced him again. Her entire body stiffened and she gave Lachlann her back. Surely it was nothing less than what it appeared. She was turning her back on him. He had a hard time swallowing.
“Not penance then. Why should I be surprised?” She shook her head with an I-should-have-known-better expression. “Ye are warriors. Ye’ve come as warriors and only pretended to be something else.”
When Lachlann came alongside her, she bent at the waist with the strength of her indignation. “Do. Not.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she halted him with a raised palm and widening eyes.
Niall, who looked most concerned, said in a quiet voice, “Wearewarriors, but we have come here for the priory. They asked us to return something to them that was left behind many, many years ago.”
“We’ve not come to deceive ye.” Aldred frowned before continuing. “Not really.”
Lachlann shook his head. This was getting worse and worse, but Ethne’s glaring expression kept his words at bay.
“Oh?” Betrayal. It was there on her face and in her tone and her damned raise palm. She wanted answers, just not from Lachlann. “Have ye come to condemn us then? Domelch and Malcolm? Me?”
“What? No!” Aldred answered, but then seemed to think better of it.
Niall glanced toward Lachlann. No doubt his friend realized how much this was burying any chance he’d have with her. “Well, we are on a mission for the church, but ’tis not our way to condemn another. ‘He who is without sin—”
“‘—can cast the first stone.’” She finished the Bible quote for him. She shook her head, an expression of absolute disgust.
Lachlann reached for her upheld hand, but she yanked it away.
“Ye’ve been here.” Her jaw was tight with fury and her gaze included all of them. “They took ye in. Trusted yer word. Gave ye a place to stay out of the wind and rain, but all along ye were using them? Searching for something?”
