There’s a short silence as she processes this. “There’s some mighty large gaps in this storyline, my friend.”
“I know,” I agree miserably.
“Is this a dinnae know, canna say situation?”
“That would be it exactly.”
Meera gives a low, slow sigh. The kind she gives her kids when they’ve come home with a note from their teacher and she’s praying for patience. “Tell me what ye can.”
“They took me, the next day at school-”
“But those guys were all carved up!”
“Oh, these were new guys. I know. There’s a lot of bad guys in this story. Thank god, they dinnae hurt my kids, my students.” For me, this is the best part of the story thus far, the only part that matters. I tell her about the kidnapping. I dinnae mention the horrifying human organ trafficking. There’s mention of Logan’s magnificent rescue, the drinking, and…
“Ye are not telling me ye are married to this MacTavish!” She’s pulling at her hair in agitation. “Even I know about the MacTavishes, they’re a crime family, and-”
“Hold off, Meera.” I rub my eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry but we canna discuss that. Here’s the most important part, are ye ready?”
“I dinnae know how the hell to answer that after this odyssey but aye, go ahead.”
“Ye gave me your obsidian arrowhead that night, remember? When ye brought me dinner? I found it in my pocket after I was kidnapped, I must have put it there before I went to school, it made me feel safe.”
“Oh, I’m so glad,” she says happily.
“It saved my life. The bad man, well, the worst bad man had a gun to my head.” Her breath catches and she slaps her hand over her mouth. “I had it in my hand and I- I cut him pretty badly. He dropped the gun and…” My stomach twists, the image of all that blood is back. “Ye saved my life. That arrowhead was the only weapon I had and it saved me.”
Tears are trickling down Meera’s face, she’s saying something but I canna hear it. Yanking her hand away from her mouth, she gasps, “Sorry! Sorry about that! I’m so happy it helped ye. I’m so proud of ye, so brave, ye were. I canna imagine…” Wiping her face briskly, she says, “Well, what happens now?”
“I’m not sure. Logan, that high-handed bastard, turned in my resignation at the Wallace School. I want to murder him but he’s right. There’s still a… uh… a situation. I canna risk the safety of the students again. So, I’m here, in this grand house, just…”
She nods wisely. “This Logan needs to make some plans with ye if he values his life. Ye are a nightmare when ye have free time.”
I would like to say something biting, but she’s unfortunately correct. “I had my whole life laid out. I knew every step I needed to take, going back to Uni for my graduate degree, maybe one day opening my own tutoring company...”
“Marriage is a matter of give and take, but this is not a normal marriage. Though it’s no bad thing, being a MacTavish. You’re protected against everything but the flu or bad weather.”
“Oh, it’s temporary,” I say confidently. “Once the whole the thing is cleared up, we’ll get a divorce.”
There’s a sharp rap on the open door and Logan is standing there, looking just as chilly as when he’d left.
“Uh, speaking of which, the man himself is home, I’d better go.”
“Wewilltalk soon, and often,” she promises. “Shite! My bread is burning! Bye for now.”
Logan in a suit is just as delicious as Logan in black tactical gear, or Logan naked. But his hazel eyes are cold and it dinnae seem the moment to compliment his attire.
“I’m gonna change and then we’ll talk.”
Watching his broad back as he heads up the stairs, I’m guessing this won’t be a pleasant one.
Aifeis a powerful warrior queen from Celtic mythology.
Chapter Twenty-Two
In which we are introduced to a highly effective method for controlling migraines.
Logan…
