Morgana’s left arm fell from Aileana’s waist so that she could reach for the powerful talisman. She nudged Aileana from behind, pushing to get closer to what she wanted. Closer…
At the moment that Morgana’s fingers touched theEalach, Duncan lunged to the side, swinging his arm and uttering a growling curse. He flung the amulet, and it spun through the air, up until it formed a silhouette against the crimson sky.
With a bloodcurdling howl, Morgana lunged. Aileana used that instant of distraction to push away, and Duncan caught her against his chest as Morgana fell from the bluff in a vain effort to recover the vanishing talisman.
Burying her face in Duncan’s chest, Aileana tried to block her ears to the sound of her sister’s fading scream. It ended abruptly, and she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling Duncan’s warmth and the steady pounding of his heart against her cheek as she tried to slow her breathing. They were both filthy, covered with blood, dirt and sweat, but she’d never felt so relieved, so safe in her life. He pressed gentle kisses to her head, and she clung to him, wanting to anchor herself to his strength as the tears finally came. They spilled down her cheeks, wetting his skin.
Tipping her face to his, Duncan brushed his thumb over the liquid tracks. “It’s finished. You’ve nothing more to fear, I swear by my life.”
“But theEalach—you’ve lost it forever now—”
“Far better that I lose it than you, Aileana. Nothing is more important to me than you. Nothing.”
She looked at him in silence for a moment, overwhelmed by the feelings coursing through her. Love swelled, warm and life-giving, driving out the cold that had been gripping her so tightly these past hours. She nodded, blinking back her tears and reaching up to cup Duncan’s cheek in a tender caress before stepping back. Still holding his hand for support, she peered over the ledge, needing to be certain that it was really over. A bitter ache unfurled in her belly as she stared down at Morgana’s broken body on the rocks below. So pointless. Perhaps it had been inevitable, after all that had happened, but she couldn’t help remembering earlier times. Times when she was still a child, and knowing Morgana had been good and happy. Her beautiful sister, so full of adventure. She’d adored her, then. Wanted to be like her.
Aileana stepped back into Duncan’s embrace. “God, I just want to forget that all of this happened. I want to go home and never look back.”
Duncan’s eyes clouded. “Home…?”
A shout came from the castle ruin, making them turn to look. Kinnon and several MacRae clansmen charged into the open area, claymores drawn. Duncan stepped away from Aileana for a moment to intercept his cousin.
“What happened? Where’s Morgana?” Kinnon’s breath came hard, and when his gaze flicked to Duncan’s wounded shoulder, to the bruises on Aileana’s face, he clenched his fists. “We charged the fortress not long ago and took a handful of men and two women as prisoners.”
Nodding toward the cliff, Duncan said, “She’s dead. She leapt from the bluff trying to get theEalach.”
“Christ.” Kinnon cursed under his breath. “It is a brutal death, though in her case, I suppose it was just.” He glanced to Aileana, and guilt colored his cheeks. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect to you.”
“You don’t need to explain. Morgana’s evil earned its own end.”
Kinnon nodded, his eyes filled with gratitude. After Duncan dispatched a group of men to retrieve and bury Morgana’s body and search for theEalach, they spoke briefly again, deciding that they should seek shelter in the castle. The dark fell fast around them. Only a rim of sun remained on the horizon, painting the sky crimson and purple. As they walked to the ruin, Duncan told Kinnon where to find Colin, and several of the men went ahead to gather up his body, or if by some miracle he still lived, to secure him for travel back to Eilean Donan and the judgment he would eventually face before the High Council.
When they reached the castle, Duncan left to make some arrangements, and Aileana settled into one of the empty, inner chambers to await final preparations for the journey ahead. Men bustled about, gathering those valuables that they could carry for the clan’s use back home. Aileana watched it all in a kind of daze, empty, detached, and lonely for Duncan’s touch. She looked up when he came in a few minutes later. His shackles were gone and his shoulder was bandaged, but her welcoming smile faded at his serious expression.
He paced to the window, turning to face her, finally. He stepped close. So close that she could see the torchlight glint off the golden strands in his hair. Close enough to feel his warmth. More than anything, she wanted to reach up and stroke his brow, to kiss away the hurt and worry in his eyes. But she held back.
“Did they find theEalach?” she asked softly at last, gazing up at him.
“Nay. They found nothing but Morgana’s body. The waves must have carried the amulet away.”
Silent, she nodded, uncertainty filling her at the troubled look in Duncan’s eyes. He had something on his mind, and it wasn’t good, that much she could tell. Perhaps now that theEalachwas gone he’d decided that he didn’t need her in the way he’d thought he did. That he didn’t feel—
“I need to ask you something, Aileana,” Duncan murmured, breaking into her thoughts. “I was going to ask you when Kinnon and the others came.” He looked away, and Aileana stepped forward, unable to stop herself any longer from being near to him. She took his hands in her own.
“What is it? Tell me, Duncan. Please.”
“Ah, Aileana…” He breathed her name like a prayer, and she felt her heart lurch with hope. He gazed at her again, his eyes bright with unspoken emotion. “I need to know what you meant when you said you wanted to go home. Whether you mean to come home with me to Eilean Donan, or go back to Dulhmeny with your brother Robert.”
Aileana almost laughed with relief. “Is that all?That’swhat made you look like the sky was about to fall on you?”
With a scowl Duncan mumbled, “I didn’t think it was so small a matter.”
Aileana reached up, caressing his stubble-roughened jaw, the scar that threaded along his cheek. She pressed herself firmly against him, so that he couldn’t help but feel her warmth, her need to be close to him. He felt so strong. So right. They fit together, soul to soul, and she knew that she’d never allow anything to come between them again. She smiled, her brow arching slightly as an idea came to her for helping him to understand that truth.
“Ah, Duncan MacRae. When will you learn to trust what stands right in front of you?” She leaned in, breathing soft onto the exposed skin of his chest. “It’s as clear as glass, if you ask me.” She punctuated her words with gentle kisses to the hollow above his collarbone, along a heated trail that finished just below his ear. A throaty chuckle bubbled up in her as she slid her fingers up his chest to tangle in the golden-kissed waves of hair at the back of his neck.
Duncan stilled under her tender ministrations. His arms tightened, holding her, rigid and uncertain. “You wish to make your home with my clan, then?”
“Nay, not exactly.”
