How…?
She could still remember being giddy with excitement and humming a tune. She had been daydreaming about telling Avery and Rhea that she was not leaving. Then, a hand had appeared out of nowhere and clamped over her mouth, cutting off her breath.
She remembered the panic that flooded her. She remembered how her heart had thundered, how her fingers had curled into the stranger’s arm.
The memories brought back the panic. Worse, she didn’t understand why she was in a carriage.
“Easy… easy.”
Sorcha froze.Thatvoice… it came from below.
She lowered her head, and her breath hitched to see someone kneeling before her in the cramped space between the benches.
The lanternlight revealed a familiar face as he shifted. Kind eyes, eyebrows pulled together with concern.
Caelan.
Relief crashed over her so hard that it nearly made her dizzy.
“Oh,” she breathed, her shoulders sagging. “Caelan…”
Caelan rose and took the seat opposite her, offering her a small smile. “Are ye all right, Sorcha?”
She was all right, except she had a lot of questions. For now, she simply blinked at him, trying to steady herself. Only then did she notice that he had just wrapped a cloth around her ankle.
Her gaze dropped to it.
There were faint bruises on her skin, along with red marks that she had no idea where they had come from. They throbbed slightly beneath the cloth.
“I-I didnae even ken I was hurt,” she murmured.
“Aye,” Caelan said softly. “Ye took a blow to the head. Ye were out cold.”
Her breath stuttered. He was right.
The struggle. The strength of her assailant. The darkness rushing in.
Someone had attacked her. But how did her cousin know all of this?
She looked back at Caelan. Thinking about it, he had always ensured her safety. He had been her shadow since childhood.
“Did ye save me?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Was it ye?”
He held her gaze. “From bad decisions?” he said gently, before nodding. “Aye.”
He was not making sense. But she would worry about that later. The most important thing was that he had saved her from the assassin. For now, she just had to find the man who had been creeping her out lately.
She let out a shaky breath. “Thank ye.”
He tended her wrist then, his fingers lingering a second longer than necessary before he pulled back.
“Are ye hurt anywhere else?” he asked.
She shook her head slowly. “Just… sore.”
He studied her face for a moment, a hint of something… intimate flickering in his eyes. It was not the teasing warmth she was used to, but something deeper.
Nay, I must be seeing things.
