“How?” I begged, breathless, gasping in his cedar scent through parted lips.
“Trust me.” His hand tightened around my waist, pulling me scandalously closer. That was the moment I realized other couples had joined the dance, swirling around us—paying not even the slightest bit of attention. “You have to let me in. You have to be brave.”
I pulled back, meeting his heated gaze. “Tom, I?—”
Tom’s lips caught mine, interrupting me. This kiss was soft, sweet… loving. Long fingers traced my cheek when he pulled away. “We’ll make a world of our own, together. All you have to do is love me.”
“Tom…”
His gaze snapped to something behind me. “That is for you,” he said simply.
“What?”
“You’ll have to sort that out for now.”
A rustling sound cut through the sweeping notes of the quartet. I spun, finding nothing. I turned back, only to find an empty space where Tom had been. A hollow clank sounded through the gaming hell?—
I shotup with a start just as the sun was beginning to kiss the sky. It was the work of several moments to remember where I was and several more before I caught that same rustling sound again.
The fire had died out during the night, leaving an unfamiliar damp nip in the air. Through the cracked window, the sky had lightened to that inky slate shade that promised dawn. The swishing sound returned, but without the firelight, I couldn’t see the source.
Again, it came, and I localized it toward the door.
My heart knocked about in my chest, my breath too light and too quick. The events of the day and the contents of Tom’s letter had left both my body and my head aching.
Another crepitation, the sound of—fabric? fur? against something. It was louder now, more insistent. The instinct toscreech, to wake the others, warred with the need to ensure that it—they—did not realize the element of surprise was gone. Was it a bear? Did they have bears in Scotland? Perhaps a wildcat or a brownie? Mother had included both in her repeated diatribes about the perils of the Scottish Lowlands.
Again, I heard it. And then I watched, scream trapped in my paralyzed throat, as the sheet covering the door moved again. For a second, I was almost able to blame the wind, but then I identified a distinctive lump in the fabric.
The sky continued to lightened with every passing moment. The man, spirit, or beast pressed ever more determinedly against the fabric. A sharp snuffling sound rang out in the silent room, punctuated only by the heavy breaths of my companions. A beast—certainly an evil loch creature—come to destroy us all.
Sensing a weakness in the fabric trappings, it shifted its efforts toward the left side of the fabric, reaching ever closer to the edge. Snort, rustle, snort, rustle.
I caught the edge of a horn peeking between the fabric and the door—a sign of the devil if there ever was one. Silently, I shuffled to the end of the bed and reached sightlessly for the iron poker that stood beside the fireplace.
It wasn’t precisely where I thought it was and my fingers met air. I flailed, grabbing out, only to catch metal with the edge of my fingertips—knocking against the tool.
Clang!
The poker smacked against the hearth with an echoing clatter. My heart smacked against my ribcage as Godfrey and Miss McAllen shot up with a curse and a wordless shout. At the same moment, the beast poked its head between the curtain and the door.
Fenella’s beady gaze met mine, something vengeful in the black of her eyes.
“What are ye doing?” Miss McAllen demanded, hair stuck up on one side of her head and smashed down on the other. The side that jutted upright reminded me of the way Gabriel’s had.
“I thought it was a bear. Or a wildcat.” I offered pathetically, leaving the fairy folk out of my list of suppositions.
“Ye thought Fenella was a bear? Ye considered bear before the sheep that’s tied up and determined to shit in here?”
“She didn’t show herself until just now.”
“I promise ye, if it were a bear, a poorly hung sheet wouldnae stop it. Nor a wildcat.”
“I forgot about the sheep!”
“Ye forgot aboot the sheep? Ye didnae do anything except complain aboot the sheep yesterday.”
“I made stew as well!”
