“Ava!”
Ava turned, her hands falling away from Kai’s shoulders as he released her waist and stepped back rather quickly.
Standing in the open doorway of the keep was Thora, Kai’s sister. With raven black hair, darker than any of the MacLeod siblings, she was striking in her beauty. Her blue eyes were an even richer shade than Kai’s, noticeable even at this distance.
“Thora?” Ava walked toward her, doing her best not to dwell on what it had felt like to have Kai’s hands upon her again. She rather longed for it again as she walked away to meet Thora outside the keep.
Thora ran toward her and embraced her tightly.
“It is so good tae see ye. I didnae ken we were expecting yer company?”
“Tell her why ye’re here,” Kai’s voice was suddenly behind Ava. She jumped, startled at the proximity. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Thora’s bright blue eyes narrowing just a slither. “Tell Thora,” Kai urged as he carried their bags into the house. “She’ll sense the truth soon enough anyway.”
“Aye, aye, I ken ye’re right.” Ava sighed heavily as she turned to face Thora, trying to ignore how her eyes wanted to follow Kai as he walked into the keep.
It was the case with the whole MacLeod family. They all had gifts. Just as Kai could sense people’s emotions and was an excellent persuader, Thora sensed things that were yet to come. Only last year she had saved Ava and her clan thanks to herSight.
“Something is wrong,” Thora murmured at once. “Come, let’s find ye a drink and a fire tae warm yerself besides. Then ye can tell me everything.”
Ava was quickly settled in the castle. She saw the Laird MacLeod, Kai’s elder brother, in passing as he had business to attend to. Laird Domhnall MacLeod laid a hand protectively on Ava’s shoulder when he saw her, asking if all was well. Their other brother, Magnus, was no longer living in the castle, having moved to his new wife’s clan, Ciara. Repeatedly as she talked with Laird Domhnall, Ava strained to catch another glimpse of Kai, but he was nowhere to be seen.
She was soon left alone with Thora in a large sitting room. Ava sat beside the fire with a warm cup of mead in her hands as Thora knelt on a wolf-skin rug before the fire, poking the logs every now and then with a hot iron to draw the flames to life.
“Are ye going tae tell me then?” Thora said after a minute or so of silence, once they had been left alone. “There is clearly something going on, otherwise Kai wouldnae have brought ye back here without writing ahead so we could at least prepare for yer arrival.”
“Something may be happening,” Ava whispered, choosing to stare down into her cup of mead. Thora was one of her dearest friends. She was not worried in the slightest to tell Thora about her decision to seduce Blair Grant, but what she did worry about was what Thora would glimpse into the future because of her decision. “It’s about me sister.”
“Lyla?” Thora abandoned her work with the fire and turned to face her, those blue eyes quite penetrating as she gazed at Ava. “Her future…” she said, in a somewhat misty tone. “Ye fear fer it.”
“I dae.” It all came pouring out of Ava in a rush. She told her friend about Lyla’s suitor, about his cruelty and how she feared who Lyla would end up being married to.
“So, ye wish tae seduce a man like Blair Grant.” Thora nodded purposefully as she turned back to the fire.
“Aye, I dae.” Ava nodded. “Now, I ken ye’ll say it’s mad. That I’m a fool fer even thinking about it –”
“Strange, that was nae what I was going tae say at all.”
“It wasnae?” Ava sat bolt straight in surprise.
“I can understand it.” Thora looked resilient as she pushed her dark hair back over her shoulder. “I would dae anything tae keep Enya safe, just the way ye are willing tae give up yer freedom tae keep Lyla safe. I ken yer heart, Ava. It is so alike tae me own.” She smiled rather sadly. “I wish I could say this choice would make ye happy, but of that, I’m nae so certain.”
Ava thought about asking what Thora could glimpse of the future as she drummed her fingers on the tankard of mead nervously, but then the moment was gone as Thora stood up.
“Yet it is a decision I would have also made. I just have one more question fer ye. So, why has Kai brought ye back here now?” Thora asked.
“Because…” Ava chewed her lip nervously, but she knew there was little point in keeping anything secret from Thora. “Because he’s promised tae teach me the art of seduction.”
Thora’s eyebrows shot up so far that they nearly disappeared into her dark hair.
“Well…” Thora shifted nervously, her hands writhing together before she smiled. “If the rumors are true, me braither has seduced many a woman intae his bed. Perhaps he is the best teacher ye could have.”
Ava was now the one to shift nervously. For some reason, she hated being reminded in that moment just how many women Kai had bedded in his life.
“Dinnae look at me like that.” Kai couldn’t stand still. He marched up and down the room that was dominated by Domhnall’s clan papers as his brother stared at him. Continuously, Kai fidgeted, adjusting the tartan strip across his shoulder, running a hand through his hair, then turning back to face his brother.
Domhnall, as broad and as domineering as ever in physicality, sat somewhat ungainly in the chair behind a desk, stacked high with scrolls and loose parchments. His dark brown hair was tied back in its customary leather strap, glowering at Kai.
“I said, stop looking at me like that,” he pleaded with Domhnall, marching back the other way.
