Spinning on his heel, he clutched his sword.They may have seen off the majority of the enemy but there could be some lingering, hoping for a fight.An odd clunking sound registered and he heard Lorna scream.Before he turned, pain blasted through his shoulder and the force knocked him to the ground.His vision blurred and he rolled onto his side.Gaze narrow, he pushed a breath through his teeth and saw a familiar figure step out from behind the door.
Though his shoulder burned, his blood ran cold.He blinked to clear the grey edge encroaching on his vision.Gillean held a crossbow.He had it directed at Lorna and the babe.She froze for only a second before twisting to shield the baby.Everyone else in the room stilled.
Gillean stepped past him, bringing the deadly point closer to Logan’s family.The laird’s footsteps rattled his head and he concentrated on squeezing his eyes shut and pulling them open to clear his vision and to draw his mind away from the agony.
“Ye,” Gillean said, jerking the crossbow in Lorna’s direction, “have been a blight on my plans for too long.”
Logan’s vision cleared suddenly.Blood rushed through his ears.Masking a groan, he reached behind him and snapped the bolt embedded in his shoulder.A fresh jolt of pain tore through him, and sticky blood spilled over his hand.
Lorna backed away from the laird, keeping Ewan hidden behind her arm, acting as a shield.Her mouth moved as if wanting to say something, mayhap to beg for her son’s life, but from her expression and the hatred singeing Gillean’s words, she had to know the truth just as Logan did.Gillean intended to kill her and probably their child.
He dragged in a burning breath and tensed.He wouldn’t have much time.His movements would be slow.Mayhap that breath would be his last.
Logan snatched his sword from where it had clattered to the ground and came to standing in one swift move.The weight on his arm felt like it might tear his back apart where it had been split by the arrow.It mattered not.
He leaped forward, saw Gillean turn.Saw the surprise in his eyes and the tip of the arrow coming into view.With a roar, he swung.The ping of the crossbow reverberated through the vast room.Metal clattered and someone cried out.His blade struck flesh and bone.
Logan collapsed to his knees, panting, his strength gone.Gillean fell onto his back, Logan’s blade still embedded in the side of his neck.His blood spilled onto the stone floor in a crimson puddle and his eyes fluttered shut.
As the stone floor came up to greet Logan, gentle arms wrapped around him and a soft body pressed against him.He peered up at her.Sunlight streamed in through the windows and surrounded her in a fuzzy halo.He smiled and reached up to touch her beautiful face.If this was to be his last breath, he was grateful to breathe it in her arms.
“Lorna...”he struggled to get the word out.
“Yer no’ going anywhere,” she told him sternly, though her voice lost its strength on the last word.
He tried to grin.He almost believed her.
Epilogue
From her vantage point high in the rafters, Tèile had a fine view of the newlyweds.Theirs hadn’t been a huge celebration like the other couples she’d united and that meant no feasting—a shame in the faery’s opinion as she’d have enjoyed a drop of wine and some good food.Surely she deserved as much after helping the clan win the battle?But still, her heart warmed at the sight of Lorna slipping into bed next to Logan.
He winced.
“Forgive me,” Lorna whispered.
Logan chuckled.“I’ll forgive ye anything if ye keep pressing yerself against me like that.”
“Shhh, ye’ll wake the babe.”
He peered over at the crib.“He sleeps heavier than I do.”
Tèile fluttered down and perched on the edge of the crib.The dark-haired babe did indeed sleep heavily.She eyed the pudgy cheeks and tiny fingers and had to admit, human babies were quite endearing.
“How is yer wound?”Lorna asked.
“Well enough.”He released a wicked grin and wrapped his arms about her.“’Twill no’ prevent me from doing what I wish with ye, if that is what concerns ye.”
“I never thought it would.”Lorna began kissing along his jaw.
Tèile sighed and propped her chin on her hand.She always liked these moments.
“We shall move into our own cottage when ye are healed fully,” Lorna murmured against his jaw.“Then we shall be all alone.”
“I am healed well enough now.I think mayhap we should move on the morrow.That way” —he pressed down the shoulder of her chemise and skimmed his fingers over her skin —“I shall have ye all to myself and I shall be able to do what I wish with ye.”Logan lifted up and pressed her back against the bed.“I shall be able to take ye on the table.”Leaning over her, he lowered himself to kiss her bare shoulder.“At the morning meal.”Then her collarbone.“When ye bathe.”He finally kissed the rise of her breasts.“I have a great deal of years to make up for.”
Tèile saw the colour rise in Lorna’s cheeks.“A great deal of memories to create too.”She smoothed her hands through his hair and drew his head back to meet her gaze.“If yer memory never comes back, will it bother ye?”
He shook his head.“I have everything I need here.I dinnae need to know the past to know my future.”
