“What if I don’t want him to appear?”
“Aye, ye say that now, but is that what ye heart says? Phoebe has told me a lot. Ye aren’t seeing the whole picture.
“He needs ye to trust him. That’s going to save ye all. The trust of a real family. Not one born of blood but one forged in it. I believe those were her words,” she coughs the last part.
I sigh. “I don’t understand.”
“Ye will. Go back to the life he has given ye in Ireland. Ye will know when to leave. Yer king will do the rest.”
“He’s no king of mine,” I mutter to myself.
She chuckles. “Aye, love, he is. Ye will see.”
CHAPTER 34
New Land
Deja
Six months later …
My feet hitthe pavement in soft taps as I make my way toward the house. I’ve been running in the mornings to clear my head. Every morning, I wake with anxiety.
Ye will know when to leave.
But I don’t. That’s the thing keeping me anxious and feeling crazy. How will I know?
What will it be? A sign or something. This is driving me mad.
I push harder, wanting my life to be normal again. Nothing feels normal anymore. I’m living in his house and running his pub. None of it belongs to me.
I shake my thoughts off as two figures appear on the front steps of the house. I pull my gun and rush up behind the two.
“What do ye want?”
They both turn slowly with their hands up. I cock my gun and keep it aimed. The one on the right pushes their hood back.
“We’ve been missing ye and this is how ye greet us after all this time?”
“Callum?”
“Aye, it’s us. Put the gun away,” Blair says as she tugs her hood off, revealing her dark blond, almost brown hair.
I place my gun on safety and nod my head at the black gift box she’s holding. “What’s that?”
I’m not sure why the two are here or how they knew how to find me, so I’m reluctant to embrace them. Old habits tend to die hard, especially once you’ve been burned. This is what Cole has left behind.
“They said ye would be like this. We come in peace. This is a gift from Gran,” Blair says.
“Aye, let’s go inside and we’ll explain,” Callum says.
“Is she all right?” I say as panic fills me.
“Aye, she’s fine. Well, enough to order everyone around,” Blairs says.
I move past them and head into the house. The two follow me inside. I go to the fridge and grab a bottle of water.
“Can I get ye anything?”
