“Milady,” the laird said softly. “I wouldst wed with you first.” She could hear the longing in his thick voice. “I will not disgrace you.”
His words were like a bucket of ice water over the libido. He thought to marry her? He, this gentle giant—at least where she was concerned—wanted to spend the rest of his life with her after knowing her for all of three days and nights? His words were more touching than any she’d ever heard before, yet she couldn’t lead him on. There could never be any marriage. She wouldn’t do something so permanent to a man who had shown her nothing but kindness.
Octavia wanted to scream at him to go away, to rage at him for not knowing what a liar she was, but she didn’t want to hurt him either. And whether she liked it or not, as Dr. Kincaid had said, she was stuck here in the fourteenth century. She had to keep up her façade, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Angus another lie to protect it.
She got out of the barrel and held up the cloak to cover herself. Embarrassed now by her former brazenness, she didn’t know what to do or say. She supposed honesty was a decent start.
“I’m not who you think I am,” Octavia said, shivering from the cold air in the hut. She clutched the cloak tighter. “I can’t marry you.”
A tic worked in his jaw. “So you are wed then? Who is your husband? The knight known as Xenocann?”
“What? No! No, I am not married to anyone.”
“Then why—”
“Because I’m a liar!” Her nostrils flared. “Everything you think you know about me is a lie!” Thirty-two years of pent-up emotion threatened to spill out. “All I am is an assassin, a glorified murderer! It’s all I’ve ever been and all I know how to be!”
His dark gaze studied her, but he said nothing. He let her speak, raw, without inhibition.
“I’m not from your world. I’m not even from Rome! Well, not directly anyway. I’m here to kill—only to kill. It’s who I am and what I do.”
He shook his head. “I see more in you than that.”
Octavia wanted to cry, but that was another thing she didn’t know how to do. It was in that moment she realized she had devolved into something less than a person. She was tough, but hauntingly alone. She was at the top of her game, but that no longer held any kind of meaning—not in this time or hers.
“I am no one.” Her voice shook. “You deserve a real lady, someone much better than me. Someone who never has to lie to you.”
“You keep saying you’re a liar.” His expression hardened. “Tell me now what is the truth and what are lies!”
Her shoulders slumped. “The truth will sound crazier to you than the lies.” She put back on her cloak, heard his intake of breath when he saw her body momentarily unbared again. “I just want to keep you safe.”
“Keep me safe?” Angus frowned. “You make me sound like a weeping maiden. I can fight for myself and for you.”
She ran a hand agitatedly through her hair. “You don’t know what you’re fighting against!”
“Then tell me!” He palmed her chin and forced her to look at him. “Tell me the truth.”
“I’m not from Rome,” Octavia reiterated. “I’m from a place you’ve never heard of because it doesn’t exist yet.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying…” she began. She clicked her teeth shut.
“Tell me,” Angus demanded. “Look me in the eyes and tell me.”
She closed her eyes tightly. “I can’t.”
“Look. At. Me.” He nudged her chin again, reminding her he still held it. “Look at me!”
Her eyes flew open. Their gazes clashed. “I’m from the future,” she whispered. “Over seven hundred years into the future.”
Angus’ ire rose at Lady Octavia. He opened his mouth to call out her preposterous lies, but stopped himself as he saw the sincerity in her expression. The wench well and truly believed she was from the future.
“I know you don’t believe me with your head,” she said. She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “But what does your heart tell you?”
His muscles tensed, but he said nothing. She raised her hand and gently pushed his hand away from her chin. “Come on,” Lady Octavia said softly. “Let’s open my bags and really look at the things in them.”
Angus kept his silence, but he allowed her to pass him. She walked to her bags and took out her death stick.
