“Of course,” he says quickly. “And I’m sorry. For what Donag’s doneto you. I truly am.”
“So you’ll help me?”
He nods solemnly. “As I can.”
“And if you can’t?”
“We’ll find a way.”
“You mean…figure it out together?”
He shifts. “I suppose that’s what I mean.”
Is he moving closer? His expression is suddenly so serious. I don’t know what’s happening. Or what I want to happen.
Steadfast. Beauty.Does he really believe those things about me?
I search his face in the dim barn light, looking for some truth. The bruise on his cheek looks worse in the shadows. My hand lifts instinctively, but I catch myself, pulling back just before my fingertips reach his skin.
This guy is the closest thing I have to an ally. Which means I need to keep it cool. Definitely no cheek-touching.
I drop my arm, fisting my hand tightly at my thigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. And…thanks for, you know, taking a beating for me.”
“I’ve known worse.” His voice is raspy, a little abashed. Even in the low light, I can tell he’s blushing.
“Yeah, but…” I look down, taking in the blood on his shirt. The arm he’s cradling just so over his ribs. “How do you not hate me? I’d hate me.”
His reply is instant. “I knew the moment we met I’d never hate you.”
I grind my fingernails into my palm.
He’s standing so close I can make out the ghost of a scar alongside the bump on his nose. And another one, just barely visible, bisecting his eyebrow. His hair is scruffy but clean, thick black waves sticking out everywhich way. His shoulders are broad, the life of real, physical work making him seem more powerful than any modern athlete his age.
“When the Campbell’s in a rage, there’s always someone who gets in his way.” He takes a half step closer, carried by the force of his words. “I couldn’t let it be you. I wouldn’t.”
He practically reverberates old-fashioned honor. Purpose. Courage. All aimed at me.
“You knew that the moment we met?” My voice comes out barely above a whisper.
“Before that even. In your room, when I saw you, ’twas like I knew you. As though I might remember you, were I only to think hard enough. You were as real to me as if we stood, breathing the same air. Real, but far. As brilliant and untouchable as the stars above.”
A shiver runs through me. “I know what you mean.” My words ride on a warm tide of relief. I’d felt him too. Trusted him. I thought I’d imagined it, but now I know I wasn’t alone.
“I thought you were a ghost. I should’ve been scared. But I wasn’t.”
Somehow my hand is raised again, drifting toward his cheek.
He’s not stopping it.
“Callum James,” someone shouts, “where’ve you?—”
We jump apart.
Donag stands in the barn doorway, her eyes narrowing the second she sees me. “What’s she doing here?”
I don’t know what an actual witch is capable of, but the way she’s looking at me makes my gut turn to ice.
Callum squares his shoulders, already rattling off an explanation. “We’ve seen the Campbell.He wanted to know who Rose is. I told him she’s here to care for our animals. I wanted to show her the barn. Where the animals are.”
