“Tell me.”
He kept his tone low and light, but she shuddered and stepped away, shaking her head.
“What did ye mean when ye said ye felt the same cold hatred ye felt before I fell?”
She moved to the hearth and stared into the glowing embers. “I shouldno’ ha’ come here.”
Logen went to stand behind her, trapping her between the heat of the fire and his body’s warmth. She shivered, but did not try to move away.
He gave her a moment to collect herself, then gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. Her tremors had subsided and a hint of color was returning to her skin as he studied her. “Do ye have the Sight?” It made sense, after what she’d said. “Did yeSeewho caused my accident?”
He’d spent four years fostered with the MacKyrie clan, whose young Seer, Ellie, had been a familiar presence in the clan’s everyday life. The idea of such a talent did not trouble him. But apparently, it troubled Coira, who blanched yet again. “Dinna fash,” he told her. “I dinna fear such things. If ye have the Sight, ye can help me.”
Coira shook her head and lowered her gaze. “I dono’have the Sight.”
“Ach...”
“’Tis something else,” Coira continued, cutting him off. She took a deep breath and pursed her lips, as if taking a moment to decide whether to continue. “I can feel what others around me feel. Strong emotion, especially.”
Like his lust, when she burst in the door? Logen felt heat rising in his face. No wonder she’d reacted the way she had. Not just from his nakedness, but from the fire that burned within him. For her.
Coira gasped and tried to pull back, but he refused to release her shoulders. “Ye are embarrassed. Angry,” she told him. “And there is heat of a different sort...”
Logen got hold of his emotions—and the rising tide of his lust—with a deep breath. “I am but a man, Coira. I will do my best to…remain calm.” She could read emotions? “How well can ye do this? How sure are ye of what ye sense? From how far?” He released her and took several steps back. “From here?” At her nod, he moved to the opposite side of the room. “Here?”
“I could sense yer surprise and anger when ye fell, even from up on the beach. But no’ the reaction of the men in the boat. Why?”
He gestured her to a chair and sat opposite her; needing to know more and determined to discover what she knew. “Ye felt cold hatred, ye said. Whose?”
“I dinna ken. The beach was so crowded, and it was just a quick sensation of icy wind.”
“And satisfaction when I fell?”
“I dinna think so. I didna get anything else.”
“There shouldha been disappointment,” he mused. “Or even more anger, when I gained my feet, still unharmed, aye?” He gave her a disarming grin, until he recalled she would see through it.
Could she be the advantage he so desperately needed? If she could see through him, perhaps she could see what others hid behind smiles and loyal demeanors.
Chapter 3
Coira shook her head, disappointment swamping her. Her own? Or Logen’s? “If there was, I missed it.” Had her fear for him in that moment drowned out any other sensations?
Logen rubbed his chin with one hand. “Perhaps there wasna anything to miss. If the person turned away and didna see me fall, or if the reaction of the crowd masked it...”
“Aye.” Coira sat up straighter. Could that be the reason? “Many people all at once make...noise. Nonsense. It can be annoying, even painful. But it is sometimes easier to bear than the strong emotion of one person.” Ach, why had she said that last? Logen had certainly been experiencing strong emotion when she burst in on him. The last thing she needed to do was remind him. And judging by the way he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not to mention the chagrin coursing through him, she had just done exactly that. “But I can help ye, I think.”
“How?”
“Perhaps I can find the cold hatred person. Or others who bear ye ill will.”
“Ye say they dinna trust ye. How will ye know if those feelings are directed at me or at ye?”
He had a point. “I must learn to use this new ability. Surely, there is a way.”
“New? What do ye mean? Where did it come from?”
“I think the Lathan Healer did this, when she healed the knife wound...”
