Page 101 of Bond of a Bewitched Highlander

"Because Will signed the contract without her permission, aye?"

"According to her."

Torr nodded.

"You're her second cousin, so you're on her side, I ken," Brodie said.

"I'm impartial. I simply wish you two would put all the betrayal behind you, forgive, and make your curse null and void."

"Forget it," Brodie grumbled and sipped the bitter, refreshing ale. "Do you ken if my mother sent a missive to Gavin?"

"Most likely."

"Blast her meddlesome hide."

Torr chuckled.

"I wish she would let me handle my own conflicts. I did nay want to put you and Gavin in danger."

"We've always had each other's backs. And we got into this conflict with the witch together. We must finish it together."

"And by finish it you mean finish her off, aye?"

"Indeed. But only after your curse is destroyed. You ken the rules. How is Finnian doing?"

"He's well." Brodie told Torr more details about what had happened thus far, except for the incident in the cave with Elsea. Hell, he hoped they never found out about it. Would Elsea tell Cat? He closed his eyes in dread. If women shared secrets like that, 'twould be hellish for him. Cat would tell Torr, then Brodie would never hear the end of it.

He was still unsure about their explosion of passion. Just because he still craved her with a fiery lust did not mean she was trustworthy. Hell, she might still marry the whoreson earl.

As for Torr and Gavin, they were the nosiest men he'd ever met. Of course, they had all known each other since they were lads, and they'd never kept secrets from one another. But he had to keep that one.

"So, Margaret was Wilona in truth?" Torr asked.

"Apparently. Gavin will rub my face in it."

"Aye." Torr smiled.

Someone yelled in a distant room, the sound echoing down the corridor.

"What's going on? Who is that?" Brodie asked, concerned.

Torr hurried to the door and opened it.

The yell resounded again.

"'Tis Finnian!" Torr said. "Stay in bed. I'll see what's going on."

Chapter 19

In Farspag Tower's herb garden, Wilona MacRae transformed herself into a midge. Struggling through the shifting wind, she flew up to Finnian's window, and crawled through the crack. She desperately needed the scrying stone to spy on several people from a distance.

She'd discovered Finnian's chamber earlier, when she'd borrowed the clothing. His room here was far less cluttered than the one at Blacktower, but he had a few herbal supplies and three books. Currently, he was napping on the bed.

She had been in midge form too long, and a shifting was imminent. Needing a place to hide, she flew beneath Finnian's bed just as her body shifted to human. Her elbows and knees hit the wooden floor hard, sending pain through her.

"Humm? What was that?" Finnian asked. The mattress over her creaked as he sat up. "Who's there?"

She was too disoriented and pain-filled to remember the vanishing spell now. If he looked beneath the bed, she would have to kill him. Not with magical powers, but with a candlestick, fire poker, or whatever she could find in the room.