Page 63 of Bond of a Bewitched Highlander

"Never!" Elsea screamed, her heart crumpling within the cage of her ribs.

"Well, 'tis up to you, daft whore. But if you do not, this will happen...."

Elsea crashed into another scene where this skeletal hag stood over Brodie's sleeping form and, with profound violence, stabbed him in the heart, over and over, blood spraying over her. When she was done, his dark eyes stared lifelessly.

Elsea could not scream or even move. The horror entrapped her for an endless time.

She was yanked back to the bed, the female demon looming over her. "Understand?" Her tormenter shifted into a bat and fluttered out the open window. Elsea was awake now, and she had seen that with her own eyes.

The witch tortured her with two more nights of bloody, traumatizing nightmares. Elsea loved Brodie so much she would do anything to save his life.

Chapter 12

Leaving her memories far behind, Elsea uncovered her head in the bedchamber at Farspag Tower. Dawn light glowed through the window. She had to face Brodie again, after remembering everything. How could she without breaking down?

"Oh, saints, Brodie," she whispered to the silence. "I'm so sorry. I pray you will forgive me someday." But she knew he never would. Why should he? She had betrayed him in the worst possible way.

Wilona MacRae had been in the cave on the island! Would she follow through with her promises to murder Brodie if Elsea enlightened him? She had no inkling, but she refused to keep him in the dark as he had her.

Elsea threw back the covers and sprang out of bed into the chilly air. She grabbed the borrowed arisaid the maid had brought and belted it around her waist, then haphazardly pinned the upper part in front. She pulled on her boots, now dry, thankfully.

She opened the door and stepped into the dim corridor.

Another memory crashed into her mind—Talnaroch had told her that her brother had signed the betrothal agreement behind her back. Blast them both! She refused to do her brother's bidding. Anyway, she hoped Brodie didn't find out, but if he did, so be it. She had to tell him the earl was abducting the selkies.

She checked the solar first, but Brodie was not there. The closed door next to it sprang open, startling her. She jumped.

"I heard footsteps," Brodie said, glaring at her.

Saints, but he was so stunning she found it hard to draw air into her lungs. To see him now, so close, remembering how she had cherished him, 'twas like being struck down.

The kiss sprang to mind. Was that why he was vexed? Or that, plus everything from the past?

"I..." Her mouth suddenly went dry. What should she say first?

"You what?" He scrutinized her.

Should she apologize before his rage erupted again? She wanted him to know how much she regretted what she'd done, but now was not the right time.

"I remember... everything."

His brows shot up for a moment, then he blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Everything?" he said, his voice rough.

"Aye." Her throat tightened. "Before you say anything, I must tell you the woman in the cave on the island was Wilona MacRae."

Brodie's scowl grew fiercer. "What makes you think that?"

"I saw her real face while you were outside, talking to your clansmen. But she changed her appearance, like some sort of glamour, when you walked in. She was angry with me for being there. She... oh, saints!" Elsea remembered the witch's strange rhyming phrases.

"Tell me." His gaze pinned her.

"She was murmuring sinister words I couldn't understand. She must have placed a spell on me. 'Tis why I lost my voice and my memory. Thankfully, 'tis broken now."

"Why so quickly?"

"I have nay inkling." Was it because he'd kissed her? If so, she wasn't bringing that up now.

"I refuse to accept that Margaret is Wilona. She cannot be," he said through clenched teeth. "You forget that I believe not a word you say, nor do I trust you."