Lured to the Night (The Brotherhood Series Book 4) (10 page)

Ivana visibly shuddered. “Please do not be offended Mr. Douglas, but I would rather drink a teacup full of blood than take another sip.”

The mere mention of blood drew Lachlan’s attention to the lady at his side. Isla had sat silently throughout the lively exchange. He glanced covertly at the teacup, noting with some surprise that it was empty. As his gaze travelled up to the full lips tinged a burgundy red, his heart skipped a beat. Not because he found the sight of blood on her lips abhorrent. More that they looked red and swollen as though a man had taken a great deal of time and effort to ravish her sweet mouth.

She looked up at him, shrank lower in the chair. The luscious lips he admired were now stretched long and thin, a sign that she felt shame or perhaps embarrassment for sating her craving whilst in company.

“Shall I take your cup?” Lachlan held out his hand. It was a gesture of support, of acceptance and he hoped she read it that way.

A weak smile touched her lips as she handed him the blood-stained china. Their fingers brushed, only for a second, but the tug in his chest made him want to take her in his arms and soothe her fears. From the soulful look in her eyes, he wondered if she was attempting to use her talent to read his mind.

Did he really want her to know what he was thinking?

I wish we were alone together on the banks of the burn. I would take your hand in mine and tell you not to worry. I would love you as I once promised. I would protect you so you’d need never shed a tear again.

He repeated the mantra over and over in his mind as his gaze locked with hers. The flash of recognition in her silvery-blue eyes convinced him she had managed to hear some of his words. With a sad sigh, she turned away from him.

“I have been thinking about the cure,” she said, and he could tell from the thread of confidence in her tone that she would drink the magical elixir. “Despite feeling some trepidation, I will drink the potion. After all, no one wants to subject themselves to unnecessary pain.” She cast Lachlan a sidelong glance. “I would give anything to live normally again. I would risk my life for a chance to lie amongst the heather and have the sun warm my skin, to eat fruit, beef stew, to drink anything but blood.”

A cold chill breezed over him. While taking the cure was said to be a harrowing experience, surely it posed no risk to her life. “I assume after the intense bouts of pain she will be well again?”

Leo glanced at Ivana before speaking. “I must be honest with you. Everyone reacts differently. When we had the ability to compel our friends to sleep, it helped them to cope with the pain. When I drank the elixir, I was not as fortunate. Thus far, those who have taken it have woken to find their body has healed.”

“But you cannot categorically say Isla will do the same,” Lachlan reaffirmed, attempting to keep his tone even.

Leo’s grim expression sent a bolt of fear shooting through Lachlan’s heart. “No. I cannot know for sure how she will react.”

Lachlan turned to face Isla. “I’ll repeat what I said earlier. Will you not reconsider? Can you not live as you have done these last few years? You have Douglas and Malmuirie to help you.”

Douglas nodded. “Aye, I’ll stay here as long as yer need me. There’s nae need to worry on that score.”

“And what will she do when you are gone?” Ivana asked. “Who will look after her a hundred years from now?”

“A hundred years?” Lachlan could not prevent the snigger bursting from his lips. “One sip of whisky and you’re speaking in riddles.”

Ivana focused her gaze on Isla. “I assume you know the affliction means you cannot die? Consider the feeling of loneliness that has consumed you these last few years and imagine an eternity of such misery.”

Isla nodded. “I have heard Nikolai’s ghostly whispers in my mind many times during the first year after he left. The instructions were so clear I would often glance back over my shoulder for fear he had returned.” She shrugged. “If I stay out of the sun, drink blood and ensure my head remains on my shoulders, I can live forever.”

“Forever.” Lachlan repeated the word in the hope he had misheard. “Everyone dies. There is no such thing as immortality.”

“Just as there is no such thing as drinking blood or having fangs that burst from a person’s gum.” Isla’s tone carried more than a hint of sarcasm. “After what I have experienced, I would never discount the impossible.”

“So ye plan to live here forever?” Douglas rubbed his bristly chin, undaunted by the revelation that she was immortal. “Well, I cannae die in peace knowing you’ll be living here all alone.”

“If you decide not to take the cure, you must understand that you cannot live here indefinitely,” Ivana said gravely. “People will question your youth and so you will need to move from place to place. A nomadic life can be an incredibly lonely existence.”

Isla’s gaze darted around the Great Hall, from floor to ceiling, from fireplace to dais. “But I cannot leave here,” she said with a gasp. “My father went to great lengths to ensure I would always have a comfortable home. Where would I go? How would I be able to keep my affliction a secret?”

Lachlan could tell by her harrowed expression that the thought pained her. She would do anything rather than lose her home, which meant taking the cure was now a certainty. He thought of offering to stay with her, but the reality was he would grow to be old and frail, and she would forever be a golden-haired beauty.

He reached across and placed a reassuring hand on her forearm. “Follow your heart.” He whispered the words, wishing someone would have once offered him similar advice.

Isla stared at his hand for a time before raising her head and releasing a heavy sigh. “As I said earlier, I will drink the potion. I do not see what other choice I have.” She glanced up at him, and he could see fear in her eyes. “Come sunrise, I will retire to my chamber with the cure and pray to the Lord for his compassion. In the meantime, I would like to spend a few hours doing all the things I would do if they were my last.”

There was only one thing Lachlan would do if faced with a similar situation. He would take the woman at his side in his arms and surrender to the potent lure of desire.

Chapter 9

“I would rather you didn’t venture out on your own tonight,” Lachlan said. He watched her as she tightened the laces on her sturdy brown boots. “Not after what happened in Fraser’s field.”

Isla smiled to herself. Was it his way of asking if he could accompany her? She rose from the crude wooden chair in the hall, pulled her red cape firmly across her chest and raised the hood. “With so many other thoughts occupying my mind I had almost forgotten about my problems with the villagers.”

In truth, she did not think the men had any intention of hurting her. They were good husbands and fathers, struggling to keep their larders stocked, desperate to keep their families warm come winter. But they would demand an explanation for her appearance at the farm. Of course, the meeting would take place during the daylight hours. She could not attend. Suspicions would grow and fester.

Lachlan straightened. “I will speak to Ramsey and Fraser in the morning. I’ll explain I saw the real culprit and vow to help them discover the truth.” His gaze drifted over her face before he surprised her by tucking a few loose strands of hair inside her hood. “It’s bitter out. I’d say once the cold penetrates it can be the death of you, but we both know that wouldn’t be the case.”

“You have taken it all rather well.” She tried to listen to his thoughts, but with him standing in such close proximity it took a tremendous effort to focus. “Most ladies dread the thought of a handsome man seeing them with a blemish. You have seen the ugly truth of what I have become, discovered things about me you could only envisage in your nightmares. Yet here you are,” she waved her hand across the impressive breadth of his chest, “acting as though nothing has changed.”

He swallowed, the prominent lump in his throat just visible above the collar of his shirt. “Did I hear correctly? Did you just refer to me as handsome?” A sinful smile touched the corners of his mouth. The glint in his eye reminded her of a time when they were younger, happy.

“Well, you are.” Her indifferent shrug masked her slight embarrassment. “I am only stating what I see.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Your honesty is one of the qualities I always admired, which is why I believed you when you told me you wanted to marry Nikolai. Despite all that has happened you have not changed. You are still the same wild and wilful woman I remember, still the same bewitching beauty.”

Her chest grew tight as all the air left her lungs. She could feel her heart racing, the erratic thumping reaching as far as the apex of her thighs. She still wanted him. More than ever. The years of separation had only served to intensify the feeling. It suddenly occurred to her that if she had to spend hours or days in excruciating pain, then perhaps she should seek a little pleasure.

“I miss our amorous banter.” She moistened her lips at the thought of feeling his mouth moving slowly over hers. “Perhaps you should walk with me. Keep me company.” One of them had to be the first to surrender. “You’ll need your greatcoat, of course. If the cold penetrates, it could be the death of you.”

He smiled. “I assumed you wanted to be alone.”

“I have spent the last three years alone, Lachlan.” When I should have spent them with you, she added silently. “And having you with me will help to distract my mind from all morbid thoughts.”

She sensed his slight hesitance, a thread of doubt, of fear.

He folded his arms across his chest, glanced at his caped coat hanging from the stand near the door. “I suppose someone needs to make sure you stay out of mischief.”

“Come with me because you want to, not because you feel it is your duty.” She moved to walk past him. If he chose not to follow, then she would insist he returned to Carrick Hall.

His warm fingers curled around her wrist. “The night is cold, remember. Give me a moment to ensure I'm suitably prepared.”

They walked in companionable silence through the meadow at the rear of the castle and down to the water’s edge. The sky was clear now, like a sheet of black glass tinged with a faint indigo hue. The crescent moon cast a silver streak over the river’s subdued ripples. All was peaceful, serene, and quiet.

“I could never leave here,” she said with a soft sigh as she bent down and trailed her fingers in the ice-cold water lapping at her feet. “Some people love to travel to distant shores and far off lands. I often wonder what it is they’re searching for. Indeed, it is often easy to forget the beauty that exists around us when we see it daily.”

“Sometimes we must go away to appreciate what we have at home.” His rich, husky tone caused a delightful shiver to race through her.

“You sound as though you are speaking from experience.”

He cleared his throat. “I would say three years spent in the city has proved to be rather enlightening.”

She stood and shook the excess droplets from her fingers before turning to face him. “Do you really believe you will be happy living in Edinburgh? Will you not miss the rugged landscape, the rolling hills that steal your breath away whenever you gaze upon them?” She brought her chilled fingers to her lips and blew on them.

“You should have worn gloves.” He stepped forward, his broad frame swamping her. Without asking for permission he took her hand, covered it with his own and rubbed her fingers. “Everything here is breathtaking. There was not a day that passed that I did not lie awake at night aching to be home.”

Isla swallowed deeply as the heat radiating in his palms travelled up her arms. “Yet still you plan on leaving.” There was a sudden pained tone to her voice that she could not suppress. “You plan on m-marrying a real lady. You’ll find a house in Edinburgh, set up home with your wife and forget all about those you left behind.”

He would be someone else’s husband, not hers — never hers.

He gripped her hand, gazed up at the light sprinkling of stars in the sky and exhaled loudly. “What else can I do?” It was a heartfelt plea. The level of anguish in his tone was unmistakable.

She felt it like a spear to the chest. There were no words she could offer to comfort him, not when her own future lay in the healing ability of a magical elixir. Should anything go wrong, this could well be her last night with him. It would be selfish of her to make promises she could not keep.

The familiar feelings of guilt and regret surfaced, quickly replaced by a hatred for Nikolai and his evil meddling. Frustration flared too. She was tired of avoiding the truth, of keeping it hidden away inside.

Finding a gap through the edges of his greatcoat, she put her hand on his chest. “I too lie awake each night. I wonder what might have been had I never met Nikolai. I know that I will never be whole again because I have lost the only thing I have ever wanted.” She could feel the frantic beat of his heart against her palm. “I have lost you.”

He lowered his head slowly, opened his eyes to gaze deeply into hers. The heat of his stare warmed her to her core. “When you said you wanted to spend the evening as though it was your last, what did you have in mind?”

She shrugged. “I … I imagined walking through the woods, lying on the grass and gazing up at the stars.”

I imagined you would take me in your arms and hold me like you used to do.