Page 5 of Love Beyond Words
An unprecedented idea came to mind as he looked at Silva. There was only one thing he could do. With one of The Eight now dead, he couldn’t remain here another day.
He took his time explaining everything to her, sparing her no truth.
“When my brother passed, this land became mine, but it is not mine by right. Since the age of thirteen, my loyalty has been pledged to another clan, which, as ye know, voids me of my inheritance. There is a land verra far from here that requires the magic of eight druids to keep the evil that resides within it at bay. Like my grandfather before me, I possess magic. I am one of The Eight. The man that passed was one of The Eight, as well. With The Eight now broken, the evil back at home will begin to look for a way to rise. It is imperative that I return home so we can search for a worthy man to replace Timothy.
“I came here after my brother’s death to see the village settled, to make certain that I found a just man to take my brother’s stead as laird. It has always been my intention to return to the isle that is now my home. No one else in the clan can ever know of this. If they do, they willna accept the decision I know is right.”
“And what decision is that?”
“I must leave here tonight, but first we must find a witness. I shall deed all of my land to ye, Silva. Ye shall be the first female laird of Allen territory.”
Chapter 3
Present Day
* * *
I stumbled over to the front door as I called out to my sister to tell her to stay in her room until I found out who was at the door. She replied with a snore. She could sleep through just about anything—even a fire.
“Who’s there? Don’t you know what time it is?” I stood an arm’s length away from the door handle as I called out.
“It’s me. Open up.” The moment I heard Marcus’ voice on the other side, I went limp with relief. Hands shaking, I unlocked the door and threw it open as I stepped aside to let him enter.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You should’ve called first. You scared me to death banging on the door like that.
He looked around the room with undisguised disgust. He’d not been inside my apartment since Kate moved in. Since then, my aptitude for tidiness, much like my aptitude for just about everything, had slipped significantly.
“You wouldn’t have answered if I called. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for months.”
He moved to shuffle through the pile of mail on my entry table. I quickly moved to block him as I threw my hands down over the stack and glared up at him.
“You can’t just go through my mail. What are you doing here?”
“Are you not paying your bills now? Have you turned on a vacuum cleaner in the last three weeks? It smells in here, Laurel.”
I was most certainly paying my bills. It was just any other business that I allowed to slip through the cracks.
“It’s the cat.” I wasn’t altogether sure that was true. Kate was a stickler for making certain that Mr. Crinkles’ litter box stayed immaculate, but at least the cat was an easy scapegoat. He couldn’t argue with me. “And not a single thing on that table is a bill. Of course, I’m paying my bills. I’ll ask you one more time, Marcus, what are you doing here?”
“This has gone on long enough, Laurel. I messed up. I know that. I’ve known it since the words slipped out of my mouth. You’re not crazy. I never should have said that you were. I’ve been trying to apologize to you for months now, but you wouldn’t hear it, which frankly, isn’t fair. We’ve been friends for twenty-five years. I should be allowed one mess up. I’ve certainly forgiven you your fair share of stupidity.”
I hardly knew what to say to him. I was still so angry with him, but as he stood before me now, I couldn’t recall exactly why. What he’d said had wounded my feelings to be sure, but was it really all that cruel? From his perspective, he believed he was helping me. Perhaps, he was. Was it really myself I was angry at?
“I…” I said the one thing I felt most strongly as I stared back at him. “I’ve missed you.”
I expected him to hug me or at least soften a little at my confession. He did no such thing.
“Have you? Well, I can’t really say the same. The longer this has gone on, the angrier I’ve become at you for pushing me away. But guess what, we are about to fix that. We’re going back to Scotland—back to the place where all this fell apart. And we aren’t leaving the country until two things happen.”
He paused and lifted one finger, followed quickly by a second as he continued.
“One, everything is fixed between us. And two, we know once and for all whether you’re mad for believing that old woman’s story and her letter to you.”
Marcus was the last person I wanted to go looking for Morna’s inn with. He didn’t for a moment believe that it was there.
“You don’t have to do that, Marcus. We don’t need to go to Scotland to heal things between us. I forgive you, and I’m sorry for acting like such a child. I think I was angry with myself for hoping, angry for believing that something impossible just might be possible. When you confronted me that day, you made me kill a dream, and it made me resent myself for being so foolish.”
He did hug me then—a big bear of a hug that draped me in more comfort than I’d felt in months. I collapsed into him and began to cry.
