Page 44 of Cottage in the Mist
“All of them?”
“It couldna be avoided. I would have preferred one or more of them had lived so that we could question them. But ’twas no’ possible.”
“But you recognized some of them?” She rolled a little bit away, so that she could see him more clearly in the flickering light.
“No’ specifically. But they were wearing Comyn colors. And if that isn’t damning enough, one of my clansmen escaped and found his way to Iain’s. Frazier swears they were Comyns as well. And he’d know better than I.”
“Frazier?”
“My father’s captain. He’s a good man. I trust him with my life. So yes, I’m certain it was the Comyns.”
“Were there others? Who escaped, I mean?”
Bram’s blue eyes clouded with pain. “Nay. There were no survivors. My oldest friend almost made it. He fought alongside Frazier, but, in the end, the Comyns killed Robby too.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, knowing words were inadequate. “I know what it’s like to lose all your family.”
“Aye, and what it means to make a new one,” he said, his gaze meeting hers as one finger traced the line of her lower lip.
She swallowed, worry tearing at her heart. “Now that you know about Alec Comyn,” she asked, “what will you do?”
“I’ll destroy him. After all that he did, he canna go unpunished.”
“How? How will you punish him?” She wasn’t certain she wanted to hear the answer and yet she knew that she needed to know.
“Iain, Ranald and I are riding for Alec’s tower tomorrow.”
“Ranald Macqueen? Your cousin?”
“Aye.” He smiled, the gesture warming her to her toes. “You were able to glean that much, I see.”
“It wasn’t hard really. Elaine is related to Ranald. And Jeff was here once. He met Ranald then. Thinks of him as a friend, actually.”
“Ah yes, Katherine told me about Jeff. About how he helped Iain save her.”
“They were very close, I gather. He misses her terribly.”
“I think the same is true for her.”
“It can’t be easy. Living in one time with memories of another.”
“To hear Iain and Katherine tell it, nothing would do but for them to be together. And having seen them so, I canna say I see the wrong in it.”
And having shared what she had with Bram, Lily couldn’t either. But she was still afraid to put voice to the thought.
He reached out to cup her chin in his hand. “Some things, Lily, are just meant to be.”
“Like us?” she whispered, holding his gaze.
“Mayhap. I canna say what fate has in store for us. But were I to have my way, I’d keep you with me forever.”
A shudder of potent pleasure washed through her. “Then don’t go. Stay here, with me.”
Regret flashed in his eyes. “You know I canna. I have to take back what is mine.”
“Even at the risk of losing what we’ve found?”
He nodded. “Even so.”
