Page 61 of Cottage in the Mist
She shook her head and blew out a breath. Then she focused on picturing Bram. His chiseled face and arctic eyes. Slowly, as though through a mist, her mind conjured an image of him sitting in firelight. His face was tight with anger and something else. Something like regret. He clenched a fist and then relaxed it, but she could see the tension in his shoulders, the pain etched across his handsome face. She watched as he ran a hand through his hair, and her fingers tingled as if she’d been the one to touch him.
He tossed a twig into the fire and it crackled, the light expanding to a ring around what she could see now was clearly a campfire. Her heart cried for him, and she reached out a hand, but in so doing, released the brooch and as quickly as the image had appeared it vanished. Gone before she could protest the loss.
“What is it?” Jeff asked, jerking her firmly into the present. “Lily, tell me what happened.”
She struggled to clear her thoughts, to find words, but instead she felt like she was drowning. As though she’d already failed Bram, lost him to a battle she was helpless to prevent.
“Lily,” Jeff urged, his hands enclosing hers, pulling her from her terrified thoughts.
“I saw him,” she whispered. “He was sitting by a campfire. And he looked so angry. And I… I don’t know… so… so sad. It made my heart hurt just to look at him.” She clutched at her chest as if the pain were physical. “Oh God, Jeff, I was there. ButI wasn’t. I could see him. But I couldn’t move or talk. All I could do was look at him. Want him.”
“Were there others?” Jeff asked, still holding her hands.
Lily nodded, forcing herself to push aside her roiling emotions and recall the scene. “He was alone at first. And then the light got brighter and I could see others moving in the shadows. I tried to reach out for him, Jeff, to comfort him. But in so doing, I… I let go of the pin. And he was gone.” She looked up, anguish twisting at her gut. “Oh God, Jeff, I’ve lost him.”
“No,” Jeff asserted. “You just lost contact. But at least you know that you’re still connected. And if you can do it once, you can do it again.” His fingers tightened on hers. “But this time, we’ll do it together.”
Bram stared into the fire, willing the image back. He’d seen her. For one brief moment she’d materialized in the fire. Reaching for him, her green eyes glistening in the dancing light. There for a moment and then gone. He fisted his hand, calling on everything inside him, needing her now in this moment more than he could put into words.
Damn honor. Damn her safety. Damn everything but the two them, here together. His mind knew it was a selfish demand, but his heart didn’t care. He stared into the fire, willing her to reappear. And suddenly she was there again. Only this time she wasn’t alone. His heart stuttered, anger washing through him as he watched her clasp hands with another man. A tall, handsome one.
His eyes glittered blue as he stared into Lily’s. His long fingers linked with hers. She nodded once, then smiled, tightening her grip.
Bloody hell. Bram swallowed the curse. He’d lost her. In walking away, he’d driven her into another man’s arms. Reflexively he reached out, gut churning, mind spinning. She’d been his everything and now… now... all he wanted to do was rip her from the stranger’s arms.
“Mother of God, Bram, are you trying to get burned? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The vision vanished, the fire popping and hissing as Ranald hauled Bram back from the flames.
“I saw her.” He gestured toward the fire, his breathing still ragged, the anger inside him easing a bit as he realized how foolish he must look. “Lily. She was right there. And then… and then she wasn’t.”
Ranald’s frown echoed both resignation and incredulity. “Did she have another warning for us?”
Bram shook his head. “No. She said nothing. Only reached out for what I thought was me, and then—“ He dropped back down to sit by the fire, burying his face in his hands.
“Then what, cousin?” Ranald asked, his big hand settling on Bram’s shoulder. “Tell me. It’s no’ like I haven’t heard this kind o’ thing before.”
“I thought it was me she wanted, but I was wrong. She was reaching for another man. I saw him. I saw them.” The words came out on a whisper, the pain biting so deeply he thought he might be sick. He closed his fingers around a small stone, clenching it as though it were a lifeline.
“There are other men in the world, you know. And being with one is no’ the same as, well,beingwith one, if you take my meaning.”
“They were holding hands, Ranald. And looking into each other’s eyes. And they were standing in a bed chamber. Lily’s chamber. The damned scene is burned into my eyes.” He looked back into the flames, avoiding his cousin’s gaze. He wasdisgusted with himself for his weakness and could only imagine what his cousin thought of him.
As if to underscore his mortification, Iain joined them by the fire.
“Bram saw Lily,” Ranald said without provocation.
“Here?” Iain asked, his gaze moving from Ranald to Bram.
“In the fire,” Bram mumbled, nodding to the flames as if they would substantiate his story.
“With another man,” Ranald added, shrugging once in apology. “In her bed chamber.”
Iain was quiet for a moment, no doubt fighting his disdain for Bram’s weakness. “Everything isn’t always as it seems,” his cousin said finally, his voice full of empathy. “And sometimes you have to trust your heart over your head.”
“Well, just at the moment, they’re both of an accord.” Bram’s hand tightened on the rock he was still holding. “They’d like nothing better than to have a go at the bloody fair-headed bastard that had his hands on my woman. And believe me when it’s over, I’d be the only one left standing.”
Not that he had any rights in the matter. He’d sent Lily back, after all. Abandoned her without even bothering to say goodbye. He’d done it to keep her safe, but he’d known she’d see it as a betrayal. And perhaps, in truth, it was.
