Page 306 of Historical Hotties
That left Rotri alone on the landing.
Alone and ready to strike.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Someone was callingher name.
In a deep sleep, someone was calling her name in a dream.Caledonia.She could hear them but couldn’t see them. It was a male voice that she thought might be her husband, so she began to hunt for him in her dream. She was eager to see him, looking for him in the mist.
Caledonia!
It was louder this time. It felt as if it was right in her ear. In fact, it was so loud that it jolted her out of her sleep. She opened her eyes to a dark room except for the fire in the hearth that gave off some illumination—enough for her to see that there was someone else in the chamber with her. For a moment, she thought it was Thor and sat up with a gasp of delight, the cobwebs quickly clearing away. She was halfway out of bed before she realized that it wasn’t Thor.
It was someone else.
Her eyes fixed on a living nightmare.
“Good,” Rotri said. “You are awake. You and I must speak, Callie.”
It took Caledonia a fraction of a moment to realize that her uncle was very real and standing in her bedchamber. When theawareness settled, she pealed a scream and threw herself to the opposite side of the bed, hysterical in her panic. She screamed again when she saw him move toward her, and she jumped over the bed in the opposite direction, rushing for a small alcove where she knew Thor kept some weapons. He had them in the keep, in the armory, in the hall, and a half-dozen other places around the castle because that was simply his way. He was always prepared for a fight. But Rotri caught her as she dashed for the alcove, and in her panic, she grabbed the nearest item—not even knowing what it was but seeing something in her periphery on a table—and smashed it right over his head.
Rotri was rocked by a blow from a broken pitcher as Caledonia darted into the alcove and made a grab for a dagger.
Shaking off the bells in his ears, Rotri was right on top of her.
“Stop!” he commanded, trying to force her to release the dagger. “Let go before you hurt someone!”
Caledonia was almost incoherent with terror. She tried to slash at him and managed to clip his right wrist, but he nearly broke her fingers forcing her to drop the dagger. As it clattered to the floor near the hearth, she screamed again and pulled away from him, running to the far end of the chamber, on the other side of a big table, and contemplated her next move.
Rotri stood near the alcove, inspecting the cut on his wrist.
“Now,” he said decisively. “That will be enough of that. I did not come here to fight you.”
Caledonia’s breathing was coming in sharp gasps. “How did you get in here?” she demanded. Then she started smacking her hand on the table in a loud and commanding gesture. “Get out before I kill you!”
Rotri shook his head. He stood there, looking at her with both contempt and impatience, before sighing heavily and looking away. He appeared strangely weary as he sat down in the nearest chair, which was next to the hearth.
For a brief moment, the chaos in the room stilled.
It was quiet.
For now.
“Nay,” Rotri said after a moment. “No more killing. There has been enough killing this night. Your cousin is dead, Callie. God help me, my son is dead.”
She hadn’t expected to hear that, so it threw her off guard a little. “Dead?” she repeated. “Domnall?”
Rotri nodded. “Domnall,” he confirmed. “So is your husband. That is why I am here.”
Caledonia sucked in her breath, her eyes widening. “Thor?” she gasped. “It’s not true!”
“It is, I’m afraid. Killed in an ambush.”
Those words hit Caledonia as heavily as a blow from a battering ram. She actually stumbled back, slamming into the wall, her hands flying to her mouth to hold back the hysterical screams.
“Nay,” she breathed. “Nay, it cannot be.It is not true!”
She went from whispering the words to screaming them all in a split second, shouting at him as Rotri put up a hand to quiet her.
