Page 6 of Draped in Plaid
I turned in a circle, scrubbing my hands over my face.
She’d vanished.
And then reality punched me hard in the gut. That truth I’d not wanted to acknowledge ramming me in the head. There was only one reason someone would simply vanish into thin air—she’d traveled through time.
But had she done so of her own accord? Was it like when Emma had been sent back to the modern era, only to save them all from a dangerous fate?
Or had she been taken?
Or had she gone because she was unhappy here with me?
I shook my head. Nay. Impossible. She loved me. She lovedus.
“Search everywhere,” I ordered. “I want no corner, chest or ditch undiscovered. Find her.”
Men went running from the chamber.
“Who was the last to see her?” I asked the servants milling about.
They murmured behind their hands, mouths moving, heads shaking, but no audible sounds.
“Who?” I glowered at each one, stalking forward, hand on the hilt of my sword, prepared to throttle the truth from them if need be.
“The new maidservant, Mrs. MacDonald,” one finally offered.
Another blow, this time straight to the heart. I clenched my fists, forcing myself not to grab at the pain in my chest. That was a name that rang out danger with every syllable. “Mrs. MacDonald? Are ye certain?”
“Aye. Came just a week ago. Sweet older woman.”
Sweet my arse. Sweet was the last descriptor I’d give that conniving bitch. I’d heard all about Mrs. MacDonald from Shona and Emma. The woman was evil. Aligned not only to the MacDonald traitors of this era, but with the time-jumping villains, too.
Not even a single part of me questioned whether this Mrs. MacDonald was different than the one who’d tried to abduct Emma. ’Twas her, I had no doubt.
I sucked in a ragged, pain-filled breath; the sound of the air whistled as it swept past my teeth. What was I going to do? How was I going to get her back?
“Have ye seen Mrs. MacDonald?” I asked, my voice low, belying how much I wanted to rage at the sky.
“Nay, my laird.”
I cleared my throat, working the words from my tongue. “If ye see her, please apprehend her.”
“Apprehend?”
“Aye.” I narrowed my eyes, deadly serious. “The woman is dangerous. No doubt, she was the one who helped Ranulf to escape. Hold her down. Tie her up. I dinna care how ye have to do it. I want to question her.”
The servants nodded, then filed from the room leaving me to sink heavily to the floor, my sword clattering against the wood.
I stared vacantly at the hearth wondering what else Fate had in store for me this day. What other blow could she deal me? I’d lost my oldest advisor, my son had destroyed my clan and now my wife had been taken by one of Scotland’s greatest invisible enemy’s.
I’d lost her. My love. I’d promised to protect her and now I’d failed.
How was I going to tell Shona?
My chest felt as though it were being crushed. Great shards of glass shoved into every inch of my skin. The pain was immeasurable. Potent. Agonizing.
How many times had I traveled the portals of time to find her only to have her ripped from my arms?
On my knees, I pummeled the floor. “Moira!” And then it caught my eye, beneath the bed, something slightly glimmering.
