Chapter Ten
HE COULD TELL by theuncertainty on Chloe’s face that even though she had watched him set up the tent earlier, she’d figured she would be sleeping elsewhere. Had she thought it would be with Cray? Had she wanted it to be? He tried not to grow frustrated.
He should want her to look elsewhere. Be with someone else.
“Yeah, anyone but Cray,” she muttered under her breath, surprising him with how easily she had heard those thoughts. How much of him she was sensing in general. It was unsettling if for no other reason than he wasn’t as adverse to it as he should be.
She plunked down on the plaid as he lit a candle and set it between them. They removed their boots, and he gave her another plaid to use as a blanket.
“I am sorry, lass,” he said softly because he was. “You deserve better.”
He might not know her very well, but he knew that. She was inherently kind-natured and deserved the kind of love he had shared with Maeve. The kind hestillshared though she wasn't here anymore. She would be someday, though. He would see her in the afterlife, and all would be well again.
He notched his chin determined to keep that in mind when he felt himself drifting toward Chloe. He would be reunited with Maeve someday. Until then, while he might feel affection for his Broun, he must be careful not to fall in love. Not to betray Maeve's memory.
“Idodeserve better,” Chloe said just as softly, drawing him from his thoughts. “But, I get where you’re coming from and have no interest in coming between you and your memory.”
Memory,notmemories. But he understood why she phrased it that way. Or at least he thought he did. He pulled two skins of whisky out of his satchel and sat on the other side of the candle. “You say it as though ‘tis but one memory when ‘twas many betwixt me and Maeve.”
“That I don’t doubt.” She thanked him for the whisky, sipped it and flinched, but made no comment. “Would you tell me about her?” When he started to shake his head, she rested her hand on his forearm and pleaded with her eyes. “Please. One way or another, she's clearly part of all this, so I want to know her better. She seems so real to me though I’ve never even met her.”
“Because of your dreams?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I suppose...and maybe because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.” She seemed to search for the right words. “The more I get to know you, the more real she becomes if that makes sense.”
She could only be referring to the magical connection growing between them. Because whether he liked it or not, they were connecting in a whole new way. Not just telepathically but more. Her thoughts and emotions. Her likes and dislikes.
“Maeve was quiet,” he murmured before he could stop himself. “She had an inner peace that was hard to describe. Right up to her death.” He took a deep swig of whisky, unwilling to think about the end. Her gaunt body. Her near lifeless eyes. Instead, he focused on when they first met because she was healthy. “She was sixteen winters old when she first traveled to Hamilton Castle.” He shook his head, recalling how bashful she’d been. “She wouldnae even look at me when we were introduced.”
“But she looked at you eventually,” Chloe prompted when he trailed off. She propped herself on an elbow, her curious gaze on his face, her tone gentle. “Tell me about that. About when she finally came out of her shell.”
“’Twas more like she was caught coming out of her shell.” He rested on his elbow as well, more comfortable talking about this than he would have thought. “I discovered her on a wall walk atop the castle, raising her arms as though she could leap off and fly.”
Her brows arched, and her mouth curled up. “I take it you said something to her?”
“Aye,” he murmured. “I asked her if she realized she possessed no magic and couldnae fly like a bird.”
“Can wizards fly then?”
“Nay.”
“Then why ask that?” She no sooner got the question out before she understood. “Ah, you were flirting.”
“I suppose I was,” he conceded, recalling how bonny Maeve had appeared. Her light brown hair had been illuminated by the setting sun, her soulful eyes bashful when she realized she had been caught in the act.
“So what did she say when you told her she couldn’t fly?” Chloe asked.
He managed a small smile. “Once she found her voice, she explained that she wasn’t trying to fly like a bird but a dragon.” His smile faded as he thought about it. As he recalled the look in her eyes. “Funny, until now, I hadnae given that much thought.”
“What?”
“The tranquility and excitement in her eyes when she spoke of dragons.” He took a longer swig this time, realizing why that may have been. Amazed he hadn’t put two and two together sooner. “I knew she had traveled to MacLeod Castle first, but she hadn’t been there long. A day or two at most.” He shook his head in denial, refusing to believe it. “Certainly not long enough to have developed feelings for Cray.”
Yet as he reflected, he knew firsthand it was possible. After all, he himself had been smitten the moment he laid eyes on her. Besotted actually.
