“Not me. I’m beholden to no man.”Not anymore, he thought.Not ever again.
“So I’m beginning to realize.” She smiled suddenly and it lit her face like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. “I would love to see Rodric’s face when he finds me and Rory gone. Serve him right. Bastard.”
“Aye,” Deryn replied with a smile of his own. “I dinna think our lord is used to being defied. He will be in a raw temper. The words ‘bear,’ and ‘sore tooth’ spring to mind.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Silence fell, punctuated only by the crackle of the fire and Mara whiffling in her sleep. It felt strange to have company. Deryn had grown so used to sitting by the fire alone that he’d forgotten what it felt like to have another person nearby, somebody to share a joke with. He was surprised to find that he liked it.
Madeleine cleared her throat. “Well, I suppose I should get some sleep.” She rose and crossed the room but paused at the curtain. “Goodnight, Deryn.”
“Goodnight, Madeleine.”
She disappeared through the curtain, letting it swing closed behind her. Deryn turned back to the fire and let out a long sigh. Weariness washed through him, making his back ache and his thoughts fuzzy.
“Ah, Lizzie,” he muttered. “How did I end up mixed up in all this? And how am I going to get the lass and her boy home?”
As always, there was no answer.
Deryn lay down next to Mara in front of the fire, pulled his cloak over himself, and sank into grateful oblivion.
Chapter 7
Maddy woke slowly. She’d been having strange dreams that fluttered out of reach as she neared wakefulness, dreams full of strange warnings and even stranger happenings that she couldn’t quite put together.
She was lying on her side and her shoulder was aching from being pressed against something hard. She shifted, trying to find a better position and wondering why her bed had become so uncomfortable. Then slowly, through the haze, everything began to come into focus.
This wasn’t her bed, but a thin straw mattress covering a rickety, homemade bed. This wasn’t her house, with its neat rooms and modern décor, this was a farmer’s cottage in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands.
She groaned inwardly. She didn’t want to wake and face all that. She would rather sink back into forgetfulness. Without opening her eyes, she reached out and tried to throw her arm around Rory who was sleeping beside her.
But her questing hand found only a bare mattress.
Maddy’s eyes flew open, and she lurched upright. Sure enough, the space next to her was empty, the rough blankets thrown back as if he’d left in a hurry.
Fright shot through her. The dread she’d felt when he’d gone missing came flooding back, making her heart pound. She leaptto her feet and pushed through the curtain into the living room. It was empty too. There was no sign of either Rory or Deryn.
