And damn him, if he didn’t feel a twist of guilt in his gut. He’d left her with nothing but her determination, and determination was a thin shield in a place like this.
He turned back to Murchadh and Thomas, forced another grin. “Gentlemen, as ever, it’s been a pleasure. But I’ve business elsewhere.”
Before they could press him further, he slipped out into the sunlight.
The noise of the quay hit him again, gulls shrieking, sailors bellowing, ropes slapping against hulls. Ruby was only a few steps ahead, frowning as another captain shook his head and turned away. She bit her lip, squared her shoulders, and marched toward the next ship.
Evan watched her for a moment, that stubborn set to her jaw, the determination in the way she held her shoulders. He found himself wondering who she truly was. No common lass, that much was certain. A noblewoman? But what noblewoman visited back-water islands alone, bargained with smugglers, and bandied with ship’s captains like a merchant at a market?
She wanted to go to Edinburgh. His fingers brushed the locket in his tunic. Maybe he’d been too hasty.
Seoras MacInnes’ shadow was stretching longer every minute he lingered here. Who knew how many of the warlord’s men were watching him right now? The word was that he had eyes everywhere. Evan needed to get out of here, lie low for a while. Edinburgh wasn’t where he’d planned to vanish to—too many memories there, too many eyes who remembered him—but the city was big enough to hide in, at least for a while. And this would give him the chance to ease his guilt over abandoning the lass.
Decision made, he strode after Ruby.
THE HARBOR WAS CHAOS. Sounds. Smells. So many different sights that Ruby could barely take it all in. Sailors with sunburnt faces and rotted teeth laughed and shouted, their voices rough as gravel. Fishmongers sloshed buckets of water across the boards, the smell of salt and fish guts stinging her nose. Everywhere, eyes followed her—curious, lingering, some openly appraising in a way that made her stomach knot.
She didn’t like this at all. She felt so out of place she might as well have been walking about with a placard reading,Hey! I’m from the future!
But she had no choice but to press on. Edinburgh couldn’t bethatfar, could it?Somebodyhad to be heading in that direction.
She approached another captain, a tall man with a leather cap pulled low. “Excuse me,” she said, forcing herself to meet his gaze and keeping her voice calm with an effort. “Are you sailing south? To Edinburgh, perhaps?”
He looked her up and down, then spat a stream of brown liquid onto the stone at her feet. “Nay.”
Ruby flinched back, cheeks burning. Fine. She turned toward a broader vessel, crew bustling about with ropes and crates. Its master was a hulking figure with a scarred jaw and a coarse wool coat. He looked like the sort who knew the seas.
She swallowed hard and forced her feet to move. “Sir—”
Before she could finish, his hand shot out and clamped around her wrist. His grip was iron, his eyes glinting with something that made her skin crawl.
“Well now,” he drawled, breath rank with ale. “What’s a fine lass like ye doing wandering about all on her own?”
Ruby’s heart leapt into her throat. She yanked, but his hold only tightened, his nails biting into her skin.
“Let go!”
He chuckled, low and ugly. “Soft hands, fine speech. Not a common wench, are ye?”
Panic clawed at her chest. She twisted again, fear spilling into her voice. “I said let go!”
And then another voice cut through, sharp as a blade. “I’d do as she says if I were ye.”
The grip on her wrist vanished so suddenly Ruby stumbled back. She turned and saw Evan standing behind her.
The sailor sneered. “And who might ye be?”
“The man who’ll split yer skull if ye touch her again.” Evan took a step closer, one hand resting on the hilt of a knife at his belt. The casual confidence in his stance sent a ripple of silence through the nearby sailors.
The man weighed him a moment, then spat on the boards and backed off with a muttered curse. “She isnae worth the trouble.”
He turned away and the crowd’s attention melted back into the rhythm of harbor life.
Evan’s gaze flicked to her. “Ye’ve a talent for finding trouble, lass.”
She glared at him. “I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t abandoned me here!”
He had the decency to look a little chastised. A little. “Aye, about that. I’ve been reconsidering.”
