Jamie struggled to pull his jumbled thoughts together. He swallowed a few times. “Nay, lass. I wasnae expecting ye. I didnae knowwhatI was expecting. When Lir sent me here—”
“Wait!” She held up a hand. “Lirsent you here?” Then she laughed, shaking her head. “Of course, she did! I should have known! She’s the one who broughtmehere and then promptly disappeared on me.” She crossed her arms. “I’m going to have some serious words with that goddess the next time I see her.”
Jamie was still struggling to process all of this. Elise MacFinnan in a cave on Islay? Really?
There was a globe of light hovering over Elise’s shoulder, some unnatural conjuration that reminded Jamie that this woman might look like some ordinary woman but was far from it. She was a MacFinnan spellweaver, one of a long line of women with near-legendary status in the Isles.
But right now she was shivering in her wet clothing, which reminded Jamie that although she might be spellweaver, shewas still a human woman who had just traveled a very, very long way to get here.
He cleared his throat, then unclipped the brooch holding his cloak to his shoulder and pulled the heavy garment off.
“Here.” He swung it around her shoulders, and she clasped it gratefully around her.
“Thanks.”
“I dinna understand,” he said, stepping back and shaking his head. “Lir sent me here so I could find somebody to help Islay.”
Elise waggled her hands. “Ta-da! Here I am. Sorry if you’re disappointed.”
Disappointed? Was she serious? She clearly had no idea of how she’d haunted his thoughts for the past year or the way the sight of her sent a strange warmth right through him. She looked damp and miserable, but her beauty was still enough to steal his breath, with her dark, pink-tipped hair and those large, luminous eyes of hers.
Oh aye, he was far from disappointed.
But he also had to ask himself what Lir thought Elise MacFinnan could do to help them against pirates. She was a spellweaver, aye, but she was still only one woman, and Islay’s problems didn’t concern magic; they concerned military might. Unless Elise had brought an army with her, he didn’t see how she was going to be able to make a difference.
But he didn’t want to think about that right now. He didn’t want to think about anything but the woman in front of him. He nodded to the tunnel. “Come on. Let’s get ye somewhere warm and dry.”
She rolled her eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He led her back through the passage, Elise’s globe bobbing along at her shoulder and lighting the way. The tunnel was high and wide enough for them to walk side by side and they fell intoan easy pace, neither speaking, the only sound their footsteps on the damp stone floor.
The end of the tunnel came into a view, a wide, bright portal that opened out on the beach. As they emerged, Elise extinguished her light globe and stopped abruptly, looking around. She pulled Jamie’s cloak tighter around her shoulders.
“Oh my,” she muttered. “I’m really here, aren’t I? This isn’t one of those weird dreams I get when I’ve had too much caffeine?”
Jamie smiled faintly. “Nay, lass. It’s no dream. Welcome to Islay.” He swept out an arm to encompass the beach, the sea, the land that stretched in undulating green and purple hills into the distance.
“Islay,” Elise said as though trying the name out on her tongue. “Rose and Jenna arenevergoing to believe this.”
Jamie snorted. “I’m not sureIcan believe this. After yer sister’s wedding, I never thought I’d see ye again, lass.”
Elise turned to look at him. Those eyes. Dark brown like tilled earth, but with gold flecks around the irises. They had enchanted him the first time he’d met her and were doing the same now.
“That’s me. Keep turning up like a bad penny, eh?”
Jamie felt the almost irresistible urge to reach out and run his finger down her cheek.
“My laird!”
He snatched back his hand and spun to see Albie approaching. He was flanked by more of Jamie’s men and they all had their weapons drawn.
“I thought I told ye to hold position!” Jamie snapped.
Albie was not cowed. “Aye, but ye didnae say ye would be gone so long. When ye didnae return we feared the worst.” His gaze flicked to Elise and then back to Jamie. “But it seems ye were in no bother after all.”
Jamie narrowed his eyes. Albie had a knowing grin on his face and Jamie didn’t like what it implied. “Watch yer tone. Ye will show respect or answer to me.”
Catching their laird’s mood, the men’s grins faded and they shifted awkwardly.
