Page 142 of Edge of Yesterday

Cailean’s heart pounded. He remembered Lennox saying very something similar about how he didn’t care of the devil’s own walked through the forest, she was to stay home. This was his fault, down to the last drop of moisture that now shimmered in Julianna’s eyes. The moment he realized he was truly in the fourteenth century, he should have found a way to leave Raghnall. But where would that have left Julianna? Dead? Nae, not if he had left after getting her home. Instead, he’d stayed a day longer, then allowed Lennox to talk him into going after the baron. Worse, he’d gotten himself married to Julianna. Even worse, Ravenstone was right, he’d endangered her. He’d told himself it was to protect her but, the truth was, he’d wanted to spend every moment with her that he could before returning home.

Fate had thwarted him. Cailean wasn’t fool enough to believe that the baron had really placed him under house arrest to keep Julianna home. The truth was, the man distrusted him.

“Crowe has Alex’s ear,” Julianna said in a quiet voice. "You know he does. If we expose him, that protects you. This information is important."

Ravenstone stepped around his desk and stopped in front of his daughter. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "You are more important."

Julianna mouth parted in surprise. She bit her lip and nodded. He pulled her close and hugged her. Cailean’s chest constricted when the older man closed his eyes, and Cailean understood the fear he had experienced at the thought of what might've happened to his daughter.

Ravenstone released her and stepped back. “I will deal with Crowe. Whatever his connection with Valdar Ross—if there is a connection—means nothing, at least not at this moment. Perhaps we—I,” he added with a meaningful glance at Julianna, “can discover it, but that will take time. For now, we must deal with Crowe on his terms.”

Lennox and Julianna had been correct when they told Cailean their father would not easily believe that Crowe was conducting human sacrifices or practicing black magic. The decision not to tell him anything about the magic Cailean had observed had been the right decision. It would have been too much to ask Ravenstone to accept such a tale from his new son-in-law.

“I will leave immediately,” the baron said. He cast a final glance at his daughter, then strode from the room.

~*~

Julianna followed Cailean and Lennox from her father’s privy solar. She’d known he wouldn’t be pleased with what they’d done, but she’d never dreamed he would react so violently as to forbid her and Cailean from leaving Raghnall. Perhaps that was because she’d never done anything so outlandish as disguise herself as a beggar, then traipse through the underground tunnels beneath Reay Abbey.

Cailean and Lennox continued through the great hall to one of the nearest vacant tables near the hearth. She settled beside Cailean, her thoughts on her father’s trip to find Alex, then nodded acceptance of the wine Cailean poured for her.

“Your father is right, Julianna,” he said.

Peevishness surfaced. “He should no’ have imprisoned us in Raghnall.”

She didn’t miss the glance Cailean exchanged with Lennox.

“Do no’ treat me as if I am a child. We all agreed on the plan.”

“Aye,” Lennox said. “Which makes us all children.”

Julianna gulped her wine. To her surprise, she realized she was very thirsty. “He would no’ have let us go, as ye well know,” she said when she set the mug down.

Her gaze caught on two guards who entered the great hall. Both battle-hardened warriors, they looked as if they’d tangled with a bear. Their clothes were in worse shape than those she, Cailean, and Lennox wore. The plaids bore mud stains and one of the men, bare-chested, carried his shirt over his shoulder, leastways what was left of his shirt, for it dangled in shreds. The largest of the two—a great brute of a man known as her father’s best spearman—had scratches on his face and, although Julianna never would have believed it, a chunk of his beard seemed to have been yanked out.

She stared, mouth agape.

“What is it?” Lennox twisted to look over his shoulder. “Thomas,” he called to the big one. “Guidsakes, what happened?”

The two men exchanged glances and angled toward them. They stopped at the table, and Julianna saw the look of surprise in the men’s eyes at the clothes they wore.

Thomas said, “We caught a wildcat outside of Heatheredge.”

Lennox frowned. “Did ye wrestle the creature?”

Thomas laughed. “We did. She was a feisty thing.”

“Ah, a woman.” Lennox chuckled.

“A hellcat,” Gilley said. “The witch practices some sort of strange fighting art. She sent Thomas flying through the air. It took five of us to catch her.”

“Five of ye?” Julianna lifted a brow. “How could a wee woman fight five strapping warriors like yourself and Thomas?”

“Laugh, if ye like, my lady,” Thomas said. “The she-cat is near as tall as I am, and she flipped me over her shoulder, then flew in the air and kicked Nelson in the jaw. We found her in the forest about a mile outside of Heatheredge, near the Reay River. She was walking along half-dressed, so we offered her a ride home. She attacked us.” He snorted. “That is what kindness got us.”

Julianna grunted. “I suspect the story is that ye mistook her for a prostitute and she became angry.”

“It would have been better if she were a joy-woman,” Gilley said. “We left her at the Red Lion for charges of theft and practicing black magic.”