“Your men wanted vengeance. Their actions had nothing to do with me,” she said.
“I nearly died,” he said, as if he hadn’t heard her, caught up in the past, a faraway look on his grizzled face.
She realized then that he’d thought he was invincible. That by ruling with an iron fist, he could force his men to do as he bid, no matter what. He’d been wrong. The money his crew thought they were owed had been enough of an incentive to mutiny.
“You were dead,” she said again.
“Nay, Elaine, my love. I nearly died. Vengeance was mine. After years of tracking down my would-be murderers and learning that you were not behind the mutiny, I finished the last of them off and contacted your Kilpatrick cousin, recalling he had some interest in you.”
She wanted to close her eyes and reopen them to see him gone.
“Tell… me… the… truth. My parents. You murdered them. It wasn’t an accident.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why you insist on learning the truth. There were too many of us in competition. I wanted their ships, their manors, and you in the bargain.”
“You didn’t really want me. You wanted the properties that my parents bequeathed to me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, love. I wanted you. Desperately, I wanted you. Your father would not agree.”
Her lips parted in surprise. Her father had tried to protect her?
“If you wanted me so badly, you wouldn’t have waited that long to come for me,” she growled.
He let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. “You’re right. You always were a canny lass. I was shipwrecked on that blasted island. And then I didn’t remember who I was for over a century. I didn’t recall that I had a mate, or that I was the captain of a fleet of pirate ships, or that my bloodthirsty crew had thrown me overboard to fend for myself.
“I didn’t even remember I was born in Ireland, but everyone said I had an Irish accent, and I had to be from there. So when I was able, I returned to Ireland. I recalled having been a sailor, so I began to work aboard ships again. Then the memories came flooding back. All of them at once. You. My men. The treasure. The mutiny. I had to make things right. First, the men had to go.” He stalked toward her again.
Her heart beat frantically. She had to keep her head. If he struck her, he could knock her out. He’d done it before. One blow to the head.
She would be defenseless against him. What did he plan to do? He couldn’t spirit her away from here. Not like he was now, naked, not with the castle defended by the MacNeill clan, who would fight him to the death.
The dogs in the kennel were still barking wildly about the commotion outside, though a few were quiet, watching her through the gates of their kennel rooms. No one but the dogs would even hear her scream.
Would she have enough time to turn and unlock the door, or could she catch him off guard and knee him where it would hurt most?
“Your solicitor told Robert you mated a MacNeill. You can’t have another mate. If you come quietly with me, I won’t have him killed like I did the others who dared approach you with the notion of mating. Wolf law, Elaine. I was first. The others who wanted you are all dead. In this case, I have every right to take my pound of flesh. Remember that.”
Unless you are dead.
“He’s not the only reason you should leave here, Elaine, sweeting. You remember Calla? The pretty wolf whose wedding you attended?”
Elaine’s stomach fell and Rafferty smirked. “Aye. Lady MacNeill called her to arrange your wedding to her son, and she was on her way here when I… stopped her. The she-wolf is conveniently tied up. I don’t care anything about her, so if you’ll leave with me, I’ll release her unharmed. The time to make a decision is running out.”
The bastard could be lying. Then again, what if he wasn’t?
“They won’t let me leave,” she said.
“Make a run for it, dearest. Unlock the door. The car’s in the inner bailey. Jump into it and drive off. It’s the only chance you’ll have at getting away from them. You know you can’t have the MacNeill bastard who wants you. Cearnach? Is that his name?”
She couldn’t stay here. Not with Cearnach when she was still mated to Rafferty. She had to leave Argent Castle. She had to get away. Away from Rafferty. Away from this new home that she couldn’t have.
But Robert had her ID, her money, everything.
No, it was in the car. If she could disable Rafferty and get to her rental car and all her personal items, she could escape. But Calla. What if he really had Calla?
If he wanted Elaine to run, that wasn’t a good thing. He needed her beyond the castle walls.
She couldn’t just kill Rafferty, either, or she’d be just like him. Not that she had anything she could use to kill him with. Unless she shifted. And only if he remained in his human form. She knew he wouldn’t let her strip off her clothes, shift into the wolf, and tear into him.
An odd mist formed behind Rafferty. She stared past him, just as a hefty, younger man appeared, wearing what looked like an ancient plaid and a pirate’s kind of shirt.
“Flynn, my lady,” he said to her in greeting, bowing slightly.
“You’re…” Her mouth gaped. She glanced back at Rafferty, but he didn’t seem to see the apparition.
Flynn looked as real to her as Rafferty did.
“Why are you here?” she asked Flynn, feeling foolish for even speaking to a specter.
“I told you,” Rafferty said.
“To save you, lass. Cearnach is busy.” Flynn unsheathed a sword, but she didn’t hear the telltale swishing sound of metal pulling from the leather scabbard. That was because there could be no sound. His sword and scabbard were as much apparitions as he was. He sliced the sword through Rafferty, but it had no effect on the man.
“Do you know if Calla is safe?”
The ghost frowned. “Nay, lass.”
Rafferty took another step forward, stretching his hand out to grab her wrist. “I’m here because you mated with me and you belong to me. We could go together to the car with my arm securely around your neck, threatening to choke you to death if you don’t go peaceably. You know I don’t make idle threats.”
No, he didn’t.
She whipped around and unlocked the door. Her heart was beating as if it was trying to get out of her chest, but she couldn’t breathe.
She yanked the door open. Saw the mayhem in the bailey. The fighting and snarling wolves. Saw Cearnach sword-fighting with a man she didn’t know. Heard the dogs barking even louder behind her now. Knew she’d never see any of them again.
If only Rafferty had died long ago.
She bolted for the car, the driver’s door still open, and jumped in, jerking the door shut before Rafferty in the form of a wolf tried to join her. His body slammed into the door with a loud thump.
Keys in the ignition, she flipped the engine on and jerked the steering wheel to the left, turning hard until she’d maneuvered through the battling men and wolves. She saw Cearnach glance up from where he was fighting, saw the look of horror on his face, his sword lowered in his hand, watched his brothers look in her direction with disbelief, and that blasted Kelly Rafferty racing after her in wolf form.
He’d never catch up to her. Ever again.
Not if she could help it.
Then she saw Cearnach running for the garage. “No, Cearnach!” she shouted from the car. Tears trailed down her cheeks.
She wanted to die.
Chapter 26
Cearnach was so angry that he could barely think straight except for the need to go after Elaine. What in the world was she doing? He’d thought she’d be safe in the kennels. He knew he’d been wrong when he saw the wolf racing out of the building after her and Elaine heading for her car. At first, he’d been stunned. He thought she meant to get into the car for protection, lock the doors, and stay there until he could kill the wolf.
When she drove off, he couldn’t figure out what was going through her head.
“Elaine,” he said, half groaning her name.
Duncan was right behind him, his boots tromping against the pavers. Out of his peripheral vision, Cearnach saw Guthrie headed for another car.
“Where the hell is she going?” Duncan yelled.
“Damned if I know,” Cearnach said, climbing into the car and slamming the door.
As soon as Duncan shut his door, Cearnach tore out of the garage, men and wolves scattering to get out of his path.
The wolves and men from the enemy clan took off toward the gate, escaping, as if they’d finally gotten what they’d wanted: Elaine beyond the protective walls surrounding the keep.
“She can’t believe that her leaving will stop the fighting.” Actually it had, damn it, but how could she believe they couldn’t deal with her kin in a satisfactory manner?
“Did you recognize the wolf who was in the kennels with her?” Cearnach asked, unable to suppress his anger and concern.
In the rearview mirror, he saw Guthrie barreling down the drive after him and Ian giving orders in the inner bailey, waving his hands, red-faced and angry. Not at his brothers. He knew they’d do whatever was right to bring Elaine back to the pack. Ian was furious with her kin for attacking them at Argent Castle.
“He wasn’t any of the McKinleys or Kilpatricks,” Duncan warned. “He’d been in her rental car. I smelled his scent when I opened the door and took a good whiff. I smelled him again when he ran past me to get to her. Worse?”
Cearnach glanced at his brother.
“He’s the wolf who’s been living in her keep.”
“Why? Who the hell is he?”
“A henchman of her clansmen?” Duncan guessed.
Cearnach shook his head. “It’s personal between Elaine and him. Whoever he was, he forced her to run. Now she’s beyond the keep and beyond our protection.” He mulled the situation over further, but he couldn’t come up with any logical explanation.
“You don’t think whoever it was told her where the stolen goods were located, and she had to get there before someone else did, do you?” Duncan asked, then shook his head as if dismissing the idea. “She probably doesn’t know these roads that well. I doubt she’d be able to find any place quickly. She looked terrified when she raced past us.”