Aidan (22 page)

Then he s
pun around and killed the other one as well. When he looked up, Lord Ralston was getting into the wagon with his sword pointed at Effie. She was looking back at him with terror in her eyes.

He look
ed down to the dead Englishmen, and then over to Tasgall. He bent down to see that the Scot was near dead.

“I’m sorry I did
na help ye save the stone,” said Tasgall with his dying breath.

“Dinna worry, I will get it,” he said laying his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“I am sorry aboot all the wrong I’ve done. And now I will die without makin’ guid,” he said.

“N
ay,” said Aidan. “Ye will die with honor, me friend. And dinna worry, as I will tell e’eryone ye were no’ a coward in the end.”

Tasgall
smiled. “Thank ye,” he said, then closed his eyes forever.

Aidan looked up to see Lord Ralston speeding away in the wagon with the stone and Effie
in tow. He didn’t think twice. He hoisted himself atop one of the guard’s horses, and sped after them. When he got close, he jumped from the horse into the wagon, and holding on to the sides, he made his way to the front where he leaped at Lord Ralston, with sword drawn. The man turned and blocked him, punching Aidan in his wounded shoulder. Aidan cried out in pain, and lost his grip on the sword. They both fell out of the wagon and to the ground.

“Ye bastard, I have had enough o’ ye,” Aidan cried out,
just before wrestling the sword away from Lord Ralston, and burying it into the man’s chest. When he was sure he was dead, he stood. Effie had stopped the wagon and came to his side. That’s when he heard the MacKeefe war cry of
Buaidh no Bas,
Victory or Death, from the camp, recognizing the voice of Ian.

“Aidan, are ye all right?” asked Effie, rushing to
him. He held out his arms and gathered her up, and then the pain from his wounds and the loss of blood was too much for him. He sank to the ground with Effie in his arms, and buried his face in her hair. His body, burning up with fever shook uncontrollably now, and he whispered to her, “I have ye now, me dream angel. Ye are safe with me, and I willna e’er let ye go.”

That’s the last thing he remembered before
the pain from his wound and the fever overtook him.

Chapter 25

Effie pressed a cool, wet cloth to Aidan’s head, as
she had for nearly a sennight, watching over him in his cottage back in the MacKeefe camp in the Highlands. She was so glad that Lord Ralston and his men were all dead, and that the whole ordeal was over and her sister as well as the Stone of Destiny were safe again. By the time the MacKeefe clan had gotten the message from the homing pigeon Madoc had sent, and come to find them, Ian, Onyx, and Madoc had already killed the rest of Lord Ralston’s soldiers and were headed back with Aidan and the Stone of Destiny in the cart. Aidan was close to death, and slipped in and out of consciousness and she wasn’t sure if he’d ever recover.

W
ith the help of the entire clan, the stone was well protected as they brought it back to the Highlands. At Effie’s request, they’d placed it under Aidan’s head as he slept. She hoped he’d have some sort of a dream that would wake him and bring him back to her already.

Aidan’s pet squirrel nudged him
with its nose, it’s furry little red head moving back and forth, wondering why Aidan wasn’t petting him. Then it carefully crawled atop Aidan’s chest and curled up into a ball, making small noises.

“I ken ye’re worried, Reid,” she said, running a hand over its fur. “So am I.”

The door to the cottage opened, and Effie turned around to see Aidan’s sister, Kyla standing there.

“How is me brathair
?” the girl asked.

“No better.” Effie turned back around, trying to keep from crying. “He may die becooz o’ me,” she said.

“Nay, thet’s no’ true.” Kyla rushed in and fell to her knees next to Effie. “Me brathair is strong and has been in many worse situations. He’ll pull through, Effie, jest give him some time.”

Effie reached out and ran her fingers lightly across the stitches in
Aidan’s shoulder. “Ye are so strong, Kyla, and I admire ye fer it. And I only hope ye’re right aboot yer brathair. Ye ken, Madoc was kind enough to sew up his wound afore he left,” she said. “But he needed te go as his wife is havin’ a bairn.”

“I ken,” said Kyla.

“I woulda liked te have had bairns with Aidan some day. I wish thet things woulda worked out differently.”

“Ye ne’er ken what may happen,” said Kyla, putting her arm around Effie’s shoulder.

“Mayhap ye and Ian will have the chance someday,” Effie said with a slight smile. “Where is he, anyway? I havena seen him nor Onyx in days.”

“They
came te get me,” came a voice from the doorway, and she turned around to see her sister, Coira standing there.

“Coira,” shouted Effie, running to her sister and burying her in a hug. “Ye are all right, thank the heavens.”

“I am,” she said. “And though the chieftain and his wife, Clarista were goin’ te bring me back from Hermitage Castle, Ian and Onyx insisted on doin’ it instead. They said they wanted te protect me personally as a favor te ye and Aidan.”

“The chieftain? I thought that was Storm,” said Effie.

“They’re both chieftains o’ the clan, as auld Ian MacKeefe is Storm’s father,” said Ian, now standing in the doorway.

Effie noticed the way Kyla’s eyes lit up when she saw him.
Then, Effie gasped as the wolfhound sauntered up behind him.

“Ian, watch out, thet wolf
hound is back!” Effie warned him.

Ian just laughed and reached dow
n and ran a hand over the hound’s head. “I ken thet. The thing willna leave me alone e’er since I fed it, so I decided jest te keep it as a pet.” Then the hound jumped up and put it paws on Ian’s shoulders. Being such a large animal, the hound was as tall as Ian on its back legs. A long tongue shot out and the animal started licking Ian’s face.

“A pet? Nay, ye are jestin’,” said Effie.

“No he’s not,” said Onyx, walking up and joining Ian with his wildcat in his arms. “And believe it or no’, Tawpie disna mind the wolfhound anymore.” Onyx held up the wildcat and the wolfhound lowered itself from Ian, and touched noses with it. Then the hound lay down at Ian’s feet. Aidan’s squirrel was alarmed by all this, and stood up on Aidan’s chest, chattering loudly.

The hound
jumped up, and Ian gave it a command. “Kyle dinna e’en think aboot it,” he said.

“Kyle?” asked Effie.

“Aye,” said Kyla from next to her. She rolled her eyes as she spoke. “He named the thing after me becooz he said it was jest as pesky, followin’ him around all the time. I’m no’ sure if I should be honored or disgusted.”

Effie laughed at this, and when she did, the squirrel jumped off of Aidan and scurried up the leg of t
he table. Onyx’s wildcat leaped out of his arms and darted into the room chasing it, and Ian’s wolfhound followed.

“Tawpie, nay,” said Onyx rushing into the room after the cat. It had jumped up on the table and was about to grab the squirrel when Onyx dove to get it, slamming down on the table so hard
that it broke. The wolfhound jumped atop him.

“Kyle, get back here
, boy,” Ian said, rushing into the room and diving atop the pile of them on the floor.

Aidan was in the middle of a dream. Effie was walking toward him again, only this time she was wearing a beautiful long gown over a long white billowed-sleeved leine. And over it, not only the bodice but the entire kirtle all the way to the ground was made from the green and purple tartan of the MacKeefe clan, pulled together tightly with leathers laces. Her breasts were trussed up in the bodice, and spilling over, and Aidan wanted nothing more than to bury his head in her cleavage. She carried a bouquet of heather and foxglove, and wore a crown of tiny purple saxifrage on her head. She was smiling and walking toward him, and when he reached out for her, she moved aside and that’s when he saw Reid, Tawpie, and that blame wolfhound running toward him and jumping right at him.

“Nay!” he shouted, sitting up quickly, his breathing labored, hi
s eyes searching the area around him. There was loud commotion going on, and when he looked over to the other side of the room, he just blinked, not believing what he was seeing. Onyx was on the floor with the remains of a broken table beneath him, holding on to the back legs of Tawpie as she reached out, pawing the air. Reid was chattering incessantly, climbing the walls then dropping to the ground and jumping from trunk to trunk around the room. And Effie, her sister Coira, and Kyla were rushing around trying to grab it.

And the most
ridiculous thing he saw was Ian on the floor with a wolfhound under his arm in a headlock.

“What’s a man got
te do te get some peace and quiet around here?” he shouted.

The noise stopped instantly, and all eyes turned toward him.

“Aidan, ye’re alive!” shouted Effie, tears streaming down her face.

“O’ course I’m alive, but I was dead asleep and havin’
a wonderful dream afore ye dunderheids woke me up.”

“Aidan, welcome back ye big galoot,” said Ian
with a smile.

“Aye,” agreed Onyx. “We’re happy ye pulled through.
”

Effie rushed over to him and fell into his arms, and when his friends let loose of their animals to come greet him, the squirrel ran out the door
, with the wildcat and the wolfhound right behind it.

“I’ll get them,” cried Kyla, running out the door.

“I’ll help,” said Coira, following her.

“Aidan, I thought I’d lost ye fore’er,” said Effie, kissing him so passionately, that he felt his manhood already stirring.

He looked up to Onyx and Ian. “Is e’eryone all right?” he asked.

“
We killed off all the English, and lived te tell aboot it,” said Ian.

“The
MacKeefe clan? Were they there too?” asked Aidan, thinking he remembered hearing Storm’s voice sometime during the ordeal.

“
Madoc sent a messenger pigeon from Hermitage Castle, telling the rest o’ the clan we needed help, but Madoc, Ian, and I, had it handled afore they arrived,” relayed Onyx. “But the MacKeefes helped us get ye back here alive.”

“Thank ye. Thank ye all,” he said, looking down to Effie and kissing her gently on the lips. “Where is the stone?” he asked. “Did ye save it?”

“Ye are the one who saved it, Aidan,” Effie told him. “And ye are sleepin’ on it.”

He turned carefully and looked back, now knowing why he was having the dream.
He also knew the stone was no longer safe here and that they’d have to move it soon before Lord Ralston’s men back at his castle decided to get together an army and come looking for it. He knew the safest place for the stone, and would take it there personally as soon as he was able.

In the meanti
me, he’d keep guarding Scotland’s biggest secret the best he could, and keep using it as a pillow, and listening to his dreams. He kept thinking about the dream he’d just had and knew he’d seen Effie in her wedding attire. And with her breasts trussed up and spilling from her bodice in the dream, he also realized he needed her comforts right now more than anything.

He looked at Ian and Onyx, standing there staring at him with smiles
, and he cleared his throat. “Shouldna ye two go find Reid afore he’s eatin’?” he asked. “And by the way, what was thet hound doin’ in here?”

“Thet’s Kyle,” said Ian. “Me new pet.”

Aidan wasn’t surprised, as nothing his friends did ever seemed out of the ordinary to him any more.

“Well?” said Aidan once again.

“Well, what?” asked Ian.

“I think he w
ants te be alone with Effie,” Onyx told him, pulling him out of the room.

“No threesomes to
day, Aidan?” Ian asked with a raised brow.

“The
only threesome ye’ll be gettin’ is me arm around yer throat, me foot te yer doup, and me hands throwin’ ye outta here by yer ear if ye dinna get the hell out o’ here already.”

“Dinna fash
yerself, Aidan, we’re goin’,” said Ian, leaving the room with Onyx and closing the door behind them.

“Aidan, I want
te apologize fer e’erythin’,” said Effie, with sincerity in her eyes. “I didna mean fer any o’ this te happen. I was jest confused. I had no one, and I didna want te lose me sister. I didna want te betray ye, I swear, it’s jest thet –”

Aidan reached out and smothered her with a kiss, stopping her in midsentence.

“Haud yer wheesht,” he told her. “Me achin’ head canna take any more of this noise.”

“Do ye fergive me, Aidan? Can ye e’er love me again, after e’erythin’ I put ye through?”

“I understand why ye did what ye did. But do ye understand why this stone means so much te me, lassie?”

“I think I do,” she said,
looking down, then nodding. “Aye, I’m sure I do. And I promise ye, Aidan, if ye’ll have me back I’ll ne’er cause ye any grief again.”