Part 20 (1/2)
Bella stood shaking over Callum's bed. His wee lad was hidden by a mound of covers, but there was no hiding Bella's tears. His heart thumped hard and slow and the air became thick. With nothing to reach for to keep him from falling, he staggered to Bella and grabbed her arm.
She turned into him, sobbing against his chest. Callum moaned and rolled over in his blanket nest and Pietro's knees nearly gave out from relief. Unable to speak for a moment, he held Bella tightly.
”What is it, sweetheart?” he finally managed in a weak rasp. He reached over to lay his hand on Callum's head, shocked at how hot he felt.
”We've lost Gordon,” she cried. She took a deep breath and stepped away from him, looking up with her deep golden eyes. Tears welled over the lids and he pulled her close again, unable to look at her sadness. ”What shall I do without him?”
It hit him like an electric shock. The man wasn't even that old, and had only come down with the fever the day before. Pietro wasn't sure himself what they would do without her trusted advisor. Her uncle had been the voice of reason on too many occasions to count, and had been more of a father to her throughout her life than her own, cruel sire had been.
He would miss him, and he knew once the shock wore off, a deep sadness would overtake him, as he'd truly liked the taciturn fellow. But he couldn't allow emotions right now. This sickness was going to swallow them all, raging through the castle as it was, becoming stronger and claiming its victims at lightning speeds. He had to get his family to safety.
She must have sensed his agitation and reached up to smooth his hair, patting his shoulders in the way she did to young Reid when he got upset. He felt ashamed at his fear and lack of leaders.h.i.+p, and for the millionth time was grateful she loved him after all these years.
”How did ye know I was panicking?” he asked. He rested his forehead against her soft, russet hair and kissed the top of her head.
”Because ye love us so,” she said, wiping her tears. ”I feel it, too, day and night. The urge to run away.” Before he could respond, she held up her hand. ”But ye know we must stay in this time. We dinna know if we could do the spell, and I feel quite certain we shouldna try. This is our lot we've been given, and for all we know we'd only make things worse.” She stood on her toes to kiss him. ”I only hope ye have no regret.”
”I thought you gave up saying daft things like that years ago,” he told her.
He sat on the edge of Callum's bed and lightly rested his hand on the boy's blanketed form. Callum whimpered and opened his eyes for a moment, then struggled to say something. In the few days he'd been ill, most of his st.u.r.dy toddler fat had melted away, leaving him looking alarmingly frail.
Bella sat beside him and took their son's tiny hand. ”Your da has come at last, Cal,” she said, turning to Pietro. ”He's been wanting ye all day. I know ye're trying to pick up the slack everywhere, but perhaps just stay by our side for now, if ye will.” Her voice broke and he knew she feared Callum dying at any moment. It took all his strength not to blubber like a baby.
”Of course,” he said. ”I shall tell ye boring stories of my own childhood, lad.”
Callum smiled and fell back to sleep, and Bella began to cry again. All Pietro could do was sit and hold her, never taking his hand off their sleeping child.
Quinn opened his eyes to Lizzie frantically looking down at him, her hand poised to slap him. ”Oi, why?” he asked, rolling to a sitting position.
”I thought you were unconscious again,” she said, quickly lowering her hand and smoothing his bandage.
Oliver dry heaved beside him and he reached around to pat him on the back. Thankfully, nothing came up, as they were in the tight confines of the secret pa.s.sage.
”Thank G.o.d we only have to do that once more,” Oliver said, sagging against the wall. ”How come it doesn't make you lot sick?”
Quinn ignored his complaining and jumped up, looking for Catie. Had she not made it through? He took three steps in the dark hallway and tripped over her.
”Are ye all right, Catie?” He ran his hands over her face and shoulders. She seemed in one piece.
She shoved him away, leaned over and retched. ”That was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” she said weakly. ”I much prefer Lord Ashford's way.”
”If we ever see the man again, we can tell him,” Quinn said, hauling her to her feet. ”After I knock his teeth out.”
Oliver recovered enough to stand and put his arm around Catie's waist to steady her. Quinn didn't like it, but he let it go. Perhaps this lad would end up her husband, and he'd already broken his nose. He'd never get invited for anything if he didn't start acting civilized.
”We should hurry and find Bella,” Lizzie said. ”Perhaps Oliver and Catie can go on ahead of us.”
”No,” Quinn said in a hurry. ”Let's all go back together, aye?”
He didn't feel confident he could do the spell and didn't want to be stuck seven years ahead of everyone, waiting to see what happened to them, and missing out on everything. If the next time he saw his sister, she was older than him and had children already, he didn't think he could stand that.
Lizzie squeezed his arm comfortingly. ”I only meant they should go to the woods ahead of us. Of course we'll all stick together.”
He wrapped Catie in a death hug before pointing into the darkness. ”If ye keep walking, it'll seem like miles, but ye'll come out near the duck pond. Go directly to the woods and wait just inside the trees for us.”
”How do you know so much about this place?” Lizzie asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
He pulled her close and kissed her. ”I lived here for a time, as ye well know.”
”And you had to hide out in the secret pa.s.sages a lot?” Even in the dark he could see her raised eyebrow and her disbelieving tone was plain.
He would have laughed at her if she didn't sound so insecure. He had to admit he quite liked her being jealous, but there was no part of him that wanted her to suffer anymore.
”Aye, plenty of these Glens wanted me dead at the time. Both for myself and to hurt my brother. But it was rarely because of a woman.”
”Rarely?” She poked him in the chest. He slid his hands down her back and felt her relax. ”I hope they're over it by now.”
He grumbled at that. He'd never be able to fully trust a Glen. Piper almost didn't seem like she was one at all.
”Let's try not to cause a ruckus, just in case they're still nursing a grudge,” he said.
As he put his hand on the door, she grabbed his kilt and whispered for him to wait. A crack of light from the other side showed her pretty, bruised face etched with happiness.
”No matter what, I love you, Quinn.”
She stood on her toes and kissed him on the mouth. He relaxed, letting the kiss be the only thing for that moment. He loved that she could do that to him, completely transport him from whatever happened to a better place. It was its own kind of magic.
”Ye complete me,” he said.
She snorted. She clearly struggled to keep it in, but after a series of strangled noises, she burst out laughing. ”I'm sorry,” she wheezed as he stood there, gobsmacked at her response to his heartfelt declaration. Just as his feelings were about to be seriously hurt, she threw her arms around him and pressed her face into his neck. ”That's the most beautiful thing anyone's ever said to me, but it's also a line from a very famous film.” She giggled again and kissed his earlobe. ”You couldn't know that, though.”
”Ah, I see,” he said. ”Let's go before ye topple over from your amus.e.m.e.nt.”
He led her out of the creaky opening into an empty bed chamber. The chamber where they'd find Bella was only a few doors down the hall on that same floor. He patted the heavy pack full of medicine and vitamins, a thing that everyone from the future would not shut up about, and considered very important. He glanced at Lizzie, and all her mirth of a moment ago was replaced with trepidation. He squeezed her hand and opened the door to the main hallway.
A young guard stood posted a few yards away, and turned almost languidly to look at them. Before his face could register his surprise at seeing them come slinking out of the room, Quinn closed the distance between them and punched him cleanly between the eyes. The lad slid with a quiet thump to the floor.
”What happened to not causing a ruckus?” she whispered harshly.
He couldn't remember which chamber Bella had the wee lad in, and turned in a circle, wondering if he should just start throwing open doors. They needed to get out of the hall as soon as possible, before more guards wandered by.
Lizzie grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the stairs, tapping softly on a door before opening it. She sighed with relief at what she saw, and pulled him through. In the chamber, Bella turned, her red rimmed eyes and splotchy face causing his heart to plummet. They'd tarried so long. Had it only been a day? It felt longer.
Even though Bella was a mother now, and technically older than him, he still viewed her as the bratty la.s.s who had befriended his sister and made his life a living h.e.l.l for a while. He didn't know why he had such a soft spot for her. It seemed he was destined to always love women who gave him trouble. He strode to her and took her hands.
She crumbled to her knees in a puddle of tears. ”Thank G.o.d ye are back,” she said.
Quinn got her to a sitting position on a chair, while Lizzie rummaged through the pack.