Page 39 of Farlan (Immortal Highlander Clan McKeran #3)
Chapter Sixteen
G race was still smiling at Olivia when a giant bat rammed through the outside wall, causing it to collapse with an ear-shattering crash.
Shards of stone, bits of mortar and thick dust filled the air, making it hard to see and impossible to breathe.
She saw the silhouette of the creature flying overhead, and then someone stepped in front of her.
“Stay behind me, my lady,” one of the guards told her as he turned, his sword ready.
The rest of the guards formed a living wall around Grace and the other women, but the monstrous bat dove down to plow through the clansmen, sending them flying.
The air it displaced with its wings rushed around them, knocking most of the maids off their feet.
In response to the sudden blasting draft the fires in the hearths flared out, some of them spilling burning logs onto the stone floor.
The flaming splits rolled into and set some fallen maids’ skirts alight, which the men tried to extinguish with water and buckets of sand.
More flames hit the men, setting their garments on fire.
“Get under the tables,” Grace shouted over the din to the other women, and then saw the bat diving down toward her, its claws outstretched.
A strange calm came over her as she pulled the dagger Farlan had given her from her belt and braced herself against the edge of the table behind her. “That’s it. Come for me–”
Someone shoved Grace aside, sending her sprawling face-down on the floor. When she pushed herself up she saw Inga struggling wildly with the giant bat, which had sank its claws into her abdomen. Huge red stains blossomed on her gown.
“No.” Grace scrambled to her feet, but the bat was already soaring up to the ceiling.
A dagger flashed in the chatelaine’s hand as she stabbed the bat over and over in its belly and wings.
It screeched as it flapped wildly, and then plummeted to the floor.
It flung Inga away from it before it collapsed onto a table and fell off.
It tried to crawl into an arch, and then a terrible scream shattered the air .
The dagger dropped from Grace’s hand as she looked over and saw Inga had landed inside the largest hearth, which was blazing with huge flames.
She grabbed a jug of water as she ran toward the fire, and poured it over her head, shaking the jug to get herself as wet as possible.
Inga lay atop the charred logs, her gown blackened and her limbs tucked against her chest and belly, but she was no longer moving.
“Grace, no,” Olivia shouted.
If I get her out of there, she won’t die. Neither will I. Taking a deep breath, Grace held it as she jumped over the debris blocking the hearth, and hurled herself into the raging blaze.
The world became fire, burning her from all sides, but she ignored the searing pain.
Grabbing hold of her grandmother set her own sleeves alight, and the coals of the hearth burned through her boots.
The heat forced her to close her eyes as she dragged Inga and hoisted her over her shoulder before she clambered through the pile of burning debris again.
Her skirts billowed with flames, and she could smell her hair burning.
Strong hands caught her, and then buckets of water doused her and Inga, putting out the fire.
Someone took her grandmother from her, but her eyes were tearing from the pain.
“Farlan.” That croak couldn’t be her voice. She groped and gripped the front of a man’s tunic with her burned hands. “I need Farlan.”
“I’m here, my sunshine,” the man told her in Farlan’s voice as he picked her up and carried her over to one of the cots.
Grace heard him shouting for Ben, but the pain had become so huge she could hardly breathe now, much less speak.
Chilly air touched her scalp where the flames had burned off her hair.
She wondered why that didn’t upset her. Part of her face seemed as if it were still on fire, but when she forced her eyelids open she could still see everything around her.
It seemed a bit blurry, but at least the flames hadn’t blinded her.
No one can ever call me worthless again.
When Grace saw Ben Miller appear over her, his reactions as he inspected her told her all she needed to know.
“My helpers are going to put your hands into some basins of water, Ms. Johansen, while I treat Inga,” the doctor said. “Once I’ve examined her I’ll be back to check on you. Please hold still. Elspeth, soak more linen for her face and scalp.”
“Aye, Healer,” the chambermaid said somewhere on Grace’s left.
She managed to catch Ben’s arm. “Is my grandmother okay? ”
“Inga is still alive, thanks to you.” He took her hand and placed it in a trencher filled with cool water. “Be still now, and let us take care of you.”
Darkness crowded in on Grace, and then whisked her away, freeing her from the pain for what seemed like a long time. She dreamed of the little cottage where she had first met Farlan, although this time she sat at a table inside, where an older woman with kind eyes was peeling pears.
“Och, I can see why he’s so smitten with you,” the woman said, studying her for a moment. “You’re a summer bairn, just like him. He’s never loved before you, you ken, and he’ll never again, so you must live.”
“You’re his mother, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Aye, I’m Myna.” She had a wonderful smile, just like Farlan’s.
Grace reached over and touched her hand. “Is there anything you want me to tell him?”
Farlan’s mother told her a great many things, and finished with, “Say that we’re waiting for his return, and now we shall look for you as well, sweet lass.
Tell him no’ to hate his brothers, for they’re no’ to blame.
” Farlan’s mother leaned over and kissed her brow.
“Come back with him, and I promise, you shall always be loved.”
When Grace next opened her eyes she was awake and in the great hall again. Clansmen were hurrying around her, some carrying tartans and others buckets of water. They all held blades in their free hands. It was obvious she hadn’t been unconscious for long.
Farlan was somewhere on her right, she sensed, but he wasn’t touching her any longer. Grace knew he had to be shocked by her burns, and turned her head to regard him. He looked pale and terrified. Despite how horrible she must look right now, in his eyes was so much love it made her heart ache.
“Don’t be upset about this,” she told him. “I’m going to be pretty on the inside for a little while.”
“You’re beyond beautiful inside and out, my lady.” He leaned over and touched his lips to the cheek on the unburned side of her face.
Grace had to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming when the doctor came back and cut off her scorched clothing. When she tried to look down at her body Farlan leaned over to block her view.
“’Twillnae last long,” he assured her. “In a few hours, the enchantment shall restore you to yourself. Dinnae fret.”
“Most second and third degree burns cause scarring, but I can wrap you tightly with fine linen,” Ben said, straightening to meet her gaze. “It should work the same way pressure garments do in our world. It will be extremely uncomfortable, but just until morning. ”
Grace shifted her gaze to Farlan. “Maybe I should just let the scars happen.”
“’Tis your choice, my lady.” He didn’t seem upset by her suggestion. “I but wish you to live. How you appear doesnae matter.” He touched her cheek. “You shall ever and always be my sunshine.”
In that moment she knew she wanted to be beautiful again, but just for him. For the rest of their lives, she was his. “Wrap me up, Dr. Miller.”
As soon as the doctor applied a soft, soaked cloth to wash the first of Grace’s burns her whole body exploded with agony, as if she were in the fire again. She also knew that was a good sign, for those nerves hadn’t been burned away. Taking in a few quick, sharp breaths, she focused on Farlan.
“What about the bats?” she asked him, gasping out the words.
“Made into cinders, both of them.” He glanced over at something, and then at the doctor. “Shall all our people survive, then, Healer?”
Ben’s mouth tightened before he said, “I hope so.”
Now Grace knew who Farlan had looked at. “Dr. Miller, is my grandmother still alive?”
“Yes. You saved her life,” he assured her, but he didn’t meet her gaze.
It seemed to take forever for Ben to wash the soot and debris from her burns before tightly applying the bandages; by the time he finished tears once more poured down Grace’s cheeks. She kept watching Farlan, who smiled at her with such reassurance she knew she could endure anything.
“Hang on for a little longer,” the doctor told her before he left to work on another victim.
K eeping his lady distracted during the healer’s painful but necessary treatment took all of Farlan’s self-control.
Seeing her so badly wounded made him wish he could tear apart Dun Talamh and even the spell trap with his bare hands.
Soon after being washed and bandaged Grace mercifully fell asleep.
Sitting and watching her breathe was all Farlan could seem to do, but none of his brothers scolded him.
Alec stopped by to offer encouragement as to her recovery, as did Darro.
Even the laird, who was sitting with Eachann, looked over at him with compassion in his gaze.
Farlan appreciated their care, but he knew something they didn’t. If his woman didn’t survive this, neither would he.