Page 19 of Highlander’s Wild Lass (Wild McLeans #1)

18

C elestia sat against the headboard, running a gentle finger over the bruises on her wrist, looking down at Anthony sleeping beside her. She was unsure how she managed to keep her tears in until they were behind their bedroom door, but she had.

Auralia and the twins were enthralled with their new tutor and their retellings of what they learned, along with learning about the little village Master Moreau grew up in was a welcome distraction. She didn’t have the heart to ruin that for them.

She glanced down at Anthony once more, she was staring, really. But this man had held her until she wept herself to sleep last night and didn’t try to fix or solve anything. But what could he solve? No one could fend off death.

She allowed her fingers to skate gently through his thick, dark curls. He moved a bit in his sleep, nestling closer to the warmth of her thigh, and suddenly she felt thankful that her father had nudged her in Anthony’s direction.

Anthony rolled over and blinked, his dark eyelashes fluttering until he was peering up at her. “It’s still dark out, what are ye doin’ up?”

“I only woke up a few minutes ago,” she told him.

“Liar,” he said as he joined her against the headboard.

She lifted her brows in submission. “Fine, I cannae sleep. I keep thinkin’ I should tell them about Da. When do ye think it will happen?”

Anthony shrugged, taking her hand into his, massaging gentle circles into the mound of her palm. “I wish I ken, lass.”

“Me too,” she mumbled, leaning against his shoulder. “I really daenae ken if I should tell Auralia and the twins...”

“Let them sleep. I wouldnae want to ken, but that’s me—”

“CELESTIA!”

They both sat erect in bed, hearing the scream come from down the hallway.

“Was that Auralia?” Celestia asked, her heart pounding as she tore out of bed. A heavy fear settled at the bottom of her belly

“I think so,” Anthony said behind her.

Their door flung open. Auralia sprinted in and fell into Celestia’s arm, the impact of her sister brought Celestia slowly to her knees.

“He’s dead,” Auralia sobbed into her chest, clutching onto Celestia. “Da’s dead.”

Celestia wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her in as close as she could, and cried. The tears flowed down her face, stinging the cuts on her cheek.

Celestia looked at Anthony, seeing him fighting to keep it together. Her heart was broken. “Da’s dead,” she said as a loud, suffocating sob escaped her.

“Lass...” Anthony said softly, kneeling beside them and stroking both her and Auralia’s hair. “How do ye ken?”

Auralia choked on her tears, pulling away from Celestia as she tried to gain control of her breathing. “I-I-I, he—I couldnae sleep. I had this feelin’, so I went to check on him.” She swallowed heavily. “Helena was with him, sittin’ next to his bed. She was cryin’. She tried to wipe them from her face when she saw me come in, but I ken. I ken he was dead. He wasnae movin’, Cellie. He wasnae breathin’. He’s dead. And I dinnae get to say goodbye.”

Auralia buried herself in Celestia once more.

The pain in Celestia’s chest grew and grew as she tried to stop herself from crying, but there was no stopping it. She was horrified that Auralia had been the one to see their father like that, that she had been the first one to find out.

“Let’s get off the floor, Auralia,” Celestia cooed softly into her sister’s hair.

Anthony helped lift Auralia from the floor and onto the bed. Celestia laid next to her until she cried herself to sleep. With the tears still streaming down her face, she turned to Anthony and unnecessarily said, “She’s asleep.”

He nodded. “Are ye alright?”

Celestia shook her head as a new wave of tears fell.

“I will tell Chester and Hugo if you’d like,” he said, sitting beside her on the bed.

“I’ll do it, I should do it,” she told him. “But will ye come with me when I do?”

“Aye, lass, of course.”

* * *

Telling Chester and Hugo about their father was unbearable. He and Celestia had waited until daybreak, not that getting this news at any hour makes it better.

Hugo had attached himself to Celestia much like Auralia had. Chester, on the other hand, stuffed his face into his pillow, sobs wracking his body. Anthony kept blinking back tears; Chester was handling Brannan’s death just like Anthony had his mother’s. He hid in his bed, trying to cry as silently as he could.

Anthony stepped over to Chester’s bed and sat down beside him. He laid a hand on his back and almost at once, Chester leaped from his bed and wrapped his arms around Anthony. He held him tight, running a hand up and down the boy’s back. “It’s alright, lad,” he told him.

That had been days ago, and the funeral was today. Celestia stood in the castle kirkyard, she and her siblings holding onto each other. Anthony only glanced at them once while he, Sebastian, and six of his men lowered the coffin to the ground.

The priest said some words that he did not remember, he just stared at Brannan’s coffin as the men began filling in the hole with dirt. He said a prayer under his breath and then promised Brannan with every inch of his body and every day of his life, he would protect his children.

The feast that followed was livelier than Anthony expected. Most of the village had come to celebrate Brannan McLean’s life, and he saw that with each well-wisher telling stories of their father’s life a small bit of sadness left their faces.

Sebastian came up to him then, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Can ye believe there’s been a festival, a wedding, and a funeral...all in the same month?”

Anthony shook his head, biting back a grin. “Ye ken, if ye were nae my greatest friend, I’d lay into ye for that.”

“I like to bring levity to serious moments, what can I say,” he said with a shrug. He then nodded his head in the direction of Celestia and the family. “How are they doin’?”

“As well as they can be, I suppose.”

“There’s far more people here than I expected,” Sebastian said. “The man was well-loved.”

“I think so too,” Anthony replied. “I ken it’s makin’ things slightly easier for Celestia and them.”

Sebastian nudged Anthony. “Who is that?” He pointed discreetly to the man towering over Celestia.

“What a bastard,” Anthony said, placing his cup of mead down. “I cannae believe he showed his face here.” He noticed Sebastian’s confusion. “That’s the man who attacked Celestia when she was in Inverness.”

Anthony came up behind Celestia, snaking an arm around her waist; Sebastian assumed his position to Anthony’s right.

“What are ye doin’ here?” Celestia asked, her voice deadly quiet and laced with derision.

“Oh, Mistress Celestia,” Koll replied, his mouth in an oily smile. “To pay my respects to McLean’s esteemed family.”

“Ye will do no such thing,” Celestia said, voice low for only them to hear. “Ye will leave at once, and we will nae see each other again.”

Koll’s laughter sputtered out of him. “Yer so brave with him standin’ beside ye.” He leaned in closer, dropping his voice. “Yer Da is dead, and there’s nae reason to keep a dead man’s business open.”

“Get out of here,” she said. Celestia’s body became still against Anthony, and he started forward, Sebastian grabbing hold of Koll’s arm.

“That’s enough from ye,” Sebastian said.

Together they fought against Koll as he struggled to free himself until they were outside the castle walls. The man was so large that he only stumbled back when Anthony and Sebastian released him.

“How dare ye—”

“If ye ever lay a hand on my wife again, Ryder,” Anthony seethed, “I will kill ye.”

“To be fair, she was the one that started it.”

“To be sure,” Anthony countered, “Ye started this years ago with Brannan McLean, and it will be done now. Let the man rest and let his family have peace.”

Koll arched a brow. “Aye, but I am nae dead, so I will nae rest. I will get what I want...in the end.”

Anthony stalked forward and punched him. The crack, unsure if it was his hand or the man’s jaw, was satisfying enough. The devil was in Ryder Koll’s eyes when recovered from the hit and he grabbed Anthony by his collar and shook him.

“Go ahead,” Anthony said lightly, “ye ken ye want to.”

Koll stared at him, arm cocked back, ready. A long moment passed between them, and Koll pushed Anthony backward into Sebastian.

“Yer a smarter man that I thought,” Anthony said as he fixed his stock tie.

The older man pointed, baring his teeth. “This is nae over, nae in the slightest.”

Anthony stood with Sebastian, watching the two guards near the front gate escort Ryder Koll from the grounds.

“I daenae think this is over,” Sebastian said and turned back toward the castle.