Page 41 of Love Beyond Reach (Morna’s Legacy #11)

I ran from the tower as quickly as my feet could carry me. I didn’t stop until I burst into the stables, screaming for Mary and Kip to meet me.

They were ready with all of our belongings, though we’d had no opportunity to plan how best to get Jerry alone.

I’d not seen him since the day I walked in on he and Grier in his cottage. I wasn’t sure my already rattled nerves could take it.

“Ye must breathe, lass. We’ve still much to do. We must do it quickly. Kip has a plan.”

More surprised than was perhaps appropriate, I lifted my eyes to look at him. Kip was a man of few words. To think he’d been sitting around thinking of a way to help me touched me deeply.

“Ye’ve a plan, Kip? Whatever ’tis I’m willing to try it. I’m too shaken to think.”

Kip’s calm demeanor helped ease my breathing as he approached and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Ye look it, lass. How did MacNeal react?”

Still trying to catch my breath, I spoke in broken lengths.

“Not well…he…he knows I’m a witch…and I might…I might have blinded him. I canna say for sure.”

“Well, lass,” his voice still calm and steady, Kip continued on like there was nothing unusual about what I’d just told him, “we best get started then before he has a chance to send his men after us. Here is what I propose:

“Under no circumstance can Grier see ye. She willna trust ye and will hide Jerry away. I doona trust Mary to approach her. She’s too angry and willna be able to hide it. I must be the one to lead Grier away from their new home in the village, and I know just how to do it.”

W e approached the dimly lit home as quietly as we could, tying one horse just a short distance away while the rest remained tied in the woods for our escape. Mary and I sat on the ground on the left side of the cottage, our backs pressed against the wall.

The moment we saw Kip leave with Grier, we would enter and try to speak with Jerry. At that point, the result of our efforts was entirely dependent upon his reaction.

The cottage was in terrible condition, but its thin walls allowed us to hear every word as Kip burst inside without knocking.

“Grier, ye’ve arrived just in time. I need yer help most urgently.”

I wanted to scream in response to the rage that built inside me at the sound of Grier’s voice, but her tone echoed surprise, and it gave me hope that Kip’s plan just might work.

“What’s happened?”

“’Tis Laird MacNeal. He’s been attacked by one of his servants and tied up in a tower. I canna stop his bleeding.”

“Have ye called for a healer?”

Kip played his part wonderfully. His voice never faltered, and his story never slipped as she questioned him.

“There is no time for that, lass. Only magic will save him, and Morna doesna possess the skills to aid him. If ye are worried that someone will learn of yer magic, ye needn’t be. I killed the servant that harmed him. Only Morna is with him now.”

I could hear Grier gathering things inside, and Mary reached over to squeeze my hand. Whispering so quietly that it was barely above a breath, Mary spoke, “’Tis almost time. Are ye ready to see him?”

“No, but as long as ye are by my side, I will be fine.”

From inside, I heard Jerry’s voice for the first time. “Do ye need me to go with ye?”

“No.” There was such command in the way she said it that I knew Jerry would object to her ordering him around. His silence was all the proof I needed that something was terribly wrong with him. “Which tower is he in, Kip?”

“The west tower. I’ll lead ye there.”

“No, ye stay here with Jerry. Ye would only slow me down if ye came. Doona leave here until I return.”

I held my breath as I watched her leave. Once Kip believed it safe, he called us inside.

I t would’ve been so much easier if he’d looked different—if his eyes appeared spelled or if he’d not recognized me. What made it so much more painful was that he looked exactly the same, and he knew who I was immediately. He simply didn’t care.

“Morna, Mary, what are ye doing here? Ye should have entered with Kip. I’m sure Grier would’ve loved to have seen ye.”

It was such a ridiculous question—a ridiculous statement—I couldn’t even bring myself to respond to him.

Fortunately, Mary found herself far less speechless than I. She marched right over to him and grabbed his head between both of her hands.

“Ye listen to me, ye damned fool. What is the matter with ye? How can ye speak to her so plainly after what ye’ve done to her? Doona ye remember that ye love her?”

“Morna?”

The confusion in Jerry’s voice sounded entirely genuine.

Mary shook him a little more violently than was necessary.

“Aye, Morna. O’course Morna. Do ye really mean to tell me ye doona remember loving her?”

Understandably, Jerry pulled away from her. As he approached, my entire body went still.

“What is she going on about, lass? I did love ye, but I love ye no longer. I thought everyone knew by now.”

Nothing could’ve wounded me more. He remembered everything. She’d simply changed his feelings entirely.

Kip was in no mood to dawdle. He knew it would take Grier no time to realize she’d been tricked.

“I doona believe the castle is enough distance, lass. We must take him with us.”

Before any of us could respond, Kip lifted a candlestick and struck Jerry on the back of the head.