Page 18 of Proven By The Highlander (Highlander Forever #15)
CHAPTER 18
T hey stood there for what felt like another half an hour, though it was likely less than that. At least Caelan was warm, she thought a little resentfully, leaning more and more of her weight into his arm as the seconds dragged into minutes. The men had taken their time getting out of the cove, and Caelan was clearly not content with that much… he was waiting for them to finish searching the whole area, which they continued to do for quite some time, calling back and forth about every square inch of ground where nothing turned up. By the time they’d finally given up on the area, Leanne was positively delighted that they hadn’t agreed to her original proposition to go with them on their search — she’d have died of boredom by now, if this was the approach they were taking to every single stretch of coast they’d found.
There was an odd sense of triumph in her when she heard them finally beginning to move away, the shuffling of horses indicating that they’d all climbed aboard their steeds to head off. Even after that, Caelan insisted on their remaining silent for a few minutes, the sound of hooves long gone before he finally released her. She almost felt bereft in the cool air without him… she’d gotten so used to having his palm pressed against her mouth that it felt strange to be alone again.
“That was good thinking,” Caelan breathed, his voice barely more than a whisper as he nodded toward the cave entrance. “That move with the rock. Good arm, too.”
“Someone told me girls couldn’t throw once, and I took it personally,” she said, shrugging with false modesty.
He smiled a little, though his expression was clearly still worried.
“This cave is insane.” She took the opportunity to stare around his hideout in earnest now that she could actually move her feet, taking a few laps to study the walls properly. It reminded her a little of dig sites, excavated carefully from the surrounding soil… though she’d imagine this hadn’t been done with quite the same kind of care. “Manmade, or…?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, shrugging. “But there are plenty of hidey holes like this one up and down the shore of the Loch. Smugglers used to use them to store things they weren’t supposed to have. This one’s especially comfortable.”
“I bet. Fresh water, too,” she pointed out, nodding to the little stream that wound through the cavern at its lowest point. He nodded agreement, but his eyes were still troubled as he paced restlessly back and forth. This wasn’t part of the plan, she realized. He didn’t know what to do with her now that she was here. “Sorry,” she said softly. “I get that this puts you in a tough position.”
He shook his head sharply, his expression troubled. “You could have called out to them at any point,” he observed, his voice slow. “You didn’t have to help — that move with the rock, that wasn’t necessary. Why didn’t you turn me in?”
She took a deep breath. “Because I didn’t want to,” she said irritably. “I wanted to talk to you first — without them getting in the way.”
Caelan looked at her for another long moment, then seemed to remember himself, clearing his throat and moving quickly over to the fire. He grabbed a few pieces from a well-stocked pile of firewood and set about coaxing the fire into life. She watched him thoughtfully, trying to piece together the timeframe — it looked as though he’d turned in for the evening, only to come back out, presumably when he heard her talking to the Monster in the mouth of the cove. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning in triumph, which earned a raised eyebrow from him.
“What are you smiling about?”
“Just that I was right,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I told those jerks I’d be able to find you if I followed the Monster. And here you are, camped out in its favorite fishing cove.”
“Mm. Not its favorite,” he said shortly, pausing to blow gently on the embers of the fire to bring them roaring back into life to take hold of the fresh fuel. “It comes here around the full moon. Something to do with the light on the water chasing fish toward the mouth of the inlet, I’m not quite sure. The places it goes more regularly don’t have good hiding places nearby, though, so… this is where I make camp.”
She couldn’t help looking around the cave as he spoke, spotting a few of his weapons lying on the other side of the fire and frowning a little. Iron-tipped crossbow bolts… she thought of the way the guard had watched her touch the iron blade of the weapon, how she’d only needed to brush it with her fingers before he was satisfied she wasn’t a Fae creature. The response to iron must be dramatic. She thought again of the gentle creature that had saved her life, the way the creature had carried her gently to shore, the intelligence that shone in those soft, dark eyes… and a cold twist of grief moved through her body at the thought of what Caelan wanted to do.
No, she thought firmly. He wouldn’t. Not while she was here to intervene. He wasn’t an unreasonable man, or a cruel one… harming her would have been a much easier way to handle the situation they’d been in earlier, but he hadn’t done that. He was simply torn up with grief over the loss of his brother. She could help him see clearly, here… she could show him that the Monster didn’t mean him or his loved ones any harm.
The fire was crackling now, and she moved cautiously over to take a seat beside it, wincing a little at the unfamiliar soreness in her legs. It had been a long time since the riding lessons of her girlhood, and her muscles were protesting at the effort. How long had she been out there, anyway? It must have been well after midnight. Strange, how quickly time passed when you were fixed on a certain goal. Caelan was looking at her intently from the other side of the fire, and she felt a slight flush rise to her cheeks.
“So,” she said finally, feeling a strange urge to fill a silence that was somehow even more tense than it had been when they were hiding from Caelan’s pursuers. “Here’s your chance. Tell me your side of the situation.”
He raised an eyebrow. “My side?”
“All I know at the moment is that you deserted the Watch and have been living out here for years, hunting the Monster against the orders of your boss.”
“Aye, that’s certainly what I’d have expected them to tell you,” he muttered, a flash of anger moving across his face before it subsided into the habitual resentment that had clearly been there for years.
“So, I know their side. Tell me yours.”
“What good will that do?” he said abruptly. “Everyone’s made their mind up about me being a fool who’s gone mad with grief, what’s the point of dwelling on it further?”
Leanne forced her frustration down, reminding herself that she was talking to a man who’d likely not had much human contact for a long time. But he was still looking at her hard across the fire, and she realized that he was working his way up to a question. “What?”
“What you said before,” he said, his voice suddenly quieter. “About wanting to see me. We barely spent an hour together, all told. How did you know so quickly?”
“Know what?” Leanne looked at him for a moment… then suddenly put the pieces together and felt herself flush crimson. She remembered what the other men had said about her being a love-sick girl, remembered the eyebrow that her new friends at the Keep had raised when she’d mentioned the man who’d helped her on her first night here… and realized that Caelan had come to the conclusion that she was here for romantic reasons, not Monster-related ones. “No,” she said, too quickly. “No, no, it’s not like that?—”
“It’s not?” He tilted his head slightly, those gray eyes thoughtful in the firelight.
She could feel her face burning, knew from long experience how pink she probably looked… cursing her pale skin, she tried to will herself calm, heart pounding hard in her chest. What a stupid problem to have, she thought faintly.
“No, I — I came because I didn’t want them to lock you up, not because…” Leanne cleared her throat, annoyed with herself. Why was she acting like some teenage girl, arguing about a boy she had a crush on? “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?” He didn’t seem to believe her.
She folded her arms across her chest, scowling with a sudden burst of frustration with him. Trust a man to focus in on her gender and the possibility of sexual attraction in a life-or-death situation like this one. He was the one who was living in a cave, eating God knew what and scraping by on a dream of revenge on a sea creature… why was she the one burning with embarrassment right now? What business was it of his whether or not she thought he was attractive? Full of fresh determination, she lifted her chin and met his gaze squarely.
“Fine,” she said flatly. “Fine, I find you attractive, too. I’m a human woman and I’ve got eyes, even if you’re scruffy and you live in a cave and I can’t imagine when the last time you’d have bathed would have been. But you’re an idiot if you think that’s the most important reason I’ve stolen a horse from the people who have given me shelter and a home and come riding out to find you in the middle of the stupid night. So if I were you, I’d get my priorities straight and start explaining to the only person in the country who just might be on your side about this.”
There was a ringing silence, and for a moment she was worried her voice might have carried all the way to the Keep. She bit her lip, simultaneously glad she’d stood up for herself… and worried that Caelan might react badly. His expression was unreadable, and she reminded herself — not for the first time — that he was effectively a stranger, and she was here alone with him… but then he shifted his weight a little, his gaze dropping.
“I bathe regularly,” he said quietly. “”In the cove. I brought soap with me from the Keep when I left, I’ve still got a plentiful store.”
And all of a sudden, Leanne was fighting to stop herself from bursting out laughing.