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Swallowing the world’s dreamiest sigh, I approached the well. Halfway, a primordial force took hold, drawing me closer faster. Once still air stirred, rattling leaves and limbs. My pulse quickened. Every muscle tensed as I leaned forward and gazed at the water...
An ethereal glow grew brighter and brighter, and I shivered. Then, I saw it. Me. My reflection. My own dark hair and brown irises, not a freckle to be found. And though Callen wasn’t beside me, I saw him too. Reflection me peered at him with untold longing. He peered back with the same.
I gasped. The fountain had revealed the truth, all right. I cut a panicked glance over my shoulder. My companion stared at me, the longing I’d seen in the water shining on his real-life facenow.
He wanted me, and he was done hiding it.
The air thickened. Some untamed power brewed between us, so real I felt as if I could reach out and grab it.
Once again, a force drew me. This time I approached him, closing the distance. Anticipation cascaded through me.
“Elle,” he rasped, caressing my cheek.
I leaned into his touch, and tremors invaded my limbs. Did I, Elizabeth Darcy, belong in Scotland with his man? Or was the fountain instead issuing a warning? If not careful, I would fall for Callen Bruce.
And lose everything.
Fear gripped me, squeezing my lungs. “Where’s theexit?” I turned from him, desperate to escape. The green maze walls closed in and blood screamed in my ears.
His expression blanked. He pointed to an archway mere steps past the wolf statue and fountain.
How had I missed it? My rushed steps ate up the distance.
Callen caught my wrist just as I exited the maze and tugged me around to face him. Tension returned to his features. “I will never harm you, Elle. Give me a chance to prove it. To show you the depth of my commitment to you. Tonight is a month. Let me give you my mark.”
Sickness churned in my stomach. “Let’s wait.” Surely in another thirty days or so, he’d be with Isobel and I’d be…alone.
“Verra well. I’ll nae force you to take it.” Any emotion had leached from his voice, yet I felt the hurt simmering in every accented syllable. He released me and stepped back.
Guilt sliced at me, but I was fully immersed in self-preservation mode. He just…he didn’t understand. Didn’t know the truth.
“If you change your mind,” he said, raising his chin, “I’ll be in our bedroom. All you must do is come to me.” With those words ringing in my mind, he stalked off.
Date over.
Chapter
Twenty
Calm in the Storm: Resolving Conflict Your Way
FromA Beginner’s Guide to Berserker Bliss
Author Unknown
Iheld steady, deep in thought, until the sun descended, and the full moon took its place. The chill didn’t bother me. How could it? I was wrapped up in the pain I’d seen in Callen’s features. Pain I’d put there.
He yearned to give his wife his mark, whatever it was. Part of me yearned to accept it. Heck, maybe even all of me. Yes, I admitted it. He was everything I’d ever secretly dreamed of for the man in which I entrusted my heart. The type of companion I’d only read about in fiction. Strong but kind. Caring. Protective. Thoughtful. He adored his daughter. Sometimes he looked at me as if I were the only woman alive. No other partner existed for him. He bought me books I loved and rocked a kilt.
I would give anything to keep him. There, I admitted that, too. Except, I wouldn’t betray him. Not in more waysthan I’d already done. And that’s exactly what taking his mark would be—a betrayal.
My teeth began to chatter, letting me know my emotions might not care about the chill, but my body did. I made my way inside the castle and halted in the foyer. No guards stood nearby. No employees either. Callen waited for me in our bedroom, hoping I appeared.
I rubbed a burning spot in the center of my chest. Should I grab some coins and gemstones from the ballroom and run, even without the potion and ID or a way past the wall undetected? Maybe this was some kind of test.
Had to be a test. No way Callen forgot my security detail with Tavish possibly on the loose. If I ran, I would shatter Callen’s trust. Which might have begun to form? But. If I didn’t run while I had the chance, was I a fool? Isobel had threatened my mother’s happiness.
I took a step toward freedom. Stopped. Stepped. Stopped. Could I really hurt the gentleman king as Isobel had? Especially while I was safe, fed, sheltered, and clothed…but in constant danger, thanks to unknown berserker traditions. Well, maybe not constant danger. Callen protected me.
