“She’s tired of the ride and has obviously forgotten where she is.”

Logan shifted in his seat and allowed his eyes to travel to Lizzy again. This time his face softened and his desire for her swam in his eyes.

The hair on the back of Fin’s neck stood on end.

His jaw tightened and fist clenched at his side.

Mayhap it was time to stake his claim. Or at least his desires.

And his desires didn’t include Elizabeth in the arms of Logan or any of the MacTavish men.

“Logan?” Fin directed his friend’s attention to him. “Elizabeth isn’t…” Isn’t what? Available? Isn’t interested? Damn the woman. She wasn’t his.

Wasn’t even a bedmate he could claim. And if she were, would he tell anyone of their time together?

Logan forced his eye to Fin and waited. “Isn’t what?”

In seconds, Logan’s lips slid into a knowing grin.

His gaze swept over Lizzy again, this time with more interest. “I see.”

Did he?

Logan returned his attention to the road ahead of them. The smile never left his lips.

Without any words at all, Fin staked his claim.

“If ye change your mind about the lass, let me know. She’s too fine a woman to be left unprotected for long.” Logan pushed his horse ahead.

A small weight lifted from Fin’s shoulders.

One down.

He drew up beside Lizzy, reached over, and forced the hem of her skirt to cover her leg. She shot him a look of sheer disdain.

“The men are taking notice,” he told her.

She glanced ahead and nodded toward Logan.

“You mean Logan.”

“And others.”

“Really?” She appeared to enjoy the attention.

Her back straightened and a smile he hadn’t seen in several hours flashed on her lips. “Which ones?”

Instead of letting her win and rising to her bait, Fin waited until she stopped looking around to find who watched her ride.

Only when her eyes leveled to his did he say,

“This one.” He pointed a single finger to his chest.

Her teasing smile fell into a complete expression of shock.

He’d rendered her speechless. And that almost never happened.

Fin kicked his horse and left her to ponder his words and their meaning.

Chapter Ten

“They travel closer to us, yet have no idea we’re here.” Grainna voiced her knowledge only to Tatiana.

The girl weighed a good ten pounds more than she had when she’d arrived. She didn’t go out of her way to attract attention to herself by wearing flattering clothing, but she had at least grown accustomed to bathing, something Grainna insisted she do.

Never again did she want to smell the stink of unwashed flesh. Death and decay she could tolerate, but filth was another thing all together.

“They will be close for several weeks.”

“Obviously.” Weddings and the celebrations surrounding them took time.

“I see time as yer friend. Time and patience.”

If there was one word Grainna would love to never hear again, it was patience.

“What else do you see?”

Tatiana closed her eyes and drew a full breath into her lungs. Her brows pitched together as she angled her head to the side, searching her thoughts.

Grainna waited for the girl to speak. She’d learned to hold back from entering the child’s mind while she searched her visions. The pain caused by invading her head overran the images and kept the girl from seeing.

“The infant is protected,” she said quickly. “Your next attempt to overpower the child will cause you pain.”

“What of the others? The youngest daughter and Simon?”

Tatiana shook her head and held her body still.

“Nothing. I see nothing.”

“Look harder.”

She opened her bloodshot eyes. “I only see a deep fog when I search for a weakness with the children.”

Protection from the Ancients, most likely. The old ones had a way of watching over the young. Yet they hadn’t masked the encounter with Briac.

Taking the child would draw the MacCoinnichs to her. Their pain will cause carelessness. A weakness Grainna would extort.

Any pain caused by the abduction of the child would be worth the price. Grainna would heed Tatiana’s warning and wait until the MacCoinnichs were preoccupied. Their watch while traveling didn’t leave room for her to strike. But once the wedding festivities began, and the men sat in endless hours of counsel with each other, the women would be alone, the children unsupervised.

Sweeping her hair behind her shoulders, Grainna stepped to the doorway and peered beyond the walls. Several men trained for war, their minds completely in her control. Her small army numbered those that traveled with the MacCoinnichs.

Time had come to turn the wheels of doubt and fear among the MacCoinnich’s and their people.

Time to weed out the weak.

****

The sweat of her hands made the reins uncomfortable in her palms. Liz glanced up, noticing the amber-and-black flags flapping in the breeze coming off the ocean. She could smell the salt air, but had yet to touch the sea. She couldn’t wait. The thought of dipping her feet in the sand, even if it were as cold as the MacCoinnichs had told her, sounded like heaven.

The special tack on the horses and the elegant dresses the women were told to wear, drew the occasion of arriving to Brisbane’s keep to an exclamation point. They walked their horses toward the center of activity with their heads held high.

Tents littered the grounds surrounding the walls of Lord Brisbane’s keep. Flags of many colors flew high, telling everyone whose men resided underneath. Lizzy had been told that there would be rooms inside for many of them if they desired, but with the crush of people, they might prefer to hoist individual tents to ensure some privacy.

Tara voiced her concern about sleeping in close proximity to Matthew of Lancaster. Even though the man remembered nothing of abducting her, she had the misfortune of not forgetting. Duncan agreed to raise several tents to secure them all and have their men close at hand.

A nervous knot formed deep in Liz’s stomach.

She felt like a fraud. Like she didn’t belong.

Liz’s eyes swung to Simon whose face held a smile as his eyes took in the entire scene. Hundreds of people scurried about.

At the gates, Laird Ian’s men held back and let him and Lora proceed with the rest of the family trailing.

A stout man with wide girth extended his arm to Ian once he was free of his horse.

“MacCoinnich, ’tis been too long,” he said, his voice hissing slightly on his exhale.