The Libertine (Taskill Witches 2)

The situation rent him asunder, for it tore his loyalties in three different directions. He looked at the members of his coven and saw what they were. Kin. Not family, but people brought together to support each other and protect each other. They would make their journey north and they would be strong. He would find them again.

That meant he had to choose between Jessie and Chloris.

Pain drummed at the back of his eyes. He closed them.

When he did he saw the scars on Chloris and his gut turned over, bile rising in his throat as he thought about the fact that that bastard Tamhas Keavey had sent her back to the cruel man who treated her so badly.

Jessie was not alone, and she had magic on her side. He was determined to find them both but he had to go to Chloris first. It was a hard decision, one of the most difficult he’d ever made in his life, but logic determined it would be so. He lifted his face to the sky, watched the passage of the moonlight and knew that he had to follow Chloris. Time would allow him to pull all the other pieces together, to find his sisters and to reunite with his coven. “You have closed the gate to Keavey?”

“We have. Lachlan sent three of the women out and they made magic between here, Keavey’s place and the roads into Saint Andrews. It will not hold them off for long, but they will find their path treacherous when they come.”

Lennox was proud of them. They had come together and taken action, everything he would have done and perhaps more, given his present rash of ill luck and lack of good sense. “Make haste, take only what you can, your tools and anything that ties you to your craft.”

“What are you going to do?” Glenna’s eyes were filled with concern.

“I know what I should do, go up there and give Keavey what he deserves.”

“No, Lennox, reel in your anger for you put yourself at risk. You will only give him what he is after, a reason to hunt us all down.”

Lennox stared down at her and realized that she spoke wise words. The fact that Chloris had been returned to the man who beat her was making it hard for him to act with caution.

Glenna covered his hand with hers and fed her calm and nurturing spirit to him. “We will not leave until we are certain y

ou are not going to put yourself in danger.” Still she waited to be reassured. “What will you do?”

He grasped her hand, squeezing it. She was the closest thing to a mother he had ever known, since his own was so cruelly put to death. “I must try once again to find Jessie before I head north but first I’ll go to Edinburgh to fetch Chloris.”

“You truly love this woman, Chloris.” Glenna’s mouth lifted at the corners and her eyes glistened.

“Aye, that I do.”

“Then you must find her and tell her.”

Lennox nodded. He had not told her enough. He had spoken most of all about desire and destiny, of forging a new path for them both, but he had not told her exactly how much she had come to mean to him. “You’re right, and I will be on my way to Edinburgh. Come now, I’ll help you clear the house. We need to be gone from here by dawn.”

As he covered the ground into the house in easy strides, Ailsa set down the goods she was carrying and came to his side. She rested her hand on his arm, drawing him to a halt. “I am so sorry, Lennox, I tried to hold tight to the letter when he descended, but he was strong. He taunted me and he threatened to bring us all to justice if I gave him the evidence he needed. It was as if he wanted me to show my true nature.”

“That does not surprise me. He’s long since wanted his proof.” Lennox remembered the conversation they’d had, the day he’d presented to council. For Keavey it was a step too far, and he could not abide it.

Ailsa peered up at him. “Even if I had used my craft to hold or destroy the letter, there was no telling what he would have done to us, and to her.”

She was afraid he would think badly of her.

“I could never hurt anyone that you loved,” she added, “believe me.”

Last time they had spoken, they had argued over Chloris. Ailsa had been jealous then. Lennox stared into her eyes, so mysterious, so capable of witchcraft, and yet deep down he knew she spoke the truth. “I do believe you.”

Her lower lip trembled and a plump tear rolled down her cheek.

Lennox embraced her. “No tears, please. Soon you’ll be safe in the Highlands.”

Looking down at her upturned face, her misty eyes made him think of the mountains, of the glens. “I do believe that you most of all will be at home there.”

Ailsa mustered a smile.

“Come, we must hurry. I’ll help you clear the house and then I must be gone. We must not leave a shred of evidence that will give Keavey and the bailiff’s men cause to come after us.”

They worked through the midnight hours and by the time the sky began to lighten the carts were loaded and ready to go. Lennox peered at the horizon, watching the sky. It was time. The house was stripped of all evidence of their craft, and Lennox’s precious papers that he had repeatedly presented to council in Saint Andrews were burning in the grate.