The Parchment Scroll (20 page)

Juliette came to him immediately, caressing Dubh’s dark neck. She wouldn’t meet Hugh’s eyes.

He leaned down and brushed her hair from her face. “Juliette.”

Finally she looked up. Those green eyes were misty. Her nose was red, as if she was fighting tears, and her lush lips parted.

His heart plummeted to his stomach. A declaration of love played on his tongue, but he shoved it away. “Be well, Juliette.” Hugh’s voice shook. It took all he was made of to look down at her like she didn’t matter. Like he didn’t love her. Didn’t ache to keep her.

She bit her swollen bottom lip and nodded. Her breasts heaved as if she’d taken a breath, and she swallowed. “You, too, Hugh. Umm, thanks for…kidnapping me.”

He smiled as unwanted sentiment clogged his throat. He dragged two fingers down her cheek. “I’ve no regrets.” But he did, because he was letting her go.

Juliette flashed a watery smile that stilled his heart. “Neither do I.”

Words caught in his throat.

This is what she wants. To go home.

She stepped back, averting her gaze.

Hugh watched Cormac MacLeod slip his arm around her shoulders to guide her into the bailey, and he wanted to lop it off. Shout at the man to unhand his lass.

She’s not mine anymore.

Not that she ever was.

He’d taken her to Armadale against her will—twice.

The other MacLeod guard inclined his dark head when Hugh’s eyes rested on him, but he didn’t return the gesture.

Without another word, he turned Dubh away from the MacLeod stronghold. His heart thundered as if he’d run down the beach from Dunvegan to Armadale, and every forced breath was a dagger to his lungs.

He closed his eyes and buried his hand in his stallion’s thick mane.

Hugh MacDonald had finally met his match—and now he was riding away from her.

His bitter laugh filled his ears, but he shook his head and kicked his horse. He’d never looked back before, and today was not the day to change his ways.

“Did ye find her?”

Hugh dragged his hand down his face, ignoring the scratch of stubble against his palm. He swallowed a sigh and didn’t turn toward the meddling old woman he called aunt. “Aye.”

Silence.

Which was never good.

Aunt Mab invaded his ledger room, her cane
tap-tapping
on the floor as she hobbled forward.

He still didn’t look at the woman who’d raised him. He couldn’t.

“Weeel?”

“Well, wha’?” He tried not to bark. He had no patience for a scolding.

“
Where
is yer lass?”

“Dunvegan, I s’pose.”

“Dunvegan? Why ever fer?” Aunt Mab’s voice shot up an octave and Hugh winced.

“Auntie—”

Thwack.

Pain shot into his shoulders, reverberating down his spine. “Jesu!” Hugh shot to his feet and whirled on his tiny aunt, who had her cane poised for another strike. “Ye hit me!”

“Aye, and shall do so again, if ye doona’ watch yer mouth, lad.” She glared up at him, her dark eyes flashing.

“Mab,” Hugh growled.

“Sit down a ’fore ye hurt yerself,” she returned, her expression even darker.

“Myself? I’ll hurt ye,” Hugh muttered, but he didn’t have the bollocks to say it louder. He obeyed, taking the seat he’d been wallowing in at the large table in his ledger room.

His aunt scowled as she took the seat beside the fireplace, despite the warm fire burning brightly. “Go get tha’ lass.”

“Nay.”

“Nay?”

Hugh avoided her narrowed eyes, shifting on the chair. “She’s goin’ home, Aunt Mab.”

“Did ye ask her ta stay?”

A lump clogged his throat, but Hugh shook his head. He still couldn’t look at her.

“Why no’?”

He studied his boots until his temples throbbed, so Hugh closed his eyes.

“Speak, lad.”

“Nay,” he croaked.

“Juliette is not Brenna.”

He winced. He’d not heard her name said aloud in longer than he could remember. Preferred it that way.

“And ye are not a laddie of nine and ten anamore.”

“I was twenty.” The words came out fragmented. His chest was tight. Hugh sucked in a breath, then another, but it didn’t help.

“It matters no’.” Aunt Mab’s gnarled hand gripped the top of the cane he’d carved for her. Her mouth was set in a determined line, but her eyes were kind when he finally had the guts to meet her gaze. “Ye werena ready to wed when Brenna MacInnes came to Armadale. Yet ye did yer duty ta yer clan and to yer stubborn da.”

“And she died birthing my child, taking the bairn with her.”

“God’s plan was different from ours. Ye felt Brenna’s loss fer a long time. We all did.”

“I didna love her,” Hugh blurted.

Mab grabbed his forearm and squeezed. She laughed, but it wasn’t unkind. “Laddie, ye didna get tha chance ta love her. She was taken so soon. Brenna was a lass of six and ten. No more ready fer marriage than ye were, no’ really.”

“She did her duty.”

“Aye, as we all do. ‘Tis how the world works, my lad.”

Emotion choked him, and Hugh forced a nod, because he hadn’t cried—well, ever. And he wasn’t about to start in front of his aunt.

“Yer a good laird, and a good man. But now ye have one more duty ta see to.”

“I do?”

“Aye, my lad. Ye’ve a duty ta yerself. And a duty to Juliette.”

Hugh shook his head.

“Doona’ give me tha’ nonsense. Ye love tha’ lass. Ye never intended to, I know tha’ well. It happened, and she loves ye too. So swallow yer pride and hie ta the MacLeods. Get her back. Ferget about the Fae, magic, and the distant future. Bare yer heart and wed tha’ lass.”

Zombieism over took her as Cormac escorted her into the great hall. Her limbs were heavy, and each step forward made her gut tighter, until every breath crushed her lungs like a vise—oh, and her heart, too.

No. Wait
.

She didn’t have a heart anymore. It was a black hole, burning her from the inside out. Jules wanted to crumble by the big hearth and give in to her hurt. Sob like she’d never cried before.

He left me.

Rode away like he had lightning up his ass.

“Are ye well, milady?” Cormac’s deep voice made her jump. His long blond hair was loose today, and shifted around his shoulders. He was one of the few fair-haired MacLeods, and just as big and handsome as the rest of her sister’s clan.

She met his dark eyes, so unlike Hugh’s, even though they were the same color. “I’m…great.”
Liar.
She forced a smile.

Cormac didn’t believe her, but he didn’t call her on it, either. “The ladies are likely in tha solar.”

Jules nodded. “I’ll find them.” She trudged up the stairwell, not waiting to see if the MacLeod guard waited for her.

She fought doubling over as pain consumed her. She’d been shot before, but it hadn’t hurt as bad as she did right now.

Her hand shook as she opened the closed door to the bright room, locking her knees so she wouldn’t fall over.

“Jules!” Claire was alone in the room—thank God. “You’re back!” Her sister’s smile faded just as it was born. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

Jules shook her head and took a seat.

Claire moved away from the fireplace. She’d been rocking a cradle. “He’s fussy today; I don’t think he feels well.” She gestured to her sleeping son. “Just got him down for a nap.”

“Where’re Alana and Janet?”

Her sister’s eyes were full of excitement.

It worked for Jules. Anything to keep the spotlight off her.

“Alana is with Janet. Xander, too, I’d expect. Her back was hurting this morning, so I’m pretty sure it was the start of labor. Who knows, we might have a baby today!”

She forced a smile she wasn’t feeling. “Oh, awesome.”

Claire smiled back and nodded. “It’s a boy, like Angus said. He’s got magic, but we don’t know if he’ll be born with wings.”

“Wings?”

“Xander has wings, but not in our realm—at least most of the time. Janet sorta…recharges his magic, so he said sometimes his back itches, and once he woke with his wings. They disappeared again, but who knows, maybe the longer they’re together he might get them back. I know he misses flying, even if he’s too polite to talk about it.”

“Weird.”

Her sister smirked. “Right, like that’s the only thing weird around here.”

“I need to go home,” Jules blurted.

Claire squared her shoulders. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Wasn’t that always the plan? You’re fine. Happy, and all that. I know you’ll be okay now. I can go. I came, I saw. Got kidnapped. Twice. We said goodbye, he dropped me off and…” She shrugged, averting her gaze. Emotion choked her and she refused to cry in front of her sister.

“Jules…”

Jules shook her head and swallowed before she could look at Claire. Forced a smile. “I’m good.”

“You aren’t.”

Silence fell, but she couldn’t bring herself to confirm or deny. Her sister knew her too well to buy her bullshit anyways.

“I really should get back. Dan and I were working a murder-suicide when I left, and—”

“Hugh isn’t Brent.”

Jules fought the urge to crush her eyes shut.

She brought up my ex. Am I
that
transparent?

She straightened her back and pressed her shoulders into the back of the chair until the wood bit into her skin. Ignored the breath she should take, but it wouldn’t make her head spin any less anyway. Jules met her sister’s green eyes. “God, no. How could he be? Four hundred years is kinda different.”

Claire gave her a long look. “You know damn well what I meant,
Juliette
.”

Jules cringed. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why? Because Hugh does?” Her sister smirked.

She frowned.

Her sister leaned over and squeezed her forearm. “Just…don’t go back because you think you
have
to.”

“I’m not,” she said. Too quickly, if Claire’s expression was any indication.

She had to get back to her life, didn’t she?

Wasn’t her partner giving her a hard time for staying in Scotland when he’d said he needed her to come back?

Jules and Dan had cases to work. Bad guys to catch—not just the
open and shut
they’d been on when she’d had to take off for Scotland. They might not always get along, but they usually held it together enough to work together.

That
mattered more than the guy she’d fallen for didn’t it?

Four hundred years in the past.

Her life would be drastically different if she stayed.

No more being a detective.

She loved her job. Always had.

Did she love Hugh more?

Yes.

Jules closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. Her
everything
hurt.

“It won’t be today, anyway. Alana will be busy if the baby comes, and Angus will have to help open the rift in time. Human blood is necessary, evidently. Full-blooded Fae can’t do it.”

Great. Let the torture continue.

“That’s fine,” Jules croaked. “It’ll let me spend more time with you and Lachlan. Say a proper goodbye, even.” By the end of her statement, her voice had evened out. Someone who didn’t know her wouldn’t even know something was wrong.

“If I get a vote, I want you to stay.” Claire’s low voice tugged at her, but the pain didn’t fade.

“What if I don’t know whose vote should count more…yours or mine? What if the person I want most to vote already let me go?
He
cast…his vote.” Jules swallowed the tears that threatened and cursed when Claire’s gaze offered concern…and love.

She lost the battle. Her vision clouded and she had to look away from her younger sister. Again.

Claire was up off her chair in two seconds, enfolding her in a warm embrace that just made Jules feel worse.

“I love him,” she blurted.

“I know.” Her sister’s answer was a whisper. No judgment.

Jules crushed her eyes shut against Claire’s shoulder and squeezed her tight.

“As much as my husband will cringe about it, I’m okay with it. He saved my baby. He can’t be that bad.”

She pulled back and flashed a watery smile. “No, he’s not. He’s a good man. A good leader of his clan. He…cares about them.”
I just wish he cared about me.

“Surly like my big sister?” Claire grinned and wiped Jules’ tears away.

“That’s why we worked,” she whispered. She forced air into her lungs.

“Go get him.”

Jules reared back. “What?”

Claire’s green eyes bored into hers. “You’re gonna have to go back to Armadale and get him, big sis.”

She shook her head. “I-I-I—”

“Did you tell him you love him?”

“No.”

“You said you wanted to go home from the start. He doesn’t know you want to stay.”

“I don’t know if I want to stay.” Jules swallowed. But she did know. She just couldn’t say it. Not even to Claire.

I can’t lose Hugh.

“Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m gonna be selfish here
. I’ll
beg you to stay. I don’t want to lose you, Jules. I want you to stay. I want my kids to know you. I want to see you regularly. I need my older sister. I won’t lie. Life’s hard. You go to bed at night sore from working your ass off all day, and you wake up early to do it all over again. There’s nothing fun like TV and movies, but there are books. Some interesting ones, too. There’s not much time to be bored, anyway. And when you have a big, strong,
hot
husband, the nights are better than any movie, anyway.” Her sister grinned.

Jules couldn’t help but smile. “It’s different for me and Hugh than it was for you and Duncan.”

“How?”

“Duncan loves you.”

“Hugh loves you.” Claire’s retort had her stomach flipping, but Jules shook her head.

“Not that he said. He’s still got a thing for his dead wife.”

“Bullshit.”

She arched a brow at her sister’s hard tone and shook her head. “This is crazy.”

Claire laughed and Jules’ eyes snapped to her face. “Something funny?”

“Nah. I just thought you’d be beyond the ‘
this is crazy’
stage. You’ve been here for a while.”