Tall, Dark and Wolfish by Lydia Dare Read Free Book Online Page B

his pulse had slowed dangerously. She shouldn't have left him to go to Sorcha's
    sil y party. "Papa, can ye hear me?"
    She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see Caitrin swipe a tear from her eye.
    "He'l be al right," Elspeth vowed.
    But Caitrin shook her head. "Ah, sweetheart, I wish it were so."
    She blinked at her friend. "What do ye mean by that?"
    Caitrin smoothed Elspeth's wild hair and sniffed back more tears. "Mr. MacQuarrie was walkin' me ta my door when I saw yer grandfather, El, in my
    mind. He's no' goin' ta wake up. I sent for ye as soon as I realized."
    Tears poured from Elspeth's eyes as she turned back to her grandfather. She clutched his hand tighter and wil ed him to wake. "Papa, I'm here. Doona
    leave me."
    Caitrin squeezed her shoulders. "Ye should get some rest. Ye're goin' ta need it."
    Elspeth shook her head. "Ye saw him die?"
    "Aye."
    "Then ye must've seen me stay with him until then." She'd never leave him. Not now. Not when he needed her the most.
    "Aye," Caitrin whispered. "I saw that, too."
    Elspeth barely noticed when the others arrived. But soon her grandfather's smal room was fil ed with al the witches of the Còig.
    Sorcha and Blaire lit candles in every corner. Then the five of them joined hands around Mr. Campbel 's bed, Elspeth's sisters offering silent support.
    Elspeth had never felt so helpless in al her life. What was the point of being able to heal others if she couldn't save her own grandfather?
    In the dead of night, old Liam Campbel took a loud, deep breath and released it. His chest stopped rising and fal ing. Elspeth staggered to her feet and
    pul ed the family plaid up under his chin. She kissed his cold cheek and stumbled from the room.
    Caitrin stopped Sorcha from going after Elspeth. "She needs some time alone."
    Sorcha bit her bottom lip but did as she was asked.
    "There's somethin' ye're no' sayin'," Rhiannon whispered, successful y catching the others' attention.
    Caitrin hated that she was so easy to read. Stil , there was no point in denying the truth. She nodded. "It's the Sassenach, MacQuarrie's friend."
    "Lord Benjamin?" Blaire asked.
    "Aye. I've seen him before."
    "When ye went ta London last year?" Sorcha reasoned.
    " Mo chreach , ye're daft," Rhiannon complained. "He's the one, Cait? The one from yer vision?"
    "Aye," Caitrin admitted. She hadn't been certain until after she and Alec MacQuarrie had left the bal . A vision flashed in her mind during the short
    journey home before she'd seen Mr. Campbel take his last breath. Westfield intended to take Elspeth from them; there was no doubt in her mind. He
    wore the mark she'd seen weeks earlier.
    "I ken he was trouble," Rhiannon grumbled. "He had her hair undone. No gentleman does such a thing."
    "But she said nothin' happened," Sorcha protested.
    As the two of them argued, Blaire touched Caitrin's arm. "What're we ta do?"

    "I doona see us keepin' her," Caitrin whispered, the words ripped from her soul. But it was true. She didn't see them winning.
    "Wel , we canna give her up. Ye say the man's a beast?"
    Unable to speak, Caitrin only nodded.
    "So we'l fight ta keep her. We'l move her ta yer house. She'l stay with ye and we'l outlast him. He canna get through al of us."
    It was a losing battle. But Blaire was right, they couldn't just give up on Elspeth. She was part of them. She was their sister.
    "Rhiannon, make the arrangements with the vicar, wil ye?" Caitrin asked.
    "Of course."
    "And, Sorcha, ye and Blaire can help me pack up the house. The sooner we move Elspeth, the better."
    Elspeth sat in a smal chair and stared off into her memories. She knew this day was coming, but it was stil hard to believe. It didn't seem al that long ago
    that her grandfather had been a robust man, the strongest she knew.
    Rhiannon explained before she left that she'd make the arrangements with the vicar, and Elspeth nodded silently. There wasn't much else she could do.
    Then she realized Caitrin and the others were packing