Page 23 of Taming the Highland Beauty

Whatever momentary enthusiasm she had mustered faltered as a strange sensation pricked the back of her neck. Someone was watching them. She narrowed her gaze and searched the distance, finding nothing. Perhaps she had imagined the sensation.

“Come,” she said, motioning for Callum to follow her. “There is still much territory for us to cover.” Their search continued and was marked by false hopes and growing despair as the sun reached its zenith. They had spent half a day in the woodlands already, and Gille had yet to recognise any sort of beech tree, burnt or otherwise.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, the familiar paths began to twist and turn in an unnatural manner. Untouched trees, once steadfast landmarks, seemed to shift and change, their outlines blurred by the sudden rise of a mist. Hours passed and they had made no progress in their search. Gille’s memory, once a reliable guide, seemed to fail her.

“We are getting nowhere,” she said in frustration as her stomach began to growl. Callum must have heard the sound because he encouraged her to sit on the stump of a tree and eat a piece of bread and a slice of cheese he had brought in his satchel. When they had both eaten and drunk from skin of water, they continued to search. Several more hours went by.

Callum frowned up at the sky. “Are we getting nowhere, or is something else going on? Because the sun, which should have begun its descent, has not changed its position since we ate.”

She tried to focus, to find a familiar marker, but everything was wrong. The forest, once a comforting ally, had become a treacherous foe. And there was only one entity she knew who had the power to change reality like that. She had experienced his machinations many times before in Fairyland.

Panic crept into Gille’s heart. Had the sensation she’d felt earlier been Oberon watching them, tricking them, deluding them into thinking they were making progress while he changed the landscape before them?

“Callum, Oberon is responsible for this. He is manipulating us and our reality.” Gille gritted her teeth against a tide of anger that rose in her. All the frustration and anguish she had buried inside herself at Oberon over the past year erupted in a scream that echoed all around her, resounding in her ears like thunder.

“It’s all right, Gille.” Callum reached out and pulled her close. “We will prevail against him, together.”

Gille turned her face into Callum’s chest. She did not know how long she remained there, wrapped in his arms, her face buried in the soft linen of his shirt, but it seemed like forever. Gradually, her frantic heart rate slowed, and silence surrounded them.

“Gille?”

She looked up into Callum’s comforting gaze and felt an overwhelming sense of relief. “He cannot succeed in his games against us. Not this time.”

Callum framed her face with his hands. “I will be right beside you, Gille. Oberon is no match for the two of us. We already figured out that he was playing a trick on us. Now we must focus on breaking free of Oberon’s illusion.”

Callum was so close. Close enough to kiss. She shifted forward, bringing her lips in contact with his. He kissed her quickly, then pulled back. “Kiss me, Callum, like you did this morning.”

His lips brushed hers hesitantly. “We should stay true to our mission.”

“If we want to complete our mission, then kiss me. If Oberon hates anything, it is a connection of hearts and minds between two people.”

She did not have to convince him further. Callum’s arms closed around her, and a groan escaped him. His lips caressed hers in a dozen kisses that robbed her of breath and sent shivers tingling through her.

She inhaled sharply as she pulled back to stare into his face. His features were taut with strain, but in his eyes, she saw something she had not seen there before. Hope.

She felt it too, a surge of something light and wonderful and pure. In that instant, the burnt forest around them shimmered then faded until darkness replaced what had once been light. “Nay,” Gille gasped. “The entire day has passed with us trapped in Oberon’s illusion.”

Callum held her more tightly. “’Tis all right. We have broken free of his magic. Now we can accomplish what we set out to do.”

Gille shook her head. “It is too dark for me to see things clearly.” Once again that odd sensation of being watched rippled across the back of her neck. Gille tensed. “Callum,” she whispered. “Someone else is here in the woods with us.”

Callum released his grip on her as his hand moved to the hilt of his sword. Only a quarter moon illuminated the sky, making it difficult to discern what might be the burnt skeleton of a tree, or something more sinister. Suddenly a shape separated itself from the shadows.

Chapter Ten

A light flared, revealing a man, lean and hard-eyed, his face etched with lines of both age and desperation. Gille’s heart faltered as she recognised him as the dark-haired man who had once sought to capture her. But his demeanour was different now, a plea in his eyes belied his hardened exterior.

Callum drew his sword and stood between her and the man. “We will not run this time. Prepare yourself to fight.”

“I dinna want tae fight ye,” he said, his voice low. “I’ve been followin’ ye in these woods fer two days.”

“Two days? That is impossible,” Gille exclaimed. “We have not been wandering through the trees for that long.” But in the man’s eyes, she saw the truth. “Nay!”

“We still have time,” Callum said, his voice softer now, but his body still tuned to possible danger. “Why have you been following us?”

“Gille, my daughter . . . the one ye saved when she was lost in the woods . . . she is failing. Ye must help her.”

Gille hesitated, her mind torn between their search and the memory of the little girl she had once returned to Dunvegan village. Callum stood protectively in front of her, suspicion etching lines around his mouth. “How can we trust what you say is true? You were willing to harm us and helped burn down the forest last time we met to get what you wanted.”