Dare, Lydia - Tall, Dark and Wolfish

"They're no' harpies," she said quietly. "They're tryin' ta help me, and I'm simply worthless today."

They entered the woods at a slow pace, and Ben watched a skylark fly above them. Elspeth noticed it, too. "My grandfather loved birds."

"Did he?"

"Aye. Sometimes he'd sit in the woods just ta watch them."

She was quiet. More wistful than he'd seen her thus far. "Do you want to tell me about him?"

Elspeth smiled. "He was a simple man, and he always wore a smile no matter what went wrong."

"A good quality to have." One Ben did not possess.

"He was my rock. When I was growin' up, children were particularly cruel about my situation. He would sit me down and say, 'Elspeth, I'm no' goin' ta tell ye ye're just as good as those other

tumshie heids

.'"

Tumshie heids?

"What is that?"

"Loosely translated?" she giggled. "Turnip heads."

"I see. He didn't want you to be a turnip head?" Ben smiled at her.

"He wanted me ta be better than the others. He never let me feel sorry for myself."

"He sounds like a wonderful man."

Elspeth smiled up at him. "He was the best of men. He always pushed me ta do my best."

"Sounds like my brother." Simon's last lecture echoed in his ears.

She stopped walking and faced him. "Ye never speak of yer family."

Ben shrugged. "There's nothing much to tell."

"I doona believe that for a second. Ye come from a family of

Lycans,

and yer oldest brother is a

duke

."

When she put it that way, he couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose I don't think of them in those terms. They're just my family."

"There are three of ye?"

He nodded and led her deeper into the woods. "Simon is the Duke of Blackmoor, and William is the next in line. I'm off the hook unless they both fail to produce an heir."

"Is neither one of them married?"

Ben laughed again, finding the image of Simon or Will in front of an altar particularly humorous. When she stared at him, he brought his levity under control. "Sorry, it's just hard to imagine. You see, Simon is extremely careful where women are concerned. He keeps them from getting too close, lest they discover our secret."

"And William?" she prodded.

"Is a stubborn mule."

"What do ye mean by that?"

"There's a girl back home—Prisca. Her family is our closest neighbor in Hampshire. She has a hoard of brothers, and we all grew up together. Anyway, she and Will… Well, he should have married her long ago. It's obvious how the two of them feel about each other, but Will walked away from her and never looked back."

"Why?"

In the distance, Ben could hear a large number of people heading their direction. "I think the funeral is over, Ellie. Are you ready to return?"

She faced him and smiled softly. "Ben, thank ye for everythin'."

He wished he could do more. Once he got her to London, he'd do everything he could to make her happy. A strand of her hair had come loose from her wolf clips, and he curled it around his finger. "It was nothing."

"How can ye say that?" she whispered.

"Because," he began and dipped his head down to hers. "I want to give you everything."

Then he touched his lips to hers. The rest of the world vanished for a moment, but not nearly long enough.

The rest of the day was a blur to Elspeth. It seemed as if all of Edinburgh had come out for her grandfather's feast. Neighbors, people she hadn't seen in ages, and some people she'd never met before. But only Ben kept her interest. He never left her. Whenever she was thirsty, he handed her a drink. If she was hungry, he got her a plate. When she was tired, he made her sit.

Caitrin, Sorcha, Rhiannon, and Blaire watched on from a distance, but they never approached her. Somewhere in the back of Elspeth's mind she knew that something had changed in her life.

Twenty-two

Once Ben and all the townspeople left, it took less than a minute for the five witches to return the cottage and land to its usual state. After a few simple spells, no one would ever know that half of Scotland had been there moments earlier.

Elspeth collapsed onto her settee, ready to fall asleep as soon as her friends returned to their homes. The four of them had watched her all afternoon but hadn't really spoken to her, until now.

"Ye ken I doona like him," Sorcha began.

Elspeth closed her eyes and willed them away. Were they going to have

this

conversation again? "Please doona start. No' tonight. Ye can all have a go at me in the mornin'."

Sorcha flopped down next to her and Elspeth opened her eyes. The girl was frowning. "I was just goin' ta say I thought he was real nice ta ye today. Real attentive."

Rhiannon dropped into a chair across from them. "Almost as though he knew what ye needed all day without ye havin' ta tell him."

"Ye really are connected," Blaire added from her spot across the room.

"Aye." They really were connected, in more ways than her friends could understand.

"Well," Sorcha added quietly, "if ye do leave us for him, I could understand it."

"Sorcha!" Caitrin barked from the doorway, arms folded across her chest.

The youngest witch thrust out her chin. "Well, I could, Cait. He's handsome and rich and—"

"A beast," the seer reminded them all.

"There is that," Sorcha replied. "But a wellbehaved one. Did ye no' see how he took care of El the whole day?"

"Do ye ken what will happen if Elspeth goes with him? Our circle will fall apart. In six hundred years the circle has

never

been broken."

"What will happen if we separate?" Sorcha asked quietly. "Will we lose our magic?"

"We canna be certain," Caitrin said with a pointed look toward Elspeth. "It has never happened."

"I ken," Sorcha whispered. "I just wish it wasna that way. It seems like he wants ta make El happy, and I think she deserves that."

"We all want Elspeth ta be happy. Just with a decent human. Edinburgh is no' small. There are many men ta choose from."

Elspeth had heard enough. They could go on like this for hours. When she saw them next, they'd probably still be discussing it. She rose from her seat. "I'm goin' ta bed. Once ye've all sorted out my life, let me ken what ye've come up with."

She awoke early the next morning. It felt a bit strange to be in the cottage all alone, but it was something she would get accustomed to in time.

Ben, Ben, Ben. She'd thought about him all night, even dreamed about him. She supposed she should go through her mother's old things looking for something Lycan related. How did one go about healing a werewolf who can't change with the moon?

While an enchanted spoon stirred her oatmeal cooking on the stove, Elspeth removed the rug from the kitchen floor, revealing a hidden door. She hadn't been in her mother's space for years, as she preferred to work on her potions aboveground.

She tugged the door up and peered into the darkness beneath her cottage. Shivers raced down her spine. She'd always hated the stale air and freezing room down below. Her mother had loved the quiet and solitude of the dank quarters. She wasn't afraid of the darkness or the bugs and would sequester herself there for hours at a time, completely engrossed in a new project.

Elspeth tested the top rung of the ladder with her weight. She was surprised when she found it held her with ease. She held a candle aloft and stopped as she descended into the darkness to periodically wipe spider webs from her path. The most stubborn webs clung to her hair and clothing. She fought back revulsion as she pulled the majority of the sticky strands from her hair. When her foot hit the solid earth that was the room's floor, relief flooded her. She lifted the candle and used it to light tapers on the wall. The room was immediately flooded with light. Much better.