“Are you sure you want to do this, Cira?” Antonio moved to stand behind her. He put his hands gently on her shoulders, and whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to say farewell to him here. We can go back to the castle and have the priest give the gods’ blessings and bury him near us.”
“No.” She looked down at the small casket she’d had the carpenters craft with such care. “I want it to be here by the lake. Marcus liked it here.” She could feel the tears sting her eyes. “He told me someday he was going to go into that mist and bring me gifts of gold and jewels fit for a queen. I told him not to be foolish, that I had all the riches I could possibly want already.” She looked over her shoulder at Antonio. “It’s true, you know. This is a hard, wild land, but we’ve made it our own. I have everything I ever dreamed about in those days when I was a slave in Herculaneum. I have a husband I love who gave me five strong sons and two daughters who may be even stronger.”
“You would think that.” He kissed her temple. “You did not feel love for me when you were going through those birth pains.”
“It just seemed unfair that a woman has to bear all that pain. But I can see why the gods didn’t entrust having children to men. We do it so much better.”
“Whatever you say, love.”
She could feel his tears on her temple and knew he would not argue with her at this moment. He was feeling her pain at the loss of Marcus as well as his own. Marcus, eight years old, beautiful as the sun, who had been ravaged by the fever and fallen into darkness.
She couldn’t stand here looking down at that small casket any longer. It was time to say farewell and send her son to take his final journey.
She stepped away from Antonio and gazed into the mist. “We’re lucky, you know. To have had him this long, to have him the only one of our children whom the gods wanted with them.”
“It doesn’t seem lucky to me.”
“No. At first, I wanted to rage and beat my head on the stones. But then I started to think of Marcus and I was still angry, but there’s a kind of comfort in knowing that he’ll be here where he wanted to be. I can ride down here and imagine him running out of the mist and telling me how he’d just been hiding and playing in the caves and had great adventures to tell me.” The tears were running down her cheeks. “And now I believe we’d better go take him into that mist so that he can begin those adventures. Then we can go back to the castle and tell our other children that they must stop grieving and start living. Does that not sound like a good plan?”
“A fine plan,” Antonio said thickly as he touched her damp cheek. “A magnificent plan, my own Cira.…”
*
Jane felt her throat tighten and tears sting her eyes. The memory was as fresh and poignant as it had been the night she’d had that painful dream.
She looked out into the mist. She could imagine that sad journey that Cira and Antonio had taken to Marcus’s final resting place.
Is that where you put the treasure that was to protect your family? Did you give it to your Marcus to guard until it was needed?
No one could know. It was what Jane had thought was likely. It was what she thought Cira would have done. Cira had been part of her life, part of her youth; there had to be some reason why Cira had let Jane get to know her so well. Why else would Cira have given her that final dream?
Jane could only guess and follow MacDuff when he went deep into the mist.
She took a deep, shaky breath and straightened against the tree. Time to get out of this mist and away from that heartbreaking memory of Cira and her Marcus. She had come seeking isolation and another world, but that world had been too painful tonight. Go back to the real world and face—
Her cell phone rang and she glanced down at the ID.
Seth Caleb.
Shit.
He was more reality than she wanted to face right now.
But she wasn’t going to avoid him. As she’d told Eve, she was an adult. She just didn’t feel like it all the time when she confronted Caleb. He managed to dominate effortlessly if she wasn’t on guard. Even now, when she hadn’t even answered the phone, she could see him before her. Olive skin, high cheekbones, dark eyes, dark hair with that thread of white, the faint indentation in his chin, that beautifully sensual mouth.
And that aura of fire and power that always seemed to surround him even in his most casual moments.
Answer the damn call and get it over with.
She punched the access button. “Hello, Caleb. Jock tells me that you’re coming to help MacDuff tomorrow.”
“That’s why I’m calling you.” His deep voice was faintly mocking. “I want you to have a good night. I didn’t want you to be tense or on edge when it wasn’t necessary.”
“How kind. But I doubt if your intentions were entirely without another agenda.”
“Of course not. We both know how self-serving I can be.” He paused. “How are Eve and the baby?”
She could feel the muscles of her shoulders stiffen. “Fine. Wonderful. Michael is totally exceptional.” She waited, but he didn’t speak. She forced herself to go on. “She was just mentioning before I left how grateful she was that you were able to save him when all the doctors didn’t think he’d survive that poison in her system when he was in the womb.”
“Really?” He added mockingly, “Then you must not have discussed the arrangement you offered to get me to do it.”
She didn’t answer.
“No, of course you didn’t. You wouldn’t want to tarnish anything to do with Eve and her child. Everything has to be perfect for Eve.”
“Yes, it does. I love her.”
“And I like her.” The mockery was gone from his tone. “She’s a unique human being. I was very happy for her when I heard she was pregnant.”
“You never said anything.”
“Would you have believed me? I’m always under your microscope. You’re never sure if I have an agenda. Just as you aren’t sure tonight. Deny it?”
She couldn’t deny it. Caleb was too volatile and he had too much power and magnetism. She’d never been able to discover what lay beneath that mystique that surrounded him, and she was too wary to explore it. “I never know what you’re thinking. I don’t believe that you actually want me to know. Maybe you don’t want anyone close enough to find out what you care about.”
“Very perceptive.” The mockery was back. “So I rely on being a challenge to you. That should be enough, right? Understanding is so tame compared to sex.” There was the faintest edge to his tone as he added, “That’s why you came to me and offered to let me screw you if I’d just try to save Eve and her child.”
“I was upset; I was desperate.” She moistened her lips. “I shouldn’t have done it. I should have just asked you to help her.”
“Oh, you mean as you would have asked anyone else who knew and liked Eve? But I’m not like anyone else, am I? I’m not one of the good guys. God knows, I accept that. You couldn’t trust me to give her that gift, to give you that gift. That’s not how you think of me.”
“It was a mistake. I know it made you angry.”
“Why should it? I took you up on it, didn’t I? When you offered me a deal, I said yes. It wasn’t the way I wanted it to happen, but the opportunity was too good to miss. It’s what I’ve wanted since the moment I met you. But it did sting. That’s why I decided not to call in the debt until I had time to get over it. I wasn’t certain what I’d do to you. We both know I’m not altogether civilized.” His voice became silky soft. “It’s what you’ve wanted, too, if you’d admit it. But you’ve been too afraid of me to take that step.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said fiercely. “Look, I admitted I made a mistake. But I’m not the only one to blame. What do you expect? You’re not like anyone else. You can do that thing with controlling blood flow. You can save lives, but you can kill, too. And, dammit, sometimes you can use that blood flow to the brain to alter perception and persuade people that black is white,” she added.
“People? You mean you. And you enjoyed it, Jane.”
“And, yes, I’ve seen you … wild. Damn right it makes me uneasy.”
“Have I ever hurt you or anyone you cared about?”
“No.”