CHAPTER 19
Payton unlocked the door and slid into his car. Her scent was barely noticeable. The chilly morning air had crept inside and wiped away any trace of Sam. He put his hands on the steering wheel, just as she had done, trying to will her back.
His eyes dropped to his backpack. He opened it, and there it was: Sam’s scarf. Payton pressed the soft material to his chest and again tried to draw her back to him. The liveliness of travelers in front of the airport terminal was in stark contrast to the loneliness in his car. Payton couldn’t believe that he had lost her. The one who had given him his life back. The only person he’d ever encountered who was capable of weakening the curse.
Without knowing why, he started the engine and drove to Aviemore. Maybe he would feel something of her presence there.
Payton wasn’t in pain, but he was almost dying. His heart was breaking; he just couldn’t feel it.
It was still early in the morning when he pulled in across the street from the cottage. He sat there completely still—quiet and tense. He hoped, by some miracle, that she’d suddenly come out the door, but of course she didn’t. Sam was gone. A tear rolled down Payton’s cheek as he imagined her there: she had slept behind that window, lay there on her bed, and thought about him. He had followed her to this place, hidden in the darkness, and tried to understand what it was she triggered in him. He’d felt the pain and even welcomed it, understood that she was to play an important part in his life. But he’d had no idea that he would fall in love with her.
He was wiser now. He knew that his heart would beat only for her—as long as he lived, for all eternity.
Suddenly, the front door opened and a giant stepped out. The man seemed to immediately notice him. He stopped for a moment, as if unsure, and then set his shoulders determinedly and came straight for the car. Just as Payton was wondering whether he should drive off, the big man knocked on his window.
“I’m Roy. You must be Sam’s friend, aye?” The way he stressed friend told Payton that Roy wasn’t quite sure how close the two were to each other. But at least he was smiling.
“Yes, I’m Payton.”
“Payton, Sam has left.”
“Yes, I know. I was just about to go. Sorry to bother you.”
“Wait, wait. Not so quickly.”
A short glance to the house, and then he went on. “Come with me. I think I ought to tell you something.”
Roy walked a little way down the road and turned the next corner. Not sure what to do, Payton just watched before he got out of the car and followed him. Roy was sitting on a garden wall, waiting. When Payton sat down next to him, Roy looked at him, as if assessing him.
“Payton, huh. Will you not tell me something about yerself?”
“There isn’t anything to tell. I only stopped here briefly… I think I should leave now.”
“Aye, of course you can do that, but maybe I can help you.”
“Help me? With what?”
“Maybe it’ll help to talk about destiny. Do you think that Sam was destined to meet you?”
“What do you mean?”
“On the first day after she arrived here, she told me about a dream she had. She said a white-haired woman named Vanora had told her she should mind those she was a descendant of, and that she couldn’t run away from her destiny.”
Payton was dumbstruck. Questions tumbled through his head: Sam had dreamed of Vanora? How could she know that name? Why would the woman who had cursed them all have appeared to Sam in her dreams?
He thought of explaining what he knew about Vanora, but Roy would probably have him institutionalized.
So he played it cool. “All right, then, she had a dream, and what else?”
“Aye, listen, boy. You don’t have to talk to me, but you can trust me. I am a descendant of the women of Fair Isle and I recognize you for what you are, even if you’re not going to tell me.”
Payton wasn’t sure what to make of this. The Fair Witches—Vanora had been one of them. And yet… What could this man know about him?
“I see.”
“I know a lot about Vanora, too,” Roy said.
“What about?”
“Her life, her powers, and her death, aye?”
“Then tell me about it.”
“How about this—I can give you some advice. On Fair Isle lives a woman called Uisgeliath. She keeps the old writings. There you will find your answers.”
The doubting look in Payton’s eyes made Roy reveal one last thing. “Payton, listen to me. It is possible!”
Roy got up and sauntered off. His briefcase swung along, accompanying each step, his tweed jacket a bit dusty from the wall.
Payton called after him. “What is possible? Roy, what do you mean?”
The big man turned around once more. He smiled and said, “The curse, Payton. It is possible to lift the curse. It is possible!”
Then he raised his hand in farewell and disappeared. Payton rushed after him, but when he reached the corner, there was no sign of Roy.
Payton couldn’t imagine how Roy could possibly know anything about the curse, never mind the solution for breaking it. He combed his fingers through his hair, not sure how much to believe.
But if there was even the slightest chance Roy was right, the course of action was clear. First, he would need to talk to Cathal about what Alasdair had done, and then he’d go to Fair Isle.
“No, Cathal. You gave me your word,” Payton boomed. “You said that the girl was safe. If you can’t control your men any longer, then I will no longer abide by your orders!”
“Sguir! You’re one to speak. I told you to stay here in the castle, and instead you crept off like a rat, escaping to find your little girl.”
Cathal was lording over the table of gathered clan members. He knew his time as clan leader was almost over, but he did not want to accept that truth.
“If everyone here only does what they damn well want to do, we are all at risk of being discovered,” Cathal said. “What do you think they’ll do to us if they find out that we are immortal? At best, they will think we’re some wacko group and send us off to a loony bin. At worst, they’ll lock us up and experiment on us. I have not been watching out for this clan this long to have everything fall apart now!”
“But Cathal, I was only trying to protect us,” whined Alasdair.
“By fighting in public, acting as if you were at the battlefield at Culloden?”
“There’s nothing to protect us from anyway,” Payton said. “The girl has gone, and she isn’t coming back.”
“Girl? Ha!” Alasdair balled his hands into fists. It was obvious that he hadn’t yet forgiven Payton for the knockout. “You can maybe convince the others that she is a child, but she is a woman. I’ve seen you with her, and it’s obvious: you have chosen her over us.”
“Our side, your side, my side.” Payton shook his head. “Have you forgotten that we are no longer in the year 1740? Back then, we all behaved like that because we were angry and didn’t know any better. Had I the choice again today, I wouldn’t have taken part in that massacre. We murdered innocent people, and we have paid the price ever since.” He lowered his voice, but spoke with even greater intensity. “But I swear, you will not touch Sam. She has nothing to do with the change to the curse, and I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you.”
“Prove it?” Cathal was getting angry. He had noticed that some of his people were nodding in agreement with Payton.
“Yes, I have found out that there is a way to lift the curse. But I need to go on a journey to find out more about it, to find a solution. And for as long as it’ll take me to do so, I want you to leave Sam in peace.”
“How sweet, the bold knight wants to save the maiden,” Nathaira mocked.
“Shut up, Nathaira,” Sean said. “I’m with Payton on this. And Cathal, you shouldn’t forget that we McLeans are not bound to you by an oath, but only to our brother.”
Blair shifted in his seat and lifted his eyes.
Payton walked toward his older brother. “Blair, I swore you a holy oath that I would trust and follow you. But today, brother”—he knelt at his feet—“today, I would like to beg you to trust and follow me. I know what I am doing. And I will do nothing that will put you in danger or harm you in any way. Remember that our oath is sealed with our blood. Our blood! Please, Blair. Stand with those who are of your own blood. Don’t oppose me.”
He got to his feet again. “Have you all forgotten what honor is? Can you upon your honor really hunt that woman? That innocent girl? When there are other options? Blair, I beg you. Grant me some time to solve this. Afterward, I will surrender to you, and to Cathal’s wishes, but you must give me this one chance, if you are really my brother!”
“Well then,” Blair said, “my brother is right. This truce is something that must be granted him. Cathal, can you get your men to wait for Payton’s return?”
Cathal, who would have loved to interrupt Payton’s speech, was now also very annoyed at Blair, for questioning whether he had control over his men.
“Of course! My men will do whatever I tell them to. Go then, don’t lose any time! But if you can’t deliver any results in one week’s time, our agreement will become invalid and I will decide on the correct solution with the Stuart people.”
With that, he rose from the head of the table and left the room. Blair quickly pushed back his chair and hurried after his angry friend. Nathaira stayed back, white with rage. She glared maliciously at Payton, Sean, and Alasdair.
Without another word, Payton left the castle, and the people he had known his whole life.