Even In Darkness (Between) (7 page)

“I love you,” I mouthed to him, wanting it to be the last thing I said to him.

He instantly released me and I dropped to the floor, gasping for air like I was breathing through a straw. Tremors racked my body as I struggled to get enough oxygen. Tears streamed down my face and mingled with the blood on my neck.

“Who are y
e?” Aiden stood with his blade pointed toward me, still poised for attack. His blond hair was caked with blood and matted against his cheeks. Dirt and grime covered his clothing so that I could hardly make out the pattern of his kilt. Shackles bit into his ankles, restricting his movement. He’d busted the cuffs binding his wrists, leaving the chains dangling below. He held the knife in his right hand; his left was tucked up close against his body. Thick, dark liquid oozed from the wound in his shoulder. My heart squeezed in pain at the sight of him like that. I wanted to run into his arms, to kiss him and tell him I was sorry for getting us into this mess, but it was clear that wouldn’t be welcome. I didn’t know what to say, so I settled on the truth. Part of it, anyway.

“I’m your wife.
”

“You lie,” he spat
, his face twisted with the effort to stay upright. His kilt was torn on his right thigh where an English soldier had stabbed him with a bayonet in the fighting prior to our capture. Instinctively, I started to move toward him, but his primal growl stopped me in my tracks. “What have ye to gain from pretending to be my wife? What do you want with me?”

“I am your wife,” I repeated. “You...
you just don’t remember.” I could tell he wasn’t going to buy the story about him being a transporter for three hundred years, falling in love with me in Between, getting married and gaining new life only to have me screw it all up by getting us killed again. Heck, even I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

“You hit your head against the boulder when the castle...” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word ‘exploded’, visualizing his mother inside, but the shadow of agony that moved across
his face told me he knew what I meant. “Maybe that’s why you don’t remember me. You must have a head injury.” I knew it sounded lame, but it was the best I could do.

“No wife of mine would wear
a coat belonging to one of the bloody lobsterbacks.” Apparently having decided that I wasn’t a threat, Aiden lowered his weapon and slid down the wall. A groan sounded pulled from deep within him as his eyes rolled back for a moment.

A magnetic force pulled me to him,
an ache in my soul that demanded I help him. I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t care if he stabbed me through the heart. Seeing him in pain was worse than anything else he could do to me. I shrugged off the coat and dropped it to the floor. A black bug the size of a matchbox car skittered across my shoe and into the safety of a dark corner.

Knee
ling in front of Aiden, I tentatively reached my hand toward the injury on his shoulder. He watched me through slitted eyes but made no move to stop me. Gingerly, I peeled the sticky shirt from his skin. His breath hissed in as he stiffened against the wall.

“Aiden, oh
God...” Hot tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back. “I have to get you some help. There has to be a doctor on board, right? They can’t just leave you like this!” I started to stand up, but his hand closed around my wrist.

“Prove it.” His sentences were
short and pushed through clenched teeth. “Prove we’re married.”

“What?” For a second, my brain thought he wanted me to have sex with him in that filthy pit,
then I realized what he was really asking. I tried to sift through the facts I knew about him to come up with something that might possibly convince him. “Okay...um...Your name is Aiden Alexander MacKenzie MacRae. You were born on May 1, 1699. You have two brothers: Duncan and Willie. Your parents were Hugh and Leah...” My voice trailed off as I mentally kicked myself for bringing up his mother.

“And what of my sister?” he asked, not looking at me.

I frowned and shook my head. “That’s a trick question. You don’t have a sister.”

He made a grunt of satisfaction and released my hand. “Still, you’ve no proof. You’re likely an English spy.”

“Oh, for God’s sake! The captain gave me his jacket because I couldn’t get my corset on by myself and this dress is freaking indecent without it.” Aiden’s eyes settled on my chest and the corner of his mouth curved up in a shadow of a smile. I almost smacked him, but I was too relieved to see some sign of life in him.

“Ye don’t talk like any woman I’ve ever met, but I’ll admit you’re easy on the eyes.”

An idea came to mind and I jumped at it. “This! Here’s your proof,” I said, holding my wedding ring out for his inspection. The smile evaporated from his face.

“Where did ye get that?”

“From you. It’s Nanny Fraser’s ring and you gave it to me on our wedding day.”
Both times
, I mentally added. “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health...” My gaze swept over his bloodied clothes. “...which I guess includes stabbings and gunshot wounds with you,” I said, trying to get him to smile again. It almost worked. I was thankful for the darkness because it masked the extent of Aiden’s wounds.

“I love you, Aiden. And I’ll be honest, I’m one breath away from completely freaking out because you don’t remember me and you’re stuck in this hell hole bleeding to death. I swear, I’ll explain everything as soon as I can, but for now, you’ll just have to trust me. Can you do that?”

His fingers reached out and grasped my hand. He silently stared at the ring before lifting his eyes to my own.

“Aye.
I trust ye.”

My heart swelled with relief and I placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He tasted of blood and sweat, but I didn’t care. His eyebrows lifted in surprise, but he didn’t stop me. It was a start.

“I’m going to get you some help. Stay here.” He gave me a look that said ‘Where am I going to go?’ and I recognized the stupidity of my statement. I wasn’t making sense, I realized, but I had to keep talking, had to keep moving, or the adrenaline that had brought me this far was going to run out and at that point, I’d be nothing more than a quivering, sobbing pile of ridiculously heavy skirts.

I put the captain’s coat back on, ignoring the scowl on Aiden’s face, and pu
lled on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Hey! Callison! Let me out!” I yelled, beating on the wood with my fists. The door creaked open, revealing the sailor’s bulbous nose and scruffy chin. Yanking the door free, I pushed past him and started up the stairs.

He took a second to lock the door behind me. “Hey, the cap’n said for me to fetch ‘im when y
e were done. Stay!”

I was nearing my breaking point and was not going to be commanded like a dog. “No, you stay! I’ll find the—
” My mouth twisted on all the vicious names I wanted to call the bastard, but I figured that would ruin my cover of being under his protection. “I’ll find the captain myself,” I snarled, then took off running.

The boat swayed under my feet making my
unfamiliar shoes slip and slide ungracefully across the floor. I put my hands out to either side in an attempt to stay upright while I moved as fast as I could back down the hall toward the upper deck. Climbing the stairs was a nightmare in my long skirts. Reaching down, I grabbed the material in both fists and hiked the fabric up as high as I dared, afraid that I’d pass some nasty sailor and make him rabid with lust from the sight of my bare ankle or something.

Emerging from the dark depths of the ship, I blinked in the brightness of daylight. Sweet, fresh air filled my lungs like a cup of cold water after wandering through the desert.
Sunlight warmed my cheeks, giving me strength for what I needed to do.

The captain stood talking with
the man he’d called Stanton, who towered over Willie. While I watched, Red Beard patted Willie’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. Then he pointed up to the sail with his other arm and poked Willie in the chest. Willie stared straight ahead, not meeting anyone’s eyes. My heart twisted at the sight of him. He looked so young, but his back was ramrod stiff. He was a Scot through and through, and was not going to let them know how scared he really was. Pride swelled within me along with a fierce determination to save them both, no matter what it took.

After a few words, t
he captain nodded and sent them on their way. Then he turned and saw me standing there. He did not look pleased.

“I told Callison to fetch me
when you were finished.” He started toward the stairs like he was going to give the rat a piece of his mind, but I stopped him, my hand held out in front of me.

“He needs medical attention.”

“Callison? Why, what happened?” Masterson looked taken aback.

“No, Aiden! I can’t believe you tossed him in that filthy hole to bleed to death. He’s got a gunshot wound in his shoulder and he’s been stabbed in the leg. You have a doctor on board, right
? Someone who can stop the bleeding and bandage him up?”

He paused before answering.
“We have a physician, yes.”

“Well, don’t just stand there! Take me to him!” I reached out to pull on his sleeve, but the captain
didn’t move an inch.

“And why
, pray tell, would I do that?”

Blood boiled in my veins as I
stared at him, incredulous. “What part of ‘bleeding to death’ don’t you understand? Or are you really that cold and heartless?”

“And what part of ‘traitor’ seems to be causing you difficulty?” he replied. His mouth curled like he was enjoying this.
Bastard. “Might I remind you that we are sailing to England where your husband is to be publicly hanged? Some might call me a humanitarian for allowing him to die in private.”

“Among the chickens and the rats, with bugs the size of a can of pop!”

Confusion wrinkled his brow. “A can of what?”

With a deep, shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and
attempted to reign in my temper.
I’m in Between. We’re already dead. This is just some kind of sick cosmic joke.
Clenching my fists at my sides, I tried for a calm tone and failed.

“What do you want?”
I demanded. He tried to look like he didn’t understand, so I spelled it out for him. “What is this really about, huh? I’ve had it. I don’t want to play this game anymore. Aiden, bleeding in that cesspool, not knowing who the hell I am, and you looking so damn much like him that it makes my head hurt... Just cut the crap! What do I have to do to get us out of this twisted freak show?” My finger poked him hard in the chest to emphasize my words. His hand wrapped around my wrist and he yanked me forward until I fell against him.

“Ah, you wish to barter, do you?” His breath fell soft against my cheek.

“What?” I tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.

“
Quid pro quo.
I have the physician tend to your lover’s wounds and you give me something I want.” His voice had dropped to a warm, dangerous whisper that only I could hear.

Just then, Stanton came running
across the boat toward us, his long legs quickly eating up the span of the deck. Captain Masterson gave me a look that said ‘This isn’t finished’ and released me. In two strides, he met Stanton, his face all business. They spoke in low tones so I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the captain gestured toward Willie, received a short nod from his crewman, then returned to me.

“Lady MacRae,” he began. My reaction to the unfamiliar title made him pause. “That is your name, is it not?”

“Yes,” I answered, not feeling at all like a lady in my dirty clothes, with my hair flying wildly about my head.

“Do you love your husband?”

My jaw dropped open. “Do I…” I sputtered. “What kind of question is that? Of course I do!”

“And you would do anything to help him, I presume?” His face didn’t give away what he was thinking, but my imagination
started spiraling out of control. Though it was a cool day, sweat trickled down my back. He couldn’t… he wouldn’t… Would he? Would I?

“Wh.
..What do you want?” I glared at him defiantly, but the tremor in my voice gave me away. Straightening my shoulders, I clenched my jaw and waited for him to spell out his demands, knowing I had no choice but to go along with them.

“
Only a kiss,” he replied. Just then, the boat dipped and rocked against a wave. I stumbled backward, hooking my foot on the edge of my skirt, and barely caught myself. My glare of disgust only seemed to amuse him further. “Ah, perhaps your husband is not as important to you as you would have one believe.”

I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. “Let me get this straight. You want me to kiss you and if I do, you’ll have your doctor take care of Aiden.”

A self-satisfied grin was my answer.

“Fine.”
Before he could blink, I stepped forward and planted one on him, then moved back. “There. Your turn.”

His mouth fell open momentarily before he snapped it shut. At least that smug look was off his face, though the anger in his eyes should have turned me to ashes on the spot.

“Is that how we’re to play the game, then?” he said, straightening his shirt with a hard yank at the shoulders, like it had suddenly become too tight. “Very well. While I am tempted to honor my side of the bargain as well as you have honored yours…” He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.