Vengeance sat in silence beside the gently lapping ocean, slapping the blade of a dirk against his palm.
Fairies didn't bleed. They healed too quickly.
Vengeance made a fist around the blade.
Blood seeped from his clenched hand and dripped down the sides. He spread his fingers and studied the deep cuts.
They remained deep, oozing dark crimson blood.
A harsh, relieved breath escaped him.
How old was he? How long had he lived? Why could he not recall ever changing? Why did humans gray on their heads, yet Vengeance remained unchanged?
Nothing changes in Faery.
If he never went back, would his long black hair one day silver, too? Strangely, the thought appealed to him. Thoughts of a child rose unbidden in his mind. He imagined hugging one of the wee village lasses in his arms, wiping away her tears. Teaching her to climb trees, to make boats out of wood and sail them in the surf, bringing her a litter of mewing kittens whose mother had died birthing them.
"Who am I?" Vengeance cried, clutching his head.
It occurred to him that, in truth, mayhap the right question was—who had he once been?
Jane watched him from the front steps of the castle. He sat with his back to her in the deepening twilight, clutching his head, staring out to sea. Blood was smeared on one of his hands, dripping down his arm. Suddenly he stood up, and she caught a gleam of silver as he flung a blade, end over end, into the waves.
A salty breeze whipped at his hair, tangling the dark strands into a silken skein. His plaid flapped in the breeze, hugging the powerful lines of his body.
He seemed dark and desolate and strong and utterly untouchable.
Jane's eyes misted. "I love you, Aedan MacKinnon," she told the wind.
As if the wind eagerly whisked her words down the front lawn to the sea's edge, Aedan suddenly turned and looked straight at her. His cheeks gleamed wetly in the fading light.
He nodded once, then turned his back to her and walked off down the shore, head bowed.
Jane started after him, then stopped. There'd been such desolation in his gaze, such loneliness, yet a great deal of anger. He'd turned away, clearing demonstrating his wish to be alone. She didn't want to push him too hard. She couldn't even begin to understand what he was going through. She was elated that he was remembering and equally anguished by the pain it was causing him. She watched, torn by indecision, until he disappeared around a bend in the rocky shoreline.
Twelve
He didn't come back for three days. They were the most agonizing three days of Jane Sillee's life.
Daily, she cursed herself for pushing him too far too fast. Daily, she berated herself for not going after him when he'd begun walking down that rocky shore.
Daily, she lied to the villagers when they came to work, assuring them he'd only gone to see a man about a horse and would return anon.
And nightly, as she curled with Sexpot in the bed that was much too large for just one lonely girl, she prayed her words would prove true.
Thirteen
It was the middle of the night when Aedan returned.
He awakened her abruptly, stripping the coverlets from her naked body, sending Sexpot flying from the bed with a disgruntled meow.
"Aedan!" Jane gasped, staring up at him. His expression was so fierce that her sleep-fogged brain cleared instantly.
He stood at the foot of the bed, his dark gaze sweeping every inch of her nude body. He'd braided his hair. His face was dark with the stubble of a black beard, shadowing his jaw. In the past few weeks, he'd lost weight, and although he was still powerfully muscular, there was a leanness to him, a dangerously hungry look, like a wolf too long alone and unfed in the wild.
He didn't say a word, just stripped off his shirt and kicked off his boots, then moved toward her.
She never would have believed it of herself, but he radiated such barely harnessed fury that she scuttled back against the headboard and crossed her arms over her breasts protectively.
"Och, nay, lass," he said with silky menace. "Not after all the times you've tried to get me to touch you. You willna naysay me now."
Jane's eyes grew huge. "I-I—"
"Touch me." He unknotted his plaid and let it fall to the floor.
Jane's jaw dropped. "I-I—" she tried again, and failed, again.
"Is something wrong with me?" he demanded.
"N-no," she managed. "Uh-uh. No way." She swallowed hard.
"And this?" He palmed his formidable erection. "This is as it should be?"
"Oh," Jane breathed reverently. "Absolutely."
He eyed her suspiciously. "You're not just saying that, are you?"
Jane shook her head, her eyes wide.
"Then give me those kisses of yours, lass, and be quick about it." He paused a moment, then added in a low, tense voice, "I'm cold, lass. I'm so cold."