“Neither,” he answered, holding fast. “I am a hunter. A warrior whose primary use to his clan is his superior ability to find that which doesn’t wish to be found. Two hundred years ago, I was sent to find Agnes Munro. I have found her. And I will take her home.”
“That’s it? Your clan just says, ‘Go and get our woman, dead or alive,’ and off you go for two hundred years?”
“Preferably alive. And aye, that’s what hunters do. Their duty.”
Ellie glared at him. “What do you mean, ‘preferably’ alive? It’s optional?”
“The elders mean her no lasting harm,” he answered carefully.
“Ha. Then why did she run away?”
“She’d broken a cardinal rule, which at that time was punishable by death.” The pads of his fingers stroked the backs of her hands. “But times have changed.”
Ellie chuckled bitterly. “Have they?”
Cain’s brow creased, but his answer was firm. “Yes.”
“Then what are the new rules?”
“No more death. There are less of us now than ever before. The elders can’t afford to enforce the old ways. Either we change with the times, or we all die.”
“So her crimes have been forgiven? Or will she spend the next millennia chained to a dungeon, expected to be grateful to still be alive?”
“Ellie.” Cain still knelt before her, Ellie’s hands still clasped in his. “Stop worrying about Agnes and start thinking about yourself. You can’t go back to how things were. And you can’t go back to Aggie. I’m taking her with me. And then I’m going home.”
“What are you suggesting I do?” she demanded, as suspicion began to creep back up her spine. “Go with you?”
“Good Lord, no.” Cain’s surprised laugh was short, but genuine. “When I said vampires were dangerous, I most certainly was not exempting myself. I’ve already taken a bite out of you uninvited. And here I am, making bad decisions worse by abducting you into a piano room and confessing clan secrets you have no business knowing. As I said, if I could have bade you forget, I would have. So to that end, I am no better than Aggie. But going forward, I want you to do whatever it is that you want to do. I want you to be safe.”
Ellie shook her head. “If I’m not with her, and I’m not with you, then I’m alone... and how safe is that? I may be legally of age to fend for myself, but with no money and no property and no particular skills outside of reading books and solving riddles, where exactly do you propose that I go?”
Cain dropped onto his haunches and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were haunted.
“I don’t know,” he said simply. “You’ll have to decide. I have never been in this situation. Nor would I presume to make your decisions. You’re welcome to my coin. I just need enough to return home, which should leave you with plenty to take up residence somewhere, to be an independently wealthy, thrice-removed cousin of some far-flung nob. For long enough to create a new life, make human friends, and perhaps... perhaps fall in love.”
Love. Her hands still rested in his. Ellie nibbled her lower lip and gazed back into his eyes.
Within days of meeting her, Cain was doing the one thing her own mother hadn’t done in over a century: voluntarily entrusting her with the truth and allowing her the right to weigh the evidence herself in order to make her own choices about her life.
Unfortunately, he was only in possession of half the evidence. As lovely a picture as his words had painted, Ellie was no longer a simple human girl, if she ever had been. And no matter how angry she was with her mother’s decisions, Mama was still the person Ellie cherished above all others.
Mama’s life was inextricably tied to hers, and there was no way Ellie would allow either of them to face a vampire tribunal over a lovesick girl’s rash decision two centuries ago. They would slip through the night, as they’d always done. They would hide from hunters—from Cain—forever, if that was what it took.
And none of them would ever go home.
“Tell me about Scotland,” she said, surprising herself as much as Cain with the change in topic.
Scotland wasn’t home, she reminded herself sternly. She had never had one. She never would.
“Scotland is lovely,” he answered, his voice wistful. “The countryside is more beautiful than any other place in this world. The men are braw and true. The women are bonny and clever. The food is hearty and the ale even richer. The people are proud of themselves, of the land, of each other.” He dropped his forehead onto her lap. She couldn’t help but brush her fingers over his hair. He didn’t stop her. “Everyone is happy there. I was happy there.” He lifted his head to favor her with a crooked smile. “I wish you could see it.”
She smiled back. “I wish I could see it the way you see it.”
“If I weren’t a... warrior,” he said, his smile fading, “I could take you there.”
Ellie was shocked to discover she wished he could, too. But he was never going to see his beloved country, since he was never going to capture her and her mother. Ellie tried to ignore the guilty pang caused by the realization, but it was no use. She hated to cause him pain. Which meant she was just as bad as her mother—developing feelings for exactly the wrong man.
Cain was handsome, strong, charismatic. Loyal to a fault. He liked her body and loved her brain. He respected her. He wanted her to be happy...
