Dark Truth by Lora Andrews

Author:Lora Andrews [Andrews, Lora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy fiction
Publisher: Lora Andrews
Published: 2019-06-16T22:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

CAITLIN FELL in between the benches.

“Jesus,” she groaned. “What the heck was that?”

“Are you hurt?” Ewen extended his hand, quickly scanning her body for injuries, then shot his gaze back over the loch. There was no sign of the mermen in the water, but that didn’t stop his pulse from surging and skipping and splintering in his veins.

“Everything feels kind of numb.” Grimacing, she grabbed hold of his hand and used the leverage to lift herself up. “I’m okay. At least, I think so. Just wet.” She rubbed her back, the water rippling around her feet. “What kind a magic sends a pulse hundreds of feet across the lake?”

Ewen ground his teeth. The kind he was determined to find and annihilate.

Nearing the shore, Rupert swam with quick and steady strokes toward the beach, unaffected by the cold. His body was well accustomed to the cool temperatures due to the many swims the monks made to the underwater caves near the abbey. Ian and the others were a short distance behind Rupert.

Ewen searched the castle perched on the promontory to the left of the monastery, paying close attention to the towers and doors, but saw no activity in or around the castle. Or its grounds.

Where were the spotters?

These were former MacDougall holdings, passed on to the Stewarts by Bruce after the war. But the MacDougalls hadn’t given up their quest to reclaim what was theirs. Nay, Ewen had heard the grumblings. It seemed John Stewart, second of Lorn, had fathered a bastard son, and word was old John was considering marriage to his leman. Which meant the Campbells, whose sons had married John’s daughters, would lose Lorn, and if the rumors held true, they were now in league with the MacDougalls to stop Old John from uttering the vows that would bind him and his territory to his lovely young mistress.

Guardsmen should have been crawling about like ants. Yet not a soul stirred.

Rupert emerged from the water first and walked onto the beach.

Ewen scrubbed his mouth. The tingling at his nape spread across his shoulders. “Come, lass. We mustn’t tarry any longer.”

“What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and bit the inside of his mouth. “I should have ordered them to Kingairloch instead.”

Caitlin cast a doubtful look across the loch. “I don’t know, Ewen. I’d say it’s three miles to the other side. I can swim, but I’m not a channel swimmer, you know. As it is, I’ll be lucky if I make the fifty or so yards to Lismore. And with these water temps... I mean, I don’t know exactly when hypothermia sets in, but in fifty or fifty-five degree water, I’m guessing I’d have hour, or less, before the shock drowns me. Look—” She angled her chin in the direction of the beach.

Ian had his arm clasped around Deidre’s upper chest, towing her to shore.

“You made the right call, Ewen.”

Aye, she had a point, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Ewen rescanned the area between the monastery and the

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