Highland Vampire. Hannah Howell
“Ye rarely are and I saw it, too. I just couldnae name it as ye have. So, where have ye been?”
“The gardens.” She told Barbara about her meeting with David.
“Ah, so the threat of the sun doesnae completey fade in all the children of mixed blood. A shame. Howbeit, David’s bairns may nay suffer that weakness. And Fiona would be a good choice of bride. I think that beneath that sweet, shy exterior lies a strong heart, too. If the lad wins it, I think all will be weel.”
“I hope ye are right. I think he has already lost his heart. He said he feels the urge to mark her as his mate.”
Barbara smiled faintly. “Fair caught then. I must say, I was appalled when Bridget told me of it, but she said it was naught. A wee sip, she said, and only the once. Somehow I think Fiona willnae balk. Now, about this search Jankyn is on. Ye must direct him to our cousin Malcolm.”
Efrica’s eyes widened with surprise. She had completely forgotten about Malcolm. He was an odd little man with a voracious appetite for gossip, rumor, tales of the past, and any written record of any clan he could get his ink-stained hands on. If any clan had a secret, Malcolm probably knew it and had recorded it. He also lived close at hand. She realized she was eager to tell Jankyn and frowned. Honesty compelled her to admit to herself that one reason she was eager was because it would allow her to see him again.
“Mayhap ye should tell him, Barbara.”
“I fear I cannae,” Barbara said as she stood up and brushed down her skirts. “I am to meet with the ladies Beatrice and Margaret in but a few minutes. Come, Effie, ye cannae hide from the mon forever. If naught else, he abides in the same keep as your sister. There is a great difference between telling him something useful, mayhap escorting him somewhere once, and keeping company, so to speak. And mayhap ’tis best to see if ye can keep something this simple from becoming complicated. If ye cannae e’en take the mon a message, mayhap ye ought to think hard on why he afrights ye so.”
Before Efrica could respond to that, Barbara was gone. While all Barbara said was true, Efrica had the feeling there was far more to the woman’s insistence that she be the one to tell Jankyn about Malcolm. Efrica hoped her cousin was not matchmaking, had not decided that her infatuation with Jankyn ought to be fed instead of starved.
Once out of her chambers, Efrica had to find someone to tell her where the records were kept. It did not surprise her to find herself heading down into the bowels of the keep. It certainly seemed most fitting to meet Jankyn there. As she walked along a torch-lit passage, she sternly reminded herself of all the reasons she could not give in to her attraction to Jankyn. She must greet him as a kinsman, with no more than a gentle amiability. She would be strong, stalwart in her defense of her own heart. She was a woman now, not some heedless girl who had no control over her emotions.
Efrica stepped into the room where the records were stored, saw Jankyn studying some large book, and nearly cursed out loud. Her heart clenched at the sight of him. Her pulse grew a little faster. For some odd reason she felt inclined to sigh as she studied his lean form. Her mouth suddenly warmed with the memory of his kiss. For a brief moment, she wanted to flee, then her cowardice shamed her. Efrica straightened her back and moved toward him. She refused to run.
Five
He knew she was there before she spoke. There had been no sound, no hint of her approach, but Jankyn was not surprised. As her sister did, Efrica walked silently. Even his keen ears had difficulty hearing her move. He knew she was there because of her scent, one as recognizable to him as his son’s. Jankyn took a deep breath, filling himself with the pleasurable scent of her, letting it warm him. Slowly, he turned to look at her, finding that the sight of her warmed him even more. Staying away from her had obviously done nothing to cure his wanting, but then the heated dreams he had been tormented with over the last seven days had warned him of that.
“What has brought ye here, lass?” he asked, then tensed. “Trouble?”
“Nay, no more than one usually finds in such a place, I suspect,” replied Efrica. “Nay, I met David today and he happened to mention what ye were searching for.” She stepped around the table to stand at his side and look at the book he had been studying. “Find anything yet?”
“A few glimpses, hints of something which may be important, but little else. The ones who compiled these records were more concerned with what a mon had in way of lands, wealth, and fighting men than in who he was or his bloodlines.”
“Weel, I may have a better place for ye to look. My cousin Malcolm.”
“How could he help?”
“He collects information.”
“I ken the Callans are as interested in their ancestry as we are, but—”
“Nay just the Callans. Malcolm collects whate’er he can on everyone he can.” She nodded when his eyes widened slightly. “He ignores naught, from the smallest whisper to church records. He continues the work of his father, grandsire, and great-grandsire, all of whom were greedy concerning such information. If Malcolm was a woman, he would be reviled as the worst of gossips. As a mon, howe’er, he can excuse it all as a need to take careful note of the people of this land so that the ones who come after us can find the truth if need be. He tells any who claim the memory of elders is good enough that it takes but one plague or one battle to see all that knowledge buried and lost forever.”
Jankyn felt the beat of anticipation in his veins. “He has a lot?”
Efrica laughed softly. “More than ye can e’er imagine, and his three sons travel far and wide to get more. He will ask a fee. Tis one way he can afford to continue his work.”
“That is acceptable. Where does he live?”
“I fear ye will have to let me take ye to him. Malcolm may like to ken all about everyone, but he isnae so fond of meeting any of them. If we leave as soon as the sun sets, I can take ye to him this verra night.”
“Shall we meet at the stables after the sun has set then?”
She nodded and hurried away to find Barbara and let her know what she was going to do. There was the thrum of excitement in her veins, and she knew it was because she was helping Jankyn in his search. She ruefully admitted to herself that it was also because she would be spending time with him, could enjoy the sight of him and savor the sound of his deep, smooth voice. Maybe Barbara was right. Maybe it was time to ask herself some hard questions.
Jankyn stood by the two horses he had chosen and waited for Efrica. Glancing up at the bright, full moon, he felt an ancient urge stir to life within him. His kindred would be out on the hunt tonight. It had been a long time since he had participated in one, and he found himself wishing he were back at Cambrun, racing through the hills and woods alongside his brethren.
Coming to court had, perhaps, not been wise. David may well have found himself a wife, but being among these people made Jankyn all too aware of what he was, and what he could never be. He did not think he had ever felt so alone. Not one of the women he had bedded had eased that feeling. The fact that, even in the throes of passion, he had to closely and continuously guard his secrets had only added to that sense of utter solitude. He suspected it was one reason he was so strongly attracted to Efrica. She knew what he was. He could be free with her.
His dissatisfaction had begun to grow a long time ago, however. Watching Cathal and Bridget, seeing their family grow, had bred it. This journey had honed it to a sharpness he could not easily shrug aside. He did not want to spend his long life alone, taking a lover now and then among his own kind, and doing little more than existing until, one day, he ceased. A piece of him would continue on in whatever children David bred, but in all other ways, he would leave no mark upon the world. It was a sobering, even chilling, thought.
Seeing Efrica hurrying toward him, Jankyn silently cursed. She made it even harder to shake free of the somewhat maudlin humor he was sinking into. He ached for her, hungered to smell the sun upon her fair skin and in her glorious hair.