And I was not dying in the North Sea.
Tears of fury and desperation streaked my cheeks as he hauled me into his arms so tightly, I could barely breathe.
“God, I’ve missed you.” Austin buried his face in my neck.
Every inch of me was repulsed by his hold.
“Please,” I whispered, “don’t do this to me.”
He lifted his head to stare down into my eyes, and I saw nothing but belief in his.
I had no idea someone’s faith could be so terrifying.
“This is how it’s meant to be. You’ll see that soon.” He curled his foot around mine and I fell.
My back slammed into the ground, my head wound screaming with the impact.
And then Robyn’s commanding voice was in my head again, reciting instructions as Austin fell to his knees and tried to grab at my hands.
Focusing on Robyn’s voice, I forced my left knee into his gut to stop him from coming down on top of me as I wrapped my hand around his right wrist. Then I pulled back my right leg and planted my foot hard on his hip … and I ripped at his hold on my arm and shoved him away from me with all my might, using the strength in my legs. He toppled backward as I rolled out from under him and scrambled to my feet. Eyes darting to him, I froze in shock as his arms windmilled at his sides.
And then he was falling out of sight.
His scream wrenched through the night air, chilling me to the bone.
Finally, I heard him crash into the waves below, just as they pounded against the rocks.
Nausea crawled up my belly as I tentatively walked over to the cliff’s edge.
There was nothing but white froth in darkness under the moonlight.
No sign of Austin.
Shaking so hard my teeth rattled in my head, I stumbled back from the edge and sobbed. A sense of unreality descended over me.
Focus, Ree, I heard Robyn whisper. Come back home.
“Eilidh, Lewis,” I murmured into the night. No one knew where they were. They must be scared out of their minds.
Rushing forward, pushing through what I was sure was a concussion, I ran from the edge and into fields sparse with winter grass. I had no idea where I was, how far from Ardnoch he’d taken us.
But as I followed the coast, I saw lights in the distance. Hurrying toward them, it took about ten minutes before a sense of overwhelming familiarity rushed over me.
I was near Gordon’s trailer park at Ardnoch Beach.
Loud music thrummed from the park, and I could see shadowy figures outside the trailers, partying together.
Of course. It was still Hogmanay.
“Help!” I yelled hoarsely, running harder now. “Help!” The fields eventually gave way to a path carved by people trekking up onto the cliffs. The path sloped down toward the trailer park, and I stumbled on a large pebble, going over on my ankle. The jarring thud of hitting the ground on my hands and knees made black dots cover my eyes.
“No!” I shoved myself back onto my feet. I had to stay awake. I had to tell someone where Eilidh and Lewis were.
Rushing down onto the gravel, I saw two people sitting on the deck of their trailer watching everyone else dancing and drinking on the road that cut through the park.
“Help!” I yelled, trying to be heard over the music.
But I had to run right up to their deck before the older couple turned to me in surprise. I didn’t know what I looked like, but the man broke out in a curse at the sight of me.
“Please, help!”
“What on earth?” the woman cried out, and they hurried down their deck steps to catch me as I swayed.
Focus, Regan, focus.
It all came out in a rush, and I got agitated as they made me repeat it. We drew attention from other people, and I was aware of the music fading out. Police were called, but I rambled off Thane’s number, insisting they call him to tell him where Eilidh and Lewis were.
“The children are fine,” the woman, Betty, said sometime later when I repeated the demand. “They’ve already found them. Your friend is on his way.”
The news that Eilidh and Lewis were safe made me sob with relief. It was only when Betty said, “Your friend is here,” that I became cognizant of the fact that I was inside their trailer with a blanket around me.
I didn’t realize how much time had passed.
“Where is she?” I heard Thane demand loudly outside. He sounded frantic.
Launching myself off the trailer’s couch, I pushed hands away that tried to stop me and hurried outside. Thane and Robyn stood by his SUV, glaring at two of the partygoers.
“Thane.”
His head snapped toward me. Our eyes caught, his blazing with everything.
It took him less than two seconds to cross the distance between us and haul me into his arms. The feel of him, his scent, all of it overwhelmed me, and I melted like an ice cube by the fire.
“Mo leannan.” I felt his lips on my temple.
I smiled just as the black dots scattered across my vision.
“Regan?” Thane’s voice turned sharp with concern. “Regan!”
I couldn’t answer.
It was like the whole damn world switched off the lights.
40
Thane
Eilidh snuggled sleepily on his lap while Lewis slept beside Regan on the hospital bed. The nurse had not been amused when she’d discovered Lewis asleep on the bed, but Lachlan had made it clear no one was moving his nephew.
Thane had never been more thankful for his brother’s imperiousness.
Robyn was curled up on the armchair opposite Thane’s.
When Regan had collapsed in his arms, Thane almost had heart failure. However, to his everlasting relief, she’d gained consciousness only a minute later. She’d fainted from the shock of her ordeal.
Still, the doctors were concerned because Austin Vale had taken Lewis’s baseball bat to the back of her head before dragging her out to that cliff. The same bat he’d hit Eredine with twice.
If the bastard weren’t already fish food, Thane would have killed him.
Regan was being kept overnight for observation, as was Eredine. They’d both been warned they would mostly likely struggle with headaches for the next week or two. All that mattered, however, was there was no sign of brain injury. Miraculously, neither seemed to have issues with memory loss.
Arro was asleep in Ery’s room.
Thane refused to leave his children or Regan, and the kids didn’t want to be far from either of them. So they’d spent the rest of Hogmanay in the busy hospital in Inverness. Uncomfortable, but together.
He gazed through wearied vision at Lewis sleeping next to Regan, his small hand clasped in hers. Thane’s chest ached.
The attack traumatized his children. He’d have to talk with someone. See if he should get Eilidh and Lewis counseling. This was something that could affect them for the rest of their lives, and Thane refused to allow that to happen.
Lewis’s hand twitched in Regan’s, and he pushed deeper into her side in his sleep. Thane’s eyes drifted from his son to the woman he loved.
He’d almost lost her tonight.
But she was fierce. Determined to live.
Thank God for Robyn and those self-defense lessons.
The hospital door opened, and Lachlan gestured to him. Holding Eilidh close so as not to wake her, he stood slowly and made his way out of the room.