The bastard could be lying. Then again, what if he wasn’t?
“They won’t let me leave,” she said.
“Make a run for it, dearest. Unlock the door. The car’s in the inner bailey. Jump into it and drive off. It’s the only chance you’ll have at getting away from them. You know you can’t have the MacNeill bastard who wants you. Cearnach? Is that his name?”
She couldn’t stay here. Not with Cearnach when she was still mated to Rafferty. She had to leave Argent Castle. She had to get away. Away from Rafferty. Away from this new home that she couldn’t have.
But Robert had her ID, her money, everything.
No, it was in the car. If she could disable Rafferty and get to her rental car and all her personal items, she could escape. But Calla. What if he really had Calla?
If he wanted Elaine to run, that wasn’t a good thing. He needed her beyond the castle walls.
She couldn’t just kill Rafferty, either, or she’d be just like him. Not that she had anything she could use to kill him with. Unless she shifted. And only if he remained in his human form. She knew he wouldn’t let her strip off her clothes, shift into the wolf, and tear into him.
An odd mist formed behind Rafferty. She stared past him, just as a hefty, younger man appeared, wearing what looked like an ancient plaid and a pirate’s kind of shirt.
“Flynn, my lady,” he said to her in greeting, bowing slightly.
“You’re…” Her mouth gaped. She glanced back at Rafferty, but he didn’t seem to see the apparition.
Flynn looked as real to her as Rafferty did.
“Why are you here?” she asked Flynn, feeling foolish for even speaking to a specter.
“I told you,” Rafferty said.
“To save you, lass. Cearnach is busy.” Flynn unsheathed a sword, but she didn’t hear the telltale swishing sound of metal pulling from the leather scabbard. That was because there could be no sound. His sword and scabbard were as much apparitions as he was. He sliced the sword through Rafferty, but it had no effect on the man.
“Do you know if Calla is safe?”
The ghost frowned. “Nay, lass.”
Rafferty took another step forward, stretching his hand out to grab her wrist. “I’m here because you mated with me and you belong to me. We could go together to the car with my arm securely around your neck, threatening to choke you to death if you don’t go peaceably. You know I don’t make idle threats.”
No, he didn’t.
She whipped around and unlocked the door. Her heart was beating as if it was trying to get out of her chest, but she couldn’t breathe.
She yanked the door open. Saw the mayhem in the bailey. The fighting and snarling wolves. Saw Cearnach sword-fighting with a man she didn’t know. Heard the dogs barking even louder behind her now. Knew she’d never see any of them again.
If only Rafferty had died long ago.
She bolted for the car, the driver’s door still open, and jumped in, jerking the door shut before Rafferty in the form of a wolf tried to join her. His body slammed into the door with a loud thump.
Keys in the ignition, she flipped the engine on and jerked the steering wheel to the left, turning hard until she’d maneuvered through the battling men and wolves. She saw Cearnach glance up from where he was fighting, saw the look of horror on his face, his sword lowered in his hand, watched his brothers look in her direction with disbelief, and that blasted Kelly Rafferty racing after her in wolf form.
He’d never catch up to her. Ever again.
Not if she could help it.
Then she saw Cearnach running for the garage. “No, Cearnach!” she shouted from the car. Tears trailed down her cheeks.
She wanted to die.
Chapter 26
Cearnach was so angry that he could barely think straight except for the need to go after Elaine. What in the world was she doing? He’d thought she’d be safe in the kennels. He knew he’d been wrong when he saw the wolf racing out of the building after her and Elaine heading for her car. At first, he’d been stunned. He thought she meant to get into the car for protection, lock the doors, and stay there until he could kill the wolf.
When she drove off, he couldn’t figure out what was going through her head.
“Elaine,” he said, half groaning her name.
Duncan was right behind him, his boots tromping against the pavers. Out of his peripheral vision, Cearnach saw Guthrie headed for another car.
“Where the hell is she going?” Duncan yelled.
“Damned if I know,” Cearnach said, climbing into the car and slamming the door.
As soon as Duncan shut his door, Cearnach tore out of the garage, men and wolves scattering to get out of his path.
The wolves and men from the enemy clan took off toward the gate, escaping, as if they’d finally gotten what they’d wanted: Elaine beyond the protective walls surrounding the keep.
“She can’t believe that her leaving will stop the fighting.” Actually it had, damn it, but how could she believe they couldn’t deal with her kin in a satisfactory manner?
“Did you recognize the wolf who was in the kennels with her?” Cearnach asked, unable to suppress his anger and concern.
In the rearview mirror, he saw Guthrie barreling down the drive after him and Ian giving orders in the inner bailey, waving his hands, red-faced and angry. Not at his brothers. He knew they’d do whatever was right to bring Elaine back to the pack. Ian was furious with her kin for attacking them at Argent Castle.
“He wasn’t any of the McKinleys or Kilpatricks,” Duncan warned. “He’d been in her rental car. I smelled his scent when I opened the door and took a good whiff. I smelled him again when he ran past me to get to her. Worse?”
Cearnach glanced at his brother.
“He’s the wolf who’s been living in her keep.”
“Why? Who the hell is he?”
“A henchman of her clansmen?” Duncan guessed.
Cearnach shook his head. “It’s personal between Elaine and him. Whoever he was, he forced her to run. Now she’s beyond the keep and beyond our protection.” He mulled the situation over further, but he couldn’t come up with any logical explanation.
“You don’t think whoever it was told her where the stolen goods were located, and she had to get there before someone else did, do you?” Duncan asked, then shook his head as if dismissing the idea. “She probably doesn’t know these roads that well. I doubt she’d be able to find any place quickly. She looked terrified when she raced past us.”
Cearnach recalled how she’d missed the turnoff to Senton Castle before. He didn’t think she’d easily find her way anywhere quickly without someone to guide her.
“Where is she going?” Cearnach asked, thinking out loud and not expecting Duncan to know any more than he did.
“I’m not sure.” Duncan put his cell on speakerphone and called their brother. “Ian, we’re pursuing Elaine. We have no idea where she’s headed.”
“What happened?” Ian asked.
“We don’t know. The wolf who was with her in the kennels forced her to run. That’s all we can figure.”
“Bring the lass back,” Ian said. “Whatever she’s afraid of, we’ll straighten it out. We’ll be cleaning things up here. Let me know what’s happening and where she’s headed. I’ll send backup as soon as you have some idea.”
“Aye, Ian. Thanks.” Duncan rested his phone on his lap. “Are you sure she went this way and not toward Edinburgh and the airport?”