The sight of Jeffrey collapsed next to a pool of his own blood and vomit brought me to my knees. Finding one of Cooper’s shoes next to him sent me into hysterics. I could do nothing but scream and cry over Jeffrey’s limp body as Eoghanan checked to see if he lived. His pulse was strong and steady which served as some small relief, though it did nothing to numb my panic over Cooper’s absence.
It took only moments before my screams sent Baodan, Mitsy, and Charles running toward us from the castle. Within seconds of their taking in the scene, I was gathered up in Mitsy’s arms as she tried to calm me.
“This poison is the same that was used on me the night of Osla’s death, the same that our mother consumed for so long.”
Eoghanan’s voice was strong, but I could hear the panic and worry in it. The guilt he already felt at not disposing of the witch before now.
“’Tis Jinty, the witch that provided Niall the poison. I believe we passed her cottage on the way here.”
“Aye.” Baodan spoke next to him, reaching out to steady Charles who’d paled significantly. “Ye and Grace ride in the direction ye believe her to be at once, and I will send men after ye immediately. I will stay to aid in Jeffrey’s recovery.” He looked quickly to Charles and then to me. “He will recover. The poison in this dose is no meant to kill him.”
I knew I would hyperventilate if I didn’t get a grip on my panic. The over-rush of emotions would dull my senses, and I needed my wits about me in order to save Cooper. Grabbing onto Mitsy’s hand, I pulled myself up and turned to re-mount our horse, saying nothing to Eoghanan who had already turned in the same direction.
He lifted me quickly onto the back of the horse, speaking calmly to me as he mounted behind me. “She willna have hurt him, Grace. No yet. No without someone to witness it; without that, the act would be pointless, for none would know for certain if ’twas her. I promise ye, I will die before I let her hurt him or ye.”
I breathed in deeply, boxing up any emotion that wouldn’t serve to help me save my son. I’d be damned if I let that bitch hurt my son. She was a fool if she thought she would end the day any place other than six feet under.
A sharp groan from behind me caused me to turn my head, and I looked to see Mitsy leaning forward, one hand on her back.
She saw me staring and waved us onward, smiling through the pain. “Go on. Get out of here, the both of you. It’s just…gas.”
Eoghanan nodded and nudged the horse into a run, but not before I heard her scream once more in Baodan’s direction.
“Holy shit, Baodan, my water broke.”
*
I did nothing but pray for my son’s safety as we galloped toward the pillar of smoke we’d seen earlier. It took us mere minutes to reach it, but it felt like days. I flung myself from the horse’s back the instant Eoghanan pulled the beast to a stop, only pausing at the sound of Eoghanan’s urgent voice behind me.
“Grace, no!”
His voice was as panicked and raspy as I’d ever heard it. Only when his arms came around me to refrain me from stepping toward the cottage did I see what he looked at.
A trail of thick, fresh blood ran down the steps of the cottage, marking a trail all the way to the back of it.
“No! Oh God, no!” Sobs racked my body as I collapsed in his arms, screaming uncontrollably.
“Grace.” Eoghanan shook my shoulders roughly. “Grace, shut yer mouth. This is no over, yet. The witch is still here. Now if ye canna stop yer screaming until we find her, I shall gag ye and strap ye to the horse.”
The calmness of his voice shocked me into silence. How could he not be as lost in the thralls of grief as I was? I looked up into his eyes, ready to throttle him for not sharing my pain, when I understood.
His grief had been temporarily pushed aside by his rage. He would kill the witch for what she had done.
I said nothing, only choked back my tears for the second time and followed him around the cottage where he was forced to clamp his hands over my mouth once again to keep me from crying out in relief.
There, standing not fifty yards from us, was Cooper, his hands on both hips as he looked in the direction of the billowing smoke and the woman who stood in front of it—Morna.
It was only then, after my eyes adjusted to the shock of seeing Morna in such an unexpected place that my ears began to hear what she said to Jinty, who she had strapped up against a tree, panic in the young woman’s eyes.
“If yer only transgression was being foolish enough to fall for Niall’s lies, I suppose ye could be forgiven, but ye are responsible for the deaths of others. No only that, but ye tried to harm me family. No one does that, lass.”