Not Without Juliet - By L.L. Muir Page 0,71

however, she was pretty sure she would have exacted all kinds of vengeance on his ass.

The man moved on to Quinn, gave him a fierce-looking frown, snatched up the two pieces of arrow that had been pulled from their bodies, then walked away into the trees. She wasn’t too comfortable with him being out there, somewhere, with that frown still on his face, but Ewan and Montgomery didn’t have a problem with it, and they knew the strange man best.

Ewan had decided that since she probably wasn’t going to forgive him, he should be the one to stop her bleeding. She didn’t understand what he was talking about until he came at her with a glowing red knife. She understood perfectly when she woke up to the smell of burned flesh.

It was then that she realized Jillian was a mess. Her sister had serious bed head, like she’d been trying to pull her hair out. Her eyes had thick red rings around them, and her nose didn’t look much better. She’d insisted then and there that if Jules died she’d die too, which Jules found very touching in revenge-free kind of way.

Unfortunately, that made Montgomery freak out and he scooped up his wife and disappeared for a while. When they’d returned, Jillian was noticeably recovered, although she was wearing half of the paint from her husband’s face, and it was Montgomery whose eyes and nose were red.

Jules thought she’d cheer everyone up by announcing that she was determined to live, but she didn’t hold out much hope for Ewan.

Quinn suggested Ewan start spending more time at prayers.

***

Never before had Castle Ross looked as much like a home to Quinn. But never before had he ridden toward it with a lass in his arms who made him want to live and love and laugh again. Well, at least not on horseback. And not for a very long time.

“We have a wee problem,” Ewan pointed out as they started down into the glen where Castle Ross stood waiting for them. The ridge was covered with wildflowers of blue and yellow, waving slowly in the breeze above the pink heather, calling to question the chance that anyone could have a problem on such a lovely summer day in the Highlands.

“What problem, Ewan?” Quinn asked.

“Weel. We’re returnin’ with two living Montgomerys and two green-toed faeries. How do we explain it?”

“Green-toed faeries?” Jules turned to her sister.

Jillian pulled up her skirt to reveal her green ostrich boots she’d been wearing when she first traveled back to the fifteenth century.

Juliet grinned, then pulled up her own skirts. Her boots were grey, but they, too, were ostrich. They were a close match, all but the more intense black of Juliet’s hair.

They’d been crying off and on for hours, with very little said between them, and Quinn wondered if they were somehow speaking in each other’s minds. It was hard to explain it otherwise.

Jillian had insisted on stopping as soon as they reached Ross land, so they could have a chat and the wounded could rest. Then they’d walked into a wee clearing, stood toe to toe, and said nothing at all. Their arms had flown round each other and none of them had been dry since—the rain notwithstanding. Neither had he received much attention from his wee lass. Of course, she was also injured, but he could have used a query or two concerning his own health.

Just then, Juliet twisted the seat before him and looked up.

“Are you okay?” Her hand came up to pat the bandage that covered the hole the arrow had made.

“’Tis a scratch,” he said, mollified.

He pushed her black hair behind an ear so he could see more of her lovely face. How could he ever have believed she was Jillian?

“And how do you fare, my Juliet?”

A pink shadow rose beneath her smooth cheeks.

“It doesn’t hurt like I thought it would.” She laid her cheek against his chest and sighed as if she were truly happy, in spite of her wounds.

“We must get you seen to. As much as I appreciate Jillian’s forethought when bringing a Primary Aid Kit with her, you still need doctoring. And you’ll not be leaving my side. I won’t stand for it.”

She turned forward and nestled back against him. He preferred to think of it as a sign of agreement.

“You have a bigger problem than that,” James said as he spurred his horse even with Quinn’s. He nodded toward the woman in his arms. “I’m not leaving this