Needed By The Highlander - Rebecca Preston Page 0,64

at some point in the future.) Odd, how she’d almost become Niall’s sidekick — as if they were a little family unit all of their own. Weeks ago, she would have felt strange about that kind of relationship. But somehow, this felt… nice. Right, almost. As though she was where she was meant to be.

She was just repaying him for saving her life, she thought crossly, trying to steel herself against the sneaky feelings that were trying to creep back in while her back was turned. That was all. A bit of babysitting was the least she could do, given that he’d pulled her out of the Loch when she’d been drowning. They headed down the stairs together in companionable silence, neither one of them wanting to wake the sleeping Eamon. But he stirred when they reached Niall’s quarters, yawning and stretching and shifting in his father’s arms.

“What happened? Did you see the yelling men?”

“We did,” Niall said softly, sitting his son down at the table. “Would you like a drink of milk before bed?”

“Not tired,” Eamon yawned truculently.

“No milk, then?” Helen asked, raising an eyebrow, and the little boy winced.

“Want milk.”

“Alright.” She chuckled, heading to the kitchen where she knew there was a tall bottle of milk. The servants delivered fresh milk to Niall’s quarters regularly — she never had quite figured out how systems of payment worked here. Did he take a salary for his work as harbormaster, or was it a more collaborative system where in exchange for his work, the castle fed, clothed and protected him? She’d figure it out eventually, she knew. There was still so much to learn about this strange place she now called home…

When she got back with the little mug of milk for Eamon, Niall was telling him all about the men who’d surrounded them. With amusement, she realized he’d taken out the part where they were armed, and he was describing them as being very silly indeed — Eamon grinned and giggled at the story, clearly impressed by his father.

But Niall’s face shadowed a little when he reached their visit to Maggie’s cottage. “Eamon, I wanted to talk to you about something, okay? The men were angry because they were scared. And they were scared because there’s… there are some bad creatures about.”

“Wolves? Like wolves?” Eamon leaned forward, clearly vitally interested in this. “Wolves are very bad. They eat sheep, and cows, and —”

“A little like wolves, I suppose, but these are much cleverer than wolves, and much more dangerous, okay? They look like horses with wet manes and tails.”

Eamon wrinkled his nose, clearly less impressed with horses than he was with the prospect of wolves. “Horses aren’t scary.”

“These ones are,” Helen said softly. “They have sharp pointy teeth — and they eat meat, like wolves do.”

He perked up a little at that. “Where? Can we catch them?”

“Your dad’s working on it, and so’s the Laird and all his men,” Helen explained, giving Niall a glance. “But for now, it’s important that we keep you safe, okay?”

“I’ll be okay,” Eamon boasted. “If a horse tries to eat me I’ll hit him until he runs away.”

“I know you’re brave, Eamon, but there are lots of these creatures, okay? So until we’ve caught them all, we need you to be safe. No wandering around the Loch by yourself, okay? Just for a little while. Especially late at night or early in the morning, when it’s dark.” Niall was trying to sound reassuring, she could tell, but she could hear the worry in his voice.

“I can’t go near the water?” Eamon said doubtfully. “But you’re by the water all day.”

“Aye, I know. But it’s my job, little man. And I’m big and strong. If these creatures come after me, I can fight them off.”

“So can I!” Eamon said stridently, his fists clenching around his cup of milk. “That’s not fair if you can go out but I can’t!”

“Eamon—”

“Not fair, not fair, not fair,” he grumbled, his face a thundercloud… but to Helen’s relief, she could see that he was too sleepy to let this impatience turn into a full-blown tantrum. The conversation could have gone better, she supposed… but it also could have gone a lot worse. Niall took him to bed not long after, sighing a little.

“Guess we’re going to have to keep a close eye on him until the Kelpies are all caught,” Helen said softly when he rejoined her at the table.

“Well, that’ll be a change,” Niall quipped dryly, drawing