Chapter Forty

Thane

When Thane learned Tamsin was missing, it was as if someone had kicked him in the gut, then spun him around to do it again.

Mora had been undone, but he'd calmed her down. "It's not your fault, Mora."

Her breath hitching, she took his hand. "But I told her how to leave. I told her where the door was. And I told her about the back gate. And you'll hate me forever because she's the one for you, Thane. I'm sure of it. She's going to melt your heart and in a verra good way. She's going to make you understand that life is to be lived and not thrown away seeking vengeance for someone who doesn't matter. She's teaching you how to love."

Nothing anyone had ever said to him had hit him as hard as his sister's words. Because they were true. So true. Tamsin was changing him in so many ways that it scared the hell out of him.

He had to find her.

"Stay here, Mora. I'll take Alaric and Eli with me. Promise me you'll stay here, and I promise to bring her back."

She'd given him a swift hug and said nothing more, urging him down the staircase. Her lack of words spoke louder than her previous ones. She wanted this for him.

For them.

Her last words caught him just before the door closed. "We all need her, Thane. Find her and bring her home."

Home. Something he'd wished to make for his brother and sister, but he hadn't quite accomplished it yet. He'd been too busy focusing on revenge. Finding their mother to right her wrong.

Now he was headed, in the dark, across the water to the Isle of Ulva. "Do you have a suggestion, either of you, on how to proceed?"

Alaric said, "Eli and I will go in the largest building, you go in the next. There is no other way. There are only four buildings in use near his home. The main manor home and three behind it. I would guess Garvie would be in the largest one, so we'll go there. The lass is probably kept in one of the back buildings. One looked to be more in use than any other. We listened for bairns but didn't hear any."

Thane gave them a wry smile because he knew exactly why. "Magni said they were not allowed to speak. They had to sit quietly, or they'd be punished."

When they approached the dock, something else occurred to him. "Did you know that we were treated the same? It's the reason why Mora will ask four or five things at once. She had to get everything out quickly because she'd be slapped and forced to hold it all in."

Eli clasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You have done a fine job with both of your siblings."

"It's why I let her ask as much as she needs to." He grinned and said, "When I told her where I was going, it was the first time she had little to say. Just told me to find Tamsin."

They reached the island and climbed out. Because it was dark, no one was around the pier, so they tied the boat and disembarked. It was a short walk to the open gate with no one around to protect it. The sounds of drunken revelry came from the tavern.

Alaric said, "Eli and I will take the main home. You start in the building behind it."

Thane nodded and headed toward the back of the building. Listening carefully, he was surprised to find there was no one about. Raucous voices carried from the inn closer to the water, but that was all.

As soon as he stepped behind the manor home, he saw a path that went on through the forest and between three buildings: two on one side and one on the other side of the path. The buildings were a bit behind where he stood, but beyond the path that headed into the forest, it was so dark he could make nothing out.

Voices cut through the night from the farthest building, so he hurried to see if he could uncover who was inside. Moving closer, he waited.

One voice was Tamsin's, that much he recognized. But the other voice was vaguely familiar.

"Where is Alana? I want my daughter."

"You'll never get her. She belongs to Raghnall, not you. He'll do what he wishes with her."

"Where is she? Tell me now or you'll find an arrow embedded in your black heart!"

The woman laughed, and it sent a chill down his spine.

"You think you frighten me? You are nothing to me. Just someone to do my bidding …"

Thane bent over at the waist, holding his head, memories flooding through him that were so painful, he couldn't bear to listen anymore. Visions of a sobbing Mora, of Brian fighting the bitch, of himself as a young lad, screaming at his mother to stop …

His mother! This voice was his mother's voice! Could it be possible? She'd taken them across Loch Tuath and dumped them on Mull. Of course. Why had he thought Coll or Tiree? His thoughts tore in so many directions that he had trouble making sense of everything, but the woman continued to babble on. This was definitely the voice of his mother.

A figure came from behind the building, carrying a sleeping child of around two years old. Alana. It had to be Alana.

The figure headed straight for the forest. She was getting away with Alana, probably with the intent to hide the lass where no one would ever find her. In the forest of Ulva, one could probably hide for many moons.

First, he'd kill his mother, then he'd go after the woman carrying Tamsin's daughter. He had time.

Surely, he did. He'd settle the vengeance that had ripped at his soul for years. For the siblings who'd been deserted, left to fend for themselves in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but a few pieces of clothing. For the abuse, the cruelty, the neglect. He could gain the revenge he'd sought for so long. Finally, it was all within his reach!

A sudden shock hit him, a jolt as if a bolt of lightning tossed him into the air and flipped him onto his backside.

His gaze went to the path into the forest.

This was no longer about his mother.

This was about the child.

An innocent child who was being controlled by people who cared nothing about her. Who was completely at their mercy—to be beaten or starved or abused in any number of ways.

As much as he experienced the overpowering need and desire to rail against his mother, to stick a knife in her heart, he was drawn by the innocent lass being stolen away.

The child innocently tossed into the melee. Into the middle of a life of despair, of no direction, no hope. Of listless repetitions of devastation. Of slaps and lies and starvation. A wee Mora.

Tamsin had changed him.

Thane headed down the path toward the woman carrying the child.

Alana.

He was no longer seeking vengeance but love.

Tamsin had changed him in a way he hadn't thought possible.

Irrevocably different.

A vast improvement over the man who had diligently sought vengeance against the evil being who had ruined his life.

He followed the woman down the path deep into the forest where the trees were so thick, the moonlight did little to light his way. It didn't take long before he caught up with her. She wasn't a large woman, and she carried a sleeping child in her arms, slowing her down even more.

"Stop. If you hand her over, I won't kill you when I reach you."

To his surprise, the woman stopped and turned around, handing the child over immediately. "Please don't kill me. She made me do it."

"This is Alana, is it not?"

"Aye. Raghnall's child. I hate that woman. She forced me. Don't tell her I gave her up. Please. She'll have me whipped."

"Who? What's her name?"

"Dagga."

His knees nearly buckled at the name he'd wished to hear over the years, but he held strong, taking Alana into his arms, still asleep. Glancing down, he smiled because the wee lass looked exactly like her mother.

"Go home and never come back," he said to the woman, and she ran.

He cuddled Alana close to his chest to keep her warm, snuggling her the best he could as he turned around, heading back down the path. As soon as he broke out of the forest, Tamsin appeared, taking one look at him and crying out. "Alana? Is it Alana, Thane?"

He nodded. "I think so. She's beautiful and unhurt. She looks just like you, Tamsin."

Tamsin reached them, checking the soft cheeks of the sleeping bairn tucked against his chest before breaking into tears. "It's her. My sweet daughter." She threw her arms around them both, tears now covering her cheeks. "My thanks to you, Thane. I feared she was lost."

She kissed her daughter's forehead, and the lass opened her eyes and whispered, "Mama? I don't like Gwamama. Take me away."

Thane said, "Can you hold her, Tamsin? I have something else I need to tend to." Then he leaned over and kissed Tamsin's cheek.

"Come back? Please, Thane?" she asked when he slipped Alana into her arms.

"Oh, you have my promise on that. I wish to learn all there is to know about you, Tamsin Garvie."

Her eyes misted and she whispered, "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

Thane noticed a couple coming toward them. "Alaric, we have Alana. Will you watch over them? I have something to take care of."

"Absolutely. What is it? Can we help?"

"Nay, this is something I need to do alone. The woman who held Alana is my mother."

Tamsin gasped. "Are you Raghnall's brother?"

Thane shrugged. "I'll find out."

Then he strode toward the house where Dagga lived.

He whistled, a calmness settling over him unlike any feeling he'd ever had before.

He was going to visit his mother.

Vengeance would finally be his.