“Edwina, the woman from the tavern, is here, with your great-uncle. She’s very upset. She’s come about some very unpleasant dreams, and…oh god!” Skylar buried her face in her hands.
David walked to her quickly, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Skylar, Edwina often has dreams, but you shouldn’t be upset, she comes to warn people so that they can be careful when she feels they are in danger.”
“No, no,” Skylar moaned, blinking back tears. “She came because she was worried about Sabrina and?—”
“And?” Shawna said worriedly.
“I can’t find Sabrina! I went to get her to talk to Edwina, and I couldn’t find her anywhere!”
“Skylar! We’ll find her. She’s an independent young woman with—with a lot on her mind,” Shawna said, trying to be reassuring. But she was concerned herself. “Sabrina is not a part of whatever nonsense is going on here. We’ll find her. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I’m afraid not,” Skylar whispered. “Edwina is certain that?—”
“Certain that what?” David asked hoarsely.
“That Sabrina has met with some evil!” Skylar said.
“Why should she be so certain?” Shawna queried, a sinking feeling wrapping about her heart.
“Because,” Skylar said, hesitating just briefly, “because Sabrina was somehow woven into her dream. She appeared as an angel in Edwina’s dream, whispering to her.”
“And saying?” David demanded.
Skylar moistened her lips to speak. “Saying that the charred corpse of David Douglas has come to life and walks the earth. Seeking vengeance. And that, in a reign of death, he shall have it.”
CHAPTER 14
Shawna wound up searching through Castle MacGinnis with her great-uncle Lowell and Aidan. Since Castle MacGinnis was far smaller than Castle Rock, it had been involved in far less political maneuvering throughout the years than the Douglas stronghold at Craig Rock. While Lowell methodically went room by room through the ground floor and the crypts beneath, Shawna searched the upstairs rooms and turrets with Aidan.
Working the main turret in a circular fashion, Shawna met up with Aidan in Castle MacGinnis’s master’s chambers, composed of an office area with desk and file drawers beneath one of the great windows, bedchamber, library area, and dressing room. Aidan looked beneath the desk while Shawna searched the wardrobes.
“This is madness,” Aidan said with exasperation at last. “Why would she come here?”
“I don’t know, but she must be somewhere,” Shawna replied, equally frustrated. “Either that, or Edwina is right, and she has met with some terrible fate, but even if that is so…” she began, her voice trailing away with a catch.
“Even then, we should find her body, is that what you mean?”
“No, of course not!” Shawna cried. She sank to the floor, staring at Aidan. “Oh god, Aidan, I pray so desperately that nothing has happened to her!”
“We’re searching the wrong place.”
“Maybe not.”
“Why would she come to Castle MacGinnis?” Aidan demanded.
Shawna hesitated. “I don’t know. I did show the place to her when we went riding. Maybe she needed to get away from her family. I mean, we all need to get away at times, right?”
“She could get away at Castle Rock.”
“Who knows what she might have been thinking—or feeling. Maybe she wanted to get away from the Douglas household. This remains the MacGinnis stronghold.”
“That it does,” Aidan muttered, and she thought there was a note of bitterness in his tone.
“Is something wrong, Aidan?” she asked quietly. “I had thought that Gawain was the only one really bitter about the return of the Douglas.”
“Should we be bitter?” Aidan asked, his handsome features curled into a wry grin as he sat by her, his back against the bed. “Let’s see, the Douglases hold the choice land, and we work it to reap the benefits for others. We tend their cattle, collect their rents, and give them the larger portion of the proceeds from the mines at every turn.”
“Most of their income from the mines is turned back into the property.”