“Is everything all right, ma’am?” Leo asks me as I rush out into the hallway. I don’t bother answering him. I just keep going.
“No, Leo,” Maeve says quietly. “I don’t think anything is all right…”
I try doors until I find a common room with someone in it. Saoirse is taking tea with her father and someone else I don’t recognize. She bristles at my interruption, but the earl looks smug and I feel my stomach sour further.
“What’s this intrusion for?” she demands in a tone to lets me know that I’m definitely not welcome in this space. No worries. I don’t want to be here either. “Is that a dog barking I hear?”
“Animals in a castle,” he father sneers. “So pedestrian. I wouldn’t expect anything else from an American.”
“Well,” Saoirse snaps. “What’s this all about?”
“My cat, Leo, is missing,” I say quietly. I’m worried about him and I hate the sound of my voice that wavers as I speak. “I was wondering if you’d seen him.”
“This is a large castle,” their guest says dismissively, and I feel my shoulders draw forward even more.
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again,” the earl says as if this is normal teatime chatter. “Animals do not belong in castles.”
I want to yell and scream but I know that won’t get me any further with them than I am now. I want to shout at him that it’s a good thing he doesn’t live here and tell him that I plan to fill it with animals no one wants and build an aviary for the poor parrots that havebeen left behind in death. I don’t, but I hate what I’m about to do.
“Please,” I beg. “I just want to find my boy before he gets lost or hurt… If you’ve seen him at all, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know where. Then I’ll leave you alone.”
Saoirse seems to think about it, watching me for a reaction like a cat about to eat a mouse. She knows it and I know it. I’m hers to play with until she puts me out of my misery and she does when finally a bored look passes over her face. She says, “I thought I saw him passing through the formal gardens when I was on my way here. He does stick out so with that bright orange fur…”
“Thank you,” I say quickly before I rush out of the room.
There’s no reason Leo should have been in the formal gardens, a place I haven’t been since I almost died of a bee sting there. None of that matters now. What does matter is that the formal gardens are on the side of the castle farthest from the residential wing. They are also closest to the most dangerous of cliffs that this historic stone structure gracefully sits on top of. Sure, cats do some crazy things and orange babies do the craziest of crazy things, but this is far too many coincidences for me to willingly believe.
I hear the rotating blades of a helicopter over the south lawn as I push through the exterior door of the castle. It’s Rhys’s preferred landing location if hedoesn’t want to endure the long drive back from the only airport on the island. I don’t bother to look back to see if he’s home. I am solely focused on finding my boy.
I have to find my boy.
“Ma’am,” Leo calls out from somewhere behind me. I don’t care for that either. I have to find my sweet baby and delays won’t help me in my goal. “Your Highness, stop!” he commands but I do no such thing.
And then I see it.
Ten—no, twenty—feet out.
Crumpled in the tall grass that waves back and forth in the wind, lays a small orange body.
“No!” I scream as I run for him. But before I can get close, I’m snagged from behind by strong arms and then scent of Rhys envelops me.
“No, hen,” he says. His voice rough. “Do no’ look.”
“My boy,” I wail as Leo runs past us and crouches down to get a look at the animal. His face a mask of fury. My heart begins to slow when he looks up and shakes his head.
“It’s no’ hi,” Rhys says.
“That poor animal,” I cry into his shirt.
“Aye,” he replies. “I’m so sorry.”
“What’s happening?” Dahlia calls out from the entrance to the castle. “I heard a scream.”
When I look at her, I let out a gasp because in her arms is my cat. Thank God. However, when I look back at the human Leo, not all is well on the Isle ofSaints… Uh ohhh…
“You heard a scream and thought to investigate on your own?” Leo snarls. “With a fucking house cat in tow…”
“Leo,” Dahlia whispers. “What’s going on?”