Echoes From the Mist by Blayne Cooper Page A

Christian."
    Bridget’s soft moan interrupted them and Faylinn shifted closer, searching her face for any clue as to how she could make her more comfortable. When her eyes dropped to bruised lips she had the strongest urge to bend over and softly kiss… God, what am I going to do? That she loved Bridget was clear. That she loved her the way a man could love a woman – with a longing and passion that caused her heart to skip frequent beats – was almost as frightening as it was compelling.
    Pushing the thought away as unmanageable, Faylinn lifted her hand and tenderly traced the red, angry skin alongside a stitched gash that ran from just above Bridget’s eye all the way to her jawbone.
    Will sighed. "I’m thinkin’ it will scar." He winced inwardly. More’s the pity. She could have had her pick of husbands. "There was nothing to be done but clean and stitch it. A bandage won’t hold on there."
    Faylinn took Bridget’s limp hand in her own. "Doesn’t matter if it scars" she murmured. Her gaze turned fond. "She’ll always be beautiful."
    A small smile edged its way onto Will’s face. "I’ll leave you to rest then." He jerked his chin towards the window. "It’s past sunrise, though you wouldn’t know it by the looks of it. I’ll bring you some food once you’ve had a chance to rest." He laughed when Faylinn jumped up and began situating herself next to Bridget on the small bed.
    The man extinguished the torch in the cool ashes along the edge of the fireplace, then tossed in another round of oak onto the coals. It was going to be cold today. He could feel it in his bones.
    Faylinn didn’t even realize when he crept out of the room.

   
      
CHAPTER FOUR
       
    A FTER SITTING FOR nearly three hours listening to Badger weave the tale, Kayla and Liv decided to have their taxi drop them off at the bottom of the Royal Mile, near the Palace of Holyrood House, Queen Elizabeth’s official Edinburgh residence. The idea of fresh air and a brisk walk appealed to both of them. The afternoon breeze was still cool and strong enough to tousle their hair and turn their cheeks rosy, but not so cold as to be uncomfortable. It carried with it the scent of wet sidewalks, car exhaust, and the sea.
    Kayla had been silent all the way back into town. Then a rapid stream of words burst from her. "I can’t believe he did that. I can’t believe he just stopped!"
    Liv was a little startled by her reticent friend’s outburst. "What did you expect, Kayla?" she chided gently. "Badger is an old man, and he’d been going non-stop for quite a while. His voice was bound to give out eventually."
    "Well, sure. But," Kayla let out a grumpy breath, "I wanna know what happened, I guess." She threw her hands in the air, not sure how to process things. She was used to having an insatiable curiosity when it came to her work, but never with something personal. "He could have skipped all the melodrama and just cut to the chase, right?"
    Liv assumed the question was rhetorical so she waited.
    Kayla began ticking off on her fingers. "We know Bridget killed her brother. But we don’t know how she survived her fall from the cliff, or how she and Faylinn made it to the mainland, or whether Bridget ultimately survived her injuries, or—"
    "Whether they ended up together," Liv finished. "I’m dying to know that myself."
    "Exactly." Kayla gave her an aggrieved look. She was desperate to know that someone in her family was able to make a relationship work in spite of their paranormal abilities. Her father’s talents were on the very low end of the scale and it hadn’t ever seemed to be an issue for her parents. But it had always, always been an issue for her.
    Liv smiled, thinking that Kayla looked impossibly cute when she pouted. Of course, she wasn’t going to share that thought with the nearly six feet of moody baby next to her, but it was true nonetheless.
    Kayla stopped walking and turned to face Liv. Her hands flew to her hips and she spoke