"Just a minute," Beth protested. "Are ye telling me, with all her sleeping around and all the babies, she wasn't already ruined?"
Scotty grinned at her disbelief. "So long as it was only the men who knew what she got up to, she was safe. After all, they were all hoping to get into her bed again. But if a woman got wind . . ." He shook his head. "Then she would ha'e been ruined fer certain."
"Humph," Beth muttered with disgust, and then sighed and said, "She married your father?"
Scotty nodded. "I gather she argued, fought, cursed and swore. But in the end she had no choice. Were she ruined, he told her he would ensure she was sent to a nunnery where her hair would be shorn and she'd be on her knees the rest o' her days and kept far away from men. And he probably could have done that," he assured her. "He was good friends with the king, and if the king specified a certain abbey . . ."
"Your father played hardball," Beth said with approval.
"Aye." He grinned. "So she agreed. The priest was called up, and me mother married me da just moments ere I came squalling into the world."
"I bet ye were a beautiful baby," Beth murmured, rubbing her fingers over his chest, and then she added, "And I bet you'll give me beautiful babies."
Hugging her tight, Scotty kissed the top of her head. "As many as ye wish and are allowed by law."
Beth chuckled into his chest. "Very romantic, m'laird."
"Hey, I'm the head o' the UK Enforcers. I have to include that last part," he said defensively.
"I suppose," Beth relented and hugged him back, before asking, "So, what happened next?"
"Me father still feared she might do away with me, so took me away from her at once, and handed me over to a nursemaid who raised me fer the first five years o' me life in a cottage on the estate."
"Away from yer father?" Beth asked with a frown.
"He visited daily," Scotty assured her. "And me nursemaid was a wonderful woman. She was his own nursemaid as a child. However, she was very old and died when I was five. My father then deemed me old enough fer it to be safe to allow me around me mother and brought me to the castle to live."
"And your mother?" Beth asked, suspecting she already knew the answer. After all, there was a reason he hated his mother.
"She loathed me," Scotty said solemnly. "And made no effort to hide it. Most o' me childhood after five was spent being tortured by her. There were subtle little cruelties that me father would no' notice, and then there were much larger cruelties when he was no' around, after which I was threatened that if I told him she would cut me tongue out, scalp me or kill me father . . . and so me childhood went," he said dryly.
"I'm sorry," Beth murmured, hugging him and wishing she could take those memories, and the pain they must have caused, away. The thought made her blink in surprise as she understood what Scotty had been feeling, but then he started talking again, and she pushed the thought aside to listen.
"Despite having married me da, the woman had no' given up her whoring ways. If she wanted something, or could gain something, she slept with whomever she thought could give it to her, or just anyone she wished. By that time me da would ha'e nothing to do with her and, I'm sure, sorely regretted marrying her. Although he would never admit it, at least no' to me. To me he said that all the misery she caused him was worth it to get me."
"I'm sure it was," Beth said solemnly.
Scotty shrugged and continued, "Da died when I was eighteen. To this day I suspect she poisoned him. He was a strong, healthy man, and there were no signs o' a weak heart before his attacked him. However, even if she did no' poison him, she was the cause o' his death. They were arguing, and she was spewing her venom all over him when he suddenly clutched his heart and fell over."
Beth hugged him silently, knowing how the loss must have hurt him. Scotty hugged her back and kissed her forehead before continuing.
"O' course, after having endured her viciousness and cruelties fer most o' me life, I hated me mother. But the final straw was when she tried to convince me to buy her fine new silk fer the funeral, by offering to bed me," he said with disgust.
"Her own son?" Beth asked aghast.
Scotty nodded, his mouth tight. "It was the only way she knew how to interact with a man, I suspect. But at the time I was so enraged . . ." He shook his head. "So the moment I was named clan leader, I made it clear to her that I would stand fer no more o' her nonsense. That she would be a good woman, and comport herself as a lady, or she would be cast out."
"And did she?" Beth asked. "Comport herself as a lady?"
"Fer two years," Scotty said grimly. "She had no choice but to toe the line. Her beauty had begun to fade, and her lovers had grown sparse. If I had cast her out as I promised, she would have had nowhere to go, and no sweet lover to rescue her from penury and rough living."
Beth nodded. "And what happened after two years?"
"She got wind o' a man she thought might help her. He had a certain reputation fer getting rid o' problems. And there were rumors that he had murdered a certain laird or two. So she sent a messenger to him with a parchment requesting his help. In it, she claimed I was cruel and abusive and so on and so forth. What she did no' realize was that he was an immortal. No' that she would've kenned what that was anyway, and she may not have even cared had she known. She probably would have tried to seduce him into making her one."
Scotty paused and frowned over that possibility and then gave a shudder before hurrying on. "As I say, he was an immortal and read the messenger's mind and knew there was something amiss. Apparently, all the messenger had on his mind was sex with me mother. His thoughts on me were respect and fear, but the fear made the immortal wonder, so he decided to find out what was what. Either he had a mother bent on filicide, or--"
"Excuse me?" Beth leaned up to stare at him with one eyebrow raised. "Filicide?"
"That's what 'tis called when a parent kills their child, whether 'tis mother or father, killing son or daughter. It comes from filius, the Latin word for son."
"Oh." She nodded solemnly and then rolled her eyes and said, "Well, la-di-da! Aren't we clever?"
"Aye. I learned Latin centuries ago," Scotty said with a grin. "Jealous?"
Chuckling at his teasing, Beth kissed his chest and said, "Get on with it. What happened with the immortal?"
"Oh." He paused a moment to shift his thoughts back to his story, and then said, "He let me mother believe that he would carry out her plan, and arranged to come to the castle. But he really intended to find out what was what. If I truly was a cruel, abusive bastard, he'd do as she requested. However, if she was bent on filicide," Scotty said, emphasizing the word with a teasing grin, "then he would warn me so that she could no' hire someone else to kill me once he refused the contract."
"Hmm, a killer with a conscience," Beth said with interest.
Scotty nodded. "So, he came to the castle while I was away for the day, and was seated at the table when I returned. Me mother, no' kenning he'd already read her mind and had her number, introduced him as Lord Aequitas, just passing through, who would be staying the night, and--"
"Were ye angry?" Beth asked curiously. "Did ye suspect he was a lover or something and she was misbehaving?"
Scotty chuckled and shook his head. "He was only a couple years older than me. At least, he did no' look much older than me, so I did no' for a minute think he was interested in me old mother. And there was the whole hospitality thing, so I was no' angry that he was there."
"Oh," she said, almost disappointed.
"Anyway, me mother introduced us and then just sat there grinning. I think she actually expected him to slay me right there in the Great Hall in front o' one and all. Or perhaps she was just gleeful thinking I would soon be out o' her hair." Scotty shrugged. "Anyway, he did no' slay me in the Great Hall, and after dinner, me mother suggested the three o' us retire to the solar fer a drink. We did, but once there he turned to me and announced that me mother had hired him to kill me. He then handed me her lette
r with all its claims of abuse and such and crossed over to pour himself a drink."
Scotty grimaced. "Me mother had a fit, asked him what he was doing and ordered him to get over there and kill me. At which point he informed her that he had no intention o' killing me. In fact, he had come to warn me o' her plans so I might safeguard meself in future. He then went on to say that she was a base whore, with no conscience, and not a speck o' human warmth, while I was an honorable young man trying to do right by me people and, frankly, were he in the mood to kill anyone that night, which he wasn't, it would be her and not me." Scotty pursed his lips briefly, and then said, "Mother did no' take disappointment well."
"I suspected as much," Beth said solemnly.
"She sort o' grunted at the man with disgust, and then snapped, 'Give me that letter' and rushed toward me." Scotty paused briefly and then said, "I truly thought she was coming to grab the letter . . . and she did. She took it with one hand as her other hand came up with a knife in it, and she stabbed me in the neck."
Beth stiffened against him, a growl of fury sounding low in her throat. Scotty's mother was as bad as, and perhaps worse than, her father had been. Truly it was a wonder she and Scotty had turned out as well as they had.
"It was a mortal wound," Scotty said solemnly. "I would ha'e died, but the immortal, feeling responsible fer me situation, turned me. Although I did no' ken that was what he was doing at the time. All I kenned was that I was bleeding out on the floor o' me castle, and then he ripped into his own wrist, tore out a mouthful o' flesh and pressed the gushing wound to me mouth. It felt to me as if I were drowning on the blood, and . . . well, after that things got hazy. But I do recall his telling me mother that he was making me immortal. She could never kill me. He told her that I would never age or die, while she would fade away to a toothless, wrinkled old crone and then molder in the grave."
"Nice," Beth said with satisfaction, quite sure Scotty's mother would have been infuriated at that thought, but then tipped her head and asked with curiosity, "Who was this Lord Aequitas?"
"I do no' ken," Scotty admitted solemnly. "I never saw him again after that night."
Beth's eyebrows rose. That was bad. An immortal was never supposed to turn a mortal and leave them to their own devices, which made this guy a--"Rogue?"
Scotty considered her question with a frown, but then shook his head. "I do no' ken. I've wondered that meself. Sometimes I think aye, and other times nay."
"But he killed people, and he turned you and then left you alone. That's--"
"He only killed people known to abuse and kill people under their power," Scotty said solemnly. "I looked for him for a long time and learned that much about him."
"Oh," Beth breathed. That seemed kind of admirable. Lord Aequitas had been a sort of medieval character much like the Equalizer.
"And he did no' leave me alone," Scotty continued. "He did leave MacDonald, but he got a message to the closest immortal in the area, who happened to be Magnus Bjarnesen."
Beth's eyes widened incredulously. "Magnus? Did he know him? What was the message?"
"The message was that Laird MacDonald had been turned and needed assistance and training. Magnus headed for MacDonald at once to look into the situation. He found me and me mother, saw me mother buried and saw me through the turn, controlling me people as necessary to prevent interference. Once I was through the worst of it and able to talk, I learned he knew no Lord Aequitas, and he didn't recognize me description of the man." Scotty shrugged. "I never learned who Aequitas was, if that was even his real name."
"Oh yes," she murmured. The man probably hadn't been using his real name, she thought, and then she glanced at Scotty sharply. "Wait, he saw your mother buried? What happened? How did she die?"
"Ah." Scotty grimaced. "Well, when Aequitas said that bit about my living forever young, and her being an old crone and moldering in the grave, me mother was so enraged she attacked him. Of course, he just laughed and tossed her aside like a babe. He then repeated that there was no way she could murder me now, adding this time that once I had recovered, I would no doubt punish her properly fer trying to kill me and lock her in chains in the dungeon fer the rest o' her days. Me mother attacked him again. At least, that is how it appeared. But the truth is, I believe she deliberately ran herself through with his sword when she charged him, that she knew exactly what she was doing, and chose death rather than allow me to seek justice."
They were both silent for a moment, and then he peered down at her and said solemnly, "That is why I couldn't believe that the nanos would think ye a perfect life mate fer me. I loathed me mother and thought ye a mirror image of her because o' yer profession as a mortal. I was looking at the surface and no' the heart," he admitted apologetically. "And while this last time I suggested the mind wipe in the hopes o' removing all those painful memories o' yer past, I'm ashamed to admit that at first I thought perhaps if you were wiped to the stage of a tabula rasa, I could train you to become a better woman. But I was a fool. You are already a much better woman than me mother. And a much better person than me. I'm sorry, Beth, and I'll spend me life making it up to ye, if ye give me the chance. Will ye be me life mate and give me that chance?"
Tears in her eyes, Beth swallowed and opened her mouth to respond, but then glanced to the door as a knock sounded.
Seventeen
"Maybe they'll go away," Scotty said with a frown at the door, and then grimaced when another knock sounded. "Or maybe not."
Smiling wryly, Beth slid off the bed and walked to the door to open it, her eyebrows rising when she saw Donny on the other side.
"Oh." The young immortal looked surprised and then smiled back. "You're awake and up. Rachel said you were better, but I expected you still to be resting."
"She will," Scotty assured him, walking up to stand behind Beth. "Were ye lookin' fer me?"
"Oh, yes, sorry," Donny said with a grimace. "Mortimer wanted me to find you and let you know he needs to have a word with you."
Scotty hesitated, and then asked, "Do ye ken what about?"
Donny shook his head. "Do you want me to go ask him?"
"No." Scotty sighed and then glanced to Beth apologetically.
"Go," she said quietly. "We can finish our talk later."
Nodding, he bent to press a kiss to her cheek and slid out of the room to hurry to the stairs with Donny on his heels. Beth turned back into the room, frowning and grabbing the back of her gown when she caught a draft. Damned hospital gowns, she thought as she closed the door. She hadn't even realized she was wearing another one until now. But her clothes had probably been ruined in the bomb blast, so Rachel had changed her.
Beth walked to the dresser and pulled out a pair of underwear and a bra, then grabbed some jeans and a T-shirt from the closet and stepped into the bathroom. A quick shower and change of clothes and then maybe she'd go down to see about something to eat if Scotty wasn't back yet. She was kind of hungry now that she wasn't distracted with emotional issues.
With food on her mind, Beth was in and out of the shower in a hurry and pulling on her clothes. She stopped long enough to brush her teeth and hair, but then headed for the door to the hall, and gave a start when she pulled it open to find Odilia there, hand raised to knock.
"Oh," Beth said with surprise.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," the woman said at once.
"No. That's fine. I've always had a high startle reflex," Beth admitted, and then added, "If you're looking for Scotty, he went downstairs a few minutes ago to see Mortimer."
"Actually, I was looking for you," Odilia said with a crooked smile. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but it's Scotty's birthday next week."
"It is?" Beth asked with alarm. Jeez, she didn't even know when the man's birthday was. Or his favorite color, or his favorite food, or, or, or . . . They had a lot of talking to do.
"Yes, on Friday," Odilia said. "And I was kind of . . . Well, I had a big birthday party planned for him back in
Scotland, but of course he will not be there so I canceled it, but I thought maybe we could plan something here. Something smaller, obviously, since we only have a week, but . . ."
"That sounds wonderful," Beth said quickly. "I'm in."
"Oh good, because I'm not sure what to do about--" She sighed with frustration and threw up her hands. "I have a list of venues and a bunch of samples to taste down in the garage. Speaking of which, I should get back there--I am on car duty today--but I brought the list and samples into work today and thought if you got a moment, maybe you could come down to the garage . . . ?"
"Actually, that's perfect," Beth assured her with a grin. "I happen to be hungry so the samples sound good. Do you want me to come down there with you?"
"That would be great," Odilia said with relief and turned toward the door. "Scotty is so difficult to plan for."
"Is he?" Beth asked with curiosity. Other than his bossy tendencies and the issues he'd had with her previous profession, she'd found him pretty easygoing.
"Yes, he--Oh, wait," Odilia said, catching her arm to stop her as they approached the stairs.
"What is it?" Beth asked with concern.
Odilia made a face. "I just want to make sure the coast is clear before we go down. Like I said, I am supposed to be in the garage. Mortimer will be pissed if he sees me in here. I should have just called you or something, but I was not sure you would be up and about yet, and I didn't want to wake you if you weren't. I wish they had outdoor stairs here. I don't--"
"It's okay. Come on. We can avoid the house altogether," Beth said, turning to lead her back to her bedroom and thinking she hadn't realized how anxious Odilia was. On the other hand, the woman had endured a pretty traumatic childhood. At least Beth had been older when the entirety of what she considered to be her family had been attacked by Jamieson.
"Where are we going?" Odilia asked as she followed her into her room. "I really need to get back to the garage."
"You will. We'll use my balcony," Beth said easily as she crossed to the sliding glass doors in her room. They led to a small balcony overlooking the backyard. Beth opened the door, ushered Odilia out and then closed the door and moved to the rail. It was dark out. Nighttime, then, Beth noted. It had been afternoon when they'd gone to the apartment to get her clothes, but she wasn't sure if it had been just hours or days ago. Beth had no idea what day it was. She was really losing track of time with all these attacks and such.