“My hand shook so badly that it took me several minutes to unlock the door. The room was dark, since the man had insisted on a room without a hearth. He lay on the ground dead, his body misshapen by all his broken bones, his eyes wide with fright, and his mouth open in his last scream. I could still hear the name he screamed over and over. I never wanted to hear that name again, but I did when Lord Tarass said, ‘send for the Slayer.’”

Chapter 16

Willow wanted to run from the room and warn her husband, tell him to get as far away from here as possible, but she feared that wouldn’t be far enough from what Eleanor had said.

“We need to solve this problem before this demon descends on Slatter,” Snow said.

“The man was right. The Slayer is a demon. How else could he enter past a locked door?” Eleanor said, a tremble running through her.

“You need to get Slatter’s friends here, and maybe his grandmother knows something that might help,” Snow suggested.

It didn’t surprise Willow that she had thought the same. The three of them, Sorrell, Snow, and herself often shared identical thoughts on a matter, though her approach had always been the most sensible. She didn’t think being sensible now would help her, especially if she was to face a demon to save her husband. Though she questioned the validity of demons, the horror that some men perpetrated on others made one wonder if perhaps the devil actually did capture souls to serve him.

“Did Sara say anything last night?” Willow asked Eleanor.

“No, she was restless but silent. I wondered if she was fighting to wake, but she settled to my touch.”

“It worries me that she hasn’t fully woken,” Willow admitted.

“Don’t you remember that I barely woke after the accident that took my sight? I could hear Mum and you talking, and Sorrell when she came and sat and talked with me. But I didn’t want to wake and talk with anyone. I was in pain and sleep was the only thing that made it tolerable,” Snow said.

The door opened and Slatter filled the doorway. “A word with my wife.”

After a quick hug from her sister, Snow left the room with Eleanor, Thaw yapping at her heels as he followed her out.

Slatter shut the door and stood there looking at his wife.

“I know what you’re going to say and don’t even think of it,” Willow warned. “You’re not leaving. We will fight this together and clear your name.”

“You’re confident I am innocent?” he asked.

“Without a doubt and if we don’t clear your name Lord Tarass will forever hunt you. No, you must stay and see this done,” she insisted and walked over to him. “You also need to send for Devin and the others. You made mention that you didn’t have much of a home. Well you have a home now and so do your friends… here with the Clan Macardle.”