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thigh as he cast his eyes toward the opposite wall. “It was
most likely because my life could fetch a much more handsome ransom than my
brother’s. Other than that, the man is cousin to the Campbell of Maree laird.”
    Anna held her breath at the sour note in his voice as she
resisted the urge to melt against him. Hadn’t Neil Campbell mentioned that he
worked at Maree Castle?
    “What’s wrong with the Campbells?” she quietly asked,
attempting a nonchalant tone.
    “Their laird killed my father in battle about twelve years
ago.”
    The blood drained from her face and she was grateful that he
didn’t turn to look at her. She pulled her purse protectively against her hip.
With her last name printed in bold letters upon her driver’s license and credit
cards, the last thing she needed was the man with the blade finding out she, too,
bore the name Campbell.
    “And they subjugated themselves to the Gowrie,” he added
with a slight growl.
    Icy fingers of apprehension wrapped around Anna’s heart.
James’ last name had been Gowrie. Dear Lord, could things get any worse? Not
only was her mother a Graham and her father a Campbell, but she had been
married to a Gowrie.
    Galen turned his gaze to hers, searching her face. She held
her breath as his gray eyes blackened for a fleeting moment before the tension
left his face and he leaned the back of his head against the stone wall.
    Several minutes passed as they sat motionless. Thoughts of
home and her past whirled around her weary mind, battling the heat of the man
next to her for attention.
    “So, tell me, lass, to what family do you belong? You had
mentioned your father was Scottish.”
    “None really.” She gulped silently. “My father abandoned my
mother and me when I was a baby. My mother went crazy with grief and I
practically raised myself. I work as a nurse now.”
    “A nurse?”
    She tilted her head to the side as she considered how to
best explain. “I take care of sick and injured people and help them to heal.”
    “So, you are a healer then?”
    Anna nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
    “And you say you are from across the ocean?”
    The disbelief in his tone was not lost on her. She bowed her
head in defeat and twisted the fabric of her long chocolate-brown skirt between
her fingers.
    He grabbed her hands to stop her fidgeting. “Lass, I know
you believe what you have told me. Your coin and my dreams are the only proof
of your story. It will take some time and questions before I can fully accept
your words as truth.”
    “Yeah, me too,” she replied with a bitter laugh, unable to
keep the fear out of her voice.
    “Do not fret, Anna. I will not abandon you once this is
over,” he whispered. “I owe you my life.”
    Surprised by his determined tone, she turned her face back
to his in curiosity. Damn it all if he didn’t actually look sincere.
    A pulsing knot formed in her throat and she shook her head.
She had always prided herself on her strength and self-sufficiency. Deep down,
however, she feared she was not up to the task of caring for herself in
thirteenth-century Scotland, if that was indeed where she was.
    She clenched her hand until her nails bit into the tender
flesh of her palm and wearily leaned the side of her face against his shoulder.
It was crazy. How could she even consider trusting this man when mere moments
ago he was threatening to slit her throat? She’d already had enough of
frightening, violent men in her life and was lucky to have escaped with only a
few bruises. Not every woman was quite so lucky.
    But there was something about this man in particular that
drew her to a place both comforting and alarming. He’d been stuck in a dark,
dank dungeon for days after trading his own life for that of his brother. She
couldn’t think of a single person, other than Ian and her grandparents, who
would sacrifice everything they had for their family. Galen was only attempting
to make his way back to his clan and Anna