Free The Craving (Rogues of Scotland #1) by Donna Grant Page A

Ronan?”
    He looked at Tilly and frowned. “My three friends. I loved them like brothers.”
    “Then you know what it means to care that deeply for someone. Is it enough, though?”
    “Enough for what?”
    “To win Meg. She won’t settle for anything other than all of you.”
    Ronan knew that meant marriage. He had been so adverse to it for so long that he wasn’t sure he could go through with it. 
    “I had a long, happy marriage,” Tilly said. “Oh, we fought. Everyone has their spats, but there’s nothing better than a long night of making up.”
    He smiled in spite of himself. “You could be lying.”
    “I could be. Look around, Ronan. You’ve been at Ravensclyde for a month. You’ve seen unhappy people as well as happy ones. That is life. It’s up to each individual to make the most out of what they have. You,” she said as she climbed to her feet with the help of her cane, “have a second chance. So does Meg. The two of you better not muck things up.”
    She slowly walked to the doorway before she turned to him. “Because if you do, you’ll be back in the mirror, and she’ll have a very lonely life.”
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
     
     
    Meg sat atop her bed without any candles lit and listened to the sounds of the castle. She had never minded the dark. It shielded her from prying eyes and hid the worst of her tears. She might welcome the darkness, but Ronan didn’t.
    She couldn’t stop thinking of him, no matter how much she tried. Now, in the dark, she wondered how he had survived two hundred years trapped in the mirror without going daft.
    He hadn’t aged, hungered for food, or needed water. Whatever magic used must have made sure he wouldn’t go insane either.
    She let her mind wander over conversations she had with Ronan throughout the month. He was always quick with a smile and his charm. More often than not he made her laugh. 
    Little by little, he had become a constant in her life until she found herself wanting him with her. That want had somehow, inexplicably become need. He had shown her true desire. She recalled the story of his mother, and how he was cursed into the mirror.
    Always it came back to that damn mirror. Without it she would never had met Ronan, and as long as the threat of him having to return to it hung over his head, she would never know if he was with her because he really wanted to be.
    When the castle grew quiet, Meg rose and silently made her way out of her chamber to the stairs that led to the attic. She walked to the back room that held the mirror.
    It stood as tall as a pillar and as eerie as an abyss. And yet Meg walked right up to it. She looked into the glass, but nothing of the room behind her was reflected.
    She lifted her hand to the glass, ready to touch it, when she was suddenly spun away. Meg looked up into green eyes she had come to know so well.
    “Doona test it,” he whispered.
    “The curse wasn’t for me.”
    “It’s no’ something I want to prove. What are you doing up here?”
    She shrugged, much too comfortable in his arms. When she tried to move out of his hold, he tightened his arms, preventing her. “When I can’t sleep, I walk around the castle. What are you doing up here?”
    “I came to see something.”
    “Did you find what you were looking for?”
    “I’m no’ sure yet.”
    Meg flattened her palms on his chest. “I better return to my chamber.”
    “Wait,” he said hurriedly, almost nervously. “Just a few moments more.”
    She hesitated before she gave him a nod. This was a side of Ronan she hadn’t seen before, and it intrigued her. 
    “Meg,” he said, and then cleared his throat. “Have you spoken to your aunt again?”
    “Nay.”
    “I’m sure she’ll tell you in the morn, but your cousin is going to allow you to remain at Ravensclyde indefinitely.”
    Meg blinked at him. She didn’t have to leave? She could call Ravensclyde her home? It seemed too good to be true.