“Aye,” the gods said at the same time.
“It has all been one long bloody good story, aye?” Iosbail said.
“Aye,” Adlin and Chiomara agreed, smiling.
“Thank you all so much,” Jackie said. “But I’m still curious about a few more things.”
Fionn and Brigit were already wrapped in each other’s arms, so Adlin answered for them. “Aye?”
“While I’m glad we’re officially done with Eoghan, what about the original price of what Brigit did for Darach and me...or should I say, Gwendolyn and Devlin?” Jackie said. “Am I still doomed to die young in every life?”
“See, that’s a Broun right there,” Iosbail said triumphantly. “Always looking at the bigger picture.” She grinned. “And in an optimistic light considering she assumes she’ll meet Darach again in another life.”
Darach squeezed Jackie’s hand.
Adlin frowned at Iosbail while Chiomara shook her head and sighed. “Oh, my wee daughter, ye always did have a unique way of wording things.”
Iosbail’s brows slammed together. “I dinnae ken. ‘Twas logical enough.”
Chiomara shushed her and answered Jackie. “When all of the darkness was at last defeated, and ye found yourself here, the curse lifted and the price was paid in full. In this life and every one to follow.”
“In this life?” she asked, confused. “But I thought we were dead. Even if we aren’t, I’m still dying.”
Brigit pulled her lips away from Fionn’s long enough to tilt her head at Jackie. “Ye were in my healing water every bit as much as your lad, were ye not?”
Her heart thumped into her throat. Did Brigit mean what Jackie thought she meant? But it seemed the time for questions was past. Bright light flashed. When it faded, everyone was gone but the horse and Darach.
Yet Adlin’s last words whispered on the wind. “Use your magic and go home.”
Was she no longer sick? Did she dare hope?
“Do you think...” she started but the words caught in her throat.
“Aye, lass.” Darach pulled her close and tilted her chin until their eyes met. “I think you’re healed. But I want to know for sure. We need to get home and ask Lair.”
“Definitely.” She nodded. “That makes sense...but how do we get home?”
“I think I have an idea.” He eyed the horse. “But I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
“Why don’t we just head back down the way we came?” she said as he pulled her after him.
“Because it isnae there anymore.” They walked to the edge. The path they had traveled up was gone. Now, like every other side, it was a sheer cliff except where the waterfall poured off. And that was a straight drop down too.
“Though I can’t believe I’m saying it, poor Brae,” she murmured as she peered down. “A fall like that had to hurt.”
When Darach didn’t respond, she looked his way. “Speaking of Brae, when did you learn that she’d been enslaved by the bad guy? Things were crazy at MacLomain Castle, so I didn’t catch much. What happened? Because you seemed to know a lot more than before.”
“’Twas part of a well-executed plan by my Da and likely even Adlin. One that I still dinnae ken entirely.” He led her to Eara. “I’ll explain what I know once we get home.”
“You seriously can’t mean to ride this horse.” Jackie shook her head. “What about the tree? Why don’t we climb down then find a way to come back for her?” She patted Eara. “Or you climb down, and I’ll wait with her.”
He glanced over her shoulder. “I dinnae think that’s an option anymore.”
Jackie’s jaw dropped when she looked at the tree. The branches were shrinking back down the cliff.
Darach cupped the sides of her neck and made sure their eyes connected before he said, “You trust me, right lass?”
“We already went over this,” she reminded. “Of course, I do.”
“Good.” He rubbed his thumbs along her jawline gently. “Because I need you to do something that you’ve only ever done in a nightmare.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.”
“Nay,” he agreed. “But keep in mind we’re in the Otherworld, so technically we’re still dead. That means, no matter how frightening things might seem, it cannae get much worse.”
“That sounds even less promising.”
“Mayhap.” She had no time to react before he tossed her on the horse then swung up behind her, his words close to her ear. “But I’ve never met a more courageous lass, so this is but one more wee thing to face in a great adventure, aye?”
“I think that card might be overplayed by now,” she said warily as he directed the horse until they faced the water. “Really overplayed.”
Darach tilted her chin until their eyes met and his lips were inches from hers. “Like I told you, I had the strongest sensation when Eara leapt over the cliff in the nightmare that I had done such a thing with you before. It could not have happened in any previous life, Jackie. Only this one...such as it is now caught betwixt worlds.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I think ‘twas not a sense of hindsight but foresight. I think I sensed what we are about to do.”
She shook her head when she followed his line of sight. “Oh, no. That was a cliff in my nightmare, not a waterfall. So that kills your theory.”
“Not entirely. There’s still water involved,” he pointed out. “And this time ‘twill not only be part of our magic but Brigit’s healing waters. Powerful stuff, indeed.”
“Yeah, yeah, indeed.” She didn’t like it. Not a bit. “What about the poor horse?”
“As dead as us right now,” he reminded. “And likely willing to take the risk to live again.”
“I would think she’d be too spooked.”
“Does she appear spooked in the least?”
Jackie eyed the horse. If anything, Eara seemed eager. Her eyes met his. “This is insane.”
“Not really considering you possess the power of resurrection.”
She flinched. “You mean to say I’m going to resurrect all three of us?”
A twinkle lit his eyes. “’Twould be helpful considering we need to be resurrected.”
“You have a horrible sense of timing when it comes to humor, you know that?”
“It depends on how you look at it.”
“There’s only one way to look at it,” she said. “You’ve got poor timing.”
“Are you distracted?”
“Not at all.” Her eyes narrowed. “Nice try—”
He cut her words off with a deep kiss. The sort that made everything vanish and her problems fade away. The kind that truly distracted her. Then they were moving. And not in the dreamy, lustful out-of-body-experience sort of way.
Jackie ripped her lips away and held onto Eara’s mane as the horse started trotting through the shallow water. Darach wrapped his arm around her waist and said, “’Tis time to embrace your magic, lass.”
“But,” she started and held on tighter as the horse moved faster. She still wasn’t entirely sure how to embrace her magic. “Oh, hell.”
“No more hell for us,” he said, his voice urgent. “Now focus.”
That was easier said than done. But she did her best, focusing first on her fear. Yet fear soon turned to anger when she realized that this might be yet another end for them.
She thought of how much had come between them for so long. All the years they must have lost because of Eoghan and Balor. Darach began chanting, and a tingling sensation started to spread through her as Eara broke into a run.
Close. Closer.
“I love you, Darach,” she said, just in case this was the end.
Closer still.
“Aye, lass, in every lifetime.”
Then the horse leapt into the air, and they went sailing over the waterfall.
Chapter Twenty
“THERE THEY ARE!” SOMEONE yelled from the battlements as Eara landed and continued racing along the loch beside MacLomain Castle. The raging wat
erfall and sheer drop they experienced moments before were but a memory.
“We made it!” Jackie laughed. “And everything looks normal again!”
“Aye!” He laughed as Eara raced around the castle and onto the field. The gate was open, and the portcullises were raised. Everything was whole and beautiful.
When Eara stopped beneath the mighty oak, Darach pulled Jackie down, swung her around and kissed her soundly.
“Jackie!” a familiar voice called.
Jackie’s eyes rounded at him as Erin headed their way. “Did she just speak?”
“Aye, lass.” He grinned and let her go when Erin about barreled her over.
Jackie laughed when Nicole and Cassie arrived moments later, and all four embraced. He had no time to greet them because one by one his cousins embraced him and clapped him on the back.
“You had us truly worried.” Logan grinned. “We didnae think you made it, Cousin.”
Rònan offered a broad smile. “Och, I knew he had.”
“You knew no such thing.” Niall shook his head and grinned at Darach. “But I did.”
Soon enough, their lasses greeted Darach with big hugs. Everyone was smiling and laughing as they reunited.
“You can speak?” he said to Erin before his eyes found Cassie again. “And you’re wearing your glasses.”
“Yup, everyone’s back where they started,” Nicole piped up and cupped her ear with a wink. “Even me.”
“That’s wonderful but...” His eyes widened on her swollen belly. “How long have we been gone?”
“Long enough,” his Aunt Leslie declared as she and Bradon joined them.
“Look at you two!” Jackie grinned as she touched both Nicole and Leslie’s swollen stomachs. “Now here’s a moment no one foresaw when we arrived in New Hampshire.”
“Yeah, we went home for a bit to close up the house,” Leslie said. “Now Nicole and I are both about eight months along.”
“I dinnae ken,” Darach said. “Nicole should be much further along considering how time passes differently.”
“You would think so,” Grant said. “But it seems though over seven hundred years still exists betwixt here and there, time is no longer trying to catch up with itself.” He eyed Leslie’s stomach curiously. “Or mayhap time still passes differently, and there’s more to this than meets the eye.”
“What do you mean—” Leslie started but got cut off by Darach.
“Och, Da.” He embraced his father. “’Tis good to see you alive and well beyond the Otherworld.”
“Aye, lad.” Grant held him tight. “I feel the same. Ye gave us a good scare.”
As soon as Grant pulled away, his mother and sister wrapped him up in a big hug. Then his parents and Lair embraced Jackie in a family hug, clearly as happy to see her as they were him.
“So what’s going on?” Jackie asked her friends with tears in her eyes. “How are you all...” She shook her head. “Your disabilities...I don’t understand.”
When Nicole started talking, Grant shook his head. “Nay, lass, not now. First, we need to see off some verra important people then we’ll commence in the great hall, and all will be explained over a mug of whisky.”
She sighed. “You mean water.”
His eyes fell to her belly. “Aye, mayhap for you but not for me.” He grinned, linked arms with Sheila and headed toward the castle. “I’m officially retired.”
Though Darach and Jackie hoped to get answers beforehand, far too many people greeted them along the way. Not only his aunts and uncles but many allied clans. He was surprised by how many were here. Not only MacLeods and Brouns but some Stewarts, MacLauchlins, Sinclairs, and Thomsons.
Yet as he and Jackie made their way onto the drawbridge, he wondered...had any Hamiltons come? He wouldn’t blame them if they hadn’t considering he abandoned them to pursue Jackie into the Otherworld.
“Darach, look.” Jackie squeezed his hand. “I think I see our plaid’s colors ahead.”
The crowd parted, and he filled with pride when he saw Hamilton warriors lining either side of the drawbridge from the last portcullis to the gate. Their swords were lowered, crisscrossing one another’s.
“What are they doing?” she whispered.
“Welcoming us...honoring us.” He offered her the crook of his elbow. “Will you walk with me, wife?”
“Always.” She slid her arm through his.
As they walked, the men raised their swords and remained silent. When they reached the gates, clapping began. It grew louder until cheering erupted. Hundreds of Hamiltons filled the courtyard. Humbled, Darach greeted as many as possible. Jackie did the same, every inch the laird’s bride. Yet his people eventually melted back when Darach and Jackie joined his parents near the bottom of the castle stairs.
“Jackie? Darach?” came a young voice. “Is that really ye?”
“Of course ‘tis her,” came another voice. “Ye already knew that, lad.”
Jackie laughed and crouched as wee Robert rushed down the stairs and into her arms. Darach crouched and hugged him as well. Meanwhile, young William dropped to one knee in front of them and lowered his head. “Welcome back, M’Lady.” He met Darach’s eyes. “M’Laird.”
It seemed he was officially no longer lacking ballocks as far as the lad was concerned. “Good to see ye, William.”
“We must go home soon, son,” Robert’s mother announced as she joined them. “Yer Da misses ye something fierce.”
Darach bowed to Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. Jackie did the same. The Countess took their hands and looked between them. “I have already thanked everyone else for keeping my wee bairn safe, now I will do the same to ye.” Though she stood perfectly straight and little emotion showed on her face, a tear rolled down her cheek. “I cannae begin to thank ye enough for all ye’ve done...so verra much.
Her eyes met Darach’s. “Ye devoted yer life to protecting Robert.” Then her gaze went to Jackie. “And like yer friends, ye were willing to sacrifice yer own life to save Robert’s, a lad ye barely knew.” Her eyes swept over his cousins and Jackie’s friends. “Might Robert have learned well from ye all and act with the same honor and courage when he someday rules Scotland.”
Marjorie stepped away and took Robert’s hand as Torra came alongside. Though no longer journeying through time, it seemed she would make sure they got home safely.
“We must travel on as well, William,” came a deep voice as Dougal and Lilas stepped from the crowd.
“Aye.” William’s eyes met Jackie’s. “It has been a pleasure meeting ye, m’Lady. I leave ye in good hands now.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m going to miss you, William.”
“Och, nay, ‘tis unseemly,” he muttered but embraced her quickly before he pulled away.
“Come, lad,” Marjorie said to Robert. “Time to go.”
When they turned away, William said, “Wait, Robert.”
It was clear the wee king had been hoping for such because he turned and was about to embrace William but the lad stopped him short. Instead, he held out his arm. “Ye’ve come far in the short time we have known each other. Ye’ve grown up some.” William kept his arm extended. “’Tis time to shake like countrymen...like Scotsmen.”
Robert stood up a little taller, his chest puffed out, and for a moment some might say he almost peered down his nose.
“Yer not a bloody king yet,” William said out of the corner of his mouth. “Yer but a man right now. A wee bit less tilt to yer chin couldnae hurt.”
Rather than stammer and regret his actions, Robert relaxed his stance, grinned and gripped William’s arm, hand to elbow, then gave a firm shake.
“Will ye tell me yer full name now, William?” Robert asked.
Darach remembered when he asked that same question back in the cave by the glade.
William considered him for a long moment, before he stepped back, sank to a knee, held out h
is blade and lowered his head. “My name is William Wallace, and my blade will forever be at yer back if ye do right by Scotland and love it as fiercely as I do.”
William Wallace? Bloody hell. No wonder he felt compelled to kneel when he asked William’s permission to marry Jackie. It wasn’t just the need to win over the lad for her sake but something much deeper.
Small gasps came from Jackie and her friends. Who could blame them? They were witnessing the beginning of a camaraderie that would make history. A camaraderie that explained why William might have ended up on this journey. What better way for two people from different stations in life to form a connection than when still bairns?
It seemed Adlin, and his Celtic gods were always up to mischief.
“I accept your blade, William Wallace,” Robert said softly and went to take William’s dagger.
“Och, nay, ye cannae have my blade right now,” William muttered as he stood. “I meant if ye need my sword at yer back someday, ‘twill be there.”
Robert eyed William’s dagger. “’Tis a fine piece, though.”
William eyed it with pride. “Aye, it truly is.”
Jackie smirked. They might be witnessing history, but bairns were bairns and would act as such until they grew up.
“Time to go,” Marjorie repeated.
“Aye.” Robert smiled at William. “I look forward to seeing ye again someday, friend.”
William cocked the corner of his lip. “I could say the same, Robert the Bruce.”
“We must go as well,” Lilas said but stopped short when she spied something on the ground in front of Darach and Jackie. She scooped up Gwendolyn’s handkerchief, the very one Darach thought was tucked safely in his plaid. She slowed, staring at the material with an odd look on her face. When he went to take it, and their eyes met, he knew. He finally understood why she seemed so familiar. Why Dougal did as well.
Lilas had been Jackie in another life.
And Darach had been Dougal.
In tune with his every thought, Jackie figured it out at the same time and inhaled sharply.
“What is it, Lilas?” Dougal said when he saw the confusion on his wife’s face.
The MacLomain Series: Later Years - a Scottish Time Travel Romance Boxed Set Page 110