Elliott nodded. “Go ahead, lass.”
Penny placed her scarred palm over the topaz, and it immediately warmed. “Is it burning you?”
“It’s warm, but not hot.”
Seconds ticked away before the chamber began to fill with the familiar peat-scented fog. It rose from the floor, and they stepped back against the stone wall.
Tavis didn’t react.
Rick moved even closer to Penny, drawing his Glock, as did Penny and David. “If the fog carries us off, we won’t have a brooch to come back,” Rick said.
“I have the diamond,” David said.
It probably wasn’t even a full fifteen seconds, but it seemed like an hour before the five warriors in her vision emerged from the fog. She took a shooting stance with her weapon pointed at them. She’d thought they looked fierce in her vision, but they were terrifying in person.
The five men were all six feet or taller, with blue tattoos from their necks to the tips of their fingers. Each man wore dark trousers and a red cloak that left their right arms free. Their beards were well-groomed, and their hair was fringed around their faces and short in the back. They all carried broadswords with ridged blades. The warrior in the middle wore a brooch with an orange stone in the middle.
They would have to shoot the warriors outright before the warriors slaughtered them.
“What do ye want?” David demanded.
In a voice so deep the rocks rumbled, the warrior in the middle said, “You summoned us.”
“If we did, it was a mistake,” David said. “Go back to where ye came from.”
Fear drenched Penny in even more sweat, but she found the courage to ask, “Why’d you murder Colonel Bowes?”
“It was necessary, Wilhelmina,” the warrior with the brooch said.
At the sound of her name, she gasped and took a step back, but she was already against the wall. There was no way to get out of the room without going through the warriors.
“You tortured the colonel until he told you about me.”
“We already knew everything there was to know.”
“Then, you know I’m capable of defending myself, and that includes killing a man.” Her gun remained aimed at the warrior’s heart. “Why’d you kill the colonel?” she demanded again. “If you knew about me, why’d you torture him?”
“I am sorry you had to watch, Wilhelmina, but he was an evil man and a member of an organization that is a danger to the Council and the Keeper. We had to find out if he had the lost torc.”
“Now you know we have it. Do you plan to kill us too?” she demanded.
“Dr. Fraser is the rightful Keeper. It belongs to him now, along with the eight brooches in his possession.”
“How do ye know how many we have?” Elliott asked.
“You have the ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst, diamond, amber, pearl, topaz, and now the torc.”
Elliott took a step toward the warriors. “Are ye the evil presence I’ve felt for years?”
“We are not evil, Dr. Fraser. What you sensed was our fear for you. Once the brooches started coming to you, your power grew. The more power, the more danger to you.”
Elliott’s posture shifted, his shoulders slumping. “I knew I had to protect the brooches at all costs, but I didn’t know why at first.”
The warrior next to the one who had already spoken said, in a voice just as booming, “As soon as you picked up Baby Kitherina with the ruby brooch pinned to her dress, you knew the truth, Dr. Fraser. You knew you would always protect her and the ruby she wore.”
“Since ye know our names, what are yers?” David asked.
“I am Erik,” the warrior in the middle said.
The warrior who had also spoken said, “I am known as Bjørn.” He pointed to his right. “He is Birger.”
Erik pointed to his left. “This is Forde, and to his left is Arne. We are the Council. We are not your enemies.” Erik put down his sword with the handle facing away from him, and the other warriors did the same. “We are not here to harm you. We are here to help you.”
Penny holstered her weapon. “Where do you live?”
Erik gestured. “Here, in the year 1100 AD.”
“I doubt your settlement speaks English. Where’d you learn the language?” Rick asked, still aiming his weapon at them.
“We have traveled many times through the centuries and have learned your language and culture.” Erik sat on the ground and crossed his legs, then gestured to the others to join him.
Penny sat, drawn to the warriors in a way she couldn’t explain. Tavis sat on one side of her, Elliott on the other. Rick and David remained standing, guns in hand.
“Have ye engineered the brooches to come to me?” Elliott asked.
“We have done what we could,” Bjørn said, “but we are limited.”
“Did you send me to Barataria?” Penny asked.
“No,” Erik said. “The brooches match the traveler with a purpose. The chant engraved on the inside of the stones isn’t visible to everyone. If you are not meant to travel, you will not see the engraving.”
The smell of peat was heavy in the air, and it seemed as if they were in a bubble that silenced the roar of the wind and waves. The warriors’ presence was overwhelming, but no longer threatening, and when she looked into Erik’s eyes, she knew she had seen him before. Not in her vision…but at Barataria.
“You were there among the pirates. Weren’t you?” she asked.
Erik nodded. “As I said, we are limited to how much we can interfere, but I made sure they did not find your knife.”
Elliott propped his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands. “How many brooches are there?”
Erik twirled the tip of his beard as if deciding how to answer. After several moments he replied, “Twenty-five.”
“Shit,” Rick said. “Where are they? In a drawer? Buried in the ground? Destroyed?”
“They will make their way to you eventually,” Bjørn said, “unless the Illuminati find them first.”
“But only twelve are needed to open the door in the cave,” Elliott said. “What happens then?”
“You are correct about needing twelve to fill the slots around the door, but without the torc, it will not open,” Erik said. “Once you reach the other side, the rest of your questions will be answered.”
David stepped closer with his weapon still drawn. “That’s rather cryptic, don’t ye think?”
“It is an additional way to protect the knowledge,” Erik said. “If someone else gets twelve plus the torc, they will be able to go through the door and receive the knowledge, and only those privileged few can discover it.”
“We’ll protect the door. No one will get near it,” Rick said.
“The door beneath Fraser Castle is not the only one,” Erik said.
Rick’s breath hitched. “Shit! How many are there?”
Erik tapped his scarred fingers together, then stopped and said, “I cannot tell you the number of doors or their locations, but the one beneath the castle is the oldest.”
“You’re beginning to sound like a broken record,” Rick said.
Bjørn responded. “You must understand our position, Mr. O’Grady.”
Even though he was standing behind her, Penny sensed Rick’s sudden shift of position.
“How the hell do you know my name?”
“We know your family as well as Mr. McBain’s, and the families of the others on the airplane awaiting your return, and also the extended family members in Virginia.”
“You seem to be all-knowing. Are you God?” Penny didn’t believe any of them were, but they were sure acting godlike.
“No, we are men, with little control over the world, and because we are men and not all-knowing, we didn’t know if the Illuminati knew about the torc,” Erik said.
“What’s the purpose of the brooches?” Rick asked.
“You will learn all—”
“When we have a majority and get to the other side,” R
ick finished Erik’s sentence. “Do you know how frustrating it is to be with men who have answers to our questions but won’t tell us?”
“Tell me this, Mr. O’Grady,” Erik said. “If you had all the answers, would you fight harder to obtain the other brooches to protect what you had? Is there anything you would not do to keep the Illuminati from gaining control? You struggled with a simple theft when you broke into the museum, and you were also furious with Dr. Fraser for digging up the Viking coins and jewelry, keeping the rightful owners from their discoveries. If I told you that you have to kill, steal, and lie—would you?’
“I did worse while trying to find and protect Penny. Why wouldn’t I do that to protect the brooches?” Rick asked.
“It is easier to kill the enemy on the battlefield, but would your heart allow you to commit cold-blooded murder, even for the brooches? You are men and women of honor who would rebel against that, but your enemy will not.”
Penny didn’t like that idea any more than Rick, and honestly had no idea how far she would go. She wanted to believe she would take the moral high ground. But would she?
Elliott changed the subject. “Why were the brooches ever dispersed?
Arne leaned forward. “In our time, Dr. Fraser, the Council and the Keeper had control over all the stones. When the Keeper died, we had them made into brooches to keep them safe. When we could no longer guarantee their safety, we appointed six Guardians and gave each Guardian four brooches.”
“Why didn’t ye just appoint another Keeper?” David asked.
“If we could, we would have done so. But Keepers are not appointed. They are anointed, as Dr. Fraser has been. And because David and Wilhelmina have both seen visions, the two of you will preside on his Council, as well as Mr. O’Grady. We believe he will serve as a moral compass.”
“Do ye think we are amoral people?” Elliott asked.
“You would not have been selected if you were. But there needs to be one among you who will caution restraint, even if you choose not to listen.”
“Why me?” Penny asked. “There are others in the family who have more experience with traveling through time than I have.”
“It is not our decision to make,” Erik said. “We did not give you the power to see the visions. That came from the brooches.”
“But you appointed me, so you have the flexibility to appoint others,” Rick said.
“We did not appoint you, Mr. O’Grady. Before we answered your summons, we each had a vision. Mine was of you,” Erik said.
“What were the others?” Elliott asked.
“They are all about Wilhelmina,” Erik said.
“Me? Why?”
“Because you have yet to discover who you are. Are you a warrior? Bride? Mother-to-be? Donor? Friend? Daughter?” Erik asked.
“You were traumatized as a college student,” Bjørn said. “Did the colonel’s death satisfy your need for retribution?”
“You were assaulted during the war and again at Barataria. Have you come to terms with those assaults or your relationship with the pirate Jean Lafitte?” Forde asked.
“What do you want to do with your catering business?” Birger asked. “Do you still believe that career will give you satisfaction?”
Penny gazed at the one warrior who hadn’t spoken and knew in her heart what he was going to ask.
“Can you find a way to come to terms with your mother’s death and your father’s betrayal?” Arne asked.
They had all taken a shot at her, and they all hit a bull’s-eye. “I can’t answer any of you.”
“I believe you can,” Erik said. “It is only fear that is holding you back.”
“I’m not afraid,” she said.
“Then, who are you?” Erik asked again.
“I can’t answer you,” she said. “Not yet.”
Rick knelt at her back and rubbed her neck, her shoulders, her arms. “I know who you are,” he whispered. “You’re mine.” He kissed the top of her head then rose to reclaim his protective stance.
“Sophia saw the vision too,” David said. “I’m not campaigning for her, but she did see what I saw.”
Erik leaned back against the wall, sighing. “Sophia’s gifts are different. She cannot be on the Council. Her grandfather Digby was a Guardian. Through the years, he had to give away three of his brooches, but he held on to one, intending for his granddaughter to take on his responsibility as a Guardian, but he died before he could do it. The brooch was left with his wife to give to Sophia, and when she died, there was no Guardian for the pearl. Sophia could not be both the beneficiary and a Guardian.”
“Is that why James MacKlenna stepped in?” Elliott asked.
“James MacKlenna was a Guardian, but Guardians are not allowed to interfere with brooches that are not under their direct control. He saw Sophia’s desperation, but instead of consulting us, he intervened. If there had been a Guardian of the Pearl, she would have gone home when Mr. Parrino came for her. She almost changed history in a significant way, and that is never allowed.”
“What would you have done if James MacKlenna had consulted you?” Penny asked.
“We would have sent Sophia home. And a Guardian would not have allowed her to travel five times for pleasure.”
“Is there a Guardian of the ruby, amber, amethyst, and topaz?” Elliott asked.
“Yes, he is still living,” Erik said. “And he will sit on the Council if he chooses to reveal himself to you.”
Something sounded weird about this. If he chooses to reveal himself.
Elliott straightened, his jaw tensed, and he looked hard at Erik. “Son of a bitch.” Then he jerked his head toward Tavis and jabbed his finger in the air. “It’s ye, isn’t it lad?”
Tavis nodded. “You sensed it as soon as we met. I saw it in your eyes, but I couldn’t reveal myself until you met the Council.”
“I’ll be damned,” Rick said. “That’s why you were acting so weird last night at the museum. I couldn’t figure out why you insisted on seeing everything.”
“I had to be sure you didn’t have the brooch or the pendant, and when you came out that you had the torc.”
“I need a drink,” Rick said. “But wait a minute. What about my sister? She senses the brooches and the swirling evil. What does that make her?”
“Intuitive,” Erik said. “Nothing more.”
Penny almost laughed. The ancient warrior had a sense of humor. “So there are Guardians and Keepers. Anybody else? Maybe a referee or two?” She unzipped her jacket because it was too tight around her throat. Although it wasn’t really. It was just a damn knot stuck there and getting bigger.
“I have a question for Tavis,” Penny said. “What about your brother?”
“He doesn’t know about the brooches. Our grandfather was a Guardian, and he appointed me to continue the work. My job was probably the easiest. The ruby has been in the MacKlenna family for centuries. The amber was hidden away for almost a hundred and fifty years. The amethyst was broken and powerless until James Cullen activated it by inserting the missing piece, and the topaz has been in the Baird family for several generations.”
“Why didn’t ye collect them all years ago and return them to the Keeper?” David asked.
“There wasn’t a Keeper to return them to,” Tavis said.
“Why not?” Elliott asked.
“We do not know. There hasn’t been a Keeper for four hundred years,” Erik said.
“Wait a minute,” Penny said. “I have two questions. Why were the brooches made, and where does the magic to travel through time come from?”
“You will learn that on the other side,” Erik said.
She rolled her eyes. “I could see that one coming.”
“We thought they were made to bring soul mates together,” David said.
“That is not the purpose, but we want the brooches to stay in the family, and bringing soul mates together guarantees a strong family to protect the stones.”
“Why travel
through time?” she asked.
Erik stood. “You will learn that on the other side.”
Penny pushed to her feet, as did Elliott and Tavis.
“Can we return here and find ye again?” David asked.
“We will answer your summons if we can,” Erik said.
“What does that mean?” Penny asked.
“If you get no response, then you are asking questions that will only be revealed to you on the other side of the door,” Erik said. “Tavis can answer some of your questions, and he can also provide guidance. He has generations of brooch knowledge. Trust him.”
“Mr. MacKlenna told Soph that the stones came from the Vikings, but the Caledonians crafted the brooches from rocks that fell from the sky,” Penny said.
“The Caledonians were a Celtic tribe in Britain and lived during the Iron Age, about 400 BC. That was hundreds of years before the brooches were made. However, goods were traded between the peoples of Northern Britain and the Shetland Islands for centuries, and some of their silverwork survived. Mr. MacKlenna was not completely accurate, but neither was he completely wrong.”
“We haven’t talked much about the powers of the brooches, but I’d like to know why only the diamond returns travelers to almost the moment they left. None of the other brooches have that power,” Rick said.
“The brooches all have different characteristics, but each Guardian was given one brooch that returns travelers to the moment they departed,” Arne said.
“So we have two now,” Rick said. “Which one is it? The ruby doesn’t work like that, and neither does the amber, and no one has tried the amethyst or the topaz.”
“Why did the topaz strand the Fontenots and me in the past?”
Erik approached Penny, and Rick immediately stepped closer to her. Erik took her hand and held it as if it was the most fragile thing in the world, and he rubbed his thick finger over her scar.
“The brooches have never abandoned anyone before. But the topaz has marked you, Wilhelmina. That has not happened before, either.” Erik turned and looked at Bjørn, who gave Erik a slight nod.
“It is a mystical sign of courage, intelligence, and heart.” Erik then ran his fingertip over her ring. “Mr. O’Grady’s faith protects you as well.” He gazed into her eyes and drew a design on her forehead. Then he touched the scar again.
The Topaz Brooch Page 89