The Campbell chuckled darkly. "I am afraid you'll be disappointed if you think that will kill me." He laughed again, an evil, frightening sound, as he gathered both of her hands in his, successfully restraining her. He ran his eyes down her body, and the lust returned. She could feel the evidence against her hip. "You are beautiful, my dear. I hope your Highlander hears how I tasted you, and how I enjoyed your favors. It will be the start of a beautiful war."
Suddenly, his weight was gone. She heard the thud as he landed on the ground. Squinting in the dark, Mackenzie made out the shape of another man in the room. He was standing above the Campbell, sword drawn. She recognized his stance, the way he held his sword; it was Connor. She could tell without seeing his face. Fumbling to cover herself, Mackenzie 388
tried to pull her stays back up. They now resembled a strapless corset. Her sark stayed on one shoulder, but the other was fluttering loosely around the top of her stays. The gown was a lost cause; there was no salvaging the sleeve, so she pulled her arm out and tied both of the sleeves around her waist, 90s grunge style. In the seconds that Mackenzie had fixed her clothing, Connor had his sword at the Campbell's throat. Still, ever arrogant, the Campbell taunted him and goaded him endlessly. He still thought he could win.
This scene was too familiar. Mackenzie vaguely remembered a dream from a few weeks back. Connor and the Campbell fighting in a dark room with arched ceilings. This is where the fire had come into play. Oh no! Connor!
"Connor, no! Let him go!" She distracted Connor enough that he stepped back just as a spray of fire flew from the Campbell's fingertips barely missing where he had just stood.
"You protect him?" Connor snarled, his disgust apparent.
She didn't have time to explain. He obviously couldn't tell that she was protecting him, not the Campbell. When the Campbell turned on her, he was smiling. It was the cold smile of a snake, and it chilled her to her soul.
"I knew you'd warm up to me, my dear."
Mackenzie glared, but kept silent. She needed to think.
And fast. The Campbell reached for her again, but she sidestepped his grasp. She could see the glint of her dagger on the floor, but it was on the other side of Connor and the Campbell. There was no way she could get to it without attracting attention to what she was doing. Meanwhile the Campbell had grabbed Mackenzie's upper arm in a painfully 389
tight grip and yanked her up against his body, intent on pressing his mouth to hers once more. This time Mackenzie let him, and she opened her mouth to his thin, cold lips. The second his tongue slithered into her mouth she bit down as hard as she could, until she tasted blood. When she released him, he backhanded her. It snapped her head back, and the force of it threw her to the floor. When he went to reach for her again, Connor swung his sword down, slicing into his arm, but the man didn't flinch, or bleed, or anything! Instead he laughed, and she saw his wound heal in a fashion any movie special effects director would envy.
What manner of man was he? He wasn't. He had sold his soul to the dark forces, and in return had become indestructible. No wonder he had been so arrogant. He knew he couldn't be killed. The glint of the dagger drew her gaze again. Except by her dagger! Her blood had always been the key, and the sorcerers had used her blood to charm that dagger so it would succeed where Connor could not. She had to reach it!
Connor and the Campbell were fighting. Well, Connor was hacking at him, but he wasn't falling or bleeding.
Mackenzie made a run for it, and prayed this would work.
She made it to her dagger just in time; the Campbell had gotten bored letting Connor chop at his impenetrable skin, and threw fire at him once more. Mackenzie brought the dagger down and into his shoulder. It worked! The scream he let had her covering her ears, and backing away.
"It's not possible!" he screeched. He turned wild, frenzied eyes on Mackenzie and howled with rage. "How? How did you 390
do it?" He was advancing on her with wild eyes. "I am invincible. I am a god. No mortal has the power to destroy me!" He was raving.
Mackenzie waited for him to close the distance between them and swung the dagger once more, aiming for his heart, but he pivoted out of the way and she grazed his upper arm.
Once again he howled as if he was being burned. And then he did something truly surprising: he turned and fled.
Mackenzie was cradling her arm for some of his blood had spattered onto her skin; it felt as if it was melting the flesh from bone. But she had to go after him.
"Mackenzie, I—-" Connor began, but Mackenzie didn't have time and bolted for the door.
Running past Connor was easier than she'd thought it would be. He let her go. Mackenzie was running on instinct and adrenaline alone, hoping she was following the Campbell's trail. She felt that she was going in circles, and she felt as if every time she climbed a flight of stairs, she never really went up. This was reminding her of a dream as well. She knew she had to be somewhere for something important, but her memory was fading and she couldn't remember where she was supposed to go, or for what? She had slowed her run to a walk as she looked around the suddenly unfamiliar walls.
The voice of Morvern broke through her confusion, though.
"Remember you are here for the Campbell. You must not be distracted. See through his deceptions. You are the Stewart lass, you alone must defeat him. For the good of your people, for the good of your child. You must press on."
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That's right! She was in Urquhart Castle, and she had to find John Campbell. She was the only one who could kill him.
She was no longer confused, but she still didn't know which way to go. Morvern interceded once more. He showed her to the tower stairway. She kept climbing until she reached the balustrade, and she could see her enemy standing with his back to her, his arms raised to the full moon low in the sky.
Her every movement was in slow motion, it was similar to in the Hall. She knew this would be the end of it all. It was as if her vision had centered on the Campbell and everything else was blacked out. She was vaguely aware of someone coming up behind her, but nothing could distract her from her purpose. She walked toward the Campbell, seeing only him and the target his back presented. She would slit his throat.
He hadn't turned at the sound of her approach, but still she walked toward his position. As she came up behind him and raised her dagger, she heard her name called from behind her, but she ignored it. Nothing could sway her from her mission. Stabbing him at the base of the neck, Mackenzie hoped to snap his spine with the blade, but as she pulled the blade out, his blood ran down his back and he turned surprised eyes on her.
He gurgled out an unintelligible response, and managed to say, "How? You should not be seeing me." He staggered to one knee and almost collapsed. He stumbled up and backward until he came to the low wall, his momentum carrying him over.
The Campbell had fallen off the top of his keep, and landed in front of the confused partygoers on the main floor.
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Mackenzie's wide eyes blinked rapidly, and her vision cleared.
The bloodlust was gone, replaced with calm rational thinking.
And the knowledge that someone else was up on the balustrade with her.
Mackenzie stepped as far back as she could from the grisly scene so far below. Turning, she saw Connor, with a look on his face that she had never before seen. She wanted to sit down and cry. She couldn't deal with him. She couldn't deal with him thinking she had betrayed him or their people. She had come to think of them as her people now, too, and she had saved them from the rule of a tyrant who would have killed or enslaved them. Instead of peace, or pride in her accomplishment, she was ready to break. She was so fragile that the idea of confronting Connor, made her hands shake.
She had to get out of here.
Connor caught her arm and swung her around to face him.
His steely eyes bored into hers, seeing everything she had in her soul. Her green eyes filled with unshed tears as she held his gaze. Let him se
e what he wanted, she didn't care anymore.
"How did you do that?"
Mackenzie couldn't answer him.
He shook her slightly in frustration, and asked, "Why did you tell him the location of my men? They were slaughtered like animals! How could you do that? No matter your feelings for me, how could you do that to those innocent people?"
Still she couldn't make her voice work.
"You owe me an explanation!"
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"I don't owe you anything," Mackenzie whispered. "I've given you everything I have, and I've got nothing left to give!
Just let me go, Connor." She'd expended so much energy on trying to defeat the Campbell, that she was spent. Now, she just wanted to survive. She knew her heart wouldn't make it out intact, but she could still spare their child. So she shook his hand off of her arm, and ran.
Mackenzie ran as fast as she could away from Connor, not stopping until she had run down several flights of stairs. Once down the winding staircase, Morvern and Gregor appeared in front of her. Both had huge smiles on their faces; even Gregor, who never smiled. His plain face looked almost attractive when he was happy.
"We knew you could do it," Morvern clasped her hand, the one with the burn marks from the blood, and ran a light touch over her skin. When his hand had passed, the burn was gone.
"Thank you." Mackenzie was rubbing her arm where the burn had been.
"No, my Lady, it is we who thank you." Gregor bowed to her. She had done the impossible, and in turn earned his respect. Not that it mattered, the one person whose opinion meant anything at all was lost to her for all time.
"My Lady, you must come with us now, if you would like to go home."
Home. Where was that again? Home is where the heart is, there's no place like home. Home! Home! Home! It didn't even sound like a real word anymore, home. She was done!
Morvern's ancient face looked shrewdly on her as he asked her, "That is, if you would like to go back to your own time?"
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Mackenzie found her voice and mumbled that she did want to go back to her time; she couldn't bear to say home. She heard footsteps close behind her, and knew it would be Connor. Her eyes flew to Morvern's, pleading with him silently, and he smiled knowingly. He touched her shoulder, and they were suddenly in the Great Hall, chaos reigning around them as people shoved and pushed to catch a glimpse of the Campbell. When they noticed she had entered the room, a hush descended over the crowd. All knew it was she who had killed him. The two wizards led her through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea. As she came up next to them, some people touched her shoulder, her arm, reverently and tentatively.
It was unnerving to see so many people staring at her with such gratitude. Even Liam was looking at her with acknowledgement of her deed. She had to pass him to leave, and as she did, he stopped her with his hand on her shoulder.
"My Lady?"
"Yes?" She still didn't have much volume to her voice after nearly being strangled twice. Fortunately it was dead silent, so she was heard.
"I am sorry for my actions. I was wrong in my judgment of ye. Please accept my apology."
Mackenzie whispered, "Of course, Liam. You were trying to protect your brother." She managed a tiny smile. "No hard feelings."
"You are more generous than I would be, were our places reversed. Thank you."
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She bowed her head, as the tears were threatening to spill, and tried to leave.
"Please, wait."
She looked up at Liam.
"What of my brother?"
"He's on his way down. He's not injured."
"I meant, what of you and my brother?"
"He...he doesn't want me." Her lips trembled as she whispered the words.
"He said that?"
"He didn't have to," Mackenzie barely got the words out, they seemed stuck in her throat.
"And the babe?"
"I am leaving for my" she choked on the word home, and quickly substituted "time." She placed her hand over Liam's which still rested on her shoulder. "Keep him safe for me Liam? And tell him that I wish him only happiness." Her watery eyes met his, as she begged for him to promise.
He was surprised. "Aye, my Lady." Liam dropped to one knee and bowed his head with respect.
One by one, the rest of the audience did the same, with the exception of a few groupings of prisoners being held by Connor's men. Mackenzie was overwhelmed by the reaction of the people.
Morvern's voice crackled through the silence, "We must be on our way. The gate closes at midnight."
Mackenzie expelled a long breath and looked around the room just in time to see Connor entering the room, looking 396
furious. Gasping, she turned away, and followed them out of the keep.
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Chapter Forty One
Connor watched Mackenzie hurry after the two sorcerers.
It tore his heart out of his chest to see her leave. She was walking out of his life forever, and she was taking his child.
The whole room had bowed to her, Connor had been chasing her all over the castle, and she was able to walk away. His brother had even bowed to her! What in blazes was Liam thinking? He despised Mackenzie! Connor made his way over to his brother, and choked out the words he had never wanted to believe.
"You were right Liam, she lied to me and betrayed us all.
She couldn't even stay to face me. She ran like a coward."
"No, she didn't. I was wrong, Connor. She loves you more than you ken, more than I believed. I didna want to understand, but now I do. She saved us all. She saved our clan, and we have our lands back. The Stewart curse is broken, Lord Campbell is dead, and all has been righted.
Surely you must see that? Now go, get your wife back."
"Liam, I canna fathom what you are thinking. She gave him the location of our men! They were slaughtered like animals."
His eyes hardened, but he calmly said, "No, Connor, that was due to a traitor among our men." They shared a knowing look.
"Hamish?"
"Aye. The girl told him nothing. Hurry, brother, find your woman before she goes back to her time."
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"Her time?" Connor was momentarily stunned by what his brother was implying. "Are ye tellin' me you believe her?"
"Aye, brother, I do. I'm sorry I didna believe you from the start. I am surprised that you canna see how she saved your thick neck by killing that sorry excuse for a man."
"She's saved me in more ways than one, Liam," Connor said quietly putting his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Then you must go to her."
Connor stared at his brother for only a fraction of a second more before turning and running out the wide double doors.
His horse was still waiting for him and Connor leaped onto his back and dug in his heels. As he rode, he thought.
When he had seen the Campbell forcing himself on Mackenzie, the red haze of bloodlust clouded his sight and his thought. All he had been able to clearly think was Mine. She's mine. The primal claim he felt over her resonated throughout his body. Without thought, Connor had raced in and ripped the Campbell off of his wife, throwing him across the room.
He had immediately thrown a couple of punches into his face, yet it served only to hurt his hands. It was as if the Campbell had skin of iron. An armor or shield of some sort that allowed no blows to touch him. He had even laughed at Connor, and insulted him further as Connor tried unsuccessfully to breach his shield.
Before he could kill the swine, Mackenzie had placed herself in between them and ordered him to stop. Connor couldn't believe her! She would defend that vile snake? Her betrayal went deeper than he'd originally thought. At that moment, flames shot from the Campbell's fingertips, directly 399
where Connor had been standing. It jogged a memory loose from a few weeks back; the memory of her dream. Mackenzie had been frightened that Connor would die at the hand of the Campbell. Could
that be why she'd placed herself in front of his sword?
After he had thrown Mackenzie to the ground, Connor saw the opportunity and took it. He brought down his mighty sword and sliced through the Campbell's forearm. In a blow that should have severed his forearm, the Campbell didn't even flinch. The dark forces healed him unnaturally, and at that moment, opposite his fight and across the room, Mackenzie had rushed behind the Campbell and picked something up off of the ground. Connor couldn't tell what it was, since he was presently engaged with the Campbell. But Mackenzie drove her dagger directly into his shoulder. Her small dirk found purchase! How had his sword done nothing, but she had made him bleed? The Campbell seemed even more shocked than he. The Campbell turned around and fled like the coward he was. Mackenzie met Connor's eyes briefly, but she too ran out of the room.
He followed her, but stopped short. For there, in the hallway, Mackenzie seemed to be blindly running, and yet she never went anywhere. It was the strangest thing, and suddenly, as if she had been shaken from a spell, she ran up the tower stairs. Connor followed behind at a slower pace, unsure of how to handle the situation. He wasn't certain of anything anymore. When he reached the balustrade, he arrived in time to see Mackenzie kill the Campbell. It had been incredible; she had walked slowly to him and 400
deliberately plunged her small dirk into his neck. He hadn't even fought back. Once she turned from the macabre scene below them, her eyes widened at Connor's presence. After she had noticed him standing there, watching her, she tried to run again. This time he caught her, though, and forced her to meet his gaze.
She had a lot to answer for.
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