“I’m a paragon of human empathy,” Reilly extolled. “A giver to mankind. I save people from themselves, and—”
“You forgot ‘arse,’” Brianagh cut in. “James, please make him better.”
“Sure thing, boss.” He walked up to Aidan and held out his hand. “I’m James, Brianagh’s…well, grandson, many generations removed.”
“Weird,” Brianagh muttered.
“Very,” James agreed. “I’m going to explain everything as I go along, all right? Let me know if you can’t understand me, and I’ll have Brianagh translate.”
“Your Gaelic is very poor,” Aidan agreed.
“And your English sucks,” James replied pleasantly. “Perhaps we can teach each other. As you can see, I’ve stitched up your wound…”
• • •
“Well, someone should tell her…” Reilly looked to Colin.
“Oh, hell no,” Colin replied, holding his hands up and backing away. “No way.”
“Well, don’t look at me.” Reilly shook his head. “I want nothing to do with it.”
Aidan finished his beer and made a face. “This is the worst ale I’ve ever had the misfortune to drink.”
“Try a Guinness,” Reilly suggested. “You’d like that. In fact, I’ll get you one. You can take it with you when you tell Brianagh her news.”
“What news?” Brianagh asked as she walked in the front door. All four men were sitting in the living room, holding a beer—or, in Aidan’s case, an empty bottle. Brianagh placed her grocery bags down and threw her hands on her hips. “You sent me out for groceries so you could figure out who would be telling me something?” she accused. “Spill.” When no one made eye contact with her, Brianagh tapped her foot.
“James is the doctor. He should be the one,” Colin offered helpfully.
“Oh, aye,” Aidan and Reilly agreed quickly, nodding.
“You three are pathetic,” she snapped. “James. Just tell me already.”
He shrugged. “Okay. You’re pregnant. And Aidan, you should ease up on the alcohol, I don’t want any interactions with the medications.”
Brianagh blinked at him. She was positive she didn’t hear him correctly.
“It’s true,” James said to her calmly as he took a pull from his beer. “I can give you a test to prove it, but Colin wouldn’t have been able to pull you away unless the line was in danger. That’s the way we think the legacy works.”
“I can see the legacy working that way,” Colin agreed.
“I am not having four men—who have no children of their own—tell me I’m pregnant.” Brianagh shook her head, stunned. “This cannot be happening.”
“Well, you are married,” Reilly replied.
“Not that!” Bri exclaimed, coloring. “I mean the four of you knowing before I do! I don’t feel any different. So I might not be.”
“Figure out the math, then get back to us,” James replied.
“It’s too soon to know,” Brianagh argued.
“I’ll give you a blood test,” James said with a shrug. “But I’ll need another beer. Anyone need another?”
“Another beer before you stab me with a needle? Really, James?” She glared at him. “And if I was pregnant, it’s none of your business anyway.”
“Oh, I disagree,” Aidan replied seriously. “It’s very much our business. That’s the laird’s heir you’re carrying. And I’ll try that Guinness. It has to be better than this.” He tossed the empty beer bottle onto the table with disgust.
“That’s also my great-great-many-extra-greats grandparent,” Colin chimed in.
“And the reason I’ve dedicated my life to protecting yours,” Reilly added quietly.
Oh. When put that way, Brianagh understood their point.
“You four are going to become overbearing, aren’t you?” She sighed.
• • •
Four days later, Brianagh, Colin, Reilly, and Aidan were dressed in their medieval clothing. Aidan had a bottle of antibiotics stashed somewhere on himself, Colin had tubes of first-aid cream tucked into various pockets Bri had sewn—successfully—into his tunic, and Reilly carried a satchel with food and water. Brianagh was supposed to carry nothing, in case she had to make a run for it. Despite that, she snuck a few Cadbury chocolate bars into her pocket on the inside of her own tunic. She glanced down at herself, wondering if Nioclas would recognize her, dressed as she was. As the dress she was wearing when she arrived was ruined, she was wearing some of Reilly’s clothes.
She wondered what Nioclas would say when he saw her dressed as a man. Erin would no doubt be green with envy when she found out.
“Remember to boil the water before you drink it,” James warned as they approached Dowth.
“Can I drive this beast?” Aidan asked for the umpteenth time.
“No!” Reilly and Colin chorused, again.
“Brianagh, be sure any meat is cooked all the way through, you don’t want to poison the baby,” James continued over them.
“I would tame it, and it would call me its master,” Aidan said with confidence.
“If you shut up about it, I’ll give you one of your very own someday,” Reilly promised, fully aggravated. No one drove his Range Rover.
Ever.
“I’ll take care of Matthew. With the papers signed and verified by the Irish government, we shouldn’t have any issues,” James assured Brianagh.
“You wouldn’t be able to handle this,” Reilly scoffed, talking over James. “You can barely handle your own horse.”
“My horse has never thrown me,” Aidan pointed out smugly.
“I was shot with an arrow!” Reilly exclaimed indignantly.
“Which I stitched for you,” James cut in before continuing his lecture to Bri.
“Are they going to argue like this the entire time?” Colin asked Brianagh.
She shrugged, amused.
“…and really, Bri, once you get into the second trimester, stay off any horses,” James advised.
“This is the most ridiculous ride I’ve ever taken,” Brianagh announced.
“…sometimes morning sickness returns in the third trimester, but it should be temporary.”
“My horse has the good sense to keep me on his back until we arrive at a safe place!” Aidan exclaimed.
“Is anyone else hungry?” Colin asked.
Brianagh hoped one of them had brought aspirin. It was going to be a long journey—and she didn’t mean the time travel.
They piled out of the car like clowns in a circus and James immediately wrapped Bri in a bear hug. “Be safe.” He smiled at her, then ruffled her hair. “More importantly, be happy.”
She felt the tears threaten.
“First trimester emotion,” James said knowingly. She smacked him on the shoulder, and he grinned. He kissed her and said his goodbyes to the others.
Brianagh made her way to the rocks for what she hoped to be her last time. She was ready to save Nioclas.
Chapter 28
Donovan’s men had been waiting for them when Bri, Aidan, Colin, and Reilly made their way toward the MacWilliam castle. After a grueling two days of travel on foot, the horses and additional men provided not only relief, but speed.
Brianagh was grateful for both, but she was anxious to get to Nioclas. She paced Donovan’s hall, listening intently as the four men discussed the events. After a few minutes, Erin joined her silently, linking her arm through Brianagh’s.
“Burke is focused on finding Brianagh.” Donovan scratched his chin. “I believe he thinks Nick knows but isn’t talking.”
“You think he’s torturing him?” Colin asked.
“Without a doubt,” Aidan replied grimly. “If Burke’s had him for the two weeks we’ve been gone, I’m unsure as to how we’ll find Nick. He’ll be alive but perhaps not for long.”
Reilly held up his hands. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Start at the beginning, Maguire, and tell us what you know.”
“After I returned t
o the MacWilliam castle, I realized no one had heard from Aidan or Nick,” Donovan said. “I knew you were in some trouble then, if you hadn’t been able to send a missive. Erin and I made haste for here so I could gather my men to retaliate. But then I received word that Burke arrived at the castle more than a week ago, with Nick bound and gagged. Burke claims he had all Nick’s guardsmen killed, and as we haven’t seen them, despite our scouting, he may be telling the truth.” Donovan shook his head in disgust. “Burke claims he left the bodies where they fell because there was no clan to send them to, as the MacWilliams were now Burkes.”
“Let me guess,” Reilly said. “He then made the remainder of the clan swear fealty or die?”
Donovan nodded. “Most of the elders are dead for that reason. Some of the villagers as well.”
“Bloody business,” Colin muttered. “So what’s in it for him? Why is he so bent on getting Brianagh, now that he has his power and clan back?”
Donovan shrugged. “Burke is not a stupid man. Everything he does is for a reason—but he may well be the only one who knows what it is.”
“I know what he wants.” Brianagh swallowed hard and stopped pacing. “He wants the power of the legacy. He wants control not only over a clan, but over time itself.”
“The havoc he would wreak upon history…” Colin said. “That would be the ultimate power, wouldn’t it?”
“He believes that I can move time,” she continued. “If he only knew that I couldn’t, that it is my children…well, perhaps it’s a good thing that he believes that. It might be the only thing keeping Nioclas alive.”
“You don’t know?” Erin asked suddenly. She turned accusing eyes on Reilly. “She doesn’t know?”
“Know what?” Aidan and Brianagh chorused.
“How would you know?” Reilly asked suspiciously.
Erin gulped. “I-I saw the missive.”
Brianagh didn’t bother to hide her exasperation. “Erin, explain what you’re talking about. What missive? What don’t I know?”
“Reilly wrote a missive to Nick—it was definitely in some sort of code, but being as I’d already overheard Reilly and Nick discussing how you’re truly the O’Rourke legacy, I figured out the rest quickly. Bri, not only can you travel through time, but you can actually bend it to your will.”
“He was supposed to burn that,” Reilly said darkly. “If that got into the wrong hands—”
“Oh, I’m sure he did burn it,” Erin replied airily. “I just got to it before him.”
“Your curiosity knows no bounds,” Aidan said, slightly awed.
Brianagh walked up to Reilly and pinched his arm as hard as she could.
“Ow! What the—”
“Tell me everything. Now, Reilly.” She put her face within inches of his. “Everything. Now.”
Reilly rubbed his arm and pouted. “Well, yeah, I mean, sure you have the ability to do it…”
“You opened the wall,” Colin reminded her. “Remember? When I was dragging MacWilliam, my hands weren’t free. When you placed your hands on the wall, you gave it the power to go where you wanted.”
“I just wanted to get to Reilly,” she replied.
“And Reilly knew that, which is why he had the Range Rover ready and James knew what was going on,” Colin explained.
“The pieces fit, but you led me to believe that I was stuck in the future! Without any way to get back to Nioclas!”
“I didn’t want you to put the baby at risk by doing something colossally stupid,” Reilly shot back. “I know you better than you know yourself!”
“Wait—baby?” Erin gasped. “Bri, you’re with child?”
She gave an impatient nod. “Yes, but just barely.”
Donovan held up his hands to silence them. “I don’t understand much of what you’re saying, but what I’m gathering is that Lady Brianagh can move time to her will, and she’s carrying the MacWilliam heir.”
“This is insane,” Brianagh muttered, beginning to pace again.
“We’ve wasted enough time,” Aidan said in agreement. “All this can wait until after we rescue my brother. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right? I mean, Burke doesn’t have many who are loyal to him.”
“He has the Kildares,” Donovan cut in. “He and Kildare made a binding agreement that, in the event Kildare died during battle, Burke would assume control of the clan until a battle for the lairdship could be arranged.”
“Clever bastard,” Aidan growled. “The Kildares will swear loyalty to anyone for the right price.”
“Any price,” Donovan agreed. “They’re no better than mercenaries. Right now, there’s at least two score of Kildare men at the castle.”
“Then we’d best figure out how to get past them and rescue my husband, don’t you think?” Brianagh arched a brow.
“Aye,” Donovan replied. “Let’s plan our attack.”
• • •
Dawn’s light filtered through the small window Nioclas himself built, two stories above his head. He cursed himself and his foresight to create an inescapable dungeon.
The heavy locks on the gate that led up the stairs to the lists were forged by his own blacksmith not two years ago. The key, once upon his own belt, now rested with his insane father, whose daily joy had become torturing Nioclas for information about Aidan and Brianagh’s whereabouts.
Nioclas didn’t know for certain where his wife and brother went, but he did hope they were safe. Burke claimed he was still looking for them, but Nioclas couldn’t know for certain. His sire enjoyed nothing more than instilling fear in his prisoners—or his clansmen.
Looking over at the latest to join him, Nioclas sighed. Kane’s nose would never be the same and he may never walk the same again, either.
“My laird,” Kane began, looking up at the small window, “if I am to die this day, I ask a favor.”
“Of course.”
“If you are able, tell Keela that I love her.”
“You’ll be able to tell her yourself,” Nioclas replied, ignoring the pain that sliced across his ribs when he breathed too deeply. “We’ll make it through this, clansman.”
Kane shook his head. “I’ll be lucky—I’ll die a swift death by sword. You, however—he’s killing you slowly. We all know it, my laird. He’s brought in the villagers and already killed five of them for speaking out against him. He’s placed men around the gates to keep us from escaping. Any attempt is met with immediate death.” Kane shuddered. “I fear for the women most, though.”
Nioclas felt the familiar rage and the ensuing helplessness. He was chained to the wall, wrists hung above his head, feet shackled to posts in the floor. Kane had already tried to free him, but the shackles were padlocked. Nioclas’s own nose was broken from his sire’s fist, and his back was torn apart by his whip.
“My biggest mistake was to underestimate the number of men Burke gathered,” Nioclas said, venom in his voice. “He’s no doubt paying them from my coffers.”
“No doubt,” Kane agreed. “If I had just fought harder…”
“Not a good road to travel, my friend,” Nioclas said. “Be brave, and if you must die, do it as a warrior without regret.”
Kane dropped his chin to his chest. “He threatened to kill her if I didn’t put my sword down.” His tortured expression nearly broke Nioclas.
“You must protect what is yours…at all costs.”
“Forgive me,” Kane whispered.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Nioclas replied heavily. “If I were in your position, I’d have done the same. There is no shame in protecting those we love.”
They fell silent as the light from the lists filtered down the stairs through the locked gate. And, as he had every morning since Burke’s forty men overpowered him and his seven, Nioclas hoped Aidan and Brianagh were as far away from the castle as possible.
A shadow appeared from the stairs. Tensing, Kane and Nioclas watched it come closer, then silently eyed the hooded, cloaked man as he toyed with, then
popped open the padlock.
He eased the gate open quietly, then stepped into the dungeon and removed the hood of his cloak—and both men stared in shock.
“Saints above, Brianagh, what are you wearing?” Nioclas choked out.
“You’ve been stuck in here for two weeks and that’s the first thing you come up with?” she asked. She rushed over to him and inspected the shackles around his wrists. “I can’t wait to tell Erin. Do you think Donovan would mind her in clothes like this?”
His gaze raked her from head to toe. From what he could see, she was dressed as a man, her leggings hugging the lines of her shapely legs. His mouth dried as she reached up to test the chains, and the cloak slipped down her shoulder as the fastening loosened.
She caught sight of his expression and she let out a laugh. “If you’re having wicked thoughts, then I have no doubt of your recovery from whatever damage Burke’s inflicted. Kane, I need your help.”
“Anything, my lady,” he said quickly, at her side in an instant.
“I need you to get on your hands and knees so I can climb onto your back, and use it as a step, I can’t reach the locks to break them,” she explained. The words were barely out of her mouth before he complied.
Stepping on him carefully, she balanced herself, then pulled a long pin from her coil of hair and went to work on Nioclas’s right wrist.
“Where did you learn such a skill?” Nioclas demanded.
Brianagh shot him a smile. “I’ll let you guess, my laird.”
“Remind me to thank her,” he replied as she freed his wrist, then started in on the other.
“Sure.” Brianagh concentrated on the lock. When it, too, popped effortlessly, she hopped off Kane and went to work on the chains at his feet. “I think Erin would be very pleased to hear you grovel.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far,” Nioclas replied, rubbing his wrists. “Is there a plan?”
“Yes,” she said, handing Kane a dagger from inside her cloak. “Here, you’ll need this until you can get your sword back.” To Nioclas, she said, “We weren’t sure what state we’d find you in, so you’re not exactly a part of the plans. There is someone at the top of the stairs that you won’t recognize—his name is Colin.”
The Winter Laird Page 23