Loving the Highlander

by Janet Chapman

  “Where is it, Quill?” Eric asked, stopping and staring up at the towering cliffs surrounding them. “Where’s the gold?”

  “It’s there, hidden by the falls,” she said, using the cane to point to the far end of the pool. “Just walk behind it.”

  He nudged her forward with his gun. “You go first.”

  “I can’t,” she said, leaning heavily on the cane. “Just let me rest here for a minute.”

  She started to sit down, but Eric grabbed her arm and pulled her along after him. There was a loud snap from Daar’s direction, and Sadie watched in horror as the branch he’d been tugging on broke free and fell on top of him.

  “Who the hell is that?” Eric hissed, turning his gun toward the priest.

  Sadie rapped Eric’s hand with her cane, but he didn’t drop the gun, instead whirling to pull her off balance. At the same time, an angry roar came from the lower end of the pool. Sadie saw Morgan standing with his sword in his hand at the entrance to the grotto.

  And Faol was standing just in front of Morgan, his hackles raised and his teeth bared. Blood slowly oozed from where Eric’s bullet had grazed his chest, but the wound didn’t keep Faol from growling at Eric.

  With his arm now firmly around her neck, Eric started backing away, pulling her deeper into the pool. “I’ll kill her, MacKeage!” he shouted, touching the barrel of his gun to her head. “Slowly walk over to your right, to the cliff wall.”

  “Tàs as,” Morgan hissed at Faol, using his knee to push him to the right. In unison, Morgan and the wolf moved toward the cliff.

  “Remember the magic, girl!” Father Daar shouted.

  Having forgotten about the priest, Eric whirled in his direction, spinning Sadie with him.

  Father Daar pointed a finger at her. “Use it!”

  Sadie was violently turned around again at the sound of a growl, and a gunshot rang out beside her head. Sadie screamed when she saw Morgan, running toward her with his sword raised, fold in half and fall to the ground. Faol lunged from the edge of the pool, and Eric stepped back and fired again.

  Sadie slammed her cane into Eric’s ribs. “No!” she screamed, striking him again, struggling to get free and reach Morgan.

  Faol knocked them both off balance enough that Sadie was able to push Eric away and scramble to the edge of the pool. She reached Morgan just as another gunshot sounded, the bullet ricocheting off the ground beside them. Morgan rolled in a blur of movement, pulling Sadie with him as he grabbed the cane out of her hand.

  He rose to his knees with his back to her, one hand grasping the cane, the other hand covered in blood pressed against his side. He held the cane over his head, pointed it at Eric, and shouted something in Gaelic.

  Lightning suddenly cracked with blinding brilliance through the air, charging the mist with a rainbow of colors. The ground beneath them began to tremble. The cliffs began to groan and rumble. Large chunks of granite broke from the towering walls and fell into the water with thunderous splashes.

  Eric’s gun fired several more times. Light swirled through the grotto, and Sadie could no longer see Eric as he became surrounded by black whorls clawing at him through the mist.

  Sadie screamed, not understanding what was happening.

  Morgan continued to shout, the cane in his hand sparking with blinding energy. The mountain groaned louder, violently shaking as if trying to shrug off the chaos. Huge blocks of granite fell around them. Uprooted trees came crashing down, vibrating the earth with deadly shivers.

  Black fingers chilled with the stench of death swirled past her, the howl of their rage making Sadie’s ears hurt. She saw Eric clearly for one blinding moment, running to where she had told him the gold was, as the fingers reached him, clawing menacingly. She could hear his screams.

  And her own. She could hear the mountain growling as it crashed around them. Morgan turned and pushed her, telling her to run.

  But Sadie couldn’t move.

  Morgan slammed into her, throwing them both back against a large piece of the fallen granite wall. He used his body to cover hers as chunks of debris rained down around them with such relentless violence that she could no longer hear her own screams. The air detonated with the percussion of a sonic boom, and the cane in Morgan’s hand whispered a mournful sigh before it simply dissolved into ash.

  And the chaos suddenly stopped.

  Silence replaced it. The air was still. The earth no longer rumbled, and the sound of the waterfall had ceased.

  Sadie blinked in the dim light of dawn breaking over the summit of Fraser Mountain and looked past Morgan’s shoulder. Destruction lay everywhere like a volcanic eruption. A gaping hole had opened several hundred yards deep into the mountain, and the sharp cliffs that had formed the grotto now lay crumbled into talus. The waterfall had been sealed off, the gold and most of the pool now deeply buried beneath boulders. The giant trees, most of them uprooted, some of them still standing but with their tops snapped off, littered the ground like discarded toothpicks.

  The destruction was complete.

  “Morgan!” she screamed, grabbing his shoulders and wiggling out from under his limp body. “Morgan!” she repeated, shaking him. “Answer me!”

  There was a cut on his head, but his side was bubbling red with blood from one tiny hole from Eric’s bullet. More blood spread at the ground beneath him, soaking his shirt all the way down to his pants. His eyes were closed. His breathing was shallow. His face was pale as death.

  Sadie dug at the boulders pinning his legs, whimpering with frustration when she couldn’t budge them.

  Father Daar stumbled over and knelt beside them.

  “Do something!” Sadie shouted at him. “Use your magic!”

  “I have none!” Daar snapped back, adding his own weight to hers. “It was used up in the destruction.”

  Sadie spotted Morgan’s sword lying beside him. She grabbed it and started prying at the boulders.

  The sword suddenly broke, sending both Sadie and Father Daar stumbling backward. Sadie lifted the hilt that she was still holding, staring in horror at what she had done.

  “Oh my God. I broke his sword.”

  She scrambled back and knelt down to cup Morgan’s face. “Hold on, my love,” she whispered, touching her lips to his ear. “You hold on,” she ordered when he didn’t respond.

  Sadie was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and pushed away so violently that she swallowed her gasp. A tall, dark-haired giant with eyes the exact same color as Morgan’s replaced her at Morgan’s head, running a large hand over her husband’s face.

  “We’ll have you out in a minute,” the stranger said, putting his shoulder into the larger of the two boulders.

  Callum suddenly appeared and set his own shoulder to the rock, both men grunting and straining and cursing. Sadie sat on the ground and placed her feet just below their hands to add her own strength. Even Father Daar used smaller rocks to hold up the boulder each time it moved.

  The stranger stopped, catching his breath, and looked at the situation. He walked to the back of the rock and started working, throwing debris out of the way. Callum found a stout branch and set it to pry against the boulder, only to stop suddenly and lift out the broken tip of Morgan’s sword.

  “I hope ya can run fast,” Callum said. “Because just as soon as Morgan is well enough to stand, he’ll come after you.”

  “Oh, please hurry,” Sadie whispered. “He’s bleeding to death.” She turned to the priest. “Isn’t there something you can do?”

  Both Callum and the stranger—Sadie realized he was Morgan’s brother, Greylen MacKeage—looked at the priest with Sadie. Father Daar slowly shook his head. “My staff was destroyed, and so was the waterfall. There’s nothing left.”

  Faol suddenly appeared, limping over and washing Morgan’s face, whining and pawing at the boulder.

  “Get that beast away from him,” Greylen said harshly, moving to kick the wolf.

  “Nay,” Father Daar said. “He’s only
worried about his son.”

  “His son?” Greylen whispered, his face paling as he snapped his eyes back to the priest.

  Daar turned red in the face. “I’m guessing, MacKeage. But I have a notion Duncan’s been visiting us this summer,” he said, waving at the wolf.

  All four of them turned to stare at Faol, who was now looking at them with unblinking green eyes. He whined again and pushed at the boulder with his nose.

  Greylen and Callum went back to work. They were suddenly joined by another pair of large, strong-looking hands, and Sadie looked up to see an older man, with red hair and graying beard, putting his weight into the boulder.

  “Ian,” Greylen said. “Be ready to pull him out the moment there’s room. Woman,” he snapped, looking at her. “Help him.”

  Sadie quickly moved more debris out of Ian’s way, making room for Morgan to be pulled free. With a lot of grunting and another fair amount of cursing, Callum and Greylen put their backs into the task. The boulder moved mere inches, and Ian roughly pulled Morgan free of his prison, continuing to drag him until his feet were clear of the boulder.

  Sadie immediately crawled to Morgan and ripped open his shirt. Blood gushed into her hands.

  Greylen grabbed her by the shoulders again and roughly set her to the side. “You’ve done enough to him. Get her out of here, Daar.”

  There was such anger emanating from Morgan’s older brother that Sadie backed away on her own. She wiped her husband’s blood on her pants and turned to Father Daar.

  “There has to be something we can do. What about the magical water? Th-that puddle’s still shimmering.”

  The priest slowly made his way to the puddle, bent down, and stuck his finger in the water. He looked up to where he’d been standing when she and Eric had arrived. Sadie followed his gaze. The cherry tree he’d been trying to break was splintered into a thousand pieces. He looked back at her.

  “You can get there better than me, girl,” he whispered. “Go look for a cherry burl in that mess. The tree’s been growing in blessed water for more than two years now. Maybe some of the magic is hiding there.”

  Sadie crawled over the rocks to the far edge of what had once been the pool.

  “Find a big burl!” the priest shouted. “From the root if ya can.”

  It took all of her strength, but Sadie was able to dig a knot free from the roots of the cherry tree. She hurried back to Father Daar and handed him the small piece of wood.

  “This is all I could find,” she whispered, anxiously glancing toward Morgan.

  Greylen had taken off his shirt and wrapped it around Morgan’s wound. He was now checking Morgan’s legs for broken bones. Sadie looked back at the priest.

  He was frowning. “I don’t think it’s enough,” he said, sadly shaking his head. “It’s wanting the strength of the water and my old staff. Already I can feel it losing its vitality.”

  Sadie reached out and touched his arm. “Please. We have to do something. We’ll never get Morgan to town in time.”

  The moment she touched him, Daar’s eyes widened in surprise. He covered her hand with his own, his mouth suddenly lifting into a smile.

  “It’s in you, girl,” he said in a voice filled with awe. He turned to face her and touched her with both hands, holding the knot of cherrywood against her skin. “There’s magic left. It’s here,” he said, turning her right hand palm up. “In you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When ya were healed,” he told her, rubbing her unscarred palm with his finger. “The burl dissolved because its energy went into you.”

  “And—and I can give it back?”

  “Aye,” he said, looking into her eyes. “Ya can.”

  “And I can heal Morgan?”

  “Aye. I’m thinking it should be possible.”

  That was all she needed to know. Sadie jumped up and ran to her husband, pushing her way past his lethal-looking brother. Greylen stood up, took hold of her shoulders, and shook her.

  “Ya’ve done enough,” he snapped.

  “I can do more!” she shouted, giving him a direct glare. “I have the wizard’s magic in me.”

  He released her as if burned, stepping away and looking at the priest who had walked up beside them. Father Daar nodded.

  “She has, MacKeage,” Daar confirmed. “Your brother healed her with my own magic. She’s carrying the energy of my staff in her body.”

  Greylen looked torn between wanting to believe it was possible and not wanting to let her anywhere near his brother.

  “Please. Bring him over to the water,” she entreated, taking the small cherry knot from Father Daar and walking to the water herself. “At least let me try,” she added, holding out her hand. “He—he’s my husband.”

  Again, Father Daar nodded confirmation to Greylen. “Aye, MacKeage. I married them myself just yesterday.”

  Greylen scanned the destruction around them, then looked down at his dying brother. He bent and picked Morgan up and carried him to the small puddle of water. Callum and Ian quietly followed. Faol trotted past her and around the puddle and lay down with a whine, his nose touching the water.

  Sadie stepped into the puddle and sat down, holding open her arms to receive Morgan. Greylen gently settled him on her lap.

  Father Daar came over and crouched beside her. “There’s just one wee little problem, Mercedes,” he whispered.

  Greylen and Callum and Ian leaned closer to hear what the priest was saying.

  “What’s that, Father?” Sadie asked, not caring if they did hear.

  “The magic…well…I don’t know what will happen to ya, when ya give it up to your husband.”

  Sadie snapped her gaze to his. “Will I go back to when I was shot?”

  Father Daar nodded hesitantly. “Aye, that is possible. But I don’t really know.” He shrugged. “I can’t predict what the energy will do when passed through a mortal.”

  Sadie realized all three men standing over her were collectively holding their breath, waiting for her decision. They couldn’t know that there simply was no decision to make. She didn’t care if she bled to death right here in this puddle. She was not letting Morgan die.

  She took the cherry knot and held it against Morgan’s chest, brushing the hair back from his face with her other hand.

  “No, girl. Hold the burl with your right hand,” Father Daar instructed. “That will have the most powerful energy.”

  Sadie switched hands but hesitated, holding the knot just off Morgan.

  “Wh-what will happen?” she whispered. “How do I know I won’t kill him? Look what happened to this beautiful place when Morgan had your cane. What if all I create is just more destruction?”

  Father Daar was shaking his head before she finished her question. “The wood is only a conductor of energy, Mercedes. Morgan was desperate and angry when he held the cane, and it was his wrath the magic brought down on us. But you’re yearning for something good. Ya won’t kill him.”

  Sadie set the knot of cherrywood over Morgan’s wound, closed her eyes, and wished with all her heart for him to be healed.

  The palm of her right hand suddenly started to warm. Light arced around her, filling her head with colors. She started to tremble as her whole body tightened with prickly heat. She could hear the blood rushing through her veins, feel it pulsing down her arm and into her hand, smell the halo of ozone that suddenly wafted around her.

  Her belly churned. Her back felt on fire, the intense heat shooting through her middle. A sharp pain stabbed down the length of her left arm. Her lungs and ribs felt crushed.

  She could feel her flesh burning, almost smell it.

  A hand touched her shoulder, and a voice whispered beside her ear. “Send it into him, Mercedes,” Father Daar instructed from a great distance. “Push, girl. Send the energy to Morgan.”

  Sadie concentrated on moving the heat. She held her palm fiercely against Morgan’s side, pushing the knot of wood into his wound. Fire shot through he
r body. Her muscles trembled. Sadie fought not to lose consciousness, to keep the energy flowing to Morgan.

  And slowly, ever so slowly, his heartbeat grew stronger.

  And that made her stronger.

  Sadie focused her thoughts. She pictured Morgan being healthy in her mind’s eye, saw him laughing, glowing with the fire of passion as he made love to her. She saw him swimming naked in the lake, felt his patience even when he was angry with her. And she heard him calling her gràineag in a tone that was anything but endearing.

  And Sadie sent him her love.

  The green light that had faded in the destructive storm suddenly flashed and throbbed around her, sparking to a brilliant white before settling back into the gentle and steady glow of winter spruce.

  “I had a dream,” came Morgan’s whispered voice.

  Sadie pulled the sleeve of her shirt over her right hand and brushed the hair from his face as she smiled down at him.

  “Did you see your mother and father?” she asked softly.

  “My mum,” he answered. “Da wasn’t there.”

  Because he’s here, Sadie thought to herself, peeking at the wolf who now had his nose tucked firmly against Morgan’s arm.

  “I’m so sleepy, wife,” Morgan muttered, closing his eyes.

  “Then sleep, husband,” she whispered, stroking his chest in comforting circles. “And know that I love you.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Daar sat on a rock in the middle of the destroyed and deserted grotto and glared at the rubble created by Morgan’s desperate attempt to save his wife’s life.

  It seemed all the magic was not gone. He could still feel something quietly humming, energizing the air. The wizard kicked the splinters of cherrywood at his feet. A small branch from one of the trees that had grown here must have escaped the destruction. He just couldn’t find the damned source of the hum.

  With a weary sigh, Daar sat down on one of the smaller rocks and stared at the dig marks Morgan had made. When the warrior had awakened from his sleep and had been told that Mercedes had run away, Morgan hadn’t flown into a rage as they’d all been expecting. No, he’d simply gotten up, stared at the destruction he’d wrought, and asked what had happened to Eric Hellman.