The closer he looked into her eyes the more Alan saw. Their magic had intertwined. She nodded and whispered sadly, “Aye, but you are wrong about my death. ‘Tis your death foreseen if we dinnae fulfill this prophecy.”
Shocked, Alan looked closer then pulled back his head abruptly. Her hidden truth had been revealed. “Adlin MacLomain told you of the verra same prophecy!”
Caitriona nodded, tears welling. “I thought at first if I told you it would not be fulfilled. Then, I soon realized that I could not stand to lose you. But if even then I told you, would something shift and it would happen regardless?”
Alan shook his head in annoyance. “You kept yourself from me not for the sake of losing your ability to heal me but because Adlin told you not to lay with me!”
Guilt marred her features for a moment before anger overtook. “‘Twas a wee fib and it did not seem to hold much sway over your actions.” She refastened her cloak. “As before, I think the bigger issue is finding a way to see through this prophecy without losing your life.”
“You mean yours.”
“I mean what Adlin said and he was most clear, ‘twill be yours.”
“Well Fionn Mac Cumhail said ‘twould be yours, lass. I am inclined to believe a god over a wizard.”
Arms crossed over her chest she replied, “I would rather that they are both wrong. Or both right. Because I dinnae want to be without you either way.”
His vexation softened at the look in her eyes. Like him, though frightened and angry, she was determined that they live, that they love. Tartan still in half disarray, he pulled her into his arms. “You will not be without me.” When her lip quivered, he shook his head and again said, “You will not. We are too connected now that we have lain together. I better ken your magic and through it I am part of you. ‘Twill help protect us both. You possess a tremendous amount of power, Caitriona. Do you not think it will lend aid if trouble finds us?”
“‘Tis a much different argument you give me now, Alan. Was it not you who said that I might not be there when trouble finds you?”
He chuckled. “When a lad wants to be inside a lass he will say just about anything. Besides, we did not share this bond then.” The memory of her naked, arching body beneath his started to cloud his thinking so he set her aside and continued dressing. She needed clarity and assurance from him right now. “I mean to keep you Caitriona Devereux and no god nor wizard is going to change that. Prophecies in their own way are much like riddles. They are never as clear as they mean to be. There is gray area to be had in all this and I mean to find it.”
“If ever a gray area can be found, Adlin MacLomain is there,” Caitriona muttered.
Alan had been thinking the very same thing. He couldn’t smother an impish grin. “Have you ever summoned a wizard before?”
Darkness had fallen and nothing but pale moonlight crept into the cave. Caitriona appeared to have gathered her emotions now, a look of renewed determination on her exquisite face. “Only once but ‘twas with my Ma. She needed crow’s blood.”
Alan looked carefully at her. “That sounds like the dark arts.”
Caitriona shrugged. “‘Twas but a bit of bird’s blood. No darker really than pulling forth a wizard.” She arched a brow. “Summoning is, after all, one of those bits of magic that falls into a gray area, is it not?”
It did, which was all the more reason that such a thing should not have been done by a witch and her daughter. Dark magic was not something to be taken lightly. But now was not the time to worry over it. Alan gazed at her one last time in this place. What had happened here would stay with him always…mostly because he intended to repeat it as often as possible.
“There is a wicked gleam in your eyes,” Caitriona said, tucking the satchel of rings in her cloak pocket.
“The thought of keeping you here a while longer holds its appeal.” Alan licked his lips and eyed her. He now knew precisely what that loose cloak covered. This wee lass was the most arousing creature he had ever been near. Yet even as his blood quickened and he could all but taste her on his tongue, Alan knew it was too soon. Her body needed time to heal.
Yet the flare of her eyes and the sultry turn of her lower lip nearly drove him past all good reasoning. His timid little flower would flourish well beneath his care. Had she not already? When her small, lithe body had come alive beneath his, she had quickly and without any worldly experience, drove him insane with near hedonistic desire.
“We will need Stephen’s help to summon, Adlin MacLomain, aye?” She asked, the innocence in her voice wholly on purpose.
Caitriona knew exactly how much self-control he used right now. And she knew precisely how to fuel his need with a single bat of her lash. As it did for him, her knack for flirtation came easily. He unleashed a wide smile aimed right at her. Theirs would never be a dull union. “Aye then. ‘Tis too treacherous. I will carry you back down.”
Eyes round, she shook her head adamantly and started for the ledge.
“You see well in the dark, then?” He asked. Before she could answer he scooped her up, plopping her where he had her before. When she fisted him on the back and cursed he slapped her on the arse. Not enough to sting but enough to nearly arouse himself further. He scowled. The last thing he needed when making this climb was an erection. “Enough, lass.
Alan tuned out her grumblings and moved swiftly. By the time he set her on the ground, her mouth was set and her eyes glaring. She shoved a petite yet surprisingly effective finger at his chest. “Stop stealing my adventure from me, Alan! I can climb as good as any lad, even in the dark.”
“Och, lassie, I willnae deny you that.” He winked. “Let us leave it that I owe you one good adventure in the dark.”
Caitriona shook her head and looked skyward. “Impossible.”
“Seems they like a good gripe after a good romp,” Arianna said with a snicker.
“We always did,” Stephen commented lightheartedly.
The two already had a firing roaring and a pheasant roasting. Alan nodded. “Much thanks for all this.”
Arianna was aglow, her red-blond hair tousled and eyes bright. “How do you fare, lass?”
Caitriona looked anywhere that did not have a set of eyes looking back. “Well. ‘Tis a good location.”
The Broun lass looked up from whence they had come. “And such a braw laddie to carry you up so high. What did you discover when up there?”
Stephen glanced up and then winked at Arianna. “Me thinks she discovered the braw laddie.”
These two were in rare form indeed. But love and lust was in the air and nothing made a Scotsman happier. Alan supposed it had to be her Norman half that turned Caitriona quiet when the jesting began. He took her hand and sat her down next to him in front of the fire. Now was the time to decide exactly how much he intended to tell the other two.
“All of it,” Caitriona said. “They deserve to hear all of it.”
“We do?” Arianna said. An intrigued smile crept on to her face. “And here I thought you meant to keep it all a secret.”
“We do,” Alan said. But he was as Scottish as the next. “Well, at least she does. Myself? I would share—” Caitriona wacked him on the arm and shook her head, lips in a tight little line. He grinned in response. “I guess I will be sharing the prophecy with you.”
But it wasn’t him in the end who shared. Caitriona told both her version and his version of the prophecy. She even went so far as to show them the wooden rings. Each responded differently. Arianna remained speculative where Stephen’s response seemed more remote.
“‘Tis interesting then that you would find yourselves on this necessary journey with us,” Stephen said. “It would almost seem to mean that we are part of the prophecy as well.”
“Aye, it would, because without you, my friend, we would not be able to do what we need to do next,” Alan responded.
Stephen arched a brow in question.
“We need to summon Adlin MacLomain,” Caitriona said.
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The Broun shook his head. “Nay, ‘tis not a good idea.”
Denying them was not an option. If he was going to find a way around this prophecy he needed answers and only Adlin MacLomain could provide them so Alan said, “This seems as good a time as any to repay my kindness.”
Stephen’s brows furrowed. “Was protecting your lass not repaying the kindness enough?”
Alan did not miss the shift in the Broun’s posture or the unconscious flex of his muscles. This lad would give him a good fight if provoked. “I now stand to lose my lass if I dinnae speak with Adlin MacLomain. Do you know of any other way to get him here?”
Stephen’s steady gaze went from Caitriona back to his before it landed on the Defiance. “I could always try to get to him through that. Seek your answers for you.”
“Nay, you will do no such thing,” Arianna said. “‘Tis too risky and we have enough of that ahead as is.”
“She is right,” Alan said. “Besides, we need to speak to him face to face. There is often more truth found in a man’s eyes than in his mouth, aye?”
“And I have eyes in my head as good as yours, Stewart,” Stephen returned. “At least with the Defiance there will be no surprises. With a summoning you open a different gateway altogether and well you know it.”
“I have done one before and no harm came from it,” Caitriona said.
Stephen frowned. “That you know of.”
“I am a mystic. ‘Tis unlikely anything would have got past me without me knowing.”
“And here I thought you free from arrogance,” Stephen muttered.
Anger stirred. “As I thought you kinder by far,” Alan said.
Caitriona put a hand on his arm. “‘Tis only fear that makes him say as much. Not all can have the courage of a highlander.”
“What say you?” Arianna said, voice curt and eyes narrowed.
Caitriona manipulated with finesse. Or at least it felt as much when he was used this adeptly as her tool. “Well, you cannae fault a lass for seeing the truth in things.”
Alan laughed and squeezed her hand. “But we will not use anger or pride to get you to see things our way.” He looked Stephen dead in the eye. “Instead, we will appeal to your sense of logic. You yourself said that one person may or may not be able to travel through this Defiance. That it is weakened greatly. If the best case scenario is that only one can travel, it seems highly improbable that it would then possess enough magic to allow that person to travel back. Am I wrong?”
Stephen did not respond right away. This was a man who liked to weigh all his options most thoroughly. A personality trait a chieftain always respected in another. It meant there was reason and where there was reason there was hope for an amiable outcome.
Eventually, Stephen looked at Arianna. “What think you?”
Alan had to respect a lad who consorted with his lass.
Arianna sighed. “I think as you are the one with magic that you must make this decision without my aid. Know one thing however; I would rather battle whatever might come through this summoning than risk losing you wherever in time to the Defiance.”
Stephen sighed; none too pleased when he looked at Alan and said, “When?”
“Now.”
The Broun looked at Caitriona. “How do we do this, then?”
“Carefully,” she said and stood. “I will need small sticks of equal length and some twine.”
Alan provided the twine and Stephen and Arianna the sticks. With quick, precise movements, Caitriona created a pentacle. “With two wizards present, I will need nothing more than this and the fire.”
Though he knew it necessary, Alan remained troubled. This type of magic had always struck him as far too unpredictable. He had no knowledge of what sort of control it might have over his powers or vice versa. To put Caitriona in the midst of such made matters worse. But what choice did they have?
Caitriona’s eyes met his. “Come, let us do this without pause. Do not overthink.”
He narrowed his eyes. She played his game now. Vixen.
“Arianna, you must stand off some. Then me, Stephen and Alan will stand at equal points around the flame. I will toss the pentacle on the fire. After I do, I will start the summoning. Wizards, a third eye will rise in your vision. This is the eye of the pentacle. ‘Tis the window in which we will look through. Picture Adlin MacLomain. When you see him clearly pull him to you. The sensation will be uncomfortable. That is because of his distress. ‘Tis a rather jarring thing indeed to be pulled against your will.”
“‘Tis no average wizard we pull,” Stephen said. “What is to say he will not destroy us all in the process?”
“Nothing,” she responded evenly. “But, as you say, Adlin is no average wizard but verra powerful. Enough so that I am sure he will know who pulls him.”
It seemed all were in agreement because nothing further was said. Arianna and Stephen exchanged one last long look before she walked to the far side of the cave. The Broun and Stewart took their positions. Caitriona gave them each a nod of assurance then pulled her hood over her head. With a small flick of her wrist she tossed the pentacle onto the center of the flame and began to chant.
“I summon thee to find we three. fero tui invenire possumus tre. Through time and space, I summon thee. Per tempus et spatium, vocat te.”
Her head fell back and her eyes shone such a brilliant blue her face was lost to him. But her chanting continued, the sound drifting further and further away as magic swamped him. His vision dwindled to a pinprick of light. For a moment it fluctuated before expanding in a burst of wind. Still, all he could see was a small oval window. The eye of the pentacle. As instructed, he envisioned Adlin MacLomain. His blue wizened eyes, wiry frame and ever faithful walking stick.
A loud hum sounded from far away and slowly grew closer and closer. The hum shortly turned into a vibration that filled him so completely nausea swamped his gut. Sweat poured down his forehead. His muscles clenched to a point of near excruciating pain. Then, as quickly as it began, it ended. Alan slumped to the floor and tried to gain his bearings. The cave titled and twisted before everything appeared for a moment to be under water. When his vision cleared, so too it seemed, did everyone else’s.
“Bloody hell! What nonsense is this?”
“Adlin?” Came a woman’s frightened voice.
Alan stumbled to his feet and turned. Not to the wizened old mentor he remembered from his youth but to a tall, strapping highlander in the prime of his life and… a lass!
“Adlin?” He said weakly.
The man stared at him, eyes wide. “Alan Stewart! What in God’s name have you done?” His eyes swept around the cave, fury building in his intense blue gaze. “Stephen Broun.” The eyes grew ever wider. “Arianna Broun.” The final devilish glare landed on Caitriona. “And you!”
Alan knew if Adlin went after her in his rage, he would never be able to stop the arch wizard. Thankfully, the lass beside him kept him under barely restrained control with her soft words. “Adlin, they look as confused as us. Don’t hurt them please.”
Her strange accent caught his attention this time. He’d heard that accent before.
“Mildred, they are not confused in the least. These bloody bastards summoned me!” He roared. “And you as well, so it seems!”
“Adlin, please,” Mildred repeated.
Fiery sparks literally shot out from Adlin’s aura as he continued to look from person to person. Nobody said a word for several moments. But Alan needed to get through to him lest he once more focused fully on Caitriona. Besides, the lad deserved an explanation. “‘Tis Fionn Mac Cumhail’s prophecy that brings you here. We need your help if we are to save your clan.”
Though Adlin continued to shake with anger, his breathing seemed to slow some. Giving them all one last long disappointed look, the MacLomain turned to Mildred, his eyes softening as he inspected her thoroughly. “Are you well, lass? ‘Twas most unpleasant. I apologize that you had to experience such.”
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br /> “Yes,” she said, her voice trembling slightly and her skin white. “Are you?”
“Dinnae worry about me.” Adlin sat her on a rock and crouched in front of her, his tone tender as he cupped her face. “The feeling will pass quickly.” He said over his shoulder, “Water.”
Caitriona was there first, skin in hand. Adlin did not bother to look at her but held the skin to Milded’s lips and urged her to drink. He took his time making sure she was well before he finally took a long swig and returned his attention to the others. “Have you any whisky?”
“Aye.” Stephen handed him another skin which he handed to Mildred. “The water nourished. This will soothe.”
After he was convinced she was well, Adlin stood. The wizard paced slowly around the fire, his sharp gaze taking in their surroundings, from the Defiance to the cliff Alan had climbed with Caitriona. There could be no doubt that Adlin felt the power of the oak.
Finally, his gaze turned back to Alan. “There are things I know and things I dinnae. That has always been both my blessing and my curse. I know that I will have a grandson named Iain MacLomain and that he will consider you a friend.” His eyes shot to Stephen. “I know you” Then his eyes moved to Arianna. “And you will also be his allies.” At last his gaze settled on Caitriona. Adlin walked in her direction.
When Alan tried to stop him, Adlin raised a hand in the air and an unseen barrier stopped him. “I willnae hurt her.” He stopped in front of Caitriona. “You are someone I dinnae recognize but will know, eh? ‘Twas also you at the heart of this summoning.” Adlin peered closer and Caitriona leaned back. “Dark arts, that spell, and you executed it flawlessly. But I see no darkness in you. Interesting.”
She pulled back her hood and spoke steadier than Alan thought she would. “My name is Caitriona Devereux but my Da was a Broun. You will meet me many years from now.” Her wide eyes swept over his face, clearly awed at his youthful appearance. “I consider you my friend, Adlin.”
“You meant to summon an old man, aye?”
She nodded. “‘Tis the only way I have ever seen you, my laird.”
Adlin turned from her, his gaze flickering between Stephen and Alan. “And you?”
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