“When we got in here you two were like this but...” Erin cleared her throat and cocked the corner of her lip. “Let’s just say the four of us saw more of you both than you’d probably like.”
Jackie’s cheeks reddened as she peered around at the clothing tossed around on the cave floor. “Oh, God.”
Erin looked at Darach. “You can thank your dad for flicking his wrist and getting you both dressed so quickly.”
Darach nodded at his father who appeared more troubled than ever.
“I’ve been in your minds and know everything that happened,” Grant said. “I think ‘tis best that we try to find Fionn Mac Cumhail and share this information. For he delivered the three original rings to Chiomara. Those that were given to Brigit when the time was right.” His eyes fell to Jackie’s ring, and he shook his head. “It has long been rumored that a fourth ring was created for Chiomara. But I’ve never heard that she had a sister and the ring was hers. A ring more powerful and dangerous than any other.”
He was about to say more when it flickered.
“Och,” Grant murmured as both black and light bluish gray swirled within the stone at its center. “I dinnae like this in the least.”
Everyone stared at it, confused.
“I thought I saw it flicker black when Jackie and I were at Hamilton Castle,” Darach said.
Jackie's eyes met his. “And I thought I saw it flicker bluish gray before we ended up in Ireland."
“Black to represent Eoghan’s eyes,” Grant said softly. “Bluish gray to represent Darach's.” His frown deepened. “An unnatural love triangle tainted even further by Balor, the Celtic demonic God of Death. A demon verra slighted indeed when Brigit gave Gwendolyn that ring and a soul escaped his clutch.” He looked at Jackie. “Your soul, lass."
“Now I better ken why the Genii Cucullati are assisting the demi-god,” Grant continued. “They gain great respect and power by aiding the demi-god’s master, Balor. As close as a god can get to the Celts’ version of Satan.”
“Damn,” Erin murmured. “This just keeps getting crazier and crazier.”
“Are you telling me that the devil is after my soul?” Jackie whispered.
“’Tis verra possible,” Grant said gently and squeezed her hand. “But ye’ve got quite a powerful champion in Brigit.” He shook his head. “We will figure all this out soon enough. Right now we must focus on the here and now. I just used a tremendous amount of magic to get you back safely. And I suspect the ring senses Eoghan when he’s drawing closer.” He stood. “That means Keir Hamilton likely knows we’re here and time is verra limited.”
He no sooner said it when Niall spoke within their minds. “Trouble comes!”
Grant’s eyes met Darach’s. “Stay with the lass and protect her. Regain your strength. We will return soon.”
“No, I’ll stay,” Erin said. “It seems to me you’re gonna need all the wizards you can get.”
“And at least one of them needs to stay with Jackie,” Grant said. “She’s far too vulnerable. Though you and Rònan cannae shift here, you’re a strong warrior, Erin. Come with us.”
Erin nodded before she looked at Jackie. “Sit tight. It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, go. Protect Robert and William,” she said, voice stronger than he expected. “We’re right behind you.”
The second they left, Jackie rested her cheek and a shaky hand against Darach’s chest, whispering, “I just need a sec. I feel like I just ran ten marathons in a row.”
“You did one way or another.” He stroked her hair, so damn grateful she was alive. “You gave me a good scare, lass. I’ve never been so bloody frightened.”
Jackie took several deep breaths. “Honestly? Me neither. That was terrifying.”
“Aye, murder is.”
“No, you misunderstand,” Jackie whispered before she met his eyes. “I wasn’t scared of dying. I’ve been ready for that for a while now.” She shook her head. “What scared me was that you almost died.”
His heart leapt at the emotion in her voice. “But I didnae.”
“But you will if you love me.” Her eyes grew moist. “And I don’t think I can go through that again.”
“I don’t think either of us has much choice,” he said softly. “Because I cannae stop loving you. Even if I could, I wouldnae.”
“Damn it, Darach,” she whispered. “You’re so stubborn.”
“Nay, just human.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “We’re in this together whether you like it or not.”
“I don’t. Not at all.” She crawled off his lap. “Love shouldn’t mean death.”
“People love then die all the time.” He leapt to his feet and helped her when she stood. “’Tis inevitable. If our time comes sooner than most, so be it.”
“Aren’t you the optimist.” She leaned against him as she tried to regain her balance. “My time is coming no matter what. Yours doesn’t have to.”
“This is an argument you’ll never win,” he said, overly aware that she trembled from weakness. “So why waste any more time speaking of it?”
Her eyes met his. “Because I can be just as stubborn as you, Darach Hamilton.”
He grinned. “We’ll see.”
Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. “You’re impossible.”
“Aye.”
“I still can't believe you gave me a fighting lesson when you were in so much danger,” she complained.
“Did it keep you distracted?”
Her eyes widened. “You know it did.”
“Then ‘twas the perfect time to teach you.” He winked. “It kept your mind off your fear and you learned a thing or two.”
Jackie grumbled to herself, shook her head then refocused.
“We need to get out there,” she said. “They need our help.”
“There is nothing you can do in your current state.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“I can stand just fine on my own,” she murmured and stepped away.
When her knees buckled, he wrapped an arm around her lower back and pulled her against him. He only meant to stabilize her, but when her hand met his chest and her eyes rose to his, he knew the tremor that rippled through her now had nothing to do with what they’d been through. No, it had to do with right here.
Right now.
Stark desire.
“We need to help them,” she whispered as her eyes fell to his lips.
“But ye cannae,” he whispered back as his eyes fell to hers as well.
Heat fluctuated between them. A need that had no place here when a battle might rage beyond. Yet they pressed closer, caught in the magic of being together. Caught up in being them again, not two star-crossed lovers from ancient Ireland. He had nearly closed the distance and kissed her when a yelp then whinny echoed through the cave.
Jackie frowned. “What was that?”
When a low growl resounded, he positioned himself in front of her, cursing when he realized he had no weapons.
“Hell,” he murmured as a huge black wolf lumbered into the cave. Blood dripped steadily from its chest as it bared its teeth and kept growling.
“Dinnae move or say a word,” Darach said into Jackie’s mind.
“It’s injured badly.”
“Aye, and ‘tis not happy about it.”
“We’ve got to help it.”
“We do?”
“Of course!” He heard the frown in her voice. “It’s scared and injured.”
“And nearly my size,” he pointed out. “’Tis one hellishly large wolf and we have nothing to defend ourselves with.”
“We have your magic in a pinch.”
Darach frowned. “Aye, but I get the sense this wolf has a certain familiarity with magic.”
“Then we’re going to have to risk it,” Jackie said.
“Where are you, Wolf?” someone yelled from outside.
The wolf swung its head back moments before it sunk to its haun
ches.
“Oh shoot,” Jackie murmured.
Darach grabbed her arm when she headed that way. “Wait, lass.”
“There ye are,” came a voice before young Grant rushed into the cave and fell to his knees beside the wolf. “Och, laddie, nay.”
When Darach whispered, “Bloody hell,” Grant’s eyes shot to him.
Their gazes locked.
There was nothing quite like meeting your father when he was still a teenager. When Grant leapt in front of the wolf and whipped out two daggers, Darach put his hands in the air, shook his head and spoke softly. “We mean ye no harm, lad.” He nodded at the wolf. “We only meant to help yer beastie. Nothing more.”
When Grant took a few steps toward them and made ready to whip a dagger, Jackie shook her head. “No. Please. Darach’s right. We mean no harm.”
He cringed at the use of his name. That couldn’t be good.
“Who are ye and speak fast,” Grant ground out.
“We’re friends. And I might be able to help your wolf.” Jackie nodded at the wolf. Though his head rested on the ground, he still managed a weak growl.
“Och, lass,” Darach said into her mind. “What are you doing?”
“I resurrected the deer,” she said. “Maybe I can help the wolf too.”
“You could get hurt.”
“It’s not about me.”
“Actually, ‘tis,” he reminded.
“So you’d have me ignore it?” she said. “When there’s a chance I could help?”
Darach contemplated the wolf. Its eyes had slid shut, and its breathing was labored. He felt Jackie’s emotions blow through her as if they were his own. The overwhelming need to help.
Though he didn’t want her anywhere near something so dangerous and unpredictable, he was beginning to realize how similar the two of them were. If they had the ability to protect and help, nothing could stop them. Nothing should stop them. Especially not someone who claimed to care about them…love them.
“Again, who are ye?” Grant’s eyes skirted with worry between them and the animal as a gurgling sound rattled in the wolf’s lungs.
“We’re friends. And your wolf’s almost out of time,” Jackie said. “Please let me try to help him.”
“Scratch that.” Darach was surprised by how quickly Jackie jerked out of his grasp and hurried toward the wolf, muttering, “There’s no more time.”
He was even more surprised when her eyes rounded and she said, “Grant, watch out behind you!” When he glanced over his shoulder, she whacked his wrist and his dagger went flying.
Stunned, Grant went after her with his other dagger. Darach swiftly confiscated the blade before he knocked Grant’s legs out from beneath him and brought him to the floor. Before the lad knew what hit him, Darach had him pinned as Jackie fell to her knees beside the wolf.
Grant struggled, but he was going nowhere.
“’Tis bloody strange holding my Da down like this, lass,” Darach grumbled into her mind.
“I’m sure. Sorry about that.” She ran her hand down the wolf’s fur. “Thank you.”
“Are ye sorry then?” he said, more distraught than ever as Grant spat out an endless stream of curses. “Because ye dinnae seem it in the least.”
“That’s because I’m trying to fix a dead wolf and have no clue how,” she said. “Any idea how I should do this?”
“Och,” Darach muttered aloud. “Nay.”
Suddenly, Grant stopped struggling and whispered, “Dinnae leave me, Wolf. Yer all I’ve got.”
Jackie’s sad eyes went to Grant before they returned to the wolf and she placed a hand on his head. Darach rippled at what she felt…or didn’t feel, as he experienced everything she went through. She was anxious about the wolf’s survival and how important he was to Grant. The more her anxiety rose, the more numb she became. First her lips, cheeks, neck, then it started to spread everywhere.
He had never felt anything so alarming.
Yet Jackie kept an even expression and her hand on the wolf. As Grant struggled with grief, her anxiety only grew. The need to make things right. Then a tingling started in her hand. Just a spark at first but it soon warmed and became far more. Something he couldn’t put definition to. Something that humbled him to his very core.
Seconds later, the wolf jerked.
Done with holding Grant down, Darach moved fast and pulled Jackie away from the wolf.
Grant staggered forward and fell to his knees as the wolf jerked again then leapt to his feet. His eyes locked with Jackie’s just like the deer’s had when she brought it back to life.
“Ye did it, lass,” Darach whispered and pulled her against him, determined to protect her though he knew the animal meant her no harm.
“We must go,” Grant declared as he strode into the cave with everyone following.
While he thought there was no stranger moment than first connecting eyes with his father as a teenager, he was wrong. Nothing was odder than his father locking eyes with his younger self.
His Da stopped short, and young Grant froze.
Though there was a good chance young Grant had no idea who he looked at, his father absolutely knew based on his shocked expression. If that wasn’t enough, the wolf shook, tested his limbs then all but pranced toward Da before he stopped short and looked back toward young Grant.
The wolf was as confused as they were.
Truth be told, the wolf was as confused as everyone there.
“The beastie seems undecided, does it not?” Robert said as Erin tucked him by her side.
“Can’t really blame the beastie,” Erin said, eying them.
“We’ve got to,” his Da said, eyes wide on his younger self, “Go.” He shook his head. “I think…now.”
“Aw, you were such a little hottie.” Nicole nudged his father, a wide smile on her face. “All long gangly limbs and big beautiful eyes.”
“Och,” his Da muttered and frowned. “Go. We need to go.”
“Aye,” Darach agreed.
But how did they do that?
It seemed his father was taking matters into his own hands because he flung his hands toward young Grant and started chanting first in English then Latin. “Take this memory from thee. Let your mind be free. Might your wolf protect you until you choose anew. Accipe memoriam, ex te. Sit animum tuum sit. Lupus vestri custodiat donec de novo eligere.”
Magic started to swirl around them but not before he saw the look on his father’s face. The tender, nostalgic way he gazed at the wolf.
“Where are we going?” Jackie said into his mind. “What’s happening now?”
“I have no idea but ‘tis my Da’s magic so dinnae be frightened.”
Yet she was and he didn’t blame her. Since she first traveled back in time she had been whipped every which way through time and experienced living another life. It was frightening by anyone’s standards. He pressed his hands over her ears and tried to relieve the pressure but knew she felt it regardless. When the magic finally abated, it was daytime and they were surrounded by woodland.
Adlin leaned against a tree with a broad grin on his face. “Welcome back.” His eyes went to Grant’s. “I take it ye found the answers ye needed?”
“Aye.” Grant frowned as he accounted for everyone. “I dinnae ken why ye could not just share such with me.”
“But I did.”
“Without shifting us to my castle.”
“Och, nay.” Adlin started into the woods and gestured for them to follow. “As ye well know, there’s a reason behind my methods. Everyone needed to have their own experiences so that ye can all move forward and be better prepared for what’s to come.”
Grant’s eyes met Jackie’s. “Thank you for saving my wolf, lass. You have no idea how much that means…meant. He eventually ended up with my brother Malcolm and was named Kynan.”
“My pleasure,” Jackie murmured.
Grant squeezed her hand then went after Adlin. “I ran into myself,” he informed. “A
nd ‘twas bloody odd to say the least.”
“Aye.” Adlin nodded. “’Tis indeed.” He cocked his head. “And how did you deal with it?”
“Well, I cast a spell of course. And though I know it worked, I think mayhap ‘tis clear now why I was so compelled to name my son Darach.” Grant tossed a sidelong glance at Darach and Jackie. “The wolf’s life being saved would have impacted me greatly even through a veil of magic. If I had a name to relate to the experience, I would have thought highly of it.” He cocked a brow at Jackie. “Did you say Darach’s name around my younger self, lass?”
“I might have. It was pretty tense back there.” She shrugged and slid a sweet but somewhat smug grin Darach’s way. “Nice to know I played a part in naming you.”
He couldn’t help but grin in return. Things might be rougher than ever, but she seemed to be doing okay. Better somehow. But then she had just come back from the brink of death, so maybe she was just grateful to be alive.
“I like the idea that you played a part in naming me.” He slid his hand into hers. “’Tis something no other MacLomain couple can claim, aye?”
“So you’re a couple now?” Erin piped up.
“No,” Jackie said as Darach said, “Aye.”
Nicole chuckled. “That sounds familiar.”
“You left this when you went to check on Jackie earlier.” Heidrek handed Darach his sword.
Darach took it and nodded, fairly amazed that he left it behind. Then again, he’d been incredibly worried about her at the time.
“Remember well, son, that worried or not, you cannae protect her without that blade,” Grant said.
Darach nodded. His father was absolutely right. He couldn’t afford to make the same mistake twice.
“Where are Logan and Cassie?” Niall looked at Adlin. “They were with you last time we were here.” He peered around. “As were many others.”
“Logan and Cassie returned to the future,” Adlin said. “A wee bit o’ time has passed since ye were here.”
“How much time…” Erin’s words trailed off as they exited the woods and stepped onto a wide meadow.
All were speechless as they stared.
Made of wood, not stone, MacLomain Castle was nearly built.
Passion of a Scottish Warrior (The MacLomain Series: Later Years Book 4) Page 17