The MacLomain Series: A New Beginning Boxed Set (Books 1-4)

by Purington, Sky

  No doubt utilizing their dragon senses to narrow down her precise location, their eyes remained trained on where she was.

  “As far as we know, you’re in league with the warlocks,” Bryce replied. “So we willnae discard our weapons.”

  “I just helped destroy one,” she reminded. “I would think that should make things clear as to where my loyalties lie.”

  “All it made clear is that you’re highly unpredictable,” Sven said. “Show yourself, woman. Stop playing games. Our dragons are not fooled.”

  The last thing she expected when she began controlling her grandfather’s curse all those years ago was for Vikings to become involved. Yet it was Sven’s Aunt Aðísla who had apparently caught wind of the curse and informed Grant Hamilton who, in turn, created Claddagh rings with Adlin.

  That’s when she realized her life wasn’t going to be so simple. She would not spend it alone in the woods trying to control warlocks and keep Scotland safe. Instead, the creation of the rings had started something much more complicated.

  True love connections between modern-day Brouns and medieval MacLomains.

  Jessie glanced at her finger and frowned. All this time she had been able to hide the ring not only from her friends but from the warlocks. Because had they discovered it, things might have already gone terribly wrong.

  “Jessie,” Bryce prompted, his voice deep and distracting.

  The truth was she could disarm Bryce and Sven with magic if she had to. It was their dragons she could not so easily outmaneuver. So she supposed it made sense to show herself and gain their trust so that their dragons trusted her as well.

  That in mind, she murmured a chant and stepped forward.

  Both broad shouldered and over six-foot-seven, neither man should feel threatened by her petite frame. Even so, she kept defiance from her gaze and did her best to look doe-eyed and innocent. No easy feat on either count seeing how she had trained herself long ago to remain expressionless. Emotions had needed to remain deeply buried which meant embracing a rather low-key, drab existence.

  “Hello,” she murmured. Though she typically kept her voice level and monotone, she felt it wouldn’t be best under the current circumstances, so she added a smidge of fluster to her greeting. “My apologies for hiding. This is all...” Scary? Confusing? What would make sense? “Alarming.”

  “Alarming?” Bryce’s brows shot up. “I dinnae think that was the word you were looking for, lass.”

  As if he knew she was debating which word to use, to begin with.

  “Let’s just say,” it was no use playing dumb, “that I have some explaining to do.”

  “Aye,” Bryce grumbled, his weapon still drawn as he eyed her. “At the verra least.”

  “For starters,” Sven continued, eying her with equal uncertainty. “Why do you keep saying death to Scotland and death to those who fly?”

  “For two reasons,” she replied honestly, her eyes steady on Sven. “When the symbol of the dragon in flames began to appear, my warlocks took notice. I saw that as the perfect opportunity to connect it with Scotland’s ruin. Something they would welcome.” She kept her eyes off of Bryce. “As to death coming to those who fly? I figured it would be a good way to ensure that they believed Bryce being meant for me was no longer a possibility.”

  “Because you wear a ring,” Bryce stated bluntly, his expression disgruntled.

  “Yes,” she replied. “Something they didn’t know, but I feared they would eventually find out.” She cleared her throat. “Considering I had every intention of helping my friends from the beginning. Helping all of you.”

  “So you say.” Sven and Bryce didn’t budge an inch as Sven prompted her to continue. “Tell us everything. Then we will decide how noble your intentions really were...are.”

  Jessie nodded, thirsty but determined not to say so. Doing what she had, being in a state of limbo for five days, was tiring. Though she didn’t smell like most would after so long without a shower, she still desperately wanted to bathe, eat, drink then sleep.

  “I’ll tell you everything,” she assured. “But first we should leave this era and seek shelter in anything surrounded by stone and close to fire. It will be harder for a warlock to get to me there.” She met Bryce’s eyes and said the last thing he would want to hear. “Preferably your castle because they tend to be more wary of dragons.”

  “Do they?” He frowned. “Because they havenae seemed all that wary of me up to this point.” He shook his head. “So nay, I willnae bring you anywhere near my castle and kin. Not until you’ve shared far more.”

  “The moment I allowed a warlock to die for me, they knew I deceived them,” she said firmly. “Soon enough, if not already as Christina and Graham find their way out of their time loop, the warlocks will come after me, and they will do so with a vengeance.”

  “Because you wear the last ring,” Sven said softly.

  “Yes,” she replied. “And because I’m the only one who knows what’s left of them and if even possible, how to stop them.” Her eyes went to Bryce again. “Staying here risks everything because if I’m killed, I can promise you that there is no hope for your country.” She shook her head. “The last battle that we must keep on track, the Battle of Byland Moor, will be changed and with it, the fate of Scotland.”

  “Byland Moor,” he murmured, his eyes narrowed on her. “No one knows what battles we’ll be fighting before Grant and Adlin.”

  “Except me,” she said. “And the monsters I’ve kept under my thumb for a very long time.”

  His hand clenched a little tighter around the hilt of his dagger. “Monsters you controlled.”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “Just like I’ve helped control my friends on their adventures through time.”

  “How could you control such things?” He shook his head. “When their love was fated.”

  “Because I was there when the rings were made.” Though she didn’t want to say it, the time for denying it was long past. “And I knew I was meant for a beast nearly as terrifying as the very monsters I already controlled.”

  Chapter Two

  HAD JESSIE JUST COMPARED him to a warlock?

  Bryce continued eying her with distrust. While he had heard she was small and delicate, he had not expected her to be so beautiful. With luminous hair and large, almond-shaped eyes that appeared as black as her hair, she was almost otherworldly. Her eyelashes were long and thick and her skin tone warm.

  Yet he got the feeling despite her slight frame and less-than-confrontational disposition that she could take down an army with one fell swoop if she were so inclined. That what lay at the heart of her was far bigger than what he could see with his physical eye. Or even with his dragon eyes.

  “I assume then that I am the terrifying beast,” he said dryly. “And that you think yourself fated for me.”

  “I stopped assuming things a long time ago.” Her tone remained soft as her eyes stayed on his. “And I will say nothing further until we leave this place.”

  “Which we willnae be doing until you are far more forthright with me, lass.”

  Sven nodded in agreement before he sensed something at the same moment as Bryce. A shift in the air. A miniscule temperature drop.

  “One of them is coming.” Jessie’s calm disposition faltered as she shifted closer. Based on how she turned her back and scanned the forest, she was set to defend them against the warlock. “We need to leave now.”

  He and Sven glanced at each other again as they spoke within the mind. Something they could do because they were dragon kin. “I dinnae trust her.”

  “Nor I,” Sven responded. “But my dragon senses something coming that is far more untrustworthy.”

  “Aye.” Bryce frowned. “But how are we to leave here without Grant or Adlin’s help?”

  “With my help.” Jessie surprised them when she spoke into their minds as her eyes met Bryce's over her shoulder. “I can create tunnels within fire. Preferably fires ignited by others.”
>
  He ignored how arousing the sound of her voice was in his mind and shook his head. “What good will a tunnel do us?”

  “A tunnel that can go anywhere,” she provided. “Even through time.”

  How powerful was this lass? And if what she said were true, where should they go? Because he certainly wouldn’t subject his people to her without knowing far more.

  “We must go to your castle, Bryce,” she replied. “It’s the safest place in Scotland right now.”

  He shook his head. “Nay.”

  “We must,” she insisted as her eyes whipped forward again.

  That’s when he saw it. A shadow shifting through the trees and closing the distance quickly.

  “Sven, Bryce, either one of you,” she said through clenched teeth as she held up her hands and began chanting. “I need your fire, or we will die here and now.”

  A heavy frown settled on Sven’s face as he shook his head. Bryce wore a frown to match. How else were they supposed to respond when Jessie was likely behind so much? From his Uncle Darach getting caught in another dimension for years to his cousin Fraser dying. She might say she was preserving Scotland’s future but based on what her warlock’s had done, all proof said otherwise.

  “We cannae provide you fire, lass,” Bryce replied, weapon at the ready as the warlock shifted closer. “We willnae.”

  “Your sister would be disappointed,” she whispered before she suddenly walked forward and her chanting increased.

  His sister? Ainsley? Though his twin had died in infancy, Christina claimed to have dreamt about her. That she was fully grown and standing beside Jessie and her warlocks. That she was watching out for Bryce from the afterlife.

  “What do you know of my sister?” he said aloud, following her as his inner dragon grew more upset. Had Jessie somehow trapped Ainsley’s spirit? Was she controlling her like she apparently controlled these warlocks? “What did you do to her?”

  “What she deserved.” Jessie stopped short and swung on him. “What she had coming.”

  Suddenly infuriated, his vision hazed with the red of the dragon. Before he could get another word out, however, he realized he had walked right into a trap. A powerful one at that.

  Spying the fire in his eyes, Jessie raised her arms and resumed chanting.

  What happened after that truly blew his mind.

  As her magic mixed with his dragon magic, a tunnel of fire and wind formed in front of them. An unavoidable tunnel that whipped them forward. The next thing he knew, they were standing in a cave near a crackling fire.

  “Bloody hell,” he roared, his sword aimed at her before the last embers of time-travel died away. “Dinnae ever use my dragon magic against my will again!”

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly as she lowered her arms. “I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands.”

  “Och,” was all he managed to mutter. Stunned by what she had done, he was at a complete loss. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Even his inner dragon grappled with it. This half pint of a lass had just ensorcelled every part of him without his permission.

  Though momentarily speechless, he found his tongue soon enough as fresh anger bubbled up. “And what of my sister? Have you truly been in contact with her?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I said that to goad you into creating fire.”

  He glared at her. “I dinnae believe you.”

  Their eyes held as she remained silent and said nothing further.

  “Where are we?” Sven said, equally disgruntled as he eyed Jessie. “And how did you manipulate Bryce’s dragon fire like that?”

  “We’re near MacLeod Castle,” she murmured, her eyes never leaving Bryce’s as he held his blade at the ready. “You asked that I did not bring you there, so I didn’t.”

  His wary eyes never left hers as Bryce allowed his dragon senses to confirm that they were, indeed, in a cave system he had often played in as a youth. Damn her for bringing them so close to his castle. He might not have been overly specific but a lass as intelligent as she clearly was, knew she was in the wrong right now. Because one way or another, she had blatantly disregarded his wishes.

  “How did you know about this location?” he asked, adding to Sven’s previous questions. “I suggest you begin explaining yourself because I am moments away from putting this blade to use.”

  He set aside the fact she likely had the power to stop him before he did.

  A wizard had to have some pride after all. As did his inner dragon.

  Jessie slowly sank onto a nearby rock. Though it could be a show, this was the first time he noticed how tired she seemed. “I’m sorry. I know it’s past time I talk.” Her eyes met Sven’s, her exhaustion suddenly very obvious. “If I could just get a drink of water, I’ll tell you everything. All of it.”

  Though hesitant at first, it was clear Sven saw the same fatigue in her eyes because he handed over his skin of water.

  “Thank you,” she whispered before she took several deep but somehow dainty gulps before she closed her eyes in what appeared to be bliss. When she opened them again, she started talking.

  “When I was very young, around five, I knew I was different,” she said softly. “I could make Mama’s water boil for her tea in seconds and warm the air in the house when Grandfather put our money toward booze rather than bills. I could light the fireplace with a thought and grow vegetables in the garden just by touching the dirt.” Her eyes met theirs. “At ten, Grandfather burned down our house and died but not before I saved his magical book. That’s when I learned I could control the spiritual realm as well.”

  “I wasn’t only an empath,” she continued. “But an elemental witch able to manipulate not just four elements but the less talked about fifth element as well. Water, air, fire, earth, and spirit.”

  Quickly suppressed pain flashed in her eyes before she continued. “You see, Grandfather was like me only more powerful and far darker.” Her eyes landed on Bryce’s. “More than that, he possessed an unexplainable hatred toward Scotland. Mama always said it was because my grandmother, who died in childbirth, was from Scotland. After she passed away, he simply couldn't bear anything Scottish because it reminded him too much of her.” She shook her head. “But I always thought it went deeper.”

  “Why?” Sven asked.

  “I don’t know.” She frowned. “My great grandfather was from England and raised his son with a very narrow viewpoint of anyone not English. My mother thought in part that might have had something to do with his vengeance at the end...the picture he drew in his book.”

  “What picture?” Bryce said.

  “A picture that started me on the path that led me to this very moment.” She pulled a worn ancient looking book out of her pocket and handed it over. “A picture finally visible to others as Christina and Graham’s time loop closed.” Her eyes went between them. “A time loop I partly controlled in order to bring them together...them and their child.”

  Bryce’s brows flew up in surprise. “Christina’s pregnant?”

  A soft smile came to Jessie’s lips. “She is.”

  Bryce couldn’t help a grin as he finally lowered his blade. Graham deserved as much, and he couldn’t be happier.

  Yet as he opened the book and started leafing through, his grin dropped. If he wasn’t mistaken, these were expertly drawn images of his cousins and their lasses’ adventures. It was the last picture, however, that gave him pause.

  “Scotland is gone on this map,” he murmured. “’Tis but England.”

  “That’s right,” she said softly. “Just as Grandfather drew it all those years ago before he passed out drunk in bed and burned our house down. An image that always reappears no matter how many times I rip it out and try to dispose of it.” Her voice dropped another octave. “It was his last wish. A curse laid upon your country.”

  “I dinnae ken.” His eyes rose to hers. “How do you know that? How are you part of it?”

  “Standing
outside my burning house, I opened the book and saw that picture,” she replied. “Moments later, with Grandfather dead, the curse began to manifest.” A haunted look lit her eyes. “When it did, the terrifying fire I had survived moments before seemed like a walk in the park.” Her eyes fell to the flames between them. “At the tender age of ten, I became master to every child’s worst nightmare. Creatures created out of pure hatred.”

  “Master.” Sven’s eyes narrowed on her. “Do you mean to tell us you have been controlling these warlocks since you were a child?” His hand drifted to the hilt of the dagger at his waist. “And yet somehow, you have not become like them?”

  “I have been doing my very best not to.” She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard. “By doing so, I had to become a recluse if for no other reason than to keep them close and away from others as I formulated a plan. When most girls struggled with puberty and boys, I learned to repress fluctuating emotions and kept boys far, far away for their own safety.”

  “These warlocks were determined to destroy everything around them then?” Bryce asked.

  By this time, both he and Sven were sitting.

  “No, as long as I kept firm control, the warlocks preferred to stay near me.” Again, fear flashed in her eyes, but she blinked it away. “I knew if anyone came near, the warlocks would lash out. A teenage boy would get far more than he bargained for if he so much as glanced at me.”

  As she spoke and her life story became clearer, Bryce couldn’t help but feel sad for her. Having a mother from the twenty-first century, he knew what to ask. “What about school? Did you attend?”

  “No,” she whispered and shook her head. “Mama home-schooled me, and we made money off the land. Magic or not, I know herbs and home-remedies, so we started selling my stuff online and made enough money to make ends meet.”

  “I’m surprised a man as powerful as your grandfather, drunk or not, allowed his home to burn down,” Sven commented.

  “He might have been powerful but rarely used his magic,” she replied. “As far as I could tell, he preferred only two pastimes. Drinking and cruelty.” She shrugged. “Based on his level of arrogance, I honestly don’t think he thought he could die in such a simple way.”