by Allie Mackay
He felt that peculiar quickening of his blood coming on now and meant to dash it before the chills started rippling up and down his spine.
“Friends!” He looked around, letting a broad grin split his face. “Who will pit their strength against me? Who” – he thrust a fist in the air, pumping his muscles – “would test their skill at arm wrestling? The winner-”
A blast of heat scorched his hip and he jumped and wheeled about, certain one of his more ale-headed friends had jabbed at him with a torch flame.
It would be like some of them to do so.
But no one stood within an arm’s length.
And the nearest torches crackled innocently in their wall brackets, the smoking blazes an impossible source for whatever had burned him.
He rubbed his hip, his grin slipping.
At the high table, his good friend and fellow ghost-in-revel Saor MacSwain threw back his dark head and laughed. “Ho, Bran!” The Hebridean’s deep voice boomed. “Be that a new dance or did a flea bite you?”
“Neither!” Bran scowled at him. “But you” – he warmed to the idea – “just became the man to prove your prowess, though you’ve forfeited a prize if you win!”
“I shall win!” Saor leapt to his feet, laughing still. “And I already have my prize for the e’en!” He flashed a wicked smile at the plump, scantily clad ghostess who’d been sharing his trencher. “Naught you could offer would satisfy me more.”
“No doubt.” Bran felt his good humor returning.
He even slung a comradely arm around his friend’s shoulders. He flicked a glance at Saor’s trencher mate, winking. “Maili will please you well.”
The glint in Saor’s eye said he knew it.
Of Bran’s own height and breadth, and with his bullish strength, Saor was also the only man in the hall who’d prove a worthy wrestling opponent. Even so, Bran would beat him. The brute force he’d need in doing so would take his mind off the pestiferous chills nipping at him.
And – it must be said – with his other close friends having been lured away from ghostly realms in recent years, choosing instead to spend their days with American seductresses of the modern world, Saor was one of the few souls remaining whose company Bran truly enjoyed.
Saor, like Bran, held no aspirations to leave their spectral realm. Pleasing Bran even more, Saor gloried in the boisterous and colorful trappings of their own fourteenth century. He harbored no high-flung wishes to dally in worlds where he didn’t belong.
For that, Bran was grateful.
Not that he’d admit any such softness.
But he had grown extremely tired of losing friends.
It did him good to know that Saor, with his laughing eyes and ready smile, would not be tempted elsewhere by an American female come to the Highlands for the sole purpose of claiming a kilted man.
A fool would know their fixation with plaid was all that drew them. The great mystery about what – or not – a true Scotsman wore beneath his kilt. Suchlike seemed to obsess them, as if nothing else mattered. They couldn’t resist a flash of tartan, the swagger and sway that went with it. The pride and boldness of a Highlander was what attracted them.
And, perhaps, an appreciation for bonnie knees!
Bran drew an annoyed breath.
Releasing Saor, he flipped back his own plaid and blotted the brazen vixens from his mind. Experience had proven their persistence and – he shuddered – their penchant for finding fourteenth-century Highlanders even more appealing than Scotsmen of their own time. It scarce mattered how many of them were blessed with long legs and bouncing, well-rounded bosoms. They roamed Scotland’s heathery hills like ravenous, bloodthirsty predators and were to be avoided at all costs.
If a man wished to keep his wits.
Bran did, so he flexed his shoulders and strode over to a trestle table against the dais wall. A flick of his fingers cast away the crisp linen draping and the spread of victuals arrayed down the board’s length. A second finger click conjured two low and fat tallow candles, each one burning hotly on a flat iron pricket.
Pleased, he threw a look at Saor, eagerly waiting his friend’s reaction. “There you have it!” He indicated the candles. “First man to douse the flames with the other’s arm is the winner, taking all.”
Saor arched a brow. “All of what?”
Bran thought a moment, then rocked back on his heels. “All the pleasure of chasing away any Ameri-cain lassies who might darken my door!”
Hoots of laughter greeted his outburst. Many merrymakers slapped their thighs or pounded on the trestle tables. Some gave mock gasps of horror.
All were amused.
Saor simply stared. “An Ameri-cain?”
“So I said.” Bran nodded, not quite sure where the notion had come from. “Dinnae tell me you’ve ne’er heard of them. Everyone knows they enjoy poking about our glens and castles, searching for their roots as it were.”
More sniggers and snorts answered him.
Bran marched across the dais to jam a finger into the plaid-draped chest of the man who’d laughed the loudest. “You’d sing another tune if one of the long-fingered lassies snatched you into their day!”
He leaned down, nose to nose with the other ghostie. “I’ve been to their America. Once, it was! A place called Pen-seal-somewhere. The memory jellies my knees and” – he straightened – “still has the power to tie my toes in knots. Trust me, you dinnae want to land in the clutches of an American, most especially the ones that call themselves Scotophiles. They’re the worst o’ the lot.
“And I’ll no’ have any here.” Bran glared round, in warning. The idea of falling prey to such a female on Barra – or anywhere – made his insides quiver.
Blessedly, the possibility wasn’t a likely danger. He rarely visited modern times and absolutely refused to sift himself to Barra of the current day.
But it wouldn’t hurt to have a plan if the unthinkable ever happened.
Relieved that he did, he raised his arms above his head and cracked his knuckles, eager to arm-wrestle Saor and put American wenches from his mind. A wink and a smile were all he needed to find himself seated at the table he’d readied. Proud of his flourish, he shoved up his sleeve and planted his elbow firmly on the board, grinning.
Not to be outdone, Saor flicked his wrist to fetch a cup of ale from the air, donning the brew to its dredges in one long gulp. He laughed when the emptied cup vanished from his fingers, and quick as winking, he, too, had claimed his place across from Bran.
“So, my friend!” He plunked his own arm on the table and grabbed Bran’s waiting hand. “Let us see who shall have the pleasure of chasing Ameri-cain lassies from this fine isle! But be warned.” His deep voice held a note of amusement. “The ghosts one calls are e’er summoned.”
Chuckles and hoots rippled through the gathered onlookers. Several nudged one another or exchanged merry-eyed glances, though a few tried to hide their laughs behind sudden bouts of coughing.
Bran ignored them all and concentrated on keeping his arm steady. At his elbow, the pricket flame leaped and danced. He could feel the candle’s warmth licking him, waiting. Unconcerned, he let his lips twitch, sure of victory. His wrists were free of telltale burn scars and he wasn’t about to put one there now.
So he kept his arm relaxed and let Saor do the straining. Already his friend’s jaw was setting, his teeth gritted, and beads of sweat began to dot his brow. No longer laughing, the crowd around them drew near, some men leaning down to bang the table with their fists. Saor grimaced, pushing fiercely as the pounding beat became a rhythm.
Bran paid no heed, the roar of his own blood in his ears louder than his friends’ thunderous encouragement. Saor was squeezing his hand now, the other man’s grip almost bone crushing as he tried to push Bran’s arm onto the candle.
“You cannae win.” Bran ground out the words, his own brow growing damp. “Give and spare yourself a brand!”
Saor flashed a grin and strained harder. “You are the one about t
o be burned!”
Bran snorted.
In truth, he was burning.
The muscles in his neck and shoulders had caught fire, sending scorching heat through his veins. But still he thrust Saor’s arm closer to the flame, determined to triumph. Until the blood rushing in his ears became a shrill buzzing, and a scalding flash of white-hot pain exploded against his hip.
“Yee-owwww!” Lightning quick, he slammed Saor’s arm against the candle, the hiss and stink of burnt flesh lost in the shouts of his men and the agony of the blinding heat stabbing into his side.
Saor blinked and sat back, his grin returning. “It would seem the Ameri-cain lassie shall be yours,” he announced, shaking his singed wrist.
Around them, revelers whipped out swords and raised them high in tribute. Bran pushed slowly to his feet and left the table, scarce seeing or hearing the cheering throng for the raging blaze he couldn’t ignore. No longer just at his hip, the heat raced through him, searing his very soul.
Every inch of his body burned.
His blood sizzled and each indrawn breath left a fiery trail that roasted his lungs.
It was a misery he finally recognized.
Though he’d rather cut himself than admit the flames came from the pommel stone of his sword.
His nape prickled at the possibility and icy chills sped down his spine. The Heartbreaker’s crystal was said to be enchanted. Formed by the tears of a MacNeil ancestress who lost her love in an ancient battle, the gemstone was believed to heat and glow in times of grave danger to the clan.
Or so legend claimed.
Not wanting to think about the other claims, Bran lurched through the hall, sifting himself into the cold night air of the bailey only when he was sure none of his men looked his way. Dark mist swirled across the cobbles and the wind was picking up, the air damp with the smell of rain. Beyond the curtain walls, he could hear the sea crashing against the rocks. MacNeil’s Tower, after all, claimed its own wee isle, set just off the nearby coast of Barra. The keep was a nigh-impregnable stronghold and utterly defenseless against the dread churning inside him.
He stopped near the lee of a wall, letting its towering stones and the drifting mist shield him from prying eyes. If the Heartbreaker was branding him, he meant to keep his fate to himself.
Even so, it cost him greatly to toss back his plaid and clamp his hand around the sword’s rounded pommel.
The heat was excruciating.
But it was the bright blue light seeping through his fingers that nearly stopped his heart.
Shimmering blue light that legend called the truth of the sword and that – for which he’d always been most grateful – had never deigned to show itself in all the long centuries he’d possessed the fabled blade.
It was truly magnificent, finely-honed steel just as ghostly as himself. And – his gut clenched – still possessed of the powerful magic of the true Heartbreaker.
Bran shuddered.
The fates only knew where the earthly blade now rested.
Not that it mattered. His chiefly wits already told him that his beloved brand had determined to disrupt his eternal peace.
Now he looked on in horror as the light deepened in brilliance and began curling past his fingers to weave and dance before him. Eyes wide, he staggered backward, releasing the pommel. But if clutching the crystal had unleashed its magic, letting go didn’t break the spell.
Far from it, the blue light began spinning into a long, glittery wand that bobbed and bounced in the air, slowly stretching itself into a glowing rectangle, bright against the cold gray of his castle walls.
He was cold, too.
Blistering heat no longer blasted him. Now a black chill now swept him. It was a terrible, icy grip on his gizzard that would have brought a lesser man to his knees.
Bran did his best not to flinch.
Such weakness was beneath his chiefly status.
Hebridean chieftains, in particular, were known for their stout-heartedness. Frozen innards were nothing to men of his ilk.
Ghostly or otherwise.
But when a woman appeared inside the blue-edged shape hovering in front of him, his mouth went dry and he could feel his throat working.
The lass wasn’t just any female.
She was a modern woman, he was sure.
Comely and fair, she stared right at him, her eyes wide with horror and every bit as blue as the shimmering light surrounding her. An unseen wind tossed her sun-bright hair about a face that – under different circumstances – would send lust thundering straight to his loins. But her mouth, sweet and ripe as it was, had opened in a silent scream, the sight dashing any such urges before they could rise.
He did take a step closer, drawn like a moth to flame even though he knew he should flee.
But her lush curves beckoned and her urgent need…
Bran swore and reached out a hand, compelled to comfort her. As if she knew, her lovely eyes rounded with an even greater look of terror. Then she veered away, dashing deeper into the mist trapped inside the glowing blue frame.
She vanished almost as quickly as he’d seen her.
Sadly, not before he noted her clothing.
She was wearing breeks.
The heavy blue kind folk of her day called jeans.
Bran swallowed hard, his own horror mounting as the shimmering blue light contracted back into a single spinning beam. A brilliant wand of dazzling light that again bobbed and danced in the air before him. Until it suddenly stopped weaving and floated toward him, pointing straight at his heart before, with a crackling hum, the beam leapt back inside the Heartbreaker’s crystal, leaving him alone with the icy cold truth.
The bards hadn’t lied about the mythic blade.
There were times when a woman’s distress could summon the crystal’s magic.
Women who carried MacNeil blood in their veins. Or females who – Bran couldn’t deny it - were inextricably bound to a MacNeil male, usually a chieftain.
Either way, the truth of the sword unerringly revealed the MacNeil destined to champion the woman.
Such fates were etched in stone.
Bran shoved a hand through his hair, certain the cobbles beneath his feet had just opened up to swallow him. He felt decidedly ill. After seven hundred years of merry ghostdom, his own beloved sword had finally brought his world crashing down around him.
There could be no escaping.
Not from the Heartbreaker’s prophecy. Nor from the American lass he knew would soon land on his doorstep. He should have listened to Saor’s warning about calling ghosts.
Now he was doomed.
Though the Heartbreaker’s crystal was quiet now, its glistening roundness cold and benign as the night’s chill mist, Bran could still see the woman’s startled blue eyes. They pierced him through dimensions and – he knew – across great distances.
He even knew how she’d feel gathered in his arms, all soft and defenseless, her naked skin silky and warm. The scent of her would be a delicious provocation, one touch to her glossy, sun-bright hair an intoxication he couldn’t resist.
Bran scowled. His chest tightened with fury.
As if the Heartbreaker meant to torment him even more, images flooded his mind. They were wanton, lascivious glimpses of tumbling the lass on a bed of turf and heather.
More damning yet, he could feel her presence. Taste her kiss on his tongue as if he’d already ravished her. Soon, he knew, she’d be here. Tempting him as only modern day sirens could.
Bran pulled a hand down over his beard. Then he tipped back his head and stared at the moon, peeking out from behind a wisp of torn clouds. If only he could be somewhere as distant.
But MacNeil’s Tower was his home and he wasn’t leaving.
He’d deal with the American when she arrived. As long as she wasn’t from Pen-seal-where’er, his chances of withstanding her were good.
It was just a matter of preparing.
Chapter Two
Mindy stood
in the doorway to the long gallery, refusing to budge. Not that her legs would carry her anywhere even if she wished to flee. Her knees knocked furiously, her feet felt like lead, and a good dozen angry-looking MacNeil ghosts were blocking her way. Big, bad medieval spooks with bushy beards and flashing swords, and – she was sure – not a one of them stood under six feet four.
They were towering, plaid-draped hulks of menace.
In a word, they were terrifying.
Mindy swallowed. A chill of fear streaked to her toes. If she’d thought Hunter’s ancestors looked ferocious before – safely trapped within oiled canvas and heavy gold-gilt frames – now they’d give Attila the Hun a run for his money.
Their shouts alone turned her blood to water.
Even worse, escape meant darting through their glowing, translucent ranks.
It would also require an intimate brush with their steel. Swords that somehow managed to look much more substantial than the ghosties wielding them.
Clearly retreat wasn’t an option.
As if they knew, the see-through Highlanders whooshed closer, their eyes glinting with malice.
A strange blue mist shimmered and billowed around them, filling the long gallery and casting its dark-paneled length in an eerie, otherworldly light. Icy tendrils of the mist slid through the open doorway to float in the corridor beyond, hovering as if in wait.
It was a no win situation.
So she remained where she was, careful to keep her back straight and her expression unperturbed. The Highlanders’ faces darkened, their scowls turning formidable. Those who weren’t yet waving swords, whipped out their blades now, brandishing them with flourish. A few snarled and growled. One waggled the scariest eyebrows Mindy had ever seen. She gulped and tried to pretend the ghosts were irate passengers, riled by overbooked flights and weather delays. A dreaded middle seat when, the passenger swore, he’d booked a window or aisle.
The list of upsets was long and Mindy had heard – and dealt with – them all.
In ten years of flying, she’d never encountered sword-wielding complainers. Even the most unpleasant business travelers and VIPs hadn’t packed anything more daunting than laptops and newspapers. Some did arm themselves with oversized hand luggage and could become threatening when faced with objections.