He gained an altitude level with the giant’s head. He let out a shriek of warning. A few of the wolves heard him and dropped away from the giant. Jamie didn’t hesitate. He shot his flame at the giant’s legs. He covered the giant’s clothes and chest in flame.
The giant bellowed. He went berserk thrashing against the flames. The two wolves perched on his head looked down. They couldn’t get away. Jamie waited until he knew for certain his fire engulfed the giant. The monster couldn’t put that out. It would consume him, and he wouldn’t bother anybody anymore.
Jamie bent his wings. He rocketed down on the giant’s head. He snatched up the two wolves in his claws and zipped away. The flames woofed around the giant’s shoulders. They fizzed through his hair. The giant shrieked and roared, but it couldn’t stop the fire burning it alive.
Jamie fluttered around for a moment until he felt one of the wolves wriggle. He set them down next to Grace and landed on his feet. The two wolves shifted. They were Clyde and Alec McLean. Jamie put out his hand to shake theirs when they heard a gasp.
The three men turned around to see Grace on her knees. A still figure lay spread-eagled on the ground. Black hair fell over a young man’s face, and his eyes stared up at the empty sky. “Oh, Christie!” she breathed. “No!”
Jamie stared down at the young man. From here, he could see Christie wasn’t breathing. Grace sank back on her heels. She covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders slumped.
Alec inched closer. He barely spoke above a whisper. “What’ll we tell Lachlan? We cinnae go home and tell him Christie’s dead. It’ll ruin him.”
Jamie raised his eyes to the mountain. Another death. Another man’s life forfeited, and for what? Why did it have to be Christie? Christie never hurt a flea. He was every inch the warrior his older brothers were, but his tender heart shone out of him for all the world to see.
Jamie’s heart died with Christie. If this cruel old world couldn’t leave a man like Christie alone, Jamie didn’t want to live in it anymore. He didn’t want to fight this fight if he couldn’t save a man like Christie. What was the point of fighting all your life, when the best and bravest went down like this?
In front of Jamie’s eyes, a flash of white appeared on the mountainside. Jamie realized he was looking straight up at Piper’s cave. The old man sat on a rock next to the cave opening, exactly where Jamie just spoke to him.
The white got bigger, and a tall, thin figure emerged from the cave’s dark mouth. A young woman walked out into the sunshine. Her long, dark hair hung in wavy layers around her angular face, and her dark eyes gazed out at nothing in particular.
She wore a white blouse with large pointed lapels, and a string of delicate pearls accented her throat. She wore straight black pants over her slender legs. Jamie stared up at her in wonder. She stepped straight out of his dreams. This was the woman he’d been looking for, the woman who could lift the curse. She had to be.
Chapter 17
Grace blinked up at the woman coming toward her. The woman didn’t see anyone or anything around her. She stared at nothing, looking out through her dead eyes at something beyond this world.
Grace got to her feet as the woman approached. She peered into those sightless depths. “Ivy?”
“I’m Alexis.”
“Do you know where Ivy is?” Grace asked. “Do you remember how you got here? Did one of you cast a magic spell?”
Alexis stared at a spot somewhere over Grace’s shoulder. “I don’t know where Ivy is.”
Jamie murmured in Grace’s ear. “Ivy must be the one under the ocean.”
“Can you remember how you got here?” Grace asked. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Alexis shook her head. She glanced down at Christie lying dead at her feet. She laid her hand on his chest. Christie jerked off the ground. He inhaled a deep gasp of air and collapsed back panting on the ground.
Alec cried out in astonishment, but neither of them would move in to help their cousin. Another man rushed forward. He threw himself on his knees at Christie’s head and gathered the young man in his arms.
Grace couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. “How did you do that?”
Alexis didn’t respond. She went back to staring into space.
“It’s like ’Azel,” Jamie murmured. “’Azel can do things like that.”
“This isn’t possible,” Grace replied. “How did she get here?”
“Do ye no see?” he asked. “The giants ha’e been movin’ towards her allus time. Those winged creatures I saw the other night mun’ ha’e come from her. They flew back tae Mull tae attack the McLeans where the other woman is.”
The big man lifted Christie off the ground. He struggled to his feet, still cradling the haggard form like a baby. “We’re goin’ back,” he growled. “I dinnae care what Lachlan says. We’re goin’ back. We’ll fight this war from our own land. We’ll no trek around across Hell and gone tae fight somebody else’s battles fer ’em.”
Jamie nodded. “Take her wi’ ye. Ye’ll need her tae lift the curse. She can use her magic tae stop this.”
“Are you insane?” Grace blurted out. “They can’t just take her. She’s a grown woman. She can make up her own mind where she goes and what she does. You can’t just tell them to take her. What’s going on, Alexis? Tell us how you got here, and we can help you figure this out so you can go home.”
“She cinnae go home,” Jamie returned. “She mun’ stop this thing afore it kills somebody else.”
“She doesn’t have to do anything,” Grace told him. “She’ll be the one to decide what she does and when and how. Besides, you said if she and the other woman go back, the curse will lift. Don’t tell me you want to keep her here against her will.”
“If she kens the stakes, she’ll choose to stay ’ere,” Jamie replied. “She cinnae turn her back on allus people. They would die.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Grace returned. “You have to explain it to her in a way she’ll understand. She has to be able to make that choice herself. You can’t force it on her.”
Jamie jerked his chin at the woman. “It looks like she’ll no understand naught at all. It’s all the same tae her if she’s ’ere or on Mull.”
Grace turned back to Alexis. She had to prove him wrong, and the only way to do that was to convince Alexis. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Alexis walked away. She returned to Piper’s cave and vanished inside.
The man who held Christie set his feet on the ground. Christie still looked terrible, but at least he could stand. Sweat stuck his hair to his face, and he coughed. His breath rattled deep in his lungs.
“We’re leavin’,” the big man snapped. “Ye do what ye like wi’ her. We ha’e no time fer discussions. If ye convince her, send her on down tae us. It’s naught tae us one way or the other.”
Jamie nodded. “We’ll sort it out fer ye, one way or the other.”
Grace peered at Christie. “Are you all right, Christie? You could rest in the village for a while before you go back.”
Christie glanced at his companion.
“Perhaps she’s right, Arch,” Jamie added. “Leave him to rest a night afore ye journey back.”
Arch grumbled under his breath. “Very weel. I’ll take him tae the village. Ye do what ye can ’ere, though I dinnae like the notion o’ travelin’ o’er this country wi’ her in tow.”
“If we succeed,” Jamie told him, “she’ll be able tae help ye. She’ll be able tae protect ye on the road. One o’ ’em would be worth her weight in gold.”
Arch grunted. He propped Christie on his shoulder, and they set off down the mountain.
Grace rounded on Jamie. “How can you talk about her like that? You talk about her like some kind of milk cow or something. You keep talking about what she can do for them. You don’t care about her at all.”
He let out a shaky breath. “Listen tae me, lassie. Ye mun’ go intae Piper’s cave and talk tae her
. She’s the ainly one as can defeat these giants. We got lucky this time. They got scared and ran away, but they’ll no do it again. I can assure ye o’ that. We mun’ ha’e her magic if we’re tae survive this. Do ye understand me? You’re one o’ her own kind. Ye mun’ go and talk tae her. Ye mun’ prepare her tae use her magic to meet the giants when they return—which they will. Now go alaing.”
“You want me to convince her to go along with this?” She snorted. “You’re out of your gourd.”
“That’s the second time I ha’e got away wi’ me life against those things,” he told her. “It’ll only get worse, and it’ll ne’er stop until one o’ two things happens. Either she’ll intervene and stop this, or the giants will destroy us all. Christie would ha’e been dead if she hadnae saved him. Did ye see her? She cured him wi’ a touch. That’s the sort o’ thing ’Azel does. This one mun’ be the one who cast the spell.”
“That makes no sense,” Grace replied. “It was Ivy who knew the spell.”
He shook his head. “Gang ye up there and talk tae her. See if ye can make her see sense.”
Grace glared at him for a moment. Then she sighed. He was right, of course. Grace had to do anything she could to stop this war. That meant doing whatever she could to convince Alexis to get involved.
Grace eyed the cave. What was Alexis doing up there? How long had she been there? What had she been doing in a cave all this time while the McLeans and the Camerons fought for their lives?
Without a word, she headed up there. She scaled the rocks to the spot where Piper sat. She eyed the old man, but he only returned her gaze with steady intensity. That man didn’t give up his secrets easily.
She stuck her head into the cave. The sun shone into it, and she saw the whole cavern at one glance. The back wall stood not more than ten feet away. Bare rock curved up to the ceiling. A fire pit sat cold and dead in the center. Other than that, the place was empty. Alexis was gone, just like that.
Grace frowned. She stole a glance at Piper. He looked out over the valley in perfect placid calm. He didn’t notice her staring at him. “Where’s the woman who just came in here?”
“She has gone.”
“Where did she go?”
“She has gone.”
Grace fought back the urge to yell at him. “I know she’s gone. I can see that. Where did she go?”
“How should I ken where she went? She didnae tell me.”
Grace whirled away. She stomped down the hill to Jamie. “She’s gone.”
He spun around to face her. “Gone! How can she be gone?”
She waved up at the cave. “I don’t know. She just disappeared. I guess she used her magic. How should I know? She’s not there anymore.”
Jamie looked around, but there was nothing more any of them could do about it. “This is no good.”
“Yeah,” she muttered. “Come on. Let’s go down to the village and see what the rest of them are up to. We better find a place to spend the night, too. We can talk to Arch and Christie and figure out what to do next.”
Jamie glared up at Piper. Grace knew exactly how he felt, but the expression on his face cooled her frustration. She touched his arm. “Hey.”
He rounded on her with a snarl. “What do ye want?”
She jerked her thumb down the hill. “Come on. Come on back to the village. We’re not doing anything out here today. Come and sit down and relax for a while. We can talk things over. Come on. You’re hurting. You need to rest, too.”
He glared at her, but he couldn’t bother her. She saw the bruises gathering around his head and on his arms and legs. He could be injured—a lot more injured than he realized. He took a pounding during that fight. He’d kept going on pure adrenaline. She had to get him back to the village before he collapsed on her.
He grunted under his breath, but he turned away from Piper’s cave. The sound of people coming back already drifted through the trees. The villagers would come back pretty soon. They would work to reconstruct their camp.
Jamie migrated down the hill at Grace’s side. They walked shoulder to shoulder and didn’t say a word. Grace’s feelings toward him had changed in the short time since she’d returned to this world. She fought the giants and won. She saved Jamie’s life.
They were in this thing together now. She understood that. She was up to her neck in this curse mystery. She might go back and forth between this world and her own, but she would never run to that world for refuge. She belonged here as much as Jamie did. She understood these things now, and she couldn’t let it go until she solved it.
They hiked down the mountain. The sun dipped low by the time they came to the dell. Smoke rose from the chimney across the village where Grace and Jamie spent the night. “Ah,” he murmured. “They’ve ta’en Ganny and Jock’s house. That’s as weel.”
“Where should we stay?” she asked. “Do you want to stay with them?”
“There’s no space,” he replied. “Ye go alaing and see tae Christie. I’ll find a place fer us.”
“You better go see Christie,” she countered. “He came here to give you a message from Lachlan. I’ll take a look around and see if I can find anything.”
“Awright,” he replied. “Be careful out there.”
She had to smile at him. “Okay.”
They strolled down the hill to the village. He hesitated at the planter. He turned toward her, and he gazed down into her eyes. His hand drifted toward hers, and their fingers entwined. Grace’s heart leapt. She was alone with him, on the other side of the world and time from everyone she knew.
She raised her face to kiss him. No one would ever find out. No one would accuse her of betraying Mike. No one would think worse of her for giving in to her secret longing. He took a step toward her.
Just then, a pack of wolves loped into the village from the southern fields. They glided through the falling dusk on silent paws. They swirled around the planter on their way to Ganny’s cottage.
They ran around Grace and Jamie. Their black sides flickered past her eyes. They glanced at the pair, but they never stopped running.
At that moment, ten men leapt out of the forest. They charged the village and surrounded it. They roared out loud and ran to intercept the wolves. They brandished their weapons, and their kilts kicked up around their knees as they ran.
The wolves hesitated to gauge their attackers. For an instant, they trotted around the planter. They glanced first at the men and then at each other. The men raced in at full flight. One of them hurled a spear at the wolves. It impaled one of the wolves through the chest.
Chapter 18
The dead wolf flopped to the ground. The others reacted in an instant, flying at the men, snarling and spitting.
The men leveled their axes and swords at the wolves, but the wolves didn’t play that game. They slashed the men with their bare fangs. They closed in body to body against the men where weapons wouldn’t do any good. One man fell with his throat ripped out. Others screamed.
Jamie launched himself at the combatants. “No! Stop! Ye dinnae understand.”
No one heard a word he said. He ran to the nearest body, attempting to pry a man and a wolf apart. He couldn’t see who it was in the gloom. He didn’t care. He had to stop them fighting. These men didn’t understand the wolves were their friends.
The wolf in his arms made a lunge and slashed the man across the cheek. The man screeched out loud, and Jamie recognized Jock. The wolf sprang clear. Jock wheeled and ran. “Fall back!” he called. “Fall back!”
His companions took a little longer to disengage from the wolves. The wolves, on their side, took even longer to realize the men wanted to flee. The heat of battle had infected their minds. They kept fighting, even when the men broke and ran. The wolves hounded them out of the village until every man left alive ran for the shelter of the woods.
Jamie turned around. His heart crashed into his shoes at the scene before him. The dead wolf lay on its side next to the planter, the spear sti
cking out of its chest. The dead man lay not far away in a pool of his own blood.
Another man knelt next to the wolf. It was Arch. He ran his hand across the wolf’s fur. He stroked its face, and his chin fell onto his chest. While Jamie watched, the wolf changed back into a man, and he recognized Alec.
“Another McLean’s goin’ home in a coffin,” Arch muttered.
Grace laid her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get him inside. We can’t leave him lying out here all night.”
Arch gritted his teeth and snapped the spear shaft flush with Alec’s chest. He took the body in his arms and carried it off to Ganny’s cottage.
Jamie turned away until they vanished into the night. He waited until all the McLeans left. Only Grace remained.
He walked over to the dead man and stared down at his face. He wore his curly brown hair tied behind his neck. His shirt fell open to reveal a long scar cut across his chest.
Grace came up behind him. “You okay, Jamie? Did you get hurt?”
Jamie shuddered. He could barely draw breath to speak. “It’s Daniel.”
“Jamie?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“What am I goin’ tae tell Marri now?” he asked. “She was worried he wouldnae come home, and now he ne’er will. This is my fault. I should ha’e stopped this long ago. I should ha’e done more tae warn Jock about the McLeans. I should ha’e protected them.”
Her tender hand came to rest on his shoulder. “Protected who? You’ve been working nonstop since this thing started. You tried to warn Jock, and you couldn’t stop this fight. There were too many of them.”
He heard the words, but they meant nothing to him. The weight of everything that happened today landed on him like a ton of bricks. The giants’ blows, seeing Christie almost die, and now this—what could one man do with catastrophes like this? How could he survive them?
His head bowed. His back bent. He couldn’t rise under this crushing weight. He would rather die than face Marri and break the news that Daniel was dead. The villagers would find out. They would never forgive the McLeans for this. The vendetta would drive their Clans apart after Jamie and his brothers had fought so hard and sacrificed so much to bring them together.
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