by LAURA HARNER
“Leave it for now. ‘Tis apparent I willna die. We can tend to injuries once we’re safe and the light is better. For now, we must be thinking of Lissa and that baby.”
“I’m alright, Gav,” came Lissa’s strained whisper. “No pains, I promise, just thirsty.
Picking up the cats, and holding a torch in front of him, Gav led the way. Elena and Lissa, were close behind, clinging to each other for support.
Gav didn’t know how the door had appeared to him, or how some of his memories seemed to be awakening, but he was eternally grateful to whatever power had helped them escape. He silently prayed that they find a way out, and that the others had made it to the north tunnel.
****
Pressing his hands against the hot metal plates, the doors slipped easily opened, and Faolan escaped into the secret chamber under the steading. The chamber led to an underground tunnel and would eventually lead him to safety, to the outside. Elena had discovered the chamber and its secret Druid library months earlier. She had nearly died after being trapped without water for days in one of the underground rooms, and Faolan had personally carried in supplies of water and flashlights, to prevent a recurrence of such an event. He grabbed some of each and entered the long passageway that led away from the steading.
He’d gone halfway when Faolan heard the bean sí or banshee calling. Shaking his fist at the dark tunnel, Faolan swore there would be no more death this night. The bitch banshee could go look for death elsewhere. He would go through the long tunnel and then out into the night, he would find the others. It would not end here! It could not! They must prevail.
****
“Laaaahl.”
Gav loved animals. He really did. But if someone didna shut that bloody Shadow up soon, he would make a tiny cat gag, and personally stuff it in the ruddy cat’s mouth. He suspected they’d walked nearly a half-mile underground, lighting alternating torches along the way, moving cautiously.
They hadn’t wanted to light all of the torches, not knowing how long they would burn, nor how long they’d be in the tunnel. The air was cool and sweet, and except for their limited water, Gav thought they were now safe.
“Laaaaahl,” Shadow howled again. The sound echoed through the tunnel. Gav sighed.
Elena coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Before he could get upset, he was smothered in a wave of love.
Gav stopped in his tracks and looked back at Elena, his throat tight with emotion, as he felt her gratitude. He concentrated very hard on keeping that warm feeling going for her. He knew when the shock started to wear off, she would realize the enormity of her losses. He needed to keep her moving, to get as far as they could before that happened.
The tunnel turned just ahead, and as they rounded the corner, Gav’s heart sank. The tunnel ended in a rockslide. In a frustrated fury, he threw himself at the pile, with a terse order to the women to stand back. He picked up a rock and tossed it to the side, Then another. And another. His hands burned with the effort, yet it looked as if he was making no progress.
Elena joined him, grabbing rocks, throwing them aside, but they made no progress against the massive pile. After tossing a few rocks, Elena stopped and blew on her hands, then shook them as though they were burning her hands.
“Elena, are the rocks actually hot. I thought ‘twas my hands were burned.”
Stopping dead in her tracks, Elena placed her hands on the rock pile. “Help me, Gav. Put your hands on the rocks and just push, think about opening them like a door.”
Gav didn’t understand, but he was beyond questioning anything at this point. He placed his hands on the front of the rocks, next to Elena’s and just wished the damn rocks would move.
****
Faolan heard the banshee cry again, then he stared in disbelief as the wall to his left rumbled and vibrated. Was it this then? Was the tunnel collapsing around him? ‘Twas not someone he loved whose death the banshee was foretelling, but his own. The wall shuddered, then shimmered as though it was a vertical pool of water, before it disappeared completely, leaving an opening into another tunnel.
Faolan’s knees felt weak, and he was stunned beyond belief. He was looking at Elena, Gav, and Lissa, faces smudged with black; bloody, but gloriously alive. Elena ran to him, crying with relief, with fear, with shock. He swept her into his arms and covered her face with kisses, swinging her around in a dizzying circle, while Gav and Lissa grinned like idiots.
“Laaaaaahl!”
“Goddamnit Shadow,” roared Gabhran. “Hold your whisht!”
Chapter Thirty-nine
Liam watched the farm burn with horror. Until the buildings started to collapse, the whole thing seemed eminently reasonable. His father was the Druid Master, and ordered this act done for the future of their Druid sect. The Etarlam Order must survive. Such was their destiny, foretold in a prophecy, a promise to their ancestors.
He’d seen the shape shifters run to the barn, then watched as the barn burned down around them. Only when the entire roof collapsed did he shift his attention to the farmhouse. Elena was in there. He could sense her fear and her determination. Just a few short weeks ago, she had meant the world to him. He’d wanted her beyond reason, her soul a siren to his heart.
Now, he didn’t know what he wanted, but he didn’t want this.
Liam watched as the fire fully engulfed the farmhouse, and somewhere in there, he felt Elena’s internal flame extinguished. It was as though someone closed a door on a part of him, on something that had been a part of him for so long that it left a gaping hole in his heart. He could no longer sense her vibrancy, her life energy. He wanted to mourn her loss, but didn’t know how.
As Liam continued to circle back around the north side of the Gailtry farm, he suddenly felt Elena’s spirit rematerialize, he felt the special waves of energy that were uniquely Elena, the waves that spoke to his soul. He was near a copse of trees that surrounded a large clearing. Quickly, Liam hid behind a tree and watched as four people emerged from a door concealed in the hillside. Elena lived! But so did her twin and that fucking wolf!
He fingered the rifle hanging by his side.
As the group climbed onto an SUV that hadn’t been there when he’d passed by earlier in the evening, Elena stopped in her tracks, turned slowly, and unerringly looked in his direction. Liam stepped from behind the tree that was concealing him from view, and their gazes locked. He silently beseeched her to go, to get in the car, and leave quickly. With a quick nod, she turned her back on him and encouraged everyone to hurry.
****
On the grass, in the center of a large ring of standing stones, Miranda slowly opened her eyes and whispered, “Albus Dumbledore.” Her eyelids fluttered closed again.
Earnan looked at the man in the circle with him. This was an unexpected development. Only Miranda and he were supposed to travel this time. He needed time to understand what this all could mean. Meanwhile, what was done was done. It was time to close this particular door.
“Ian Worthington, student of the Druid Master Gailtry, I am Druid Master Earnan,” he said, using the formal language and titles to reassure the ancient warrior.
Giving a quick half bow, Ian replied, “Master, I am honored to meet you. I invite you to search my intentions and ask that I may have entry to yours.” The men took temporary refuge in the formal rituals of Druidy, slowly taking each other’s measure.
After several minutes, Earnan began, “Ian Worthington, your Druid heart is true, I welcome you to my home. Forgive my uncertainty, these are dangerous times.”
“Aye, Master, and may I ask, are you the Maser who trained Alexander?”
“Aye, we have much to discuss. For the now, pick up the lass and follow me to the castle.” He waved his arm and a previously masked castle appeared on the hilltop a quarter mile away.
Once Miranda was safely on a bed in a private suite of rooms, Earnan turned her care over to Brigid, a Druid with a gift for healing. Then he and Ian moved into the library to
discuss this unexpected situation. It was always a danger when you moved someone through time.
Every Druid that passed beyond the apprentice level of training learns that time exists in more than one dimension, or rather time exists independent of other dimensions; it was a dimension unto itself.
World events happen in a linear fashion and become known as history. A child is born, he grows into a man, he dies. If during his lifetime, he goes on to significantly impact the course of the world, the course of human events, then nearly everything surrounding his life is inviolate. If you change the time or manner that his father dies or force him to meet his love before the event’s natural time, you risk affecting his decisions or actions, therefore everything must stay the same, and may not be altered.
Earnan had already made one decision today to try to stabilize the timeline surrounding the world of Druidry. That decision cost him one of his most brilliant and powerful Druids. Now it was time to evaluate the impact of Ian’s unexpected appearance in the twenty-first century. The Druid warrior was a brilliant tactician, and by Dagda, they could use the help.
****
With an anguished cry, Alexander fell to his knees just outside the circle of stones. The lightning flared and thunder crashed with all the severity of a gale blown in from the sea, whipping the highland night into a tempest. He watched as the portal closed with the finality of a funeral pyre.
Gav was gone but his wife would be returned to him. The two loving parents would raise their child, the Lachlan line would continue to thrive for hundreds of years. And what of Lissa and your child, his conscience asked.
His beloved Alysone would raise their child alone. He tried to reason with his conscience, to ignore the voice crying, insisting love conquers all. He would always need to remind himself they would be safer without him. Earnan could keep them safe forever on the island. And he? It was his destiny to remain in the fourteenth century, to combat the Worthingtons in this time, even while Earnan led the fight against the Etarlam of the future. As the lightning ceased to flash, the storm settled, and he felt the gaping hole in his heart as his final connection to Alysone severed.
****
Elena and Lissa explored the luxury yacht while Faolan readied the boat and Gav loaded the suitcases. Their hearts were heavy with the loss of Red and Lilly, and the time to mourn would come, once their own safety was secured. Soon they were miles away from shore, and the dreadful knot of fear for Elena’s life that had been gripping Faolan’s heart began to loosen.
Faolan gave Gav a rudimentary lesson in driving the boat. With the advanced navigation system, it was easier than driving a car. Elena and Lissa were in the galley putting away food and drinks, exploring the supplies Red had already loaded earlier in the week.
Faolan looked over at Elena and found her already looking at him. Their gazes locked, and he knew it was time. She poured everyone a fresh drink, sparkling cider for Lissa, and fifty-year old single malt Macallan for everyone else. He set the speed and direction of the autopilot, and joined the others on the aft deck.
Faolan cleared his throat and began, “When I was a lad, Red saved me from rushing to my death at the hands of a Worthington, the day they came to murder my family. He and Lilly have been all the family I’ve known for my entire life.”
He wrapped his arms around his wife. “When you entered my life, Red and Lilly grew to love you as much as I did. You were the daughter they always wanted. They believed in us before either of us accepted the inevitable.” He smiled wryly. “They knew we would have a love as everlasting as theirs. Red and Lilly loved each other always, I never knew of them to have more than a few cross words with each other.”
He smiled lovingly down at Elena, blinking his eyes against the sting of unshed tears, and continued in a husky voice, “I will miss them every day, for the rest of my life. Yet I will take comfort in knowing of their love for each other, their love for you, and knowing they are together, even now.” His voice broke, and he was unable to continue.
With tears streaming down her face, Elena returned Faolan’s gaze. When she reached up to cup his face in her hand, Gav and Lissa turned away. Faolan had almost forgotten that they too were suffering through their own grief. Their loved ones were in the past, part of a dimension forever closed to them, as dead as Red and Lilly. Gav would never know the child he’d made with Miranda. A brother. A wife. A fiancé. A child. His parents. They’d all lost, and yet he had hope they would find comfort as they moved on together.
Gav leaned close and spoke softly to Lissa, steadying her arm as she plucked petals from a bouquet and tossed them one by one into the water. Faolan watched their private conversation, feeling the pain of their shared loss as they mourned the loved ones left behind.
Gav’s shoulders jerked as if from an unseen blow. Lissa’s head snapped up from looking at the water, to turn swiftly from side to side. Her eyes were wide and unseeing.
“No…no… You promised,” she choked out. Then she dropped to her knees and sobbed.
Chapter Forty
Randi knew she was dreaming but couldn’t seem to clear the webs from her mind that were holding her asleep. Alexander was looking at her through the stones as she was pulled further and further away from him. He reached his arm through the stones but he couldn’t reach her, and she screamed as she started falling. The last thing she heard Alex say as she was pulled into the swirling whirlpool of colors was to tell Alysone he always loved her. Then the dream changed in the way that dreams do, and the colors were flames.
The flames surrounded Gabhran and he turned to look at the people surrounding him, and he yelled for everyone to run. Randi floated above the flames, looking down at the chaos, and saw a small opening in the ring of fire. She screamed to Gabhran to go north, that escape was possible, but her screams were lost in the roar of the flames as the fire exploded and began to spin like an out of control pinwheel. Sparks filled the air, obscuring everyone from view
Ian appeared, floating by her side, as the dream shifted once again. They were flying through the air and Ian led the way toward a small island floating in the clouds. His mouth was moving, but Randi couldn’t hear him.
Panic set in as she approached the clouds, she was falling lower and lower, the clouds tangling her arms and legs, keeping her from moving. She could no longer fly. Falling, falling, falling.
She was jolted awake, her heart pounding, tangled in the covers, a light sheen of sweat covered her face. Randi looked around the strange room, and was overwhelmed by its luxurious features. Someone had put a selection of jeans, tees, and other casual woman’s wear on top of the dresser. Clean clothes from her own century—heavenly! The en suite bathroom was equally luxurious and joy of joys, there was a razor.
Randi decided no matter what she had to face, no matter where it was she now found herself, she would face it with shaved legs and a pair of jeans!
****
Gabhran looked around when they got to the top of the hill, and saw the front of a castle that had somehow been hidden from his view until now. Faolan and Elena had kept their little secret well. When the boat tied up to the small dock he’d wondered why they stopped at the barren, cloud-shrouded island. Then he’d jumped onto the dock and the sun shone gloriously as far as he could see, all the fog and gloom dissipated. He should have known there was more he wasn’t seeing, Elena’s eye’s had sparkled with mischief.
The castle’s door opened wide, and a strong sense of déjà vu hit Gabhran!
“You,” he exclaimed looking at Earnan.
The man grinned impishly. “Aye, ‘tis me, young Gabhran.”
“I always wanted to know if you were Alexander’s Master. I suppose this is my answer.”
“Aye, and I have other news for you, but come in.” He stepped back and led the way through the great hall and into the library.
A man with copper gold hair that fell in a straight sheet to his waist stood with his back to the room, looking out the window. He turned at th
e sound of the approaching voices. His handsome face lit with joy.
“Gav,” he exclaimed as he strode across the floor to grab his best friend around the shoulders. Gav was slightly confused, as though faced with a person he recognized, but couldn’t quite place.
Stepping up quietly from behind Gav, Lissa placed her hand on his arm. “Gav, this is Ian, from our time, he’s your very best friend.” She smiled at Ian.
“Lissa! How did you come to be here as well?”
Before Lissa could reply, Earnan strode into the middle of the group, muttering under his breath, pushing everyone aside to reach for Gabhran. “I should have done this straight away.” Placing his hands on Gabhran, he muttered a few more words, then stepped back and watched.
Gabhran shuddered, as though he'd swallowed a bitter liquid, then his gaze flew open and back to Ian. “Christ, I remember! I remember everything now.” He lifted the big man into the air, whooping and hollering, while Ian pounded him on the back.
He sensed Elena’s feelings. Without looking he knew she was smiling, happy for him, and wanted to share in the celebration. Turning immediately, Gav dropped Ian unceremoniously in front of Elena. “Ian, Alex and I had a sister, she’s my twin! Elena, may I present Ian Worthington, best friend and knave, and the total cause of any trouble I might have found as a lad.”
Gav laughed, Ian started to bow, and Elena froze. A low growl filled the room as Faolan stepped next to Elena clearly prepared to protect her.
“What is it, Elena, what’s wrong?” Gav asked, unsure of where the danger lay.
“A Worthington killed my family,” Faolan spit out, “and ‘tis fair certain ‘twas the Worthington that tried to kill us at the farm.”
There was a long moment where it seemed there might be a fight to the death brewing. Faolan loomed large, slightly crouched, and appeared ready to spring at Ian. The tension in the room was palpable.