“I had no idea where all this madness was coming from afore,” he replied. “I wondered if it might be some magic gone astray. Now I see these things, I see they’re part of the curse. That means all this flying apart is part of the curse, too. Do ye see?”
“That doesn’t explain anything,” she countered. “These are the things coming through the temporal portals into Faery. The Faery King has been dealing with them all this time, and now Urlu is dealing with it, too.”
“That explains why Urlu suffered from the disease,” he replied. “They couldnae see these things, but they got the tearing affect, too.”
“What disease?” she asked. “I don’t know about any disease.”
“It’s the same disease I had,” he replied, “the one ye cured me on. It’s the same disease the Urlus had and the McLeans had. It’s the same falling apart curse, only it happens on the inside where ye cannae see these monsters tearing your guts out. Ye can feel it, though. Ye can feel every tearing bite.”
She clapped her hands over her ears. “Don’t talk like that. I can’t listen to this.”
He turned his eyes on her. All of a sudden, this business started to make sense. “Think on it, lassie. Ye cured me by lying by my side all night. I cured ye by touching your skin. When I touched ye, I saw into your vision world, and that’s how I cured ye. Do ye no’ see? We drove those things away when ye touched me. That’s what caused the magic to work.”
“So what are you saying?” she asked. “Are you saying we have to be touching to…to lift the curse?”
He started to answer that, but the words died on his lips. He stared at her with his mouth open. A tremendous feeling of upwelling energy threatened to explode out of him at any second.
He bowed his head and closed his eyes. A deep chuckle bubbled out of his chest. “That’s it. That’s the answer.”
She threw up her hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He sat down by the fire and pulled the plaid around him. “When I refused to work with ye to break the curse, the Faery King threw me in prison.”
“I know,” she replied.
“While I was down there, Fergus Cameron came to visit me. He said his wife Hazel became an Urlu when they mated. Did ye ken that? She wasnae Urlu afore they met. She was Faery. That’s how she cast that spell. He was Faery, and she was Faery. He says Urlu and Faery exchange powers when they mate.”
He didn’t have to look up to know he had her attention. She squatted down on the opposite side of the fire. She listened.
“He said the same thing must have happened to us. He said it must be wolves and Faery it happens to as well. Ye were Faery from birth, but ye didnae ken it. That’s how ye cast that spell when Ivy taught ye the magic words. I wasnae Faery afore, but I became it when we…”
He glanced up and met her gaze across the fire. She stared at him in utter disbelief. “So what are you saying? You’re saying I gave you my Faery power when we…did it?”
“I dinnae say naught about it,” he replied. “I’m merely repeating what Fergus told me. It does explain why the two of us together can work this magic when neither of us can do it alone.”
“Are you seriously suggested we…what exactly are you suggesting?”
He snorted with laughter. “I’m no’ suggesting we do it again, if that’s what you’re worried about. I wouldnae dare suggest that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped. “I suppose that’s your way of slapping me in the face for rejecting you before.”
“I dinnae care a jot about ye, lassie,” he returned. “I dinnae ken how many times I have to say it. I dinnae care if ye come or go, or if ye live or die. It’s all the rest of the world I care about, and I wouldnae do it with ye again to save it all. You’re the last woman I’ll ever lay a finger on again as long as I live. I care only to break this curse, and if that means working with ye, I’ll do it. I only wish I’d agreed to it the first time. We might have saved a lot of time and effort.”
Alexis jumped to her feet. “Well, I wouldn’t do it with you, either. You are the most overbearing, bombastic jackass I ever laid eyes on. I don’t know how I tolerated your company this long, but I don’t have to do it anymore. I’m leaving.”
“I’m no’ suggesting we touch—or whatever—to break the curse,” he called after her. “There’s another side to this thing we havenae touched yet.”
“And what is that?” she asked. “I suppose you want me to help you tap your new Faery magic. Well, I can tell you right now…”
“I dinnae need ye to do that,” he replied. “I can manage that on my own. I’m talking about your new power, no’ mine.”
She spun around. She stormed back to the fire. “My new power? What new power is that?”
“The wolf,” he replied. “We exchanged power. Ye were Faery, and I’m a wolf. I became Faery by taking your power, and ye became a wolf by taking mine.”
Her jaw hit the floor. “Are you freaking serious?”
“Why no’?” he replied. “What did ye think he meant by exchanging powers? Did ye think ye could give me all of your own without taking mine?”
She pointed at him across the flames. “I am NOT a wolf. No way did I take your power.”
“Did it ever occur to ye that’s why you’re going crazy with all this?” he asked. “Did it ever occur to ye that’s the reason all this started after we spent that night together? Ye were snapping all over the countryside afore that. All right, so ye attracted the curse powers to ye afore. Ye got the vampires and the giants and all, but this flying apart at the seams business—all that never started until after ye and I spent the night together. Am I right?”
“You’re wrong,” she growled. “I went to visit Ivy before I ever met you at that inn. That’s when it started.”
“Are ye sure?” he asked. “Are ye sure it happened afore? Are ye sure ye didnae go through some sort of time distortion and it happened long after?”
Alexis spasmed once. Her face contorted, and Christie saw his words strike home. “How…?” she stammered. “How do you know about that?”
He stood up and faced her. “Listen to me, lassie. We have a problem, you and I, and it’s a very serious problem that willnae go away if ye run from it. We must face it and conquer it together. I ken ye dinnae want to work with me, and I dinnae want to work with ye. We must put aside all that and make this happen to save all the rest.”
“I’m not working with you,” she fired back. “I’m not doing anything with you. I’m leaving.”
She marched across the alcove on her way out into the night. Christie rocketed to his feet. “If ye go out there, Alexis, ye walk away from saving not only your own life. You’ll be dead, and I’ll be dead. All the Urlus’ll be dead. My Clan McLean’ll be dead. Faery’ll be dead, if they’re no’ already. It willnae be long afore the human world is dead, too. Is that what ye want? Is that what you’re willing to walk out on?”
She paused at the threshold. She stared out into the dark. Christie let his words ring through the silence. He did all he could to work with her. He couldn’t do any more. If she accepted this, he might be able to work with her and break this curse. Now it was all up to her.
He turned away and sat down at the fire with his back to her. He wouldn’t help her again. She hesitated there for a lot longer than he expected. Maybe she just didn’t want to go it alone out there. She had a pretty good life in this alcove with him tending to her every need.
Then he heard her footsteps. She clipped down the rock to the forest floor and walked away into the darkness.
Chapter 16
Alexis sat down in a country inn not far from the forest. In the hours since she left Christie, she experienced no visionary attacks by the winged monsters or the flying apart into pieces nightmare. Maybe it was all over.
She laughed to herself while she ate a decent breakfast of fried ham, scrambled eggs, and hot buttered toast. She drank plenty of tea with it. That fool Chr
istie tried to make her think this was the end of the world. She found the world working perfectly well for her taste.
Once she ate breakfast, she sat by the fire in the main room. She talked to travelers coming and going on the Highlands. She settled into the peaceful contentment of life beyond the forest. All the comforts and attractions called her back to life.
Later in the morning, she decided to make a move. She would go upstairs to clean up and change her clothes. Then perhaps she would decide if she wanted to travel somewhere else.
She couldn’t go back to her own world in modern America, and she couldn’t go back to Faery. She also couldn’t go to Mull or Urlu. All those potential destinations remained closed to her.
She stopped in the act of walking to the front door. She stared through it at the moors outside. Why were those places off limits to her? Why did she hesitate to go back there? If this curse business was over, what did she have to worry about? The whole thing must have sprung from her fevered imagination.
She didn’t want to go back because she didn’t want to risk the same thing happening. Just on the off chance this curse wasn’t over yet, she better stay away.
She shook herself alert. She had to get herself together. She couldn’t go cracking up, now that she got her freedom in sight. She almost turned away from the door when a traveler appeared in the yard outside.
A kilted man came to the door and darkened the opening for a moment. He swept the inn’s interior with sharp eyes. It was that fink Christie again. She stormed up to him. “What do you think you’re doing here? Are you following me?”
“I wouldnae dream of it,” he murmured. “Do ye think this is the only inn in Scotland? I left the forest full seven hours after ye, and I wound up here. I had no way to ken you’d be at this inn, of all places.”
At that moment, the landlord came over. He stuck out his hand to Christie to welcome him. “What’ll ye have, lad?”
“A hot meal by the fire and a room for the night,” Christie replied.
The landlord nodded and departed. “I’ll see to it.”
Alexis charged Christie and hissed in his face. “You are not staying here tonight. I’m staying here. You have to find somewhere else.”
“I’ll no’ stay somewhere else,” he replied. “I have walked twenty miles, and I’m staying here afore I take another step. If ye dinnae like to sleep under the same roof with me, then ye may leave. You’ll find dozens of inns exactly like this in these Highlands.”
“Of course I will,” she shot back, “and I would have to walk another twenty miles to get there, wouldn’t I?”
He pushed past her to the fire. “I dinnae care what ye do. Come or go, the choice is yours. I’m staying here, and I’m no’ such an inhospitable dog that I cannae accept ye in the same house.” He dropped into a chair and leaned his head back. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “Och! Now that’s about like it!”
He sat there with his eyes closed so long Alexis wondered if he’d gone to sleep. He remained motionless until the landlord brought his breakfast. The man put the plate on a table at Christie’s elbow.
Christie opened his eyes with an effort and turned to the plate. That’s when he saw Alexis. “Are ye still here? I thought you’d be ten miles down the road.”
She gritted her teeth and set her hands on her hips. “You can’t do this to me, Christie. You said I could come or go and the choice was mine.”
“And so it is.” He put a bite of bacon in his mouth and chewed it. “The choice is yours now as well. Ye may come or go. You’ll get no interference from me.”
“What guarantee do I have that you won’t follow me to the next inn?” she asked.
“I’ll give ye no guarantee,” he replied, “but I’ll give ye one better. I’ll tell ye where I’m going, and ye can go the opposite direction. That way, you’ll ensure ye dinnae meet me in any roadside inns along the way. Will that suit ye?”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Tell me, and I’ll leave.”
“I’m going back to Mull,” he replied. “I’m heading south, and when I cross the sound, I’ll no’ return to the mainland to save my life. You’ll never see my face again.”
“What are you going back to Mull for?” she asked. “I thought you said it was lost.”
“If it’s lost, then I’m lost with it,” he replied. “I’ll go back there for the rest of my time. I’ll take care of Ivy and see what’s what with my auld Clan lands. No one’s using them, so she and I may as well do it.”
This picture of Christie and Ivy living out their lives together on old McLean Clan lands gave Alexis an absurd pang of jealousy. What did Alexis care what Christie and Ivy did on the Isle of Mull?
“If it’s no’ lost—and I have reason to believe it may no’ be—then that’s where I belong all over again,” he went on. “I’ll go there and see, and if it works, so much the better. If it’s all gone and I’m to die, I’d best die there.”
He bent his attention to his food. His silence dismissed her from his life the same way she tried to dismiss him, but without success. She turned away. She cursed him in her heart. She planned to relax at this inn for a day or two, maybe more. Now she found herself compelled to withdraw and leave the place to him.
She gave instructions to the landlord. He brought hot water to a private room. She gave herself the briefest wash possible and left the inn. She seethed in rage walking down the road. She wanted nothing to do with Christie McLean, and she would do what she had to do to make sure she didn’t have anything to do with him.
She walked all day before she found another inn, where she collapsed. She rose the next morning in a better mood, and when she hit the road, she enjoyed it. She still had no idea where she was going, as long as she didn’t go back to that strange world of horrible visions.
She planned the second night better and found an inn well before sunset. What a welcome sight it was. In the last miles before she reached its door, she planned exactly what she would do.
She would spend a few days here, just resting from her ordeal. She would sleep a lot and get her clothes laundered. She would relax and plan her next move. She imagined every delicious sensation of the hot bath water soaking her up to her ears. She fantasized about the clean sheets enfolding her when she rolled over at nine o’clock in the morning and fell back to sleep.
She pushed the inn door open with a satisfied sigh. She walked into the room bright with firelight and stopped dead in her tracks. There stood Christie McLean in the act of taking his shoes off by the door. His old bundle of supplies sat on the floor. “What are you doing here?”
“I just walked in the door,” he replied. “I’m staying here tonight.”
“No, you are not!” she fired back. “Now I know you’re following me.”
“I’m no’ following ye,” he replied. “I wouldnae stoop so low.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snarled.
“I went south the way I told ye,” he replied. “I kept my side of the bargain. I dinnae ken what you’re doing here, but if ye ask the landlady, she’ll tell ye that inn where we met afore is forty miles north of here, so maybe ye got lost in the woods like the little lassie that ye are. I dinnae care.”
“You bastard!” she hissed.
“Aye, and a hungry bastard at that.” He sat down on a bench at the table, and the maid put some food in front of him. He started eating. Alexis watched in fury until he happened to glance up in feigned surprise. “You’re welcome to stay here, lass. I’ll no’ turn ye away at sundown to find your way somewhere else. Sit down and have a dram.”
She looked around. The sun went down outside, and the countryside fell into dusk. She couldn’t leave. She was stuck here with him. Whether from sheer exhaustion or for some other reason, all the fight went out of her at once. What difference did it make if she stayed in the same inn with him? It meant nothing.
She sat down by the fire and took off her shoes. Now that she gave up resenting him,
the whole conflict appeared idiotic and juvenile. She turned her attention to the fire. It filled her very pores with its nourishing heat. She could relax here. She just had to ignore him.
The maid came over to her. “Will ye have a bite of supper, Miss? Cook’s preparing a nice rabbit pie with onions. It’s piping hot.”
Those words went straight to Alexis’s stomach. “Thank you. That sounds delicious.”
The maid left, and Alexis turned around to move over to the table. Christie sat on one bench with two other men. Two more men sat on the opposite bench with their backs to Alexis. The only place left was across from Christie, exactly the same situation he faced on the first night they met.
He looked across the table at her. He watched to see what she would do, and their eyes met. Aw, what the hell. What difference would it make, just for one night? She moved over and sat down on the bench across from him. He nodded to her and passed a bottle to fill her glass.
The maid brought her food. They didn’t talk. They ate in silence and listened to the other men talking. It wasn’t such a bad way to spend an evening, even if the air did crackle with tension between them.
She shared something with him. He understood a part of her no one else understood. He’d seen that crazy world with his own eyes. He even helped her deal with it. As she filled her stomach and took a few sips of whiskey, her heart warmed to him. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
She relaxed even more and smiled across at him. He didn’t exactly smile back, but the strain eased between them. They were just two people eating at the same table—nothing more.
Towards the end of the meal, two men left the room. Two remained behind, and they relaxed, too. One moved to an armchair by the fire, while the other swiveled around to straddle his bench. He smoked a pipe while he talked to Christie about something Highland related. He spoke with such a strong accent Alexis couldn’t really understand him.
Christie mimicked his accent, and they carried on a lively conversation. Alexis caught snatches of words about the weather and the terrain nearby. She gazed into the flames while she listened.
Curse Breaker (Phoenix Throne Book 7): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance Page 11