Grace Unchained - Phoenix Throne Book Five

by Walker, Heather

  Her eyes darted around the forest. In her desperate terror, she couldn’t distinguish one shadow from the next. Her brain kept screaming, I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!

  All at once, a devastating crash startled her out of her skin. She screamed out loud and jumped a foot in the air. She glanced up to see the same giant towering over her with his club upraised to strike. He passed it to his left, and a dozen huge trees uprooted from the blow. He knocked them sideways and looked straight down on the fleeing pair.

  He pulled back his club. Now nothing hid the fugitives from his sight. He focused his crossed eyes on them and aimed his club for the killing stroke. At the last minute, Grace dodged sideways to miss the blow. Mike’s hand popped out of her grasp.

  He veered one way while she veered the other. For an instant, they both rushed back to each other, but at that moment, the giant struck. He brought his club down into the empty space he’d cleared on the last swipe. Grace darted away just in time, and Mike ran the opposite way to get clear.

  Grace couldn’t think. She ran willy-nilly through the woods. She would run anywhere to get away from that thing, but she didn’t have time to go anywhere. The giant took one massive step and caught up with her. He smashed his club back the other way and cleared all the trees blocking her from his view.

  She no longer saw anything in front of her. She couldn’t imagine the doorway, much less find it. Nothing mattered but getting away and saving her own life. She bolted, first right, then left. She had no idea where she was going, and she didn’t care as long as she got out of this alive.

  She burst out of the trees, back into the open field on the dell. She caught one fleeting glance of the other three giants smashing and stomping and marauding through the village. She saw no people. They were all long gone.

  The ground vibrated under her feet, and she heard the steady tread of the giant coming up behind her. She ducked back into the trees and ran for her life. She crossed back over the stream, but wherever she went, he always followed.

  She would have run around those woods until she dropped. More than once, she broke out into open fields leading away from the stream. Those fields led either to the fell below the village or out to the open road to Glencoe and beyond. Each time, she retreated into the forest. She had to stay near trees where she could find the doorway.

  The last time she emerged from the trees, she found herself back on the dell. She faced the village, but she screamed again when she saw the other three giants coming her way. They tromped across the dell to rejoin their companion. They eyed Grace and picked up speed when she ran from them.

  Her legs ached from all this running. She couldn’t keep it up much longer, but she dared not stop. She stumbled over rocks and went down on her knees. Every time she glanced over her shoulder, she saw that giant on her tail, and now three more entered the woods in search of their fleeing quarry.

  Grace crossed back over the stream one more time. She had to find…something. She didn’t know what. This time, she turned and headed down the stream. She followed it into woods she hadn’t seen before.

  All of a sudden, she broke out into the open space around the ford. A voice called her from one side, “Grace!”

  She spun around and saw Mike. She was never so happy to see him. She ran to throw herself into his arms. She would never let him out of her sight again as long as she lived. A beautiful, angelic smile illuminated his face. He ran to her with his arms out.

  At that moment, a club the size of a house flashed across her view. It caught Mike from the side and sent him flying. He crashed into a stout tree. His body jack knifed around the trunk, and a sickening snap rang through the woods. In front of Grace’s eyes, he collapsed on the ground in a heap.

  Before she could react or even scream his name, a shadow fell across the ford, and it wasn’t the kind of shadow she could use to get away. Two huge giants heaved into view. They narrowed their eyes down at her. The giant who chased her all this time joined them, and they formed a ring around her to crush her to death.

  She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She froze in terror. She couldn’t breathe. Mike was dead, and now she would join him. No one in her home town would ever know what happened to her.

  Someone grabbed her and spun her around. Two hands gripped her shoulders, and she found herself staring up into a human face. “Grace!” it shouted. “Come on. Ye mun’ get out o’ ’ere.”

  She took a moment to realize who it was. It was Jamie Cameron, the young man who talked to her at the planter.

  Chapter 6

  Jamie grabbed Grace. He towed her away from the ford, but before they could get anywhere, the giants closed in. One of them brought his club down and splintered the trees to matchsticks. He kicked the twisted remnants away to clear a path for himself to move in closer.

  Jamie spun around to flee and came up against another giant. The monsters hemmed the pair in on all sides, penning them in.

  Jamie let go of Grace’s jacket and stepped clear. He could think of only one solution to this problem. He had to fight these giants as a dragon. He had to protect Grace and the village. Once the giants faced his fire, they would leave.

  He rounded on them with his fists clenched. He drew in a deep breath and threw out his chest. He started to let his power rip from him when a terrible shriek surprised him.

  In front of Jamie’s eyes, a dozen black bodies sailed out of the forest. He had no idea where they’d come from, but they attacked the giants in a lethal swarm. Only when they struck the giants snarling, spitting, and gibbering did he recognize them. They were wolves.

  Jamie stared in astonishment as the wolves flew at the giants. They landed on the giants’ arms and shoulders and backs. They clawed their way up the giants’ clothes to their heads. They tore at the giants with their teeth. They gouged out the giants’ eyes with the claws on their feet. They slashed the giants’ throats open until blood spurted over the woods.

  Jamie couldn’t move or make a sound. He watched in stunned shock as the giants tried their utmost to battle the rabid beasts. First the giants tried to bat them off with their hands and clubs. They succeeded in clubbing themselves a few times. When the wolves bit and tore the giants’ hands, they gave that up.

  The giant that had chased Grace staggered in circles, three wolves perched on his head. They kicked their claws into his eyes and mauled his face until he bellowed in pain and rage. The other giants weren’t much better off. They stumbled over trees and pitched onto their faces, where the wolves closed in to finish them off.

  Jamie’s heart soared. The wolves were winning! One by one, the giants fell. The wolves ripped them to shreds in maniac ferocity until all four lay still. The wolves jumped clear. They stood around and regarded their fallen enemies with curious expressions on their faces.

  Jamie’s shoulders slumped. “It’s all o’er.”

  He looked at Grace. She let out a cry, her arm shooting outward to point at the giants. A strange shimmering ripple passed over their bodies, one after the other. In a puff of smoke, they dissolved into the ground and disappeared.

  A big grey wolf trotted over to the fallen corpse of one of its kin. The animal sniffed its companion. Jamie watched in amazement as the dark grey fur retracted into the skin. The snout flattened, and the dead wolf changed into a man.

  Jamie dropped on one knee next to the dead wolf. He pushed the long, lanky hair off the man’s face. The man wore a strange tartan, and a rough scraggle of beard covered his jaw. Jamie whispered under his breath, “Carson McLean!”

  “What…What’s going on?” Grace squeaked.

  Jamie got to his feet. He turned to face the grey wolf standing next to him. “Thank ye. I dinnae ken how ye come tae be ’ere, but I thank ye.”

  The wolf hopped up on its hind legs and changed into a well-formed young man. His golden hair hung to his shoulders, and he wore the same tartan as the dead man at their feet. “Ye’d ha’e handled it yerself withoot me, I ha’e no doubt.”<
br />
  “What are these giants?” Jamie asked.

  “I can only imagine they’re part o’ that curse ye told me aboot,” the man replied. “They attacked Duart, and we followed ’em ’ere. I dinnae like tae think on ’em smashin’ innocent women and children. They destroyed Ballachulish, and it’s on our account they’re free in the land. I made it me job tae bring ’em down.”

  “It’s no on yer account the curse is on the land,” Jamie replied. “We none o’ us kenned it would travel so far away o’ the Isle. Ye ha’e brought ’em down, and there’s an end tae it.”

  The man shook his head. “They allus come back. Ye ken that yerself, as it’s ye and yers as told me it would happen that way. They’ll return, but I’ll no be ’ere tae tend tae it. I dinnae like tae leave the land unguarded, but now I ken ye’re ’ere tae mind the place, I mun’ take me brother home and bury him. I’ll return when I ha’e done that. Ye may count on that, Jamie Cameron.”

  Without further ado, he picked up the dead man and walked away into the trees. The other wolves followed him, and they disappeared.

  Grace swallowed hard. “Who was that?”

  “His name is Lachlan McLean,” Jamie replied. “I ken him from…weel, ne’er ye mind where I ken him from. He saved us both, and no mistake. I ha’e no doubt the giants would ha’e devastated the land if he hadnae.”

  “He said you would have handled it. What did he mean?”

  He took her hand. “Ne’er ye mind aboot that. Come back tae the village. I’ll find ye a place tae stay and summat tae eat. Ye’re a mess.”

  Grace cast a terrified glance over her shoulder, back toward the ford. She opened her mouth and closed it again. She looked all around. She looked everywhere but at Jamie. That’s when Jamie saw the still figure lying at the base of the tree. “Who is that?”

  Grace made a broken sound in her throat when she tried to speak. Jamie crossed the ford to where the dead man lay. He flipped him over. The man’s skin hung white and floppy off his bones. He wore strange clothes, but Jamie recognized them, too. He’d seen enough people dressed like that in a short space of time to know where the man came from.

  Jamie knelt next to the man and studied him all over. The man wore a plain gold ring on his fourth finger—a ring like the one Grace wore. Jamie glanced up to find her staring at him in stricken horror.

  Jamie got to his feet. He stood in front of Grace to block her view of the man. “Come back tae the village. Ye dinnae belaing out ’ere.”

  She didn’t move. She stared straight through him at the man. When Jamie moved out of the way, she stumbled to the spot and dropped on her knees at his side. She knit her fingers in agitated despair. “This is all my fault. I brought him here. Now what am I gonna do? What am I gonna tell his family? I have to call his mother. What am I supposed to tell her? I have to take him home. His parents will want to bury him in their family plot in Skokie. How can I get him back? I can’t carry him through the doorway. What am I supposed to tell the Police about how he died? They’ll think I killed him. I have to go into the office tomorrow. Everyone will be wondering where he is. His life insurance provider will want a cause of death, too.”

  Jamie listened to her run away at the mouth for a while. Then he shook himself. He had to help her, one way or the other. He took hold of her shoulders and tried to get her on her feet. “Come back tae the village. I’ll get the lads tae bury him.”

  “I can’t come back to the village,” she blurted out. “I have to go home. I have a life. I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go to work tomorrow.”

  “Weel, ye cinnae take him back,” Jamie explained. “Ye showin’ up wi’ him would raise more questions than ye goin’ back alone.”

  She glanced up at him, but her wild eyes didn’t see anything. “He never wanted to come here. I made him. He didn’t believe me. I wanted to show him I hadn’t lost my nut when I said I went through the doorway. This is my fault. I killed him. Oh, Christ, I’m a murderer. I killed my own husband. What kind of a devil does something like that? How am I supposed to live with myself?”

  Jamie squatted by her side and took hold of her shoulder again. “Ye didnae kill him. The giants killed him, and the McLeans saved ye. Do ye remember? Carson’s dead fer savin’ ye, so get that through yer head. Ye’re no a devil. Believe me when I tell ye, fer I ha’e seen the devil face tae face, and so ha’e those wolves. They came all this way from the Isle o’ Mull tae save ye, so dinnae throw their sacrifice back in their faces.”

  Grace’s eyes snapped to his face. For an instant, her vision cleared. Then she cast her eyes down at her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  He changed his tone. “I’m sorry, too. I didnae ken it was yer husband. I would do what I can tae help ye, but right now, the best I can do is see him buried. Ye cinnae take him back.”

  Her lip started to quiver. “I’m an idiot. I never got a chance to thank that man before he left. Now I’ll probably never see him again.”

  “Lachlan’s awright,” Jamie murmured. “I’m a bigger fool than ye are tae think he might ha’e caused this. I mun’ tell the village he’s tryin’ tae stop the giants, fer they think he’s behind all this. They’ll attack him and his family if he returns, when it’s he that’s tryin’ tae save ’em.”

  “How do you know him?”

  Jamie hung his head and sighed. “Ye’ll ken all afore laing. Take me word on that. Ye’ll ken, and ye’ll wish ye didnae. Fer now, ye mun’ go back and I mun’ do what I can ’ere.”

  She studied him closer, even as emotion struggled in her face. “Will I…will I ever see you again?”

  “That’s as ye see fit,” he replied. “Ye’re the one as can go through the portal whene’er ye please. I’m ’ere. I dinnae ken when ye’ll come back, or e’en if ye’ll come back. That’s as ye see fit.”

  “Will you stay here?” she asked. “Will you always be here if I come back?”

  “No, lass,” he replied. “I’ll no stay forever. I’ll gang back tae me own home one o’ these days, but I mun’ stay and see this business finished. I mun’ do what I can tae help Lachlan, either way. I cinnae leave withoot that.”

  She scanned the trees. “All right. I guess I’ll just have to see how it goes.”

  “I’ll no tell ye tae come back. Ye ha’e yer own business tae attend tae back there.”

  She nodded down at the ground. “I guess so.”

  Jamie waited, but she still didn’t move. “Get alaing.”

  She nodded and walked away into the trees. She stopped some distance away with her back to him. She stood still and silent so long he wondered if she might be crying. Just when he set off to go check, she moved forward again.

  She walked to a shadow behind one of the trees. A flash of light blinded him for an instant, and Grace disappeared.

  Chapter 7

  Grace slumped onto the couch in her living room. Night fell while she’d been out, and now darkness blocked out the windows. The house rang with a dreadful, awful silence. Mike was gone, and he wasn’t coming back. He was dead, and she’d left him behind in that terrible world.

  Her heart ached with a thousand bursting emotions. The fight had exhausted her so she couldn’t think straight. She’d almost lost her life, and when she thought of Mike lying at the base of a tree somewhere a million miles away, she wished she had.

  She stared at the empty house all around her. Mike would never come back. He would never walk through that door, kiss her on the cheek, and ask what was for dinner. He would never take her out to the movies again. He would never curl up next to her in bed.

  What were those strange people in the village doing with him right now? Would Jamie really bury him, or would the villagers dump Mike’s body in the forest and forget he ever existed? Heaven knew they had bigger problems to worry about than some stranger from the other side of the world.

  She swallowed down her tears. She couldn’t cry for Mike. She couldn’t break down. She had to thi
nk. She had to figure out what to do, but one thing was certain. She would never return to the village. She would never take the chance of getting in that situation again.

  She trusted Jamie to deal with Mike. He said he would bury Mike, and he would. She never questioned that. Most of what Jamie said went right over her head, but one thing couldn’t be more clear. He knew a lot more about this situation than he let on.

  He knew those wolf people. He knew them well and he knew them by name. She shuddered when she thought about it. The memory of the giants and the wolves ravaging them in ferocious rage sent burning tendrils of adrenaline through her.

  What kind of hellhole did she wind up in? She thought the village was something close to nirvana, and the whole thing blew up in her face. She’d wanted to stay there forever. Then she found out it was really something out of her worst nightmares.

  She pushed the whole thing out of her mind. She pushed Jamie out of her mind, too. He’d never touched her. He’d never talked to her. He’d never tried to protect her from those giants. He didn’t exist. Nothing on the other side of the doorway existed. She must have hallucinated the whole thing.

  She didn’t hallucinate Mike dying, though. He wasn’t here. He would never be here. Whatever existed on the other side of the doorway was real enough to kill him. She couldn’t even bring him home to see him decently buried.

  Jamie’s words came back to her in all their horror. Carson’s dead fer savin’ ye. Somewhere far away, Lachlan McLean and his family grieved the loss of their brother and son. They grieved over him the way she grieved over Mike. The only difference was that they had his body. She had nothing.

  Carson gave his life so she could live. All those wolf people risked their lives to stop the giants devastating the land. Lachlan said he felt responsible for the giants, but Jamie disagreed.