She put the bowl down on the table and straightened up.
“Are ye gang tae eat it?” he asked.
“I’m not hungry.”
He shrugged and bent over the fire. He tossed a few logs into the blaze. The fire filled the cottage with its delicious warmth, but Grace couldn’t relax. “Tell me how you know Hazel. She showed up in our time with a young man. He had black hair and dark eyes, very good looking and young, but with a strange power hidden under his skin. Maybe you know all about that, since you’ve got the same thing in you. He was wearing a kilt and sword and one of those purse things.”
“Sporran,” he replied. “It’s called a sporran.”
“Whatever. You know him, don’t you? Who was he? What were they doing together back there? Tell me everything you know. I’m not leaving until I find out the truth.”
He stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth. It bulged under his cheek, and he chewed it in methodical contemplation. He got up from the bench, fixed up the fire, and sat down on the floor by the hearth.
Grace studied his profile gleaming in the firelight. His chiseled features showed an unmistakable stamp of some forgotten power lurking inside him. It threatened to explode out of him into something massive at any second—exactly the way Angelo described it. No one could mistake that, once they recognized it.
All at once, he let out a deep sigh. He swallowed the meat in his mouth and turned his face up to her. The orange dancing flames lit up his profile and gave him an otherworldly aura. “The young man ye’re talkin’ aboot is me brother Fergus. He and ’Azel are married. Dinnae ask me how they wound up back in yer time, fer I dinnae ken half the stuff those two get up tae. I ainly ken there’s magic in the land. Ye and ’Azel and all the rest comin’ back ’ere from yer own world created a rift in the fabric. Dinnae ask me tae explain it better than that. That’s what ’Azel says, and she should ken if anyone can.”
Grace blinked. She couldn’t understand him, but at the same time, some part of her knew exactly what he was talking about.
“It started with Carmen,” he told her. “She appeared in our land two years ago. Do ye understand that? It started two years ago, and it’s been goin’ on e’er since.”
“But that’s impossible!” she exclaimed. “Hazel only cast that spell a few days ago. That’s when I first came here.”
He nodded. “We found Carmen in the woods. Then, about two weeks later, we found ’Azel in the castle.” He closed his eyes and held up his hand. “Dinnae ask me tae explain all. I cinnae, and it would make no sense tae ye anyway. Then it was Elle. She found Rob…somewhere. Dinnae ask me where. They came tae the castle taegether somehow. Then we found Sadie. That was…what? A week ago now? She was on the Isle o’ Mull, wi’ the McLeans, and she said she’d been there three weeks. She’s gone back tae me own country tae marry me brother Callum, and I came ’ere.”
Grace opened her mouth. None of this was possible. How could Carmen be transported here two years ago when Grace only appeared in this village a few days ago? None of what he said made sense. All four of her friends married these brothers, and she was here with Jamie.
“Listen tae me,” he breathed. “The rift in the fabric created a curse on me family. That’s how the whole thing got started. We left this village and wound up in our own land somewhere else, and ’Azel broke the curse wi’ her magic. That’s all ye need tae ken aboot that, but there’s another curse. There are some other women who came through the doorway, as ye call it. They’re ’ere somewhere. It started on Mull. The curse is concentratin’ on the McLeans. It’s their curse tae lift. One o’ the women is under the sea off their south coast, and they dinnae ken how tae bring her up. Now these giants are comin’ ’ere. That can mean ainly one thing. One o’ the women is ’ere. It mun’ be the woman wi’ the most power, fer the giants are convergin’ on her. That’s how the curse works. They get stronger the closer they get to the source. Ainly the same magic that caused the curse can lift it and send the giants back to where they came from.”
He turned away and stared into the fire. Grace struggled against her confusion to put all the pieces together. That story came out of some misty fairy tale, but she couldn’t deny the truth written on his face. He believed it, and not out of some misguided notion of magic and curses and what-all.
He saw it firsthand. He lived it and breathed it and fought it. He knew exactly what he was talking about, even if he couldn’t explain it well enough to make her understand. He saw it all before his eyes even now.
So that’s what he meant when he said he’d seen the devil face to face. He fought this curse and defeated it. So had his brothers, and so had Grace’s friends. Where were they now? They’d been living this nightmare for two years while she…
What had she been doing? Maybe every time she went through the doorway, she transported herself back to the place in time where none of this ever happened. Maybe modern America stayed the same on the other side of the doorway while this place went on with its business.
She gazed down on him, and the old connection she sensed at the planter came back to her. He hadn’t told her everything yet, but that didn’t matter. He’d told her enough—for now at least.
His golden hair hung around his face. The coarse red whiskers darkened his cheeks. The fire illuminated every individual hair on his arm until they glowed blood red. His fine clear skin burnished in the light.
She hopped off the bench and sat down on the floor next to him. “Thanks. Thanks for telling me.”
He put his hand into his sporran. He took something out and handed it to her. He dropped something small and cold into her palm. When she looked, she found a circlet of pure gold resting against her skin. It was far too big for her to wear. It was big enough only for a man.
She glanced up to find Jamie watching her. He turned away and poked the fire with a stick. Grace looked back down at the ring. It was Mike’s wedding band. A lump stuck in her throat. So this was what ten years of marriage came to—a small gold ring in someone’s hand. A simple gesture by a complete stranger reduced a man’s life to this tiny piece of yellow metal.
She put the ring in her pocket. It was worthless to her now. That ring wasn’t Mike, and if she couldn’t have Mike, she didn’t want the ring, either. “What are you going to do about the giants?”
“How should I ken?” he asked. “I cinnae fight ’em on me own, and the lads’ll go tearin’ off across Hell and in search o’ the McLeans. I’d like tae go wi’ ’em tae stop ’em gettin’ their heads ripped off, fer I dinnae like tae think what Lachlan’ll do when he realizes they’re after him.”
“Why don’t you go with them?” she asked. “Maybe you could warn Lachlan before they attack.”
“I cinnae leave the village unguarded.”
“I thought you said Piper would protect the villagers.”
“No one’ll protect the villagers. Do ye no see? The giants’ll come back. They’ll come back a hundred strong fer all I ken. Piper has no the power tae protect a flea from a dog scratchin it, much less these people from the likes o’ that.”
“So what are you going to do? How do you think you can protect the village? You’re one man.”
He shook his head. “I dinnae ken if I can do it, but one thing I ken. The giants’ll ne’er stop until they find this woman. That’s what I’m hopin’ fer. They’ll lead me tae this woman who can lift the curse. I ainly hope she does it afore Lachlan and his brothers kill Jock and Malcolm and Daniel.”
“What makes you think they won’t kill Lachlan and his brothers first?” she asked. “They’ll hunt him down.”
Jamie raised his eyes to her face. “They dinnae ken the McLeans are wolves. They’ll ne’er harm Lachlan. It’s them I worry on.”
“If you’re right about this woman being from our time, maybe she doesn’t know she has the power to lift the curse. Maybe she doesn’t know how. Maybe she’ll be like Hazel and doesn’t even know she cast the spell in the first place.”
“And if she can’t? What then?”
He snorted with laughter. “Then she mun’ marry Lachlan.”
“What?”
“It does seem tae be the way. Carmen married Angus. Elle married Rob. ’Azel married Fergus, and now Sadie’s marryin’ Callum. Koto…weel, some believe Lachlan mun’ marry this woman tae seal the breach, and I’ll no argue wi it. She may be the thistle growing wild and alone in the field. Dinnae ask me what that means, but it’s written and it mun’ be true. If she cinnae send herself and her friends back, she mun’ stay and marry the Laird. That’s all there is tae it.”
Grace’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t understand you.”
“I dinnae understand it meself, but there it is.” He leaned back on his elbow. “Ye mun’ take the bed. I’ll sleep ’ere on the floor.”
She looked around, but she didn’t see anything. “I shouldn’t stay here. I should go back.”
“It’s black night out there,” he told her. “Get ye some sleep and go back in the mornin’.”
“I was thinking…” she began.
He cocked his head to listen.
“I was thinking maybe me going back and forth isn’t such a good idea. If you’re right and us going back and forth is causing these curses, maybe I should go back and stay back.”
“Aye. That’s the way.”
She studied her fingernails. “Then again, maybe I should stay here.”
“What do ye want tae stay ’ere fer?” he asked. “Ye dinnae ha’e tae.”
“The others are here.”
“They’re ’ere fer they cinnae go back. They wouldnae ha’e stayed if they had a choice.”
“You said Hazel had to send them back to break the curse,” Grace pointed out. “How did she break it without sending them back?”
“What’re ye askin’ me fer?” he shot back. “I ha’e no magic. I dinnae ken aught aboot magic, and I dinnae want tae ken. She did it. That’s all I ken. Ye’re another matter. Ye can come and go. Ye can go back whenever ye wish.”
“How do you explain that?” she asked. “You said the curse was lifted. If I’m going back and forth all the time, I must be creating more and more of these curses. Maybe that caused the curse that sent these giants.”
He shook his head. “No, it isnae.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Fergus said so,” he replied. “He told us this curse came from none o’ ye—none o’ the five o’ ye that came through with Carmen and ’Azel and such. It’s come from summat else.”
“You’re not making sense.”
He chuckled. “None o’ it makes sense and ne’er did. I fight. That’s all I ken. I leave the magic tae the wizards.”
“Maybe Piper knows something about it.”
Jamie’s head shot up. “Eh? What do ye say aboot Piper?”
“You said he’s a wizard. Maybe he knows something about this curse. He might even know where the woman is.”
Jamie cast his eyes down and shook his head.
“What’s the matter? What’s wrong with that idea?”
“There’s naught wrong wi’ it,” he replied. “There’s e’erything right wi’ it. I ainly wonder I didnae think on it afore now. We mun’ ask Piper what he kens aboot it. It’s as ye say. He may ken where the woman is.”
“Maybe he can cast the spell to get rid of the giants,” she suggested. “Didn’t you say the same spell has to send them back?”
“Some other witch or wizard mun’ tell him how tae cast it,” Jamie replied. “’Azel or some such.”
“Why not?” she asked. “Why can’t you go get Hazel to teach him how to do it?”
He shifted in his seat. “I dinnae like tae do that if I can avoid it.”
“Why?” she asked. “I wouldn’t mind seeing her myself. Maybe she can explain how I keep going back and forth like this.”
He stretched out on the floor in front of the fire. “If I bring ’Azel ’ere tae deal tae the giants, it’ll be the last resort I’ll take when I ha’e exhausted e’ery other possible course.”
“You just don’t want to ask for help,” Grace grumbled. “You don’t want to let her know you need her.”
He closed his eyes and bent his elbow under his head. “Ye dinnae ken the half o’ it, lassie. If I turned up tae ask fer her help, she’d laugh me out the windae.”
Grace watched him. He didn’t open his eyes again. His chest rose and fell under his shirt when he breathed. The grain of his skin showed up in the eerie light. She longed to study him up close, to watch his eyelids twitching as he fell asleep. She wanted to see the subtle movement of his lips, the mysterious bump of his pulse in his neck.
She wanted to understand every secret detail of his being, but she wouldn’t do that. She had to keep her distance from him. She was a married woman, and he was a stranger from the other side of time and space.
She glanced over her shoulder at the bed. It hovered so far away, out there in the dark and the cold. She didn’t want to leave the fire to sleep in it, but there was nowhere else she could sleep. She dared not lie down on the floor next to Jamie. That would be taking this thing too far.
Grace took one more look around the cottage before she decided what to do. She walked over to the bed and took the heavy wool blanket off the mattress. She wrapped it around her shoulders and curled up on the bench by the fire. She was close enough that the flames warmed her, but far enough away that she wasn’t in any danger of touching Jamie.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter 10
Jamie dropped a heavy armload of firewood onto the stone hearth. It made a satisfying crash. The noise startled Grace awake. She jumped a foot off the bench, got tangled in her blanket, and tipped off the bench onto the floor.
Jamie stood back and watched the mayhem that ensued. She struggled to get up, fought the blanket, and fell over again. He bit back a smile. If he laughed at her, she would never forgive him. By the time she got the blanket unwound and her limbs sorted out, he presented a picture of serene calm as though none of it ever happened.
“Eat yer breakfast,” he told her. “I’ll walk ye down tae the ford, and ye can gang ye back tae yer home.”
She obeyed him and took her place at the table. She ate the food he put in front of her while he put the house to rights. He didn’t want her to leave, but he wouldn’t show her that for the world. He didn’t want her in danger, and she belonged over there on the other side. The more she stayed there and stopped coming through the portal, the better for everybody.
Besides, he had other plans. He didn’t need her around to interfere with them. As soon as he got rid of her, he would hike up the brae to Piper’s wing. He would interrogate the wizard about those other women. He would also find out how much the wizard knew about that spell.
Grace ate in silence with her back to him. She didn’t fall apart and weep and beg for him to let her stay. He didn’t really expect her to do that, did he? He should know better by now. None of those women from the other world ever did anything like that. They met whatever came with their heads up and their weapons ready to fight. He should have known Grace would do the same.
She recognized the need to go back and stay back, but he still couldn’t be entirely happy about it. She was his only contact in this crazy world. She alone understood about the McLeans. She saw those wolves fight the giants, and she saw Carson and Lachlan both change into men.
He didn’t want her to go, but he yielded to the sense of it. This was the best course for her, the safest course, the sensible course, so he would do it. He w
ould do it for her, and he would suck it up and do what he had to do alone.
She finished eating and got to her feet. She faced him. They regarded each other for a moment without saying anything. They walked out of the village together without a word.
Jamie walked down to the ford like he was going to his own funeral. Why did he have to do this alone? Why couldn’t he face this with one person by his side he could trust? His brothers did it. Why couldn’t he?
He didn’t say so out loud, though. When they got to the ford and she faced him one more time, he shrugged. He tried to smile, but that was asking too much. “Weel, on ye go. Ye’ll be awright o’er there.”
She nodded, but she didn’t leave. For some reason, she just kept standing there and looking up at him. Something in her eyes made him think she already knew. She looked straight through his skin to the dragon underneath. How was that possible?
She put out her hand to touch him. His blood screamed in his veins. He couldn’t let her do this, or he was lost. At that moment, something mountainous exploded out of the ground right next to them.
Grace and Jamie staggered sideways to get out of the way. The next thing they knew, a giant loomed over the treetops. He propped his club on his shoulder and scanned the ground in search of something to smash.
Jamie gave Grace a shove. “Run! Gang ye through the doorway. Now!”
She jerked out of her shock to run away. Jamie rounded on the giant when the monster hauled back his club and swung. Trees flew out of the way in front of the huge weapon swiping through the woods. The giant batted masses of vegetation aside to clear a swathe of space around his feet.
Grace bolted into the undergrowth. Jamie bared his teeth in rage at the giant. All thought of keeping his dragon nature a secret from Grace evaporated out of his head. He had to defeat this thing before it killed them both.
Lachlan and his pack wouldn’t leap out of the shadows to save him this time. Jamie had to do this all by himself, and he had the weapons to do it. He spread his arms to break out of his skin in all his fury when another club hit him from behind.
Grace Unchained - Phoenix Throne Book Five Page 7