Time Everlastin' Book 5

by Mickee Madden

  "I'm only wary o' wha' I dinna understand."

  "Lachlan, stop growling at him like a wounded bear!" Taryn said, exasperated.

  "Mayhaps the dirk should remain here," Broc said, glancing at the others in hopes of their confirmation.

  "It stays wi' me," Lachlan said.

  "No sense arguin' wi' him," Roan piped up, and laughed. "I've yet to win one."

  "There be always a first time for everythin'," Broc said, his gruff tone daring Lachlan to challenge him. Another, less humorless smile, twitched on Lachlan's lips.

  "Are we free to leave?" Reith asked.

  "Aye," replied Broc, and passed Taryn a look of uncertainty. "Do I go wi' ye to yer home?"

  Taryn had the good grace to blush. "Well...I actually don't have a home—here in Scotland, I mean." She grinned impishly at Lachlan and Roan. "You'll put us up until we decide what to do, won't you?"

  Lachlan grimaced before casting Roan a disgruntled look.

  "Ye're still the true laird," Roan said with an airy shrug. "Yer call."

  "Lachlan?" Taryn said nervously.

  "He welcomes you both with open arms," Blue said cheerily, and cocked her head to one side. "Isn't that right, Lachlan?"

  Lachlan closed one eye and regarded Broc and Taryn with the other one. "O' course."

  "I'll no' go where I'm truly no' wanted," Broc said between clenched teeth. "I've survived this long wi'ou' yer bloody charity, I can certainly—"

  "Swallow yer pride, mon," Lachlan grumbled. "I said you were welcome, didna I?"

  Broc stepped forward. They stood nose to nose, hands on hips, tempers climbing.

  "Wi' abou' as much warmth as an iceberg!" Broc snarled.

  "You get wha' you give, mon!" Lachlan fumed.

  "Enough!" Reith boomed. His hands flattened to each man's chest, he pushed them apart at arm's length and stood between them, his vivid blue-eyed glower effectively diminishing their hostility.

  "Ma apologies, everyone," Lachlan said with sincerity. He looked beyond Reith's head to Broc, whose expression flickered from shame to frustration. "Broc, you and Taryn are welcome at Baird House, for as long as you care to stay." Lachlan scratched the back of his head and offered a shaky chuckle. "I dinna know why you and' I have this animosity atween us...but we canna let it affect our judgments anymair'n' it has. Are we in agreement on this?"

  Broc nodded.

  Taryn released a theatrical sigh and flung her hands into the air. "Thank God for small favors! The testosterone levels were making me nauseous!"

  Blue laughed outright and Roan chuckled, while Broc, Lachlan and Reith frowned.

  "Male hormones?" Taryn said sarcastically.

  Broc wryly regarded Roan. "Yer sister, aye?"

  "The mouth-piece o' the family— Och! Actually, our mither's worse."

  Broc's shocked expression even elicited a laugh from Lachlan.

  "Fegs, mon," Lachlan said humorously as he draped an arm about Broc's shoulders, "you have no idea wha' life at Baird House entails."

  Broc's head turned, his expression guarded. Their eyes met. Lachlan lowered his arm and stepped back as an inexplicable chill gripped his lower spine.

  "Let's go home," Blue said.

  "Aye!" Roan seconded.

  "I need to gather some o' ma things," Broc said. He glanced at Taryn. "I left yer journal at the river."

  Taryn blinked. "My journal? You mean Ciarda's?"

  "Ma mither's?" Lachlan exclaimed, outrage darkening his features.

  "Why did you take the journal from my pack?" Taryn asked Broc, ignoring Lachlan.

  "To read it."

  "Ma mither's journal?" Lachlan said with more emphasis.

  "Have ye read it?" Broc asked him in a calm tone.

  "No, but tha' gives you no right—"

  "It isna like I used the pages to wipe ma arse!" Broc shouted, and Lachlan lunged at him. Once again, Reith was quick to position himself between them, his palms braced against their heaving chests. His attempt to remain calm failed miserably, so he focused on cooling the heat suffusing his face.

  "Ma lords, wha' must I do to end this childish conduct atween ye?"

  "So you do have a temper?" Lachlan said to Reith, bemused. "And a grand one, no less."

  Dead serious, Reith countered, "Ye dinna want to see me in a real snit, sir."

  "I can vouch for that," Blue said dryly.

  "Dinna ye start!" Reith warned her. "Ye and I will be settlin' a few wee matters when we return to Baird House, tha' I promise ye."

  "Sounds like a threat," she sneered, and folded her arms against her chest. "Have you forgotten what I can do to you?"

  Reith's eyebrows inched upward as a challenging gleam brightened his eyes. His arms dropped to his sides. "I havena forgotten." He walked to within two feet of her. "I havena forgotten wha' ye think ye can do to me, when in reality, annsachd, yer power be no mair or no less than ma own."

  "We'll see about that," she said sweetly, but her eyes threw daggers his way.

  Roan gave vent to a long, long, long sigh, and said, "Am I goin' to have to step in as referee between you two now?"

  Affording Blue his most charming smile, Reith bowed at the waist before turning to Lachlan. "Home?"

  "Aye, and no' too soon."

  Broc released an ear-piercing whistle. "I've called for the horse," he explained. "It'll carry the women above ground while we fetch ma belongin’s."

  "I'm not leaving without you," Taryn said.

  "Aye, ye will," Broc said. "Ye an' the fair fairy."

  "I'm far from helpless!" Blue huffed.

  Broc inclined his head respectfully. "Twas no' ma intention to imply ye are."

  "Then why can't Taryn and I tag along?"

  "Because," Lachlan said, "we men can gather the items mair quickly on our own."

  "That's crap," Taryn sulked. "I know most of the chambers down here as well as you," she said to Broc.

  "Aye, tis true, but the Faerie queen willna be able to keep up." He cast a sympathetic look at Blue. "Aye?"

  She regarded her legs a moment then shrugged in resignation. "Okay, so I can't exactly sprint...yet."

  "And ye, lass," Broc said to Taryn, "wouldna want her goin' above alone now, would ye?"

  "I think I've just been conned into leaving," she said with a pout. "No, I guess not."

  "I'll be perfectly safe with the horse."

  "Blue, I really don't mind," Taryn said, and offered a smile. "Besides, the sooner the men finish, the sooner we head home."

  "Wha' abou' you?" Lachlan asked Roan. "Is yer shoulder achin'?"

  "A wee, but I would like to see some o' this place before I leave."

  Broc's black steed galloped into the chamber and slowed to a stop in front of its master. Patting the white blaze on the animal's brow, he firmly issued instructions. The horse's response was a whinny and vigorous nod.

  "Hold fast to his sides wi' yer legs," he said to Blue and Taryn. "The climb up the stairway be steep, but he'll go slow to accommodate ye."

  Taryn smiled wanly before releasing a breath through pursed lips. "Okay. I-uh, have never ridden before."

  "Me, too," Blue said, walking to Taryn's side with slow steps.

  Broc smiled in understanding of their unease. "If ye start to slip, tell him 'halt.' He'll stop till ye feel tis safe to continue."

  Taryn and Blue exchanged a half-hearted grin.

  "Maybe I should go wi' them. Lead the horse," said Roan.

  "Tis up to you," said Lachlan.

  "We will manage just fine," Taryn said, and smiled in earnest at Blue. "Right?"

  "We will," Blue said resolutely.

  "Taryn."

  She turned her head as Broc lowered his and captured her mouth in a kiss that was brief yet thorough. When he pulled away, she was suffused with a glorious warmth that tingled to the tips of her fingers and toes, and she stared into his eyes, yearning at that moment, to steal him away and wrap herself around him. A gleam of mischief danced in his eyes as if
knowing her thoughts.

  "Aye, ma lass. Soon enough."

  "Promise?" she whispered.

  He nodded then brushed the back of one hand down her cheek, an action that elicited a sigh from her.

  "Don't take too long," she said.

  "We willna. Taryn?"

  "What?"

  Broc hesitated and rubbed his chest in a vain attempt to alleviate the sudden heaviness surrounding his heart. "Are ye sure ye want me? To go wi' ye, I mean."

  Taryn glowed with the smile she offered him. "Surer than I've ever been in my life."

  Relief softened the planes of his features. "Braussaw will see ye safe—"

  "What?" sang out five voices, startling Broc.

  The horse whinnied and snorted.

  "Wha' wha'?" Broc asked, bewildered.

  "The horse's name is Braussaw?" Blue asked.

  "Aye," said Broc, studying each face around him in deepening perplexity.

  "Was tha' his name afore you came here?" Lachlan asked in an inordinately deep voice, his penetrating eyes boring into Broc's.

  "No' for some time efter. Why?"

  "I have a peacock wi' tha' name."

  Broc's eyebrows lifted comically. "Ye do?"

  "Aye." Lachlan stepped closer, his bearing stiff. "The name came to me one morn...one hundred and fifty some years ago."

  An oppressive silence fell upon the chamber. Broc, immersed in thought, his dark eyebrows drawn down in a frown, stared off into space. "Mayhaps tha' long ago," he murmured.

  Roan laughed a bit unsteadily. "Is it ma imagination, or do you two have some kind o' link atween you?"

  "On a psychic level perhaps," said Blue.

  "Aye," said Lachlan, his tone flat. "We can delve into the possibility once we return to Baird House."

  "We better get going," Taryn said. "Help me up?"

  Without hesitation, Broc swung her onto the horse's back, while Lachlan settled Blue behind her. Blue's arms slipped around Taryn's waist and held fast.

  "I'm ready, she said, her tone saying otherwise.

  "Go slow, and be mindful o' yer charges," Broc said to Braussaw.

  The horse nodded, backed up, then turned and trotted from the chamber. All eyes watched until they were out of sight, then Roan grumbled beneath his breath.

  "Did you say somethin'?" asked Lachlan.

  "Aye. I should have gone wi' them."

  "Come," said Broc. "The river be a ways off. We shouldna tarry."

  The four men trekked from Chamber to chamber, level to level, the majestic beauty of their surroundings at times slowing the newcomers' pace. Lachlan followed at Broc's heel, while Reith remained close to Roan's side, only falling back when they entered a passageway only wide enough to accommodate one man at a time, or when traveling a narrow pathway.

  When they arrived at the grotto, Broc hesitantly stopped and stared beyond the maw of stalagmites and stalactites. After several moments, he brusquely led them to the final path to the river far below. Once on level ground, Lachlan walked ahead, his gaze riveted on the waterfall visible on the far side of the crystal forest.

  "Wha's wrong?" asked Roan, stopping at his side.

  "I've been here afore," Lachlan murmured. "In dreams when I was a lad. There's a cave behind tha' cascade. The walls have etchin's o' gargoyle's erectin' the standing stones."

  "Aye," said Broc, positioning himself to Lachlan's left. His gaze shifted to meet Lachlan's. "Ye were here, right enough, wi' a woman no' yer mither."

  Lachlan's blood turned to ice. "Onora. How could you know abou' her?"

  Broc stared at the falls. "I thought maself daft the first few times I saw a lad and a womon playin' in the pool. Thought they be ghosts come to torment me. I stopped seein' them some years efter. Never gave them anither thought till now." He again met Lachlan's gaze, imbibing their troubled depths. "Who was she?"

  "Ma guardian angel—least wha' I believed her to be back then. Ma mither convinced me she was only in ma imagination."

  "I'll fetch the journal," Broc said, and walked off, leaving Roan to rest a hand on Lachlan's shoulder.

  "Are you all right, mon?"

  Lachlan nodded stiltedly. "Aye. Feelin' a wee jaggey, is all. This place...I escaped ma faither's wrath here. Twas ma safe place, where harsh words and a heavy hand couldna reach me."

  "Yer blood is linked to Broc's on yer mither's side. Maybe yer knowin' gift comes from the MacLachlan line."

  "Possible, I suppose," Lachlan murmured. He shook himself. "I thought maself beyond surprises," he added with a crooked grin at Roan.

  "Wha' do ye think o' Broc?" Reith asked, staring in the direction Broc had gone.

  "I'm no' sure," Roan replied.

  Lachlan squared his shoulders and sighed. "Wha'ever doubts I have o' him, he is kin and, for Taryn's sake as weel as ma mither's bloodline, I will do wha'ever it takes to make him welcome at Baird House."

  "Aye," said Reith in a soft tone. "There be somethin’ abou' him I canna quite grasp. Tha' ye and he have a link, I've no doubt."

  Lachlan cocked at eyebrow as he watched Broc stroll in their direction, Ciarda's journal clasped in one hand. He passed it to Lachlan as soon as he joined the trio, his expression conveying he expected another scolding from Lachlan. It vanished when Lachlan offered a humble thank you.

  "I would like to take along some o' ma personal belongin's," Broc said, the gruffness in his tone failing to appease his unease with leaving this world behind. "I dinna have much I want to keep."

  Lachlan slipped the journal into the front of his shirt and reverently pressed a palm to it when it sank to rest at the gathered material above his waistband. "Give me a moment," he said, and headed toward the waterfall.

  Unaware the three watched him, Lachlan stood at the pool's edge for some time, his misted gaze penetrating the turbulent rushing water, and his mind envisioning the cave beyond. Echoing laughter caressed him, his own and Ornora's, as he imagined them romping in the falls and pool, splashing one another.

  Lachlan spied a watery version of Ornora’s face appear in the cascade, smiling at him as she had countless times during his boyhood. He sank to his knees, tears spilling down his cheeks, and smiled back.

  "Why here?" he asked in a choked tone. "Why did you bring me here?"

  A watery hand materialized, and the water image blew him a kiss. Moist air brushed his cheek and he sucked in a shuddering breath. She vanished. Lachlan slowly stood, a hand pressed over his heart.

  "Lannie?" Roan said gently.

  Swiping an arm across his face to obliterate his tears, he faced the others, took another unsteady breath, and joined them. Wordlessly, they started their journey back, Broc in the lead.

  The procession remained steady until they reached the grotto, where Broc again hesitated. When he started ahead again, Lachlan said, "Wha's beyond there?" pointing to the maw.

  "Karok’s treasure."

  "Show us."

  Broc turned to Lachlan, his eyes flashing. "No good can come from it."

  Lachlan abruptly walked off, the others following when he disappeared beyond the stalagmites and stalactites. He stood in the heart of a crystal cave when the others caught up, staring in awestruck wonder at his surroundings. Broc alone was not impressed with the treasure, for he had seen it too often to care.

  Precious stones of every imaginable kind and gold artifacts were heaped on outcroppings resembling shelves built into the walls. Patches of amber moss lit the room, casting the treasure in an ethereal glow.

  "Lannie," Roan said, displaying cut and polished rubies the size of walnuts on an upturned palm. Lachlan glanced at them before meeting Broc's dour gaze.

  "Much good can come from this," he said.

  Broc shook his head. "Dinna want them."

  Taking one of the rubies from Roan's hand, he closed the distance and held it up to Broc's face. "But a few will secure yer and Taryn's future. Many mair can serve poverty. Dinna be a fool and leave them lost here."

  Broc relucta
ntly focused on the gem. "They can but feed a mon's greed."

  "They can feed nations," Lachlan argued. "Help pay for research into abolishin’ diseases tha' plague children and adults alike. Karok left them to you, mon. Use them to create a foundation in his honor to help the needy."

  Broc's mulish glower softened with the passage of seconds. "It doesna feel right...takin' them from here."

  "You want these buried here, when the money they will bring can do so much good?"

  Broc glanced about the room, indecision a slice quartering his heart. "I dinna ken."

  Reith stepped forward. "One day, ithers will find this world, and they willna use this treasure for the good o' the world. Better ye serve Karok's memory."

  "I agree," said Roan.

  Contempt crept into Broc's expression. "The treasure serve ye as weel, aye?" he said to them.

  Lachlan chuckled. "Roan and I have mair money than we can spend in several lifetimes."

  "And I have no need o' wealth," said Reith.

  Shamefacedly, Broc lowered his gaze. He looked up, startled, when Lachlan placed a hand on his shoulder. He took Broc's hand and curled his fingers around the gem.

  "Does it feel cold to you?"

  Broc flexed his fingers. "No."

  "Tis warm," Lachlan said. "Tis a part o' you."

  Broc knew at that moment that the treasure was indeed a vital part of him. "How will we—"

  "We'll manage," Lachlan said cockily. "May take a few wee trips, but we'll manage. Aye?"

  "Aye."

  Taryn, Blue and Braussaw were impatiently waiting when the foursome first surfaced. Taryn released a cry of joy and threw her arms about Broc's neck, and kissed him soundly until he laughingly held her away.

  "Miss me?" he grinned.

  "What took so long?"

  Broc glanced at the clothes-wrapped bundles the others stacked on the ground, and dropped his alongside it. "We've agreed to bring up the treasure."

  "Treasure?" Taryn asked, frowning at the pile. "Karok's treasure? Is that wise?"

  "Tis Broc's," Lachlan said.

  "But—"

  "Hush, lass," Broc said affectionately, and kissed her mouth. "We'll keep but a wee to set up our future thegither. Lachlan convinced me the rest should go to charities around the world."