Chapter Eighteen
Brianna came back to herself. But it was difficult to open her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was how badly her head throbbed with a deep, agonizing pain hammering her temples.
She groaned. The second thing she noticed was her palm once again wrapped with linen bandages, as if someone had taken care to do that while she was unconscious.
Her hand ached where Malcolm had sliced it with the tip of the dagger, where she had used the blood magic with her sisters to activate the stone and fall into the vision.
She wasn’t quite sure where she was, but she felt strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close in a protective embrace.
The musky scent of leather and horses tickled her nose. Jamie.
“What—” Her voice was raw and raspy.
“Dinnae try to speak,” Jamie said. He brushed a hand over her hair, which soothed her.
She cracked an eye open and looked into his concerned face. Beyond him was the wood-beamed ceiling of the great hall, which meant she was on the floor. A sudden pounding went through her as she thought of Chloe and Evie. She jerked, trying to push out of his arms.
“Stay still, lass.”
“My sisters—”
“They’re fine,” he said.
But somewhere nearby, she heard a female whimper that sounded like Chloe. And a sniff that might have been Evie. Her head rested against Jamie’s broad chest as his arms tightened around her. She opened her eyes fully.
Across from her, Callum held Evie. Her face was buried against his chest as he cradled her in his arms.
Malcolm clutched Chloe, who still had her eyes closed and her brows drawn together as though she were in pain.
“Whatever the three of ye saw,” Jamie said, his voice low, “it must have been something spectacular.”
“It was…” Brianna began, but she wasn’t quite sure how to explain it.
“The ancient past,” Chloe croaked from her prone position in Malcolm’s arms. “The true beginning.”
“The curse of MacDonald,” Evie added, her voice muffled against Callum’s chest.
“A curse,” Brianna agreed. “Morrogh MacDonald intended to steal the Chronos Stone from the Triple Goddess. In turn, they cursed him and his descendants to forever hear its call.”
“His sons and daughters will eternally yearn,” Chloe repeated.
And still Brianna had not shared with them that she was tied to the fate of the stone. Athea had told her she was the one to shift the timeline, to put things right again. But she still didn’t understand how she’d do that.
It took some effort to turn her head and search for the keystone. She expected to see it on the floor. Instead, she saw nothing.
“Where’s the stone?” she asked, her voice still weak.
“It broke again,” Callum said.
“We retrieved the pieces,” Malcolm added.
“I have yers,” Jamie said, his voice soft in her ear. “’Tis safe, lass.”
Jamie scooped her into his arms, then, cradled her against his chest. His body heat warmed her frigid bones.
“Put me down, Jamie.”
“Nay,” he said. “All of ye need rest.”
She caught a glimpse of her sisters as Callum and Malcolm did the same. Jamie headed up the curved stone staircase carrying her as if she weighed nothing. As if this were the most natural thing to do.
“I can walk on my own,” she said when he crested the top of the stairs.
“Aye,” he agreed. But still he didn’t put her down.
Not until he’d reached his bedchamber and kicked open the door with his boot. Once inside, he marched to the bed and put her on it, then returned to close the door. When he turned to look back at her, his assessing gaze swept over her.
Brianna scooted to a sitting position, pulling her knees to her chest and encircling them with her arms.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
A tawny brow lifted in amusement. “Did yer sister make ye change?”
“Oh,” she breathed, a flush creeping into her cheeks. “She insisted.”
“I like it.”
But she was uncomfortable in the borrowed clothes. She rested her chin on her knees as she peered into the flickering fire across from the bed. What she wouldn’t give for a hot shower and a strong cup of black coffee.
It wasn’t just the hot shower and the coffee she missed.
She missed a lot of things. Warmer temperatures, for one thing.
Sunny beaches. Frothy waves. A good long sleep.
She was glad to be reunited with her sisters, even if it was under strange circumstances.
But even still, she was tired of it all.
The burden of carrying the weight of the strange little keystone was almost too much.
When all this was over, she decided she’d find a way back home. Even if Evie and Chloe refused to come back with her.
“What is it?” He moved to the edge of the bed, sitting next to her. Concern flickered through his eyes. “Ye have dark circles under yer eyes.”
“When I had the second vision,” she began, her voice low as she tried to choose her words. The sudden impulse to tell Jamie everything was urgent.
“Aye?”
“The third goddess, Athea…she told me something that I haven’t shared with anyone.”
“And it vexes ye?” he asked.
“Yes.” The word came out as a whisper of ice. “She said I had the power within me to shift the timeline, to prevent or bring about certain destinies. That if I didn’t, then all of us will die. She said I could change that outcome.”
Jamie was silent as he reached for her, placing his hand on top of her bandaged one. His touch was gentle, reassuring.
“Ye dinnae tell yer sisters this?” he asked.
“No.”
“What do ye think it means?”
“I think it means that I’m the one who has to fix the timeline. If I don’t, then Rory MacDonald will use his magical great axe to open a portal to the Realm of Chaos and unleash hell. I can’t allow that to happen.”
“If you fix the timeline…” he asked, slowly as he considered her words. “Then what happens to this one?”
It was a question she, herself, pondered. If she fixed this timeline, as Athea suggested she should, then what would happen to her, Evie, and Chloe? Would they go back to their futures? Would everything be as it was before they traveled back into the past?
“I don’t know, Jamie, but I’m afraid.”
He scooted onto the bed to sit next to her, wrapping his strong arms around her and holding her. It was comforting.
“Yer safe here, lass. Dinnae fash yerself,” he said.
Hearing him say this exact phrase sent a shiver of familiarity through her. She recalled he said that to her in a dream—one she’d had before she arrived here in the past. She wanted to believe she was safe here, but something told her there was inherent danger in what they—she—had to do.
But that was for another time. Now, she wanted to relish their time together.
They were still alone, and though she was exhausted from the last few days, there was something irresistible about him.
As though a slender, delicate thread of desire had formed between the two of them.
Her gaze lingered down to his lips. He must have sensed what she felt because he wasted no time pulling her closer and kissing her.
His kiss was slow, thoughtful, with nothing hurried about it. It was the kind of kiss she dreamed of, the kind that took her breath away and made her weak in his arms. Gently, he eased her down on the bed. It sent currents of heat through her. He made her feel young again.
His hands explored the soft curves of her body. He took his time as he moved on top of her, as though their bodies were made for each other. She fit nicely into the hard contours of him, like a perfect match. Like two pieces of a whole finally coming together after being separated all their lives.
Now, skin to skin, they were one.
She told herself she didn’t believe in destiny or soulmates or fate. But every moment she spent cradled in Jamie’s arms made her rethink that. Maybe, just maybe, she could believe in destiny and soulmates and fate.
And maybe, just maybe, she could start to believe in forever.
As he moved against her, the world spun, careening on its axis. She drowned in a floodtide of emotion as they peaked together, yielding to that searing need that had built between them in only a matter of minutes.
Now that it was all over, he kissed her forehead, gathered her close and held her. His heart drummed a rapid beat under her ear as she rested her head on his chest. A contented sigh escaped her.
“I shouldna have done that,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because ye need rest.”
While she didn’t disagree, it was difficult to ignore how he made her feel and how she wanted to fall into his arms every time he kissed her.
“I should leave ye to that.”
He nudged her gently off him and started to rise. He was right in that she needed rest, but the only way she was going to get that rest was if she found a way to relax.
“You know…what I’d like really is a bath.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “I can have a tub brought in and filled.”
“That would be wonderful.”
A brightness beamed through her at the thought of a hot bath. For the first time in days, she cracked a smile as relief raced through her.
He kissed her cheek and rose from the bed. Before he left, he reached into his sporran and brought out her piece of the stone, handing it to her. She took it with a nod of thanks. Once again, he looked after the stone on her behalf. She was doing a terrible job of never letting it out of her sight.
“I’ll be back soon.”
After he left the bedchamber, she glanced down at the little jagged rock.
Blood was smeared along the faded lines.
She wondered then, if she shifted the timeline as Athea suggested in her vision, would it send her home?
If it sent her home, then what of Jamie?
What of her sisters? What of anything that had happened since Evie stepped back in time?
Would it alter this timeline they were currently in?
There were too many questions. They all made her head hurt.
That and the thought of leaving Jamie sent a pang of longing with a hint of panic through her. Suddenly, she knew. She didn’t want to leave Jamie.
And that was a problem.
She’d broken her own, first rule—never get attached.
Exasperated with herself, she dropped the small piece of stone on the bedside table just as the door scraped open.
Jamie entered, standing aside to allow servants to bring in an oversized wooden tub.
Several girls held kettles. Once the tub was placed in front of the fire, the girls filled it with steaming water.
Brianna was so happy to see the tub with steaming water, she nearly wept with joy. Even Jamie saw the happiness on her face and returned the smile, showing off those deep dimples of which she was so fond.
“I’ll leave ye to it then, lass.”
He granted her one last longing look as he reached for the door and pulled it closed, leaving her alone.