Chapter Nineteen
The water turned tepid and her fingers shriveled, a sure sign it was time to get out of the tub.
Brianna finally pulled herself out and toweled off.
She redressed, pulling on the woolen stockings, the shift, and the wool dress.
The castle was drafty and—much as she hated to admit it—Evie was right in that she needed the layers.
She picked up the stone off the bedside table and held it a moment, gazing down at the fractured, faint lines. It was a wonder to her that such a small stone could hold so much power. Vowing to be a better keeper, she slipped it into the pocket of her dress.
Jamie hadn’t returned yet. Likely he was giving her time to herself after the strange ordeal with the vision. A vision of the dark past the three of them had shared.
Her stomach grumbled, a reminder she hadn’t eaten much that day. The vision had taken a lot out of her. Though her muscles were more relaxed than they had been in days, bone deep fatigue pounded through her.
She wasn’t sure if she should wait for Jamie to return. The fire in the hearth was dwindling and the chill in the room spread. Unwilling to wait any longer, she pulled open the door and stepped into the hall.
There was a silent calmness to the castle. Something she hadn’t noticed before.
As she headed down the hall to the stairs, a door scraped open. Evie exited into the hall. When she saw her, she stopped short.
“Bri…there you are.” She waved her toward her, then rested her hand on the swell of her belly. “I was about to come get you.”
“For what?”
“Chloe and I…that is…we think we need to talk.” Discomfort flickered over her face, as though she were nervous to mention Chloe’s name and that they all needed to talk. Then she added, “About what happened today.”
“Where’s Jamie?” Brianna asked, not wanting to acknowledge the invitation.
“He and the other men are out.” She held her hand out in invitation. “Please, Bri?”
The imploring look she gave her made Brianna relent. She moved forward and took her hand. Evie grinned, happy that she’d agreed. She pushed open the door and led her inside the bedchamber.
A large four poster bed with curtains dominated the center of the room with an oversized chest at the foot of it.
On one side, a wardrobe and a small dressing table with a mirror as well as a writing desk.
Colorful tapestries hung along the walls to insulate the room.
A crackling fire warmed the room. Near the hearth, a trio of chairs.
In one of them, Chloe sat with her hands folded in her lap and a pinched, unreadable expression on her face.
Between the chairs was a small table hosting a tea kettle, three cups, and a tray of food that included fruit, cheese, bread, and dried meat. Upon seeing it, Brianna’s stomach rumbled.
Evie motioned for her to take one of the chairs while she set about pouring the pale amber liquid into each of the cups. More of her herbal tea. She handed one to Brianna.
“Have some bread,” Evie said, motioning to the thick slices that were still warm. Steam rose from the spongy center.
“Roslyn is teaching her to bake,” Chloe said. “But she won’t tell you that.”
Baking and cooking was a skill Brianna had never mastered. Her meals—when she was in her own time—were usually chef-prepared. The chef, of course, employed by the wealthy bachelor she dated at the time.
“I’m impressed,” Brianna said and meant it.
“Don’t be,” Evie said with a laugh. “I’m no good at it.”
“That’s not true,” Chloe chimed in. She met Brianna’s gaze and for the first time, granted her a weak smile. “She’s good at it.”
“Maybe you’ll show me some time,” Brianna said and sipped her herbal tea. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, either. She wished it was something stronger. “So, tell me. What’s this little family meeting all about?”
Chloe and Evie exchanged a look that said they’d already discussed it and were getting around to letting Brianna in on whatever decision was already made.
There was no denying the wave of tension in the air between them all.
She leaned forward and dropped her cup on the table next to the tray, then grabbed a slice of cheese.
“The vision we had today,” Evie started. “I think I know what it means.”
“Oh?” Brianna popped the slice of cheese in her mouth, interested to see what her sister came up with.
“We need to put the stone back together,” Chloe said. “For good. We think it’s the only way to stop whatever is coming.”
“What’s coming?” Brianna asked, her brows drawing together.
They exchanged another look, which told Brianna she didn’t have all the information. She leaned forward, eyeing the two of them.
“Are you two going to tell me what’s going on or not?”
“This afternoon, I had another vision,” Evie said. “One of the present. At least one of all the outcomes of the possible present. Nothing has come to pass yet, of course, but I think something is going to happen.”
“And I had a vision, too. Of the past as if it’s already happened,” Chloe added.
“Did you, by chance, have another vision?” Evie asked.
“No.” Brianna sat back in the chair, her heart racing. “What did you see?”
“I saw a rip in time,” Evie said.
“So did I,” Chloe added.
“And,” Evie said, “you were standing on the hill as these…creatures spilled out of the rip. You held the stone.”
The future. She saw the future and mistook it for the present.
“I saw the same thing,” Chloe said. “But in my vision, those dark creatures attacked and killed everyone and everything, allowing Rory MacDonald to take over all the lands of the Highlands.”
She looked ill when she said all were killed.
It was not unlike how Brianna felt when she awoke from that horrible nightmare, wrapped in Jamie’s arms, when she saw the men’s deaths.
Now, she sat, numb, as she listened to them tell her almost the exact vision she’d had when Athea came to her and told her she had to be the one to shift the timeline.
“You both had a vision of the future,” Brianna said. “I know this for a fact.”
“How?” Evie asked.
“Because one of the first visions I had was similar to this.”
She related to them how she had seen MacDonald use the glowing great axe to rip a hole in time, opening to the Realm of Chaos. She told them of the dark winged creatures pouring outand how all three MacLeod men were killed in the battle.
And all the while she stood on the craggy hill holding the whole keystone, her fist glowing.
“Athea came to me,” she said, peering down at the tray, unable to look either of them in the eye.
“She told me…” She paused as her mouth suddenly turned dry and swallowed hard.
“She told me I had the power within me to shift the timeline. She told me I had the power to prevent or bring about certain destinies.”
She braved a glance at each of them. Both stared at her with wide, round eyes. Chloe’s face paled. Evie clenched the cup in her hands so tightly, her fingers leeched of color.
“What does it all mean?” Brianna asked when neither said anything.
Evie reached for a slice of bread from the tray and then sat back as contemplation flickered over her face.
“I think we need to put the stone back together,” she said finally.
“How do we do that?” Chloe asked. “After that last vision, it broke apart again.”
“I don’t know yet,” her sister replied.
“It’s possible we have to try again with the blood magic,” Brianna said as much as she hated the thought. “It might be the only way to mend the stone.”
“But it wasn’t enough,” Evie pointed out. “There must be something we’re missing. Something we need to do in addition to the blood magic to mend the stone.”
“And if we do, then what?” Chloe asked. “What are we supposed to do with it?”
“Not we,” Brianna said. “Me.”
“You?” Chloe snorted. She put down her cup and swiped a piece of dried meat. “Why you?”
“Because I’m the one who’s supposed to shift the timeline.” Anger simmered under the surface at Chloe’s incensed tone.
Brianna didn’t have the reason as to why she was supposed to be the one to shift the timeline. Athea hadn’t shared that information with her. She’d had enough of Chloe’s snide remarks and hateful looks.
“Just what is your problem with me?”
Chloe glared at her from across the table. Evie’s eyes widened as she opened her mouth to intervene, but her twin cut her off.
“My problem with you is you aren’t interested in anyone but yourself and what you’re doing.
Even when you were taking care of us after Mom and Dad died, it was clear you wanted to be anywhere but there.
” Chloe folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the chair, as though she’d flung down the gauntlet.
Brianna took on the challenge. “I did everything I could to make sure you two were taken care of. Who do you think arranged the funerals? And dealt with all the endless paperwork? Went to probate court? Meanwhile, my then-husband was robbing me blind and charging up all our joint credit to the tune of thirty-thousand-dollars while I was trying to divorce his sorry ass.”
There was a beat of silence between them. Evie sat ramrod straight. Chloe hadn’t moved a muscle or relented her combative position.
“It was only after I was able to settle everything I could climb out of debt and finally kick that lousy man to the curb.” Brianna’s hands were shaking as she reached for the cup of tea. She peered into the pale liquid, wishing there was something stronger.
Without a word, Evie rose and walked to the other side of the room. She pulled open the door on the wardrobe and reached inside. She brought out what appeared to be a leather pouch.
Brianna watched her with interest as she plucked the cup from her hands. She poured the tea into the nearby chamber pot, then filled her cup with a splash of whatever was in the leather pouch. She did the same for Chloe.
Brianna sniffed the tawny liquid. It smelled like whiskey.
“What is this?”
“My husband’s pride and joy,” Evie said. “Drink. Both of you. God knows you both need it.”
Brianna eyed Chloe, each of them staring at the other. Chloe was the first to take a sip. Brianna followed. It burned all the way down to her stomach.
“Now, you two will stop this incessant bickering.” Evie’s voice was calm, almost motherly. “We have to unite with each other if we’re going to figure out what it means to shift the timeline.”
“It means if we don’t, we all die,” she said. “I saw it as well as the two of you.”
“I don’t want to fight,” Chloe said, her eyes downcast as she peered into her cup.
Brianna resisted the urge to ask her why she insisted on picking a fight with her then. She pressed her lips together and remained silent. Finally, her sister lifted her gaze. Her face was devoid of color and she looked as though she’d had a shock.
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“Neither of us did,” Evie added.
Brianna blew out a breath. “Mom and Dad tried to talk me out of marrying him. But I wouldn’t listen. You were both too young to remember.”
She recalled the shouting match they’d had when, at seventeen, she announced she was running away with the older man whose name she long since buried into the dark recesses of her mind.
She never wanted to think of him again and here she was having to think of him again.
The last words between her and her parents had not been kind ones.
It was something that had haunted her since the day of their horrible, unexpected death.
Even now, guilt pounded through her as she regretted not being able to reconcile with them.
Not being able to tell them how right they were.
Not being able to say how much she regretted her decision.
She should have listened to them. She should have taken them up on their offer to send her to the local community college. But she had still harbored that deep resentment when they’d made her quit her riding lessons and give up her dream of being an Olympic equestrian.
“Anyway,” Brianna said, her voice hollow.
“It was a long time ago. I’ll tell you the whole story someday.
I’m sorry I wasn’t more present for you both.
” She looked at them as she said it with meaning.
“I never meant to drive a wedge between us. But I was dealing with a lot at the time and I didn’t know how to handle it all. ”
Evie reached a hand to her. Brianna grasped it.
“I don’t want to fight with either of you, either,” Brianna said. “We’re family, after all. We need to stick together because you two are all I have left.”
“We forgive you.” She cut a glance to her twin, reaching out with her other hand. “Don’t we, Chlo?”
Chloe looked resistant at first until she finally nodded, taking her hand, connecting the three of them together.
The tension between them lifted for the first time in years.
They sat like that for a moment, Evie smiling with elation.
Chloe’s face remained impassive but with a hint of relief. She released them and sat back.
“Now, about the keystone—” Evie started.
“Enough with the keystone.” Brianna dropped her cup on the table. “I’m tired of talking about the keystone. I need a break from it.”
“But—” Evie started.
“Later.”
Brianna rose and left the bedchamber. There was one person she wanted to see the most and talk to him about finally reconciling with her sisters. She hadn’t a clue where to find Jamie. She decided, though, she’d roam the entire castle until she did.