CHAPTER THIRTEEN –Willow–
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
–Willow–
JUST WHEN I thought my day couldn’t get any more insane, it did in a crazy, exhilarating yet terrifying way.
One minute, I was having the best sex of my life.
The next, I was trapped in an incredible, not to mention powerful, serpentine body that decided it was my turn to catapult through the air completely out of control.
And it only got more extreme from there.
I apologized to my inner beast, earned her forgiveness, learned I had half a gem over my dragon heart, regained control, only to lose it again when my dragon decided to save Sloan from Sutherland Castle’s dungeons, and the truth is?
However wrong it was, deep down I knew if I were the one in control, I would do it all over again.
I’m not sure if that makes me good or evil, but it’s my truth.
Now, Sloan and I sailed through thick clouds full of an incoming storm, getting ready to face off with a wall of MacLeod dragons, and I understood their reasoning.
Respected it. Nonetheless, I would protect Sloan until the bitter end, even when he pulled out in front of me in a defensive position before I had a chance to.
And yet again, having none of it, my dragon took charge.
Or so I thought.
One second, a wall of ferocious MacLeod dragons was barreling down on us, and the next, reality seemed to shift, and Sloan and I were once again human, standing on the tallest MacLeod Castle battlement, surrounded by family.
“Bloody hell,” Broderick exclaimed, clearly just as surprised to see us appear out of thin air as we were to be there. He frowned in the direction of his warriors, and his brow furrowed. “I thought you were imprisoned in Sutherland’s dungeons?”
Sloan shook his head and frowned too, just as confused before he realized how Broderick knew that. “Kenneth MacLomain told you.”
“Aye, I just sent a fleet of our best warriors to assess the situation and let the Sutherlands know we were watching.” He shook his head. “And that we werenae pleased.”
“Yet here you two are safe and sound,” Chara said softly, regarding us with knowing wisdom, noting the Viking blade had returned to normal and was once more sheathed at Sloan’s back.
“And you’re no longer in the Morrow, I assume?” Aspen said, embracing me before Hazel.
“Well, not technically,” I said tentatively as the first icy drops of rain mixed with snow fell and thunder rumbled nearby. “Mostly.”
When Aspen and Hazel narrowed their eyes in confusion, Chara spoke up.
“Why don’t we head down to the War Chamber, where we won’t be overheard, and have a wee bit o’ food?” She eyed me with a mother’s concern. “You look like you could use some nourishment and mayhap some rest.”
She was right, and I could tell by the way he looked at me, Sloan was worried. According to his thoughts, I was too pale. And despite knowing what I had gone through, he hadn’t seen me eat or really sleep since I traveled back in time.
He slipped his hand into mine and frowned, noting how chilly I was, which was unusual for a dragon, and chanted a fur cloak around my shoulders before securing it around my neck. “When was the last time you ate?”
“I’m not sure.” I shrugged, cozying into the warmth of the fur because even though it had been manifested by magic, it smelled like him. I yawned and fought the exhaustion that actually was starting to hit me. “Earlier. Yesterday. Not sure.” I shook my head. “I’m not really a big eater or sleeper.”
I could tell by how everyone watched us that they could see just how far we had come. How close we were despite still thinking he was engaged to another woman.
“Come then,” Broderick insisted, heading down a narrow passage that led to a secret stairwell so nobody would realize we were here. “Now Hazel has come home to us, the fare is fine indeed.”
“Aye,” Lucas agreed, keeping my red-headed sister close, clearly smitten. “But I’m sure Willow already knows that.”
“I do,” I confirmed, more than eager for some of her cooking as I eyed the small, dark, torchlit corridor we headed down with wonder.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here.” A wave of emotion washed over me because I had dreamt of being able to get this far, but the Morrow wouldn’t let me.
I glanced at Sloan and blinked back tears.
“I’m finally in your castle. I finally made it. ”
“Aye, and I couldnae be happier.” Clearly feeling the same emotion, he squeezed my hand. “Might ye never leave again because there is so much more to it than hidden hallways. So many things I want to show ye…share with ye.”
“We shouldn’t be here, though, Sloan.” I swallowed hard and stopped short, my emotions definitely getting the better of me due to lack of food and my growing exhaustion. “They should know we shouldn’t be here.”
“Aye,” Sloan agreed, feeling the same shame and having trouble understanding why he wasn’t thinking clearly. Why he had let things get this far and not been transparent with his kin on the battlement.
“Because ye’re in love, nephew,” Chara said softly, catching his thoughts as she urged us to move along.
“All of us see it clearly because we feel the same way about our mates. And we realize the way ye arrived speaks to trouble, but ye’re kin, and that’s that.
We’ll talk everything through once we’re in the War Chamber. ”
Sloan nodded in agreement, and we continued in silence until we arrived at what most would call a study, complete with a large desk meant for the chieftain, several sizable chairs, a cozy settee with dragon feet, and small tables for drinks and beverages.
A fire crackled invitingly, as Hazel chanted wooden plates of this and that around the room, all the while mumbling how she preferred cooking from scratch with ingredients less tainted by magic.
I was introduced to Evan Sutherland, a handsome man with dark brown auburn-tinted hair, who was gazing out the window as if longing for someone, undoubtedly my sister Lilias, but leapt to attention and smiled at us the moment we arrived.
“’Tis verra nice meeting another lovely sister.
Hazel’s told me so much about ye, Willow. ”
I met his smile. “Nice to meet you as well.”
As it turned out, Evan was a long-time friend of Hazel and Lucas, though they only just recently remembered. Next, I met Chara’s husband, Marek, who was an older version of Broderick, with silver-streaked black hair and grey eyes, as opposed to green.
“This is for you, sweetie,” Hazel said once I sat down, setting a plate of warm corn muffins slathered in freshly—yet magically—churned butter next to me after Sloan ensured I was tucked beside him on the settee closest to the fire.
She winked at me, clearly remembering burning everything before she was whisked back in time. “Not charcoaled this time.”
“Thanks, sis.” Although I wasn’t all that hungry, when Sloan gave me a stern look, I took a bite and couldn’t help but groan with approval. “Magic or not, you’ve more than nailed these, Hazel. Really delicious.”
I encouraged Sloan to take a bite of my muffin, not surprised to see pleasure flare in his eyes.
“Och, ‘tis bloody good.” He grinned at Lucas in warning, who rarely took his eyes off Hazel as she bustled around seeing to everyone’s needs. “With your fated mate cooking that well, you best stay active, cousin, or else.”
“Aye.” Lucas beamed at Hazel like she was warm sunshine on a cold, cloudy day. “I think we will all have to battle well and often for she’s bound to cook for everyone until we’re old and gray.”
“You can count on it.” Hazel offered him a sultry smile and batted her lashes, far bolder than she’d ever been. “There’s more than one way to stay active, husband, and you excel at that just as much.”
When I grinned and arched my brows at Aspen at how forward Hazel had become, she shrugged, glanced in Broderick’s direction, and met my grin, telling me all I needed to know.
Good sex ran in the family.
Knowing what I wanted, or should I say needed, right now, without having to ask, Sloan handed me a cup of whisky and kept me close so I could soak up his body heat.
And nothing had ever felt so good. Not just because of his warmth but because I was finally in his castle, tucked against his side, talking with his kin like I had long dreamed, even if it was bound to be an uncomfortable conversation.
One Chara took the lead on when she managed to detect what I’d done my best to hide. She crouched in front of me and held out her hand, her voice gentle when it might have been more heated given the circumstances. “Might I see your tattoo, Willow?”
“Of course,” I said, a little embarrassed I hadn’t been forthright about it, but in my defense, it had been one hell of a day. Pushing up my sleeve, I gave her the backside of my wrist, just as surprised as Sloan by its subtle yet obvious change.
Rather than a full gem at the center, there was only half.
Just like the one my dragon wore over her heart.
“Ah,” Chara murmured, her eyes flaring with gold when she brushed her finger over it. “So I see.” The gold faded, and her gaze returned to us. “’Tis already too late.”
“Too late for what, Mother?” Broderick’s narrowed gaze went from us to his mother, who went to the hearth and gazed into the fire like she could see as much in the flames sizzling over the wood as she could in my tattoo.
“Too late to avoid war with the Sutherland’s,” she replied bluntly, sighing.
When her gaze returned to us, I realized she was every bit the matriarch of this castle as Elspet was of hers.
The difference, outside of being kind and loving versus hateful and domineering?
She did it far more graciously and subtly, while clearly adoring and respecting her daughter-in-law’s rightful position.
“And Sloan and Willow should not be punished for their actions for ‘twas their dragon hearts at work,” she went on, offering us much-needed forgiveness before she looked at Broderick and Aspen. “Willow shifted for the first time in the Morrow and has half a gem over her dragon’s heart.” When her eyes flared golden again, I knew she let everyone in on what had happened.
“’Twas truly out of their human hands after that and verra much their dragons at the helm.
” Her loving gaze flickered to Marek before sweeping over the others.
“And I dinnae think any of our inner beasts would or should blame them.”
I tensed when Broderick cursed under his breath, and his dragon eyes shot to Sloan. “Och, cousin. And ye of all people!”
“Ye of all dragons,” Aspen corrected, making clear how well she and Chara worked together because they were, however subtly, handling the chieftain’s response.
She nudged him back into the chair behind the desk, where he'd been rifling through papers.
In reality, I suspected he had been discreetly trying to assess how dire our situation was, and how it would affect his people.
The moment Broderick reluctantly sat, Aspen planted her backside against the desktop in front of him and offered a crooked, sultry smile.
“And don’t sit there all righteous, baffled how your kin would dare succumb to their inner beast when it concerns their mate, because we both know better.
” She braced her hands on the desk as if she meant to hoist herself up and perked a brow. “Don’t we, husband?”
When he narrowed his eyes, she did the same, and they shared a long, lingering look before Broderick pulled her onto his lap, as if relenting to something only they understood, and his softened gaze leveled on us again.
“Mother showed us much of what happened within our minds.” He looked back and forth between us. “Now I would hear it from your human half. Every last bit from start to finish.”
“Aye,” Sloan said dutifully, filling him in, and I was right there with him as the storm rolled in and we shared everything from start to finish, including our younger years.
Then Sloan made things perfectly clear, whether the MacLeod chieftain liked it or not.