Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
PORTIA
The sea crashed against the shore of Beithir Island in rhythmic waves. The moon rose over the water, its reflection rippling in the swells farther from shore. It was hours past midnight, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t sleeping tonight.
I stood on the rugged, pebble-covered sand and watched the water without really seeing it.
It had been three weeks since I’d stepped through the stones and landed in my father’s arms. Three weeks since I’d told him about Tavish and Albie. Three weeks since he’d promised to help me find them.
And for three weeks, my father had searched the world for the chronomancer and turned up nothing. Every morning before dawn broke, he entered the sea. And every night well past midnight, he emerged empty-handed.
The wind picked up, and I tugged my wool cardigan more tightly around me. A few feet away, Mum pushed her dark hair out of her face. Dad stood next to her, his eyes on the sea. Malcolm sat on a large rock on my other side in a crimson Harvard sweatshirt.
He’d left school mid-semester and crossed the Atlantic the day after I returned.
He refused to leave, even when I insisted there was nothing he could do.
At night, he turned up in my room with one of Mum’s mixing bowls filled with popcorn and M&Ms, then wordlessly climbed into bed beside me and put on trashy television.
It helped. But not even the love of my family could ease the hollowness gnawing a hole in my chest. It spread larger every day, swallowing me pieces at a time. And every day, it gobbled more than the day before.
Mum cast me a worried look—the same one everyone else had been giving me for three weeks.
I knew what they saw. I was thinner. Weaker. My clothes were loose, and dark circles shadowed my eyes.
My dragon paced constantly in my mind, thrashing and snarling without ceasing.
The first week, I’d shifted and flown over the stones, thinking the portal might open if I retraced my steps.
But the stones stayed quiet, the only activity the human tourists rolling over the hills in their cargo vans and rented cars.
After the second week, I’d grown too weak to fly. So I waited by the sea, the hollowness chewing holes in my heart.
Malcolm stood and crossed to me, pebbles crunching under his feet. The wind ruffled his blond hair as he bumped his shoulder against mine. “Keep your chin up, Little Sis.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Big Bro.”
He wrapped an arm around me and squeezed, smelling like fire, laundry detergent, and the cologne I’d given him the previous Christmas. “We’ll find them.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I wanted to believe him. But if my father, who possessed all seven elements, couldn’t even find the chronomancer, what hope did I have of finding Tavish and Albie? I didn’t even know what time they were in.
Dad turned from the water, his gaze finding my mother’s. “Niall should have returned by now.”
Mum curved her hand around his bicep. “He won’t be long.”
I stared at the waves, the hollowness spreading. The fear I’d been holding back for three weeks finally clawed its way out.
“What if they’re trapped in time somewhere?” I swung my gaze to my parents. “What if I never find them?”
Dad came to me and cupped my cheek with a warm hand. “Wheesht with that kind of talk, lass. You’re a king’s daughter with fire in your veins. You don’t give up, ever, aye?”
I blinked away tears. “Aye,” I rasped.
His smile was achingly gentle, his voice soft but firm. “Niall never gave up on me. Not even after I spent centuries in the fire.”
Mum appeared beside him, her expression matching his. “Niall is very stubborn.” She slanted my dad a look. “Most men are.”
A watery laugh bubbled in my throat. “Tavish and Albie suffer from that same affliction.” I wiped at my eyes.
“Tavish is always eating. He brought tarts on our trip to see the chronomancer.” The memory of him smiling at me in the hotel bathroom’s doorway made my chest ache.
“And Albie is a scholar. He knows something about everything. He would love it—” I clamped my mouth shut before I could finish the sentence.
He would love it here.
Dad tucked my hair behind my ear with gentle fingers. “It sounds like he and Niall will get along just fine.”
“Da will love him,” I said, more memories gathering. “Albie is strong and brave and kind. So is Tavish. They’re both gentlemen.” I looked up at my dad. “They protected me and cared for me. They followed me through time without question even though it meant leaving their own behind.”
Dad took my hand. Fire swirled through his golden eyes, and his pupils narrowed, the shape growing reptilian before rounding once more. “Fathers are supposed to be wary of the men their daughters fancy. But I confess I’m eager to meet these mates of yours.”
A sudden thought made me catch my breath.
“What is it?” Mum asked.
“They’re not my mates,” I said. “Not yet.” Heat flooded my face. Gods, I did not want to have this conversation with my parents and brother. “We never completed the mate bond,” I finished in a rush.
Silence.
Then Mum said, “You mean you didn’t consummate it.”
Malcolm hooked a thumb toward the castle. “I’m gonna check on the pizza.”
Dad frowned at him. “Did you put one in the oven?”
Malcolm was already on his way up the slope, and he waved a hand in the air without turning around.
“We shared a bed,” I said quickly, desperate to get this over with. “And we…did other things. But we never…” I gestured helplessly. “You know.”
Dad’s expression was carefully neutral. “I see.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m not dying faster,” I said. “The mate bond isn’t sealed.”
My mother grasped my shoulders, and for a second, she was every inch a dragon queen. Fire licked through her eyes, and her voice slid lower. “You are not dying, Portia. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I said. Only idiots argued with my mother when her dragon showed in her eyes.
She pulled me into a hug. “We’re going to find your men, sweetheart. I promise.”
I buried my face in her shoulder and tried to believe her.
“Niall is here,” Dad said suddenly.
I looked up as my father’s head broke the waves. He emerged from the sea and stepped onto the shore completely dry, his black barasta untouched by the sea. His expression was inscrutable, his shoulders tense as he strode to us.
My heart sank. I didn’t need to ask if he’d found anything. The answer was written all over his face.
“Nothing?” I asked anyway.
He shook his head. “I’ve visited every magical house on three continents. No one has seen the chronomancer.” A muscle ticked in his jaw, which was shaded with dark stubble. “Half of them had no idea a chronomancer was even alive.”
“Albie said they’re rare,” I murmured.
My father nodded. “They are. Time magic is fickle and unstable. Witches who dabble in it tend to go mad.”
The chronomancer had certainly seemed insane with his nonsensical speech and ticking clocks. If I never saw another watch again, it would be too soon. I stood by what I’d told him in the alley before my final jump.
I will find my mates. And I won’t need any magic from you or the gods to do it.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
My parents looked at me.
“What if we’re looking at this all wrong?” I asked, excitement building. “We don’t need witch magic. We need dragon magic.”
Mum’s eyes widened. My fathers shared a look.
“The chronomancer claims the gods chose me,” I said. “I did everything they wanted, but I had to make it happen. What if I have to make this happen, too?”
My father nodded. “You don’t need a spell. You just need—”
“Me,” I said. “I’ll go back to the stones and speak in our tongue.”
Mum seized my hand in a strong grip. “You’re a full-blooded dragon, and so are they. Call them as only a dragon can.”
Hope burst like fireworks in my chest. This had to work. It had to.
“Let’s go,” Dad said, and pride shone in his eyes as he took my hand. “Portia will lead us.”
Twenty minutes later, I stood at the portal with my heart in my throat. Stars winked overhead. My parents flanked me. Malcolm had flown with us, and he stood a short distance away, moonlight turning his golden eyes a lighter shade.
I stared at the space between the stones. “What do I say?” I asked.
Da touched my shoulder, and I looked up at him.
“Magic is about intent. The words aren’t all that important. It’s the feeling behind them that matters.” He smiled, the expression softening his dark eyes. “And you feel things strongly, my daughter. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
Our eyes held, a world of forgiveness passing between us.
“Thanks, Da,” I whispered.
He nodded toward the portal. “Tell your mates to get their arses where they belong.”
Laughing through my tears, I faced the opening between the stones. Then I took a deep breath and let the dragon tongue roll from my mouth.
“Tavish Ramsay! Alban MacLean!” Just in case, I added Albie’s nickname, too. “Albie MacLean! Come to me now. I’ve waited a lifetime for you, and I’ll wait no longer. Fate joined us. No power in this world or any other will keep us apart. COME. I command it!”
My voice echoed off the stones. My dragon shoved at my bones. She burned under my skin. Smoke streamed from my mouth as I continued to call for my mates.
Then I threw back my head and roared. I poured everything into it. My love. My longing. My desperate need to have them at my side.
The ground began to hum beneath my feet.
My voice echoed, bouncing off the stones and rolling across the clifftop like thunder.
Ticking filled my ears. Then it filled the air, hundreds of clocks marking time in a hundred thousand different rhythms.
Light flashed between the stones. It swelled, searing my eyes. But I didn’t look away.
A figure stumbled through.
Blond hair. Wire-rimmed glasses. Brown eyes wide with shock.
“Albie,” I breathed.
A second figure emerged—massive and dark-haired, his kilt swinging around his knees.
Tavish.
I launched myself at them.
They caught me, wrapping their arms around me in a crushing embrace. Tavish buried his face in my hair. Albie pressed his forehead to my temple.
“I found you,” I gasped, tears running unchecked down my face.
“You called us,” Albie said, his voice thick with emotion.
Tavish’s hands shook as he cupped my face. “We tried everything. Every spell Albie could find. We slept next to the auld stones. Nothing worked.” Moisture sheened his eyes, turning them sapphire. “And then we heard your voice.”
I kissed him. Then I kissed Albie. Then I pulled back and just looked at them, drinking in the sight.
They were here. They were real. They were mine.
Tavish’s gaze moved past me, and his expression shifted. He released me and dropped to one knee.
Albie followed, both of them kneeling before my dad.
“My king,” Tavish said, his voice formal. “We’re humbled fate chose us for your daughter.”
Before my dad could speak, Mum rushed forward and yanked both men to their feet. She threw her arms around them, pulling them into a fierce hug.
“I’m so happy to meet you,” she said, her voice muffled against Tavish’s chest. He met my eyes over the top of her head, looking bemused.
I shrugged, putting a hand over my mouth to contain my joy. But it spilled over anyway, and my shoulders shook as I half-laughed, half-sobbed. Malcolm appeared at my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“This is really going to mess up our movie nights.”
Mum eased back from my mates enough to beckon me over. When I got in range, she grabbed me and yanked me into their group hug.
“Let’s get you home,” she said.
Home.
Tavish and Albie smiled at me.
“I like the sound of that,” Tavish said.