CHAPTER 14
She sighed, knowing she had to go after him. She shoved off the pew and followed him out into the yard, pulling the cloak tightly around her. He was charging across the green, heading for the stables. She hurried to catch up to him.
“Malcolm, wait.”
He spun to face her, his agitation clear.
He had a look of expectancy as he peered at her, fire flashing in his eyes.
Chloe stopped short, leaving several feet between them.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her frame as the wind pounded her.
She floundered for a moment for something to say.
The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry. He had saved her from Bruce, after all.
“You didn’t finish giving me the tour.”
His shoulders relaxed and all the fight went out of him. “Do ye wish to resume then?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“What would ye like to see next?”
He moved closer to her. She marveled at the heat radiating off his body. Her gaze flickered to the stables where there was a lot of activity. Perhaps if she petted a few horses, it would get her past her innate fear of the large creatures.
“How about the stable?”
He grinned and held his hand out to her. How could she resist? She slipped her hand in his, a zing of elation sweeping through her. She liked her hand in his.
“Do ye like horses, then?” he asked.
The obvious answer to that was no but she didn’t want to tell him that. She tried to sound neutral when she answered.
“Truthfully, I’ve never been around them. They scare me a little.”
That made him stop walking and turn to face her, surprise evident on his face. “Why?”
“Because they’re so big.”
He chuckled. “They are gentle animals. They wouldna harm ye.”
They resumed walking hand in hand to the stable. Inside, there were several stalls. As they entered, one gray-faced horse popped its head out as if curious to see who arrived.
“That’s Mist,” he said, nodding to the horse. “Yer sister’s horse.”
“She has a horse named Mist?”
More surprising things about her sister she didn’t know. It seemed rather fanciful for Evie.
They hadn’t spent much time together, so it wasn’t like Evie had had a chance to catch her up on everything that had happened since her arrival. By her calendar, Evie was missing for a few days. But it appeared to Chloe she had been here, in the past, for weeks. How odd that was.
“Aye.”
He tugged her toward the horse, who snorted in greeting. He patted her nose affectionately.
“She’s a sweet thing.” He said it with a smile in his voice. The horse nuzzled his hand, as if looking for treats, which made him chuckle. “She likes apples.”
“Does she?”
He released her hand and moved deeper into the stable, disappearing into one of the stalls. He returned with two red apples and handed her one.
“Go on,” he said, nudging her toward the horse.
“I don’t know.” She hesitated, peering at the apple as if it were a foreign object she didn’t want to take.
“Och, she willna hurt ye. See?”
He held the apple in the palm of his hand and stretched it toward the mare. She took it from his hand and chomped on it as if it was the best treat she’d had all day. He extended the second apple to Chloe.
“Give it a try,” he said, encouraging her.
Chloe took the apple from him and stepped closer to the horse.
The mare snorted in greeting as she extended the fruit toward her.
She happily took it from her in one bite.
That made Chloe smile and she couldn’t resist reaching for the horse to pet her nose.
She was soft. Malcolm disappeared for moment and returned with a brush in his hand.
“Here. She likes to be brushed.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t—”
But he shoved the brush into her hand and stepped inside the stall. He waved for her to follow. “She willna hurt ye.”
Taking a deep breath, she moved into the stall to stand next to him. He reached for her hand, wrapping his long fingers around her wrist and lifting her arm up.
“Like this.”
He showed her how to make long, slow strokes with the brush along the mare’s neck.
His hand was gently wrapped around her wrist in a non-threatening way that made her knees weak and her heart flutter.
She relaxed and allowed him to move back and forth in a rhythmic motion that made her drowsy and swoony all at once.
“There. See?”
His voice was soft and soothing in her ear and she realized he stood close. So close to her. She didn’t mind. She wanted him close. But at the same time, she wanted her own personal space. It was a strange dichotomy.
If she had learned anything from her experience with Bruce, it was don’t get too close too fast. Not that she expected Malcolm to turn on her or betray her, but she had a bit of mistrust. She was acutely aware of the way his breath moved in and out of him.
The way heat radiated off his body. The way he stood close to her and made her feel warm and safe.
Her pulse quickened as her eyes met his intense gaze rooting her in place. The rhythmic movement of his hand faltered and stopped, as though he, too, was caught in this fragile, electric moment. Her heart thudded like a drum in her chest as pinpricks of heat flared all over her.
Then her gaze drifted to his lips. The shadow of his beard framed them in a way that sent a forbidden thrill racing through her.
What would it feel like to kiss him? To feel the rough scrape of his beard against her skin, the heat of his mouth claiming hers?
The thought ignited a fire low in her belly, a warmth that stole her breath.
She tipped her head back, the faintest movement that felt as daring as a leap.
Oh, yes, she wanted to kiss him. He leaned in, the air between them crackling with tension, his nearness sending a shiver across her skin.
A breath escaped her, unsteady, betraying the longing she was unable to contain.
Would he close the distance? Could she bear it if he didn’t?
“There you are!”
Evie’s voice broke the spell. Malcolm dropped his hand and stepped away from her, out of the stall and into the middle of the stable. Chloe saw her sister hurrying toward them, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright with concern.
“I’ve been looking for you. I see you met Mist.”
She grinned when she said the horse’s name as she paused in front of the stall. She reached up and petted her nose. The mare nuzzled her hand and greeted her with a snort. Chloe let her arm drop to her side, the brush still clutched in her hand.
“Yes,” she said at last, her gaze flickering over to him. He had moved to stand across from the stall, leaning on the wall with his arms folded over his chest. “Malcolm was giving me a tour.”
“Oh, good!” She turned to her brother-in-law. “Callum is looking for you. I think he’s in the armory.”
He nodded. He gave her one last longing glance as he headed out of the stable, leaving the two of them alone.
“Eve, why didn’t you tell me about the fight with the MacDonalds?” No use waiting for the right moment. Now seemed like the perfect time to bring that up since they were relatively alone.
“Oh. Well.” She flushed as she continued to pet the horse. “I don’t know. I guess Malcolm told you?”
“He did. And he told me you used the keystone as a weapon.”
Her hand stilled on the horse’s nose. “He told you that?”
“Yes. You didn’t. Why?”
“I was going to. In time.” She turned to her, then, meeting her gaze. “We don’t know how powerful this keystone truly is, Chlo. I didn’t want to frighten you.”
“You had lightning coming out of your hands, Eve. How is that not frightening?”
She dragged her lower lip through her teeth. “I know I should have told you. But I didn’t know how. Not yet.”
“Tell me now. How did you know how to use it?”
“Moira told me.”
That made her stop cold. She straightened and stared at her sister with wide eyes. “Moira?”
“Callum sent me to the shore. He wanted me to use the stone to return to the future. But I knew it was wrong. In my gut, I knew it was wrong. I didn’t want to go and leave him. I couldn’t. I just…couldn’t. Moira was there on the shore.”
“She visited you?”
“Yes. She told me if I left, it would reset Time and all my memories of this place, of Callum, would be erased. She told me he would die in battle if I left. That’s when she showed me how to use the keystone.”
The look on her face sent a chill through her. It was clear to Chloe that her sister was irrevocably in love with her husband, which gave a happy squeeze to her heart. And also a bit of jealousy. She wanted a love like that. She wanted to feel like that about someone, too.
“I couldn’t let him die,” she said, her voice quiet.
“Of course, you couldn’t. You love him. And he loves you.”
Then, Evie stepped a little closer and dropped her voice. “It’s blood magic, Chlo. I’m sure of it.”
She stared at her as if she’d grown another head. “Blood magic?”
“Shhh. Keep your voice down. Those that were there that night have accused me of being a witch.” She glanced around the stable to see if anyone was listening.
Chloe lifted a brow in amusement. “Are you?”
She gave her a straight face. “You’re hilarious.”
She shrugged, a grin creasing her lips. “Just asking. So, how does it work?” Chloe asked, genuinely curious.
Evie lifted her palm, the one with the burned image of the stone, and showed it to her. In the center, there was a new silvery scar she never had before. Something had slashed across her palm. She thought she understood what that meant.
“You cut yourself.”
“Moira did. She used a dagger to slice open my hand. She told me to keep the keystone in my hand and never release it. The feeling was…” she paused, shook her head, “hard to describe.”
Chloe reached for her, taking her scarred hand in hers, and squeezed it. There was a hollow look in her sister’s eyes as she remembered. It was haunting.
“Try.” She gave her an encouraging smile.
Evie took a deep breath, expelled it. “Remember that time when we were kids and that horrible thunderstorm knocked out the power? It was only out for a couple of hours, but when it came back on there was this surge through all the electronics. It fried the TV and Mom’s laptop.”
Chloe nodded. She remembered that well. Her parents were upset they had to replace so many electronics. When the power came back on, there was a pop and a flash and then the acrid smell of smoke in the house.
“Are you saying you had a power surge?” she asked.
Evie said, “I think so. It felt like a rush going all the way through me, like a…well…a surge. And suddenly I sensed what Callum was going through. I saw what would happen to him if I didn’t go to him, if I didn’t try to save him.
The strangest thing of all was I projected those scenarios into his mind. I spoke into his mind and he heard me.”
She shuddered as she told the story as though she had relived the horror of the battle.
“There’s something else I should tell you,” she said after she paused a moment.
She squeezed her hand, holding her tight.
“Moira is the Goddess of the Present. One of the Triple Goddesses. When she and her two sisters shattered the stone during the Shattering, they put all their powers into each piece. They scattered the pieces throughout Scotland, only to be found when there was a need again.”
Chloe stared at her, her heart ramming hard against her chest. “And you think that time has come?”
“It’s the only explanation for it.” Evie released her and reached into her pocket, bringing out her stone. She held it up with an expectant look.
Chloe released her hand and did the same. She placed her piece against Evie’s and watched as not only the edges lined up perfectly, but also the lines of the triquetra and the circle. It was clear there was a third piece missing.
They both stared at it and then looked at each other.
“Two ancient bloodlines. One divine destiny,” Evie whispered, repeating the words of the prophecy.
“If Moira is the Goddess of the Present and gave you her power and her piece of the stone, then what is my piece?”
Evie shook her head. “I don’t know but we need to find out.”
“How do we do that?” Chloe asked.
She smiled. “I have an idea.”
Evie stuck her piece of the stone back into her pocket, then took her by the hand. Chloe fisted hers as she dragged her out of the stable toward the keep. She had a pretty good idea what her sister was up to and she wasn’t certain she was all for it.
Once they were in the keep, she took her to the kitchen where it was a bustle of activity. No one seemed to take note of them, as if it were a common occurrence for the lady of the castle to be there. Evie found a kitchen knife, then took her scarred hand in hers.
“Hey, wait,” Chloe objected.
“It won’t hurt.”
Before she objected again, Evie used the tip of the knife to cut her palm. Blood welled along the line through the imprint of the stone. They waited.
“The stone, Chlo,” she said with a hint of excitement.
She still clutched the stone in her other hand, so she transferred it to her bleeding one. Evie closed her fingers around the stone.
Nothing happened.
“What now?” Chloe asked.
“We wait.”
They stood in the kitchen as maids went about their business. Pots boiled, bread baked, vegetables were chopped. And still nothing happened.
“I don’t get it,” Evie said, frowning.
Chloe opened her fingers. The stone was slick with blood. At least it was a shallow cut.
“I guess it was worth a shot anyway,” she said.
“I guess I was wrong. Come on. Let’s get you bandaged up.”