Chapter 19
Marna’s father came to me just after she delivered the bairn. I wasn’t sure whether to believe his story until I saw how Marna grieved over your death. And when I saw the bairn, he looked as much like you as a bairn can resemble anyone. Marna’s father was worried. She was not doing well, and his wife, Marna’s mother, was already dead. Alas, Marna did pass, so Bessie and I took the boy and raised him as our own. I know it will be heartbreaking to find that you had a son you did not know. But the good news is that you will have descendants. Your name will live on through him.
He is a brave boy and looks just like you. We named him William. I did not tell Mother in the beginning. We did not want to tarnish your name or Marna’s. I had promised her father. But Mother guessed. William was so much like you. Sometimes when she spoke of you, she would watch him with the saddest look on her face. Finally, Bessie convinced me to tell her. She cried and called him her little Tavis. I should have told her before. Bessie is with child now, twins, the doctor says, so your lad will have brothers or sisters. I am pleased, but I miss you and Faelan and Father.
One line was scratched out,and Tavis had to look close to see what it said.
It is a strange thing to think that when you read this, I will be dead.
All my love to you both. I will see you again on the other side.
Ian
Tavis staredat the letter until the numbness in his chest turned to cold. It seemed only yesterday that he had given in to Marna’s persistent attention, and a kiss led to a fondle that led to something more. A child? They had been so careful.
“Tavis.”
He lookedup and saw Faelan watching him. “You look like a sick sheep.”
“I feel like a sick sheep.”Tavis rubbed his hands through his hair. “I have a son. Had. I didn’t even know him and now he’s dead.”
Faelan gavehis knee a sympathetic squeeze, and they sat in silence for a moment, both trying to process the shock. “I’m sorry. But do you realize that some of the warriors walking around here may be descended from you?” Faelan looked thoughtful. “Let’s see. Ronan, Declan, Cam, and Duncan are descendants of Ian’s oldest son. Your son. Some of our finest warriors came from you.”
It was a fascinating thing,and surely it would mean more later, but right now all he could think was that he had a son who’d lived and died without him even knowing it.
“Doyou want to keep this quiet?”
Tavis shook his head.He’d missed his son’s entire life. Acknowledging him now was all he had. “No. I don’t want to hide it.” Tavis swallowed. “You saw his grave?”
“I did. He lived a long life.”
“All the whileI was sleeping in that damned time vault.”
“I am sorry,Tavis. I wish you hadn’t come. It’s a joy to have you here, but if you’d stayed... you could have known him. Raised him.”
“I couldn’t stay.”
Faelan’s mouth thinned.“You always watched out for me. Come with me. I think we could both use a drink.”
“You hardly ever drink,”Tavis said.
“I think this is the time.”He led Tavis to a room that resembled a tavern.
“You have a tavern?”
“It’s justa game room with a bar. We sometimes play billiards or a game of darts. But on a rare occasion a whisky or ale hits the spot.”
“Like when you’vejust discovered that your brother from another century isn’t dead?”
“That would about do it.”Faelan pulled out a bottle of whisky. He poured a small measure into two glasses. They raised their glasses and took a drink. “I know you’re sad now, but things will get better. It’s a hard thing to lose everyone in one blow. I still miss them, but it’s not as hard as it was.”
Tavis took another drink,feeling the burn in his throat. He didn’t drink often himself. “You’ve found happiness here.”
“I have.I wouldn’t go back even if I could. I miss them, but I belong here. And I’m glad you’re here now.” He picked up a knife and threw it at the wall. It hit just outside the bullseye. “Remember that year we beat Wallace MacIntosh?”
“Aye.Stopped his bragging. Until the next year. What’s this?” Tavis asked, pointing to a table with rows of figures attached to bars.
“Foosball.And that’s air hockey. Want to have a go with the knives?”
“You won’t cheat?”
“Me?”Faelan grinned.
“As I recall,I won the last challenge. A horse race. But you kept the white stone.”
Faelan threw another knife.“I would’ve won if that branch hadn’t hit me in the face.”
“But it did, brother.”They threw knives, losing track of the score as the conversation turned to home, family, and duty.
Faelan took another drink.“You want to talk about guilt,” he said, and they discussed the atrocities of their assigned demons while the brothers slept. “I’ll always wonder if I could have stopped the Civil War. Do you know how many people died?”
“Not as manyas in the World Wars, all stirred up by Voltar.” Tavis picked up his glass.
“There were moredemons involved than just our assigned demons—that’s what the others keep telling me about the Civil War. But it doesn’t ease all the guilt. Sometimes I feel as if I were there in the war,” Faelan said. “I have dreams that feel more like memories, but they can’t be. I can almost smell the gunpowder. And the faces. Bree showed me a book on the war, and some of the soldiers look familiar. I would swear I’ve met General Grant.”
Tavis frowned. “I know that name.”
“How couldyou know that name? You haven’t seen the books.”
“That’s strange.It’s happening to me too. Dreams of things I couldn’t possibly have done. Battles I never fought.” Tavis held up his glass. “And I hadn’t had any of this. What do you make of it? Just me wishing I hadn’t failed?”
“I passedit off as just dreams, but if it’s happened to you...” Faelan was frowning at his drink. “And it’s not just battles. I think I saw Bree when she was a lass. Perhaps I’m just recalling stories she’s told me but some I don’t think she mentioned. And her grandmother. I think I talked to her before she died.”
“You thinkwe were really sleeping in there?” Tavis asked.
“Damnation. It makes me wonder.”He took another drink. “Let’s talk about something else.”
The talk movedto the advances of modern times. “You can’t go back,” Faelan said. “So you’ll have to learn to live with all this. With the bloody computers and machines and women. God, the women. You’ve never seen the like. And when you find your mate, you’ll burn for her like nothing you can imagine. Even now, I can’t stay away from Bree. It’s killing me, not being with her.”
“You are with her.”
“I mean in bed.She’s had a lot of stress. I decided she needed to take some time off from sex. And now it’s all I can think about.” Faelan threw a knife that missed the board altogether. “I hope Coira doesn’t see that hole in the wall. I think I should have stopped after the second glass. I’m not a drinker.”
“Aye,I hear you. The room’s looking a little blurred to me.”
“Here you are.”Ronan and Lachlan came in. “We wondered where you’d gotten to,” Ronan said.
“We’re havinga little competition and conversation,” Faelan said.
Lachlan pickedup the bottle of whisky. “And a few drinks, I’d say.”
“I’ve heardhow good Tavis was... is,” Ronan said. “Want to put it to the test?”
Faelan had toldthem about him. Tavis’s chest felt warm. Or maybe it was the whisky. “Aye, I’ll take you on.”
“I’ll take on the winner,”Niall said, joining them, followed by Brodie, Shane, and Marcas.
“I’m second,”Brodie said. “I can beat this big ape of a man anytime.” He punched Niall, and Niall punched him back, sending him crashing into Marcas. “Easy there, Kong. I barely touched you.”
And the game was on.They threw knives for a long while, and Tavis felt warmer and warmer inside. It was partly the whisky, but he also felt like he was home.
“So this iswhere the party is,” Sean said, peeking in the door. “I thought we’d been invaded.”
“Sean, join us,”Niall said, holding up a knife.
“Ah,my knife-throwing days are over. I’d best get myself to bed. And don’t you chaps get carried away. I think you’ve had a bit much already.”
“One round with the knives,”Ronan said. “You need to forget about these demons for a while as much as we do.”
“One round it is then.”
Sean played three,beating them all. But then he hadn’t had any whisky.
“I think he cheated,”Lachlan said after Sean had left.
“Sean doesn’t cheat,”Brodie said. “I’ll cheat, but not Sean. Where’s Shane?”
“He crashed on the pool table,”Niall said.
“He doesn’t drink much either,”Faelan said to Tavis.
“I thinkI’d better get some rest myself,” Tavis said. “Where do I sleep?”
“I can showyou where Anna’s room is,” Brodie said, chuckling.
Niall thumpedhim on the head.
“Why’d you do that?”Brodie complained.
Niall thumped him again.“I like thumping you on the head.”
“Don’t letme deprive you of your enjoyment at the expense of my brain.”
“We all need to turn in,”Marcas said. “It’s late.”
“Come on,”Faelan said to Tavis. “Bree and Shay got a room ready for you. I’ll show you where it is.” Faelan led Tavis upstairs to the second floor.
“This castle is justlike home. Except for different rugs and the paintings on the wall.” It was all a mite blurry after the drinking.
Faelan putan arm around Tavis’s shoulder. “We’ll go back and visit after we get rid of Voltar and Tristol.”
Tavis patted Faelan’s hand.“Is this brotherly love, or are you feeling as unsteady as I am?”
“Some of both,”Faelan said with a laugh. “Here you go.” He opened a door, and he and Tavis stepped inside. Bree and Shay were standing near the bed.
“It’splain as the nose on your face that Tavis and Anna—oh, Tavis, Faelan, we didn’t hear you,” Bree said, darting a quick glance at Shay.
“Obviously,”Faelan said. “What are you doing up? You should be resting.”
“I’m sick of resting,”Bree said. “Is this room okay?”
It was large,with a comfortable bed and the usual furnishings. “Aye, it’ll do fine. Thank you,” he said to Bree and Shay.
They both gave him a smile,and he thought again how lucky Faelan and Cody were. Tavis’s luck with bonny lasses had been poor. Almost deadly, in fact. But these two seemed to be as beautiful and kind as angels, despite their strange clothing and boldness.
“Are you drunk?”Bree asked.
Faelan held up two fingers,measuring a pinch. “Just a wee bit.”
“We wonderedwhere you’d disappeared to,” Shay said. “We were just coming to find you.”
“Was Cody looking for us?”Faelan asked.
“No, he’s with Declan.”
“If you need anything,I’m three doors down on the left. Bree and I keep a room here,” Faelan said.
“The bathroom has toiletries.If you need anything else, just ask.” Shay surprised Tavis by wrapping her arms around him and hugging him hard. Her arms were as strong as a man’s. No woman in his time would have done such a thing unless she was family. He supposed she was.
“Thank you.”
Shay stepped away.“I’m going to find Cody. We’re still trying to decide what to do about this wedding. And Matilda. She’s driving both of us crazy. Night, everyone.”
Bree hugged Tavis,too. “Welcome home again, Tavis. I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re here. She leaned back and put both hands on his cheeks, which pressed her stomach closer to his. It was still flat, but he thought about the child growing inside, and the child he’d lost. Bree’s eyes closed, and her hands traveled down his neck to his chest. Her forehead wrinkled, and she shook her head. He glanced up at Faelan, alarmed.
Faelan frownedand moved closer but didn’t speak, so Tavis didn’t speak either. Bree’s eyes flew open, and she gasped.
“Bree?”Faelan touched her shoulder.
Bree stepped away from Tavis,but still watched him. “I’m sorry. I just get these weird... feelings.”
“Didyou just read his damned battle marks?” Faelan asked.
Bree gave a guilty start. “What?”
“You heard me. Did you?”
“Maybe.”
“You read my battle marks,”Tavis said, fascinated, and more than a little alarmed.
“I might have.”
“Well?”Faelan said, after Bree didn’t speak.
“Uh...I’ll tell you later. I’m getting tired.”
Faelan gave her a disbelieving look.“I thought you didn’t want to rest.”
“I changed my mind.”
“What is she again?”Tavis asked.
“Sometimes she’s a bloody nuisance,”Faelan said, but love poured from his eyes.
“I’m your sister-in-law,”Bree said. “You’re family. That’s all that matters now.”
There was a scratching noise,and Faelan walked to the double doors leading to the balcony. “How’d you get out there?” A large white cat walked into the room. It looked at Tavis with green eyes that were oddly like Bree’s and Shay’s.
“Matilda’s been looking everywherefor you,” Bree said to the cat as if it could hear her.
Washis brother’s wife a little barmy? The cat walked over and jumped up on the foot of the bed. Faelan watched it, his brows pulled together like he did when he was unsure about something. “Guess you’ve got the cat tonight.”
“Strange-looking cat.”
“You’re telling me,”Faelan said.
“He’s special,”Bree said.
“She thinksit can understand us. I feel like it’s reading my mind,” Faelan said. “We can’t seem to get rid of it. It’s adopted us. Matilda thinks it wards off vampires. And she swears it saved the President.”
“You jest?”
“I wish,”Faelan said, looking suspiciously at the cat. “But there was a strange incident... never mind about that now. You need rest. And quiet. I know you have a lot on your mind.”
“Thank you,brother. And Bree. I’m glad to be here.”
He and Faelanshared a long look. Each of them knew how much he’d sacrificed. Then Bree and Faelan walked to the door.
“Oh,and Anna’s in the next room if you need anything,” Bree said.
“Are you matchmaking?”Faelan asked, as the door closed.
“Why would you think that?”was Bree’s muffled reply.
“I thinkRonan’s right about you.”
Tavis lookedat the wall that joined his and Anna’s rooms. Far different than the bars of a cell. He had no wish to be back in the dungeon, but he missed the closeness he and Anna had shared. She was barely speaking to him now. He started to remove his clothes and remembered the cat. It had turned its back as if giving him privacy. Damned odd cat.
He undressedin the bathroom and used the shower—a marvel of an invention—before returning to the bedroom. The cat was still on his bed, paying no attention to him. The underwear—as Faelan called them—was too confining. He climbed into bed naked. The sheets felt cool against his skin. He looked at the ceiling and let the revelation sink in. He’d had a son. William. Had Ian told him Tavis was his father? If Ian died three years after Tavis went into the time vault, the boy would have been young. Perhaps too young to be told his father was sleeping for one-hundred-fifty years, and his mother was dead.
Poor Marna.She’d loved him, and though he couldn’t honestly say he had returned that love—fondness, yes—it made him sad to think of her sweet eyes, her quietly pleasant face.
Tavis feltthe sting of grief and regret. Had he done the right thing? If he’d stayed, he could have killed Voltar and raised his son, and perhaps saved the world from a war. But what about the Book of Battles he’d sworn to protect, and Faelan’s plight?
Tavis’s headthrobbed with too many thoughts and too much drink. The cat watched him from the bottom of the bed, but strangely enough, he wasn’t bothered by its presence. Instead, it was comforting, and he fell asleep dreaming of Anna. The dream had turned decidedly erotic when it was interrupted by a hiss. Tavis opened groggy eyes, unsure whether he was still dreaming. A strange creature was leaning over the bed. He pulled the dagger from underneath his pillow and leapt up. With an ungodly screech, the intruder ran for the door.
Tavis followed into the hallway,heedless of his nakedness. A door slammed nearby, and others opened. Faces peered out at him. Faelan and Bree, Shay, Cody, Ronan, Nina, Duncan, Sorcha—had she come from Duncan’s room? Everyone was staring at his groin.
“Well now,”Sorcha said, smiling. She was wearing a short red gown like the one Anna had worn in the dungeon. Duncan stepped in front of her to obscure her view. He had on those confining underwear that Tavis now wished like hell he’d put on.
“Someone was in my room,”Tavis said, covering himself with his hands, which was bloody awkward—not to mention dangerous—while holding a dagger.
“Did you see who it was?”Faelan asked. He was also naked, although he was mostly hidden behind the door. He withdrew and there was a scuffling sound, then he reappeared a moment later in the same kind of underwear. Cody and Ronan were wearing something similar, as well. And here he was naked as the day he was born. Bloody hell.
“I couldn’t see well.It was leaning over my bed.”
“Search the castle,”Duncan said.
“I’ll go this way,”Ronan said, and started down the hall.
A loud screechsounded from one of the nearby rooms, followed by a crash. Everyone paused.
Nina claspeda hand to her mouth. “That’s Matilda’s room.”
“Stay back,”Faelan said, when Bree followed on his heels. She wore a long shirt that came to her thighs.
Faelan opened the door,and they stared at the awful sight. The barmy red-haired woman stood just inside. She looked like she’d been caught in a windstorm. Her eyes were wide with black smudges underneath. An orange gown showed bony white knees, and she held the cat in her arms. Held, as in restrained. It was obvious from the extended claws and puffed fur that the cat was trying to get away.
“Did someone come in here?”Faelan asked.
Matilda shookher head and held on to the cat.
“Wait,”Faelan said. “How did you get the cat? It was in Tavis’s room.”
Nina pushed the others aside.“Matilda, did you go to Tavis’s room to get the cat?”
“I needed it,”Matilda said. “I couldn’t sleep. I had dreams.”
“Matilda.”Nina gave her an exasperated look. “That cat can’t protect you against vampires. There aren’t any vampires in here anyway.”
“You don’t know that,”Matilda said. “They got into the castle in Scotland. They might have followed us here.”
“We have guards,”Shay said. She was at least covered—wearing some kind of colorful trousers and a shirt.
Matilda caught sight of Tavis,still standing naked, with only his hands covering his front. Her eyes widened. “Oh my.”
Tavis started backingup toward his room and bumped into someone. He turned. It was Anna, fully clothed. Her beautiful eyes ran up and down his body.
“Sorry.”He backed away toward his door and opened it, hurrying inside. He shut the door and leaned against it, eyes closed in a sigh. Darn near everyone in the castle had seen him naked now. The door moved behind him. He stepped away and Anna came inside. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“You’re in my room,”she said.
“What?”
“My room. You’re in it.”
Tavis lookedat the scattered covers on the bed and saw that in fact he was in the wrong room. “Damn. I thought this was mine.”
Anna flickeda glance over him again. “You can wait a minute until the crowd thins. I think they’re ripping Matilda a new one. That woman needs a babysitter.”
That would explainthe raised voice in the hallway. Nina sounded furious. “I swear I thought she was a demon when I saw her over my bed. And the screeching. I guess that was the cat.”
“She’s obsessed with the cat.”Anna glanced down again and grabbed a small blanket from her bed. “Here.”
Tavis tookthe blanket and arranged it around his waist like a kilt, and then looked awkwardly around the room.
“You can sitif you’d like.” Anna walked to her balcony and looked out.
“I thinkI’d rather go out in the hallway and be scorned.”
She turned back to him. “Why?”
“It’sa sight better than being ignored.”
“I’m not ignoring you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Well,maybe I am. I’m not good with situations like this.”
“Being cordial? Mere hospitality?”
She scowled.“You know what I mean. We... we... you know.”
“Aye, I do.”And he’d been thinking about it far too much. “I’m ashamed that I’ve added to your pain, after what happened to your mother and to you.”
“You know about that?”
“Ronan told me.He was concerned about you. Can’t we start over? Pretend we’ve just met and that I didn’t do what I did?”
“You didn’t doanything wrong. If anything, you saved me. I don’t blame you.”
“Then why thehell are you acting like I’m poxed?” He’d been driving himself barmy with guilt.
“I toldyou in the dungeon that it wasn’t your fault. If you hadn’t done it, the guard would have.” Anna shuddered. “And he probably would have killed us.”
“But I... I shouldn’t have…”
“You’reupset because you had an orgasm?”
Her words shocked him.Did all women speak so forward? “I have no excuse except that I hadn’t been with a woman in a long time.”
There werequestions in her eyes, but she didn’t ask them. “It was just your body’s reaction. Bree said Faelan was insatiable when he came out of the time vault. I guess even though time stops, some emotions and functions build. It doesn’t make sense, but then again, we’re talking about a box that stops time. That shouldn’t exist either by normal standards.”
“I’d better get backto my room and try to rest. I have to meet with the Council tomorrow.” He looked down at his blanket.
“Keep it.I’ll get it later.”
* * *
Tavis’s stomachknotted as he and Faelan walked to the library. He couldn’t put off meeting with the Council any longer, but he didn’t know if he could trust them. Not after what he and Ian had read in Nigel’s letter.
One-hundred-fifty years had passedsince Tavis and Ian had discovered that letter, and far more time had passed since Nigel’s accusations. And Tavis knew no more now than he had then. He didn’t know what Ian had discovered, if the threat had passed, if others were involved. Quinn hadn’t told anyone what his father had done, so at least two had been involved in the betrayal. Quinn’s silence on the matter had been almost as atrocious as his father’s deeds. Selling warriors’ names to demons so they could be destroyed before they grew up. Like Liam. Nothing could be more despicable.
Annaand several of the warriors were already seated in the library. It was supposed to be an informal gathering, but the Council was seated apart, as if they were better than the others. And they had on their ceremonial robes. He’d always felt they were a little holier-than-thou, and this generation of elders looked just the same. Put them on a battlefield facing down a bunch of demons and then see what they thought about their rules.
Tavis took a seat near Faelan,one with a view of Anna, who was sitting next to Lachlan and Ronan, of course, and the Council called the meeting to order. Informal, his bloody arse. He told them everything he knew, from the time they had followed Faelan to America to help him battle Druan, until he and Anna had broken free from the fortress.
“You support this tale?”the Chief Elder asked Anna.
“Yes.I don’t know about the part before I arrived at Tristol’s fortress, but that’s what happened after I got there.” They asked her a few more questions, which she answered.
“So,it is your opinion that Tristol owned the fortress and was operating some sort of breeding program?”
Anna glanced at her hands. “Yes.”
“And Tristol wasunder the assumption that he had captured Faelan?”
“Yes,”Anna said.
“Wasanyone else part of this program?” the Elder asked.
“There was another prisoner there.They called him a hybrid.” Anna stopped, took a breath, and shot Tavis a glance. “I don’t know if he was involved.”
“And what about yourself,Anna? Was anything said about involving you in the program?”
Anna’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“We understandthat you spent some time with the hybrid.”
Anna’s mouth opened.She glanced at Tavis, her eyes glittering with anger. “I saw him.”
“Can you tell us about that?”
“I just glimpsed him,”Anna said, her back stiff. “He had escaped and gotten into the cell where they were keeping me.”
Tavis wasn’tsurprised she didn’t mention the guard taking her to the hybrid. But how had the Council found out? Had Faelan told? Tavis hadn’t told him not to mention it. Dammit.
They askedher more about the hybrid. When she had answered their questions, the Chief Elder stared at her, his heavy-lidded gaze quite pointed. “Do you have anything else to add?”
Anna kept her chin up,but she wasn’t breathing. Tavis could see that her shoulders weren’t moving. “No. Nothing.”
Tavis wanted to help her,to take the attention off her, and in his enthusiasm, he blurted out something he’d spent over a century trying to hide.
“I hopeto return the Book of Battles to the Keeper within a day or so.” Bollocks. Why did he say that? He didn’t know if the Council could be trusted yet.
Everyone lookedat him much as they had when he’d chased Matilda out into the hallway naked. He glanced down to make sure some of his strange clothing hadn’t come undone, but everything looked in order.
“What do you mean?”the Chief Elder asked.
It was toolate to come up with a lie now. “I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t remember where I hid it.”
“You’rethe one who hid it?” Faelan asked. “We wondered how it had gotten in the chapel.”
“The chapel?”Had he hidden it in the chapel? “My memory is still cloudy on some things.”
“Well, it was a long time ago,”Bree said.
“You’re doing wellif you can remember where you put something over a century ago,” Brodie said. “Sometimes I forget where I put things a few hours before.”
“It was just a fortnight ago,or thereabouts,” Tavis said. Everyone there looked confused, the Council, the warriors, even Anna. They all looked at him as if he were a simpleton.
Faelan frowned.“What are you talking about, Tavis? Bree’s grandmother had the Book of Battles when Bree was a lass.”
Tavis shook his head.“That’s impossible.”
“I don’t understand,”Faelan said.
“I hadthe Book of Battles with me in the time vault.”