Chapter Twenty-Four #3
“Elise,” he said placing his hands on her shoulders. “Are ye all right? Please tell me he didnae hurt ye!”
Elise nodded and threw herself into his arms, clinging to him as though he were the only solid thing left in the world.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his shoulder. “I didn’t—I never meant—”
“I know,” he murmured fiercely, holding her tight. “I know.”
She closed her eyes, anchoring herself to the sound of his heartbeat, the warmth of his body. Dimly she heard him give instructions to Bryn and Martin, telling them to signal the other ships to get Isles warriors aboard before Ewan Bruce and the rest of the king’s warriors came around.
But Elise barely heard the words. She buried her head in Jamie’s shoulder, squeezed her arms tight around him, and just breathed. He was alive. He was unharmed. And he was here. Right now, in this moment, that was all that mattered.
Slowly, he eased his grip and pushed her to arm’s length. His eyes roved over her as though checking she was whole, then he raised one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it.
“Thank all the gods ye are safe,” he breathed. “I couldnae bear it if anything happened to ye, Elise. It would be the end of me.”
She pressed her forehead against his, their breaths mingling. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“Always,” he whispered. “Always.”
The ship beneath them suddenly lurched and Elise looked around to see a large war galley had pulled alongside. Men were pouring onto the deck, tying up the downed king’s men and securing the ship. Roger Beaufort, Jamie’s captain, came stomping over.
“They’re surrendering,” he said, nodding to the king’s fleet around them. “Seems they don’t have much appetite for the fight anymore.”
Jamie nodded and Roger walked off, bellowing orders.
“Is…is it over?” Elise asked in a whisper.
“Aye, lass,” he replied. “It’s over.”
“And ye have completed the task I brought ye here for,” said a voice.
Elise looked around in surprise. With a jolt, she realized that everything around them had somehow…stopped. The people on deck had frozen mid-action and now stood still as statues.
“What in God’s name is going on?” Jamie growled.
“I would have thought that was obvious,” said the voice.
They turned, Jamie’s hand automatically going to the hilt of his dagger, to find a tall woman standing behind them, her long wet hair slicked to the sides of her face and her silver eyes fixed on them with something like amusement.
“Lir?” Elise cried.
A faint smile curled the goddess’s lips. “Were ye expecting somebody else?”
Jamie snaked to his feet, pulling Elise up after him. “What by all that’s holy are ye doing here?”
“Like I said, I would have thought that was obvious,” she replied.
Her voice had a musical quality to it, like the notes of a harp echoing through an underwater cave.
“Ye have fulfilled yer end of the bargain—ye have safeguarded my realm from powers that would tear it asunder. Now I have come to fulfil my obligations.” Her strange gaze fell on Elise. “I have come to take ye home.”
Elise blinked. “Home?”
“Aye. The place with indoor plumbing and coffee shops, remember? If ye are ready, we could leave right now.” She held out a pale, slender hand.
Elise stared stupidly at it. Go home? Just like that?
“I…I…”
Jamie was staring at her, jaw clenched, a look in his eyes that nearly tore her in half. “Lass,” he began. “Elise, please—”
“Nay,” Lir said, raising a hand and cutting Jamie off. “Dinna interfere. This must be her choice.”
“Choice?” Elise echoed. “You mean, I could stay?”
Lir nodded. “If that is yer wish.”
Her eyes found Jamie’s and she felt her heart swell with everything she felt for him. She loved him more than she thought it was possible to love anyone. How could she leave him?
But then a darker, more insidious thought crept into the back of her mind.
How could she stay?
She’d almost destroyed them all. She’d lost control, been consumed by her power, and had come close to hurting those she held most dear in all the world.
She’d always been a liability, always struggled to control her power.
Now, it was worse. Much worse. So how could she stay?
How could she put Jamie, Rose, Jenna, Cat, Bryn, Martin, and everyone else she cared about at risk?
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to meet Jamie’s imploring gaze.
“I have to go,” she whispered, the words feeling like shards of glass slicing her throat.
“You saw what I did. What I almost became. I can’t risk hurting you or anyone else I care for.
I won’t. I’d rather spend my life alone in the twenty-first century than do that. ”
“Elise, no,” Jamie breathed.
“Dinna interfere,” Lir repeated. “It is her choice.”
“I dinna give two shits!” Jamie snarled, rounding on the goddess. “I willnae be silent while the love of my life walks away from me! So either make me shut up or be silent, damn it!”
Lir regarded him for a moment. Then she inclined her head. “As ye wish it.” She moved off a few paces, giving them some space.
Jamie laid his hands on Elise’s shoulders. “Elise, listen to me. What happened wasnae yer fault. Ye had no choice. Phillip twisted everything. He made ye see what he wanted ye to see, tried to turn ye into something ye are not.”
Elise shook her head, denying his words. “It doesn’t matter. The power was still mine. What happens if I lose control again? What happens if I end up hurting you? I couldn’t bear it, Jamie. I just couldn’t.”
His fingers dug into her shoulders until it was almost painful. “Ye willnae hurt me, Elise. Ye willnae hurt anyone.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I know ye. I know ye to yer soul. And if ye dinna believe me, think back to what happened here, what ye really did. Forget Phillip’s manipulations, forget the threats he used to coerce ye.
What did ye do when ye saw the truth? How did ye use yer powers then, when ye were free to make the choice?
Think, Elise. I trust ye. Now ye just need to trust yerself. ”
Elise’s heart began thumping against her ribs as memories of the battle flooded her mind.
She didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to remember.
But she couldn’t help it. She saw herself standing in the prow of the ship like some vengeful goddess, hurling waves of force at her enemies.
She remembered that awful, beautiful feeling of power as it stole through her, so sweet and seductive she’d barely been able to resist.
I trust ye. Now ye just need to trust yerself.
Then she remembered something else. She remembered fighting to save Andrea in Dun Arach.
Weaving spells to protect Bryn and Martin.
And then finally, finally, when all had been revealed and she saw the truth of Phillip’s deceptions, she saw the shields she’d woven around each ship. Protecting. Defending.
Finally, she understood what it was to be a War Weaver. It wasn’t about defeating enemies. It wasn’t about making sure one side was victorious over the other. It was about defending those who couldn’t defend themselves. It was about life.
That’s who she was. She wasn’t the monster Phillip MacClelland had tried to make her. She was Elise MacFinnan, and she was a protector.
She turned to look at Jamie. His grip on her shoulders hadn’t lessened, clinging onto her as though she might disappear in a puff of smoke if he let her go.
“Stay,” he whispered. “Please. Stay with me.”
Everything she loved was here. Jamie. Her family. Her friends. Her reasons for breathing, for getting out of bed each morning. And she would fight every moment of every day to protect them.
She smiled. “I knew you were going to be trouble the moment I laid eyes on you at Rose’s wedding,” she said, brushing a thumb over his cheek.
“But I never knew how much. I never knew you’d steal my heart, upend my life, and make me love you so much I’d even give up indoor plumbing and the internet. ”
Jamie’s lips parted and a breath escaped him. “Does that mean—? Are ye saying…are ye saying ye will stay?”
“Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easily!” she laughed. “Of course I’m staying.”
A tremor went right through Jamie’s body. He closed his eyes for a moment, his nostrils flaring as he breathed a breath of relief.
“The decision is made,” Lir said, something like triumph shining in her strange eyes. “I will restart time.”
“Wait!” Elise cried.
The goddess raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Just one more minute,” Elise said, glancing at the frozen tableau around them. “There’s something I need to do before the world comes crashing back in.”
“Oh?” Lir asked. “And what’s that?”
“This.” Elise wrapped her arms around Jamie’s neck and kissed him until her toes curled.