EPILOGUE
New York City
A few days later
“WHY THE URGE to suddenly go back to the exhibit on An Tùir-Tara?” Sam asked, feeling a bit cross and restless. But she was jet-lagged from the two-day trip to Scotland, and Nick had laid into her when she’d gone to work that morning.
No more personal anything, he’d ordered. Who the hell did he think he was?
And he damn well hadn’t been reading her mind, because then he’d know that there hadn’t been anything personal going on with Ian Maclean. And there never would be.
“Because I came across a reference to An Tùir-Tara when I was going over my file before closing it,” Kit said, hurrying up the stairs. They were at the Met, and because it was so close to closing, it wasn’t very crowded. “It was bothersome. A usually good historian got some dates wrong.”
Sam didn’t care. Nick had told her that Tabby was fine and at Blayde in 1298—and apparently, head over heels in love with her medieval Highlander.
Hadn’t Sam predicted that? But he didn’t think she could have survived An Tùir-Tara.
He’d been there, he’d said, and it had been an inferno.
The good news was that he was certain Criosaidh hadn’t made it out alive, either.
Sam refused to believe that Tabby would go back in time to the thirteenth century, find a nearly immortal soul mate with superpowers, and then die while battling evil a few centuries later.
She still disliked Macleod for taking Tabby away from her, but she knew he’d move mountains—and Fate—to keep Tabby alive until she died from really old age.
By now, Tabby probably knew that the Rose women kept a lot of secrets.
Sam still missed her, enough that it hurt.
Kit’s rapid steps finally slowed. Her gaze was soft, sad. “Hey. I know what it’s like to lose your best friend ever.”
Sam tensed. “Tabby’s where she’s meant to be.” Then she felt like a total heel. “Hey, I’m sorry.” Kit never talked about her dead twin sister, but everyone knew about Kelly.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. You and Tabby were as close as sisters can be. I get it. It hurts that she’s gone, even if it’s her Destiny. And it will take a long, long time to adjust.”
Sam felt like pointing out that Kit had never adjusted to her loss, and her sister had been murdered when they were eighteen—almost ten years earlier.
“Oh, and I forgot,” Kit said. “Nick thinks Maclean is bad news.”
“Wow,” Sam mocked, trying not to spit in anger as she thought of Ian, “for once we are in absolute agreement on something!”
“I guess he pissed you off,” Kit muttered, and she hurried ahead of Sam to the big glass case displaying the Wisdom of the Celts exhibit. “Sam!”
Sam hurried over, and instantly, she understood why Kit was shocked. Because winking at them from the inside of the case was the gold palm amulet, with its bright moonstone center.
“What does that mean?” Kit gasped. “Macleod stole it a few days ago!”
Sam elbowed past her, not meaning to be rude.
Even the facts had changed. “Listen to this,” she said hoarsely.
“On June first, 1550, a terrible fire destroyed the central tower of Melvaig Castle. While most historians cannot agree on the cause of the fire, the most common hypothesis is that the fire was a result of the kind of treachery so often seen in the ongoing clan war between the MacDougalls of Skye and the Macleods of Loch Gairloch. But that bloody feud ended with the demise of the Lady of Melvaig, a victim of the fires. To this day, locals claim that An Tùir-Tara was the last battle in a great war of two Highland witches.” Sam reeled in shock as she spoke.
“That’s the date I found in my files, and I thought I’d missed it the first go-round!” Kit exclaimed. “Sam, the facts—the date of An Tùir-Tara, even the text—have changed! And the amulet is back!”
“You didn’t miss it and it wasn’t a mistake,” Sam whispered, staring at the pendant. It glowed magically now. “History has changed.”
Kit was silent, but only for a moment. “Okay, so what on earth does it mean?”
Sam began to smile. “It means Tabby was meant to lose the pendant at An Tùir-Tara, and apparently, she did.”
“Sam?”
“It means she got a bit impatient to do battle, don’t you think?” Sam turned to Kit and uncharacteristically put her hand on her shoulder. “It means Tabby won.” Then she sighed, groaning inwardly. “And it means she’s living happily ever after with Macleod.”
The two women exchanged glances, smiled, and Kit said, “Pizza?”
“Why not?” But as they left, Sam looked back at the glowing pendant and silently cheered for her sister and her soul mate.
The moonstone kept winking.