Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) (30 page)

“Aye, and I have the key, so you willna be there long,” and he closed the door.

As soon as Faolan closed the door, Elena was faced with a complete wall of stone. No sign of the giant oak door remained. She ran her hand over the surface and though she could detect a slight warmth where she knew the door to be, no amount of pressure from her hands caused the door to be revealed, let alone open. Faolan opened the door from the other side and looked a question.

“Not a sign of the door once you closed it. Let me try,” Elena said. They swapped places, and she closed the door on Faolan.

Less than a minute later, Faolan opened it from the outside. “The door never disappeared for me, lass. I could see it the whole time.”

“It must be a legacy spell from your father, Faolan! It probably only appears for members of your family. I must have been able to see it the other day because I was with you.”

Faolan looked at her for a long moment before answering slowly, “Aye, lass, ‘tis what I think as well. Worthington knew a lot about my family and their…gifts. Likely, more that I myself knew. His ancestors always thought they would find treasures and Druid spells on this farm. ‘Tis why his family stole it, why my father was killed.”

“Worthington must have thought he found the secret chamber when he found the cell, and been upset when it was empty,” Elena said. “Let’s go look in the other room.”

“Are you sure, lass?”

“Aye.” She smiled.

It was hard to go into the chamber where she’d spent so much time trapped and alone. Faolan propped the door open and kept his eyes on her. She looked around the room with interest, seeing it through fresh eyes. She’d lost a lot of hours in here, but she was also changed. For the better.

She was sure the women she saw in her vision had somehow been much more than a dream. They had kept her safe and gifted her with the ability to project. She looked around the room for signs the women had been corporeal.

Faolan showed her the two chairs that had been pushed together, “Tis where I found you asleep, lass.”

Elena showed him the marks on the door where she’d scraped it with the dagger. In the glow of the strong flashlight, and in full possession of her wits, she could see her attempt at removing the metal doorplate had been feeble. She looked up at Faolan to find him watching her, giving her whatever space she needed to process what had happened.

“Thank you, Faolan,” she said, tears making her throat tight.

He answered by sweeping her up into a hug so tight it took her breath away. His lips were on her hair, and she felt him shudder. When she looked up, she saw the raw fear on his face at the idea of losing her.

With her hands on either side of Faolan’s face, Elena filled them both with the healing light gifted to her by the sisterhood. They stood that way for several minutes: Faolan holding her while she held his face, looking deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Elena, I doona’ know what I would do without you.” Then he smiled, taking some of the edge off the words. “Your life has been a right
fankle since you met me,”

“It has been our destiny, Faolan,” Elena answered him, smiling as well. “Let’s see what we can find, what your father left for you.”

They spent the next several hours, as if in their own private museum, examining the books and treasures throughout the chamber and its rooms. They decided to leave everything as it was, still in the chamber where it was safe, until they could make other arrangements. The Worthingtons hadn’t been able to find it for hundreds of years, and they both believed it was still the safest place to leave the treasures they’d discovered.

When they returned to the house, they called Red on his cell phone and asked him to get a small copy machine while he was purchasing supplies. It would be far easier to take copies of the pages they wanted, rather than entire books. Faolan and Red spoke a bit longer about arrangements, while Elena busied herself in the kitchen. Business taken care of, they ate lunch and then napped recreationally.

Faolan was especially tender, touching Elena with reverence, as though she was the most precious gift he could ever receive. He kissed her slowly and tenderly, touching her face, stroking her hair. As he kissed her, he murmured her name, then spoke in Gaelic, before translating them to English. He spoke of love and how she was now his life. It was exquisitely gentle, with an undercurrent of desperation borne from the thought of almost losing her.

Elena’s throat grew tight. His gentleness was bringing fresh tears to her eyes. Suddenly, gentle was not enough. She needed to know she was alive, needed to affirm that they had survived much, and were still here, to live, to love another day.

Elena pushed Faolan back and straddled his chest. She pulled her sweater off and reached to pull Faolan’s off as well. He seemed to catch her fever, and then they were both ripping off their clothes in a frenzy to be naked, to touch as much of each other as possible. They wrestled for the dominant position, each rolling from the other after only a few minutes on the bottom.

Their kisses bruised, teeth bumped, their desire entwined with the relief of survivors, creating a volatile cocktail. They would both walk away sore from this one.

****

By the time Red and Lilly finally returned, Elena and Faolan had scoured the books they brought up from the chamber and marked many pages for copying. They wanted to get the copies made and then put the books back in the chamber, as soon as possible.

After unpacking the truck, they all returned to library and pinned the marine charts Red purchased to the wall. They each had different references and whenever anyone came across a likely island, a colored pin would mark the spot.

Unable to read another word, Elena leaned back and rubbed her eyes. “I wonder what Worthington did with the mirror,” she asked no one in particular.

All activity in the room stopped, and everyone looked at her. Then Red and Faolan rose as one and ran out to look in Worthington’s Land Rover. To no one’s surprise and everyone’s disappointment, it wasn’t there.

“Show me where you had it hidden, lass,” Faolan asked.

They all traipsed to the bedroom where the state of the bed testified to their afternoon activities. Elena pressed her hand to the stone, and it swung open to reveal the hidden cubbyhole. Nestled inside, just as she’d left it, was the mirror!

Everyone stared at the mirror, and the fear for what it could mean for all of them permeated the room. Elena remembered their previous conversation, when she’d asked Faolan what would happen once he got his true heart, the spell, and the mirror. Would he grow old and die in front of her?
Oh God, not now, please, not now.
The curse was already lifted, wasn’t it? Nothing else would change when Faolan held the mirror. It couldn’t. Surely now that the moon didn’t change them, it meant the curse was completely over.

“Elena, you pick it up.”
The tension was evident in Faolan’s voice.

Elena looked at Faolan, and she knew what he was thinking. She took a deep breath but before she reached out to pick the mirror up, a phrase entered her mind and gentled her fear of losing Faolan. Elena projected the memory to everyone in the room.

“Reflect…you will see and you will be seen. Then without hesitation, you must follow the path of learning, ‘tis important to our world.” They all looked at each other with hope-filled eyes. Red and Lilly held hands, and Elena was reminded they were victims of the curse as well. Reflect had to mean the mirror, the mirror would tell them something, not cause the curse to kill them.

“We will not lose each other,” Elena said firmly. She picked up the mirror and looked at her reflection, and as before, she saw Faolan’s face in place of her own, but nothing more.

Elena took Faolan’s hand and said, “We must do this together, I know we must. They looked in each other’s eyes, memorizing, loving, then he reached for the mirror, closed his big hand over her small one, and together they looked. The reflection of Faolan in the mirror was joined by another: Elena’s.

As they watched, the scene changed, and an old man’s face appeared in a swirling mist.
She had a moment to wonder about how her life had changed. Once, she would have considered magick mirrors just another of her Grandda’s fanciful stories. Now Elena trusted in the image, knew instantly that he was the one they were supposed to find, the one who would teach them.

The man in the mirror spoke, “Faolan of the Gailtry, it is time for you to come home. Bring your light. Care for her well on the journey, she is with child. The mirror will guide your way. Do not tarry, the time is nigh. Others will follow. You must be first.

“Red and Lilly, you have discharged your duties well and faithfully. The order thanks you for your service. You are released from your vows, and are rewarded richly.” Then the mirror faded to a plain silver finish once again.

Everyone spoke at once. Red said, “Your boat is moored at a small fishing village on the coast. I will get you a map. ‘Tis already prepared for your journey.”

Elena said, “We need to pack right now. I’ll get the list we made earlier.”

Lilly said, “I’ll gather food for you to take in the car. The boat has supplies, as well.”

Faolan shouted, “You’re pregnant?”

Okay, that one shut everybody else up.

Faolan picked Elena up around the waist and danced her around the room, yelling, “I am going to be a father. My beautiful wife is pregnant!” Elena was laughing and crying and filled with joy.

Red and Lilly were grinning like the proud grandparents they would be to the child. Elena reminded everyone that she could hardly be confirmed as pregnant after only a few days. “By the way,” she added as an aside to Faolan, “I am not your wife!” She could see the desire in his eyes. He wanted the old man to be right.

“Put me down, you big buffoon.” Elena slapped playfully at Faolan’s chest.

“I’ll make you my wife first thing on the morrow if you will be having me, Elena.
Now, a boon for a boon. If you want down, you must kiss me first.”

The things I must do.

Once they’d recovered from the big news that Elena might be pregnant and the bigger news that none of them was going to be swept back in time or die suddenly, it was time to get ready. It didn’t seem to make sense to put off leaving even for one extra day. They might get a head start by driving at night, if someone was still watching them.

Red left to run the farm while everyone else packed. When
he returned, he told Faolan no one was about. So as long as there was not a bug on the car, they could leave without being followed.

Faolan and Elena decided not to bring the spell book; it was safer back in the underground chamber than on a boat. They did want a few of the other books with them, and it made sense to bring the mirror. They would know soon enough if it
was spelled to stay at the farm. They packed warm clothes, hats, gloves, and plenty of sweaters. Faolan said it would be cold on an island off the coast, and Elena believed him. She was from Phoenix, and so far, everything about Scotland was cold. Except for Faolan, she thought with a smile.

While the others finished loading, Elena stood looking out the library window, thinking how sad she was to be leaving, even if only for a while. She had grown to love the farm. It was difficult to believe how much and how quickly her life had changed.
Marty and Phoenix were so far behind her now that she couldn’t even remember why she’d thought she’d wanted to marry him in the first place.

She’d felt unloved and unlovable when she’d arrived, and had reconciled herself to a life of living alone. She certainly hadn’t believed in nonsense like magick, Druids, or visions. She believed in Elena, in what she could do with her own mind and her will to survive. Her plan had been to live here at the farm for two years before returning to Phoenix to start her own law firm. Now Scotland was in her blood, it lived in her.

Elena put her hands to her flat stomach, wondering if it could be true. Was she really going to have Faolan’s baby? Technically, it would still be in the cell dividing stage. How could the old man know? Still, she thought it must be true, not because of anything she knew, but because the old man in the mirror said so.

The island, the wren, the message.
Faolan had seen the same vision. Whatever it is we’re facing, we must face it together. Worthington terrifies me. He covets Faolan’s power. He definitely knows who Faolan is, he kept calling him “Wolf” when he held us captive. What would Worthington do if he knew I was pregnant with a MacGailtry? She shivered as a wave of fear passed over her.

****

Faolan entered the room behind Elena and stood watching her. She was so beautiful, he thought. He smiled as he watched her cradle her stomach, he knew she was thinking of their child. God, how he hoped the old man was right, but if he wasn’t right yet, he would be soon.

He marveled that after more than three hundred years, he was free of the curse, and Elena was the one responsible for freeing him. He knew he was only just beginning to sense his own power, but what of her power?

When Faolan had first heard Worthington was selling her the farm, he’d been sure it was a ruse to place a spy. To see if there was still a MacGailtry somewhere. He’d followed Elena, and when he thought of the look on her face as she watched him from across the airport, it made him smile. It was clear she thought him an arrogant bastard.