by Donna Grant
“I didn’t finish telling you everything about what happened after I had my daughter.”
By the tone of her voice, he inwardly steeled himself for more bad news. Phelan was having a hard time imagining anyone as wonderful as Aisley suffering so much. “You doona have to say.”
“It’s all right,” she said without looking at him. She drew patterns on his chest with her finger. “I want to. I need to.”
She took a deep breath and said, “There were complications. I don’t remember all of it because of the painkillers they had me on, but it had something to do with my fall and the operation. I can’t have any more children, Phelan. So there’s no reason for me to ask you to wear a condom or to use a spell.”
To have lost her daughter and then learn she couldn’t have any more children. It seemed fate had it in for Aisley. Phelan just couldn’t figure out why.
He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s for the best, I’m sure. These things happen for a reason.”
Her valiant attempt to shrug off what happened made his heart ache. “Magic may be able to fix whatever is wrong.”
“It’s better this way. Trust me.”
Phelan didn’t exactly care for kids. They were noisy, loud, and smelly. But sometime between the last time they’d made love and then, he suddenly found he wanted to see her stomach swell with their child.
What was happening to him? Even more frightening was that he wasn’t concerned about his attitude change.
“Do you think Corann will return in the morning?” she asked.
“Nay. He doesna trust me. I hoped having you here would help.”
“You were wrong.”
“Aye. It appears he’s mistrustful of any Druid no’ part of his clan.”
“It could be more than that.”
Phelan grunted. “No’ likely. I know the type of man Corann is. He’s been in charge a long time. There’s been some history here between Deirdre and these Druids that no one knows about. It’s because of that event that he is so protective.”
“You found the Fairy Pool though.”
He could feel her smile against his chest. “Aye. Corann didna like that at all. That means the Fae wanted me to find it.”
“But why?”
“Good question. Maybe we should go through the waterfall and find out.”
Aisley rolled onto her back, smiling. “I’ll pass, thanks. You go and tell me what it’s like.”
“What?” Phelan rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand. “You’re the adventurous kind, beauty. Why would you pass up such an opportunity?”
She shrugged, but he saw a sliver of dread in her eyes she couldn’t quite hide. “I might not be able to use my magic in their world.”
“Ah.” Now it all made sense. “We wouldna know until we went.”
“Why do you want to go?”
Phelan thought about it a moment and shrugged. “I doona know. It seems as if I’ve always known about the Fairy Pool. I’ve been looking for it since I left Cairn Toul and Deirdre.”
“Four hundred years is a long time to be looking for something.”
“There were times I couldna get to Skye.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Whether it was the weather preventing the ferry, or currents refusing to let me swim, whatever forces were at work kept me away many times.”
“And when you did get here?”
He glanced through the cave entrance to the water. “I’ve walked these exact hills, this exact valley dozens of times and never found anything. I think you brought me luck.”
She sat up and pushed her hair back from her face. Sadness was etched around her eyes, and her lips were pressed into a tight line. “I didn’t bring you luck. Trust me on that.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree,” he said and sat up with her. “Why is it when I try to give you a compliment you knock it down? I thought women liked compliments.”
She smiled wryly. “I want you to remember I’m just a person. I make lots of mistakes that I’ll have to pay for. So don’t go thinking I’m perfect.”
“Pay for?” he repeated. “Beauty, I think you’ve paid a damned steep price. There is nothing else for you to pay for.”
“That’s the stickler, Phelan, because there is.”
He inhaled and slowly released it. “This is what you’ve been trying to tell me.”
“Yes.”
“I doona care, but if it’s that important to you, then tell me after we leave Skye. I doona want your mind on anything other than the pleasure I give you and the wonder of this place.”
Relief pooled in her eyes. “I’d like that.”
“Good. Now how about we eat?”
He was glad when the smile was back in her eyes as she reached for the food to set between them. She might be happy not to have to tell him her secrets, but he was being selfish. He didn’t want her to have to relive more unhappy memories, and he wanted to fill her with good things while he had the chance.
Maybe the time they spent together would erase some of the awful things that had been done to her.
* * *
Aisley wasn’t surprised to find Phelan already up and about when she woke the next morning. She stretched and yawned before she sat up. A smile broke when she saw her clothes neatly folded in a pile near her.
She dressed and combed her fingers through her hair. It was the first time she was thankful she didn’t have a mirror to know how awful she looked.
It was just as she finished pulling her hair into a ponytail that Phelan walked into the cave. “Morning,” she said.
“Morning. Did you sleep well?”
“As if you need to ask. Do you sleep at all?”
“I doona need to, but I did last night.”
She sat and put on her hiking shoes. “No sign of Corann, huh?”
“Nay. We’ve got a hike back to the hotel and with the weather, we might want to leave soon.”
“You mean before I had a chance to talk to you,” came a voice behind them.
Aisley jerked around to find Corann. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet. “What is it with the grand entrances?” she mumbled.
Phelan covered his grin by clearing his throat. “I didna expect you.”
“Obviously,” Corann said. “There was much discussion during the night. The fact the Fae allowed you to find their pool played a heavy part in our decision.”
Aisley asked, “Why did the Fae allow him to find the pool?”
Corann’s black eyes shifted to her. “The Fae allowed both you and Phelan to find the pool. As to why? We doona know, lass. It has been over six hundred years since anyone outside of my clan has seen the pool.”
“Then why do the Fae no’ make an appearance?” Phelan asked.
Aisley hated to admit she was just as curious as he. “Do you see the Fae often?”
“No’ in many years,” Corann said. “But neither of you came here to talk of the Fae.”
Phelan scratched his jaw. “Nay. We came for help with the selmyr. Do you have good news for me?”
“In a manner.”
Aisley didn’t like the way Corann stared at her. He knew she was drough, but it was more than that. It was like he knew what was to come for her in the days ahead.
“Then tell us,” Phelan said, his voice low and menacing.
Corann hesitated a moment before he said, “The only way we could best the selmyr again is if all the Druids in the UK converged here.”
Phelan let out a string of curses, but Aisley wasn’t going to let it go so easily. “There has to be another way. We’re Druids. There are powerful Druids out there.”
“True. Verra true, lass.” Corann ran his hand down the length of his gray beard. “The problem lies in finding the one who can call up the spell.”
“What?” Phelan demanded.
“The spell was created by the magic of a certain family here on Skye. It’s said th
at family line died out generations ago, but there’s been no proof. There could still be one out there who could wield the spell.”
Aisley lowered herself to a rock. “Is the spell that difficult?”
Corann gave a single nod. “It takes the blood of that family in order to call the selmyr. The selmyr have no choice but to come. When they do, they can be trapped.”
“So you just need the blood of that family,” Phelan said. “What’s the name?”
“The name was Hunter, but it’ll be impossible to trace since this was long before names were recorded. But it’s more than that. The Druid who uses the spell has to be strong enough. If not, the selmyr will drag the Druid with them to be feasted on for eternity.”
“Bugger,” Aisley whispered.
Phelan looked at Aisley. “I’ve seen the selmyr drain a Druid in seconds. I’ve been bitten by the bastards. I can no’ just wait around for their next attack.”
“No,” she agreed. “We have to find the Druid.”
Suddenly Phelan smiled. “Broc. He can find anyone, anywhere. Broc can find who we’re looking for.”
“They must have magic,” Corann reminded them.
Aisley stood when Phelan slung his pack onto his shoulder. “And the spell?” she asked Corann. “Will the Druid know the spell?”
“Nay.”
“Of course not,” she said to herself.
Corann smiled. “You’ve spunk, Aisley. That’ll help you in the days ahead.”
She stilled at his words. A glance showed her Phelan was talking to Ravyn. When Aisley looked back at Corann it was to find the elder Druid’s black gaze watching her intently. “What do you know of my future?”
“The same thing you know.”
“Regardless of what you might think of Warriors, there are good ones. Phelan is one of those. So are the ones at MacLeod Castle.”
Corann leaned both hands on his tall walking stick. “You tell me to trust them, but you fear them.”
“You know what I am. You know what they’ll do to me.”
“Hmm,” he said ambiguously. “It’s your fighting spirit that’s kept you alive in the harshest times, Aisley. There is a choice coming to you. Make the right one, lass.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Phelan tried to pretend he didn’t know Corann and Aisley were deep in conversation. By the frown marring Aisley’s forehead he could tell she wasn’t happy with whatever Corann told her.
It wasn’t until he felt Ravyn’s magic billow around them that he knew the Druid was trying to stop him from hearing Corann’s conversation.
“Resorting to magic now, aye?”
Ravyn smiled. “Corann warned me that your hearing was excellent.”
“It is.”
“I had no choice then.”
“You’ve some cheek.”
The Druid’s intense blue eyes sparkled with merriment. “It’s not every day I get to meet a Warrior. I’m curious to see just how much power your god gives you.”
“I could show you, but I’d much rather you tell me why Corann has such an interest in Aisley.”
Ravyn’s smile fell. “Corann fears any kind of alliance between Druids and Warriors.”
“Because of Deirdre?”
“Yes,” Ravyn said and looked away as if struggling to come to terms with something. When she met his gaze again she had obviously resolved whatever concerned her. “I like Aisley, and I know you do as well.”
“Your point?” Ravyn didn’t immediately answer, and it set Phelan on edge. “Do you have a Seer? Has someone seen something of Aisley’s future?”
Ravyn put her hand on his arm. “There is no Seer here. It’s just … the ancients. They told us of Aisley.”
“What else did they tell you about her?” Phelan knew Ravyn to be no more than twenty, but she let the veil fall from around her and he saw there lived a very old soul in the body of a young girl.
“There is evil after her.”
“Wallace,” Phelan said between clenched teeth. “He’s going to hurt her to get to me. It’s what he promised the last time we fought him. Those who fight him are in his way. He’s resorted to all sorts of unspeakable acts to take us out.”
Ravyn licked her lips and stepped closer to him. “If this Wallace is everything you say he is, be careful.”
“You’re telling a Warrior to be careful.”
She rolled her eyes. “Stop teasing. Corann told us all about Deirdre.”
“But do you know all of it? Do you know she was brought forward to your time by another drough? Do you know how we killed her?”
Ravyn slowly shook her head, her eyes bright with interest. “The elders discovered Deirdre’s death through the ancients. The wind told me.”
“How many of you are there?”
She raised a black brow. “You don’t seem surprised that I can speak to the wind.”
“Why should I? I know another Druid who has that ability. She’s at MacLeod Castle. Gwynn is her name.”
“She’s a Windtalker?”
Phelan glanced at Aisley to see her conversation ending with Corann. “She is that. Gwynn thinks she’s the only one. She’ll be happy to know there is another.”
“Do you have a Firewalker or Waterdancer? What about a Bleeder or Healer? Or a Skinwalker, Treewhisperer, or Timebender?”
“Slow down,” he said with a grin. “Do you have such Druids here?”
“Of course.”
He hid a smirk at her derision. “I know of a Healer. I also know a Treewhisperer.”
“What are their names?”
“It’s the same Druid. Sonya has been at MacLeod Castle for four centuries. She’s also married to a Warrior.”
Ravyn’s eyes widened. “Married?”
“All the Druids at the castle are married to Warriors. Why does that bother you?”
“Are the Druids droughs?”
Phelan snorted. “Nay.” Then he thought of Isla. Her story was too complicated, and if he told it he’d have to tell part of his story. It was better if they knew nothing of Isla. Yet.
“That’s good,” Ravyn said.
“Why? What would happen?”
“Do you no’ know the prophecy? A powerful drough will mate with a Warrior and produce a child that holds all the evil of the world.”
“First, lass, that prophecy has come and gone since it involved Deirdre when she tried to get Quinn MacLeod to become hers. Second, the child couldna hold all the evil since there is evil everywhere.”
Aisley walked up then. She looked from Ravyn to Phelan. “What’s going on?”
“I gather Ravyn spoke of the prophecy,” Corann said as he joined them.
Ravyn shrugged and leaned dispassionately against the stone wall. “He asked. I told.”
Phelan heard the enthusiasm in her voice. She was lying to Corann. But why? “And I was telling her we all knew of that prophecy. It involved Deirdre and Quinn MacLeod. Quinn rejected her, of course. Even when Declan Wallace brought Deirdre to this time and our Seer—”
“You have a Seer?” Corann interrupted.
Phelan blew out an exasperated breath. “Saffron. Declan kidnapped her and kept her for his own. She was saved by those at MacLeod Castle, and she saw Deidre heavy with Declan’s child. But we killed Deirdre. The prophecy is no more.”
“Unfortunately you’re wrong,” Ravyn said quietly.
Phelan felt Aisley stiffen beside him. He edged closer to her and asked Ravyn, “What do you mean?”
“The prophecy states that a drough with potent magic will mate with a Warrior and produce the child of the prophecy.”
Corann said, “And now you understand one reason we’re so leery of Warriors.”
“You’ve nothing to worry about,” Phelan said. “There isna a Warrior I know who would dare to sully themselves with a drough. When I see one, I kill it.”
“It,” Aisley said. “A drough is an ‘it’?”
“Aye,” he answered without lookin
g at her. He looked to Corann. “We killed Deirdre and Declan. We’ll kill Jason. We’ll make sure no more gods can be unbound. Then you willna have to worry about your prophecy.”
Corann’s grunt was full of doubt. “How many Warriors are at the castle?”
“They’re married.”
“You’re not,” Ravyn pointed out.
It took great effort for him not to turn to Aisley and claim her right then. Instead, he grinned. “As much as I loathe droughs, you doona have to worry.”
A few words later and Phelan was leading Aisley out of the cave. He didn’t like how Corann looked at him as if he’d be the one to fulfill the prophecy—a prophecy no one at the castle had worried about in years.
Damn. He wanted to leave Skye with good news. Instead he had semi-decent news regarding the selmyr and bad news about the prophecy.
He lifted Aisley in his arms when they reached the steep path up the cliff. She wrapped her arms around him a second before he jumped them to the top.
“That just never gets old,” she said with a wide grin.
“Glad I can be of use.”
“Oh, I’ve plenty of uses for you,” she said with a wink.
He linked hands with her and glanced down at the Fairy Pool. The Fae had allowed him to find the pool once. Would they do it again?
“We can stay longer if you want,” Aisley said.
Phelan shook his head. “There are more important matters to tend to. I’ll be back though.”
“But you’re concerned they won’t let you find the pool again.”
“Aye.”
She rested her head against his arm. “There’s a reason they showed you this time, and I don’t think it has anything to do with the Druids or the selmyr.”
“What then?”
“That I can’t answer. Do you … do you think it might have something to do with your family?”
He jerked his head to her and frowned. “My family? If that was the case, why wouldna they let me find this place the many times I’ve tried to come to Skye?”
“It was just a suggestion. Nothing more,” Aisley hastily said.
Phelan regretted his outburst, but it was always the case when he thought of his family. He was angry at them for not looking for him. More than that, he carried a huge weight of guilt for leaving them and remembering nothing of them.
