Highland Destiny

by Hunsaker, Laura

  How can I do that to her? She is set to return to her own time on Samhain, but how can I let her go? How can I tear my own heart out?"

  Connor's beseeching look stunned Liam for a second, but he spoke quickly, and softly, not wanting to antagonize Connor.

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  "Connor, I ken ye are partial to the lass, but what ye speak of, well, it isna possible." He'd said it gently, but Connor's anger was evident.

  "I'm no' daft, Liam. I'm no liar, and ye ken I'm no' gullible, that I have to believe what I've seen and heard wi' me own eyes and ears."

  "But Connor, ye believe that you're married to a lass from the future?" Liam protested.

  "Aye, Liam, I ken how it sounds, but I have proof." And Connor smugly produced Mackenzie's digital camera from his plaid with a flourish. "Here, Liam. Look." Connor snapped his picture and turned it so Liam could see himself and examine the device.

  "By all that is holy, what is this?" Liam hissed from between stiff lips. He made no move to take the camera.

  "A digital camera. I'm no' sure what that means, but it captures your likeness and displays it. Here, look. These are—

  -what did she call them?—-oh, pictures from her time."

  Connor hit Review and scrolled through the pictures until he found what he was looking for. "This is our castle," he paused, "218 years from now."

  Liam's face had turned white, then red. It settled on a more normal hue as he asked, "What is that? " He was indicating the new wing added on to the original keep.

  "An expansion. Mackenzie says that our home will be a lodging for travelers one day, an inn of sorts. It is still owned by MacRaes in her time. The current laird still lives there with his family."

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  "And we know that this is not some of the black magic practiced by the Campbell to have you believe her?"

  "I trust her, Liam."

  "I ken ye fancy yourself in love wi' her, Connor, but how can ye be so sure?" he pressed.

  Connor glared at his brother. "I said I trust her, Liam.

  Implicitly." His tone brooked no argument, and Liam knew his brother well enough to see that he felt she was true.

  Liam slowly shook his head from side to side in amazement and annoyance. Connor found another picture, this one was of Mackenzie and some other girl, and showed his brother the screen with a smile. "Look at how the women dress. Is it no' shameful?"

  Liam took in the sheer tank tops and jeans with wide, bugging eyes. "I can see her breasts! Connor, what are they wearing?"

  Connor shook his head ruefully and said, "I haven't figured that out yet. Here look at this."

  It was a picture of Mackenzie and Jenna when they had landed in the airport. Mackenzie was wearing sunglasses, khaki capris, and a pink twinset, while Jenna wore a blue spaghetti strap sundress, and both girls looked extraordinarily happy. They were posed next to a lit billboard advertising the castle they'd be staying in...Connor's castle.

  "What...is...that?" Liam choked out. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the impossibility of Connor's words.

  "I've no idea." Connor almost laughed.

  Liam scrolled through the hundred or so pictures until he got back to his own. Then he went through them a second 271

  time. He slowly released his breath and eyed Connor over the camera.

  "Well," his tone was brusque, businesslike, "What shall we do about the Campbell? It's clear he canna have his hands on this." He held up the digital camera. " 'Tis more power than I'd care to see him possess."

  "Agreed. I think I've an idea, but I'll be needin' your help, brother."

  "Anything, Connor. Whatever ye need."

  Connor smiled and said, "As you know, I've a man inside the Campbell's keep, a stable hand. He's been gathering what information he can and feeding lies to his men. I've sent a letter to the Campbell's sorcerers to see if they have any news for me. My plan hangs on that, on them and their help."

  "I doona like not knowing part of our plan, or being dependent on those wizards." Liam spat the word, clearly not trusting them.

  "Neither do I," soothed Connor, "but what choice have I?

  We need to know what they know. Mayhap then I can understand what it is I feel as if I am missing. I feel as if there is an obvious solution in front of my nose and I canna see it."

  Liam's eyes took on a scheming glint in them and he leaned in toward Connor. "Mayhap there's another way. A back-up plan, so to speak." At the light in his eyes, Connor was intrigued. He leaned closer while Liam described the forming of a plan.

  * * * *

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  273

  Chapter Twenty Five

  The early morning light was coming in the window and it was bright enough to wake Mackenzie. She yawned and stretched luxuriously in bed. It was pure decadence sleeping naked. Connor had been very attentive the night before. He'd woken her several times during the night, each time in a new and exciting way. A small smile curved her lips upward as she remembered some of the ways. She was enjoying married life, that was for sure.

  Married. Sheesh. And to a Scottish lord, laird, she corrected herself, from the 1700s. Mackenzie smiled at the sheer impossibility of it all. What would she tell her friends?

  She thought of Jenna, and how she would react to Connor.

  Mackenzie almost laughed out loud. Jenna would flip! Her smile turned down very quickly into a frown, and she wondered if she would ever see Jenna again. Would she ever be able to tell her about the hunk of a man she'd met and married in the year 1792? Would she even get the chance?

  Would she see her again at all? Mackenzie got out of bed slowly and grabbed her shift. Pulling it over her head, she thought of the life waiting for her in the twenty-first century.

  It seemed so distant, so far away, as if it were becoming less and less real to her. She shook her head quickly as if to shake away the realization that the fantasy had become more real than the reality. A short, hysterical laugh slipped from between her lips.

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  Focusing on the here and now had saved her sanity, but it had also put her in a form of denial. She thought about her

  "real" life as little as possible. But now, she wondered if she would want to return? She'd been guaranteed safe passage back by Morvern and Gregor, no matter what happened, but she didn't have the amulet anymore, and she didn't have their help anymore. She was alone. They were gone, and she was alone in 1792 Scotland. Well, she mused, not completely alone. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be stuck here in the eighteenth century. She could be with Connor; she was happy enough. But was he happy enough with her?

  She hoped so. Mackenzie sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. And caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The shift was getting a little tight around her belly and breasts.

  Maybe she'd gained a few pounds with the diet of cheese and bread and meat? She'd have to start jogging or something.

  Mackenzie sighed again and unwillingly turned her thoughts back to her "real" life. She didn't know if Connor would want to keep her around for longer than Halloween. Hopefully, but she really wasn't sure, though. In fact she wasn't sure about much these days. She knew she loved Connor, and she knew he wanted her. She knew it wouldn't be enough for forever, but they might not have forever, so, in the here and now she fought so hard to keep herself in, it was enough. But she also needed to think farther ahead, look at the timeline. She mentally tabulated how much time had passed; almost two weeks...that only left a little over two weeks to save everyone from John Campbell's far reaching dark purposes. The two sorcerers had given her a lot of information in a short amount 275

  of time, and all the while she had been in complete disbelief that she was even awake, so now she tried to remember what it was that she was here to do, exactly. She desperately cast about her mind in a furtive attempt to remember the last thing that felt real, tangible, before being dragged across time.

  She remembered Jenna's excitement at t
he first glimpse of the castle. She remembered the night before; the two had ordered room service and watched Scottish films in honor of their trip. After that, Jenna had gotten the tour schedule for the next day, and Mackenzie had arranged their ferry to the neighboring Isle of Skye. Then they had both gone to bed.

  The next morning and the tour, that's where it got fuzzy.

  Mackenzie remembered the first time she'd seen Connor, or rather his painting. She never heard one word the tour guide had said about him. Then she'd gone to fetch her sketch pad and a charcoal pencil. Mackenzie vaguely remembered time passing. The only real thing was hearing her name from a foreign voice. And that's where the story twisted and turned until it was unrecognizable.

  Following Morvern and Gregor into the secret passageway was both the scariest and the best thing to ever happen to her. She had thought them hotel employees...how on earth had she thought that? It was so obvious that they were out of place, even in the Medieval Castle, they didn't quite fit in.

  She'd felt anxious and nervous, but they'd seemed innocent enough, until she'd been dragged into the tunnel and then poof! She had been transported across time! And coming full circle, her thoughts brought her to the reason for being here, 276

  to stop John Campbell, and the pleasant feelings from the night before were lost in the new overwhelming fear that assailed her nervous system. Mackenzie was scared.

  She was scared of what fate had planned for her and these unknown people she was here to help. How could she be the one to do this? And what exactly was it that she could do?

  She felt like she was in a movie where she had to save the world, but without anyone to guide her through this crazy mission, or whatever she was on. Hmm...no, more like a bad horror movie where the heroine gets herself killed doing something stupid and predictable, like not turning all the lights on while the audience is screaming at her the whole time. Mackenzie thought that there was something obvious that she was missing; the missing piece from her dreams.

  Then it hit her; and she knew. In that instant, Mackenzie understood her recurring non-nightmare—-the one she'd been having since she was an adolescent. She was going to be killed. Despite that Morvern and Gregor had assured her safety, and in spite of her love for Connor, or maybe because of it? She knew she had to find her way to the Campbell's keep, and that her death would somehow stop all of the violence that he was planning.

  Fate had brought her here, and she was uniformed and alone. She was going to get herself killed. Hopefully she could at least keep Connor out of all this. This evil fate was meant for her, not him. If it was a horrible, painful, awful death she was heading to, then that was her business. She knew he would never let her go alone, but she had to find a way to leave, and she had to be strong enough to leave him. She 277

  also needed to find out what Morvern and Gregor had found out, if anything. That was a surprising thought. What if they hadn't made any progress whatsoever? What would she do then? Maybe she could stay here after all? Ah, but that thought begged the question if Connor even wanted her to stay. She needed a plan. And maybe some help.

  From all that she had heard, the Campbell was a power-hungry man who used any and all means at his disposal to gain that power and to get what he wanted. Right now, he wanted Mackenzie. Well she would see that he got her. He wanted to use her as a sacrifice? Fine, but she would ensure that it was only she who would be sacrificed, and no one else could get hurt because of her. Perhaps if she was killed before Halloween? Would that mess up his spell? No one to sacrifice, no spell? Hmm...no she didn't believe that. She needed to live beyond Halloween, ensure that he couldn't do anything in retaliation to Connor. Well, she wasn't a virgin anymore.

  Weren't sacrifices supposed to be virgins? Mackenzie groaned aloud at the overwhelming frustration that was growing inside. She was sick of being a damsel in distress. It was time she did something about it. Slowly, a couple of rough plans started to form in her ever-busy head.

  There had to be a way to escape Connor. Now that he trusted her, she could take her horse and try to find her own way. And she was sure that there had to be someone here who would want her gone; who would want the danger she presented taken care of. She needed to find a way to the Campbell's lands, and then she would take her horse and leave Connor. She refused to let him know what she was 278

  doing; he was too proud to let a woman fight what he considered "his" fight. What Connor didn't know was that this was Mackenzie's fight, and it always had been. The rightness of that sentiment rang true throughout her body. She felt that maybe this had been her destiny all along; to sacrifice herself for the good of others. And maybe her reward was Connor?

  She would take it. But first, she needed time, of which there was not enough. And she had to remember all of the Stewart history her grandmother had told her in the form of bedtime stories as a child.

  They all had begun with a hero who loved his fair maiden, but none of them ended happily. Real fairy tales didn't always have a happily ever after, isn't that what Granny had always said? Pinching the bridge of her nose, Mackenzie tried to remember. She could almost hear Granny's voice.

  In a time before history was written, there was a braw and bonny lad who loved his clan above all. This was the clan Stewart. His father was laird, and one day he would follow his father's path. His father allied many of the warring clans into a time of peace. One of the alliances was to be his son, and their most bloodthirsty enemy. Through marriage to their enemy's daughter, their clan would finally broker the peace the Highlands so desperately needed. And ever dutiful, the son agreed. But one day, whilst out surveying his lands, he met a lass who turned his heart. Och, she was fair indeed, and the laird's son met her each day. And each day he fell ever more in love with her, until finally, the dutiful son refused his duty. His lover had convinced him to run away with her. The father of his betrothed was more than angry, he 279

  was furious. In retaliation for the slight, he began the most bloody feud the clans had ever seen. His daughter's honor, therefore his honor, was tarnished But what the Stewart's son had never kenned, was that their rival clan never had any intentions of allowing their laird's only daughter to marry a Stewart. He had paid the woman handsomely to seduce the laird's son away from his duty. And with a feud on his hands, the Stewart never had the chance to find his son until it was too late. The lass had led his son directly to their enemy, and to his death. The Stewart was gifted his son's head on a pike. 'Tis said the Stewart went mad, slaughtering his enemy in his grief, but earning a curse from the rival clans. The curse has been lost to us by now, but don't take them lightly, for curses are all too real. One day, you'll ken what I mean What is it about the Scots and curses? Mackenzie wondered idly. The place seemed to abound with them. And what had Granny Stewart meant by one day Mackenzie would see what she meant?

  Her thoughts were interrupted as Connor strode through the door with a large plate of fresh brown bread, cheese, and coffee.

  "Good morning, Lady MacRae."

  His grin was so endearing Mackenzie had to swallow before she could smile in return. Her heart still hurt from the thoughts of impending doom that she was bringing down on his family. The Campbell hadn't tried to do anything in a while, and that new worry put a crease between her brows.

  And with all these awful thoughts of her death and the death 280

  of his people, here he walks in with an impish grin on his face, as if it doesn't bother him at all that she'll be the reason for his death. She was sure if he followed after her, that her other nightmare would come true. Connor would die.

  But she smiled back, not without effort, and she prayed her eyes didn't give away her sudden fear and hopelessness.

  Mackenzie prayed that the hole threatening to open inside her heart stayed closed until she was alone and then she could fall to pieces in private. And she prayed that Connor would understand and maybe one day he could forgive her.

  But first, she was going to savor the little time they did have
together. And hopefully he wouldn't taste the desperation in her kisses and on her tongue.

  Connor set the plate on the bed, behind her and sat down next to her.

  "Is everything well? You look as if you're worrying."

  Connor lightly smoothed the worry from her brow with one long finger.

  Mackenzie sighed and closed her eyes, letting Connor push her anxiety away with his touch. As her lids drifted closed, a tiny smile played around the edges of her lips.

  "That feels so..." she sighed again, "sweet."

  His lips replaced his finger and Mackenzie could feel his breath against her face. Her head was spinning before Connor's lips found hers.

  This time, their lovemaking had a frantic edge, at least on Mackenzie's side it did. She felt like she couldn't get enough of Connor, and she was certain that their time was short.

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  When at last they lay in a tangle of limbs on the bed, Mackenzie listened to Connor's heartbeat slow. Her head was on his chest, her hair splayed out around them. He was running his fingers through her curls, watching the sun glint off them and the question he asked her shouldn't have caught her off guard, yet it did.

  "Mackenzie?" He paused and waited for a response.

  "Hmm?" she murmured softly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

  "What is it you aren't telling me? What are you hiding?"

  Her shocked eyes flew to his. She thought she'd hidden her desperation better.

  "Nothing?" It sounded like a question. Ugh, she was a terrible liar.

  "Mackenzie," he stopped whatever chastisement he had planned and instead softened his tone and said, "I trust you, Mackenzie, and if you for some reason canna tell me, then I'll accept your judgment."

  Mackenzie was stunned. Speechless. Wow. Her mouth opened to say something, but no words came out so she closed it. Connor laughed softly at her stunned expression.