All at once, Aegir twisted to one side. He chopped aside Lachlan’s fire just long enough to dive through the torrent and escape. In a fraction of a second, Aegir dove out of the fountain and grabbed Nora.
Lachlan cut off his fire in an instant to avoid hitting her, but Aegir already dragged her back toward the fountain. Lachlan bared his teeth at his enemy, but Aegir only laughed in his face. “If it’s this one you care about, maybe I’ll take her instead.”
Blind fury propelled Lachlan forward. He had no idea how to fight this force of nature, but he didn’t need to know. Only one thing mattered. He had to get Nora away from Aegir. He couldn’t allow Aegir to take Nora down into the water. One human kidnapped for Aegir’s deranged purposes was bad enough.
Lachlan charged Aegir to cut him off from returning to the fountain. If he could hold Aegir back from touching the water, Aegir couldn’t take Nora away. Lachlan launched one foot off the fountain’s edge and made a dive for Aegir. Aegir brought back one massive hand and dealt Lachlan a shattering blow. That hand covered Lachlan’s whole body and hurled him back on the concrete.
Lachlan raised his head to see Aegir dragging Nora over the fountain’s edge. Aegir put one foot into the water. Another second, and it would be all over. Lachlan would never save Nora.
Without getting to his feet, he sat up as well as he could. He put out one hand toward his adversary, and all the power he never knew he had poured down his arm and out the end of his fingers. The water in his blood dissolved his body into a quivering torrent of liquid power. He ceased to be Lachlan McLean and became instead a force of nature to match Aegir.
He streamed through the air on a collision course with the Sea God. In that watery place between one form and another, his mind didn’t function the same way. He was pure flowing liquid, and his power acted on its own volition.
An inch before he touched Aegir, he changed back into a man diving through the air with both fists outstretched. He collided with Aegir’s face, and his momentum carried both men back into the fountain. The impact knocked Nora clear, and she tumbled back onto the pavement.
Lachlan landed on top of Aegir in the fountain’s pool. The water closed over their heads, and Lachlan submerged into the fathomless depths where he knew no more.
Chapter 21
Ivy stood in line with the Highlanders while Arch McLean read a passage from the Bible. Everyone stared down at the mound of fresh dirt on a hill outside the destroyed Tower House.
So it all came to this. Martha lay under that soil. Her family far away didn’t even know she was dead. The same fate awaited everyone on this hill, and they all knew it.
Now, more than ever, Ivy sensed she didn’t belong here. She was the only woman around now that Martha was gone. She couldn’t be one of the guys, even if she did carry weapons.
Her weapons mocked her now. What did she think she would do with them? She couldn’t fight, not the way these men needed her to. She was a liability to them. She couldn’t even cook for them. She didn’t know how.
She knit her fingers in agony. She had to get out of here, but how? She still couldn’t bring herself to broach the subject with Kincaid. Christie or one of the other men would do it for her in a heartbeat if she asked. She didn’t ask, though. She kept putting it off.
She raised her eyes from the grave and found herself looking toward the coast. She faced that spot where Lachlan disappeared. None of this worked out the way she thought it would. She never should have kissed him. She shouldn’t have let herself feel anything for him.
She should have sent him back to his own people. Then she should have used the mirror to travel back to her own home town. That would have been the smart thing to do. She came here for Lachlan, and now he was gone.
Arch finished talking, but Ivy didn’t hear a word he said. What difference did it make in the end? Martha was just as dead. A few words here and there meant nothing in the overall scheme of things. Even burying Martha seemed like asking too much, when Aegir’s forces could come back at any minute and wipe out everyone.
The men dispersed. Kincaid left first, and Arch and Colin followed him. A few others remained behind. Ivy couldn’t look at them. She didn’t want to acknowledge another living being right now. She wanted to die. She wanted to lie down in that grave with Martha and never wake up.
Far out on the beach, the bright surf pounded against the rocks. Ivy’s heart yearned for the day she stood out there with Lachlan. Some bond held them together, but it was all gone now.
A gentle voice woke her from her depression. “Lass.”
“Oh, hello, Christie. Are you going back to the castle for breakfast?”
“We’re no’ staying for breakfast,” Christie replied. “We’re shipping out for Duart. We’re no’ staying in this wreck another day.”
Ivy’s head shot up. “What? You’re leaving?”
“We must,” he replied. “We have no’ the men to defend it, and with the roof gone, it’ll no’ provide any shelter for us anymore. We’re leaving to rejoin our kin up north.”
“Aren’t you worried about drawing Aegir’s wrath to the rest of the Clan?” she asked. “Duart is on the coast, too. If you go there, he’ll only attack that castle and kill more people.”
Christie shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, ye see, lassie, it’s like this. Aegir is after ye, no’ the rest of us. We’ll separate, and the Clan’ll be safe.”
“But that would mean…” Ivy broke off.
“Ye must speak to Kincaid about sending ye home. We cannae take ye with us. You’d endanger the whole Clan, and we cannae put one person’s life above all the others. If Kincaid cannae send ye back, ye must remain behind.”
Ivy’s shoulders slumped. “I understand.”
She understood, all right. If Aegir came for her with no one around to defend her, he would take her back to his kingdom. She would have no choice but to become his Queen.
Ivy stared at Christie. He changed in this war. He was still smaller and slighter than his brothers, with a soft-spoken manner and a gentle way of putting the hardest subjects. How fitting that she should receive the ultimate rejection from him, of all people.
She couldn’t resent him, though. Ever since Lachlan disappeared, Christie started to exert his subtle authority over the Clan. Even Arch, his older brother, sensed it and submitted to it. Ivy never doubted for an instant the decision to dump her came from Christie.
He thought of his Clan, his relatives, and his lands. With Lachlan gone, he had to make the hard decisions, and that meant he had to choose between Ivy and everyone else on the island. When it came down to it, it wasn’t much of a decision at all, was it?
He laid his hand on her arm. His touch made everything okay. The depth of care and concern remained. He wanted what was best for her, the same way he wanted what was best for everyone else. “Ye must go talk to Kincaid.”
He walked away and left her alone with her thoughts. When she looked around a second time, she found herself deserted next to Martha’s grave. What would Martha do in this situation? Martha would never leave the Tower House, no matter the hardship and danger. She would stay until Lachlan returned. Her love for Lachlan survived everything else.
Those rules didn’t make sense for Ivy, though, did they? She couldn’t stay here—definitely not alone. She turned a complete circle. The jagged stone walls of the Tower House raked the sky. Other than that, the natural beauty of the spot surrounded her on all sides. The fields rose to moors. The coastline curved around to distant peninsulas on both sides.
A fresh breeze whipped into her eyes and hair. The different scenarios in front of her played out, one after the other. First, she saw herself back home with her sister and her aunt and her parents. She saw herself going to work at her old job and spending time with her old friends.
Then she saw herself as Aegir’s Queen. She held court over the myriad sea creatures who came to pay homage to her husband. After the several months she already spent under the
water, Ivy knew what to expect from that. The watery, dream quality of that world would envelope her. It would cushion every emotion so she never experienced the slightest twinge of regret or yearning for something different.
Then there was the other scenario. This place, this rugged coastline with its rough people and its strange beauty—Ivy didn’t understand it very well at all. She couldn’t envision what would become of her if she stayed.
She couldn’t stay. That was out of the question. She would have nothing to eat and nowhere to stay, but none of that mattered. She wouldn’t stay here. Even if she didn’t return to America, Aegir would come and take her. She probably wouldn’t have to spend a single night here.
She set off down the hill. The men already worked around the Tower House. They carried every scrap of usable supplies out of the building and stacked them in the open. In the few minutes since Christie made his decision, the doom and dread lifted off the men’s shoulders. They talked and laughed and sang at their work. They looked forward to leaving Ivy and their problems behind.
Ivy walked past the Tower House without stopping. She didn’t know what to do with herself, now that she was no longer one of them. She was a ghost. They didn’t see her or consider her.
She walked straight ahead until she spotted Kincaid. He leaned against a small tree out in the field, and she headed for him. He scanned the southern coast. He didn’t seem in any particular hurry to join the preparations to evacuate.
Ivy stopped in front of him. “Kincaid.”
He nodded to her once and went back to watching the ocean. “Lassie.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. All she had to do was ask if he knew a way to send her back. A wizard as powerful as he was should have any number of tricks up his sleeve.
She swallowed hard. “I was just wondering…”
This time, he didn’t turn around at all. “Aye?”
“I was just wondering,” she stammered, “what you meant when you said Lachlan stopped that thing from destroying us all?”
His head snapped around, and a wicked grin spread over his face. “Is that what ye came down here to ask me?”
“Well, not exactly,” she muttered, “but you haven’t explained what you meant.”
He turned all the way around to face her. “Do ye think it was an accident that he went through that pool?”
“He was about to tell me something,” she replied, “something important. Did that have something to do with him disappearing?”
Kincaid snorted and shook his head. “Ye dinnae need to ken about that. What did ye come down here to ask me?”
“I just told you. I want to know why you think Lachlan was the one who saved us when he wasn’t here.”
“He was here,” Kincaid replied. “He was here the whole time.”
Ivy waved her hand. “Where? Where is he?”
“Over there.” He gazed back out to sea.
Ivy smacked her lips. “Why can’t you just answer a question straight out? Why do you have to keep spinning these riddles?”
“In a few hours, I’ll be on my way to Duart with the rest of the lads. If ye want to ask me something, you’d best do it now.”
Ivy spun on her heel and stormed away. She wouldn’t ask that exasperating man anything. He would make it as hard as possible to ask him for help, and she refused to grovel. If he wouldn’t help her escape Aegir, then she was finished with him.
She marched onward, out toward the coast. If Aegir wanted to take her, he might as well take her now and get it over with. She no longer cared about the danger. There was no danger. So she would go back to her nice bedroom with her bivalve bed and the beautiful view out the windows. What was so bad about that?
She went back to the beach where she kissed Lachlan. She sat down on the damp rock and let the hissing surf hypnotize her into a dull dream. She relived the experience of his lips and his smell and his hands all over again. She dwelt in that shadow world with him.
For the first time since he disappeared, she sank into blissful contentment. She could survive this solitude without everybody, but she couldn’t survive it without him. She held him near her and inhaled the exquisite ecstasy of his presence.
A male voice woke her from her reverie. Colin bustled over the rocks to find her. “Lassie! Ye must return to the House. We’re moving out. If ye want to speak to Kincaid about sending ye back, ye must do it now afore he leaves with us.”
Ivy stood up. In her mind, she gave Lachlan one last kiss. She promised him she would be right back, and then nothing would part them again. She followed Colin over the rocks and back to the castle, where the Highlanders stood in their ranks, ready to leave.
Ivy braced herself for what she had to do. She walked right up to Kincaid and stuck out her hand. “Good-bye, Kincaid. Have a safe journey. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime.”
He smiled at her, and this time, it was a real smile, not a wolfish, trickster smile hiding some malevolent secret. He really smiled, and he pressed her hand in both of his. “Fare thee well, lassie. I’m sure we’ll see each other again very soon.”
She let him go and moved down to the line to Christie. She put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. “Take care of these people, Christie. I’m sure Lachlan would be very proud of you.”
“I hope so, lassie,” he replied. “Will ye be all right out here?”
“If I’m right, I won’t be out here long, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
She let him go. She went on down the line and said good-bye and thank you to every man present. Some wouldn’t look her in the eye, and her decision clearly disturbed them. She didn’t mind. She wanted them gone so she could go back to her dream world. She wanted to enjoy it while it lasted, until Aegir took her off to a different dream where she wouldn’t think about Lachlan or the McLeans or anything ever again.
When she finished taking leave from all the men, Christie hoisted a bundle onto his shoulder. “Move out, lads!”
The rest of the group copied him, and they set off in a long line for the northern horizon. A few paused to wave to Ivy before they crossed the hill and dropped out of sight. Some never turned around again. To them, she was already dead.
She watched the last man out of sight. The landscape fell into an eerie silence. The wind moaned low around the broken walls of Moy Castle. It intoned a mournful note over this whole countryside. It chilled her to her marrow, and the sun couldn’t warm her.
Ivy turned all the way around. This whole land was hers alone now. She didn’t have to answer to anyone. She relied on no one but herself, and anything that happened would happen to her alone. Those men who left her behind would be safe. They would reunite with their families at Duart Castle far to the north. With any luck, they would forget she ever existed. She would forget she ever existed, now that no one remained to remind her of that fact.
She returned to the beach and stayed there for the rest of the day. She let the surf wash all her cares away. She no longer feared any scenario that could happen to her. She existed in an eternal moment where the past and the future no longer mattered. She was here. She was one with sun and surf and sky.
When the sun sank into the western sea, she returned to the Tower House. She wandered what remained of its rooms. The kitchen remained intact, along with a few supply rooms. Ivy scavenged some candles and blankets. Then, in the last light of evening, she gathered a supply of firewood from the fields. She lit a fire in the bedroom she shared with the men the night before.
The men left no food behind, but Ivy found some tea in the kitchen and made herself a steamy cup. She ate it by the fire. She had nothing to do but go to bed, but she lingered there by the fire. She enjoyed the hearty crackle of sticks in the flames. For some reason, it all meant so much more, now that she was alone.
The stars shone down through the open ceiling. Too bad that bed had a canopy. She would have liked to gaze up at the stars while she fell asleep,
but she needed the canopy and the heavy velvet curtains to keep her warm tonight.
How long would she have to wait until Aegir figured out the Highlanders left her defenseless in this castle? How long before he came for her and took her back with him?
Part of her wished he would hurry up and take her. Another part wanted to savor this peaceful time alone. This castle was all hers. No voices disturbed the stillness. No fear of any impending battle robbed the present moment of its sweetness.
She sipped her tea by the fire until the flames infused her whole self with delicious warmth. She got uncomfortably hot before she rose to go to bed. She turned away from the fire when she heard it.
A faraway screech ripped the night. Ivy’s hand flew to her axe, but she didn’t see anything. She tensed to fight. Whatever it was, she would go down swinging. It didn’t shake the Earth like Aegir’s monsters did, though. It came from farther inland to the west.
She looked all around her, but she couldn’t see anything. She pulled her axe clear of her belt and unsheathed her blade with her other hand. Nothing but this bedroom surrounded her on all sides.
She raced outside. The night covered her with its deep softness. She strained her senses, but she saw and heard nothing. Then the screech came again, louder this time. It came from the east. Then another screech sounded from the north.
Ivy whipped around from one noise to the other, but she could see no threat anywhere. She brandished her weapons in every direction, but the harmless night stared back at her from all sides. What was going on?
At that moment, out of the fabric of the night itself, a dozen dragons exploded into view. They screeched to wake the dead, and they launched themselves at Ivy in deadly fury.
Chapter 22
Lachlan spun around to face Aegir and found the Sea God scowling at him from a giant throne. Sea creatures of every imaginable shape and color and size crowded in front of the throne.
Lachlan whipped around the other way. “What in the…?”
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