“Who are you, boy?” Aegir thundered. “Tell me how you happen to travel through my realm.”
“I’m Lachlan McLean, and I never traveled through naught of yours. I was standing on a beach on my own Isle when I happened to pass through a pool to that strange country where ye attacked me. If anyone’s to make demands just now, it’s me. Ye had no right to attack me, and ye certainly had no right to threaten that woman when she did ye no harm.”
Aegir laughed in his face. “Is that the best you can come up with? Lachlan McLean, is it? Well, I never heard of you. You must be another no-account stripling with an attitude, and that means you need to be taught a lesson.”
“Ye try to teach me a lesson,” Lachlan snarled, “and I’ll give ye another dose of that ye tasted back at the fountain. I may no’ be as strong as ye, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
Aegir’s features darkened. “Tell me how you came to possess that power. I want to know.”
Lachlan remembered Kincaid’s warning. Aegir wouldn’t be happy to know his beloved daughter Rhona gave birth to a child without her father’s consent. Aegir would probably destroy Lachlan rather than share his power. He tried to half lie instead. “I dinnae ken what you’re talking about. It’s as I said. It just happened by accident. I never intended to go through that pool.”
Aegir snapped his fingers, and four huge crabs came out of the crowd. They resembled the giant lobsters that attacked the Tower House. Lachlan’s hand flew to his saber, but he found it gone. That’s when he remembered. Aegir disarmed him back at the fountain.
The saber wouldn’t do any good anyway. He couldn’t fight these things by strength alone. He would have to use his power, the power he got from Aegir. That was the trap. Aegir wanted to prove to himself and everyone that Lachlan really had power to use. Traveling through that pool wasn’t an accident at all.
Lachlan glanced from the crabs to Aegir. Aegir sat back with a satisfied smile on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had Lachlan right where he wanted him.
In a flash, Lachlan took in the colored walls around him. He only spent a short time in this curious world last time, but already he understood how this place worked.
He waited until the crabs got close enough. They surrounded him on all sides. The more they clapped their terrible claws in Lachlan’s face, the more delighted Aegir got. He banged his hand on the arm of his chair and hooted with glee.
Lachlan’s heart stood still. He had to play this just right if he hoped to get out of here with his life. He held himself in reserve, but the whole time, he sensed his power getting stronger within him. All this water seethed around him and through him. It infected his being with power just itching to break out.
At the last moment, he put out his hand toward the crabs. He didn’t even have to do that. He could destroy them with a bat of his eyelash. A shockwave erupted from the end of his arm and knocked the crabs flying.
He didn’t wait to enjoy his victory. He wheeled around and sent another shockwave at Aegir himself. Lachlan poured all his strength into his hand, and the throne where Aegir sat exploded into a million pieces.
Dust and debris swirled on the current. Creatures ran for their lives in all directions. Their voices eddied and contorted on the waves in tumbled confusion.
Aegir soared into the water, where he surveyed the damage. The expression on his face told Lachlan all he needed to know. Lachlan need not make any more excuses about that power being an accident when it was anything but.
Aegir waved his hand. “Clear the hall!”
His subjects already headed for the hills. They poured through the walls and scuttled away out of sight. In a few seconds, Lachlan stood alone with the Sea King. Aegir floated down and set his feet on the floor next to Lachlan.
Lachlan’s body itched to use his newfound power, but he knew enough to hold himself back for the moment. Aegir studied him. “That was an interesting display. Now tell me who you really are, and don’t bother lying.”
“I already told ye,” Lachlan replied. “I’m Lachlan McLean, Laird of the Isles and Chief of the Clan McLean. Ye must ken all about me, for I have lived along these shores all my life. I have fished and sailed and swam in the sea a thousand times if I have done it once.”
“Oh, I know very well who you are,” Aegir countered.
Lachlan snorted in his face. “Then ye neednae ask silly questions to which ye already ken the answers.”
Aegir waved that away. “I know who you are, and I also know you’ve been searching for Ivy all these months. Somehow, you managed to get down here and steal her from me.”
“Then ye dinnae need me to explain to ye who I am,” Lachlan replied.
“I’m talking about your power,” Aegir went on. “I know the powers of every creature in the sea, and no one has your power. Where do you come from?”
“That’s neither here nor there,” Lachlan replied. “I have taken Ivy from ye, and you’ll never get her back as long as I have something to do with it. I’ll use any means necessary to stop ye marrying her.”
Aegir bared his teeth and snarled. “You can never defeat me, boy. Whoever you are, wherever you got these powers of yours, you’re still not as strong as I am. I’ll destroy you before I let you thwart my plans.”
“I already have thwarted them,” Lachlan replied. “I took her, and she woke up from whatever spell you put on her mind. She’ll never love you again the way she did afore. You’ll never marry her.”
“You don’t think so?” Aegir passed his hand in front of Lachlan’s face. “Take a look for yourself.”
The water before Lachlan’s eyes wavered. The next moment, he looked in on a darkened room of the Tower House. Ivy sat alone by the fire nursing a cup of hot tea in her hands. The steamy sensation warmed Lachlan’s face through the syrupy ocean. The flames glowed on her cheeks and her disheveled hair.
Silence reigned over the Tower House. Not another living soul disturbed the place, now that all the men deserted her. The stars sparkled overhead, and a chill settled over the room.
Aegir murmured in Lachlan’s ear. “You see? She already made up her mind to come back to me. You can’t stop it now.”
Lachlan shook his head. This didn’t make sense, but he saw it all as plain as day. She really had made her peace with marrying Aegir. That’s why she was here. She went along with Christie’s plan to protect the rest of the Clan by sacrificing herself. He read it all in her thoughts.
Aegir chuckled low. “You can never defeat me, boy. Your best chance to save yourself is to join me. You had your fun stopping me before. Now it’s all over. You don’t want to see me bring out the big guns to put you in your place, do you?”
Lachlan turned around to face his grandfather. “Join…ye?”
“We could be great, you and me,” Aegir rumbled. “We could rule together, and nothing could stop us. We would find you another wife—maybe that other outsider who came through the portal with Ivy. She’s attractive enough, isn’t she? What do you say?”
“Join…ye?” Lachlan glanced over his shoulder at the image hovering in the current. That’s when he saw it. A dozen dragons swooped out of the darkness and attacked Ivy all at once. They flew in her face. Their awful screeching cries echoed through the water to set Lachlan’s hair on end.
“You see?” Aegir purred. “One snap of my fingers, and I can save her. Just say the word, and I’ll take her to safety. She’ll be back in her own room with all the attendants she deserves. She’ll never know another day of hardship or danger or fear in her life. You can stop this any time. Then again, if you turn your back on me, I’ll destroy you and take her anyway. Is that what you want? The choice is yours.”
Lachlan’s eyes skittered all over the image. The dragons moved so fast he couldn’t follow them all. They raced at Ivy’s head, slashed her with their claws, and darted away before she could react.
In the blink of an eye, he realized these were different dragons than the shifters of Urlu.
They weren’t as big. They could move a lot faster, and they didn’t spit fire the way the Urlus did. At least, they didn’t spit fire at Ivy.
They weren’t colored, either. They were all uniformly dark-gray, which made them almost impossible to see at night. They appeared out of nowhere to rip and bite and maim.
Ivy pulled her blade and chopped the air to drive them off, but she couldn’t move fast enough. They bobbed out of reach unharmed. Lachlan’s heart pounded against his ribs. He had to help her. He couldn’t hand her over to Aegir, no matter what.
Quicker than thought, he whipped around fast. He slammed his hand against Aegir’s chest and sent the Sea King flying across the hall. Aegir smashed into the wall and crumpled to the ground. He bounced up in an instant, but it was already too late. Lachlan turned and dove through the opening into the darkness.
Chapter 23
Ivy planted her feet wide and roared her challenge to the dragons. She whirled her axe and her blade at them, but she never made contact. Rage and frustration started to gain the upper hand. She wasted too much effort trying to hit them with nothing to show for it.
The dragons took turns hovering off in the dark out of sight and swooping in to hit her in the face. They beat their wings around her head and scratched her skin and cheeks and eyes with their claws. Their screeching cries set her teeth on edge more than anything.
In the midst of the assault, she froze still. She let the dragons slam into her and even cut her neck until it bled, but she didn’t react. She had to calm down. She had to gauge her response before she let them drag her down.
She waited until they fluttered away out of reach. Her stillness confused them so they didn’t know what to do. They hesitated, and that’s when she struck. She lunged into the darkness and chopped with her axe. The head crunched into bone, and a deafening scream rattled the Tower House.
Ivy didn’t wait around. She wheeled the other way and swung her blade. She made contact with a body, and it hit the ground at her feet. She acted on sheer adrenaline. She didn’t give her eyes a chance to focus. She let her senses and her weapons act in concert with no interference from her.
She hacked another two dragons out of the air before they recovered. Then they all rushed her at once. Bodies and wings slapped her face and torso and limbs from all sides. She didn’t care. At least they were close enough to hit now.
She flew into a berserk rage and hacked everything in range. Blood splattered her face and warmed her lips. It dripped from her hair and changed her into a raving demon. She lusted after blood.
She couldn’t hit them all at once, though. They crowded around her head. They sank their claws into her clothes until she couldn’t move. They held her still so she couldn’t get her weapons near them.
In the midst of this chaos, one dragon stood off at a distance. It waited until the others pinned her down. At that moment, it opened its mouth and let loose a bright jet of flame at Ivy. The fire hit the floor at her feet, and the flames licked up her legs.
She screamed and kicked in a frenzy, but the others held her still while the little dragon took aim one more time. It took aim at her head, and a devilish gleam flashed in its eyes. Ivy fought with all her strength, but the flames already burned her feet and legs. She couldn’t get away from these things, and in a second, she would go up in smoke.
All of a sudden, the fire in the fireplace blazed higher. It brightened the room for a brief instant. Ivy stared in disbelief as Lachlan dove through the light. He tucked his head against his chest and rolled across the floor. He came to his feet and knocked the little dragon out of the air.
The dragon let loose its flame at exactly that instant, and the licking fire hit the bed behind Ivy. The dragon whipped around to face Lachlan, but he rushed past it. He grabbed Ivy and swatted the dragons off her. They flapped a few feet away, where they all rounded on him in screeching fury.
Lachlan seized Ivy. She fell into his arms, and he hugged her against his chest. At that moment, a pulse of bright white light thumped out of him. For a fraction of a second, it cast the whole room in blinding light before it died to blackness again.
For a long moment, they stood clasped in each other’s arms. Silence filled the room except for the endless whisper of the surf against the coast far away. Ivy dared not lift her head to see if those things were gone.
Lachlan broke away first. “It’s all right. They willnae come back tonight, I’ll wager.”
“What were those things?” she asked. “Did they come from Aegir?”
“They didnae come from Aegir. Aegir wouldnae send dragons. They’re no’ his to send.”
“Where did they come from then?” she asked.
“From the curse. It’s the next wave of the curse attacking. We must alert Duart to be ready. It may be too late already. They may be under attack as we speak.”
Ivy looked around the room. She dared not believe she was safe from those fearsome beasts. She still felt the flames burning her feet and legs, but no sign remained that the dragons ever set her clothes on fire. Not even a smudge of soot marked her shoes or her pants. The bed behind her stood perfect and untouched.
“What…” she stammered. “What happened to you, Lachlan? How did you get back here?”
He bit back a grin. “That’s a rather long story, that is. Maybe I’ll tell ye someday.”
“Do you have somewhere else to be?” she asked. “You disappeared from the beach, and a lot has happened since then. Martha’s dead.”
He gazed down into the fire on the hearth. “I ken it.”
“She loved you,” Ivy went on. “She died defending this place against unspeakable odds.”
Lachlan walked up to her and put his arms around her. “It’s all right. Ye neednae worry on Martha any longer. She’s gone to rest, and we have bigger fish to fry.”
“I suppose you mean Aegir,” Ivy returned. “I made up my mind to go back to him. You might as well let me go. It’s the safest thing for everybody. Christie knows it, and now I know it, too. I never should have put your people in danger by coming back here.”
He peered down into her face, and his eyes burned her soul. “Is that what ye really want? Do ye really want to marry Aegir? If it is, ye can go back there anytime ye say. If it isnae, then you’ll no’ go down. That’s all there is to it. You’ll no go down to marry Aegir unless that’s really what ye want. Tell me.”
“I don’t want to marry him,” she replied. “You know I don’t. There’s no other way, though.”
“There’s plenty of other ways. Ye could go home if ye want, or ye can stay here.”
“Here?” She looked around at the room. “There’s nothing here. There’s no food. There’s no roof. Besides, I can’t go home. Kincaid went to Duart with the others, and I already basically told him I didn’t want him to send me back.”
“Kincaid neednae send ye back,” Lachlan replied. “If ye really want to go, I’ll send ye back myself.”
“You! How would you send me?”
“Never ye mind about that,” he returned. “The question remains. What do you really want to do? Do ye really want to marry Aegir and become Queen of the Ocean? Do ye want to go home to your own world, or do ye want to stay here…with me.”
Ivy gasped. She stared up into his eyes, and it all made sense. Stay here…with him. Of course. He was the only reason she would stay here. If she stayed, she would give her all to him and his people. She would become one of them in ways she barely scratched the surface up until now.
Did she really want to throw her lot in with this brutal world? Could she give herself to Lachlan the way Martha would have, with all her heart and soul? Could she put aside the hardship and the danger for his sake?
“It wouldnae always be like this,” he told her. “I could take ye back to Duart. You’d be comfortable there, but only until the curse comes back. You’d be in the middle of it all over again until we get it lifted. I can never promise ye peace and safety until that happens. The choice is
yours alone, lassie.”
She tore herself out of his arms and paced up and down the room. Too many possibilities battled for space in her mind. “How will you stop Aegir taking me? You sound awfully certain he won’t take me if I don’t want to go.”
“He’ll no’ take ye.” Lachlan squatted by the fire and fed a few more sticks into it. The flames set his hair and cheeks and eyebrows glowing golden. “Aegir’ll no’ come near ye until ye give the word ye want to marry him.”
“But how?” she asked. “You were about to tell me something when you disappeared. It has to do with Aegir, doesn’t it? How can you ask me to stay here with you when you’re keeping a secret like that?”
He shook his head, and he didn’t look up.
Ivy’s mind exploded with ideas. “Kincaid said you stopped Naga Rara from destroying us. He said you were here all along. You… you were about to tell me something, something that would stop us being together, weren’t you?”
He looked up, and his eye sockets fell into shadow. His hair hung around his face. “I cannae tell ye, lassie. I cannae tell a living soul, for I barely believe it myself.”
She rushed up to him and squatted down next to him. She laid her hand on his shoulder and opened her mouth. She planned to insist, to press him to tell her his secret, but when she came face to face with him, she stopped.
What difference did it make in the end? She didn’t need to know his secret. He was here, and he wanted her to stay here. Not even the promise of Duart and its comparative comforts could swing her decision.
“I don’t want to marry Aegir,” she murmured.
“Then ye willnae,” he replied. “That’s settled, then.”
“I don’t want to go back to my own world, either.”
His head shot up. “Ye don’t?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well,” he sighed. “I suppose that means you’re staying here.”
“Yeah.”
He broke into a mischievous chuckle. He sat down on the floor and put out his arms to her. “Come here, lass.”
Sea Queen_A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance Page 16
