“’Tis an anomaly for sure.” She touched his neck in return, right over his thumping pulse point.
“It’s no anomaly, but the early stages of the bond taking form.” He eased closer, brushed his nose through her hair and nuzzled her neck. “Since the moment we met, I’ve struggled to let you out of my sight. When you walked into the bathroom and away from me, all I wanted to do was tear that door down so we were no longer separated. Now I’m about to take you downstairs to Cherub and Kirk when it’s the last thing I want to do. You are mine.”
“Tavish!” A man bounded up the stairs, a man identical to Tavish in every way, even down to the blue trews and the billowy black tunic he wore. “I got your message from Megan, that you’ve found your mate.”
“Allow me to introduce Julia to you.” Tavish lifted his head, wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her forward. “Julia, this is Tor, my brother. Tor, Julia.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you.” Tor hugged her then stepped back with a grin. “I’ll enjoy finally having a sister.”
“’Tis wonderful to meet you too, although mayhap you could speak to your brother for me. He believes we’re mated and I cannae seem to convince him otherwise.”
Tor cast a worried look at his brother. “She doesn’t believe you?”
“It appears my mate holds the fae skill of aura reading and as yet hasn’t seen the signal that proves we’re mated. Our auras should tug toward each other’s. For now, I’ll have to convince her in other ways.”
“Word has already spread of her arrival, and our clansmen are eager to meet her. Cherub and Kirk also asked you to hurry. They need to speak to Julia about an issue of great importance.”
“Which means I must go.” She snuck out of Tavish’s hold and descended the stairs. At his rumbling growl from behind, she picked up her pace. “Dinnae let you bear control you, Tavish.”
“My bear is about to burst from me and snatch you away.”
“I’m sure your bear would never do any such thing.” Not when she truly wasn’t his. She reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped through the front foyer. The main doors leading into the great hall were embossed with the chief’s arms that held two bears as supporters either side, those bears signifying all that they fought for—the survival of a loyal race of shifters—Gilleoin’s line. A line which must continue to grow from strength to strength and not be permitted to falter.
“If you remained at my side, neither my bear or I would have an issue.” Tavish swept in beside her, pushed open the door and motioned for her to move ahead of him into the great hall.
A good hundred of his clansmen sat eating at trestle tables, their boisterous chatter lightening her heart. “Now, this is wonderful to see. There are so many shifters. In my time, there is only Gilleoin and his two sons, my cousins, Kenneth and Ivan.”
“Ivan’s line alone lives here at Ivanson, while in this time Kenneth’s firstborn line continues to hold Matheson Castle, your home.” He captured her hand and slipped it through his crooked arm. “We have around two-hundred clansmen in all, although not all are present here today.”
“Where are the others?”
“Many are out and about seeing to their duties. We have specialist teams who work high level government cases. Even though we keep our shifter status to ourselves, there are a few trusted people outside of our clan who are aware of what we can do and keep our secret.” He leaned closer. “Our numbers are slowly dwindling though. Unfortunately it’s been over five years since our last clan birth.”
“Isla is expecting twins with Iain, so your clan shall have two new births in a few short months.” She slid her fingers down to his wrist and tangled them with his. She shouldn’t touch him so, except she just couldn’t help herself and his aura calmed when she did. Easing his frustration seemed to ease hers. “Iain and Isla are currently in Stirling with Gilleoin and Kenneth, as well as with Nessa. Iain and Isla were so eager to see all that they could while the chance presented itself.”
“What took them all to Stirling?”
“Gilleoin was summoned by William, the King of Scots, and had no choice but to go and attend him. He left Finlay and Kirk in charge of his castle and lands until he returns. They are doing a most admirable job. One can tell they are your chief’s sons.”
“All three of Michael’s sons are born leaders.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “I still want to kiss you.”
“I’m sure the urge will abate.” It had better, otherwise she might very well begin giving into him since she liked his touch so much. She turned her attention back on those within the great hall. Ahead at the dais, Michael Matheson, the Chief of Clan Matheson, sat dressed in a tan leather vest over a collared shirt, his sword gleaming at his side. Megan sat next to him in a cherry-colored ankle-length skirt and blouse. Kirk sat near his father, his plate brimming with slices of cooked meat and bread and he cut a sliver of meat and fed it to Cherub.
“Come and choose what you’d like to eat then we’ll sit with Kirk and Cherub.” Tavish steered her toward a side table filled with an array of steaming foods. He picked up two plates and passed her one then loaded his plate with crispy bacon, hot scrambled eggs and cooked tomato slices. She selected the same, although a much smaller portion. With her plate filled, Tavish set a hand at her back and guided her across the room to the dais and pulled out a chair for her next to Cherub. She set her plate down while Tavish sat next to her and Tor sat on his other side.
Cherub smiled and squeezed her hand, the sleeves of her regal plum gown accented with gold satin fluttering over her wrists. “How do you fare this morn?”
“I’m very well. Tavish stitched my wound and I felt not a pinch of pain as he did.” She leaned closer, lowered her tone. “Although I’m afraid Tavish seems to be under the impression that we’re mated, even though his aura tells me otherwise.”
“His aura does no’ tug toward yours or vice versa?” she whispered back.
“Aye, that is exactly what I’m saying.”
“How strange.” Cherub appeared confused. “Do you feel aught toward him? I ask that because the air itself brings me the secrets it holds, including the call of those who are soul bound. A few days past I actually caught Tavish’s soul’s need for yours, and I’ve yet to be led astray.”
“You did?” She snuck a look at Tavish. He and Tor spoke to each other and she breathed out then leaned back toward Cherub. “Well, I must admit I do feel desire for him, but I cannae tell him that. ’Twould only raise his hopes. One’s aura does no’ lie, or at least not an honorable man’s aura. Tavish is clearly honorable.”
“Hmm.” Cherub patted her hand. “Let me think on this new development a little and I’ll see what I can uncover.” She straightened then motioned toward Kirk’s parents. “You’ve met Michael and Megan afore.”
“Of course.” She smiled at them. “Thank you for the clothes, Megan, but with Cherub’s return for me, I shall no’ be needing them. Michael, I would love to see your home but I fear I willnae be here long enough to do so.”
“Since you’re mated to Tavish, I’m sure there will be here plenty of time over the coming days and weeks ahead for you to see everything.” Michael cut into his sausage and took a bite. “You’re always welcome at Ivanson Castle. I hope you’ll now consider it your home.”
“I heartily agree with that welcome.” Smiling, Megan picked up the tea pot in the center of the table and filled a cup and passed it to her. “I can’t wait to show you and Arabel around, that’s when Cherub finally brings my new daughter-in-law here for a visit. There’s honey in the bowl before you if you wish your tea sweetened, my dear. Milk is in the jug.”
“Thank you.” It seemed everyone believed she and Tavish were soul bound, his word alone ensuring it was so. And Cherub too had sensed the bond. She added a spoonful of honey to her tea and sipped the sweet brew as she mulled it all over.
Cherub nudged her knife and fork toward her. “You need to eat, then
we need to talk further about why Kirk and I are actually here. There’s been a development since you last left, one regarding Colin and Jeremiah MacKenzie.”
“I can eat while we talk.” She picked up her fork, speared a bacon slice, chewed and motioned for Cherub to continue. If there’d been a development with their enemy, she wished to hear about it.
“I’m afraid I bring some quite startling news. We received a missive from Colin MacKenzie and in it he states”—she cleared her throat—“that your parents are alive.”
“Surely you jest?” She dropped her fork and it clattered against her plate. “What kind of game does Colin MacKenzie think to play?”
“Those were my thoughts exactly when I first read the missive.”
“What’s going on?” Tavish slid an arm around her shoulders, his full attention on her. “You’re very tense.”
“Cherub has received a missive from Colin MacKenzie and in it he states my parents are alive. A lie for certain.”
“There’s no chance his words could be true?” He glanced at Cherub for confirmation.
“’Tis unlikely, Tavish, although we cannae discount MacKenzie’s new demand. Earlier this morn, Kirk and I actually visited the MacKenzie’s lair and ran another full and complete sweep of his dungeons and keep. There was no sign of Aleck or Adair.” Cherub set her elbows on the table and pressed her hands together. “The only thing we know for certain is that the MacKenzie wishes to hold supremacy over us, in whatever way he can. He also wants to ensure fae blood runs in his direct line, which is why his demand included a request that Julia be wed to Jeremiah in a marriage of alliance afore her parents are released.”
“I wish to see this missive.” She needed to read Colin MacKenzie’s demand for herself.
“Of course. I brought it with me.” Cherub pulled a folded piece of parchment from her pocket, one wrinkled from being scrunched up and handed it to her. “Finlay has spoken to Arabel and she is both furious and distressed. She worries for you and what you might do.”
“My sister knows my feelings well. If our parents live then I will do whatever it takes to free them.” She unfolded the parchment and read,
“A marriage of alliance is what I seek. Bring Gilleoin’s niece to me, the aura reader Julia, and following her marriage to my son Jeremiah, I shall forthwith return Aleck and Adair Matheson into your hands.
You have a fortnight to answer this summons. Expect their death if you dinnae.”
Julia tapped the paper. “’Tis all as you’ve said, Cherub, although any possible marriage of alliance will never bring a halt to the war between our clans. MacKenzie must certainly know that.”
“There also isn’t a chance I’ll allow you to marry another man.” Tavish plucked her from her chair and dragged her onto his lap. “That I can promise you.” His aura spiked with black, his anger rising hard and fast. “Do we understand each other?”
“I miss my parents, Tavish.” Hot tears burned behind her eyes. “Even though I’ve no desire for a marriage of alliance, if there’s the slightest chance the MacKenzie has spoken the truth and they’re actually alive, then I would do whatever it took to see them freed. There is less pain in accepting an unwanted marriage than in losing my parents all over again.”
“I feared this would be what you’d say.” Cherub sniffed as tears pooled in her own eyes. “Even though we found no sign of your parents at the MacKenzie’s keep, we still need to search our enemy’s lands. They spread from Loch Alsh all the way across the mountainous plateau to Loch Broom in the north. Colin MacKenzie has holdings elsewhere too, as well as alliances with other clans with whom he might have asked to hold his captives for him. So too all we have is a fortnight in which to find them.”
“A fortnight will have to be enough.” She rolled her shoulders and firmed her resolve. She’d do whatever it took to discover the truth. “Cherub, you’re aware I can hear the gentle hum of my parents’ auras when they’re close. I’d never mistake the sound for another’s. I need to be present when the search begins.”
“How close do you need to be to hear the hum?” Cherub squeezed her hand.
“Quite close, within a hundred yards.” She snuck off Tavish’s lap and pulled Cherub to her feet. “We must go. There is little time to waste.”
* * * *
“Wait.” Tavish shoved to his feet. There wasn’t a chance he’d let Julia go anywhere without him, not now he’d finally found her. “I’m coming.”
“I willnae pull you away from your kin. Your clansmen need you. You’re their doctor.”
“Don’t you feel the strength of the mated bond already taking a firm hold between us?” He cupped her cheeks in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. “Where you are, is where I need to be.”
“I—I—” Such pain and anguish swirled within her gaze. “I’m sorry.” She snuck in behind Cherub. “We must leave, with all haste.”
“I agree.” Cherub winked at him, and far too impishly for his liking. “Tavish, ’tis time to see if you two are truly soul bound. I highly recommend you dinnae fight the pull. We will need your aid in this search if you’re willing to offer it.”
“Of course I’ll offer my aid, and what pull?”
“Cherub, this isn’t a good idea.” Kirk stood, his sword gleaming in a baldric across his back as he snagged one arm around Cherub’s waist. “We need to take Tavish with us. A mated male knows when he’s found his chosen one, and by the way, you really should have told me these two were mated.”
“I’m thinking only of Tavish right now, my tempting bear. ’Tis all about the chase, remember?” Cherub disappeared, right along with Kirk and Julia. They vanished, right into thin air.
He was up for any chase.
The wind swirled and the front doors flew open and banged shut.
Now he knew exactly what pull Cherub referred to, the pull of the vortex which would take him through time. He raced outside in full pursuit, Tor one step behind him. In the center of the inner courtyard, dust churned into a swirling mass. Sprinting, he yelled into the rush of wind, “Tor, I have to follow where she leads.”
“Then I’m coming along for the trip.”
He dove into the dark abyss, Tor right at his side, just as he’d always been in life. The churning darkness swept him and his brother away. He’d never allow Julia to escape him, not even through time itself. His hunt for his mated one had begun and it was a chase he’d never relinquish. Finding Julia and completing the bond with her would drive him. She was his chosen one and he intended to prove it to her, however he must.
Chapter 4
Lightning slashed and thunder boomed within the pitch black. The wind heaved and twirled Tavish about. Traveling over eight-hundred years into the past would be a trip unlike any he’d ever experienced before. Searching within the misty gloom, he saw not a soul, not even his brother who’d been right beside him as he’d jumped. “Julia! Tor!”
“Here.” Tor flew toward him and clasped his forearm. “It seems we’ve lost the others.”
“I also don’t know exactly how long we’ll be in this vortex, or where we’ll come out. I’ll need your aid in finding my woman.”
“You’ll always have it.” Determination slashed Tor’s face, likely the same fierce expression that lined his own. “Maybe we should pick up our speed.”
“Let’s do that, together.” He clasped Tor’s forearm in return and with unwavering intensity, dove deeper into the churning, murky dark with his brother.
“Tavish!” Ahead, Julia tumbled and turned in the fierce wind, her cream gown lit with gold flashes as lightning sizzled all around.
“I’m coming.” Like an arrow zooming toward its target, he zeroed in on her and nabbed her around the waist. Tor, still gripping his forearm, swung around her other side and grasped his other forearm. Together, they kept Julia safely pinned between them. “Are you all right?” he bellowed over the rushing wind, his heart a wildly beating mess.
“I am now you’re here.” Sh
e wound her arms around his neck and clung to him, her long golden locks whipping around them both. “If one holds onto Cherub when traveling then one never experiences this kind of mad free-fall.”
“You let go?”
“Aye.” She burrowed her head into his neck and nipped his ear. “For some reason, I knew you’d dive in after me. I had to find you.”
“You knew because like me, you too feel our bond taking form. You’re my mate, mine to protect and care for.” Something he intended for her to learn, and fast. “We’ll search for your parents together. I’ll never leave your side. That I promise you.”
“It appears we’re slowing down.” Tor stared ahead through the dense fog that loomed.
A cloying mist rose up and swirled all around them. Lights flickered, as if the stars themselves had escaped the sky then an unearthly force sucked them all apart and they plummeted into the frosty depths of a loch.
Chilly water closed in over Tavish’s head and he kicked through the murkiness in search of Julia. Her cream gown glowed under the water and he grabbed her around the waist and powered upward. They broke the water’s surface right alongside Tor. White-capped waves crashed over them and he gulped in air and held Julia tighter to him in order to protect her from the rougher waters as best as he could.
“Look, land,” Tor yelled as a seagull squawked overhead then flew down and skimmed the choppy waves toward shore.
“Welcome to my home, and to the year twelve-hundred and ten.” Julia motioned toward a four-story castle a hundred feet or so inland. Its massive gray tower house overlooked the loch and the castle’s fortified walls were topped with battlements and guardsmen roaming the ramparts. A forest rose tall and strong behind it, the wooded land sweeping around toward the entrance of the loch where it jutted to a point. Smoke curled into the air from thatch-roofed houses cloistered tightly together and surrounded by a high stone wall. “That’s the fae village, Tavish.”
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