“You’re healing me.”
Hegarty nodded once. “Aye.” A slow smile crossed the red-haired dwarf’s face. “’ Tis the least I can do for the man who rid the world of Veskin.”
“Truly, ye dinna mind?”
Hegarty chuckled low. “That one has needed dying for a good long while. Nay, I dinna mind.” He sat back on his heels. “Ye be healed, laddie.”
Talon grinned and shoved to his feet, whirling to find Julia watching him with shining eyes. He lunged for her, grabbing her close as he lifted her up and off the hook and into his arms.
“I thought they’d killed you,” she said softly against his neck.
“Nay.” When he could bear to loosen his grip on her, he set her on her feet and cut her free of the ropes that bound her wrists.
She moved her arms carefully, easing the stiffness out of her muscles, then slid her arms around his waist and held him tight. He pulled her against his heart.
Together, they turned back to Hegarty, Talon’s head full of questions. The dwarf was on his knees beside the body of the fiend, removing Veskin’s waistcoat.
“Was it you who took the chalice to Picktillum, Hegarty?”
“Aye. I hid it there myself nigh on ten years ago, where none would find it.” He shrugged even as he struggled to pull the dead arm from the garment. “I couldna stop Veskin from eating the lassies, but I could stop the Brodies from summoning him.”
“Where did the chalice go?” Julia asked, staring at the spot where it had landed when Veskin tossed it.
“It was tied to Veskin,” Hegarty said. “It ceased to exist when he died.”
“So no more Brodie girls will ever be sacrificed,” Julia murmured.
“I wonder, Hegarty,” Talon said. “When ye saved Catriona, did ye not worry ye’d be sending her to her death in the future? That the Brodies in that time would sacrifice her as surely as the ones here had tried to?”
“Catriona. Was that her name?” Hegarty stroked his whiskerless chin. “I didna ken why they were trying to kill her that night. I hadna realized Veskin was involved until after I sent her away. And after ... aye, I wondered if I’d only changed the year of her death.”
“They didn’t hurt her,” Julia told him, turning her head to look at him. “They took her in and loved her.”
Hegarty grinned, light dancing in his eyes as he clapped his hands gleefully. “Well, there you have it. You were destined to end Veskin’s terrorizing all along.” He gave Talon a sharp look. “Without my ring.”
Wee bugger.
Finally, Hegarty had the garment free and put it on over his own odd assortment of clothes, bloodstains and all.
The red-haired dwarf’s gaze swung to Julia. “How did ye get my necklace?”
“Catriona gave it to me. We grew up as cousins. She warned me not to put it on and I didn’t listen.”
Hegarty nodded. “I must bring her back.”
Julia flinched. “No, Hegarty. She just got married. She’s happy there. She’s in love.”
“So she sent you back in her stead?”
“No, she asked me to take the stone to America. Halfway around the world. I think she thought you wouldn’t be able to call it from there.”
“Nay, I would not have.” The little man shrugged. “Well then. I suppose there’s no need to bring her back if she doesna wish to come. But ’tis time that I sent you back where you belong.”
Talon’s arms tightened around her, a wild storm rising in his chest. Nay. He’d not let her go. Not now. Not when he’d finally come to understand how much he needed her. How much he loved her.
But, Jesu, she didn’t belong here. This had never been her place. He’d known that from the start.
For days he’d wanted her to leave him to his solitary life. Now the prospect made him feel as if he’d been gutted.
All he wanted was to lift her into his arms and to run far, far from Hegarty and his time-traveling magic.
But more than that, far more, he wanted Julia to be safe. And happy.
He had to let her go.
Julia pulled out of Talon’s arms, turning to face Hegarty. She was still shaking, but the danger was past. Veskin was dead.
All that was left was the ripping of her heart from her chest. All that was left was saying good-bye to Talon.
Dear God, how was she going to leave him, when she’d just gotten him back?
She reached back and took his hand, not quite able to let him go.
The sound of footsteps sounded outside the cave.
“The demon!”
Hegarty lifted his hand with a flourish and magic tingled along the surface of her skin. “That will keep them out for the moment.” He held out his hand. “The necklace, lad. ’Tis past time I saw this lassie home.”
Talon’s grip on her tightened. “Julia,” he said softly. As she turned to him, he dipped his head and kissed her, his lips at once soft and fierce.
Slowly, he pulled back and met her gaze, his blue eyes pulsing with a bittersweet ache. His mouth quirked up in that charmer’s smile, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Dinna forget me, aye?”
Julia swallowed back the lump that clogged her throat and pressed her palm to his beloved cheek as she fought back tears. “Never.”
As Hegarty joined them, Talon pulled his hand from hers and pulled the jewel over his head, dropping it into Hegarty’s upturned palm.
Talon met her gaze one last time. “Godspeed, Julia Brodie.” His fingers brushed the underside of her chin. “I canna watch ye go, lass.” He turned away and picked up Veskin’s head by the hair. “I’ll give the Brodies what they want, aye?”
Hegarty waved his hand, dropping the barrier that had briefly sealed the cave from outside intrusion.
A pain started deep in her chest as she watched Talon walk away for the last time, radiating out until she could barely breathe. Outside the cave a cheer went up.
“Come, lass.” Hegarty reached for her, but she backed away.
“Wait.” How could she leave?
How can I stay?
The man she loved was here. In this time. This place.
But it’s cold here. And wet. And uncomfortable. I have a life there. I need to get back.
To what? She had nothing there. An empty apartment. An empty life.
She’d spent the past couple of weeks wishing she’d never put that necklace over her head. She’d spent the past days wishing she’d stayed at Picktillum. But she knew with a certainty born of all the love in her heart that if she went with Hegarty now, if she turned her back on the only person who had ever mattered to her, those regrets would feel like nothing compared to the one she’d live with for the rest of her life.
If Talon wanted her to stay. Because, for all the times he’d risked his life to save her, he’d never said he loved her. And the one time she’d told him she loved him, he’d thrown it back in her face.
Maybe there was no reason for her to stay, but she had to know.
She had to know.
“Give me a minute, Hegarty, please?” Without waiting for his reply, she turned and ran to the entrance of the cave, praying Talon hadn’t gone too far.
But when she burst into the night, she found herself alone. He was already gone. High up the hill she heard the cheers and sounds of celebration.
She stood in the light from the cave, uncertain. Doubting. If he’d wanted her to stay, he would have asked her to.
Little by little, the doubts faded away as the truth that had always been at the core of her life washed back in. She swallowed hard against the bitter ache of certainty that she’d always been meant to live her life alone.
Feeling older than her thirty years, she turned back toward the cave, and home.
And that was when she saw him. Talon. Leaning against a tree in the shadows, his head back as if he were in pain. His eyes were closed, his jaw clenched as hard as rock. As she watched, a drop of moisture caught the light on his cheek.
Her heart clench
ed. “Talon?”
His eyes snapped open and he pushed away from the tree, staring at her as if not understanding what he was seeing.
“That wee liar! Did he leave ye here?”
As he stormed toward the cave, Julia stepped into his path. “He’s waiting for me. I asked him to wait.” Her bottom lip began to tremble and she tried to clamp down on it, but it was no use.
He watched her, his eyes narrowed without comprehension. “Why?”
“I just needed to ...” Her eyes welled with tears and she lost the battle, the sobs overtaking her in a ferocious rush of emotion.
“Easy, lass.” She felt his hands on her shoulders, but he didn’t pull her close. Did he already guess what this was about? Was this his subtle way of telling her he didn’t want her to stay? That he was ready for her to go?
The tears came faster.
Talon’s hands caressed her shoulders. “Julia. Ye’ll miss me, aye? Is that what this is about?”
The only thing she could do was nod. But she needed to feel his arms. She reached for him, sliding her arms around his waist and locking them tight as she buried her head in his shirt and cried, her heart breaking.
Talon’s arms went around her. “I’ll miss ye, too, lass. More that ye ken. But ye dinna belong here.”
His words only confirmed what she’d feared. She might love him, but his feelings for her weren’t that strong. And if she stayed? Sooner or later, she’d be on her own here instead of in the world she knew. And knowing he didn’t want her would be unbearable.
With a shuddering breath, she swallowed her tears, pulled herself together, and pulled away.
“Good-bye, Talon.”
But as she turned away, she felt his fingers curl around her arm, stopping her.
“I wish ye could stay.” His voice pulsed with a sincerity that throbbed within her. “But your life is awaiting ye back there.”
“Talon ... ?”
He pulled her around to face him, his warm palm cupping her cheek. “Julia. Jesu, Julia, I canna let ye go a second time. I tried. Ye dinna belong here, I ken that. But I’ll make ye happy, I vow it. Whatever it takes.”
Julia stared at him, her heart beginning to thunder in her chest. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I love you. I want you to stay. To marry me. To help me be the better man you’ve seen inside me. I’ll be that man for you, Julia.” His hands gripped her shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh with gentle desperation. “But, Jesu, lass, I want you to stay.”
Julia began to laugh, even as the tears spilled down her cheeks. “I want to stay. I want to be with you.”
Talon gathered her close. “I want ye to be happy, Julia. I want that. Just that”
The tears wouldn’t stop, but it no longer mattered. Her heart was full. Her world had tilted on its axis and sent her into the arms of the one man to whom her soul had always belonged.
“The only place I’ll ever be happy is with you, Talon MacClure. Only with you.”
EPILOGUE
Talon watched his wife with deep and abiding love, and no small amount of amusement, as she showed him the necessities Brenna had given her this morn. For the past month, they’d stayed at Picktillum while Brenna taught Julia the things she needed to know to get along in this century of his.
Of theirs now.
Julia looked up at him, her bonny eyes dancing. “You’re laughing at me.” She grinned that impudent grin of hers he’d come to adore. “You’ll be glad for this stuff if you ever get sick. And the rest of it ...” She waved her hand airily. “Is girl stuff. Brenna’s a lifesaver for sharing her stash.”
Talon pulled her into his arms. “I’m not laughing at ye.” He looked down into her bonny, bonny face, at the love in her eyes as she smiled at him, and thought he might just be the luckiest man on the Earth. “Your happiness lifts my heart, Julia-lass.”
She lifted up on tiptoes and kissed him, her lips sweet and sure. “As long as I’m with you, I’m happy, Talon. This is the only place I want to be.”
“Aye.” And though he still found it hard to believe, he could see the truth of her words shining from her eyes. “Ye’ll not mind another sojourn to the Highlands?”
Julia’s smile turned wry. “As long as no one tries to sacrifice me.” She pressed her small hand to his cheek. “I’m glad you’ve decided to go home. Even if your parents are gone, your mother’s people are your kin.”
“Aye, though I canna guess how we’ll be welcomed.”
Julia shrugged. “I have a feeling they’ll welcome you with open arms the moment they get a whiff of your silver. And if they don’t, then you won’t waste it on them. There are plenty of others who would appreciate it.”
He marveled at the ease with which she summed up and discarded the very real possibility he’d not be welcomed at all. And he realized he didn’t much care. He went back as a gesture to his mother’s memory, nothing more. No longer was his own identity tied to that place. No longer did he blame himself for anything that had happened there.
Before he married her, he’d told Julia everything and she’d helped him see he’d been a victim of circumstances beyond his control.
Circumstances Hegarty had eventually saved him from by giving him the amethyst.
He hooked his hands behind her waist and pulled her close. “And when we’ve shared my wealth a bit, I vow to ye, lass, a fine home within a day’s ride of Picktillum. And a school for the bairns, as ye’ve asked for, where ye’ll teach them all the wonderful things you think they should know. What think you of that?”
“I think ... I’m in love with you, Wizard.”
He stilled. “I am no longer the Wizard, Julia, and ye ken it well.”
She cocked her head at him, that impudent grin making him smile despite himself. “I’m not so sure about that, Talon. The night you told me you loved me, you changed my life. You transformed my world. And if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.”
He kissed her, which was hard to do with them both grinning like lovesick loons. He kissed her soundly, in awe all over again that in giving up his magic, he’d won his heart.
Amethyst Destiny Page 27
