Grant eyed the bucks. “Too much meat. One will have to be disposed of.” He frowned at Darach and Heidrek. “’Twas poor of you to kill more than we needed.”
“I told them as much,” Erin muttered. “Men and their dick sizes. Never ending battle. Primitive bullshit.”
Jackie’s cheeks burned when she realized what Erin was talking about. They were trying to outdo each other. But why? She almost felt stupid for thinking it when their eyes flickered to her before returning to each others with a definite dare as to who would forfeit their kill.
Drawn by the commotion, the boys returned.
“I am hungry,” Robert declared. “I will eat at least one of these bucks.”
By instinct, Jackie’s emotions flared, and she headed that way when he did. Something about a child touching a dead animal didn’t sit well. “No, don’t touch them until they’ve been cooked.”
“Nay, lass.” William stepped in front of her. “’Tis not for a lady to be around such things.”
Jackie shook her head and smiled. “It’s okay.” She ignored the numbness spreading through her, stepped around William and stood beside the dead deer, angling so that Robert wouldn’t come closer. “This isn’t for kids.” At least not to her way of thinking. She nodded at the fire. “It needs more sticks. Like Grant said, we should all pull our weight.”
“Aye, then.” Robert sighed and turned away.
She was about to step away as well when a strange tingling started around her ankle. At first, she thought it was just sensation returning until Erin said, “What the hell?”
Jackie yelped when the deer at her feet twitched, and its head shot up. She barely had a second to process what was happening before Darach and Heidrek pulled her back, and the deer leapt to its feet.
Not dead but very much alive.
Its eyes met hers for a long moment before it darted off.
Stunned, Jackie could only watch it go. What the hell just happened? Because it couldn’t possibly be how it seemed…could it?
“I dinnae ken,” Robert said. “Was that deer not to eat?”
“Nay, lad. The other is,” Grant said softly. “’Tis time to sit and enjoy our food. Then we will all talk.”
“I think we should talk now.” William’s wide eyes went to Jackie before he sank to a knee and lowered his head. “I dinnae know which god ye are but thank ye for sparing a life that gave no nourishment.”
“Och.” Grant sighed. “Then ye will eat later, and we will talk now.”
When he flicked his wrist, both boys fell to the ground gently, sound asleep.
“I thought you shouldn’t use magic here,” she whispered.
“’Twas just a wee bit and Da is talented enough to keep others from sensing it,” Darach explained.
Jackie had to wonder if he hadn’t used a wee bit already to look inside her mind.
For whatever reason—mostly because Jackie figured she was always on her own wavelength—Nicole bolted upright when the kids hit the ground. With a wide yawn, she peered around until her eyes landed on Niall and she offered a sleepy smile, mumbling, “I’m hungry.”
“Aye, lass.” Niall went to her. “Soon.”
In the meantime, Grant and Darach laid the boys down on a plush bit of grass and covered them with blankets. Good thing everyone arrived with satchels because she, Darach and Heidrek had nothing.
“Everyone sit,” Grant ordered. “’Tis time to talk.”
Jackie heard him but felt more numb than ever. Her emotions were high, and her limbs were freezing up.
Heidrek took her hand. “Come sit, woman.”
Her eyes went from his face to their entwined hands. She couldn’t feel a thing.
“Come, ‘tis okay.” Darach slid his arm around her lower back. “Let’s sit.”
Relieved that she could feel him, more so that her legs seemed to be working, she welcomed Darach’s help to a stump. Though he seemed slightly confused, Heidrek sat on her other side without commenting.
Everyone else joined them around the fire.
Grant eyed the flames and seemed to get lost in them before he spoke. “Though ‘tis hard to know where I should begin, ‘tis likely best to begin with where we are.” His eyes met Darach’s. “As you know, we’re at Hamilton castle, our castle, though ‘tis earlier in our era. ‘Tis when I was but a few years older than young William is now. The year I was finally released from Keir Hamilton's dungeon and allowed to roam beyond the castle walls.”
Jackie slid her hand into Darach’s when he tensed.
“’Twas in this valley that I found occasional sanctuary while I was imprisoned, whether figuratively or literally,” Grant continued. “’Tis a place Keir Hamilton knew nothing about. A place of unusual magic. And ‘tis a place that will keep us safe whilst we’re here.”
Darach’s hand clenched hers and his frown only deepened. “I dinnae ken, Da. Why did Adlin send us here?”
“I suspect because he wants me to ken something about Keir Hamilton that I couldnae recognize at such a young age,” Grant said. “We must all be vigilant because there’s something to be learned here that will help fight Keir’s father…that will help destroy the evil determined to take the wee Bruce, use the ring and change Scotland.”
“’Tis an unkind mentor that sends his apprentice back to the days that haunt him most,” Darach murmured, his tone dark, his words unforgiving.
“And ‘tis an equally unkind mentor who wouldnae do anything to help his kin see more clearly,” Grant said. “Remember that son. Remember that there is always a bigger picture and if you but look you will see it.”
Jackie clenched her jaw when Darach’s eyes narrowed. Though he was talking about Keir Hamilton and the future of Scotland, she heard something else in Grant’s advice. Something that had more to do…with her?
“All aside,” Grant continued. “We are safe here. On the morrow, we will venture out and see what we can learn.” His eyes went to the children. “I cannae fathom why they’ve been sent on this journey, but a few of us will stay behind to watch them at all times. Because Robert cannae under any circumstances be subjected to Keir Hamilton.”
There was no missing the vehemence in Grant’s voice. The pure anger of someone who remembered all too well how poorly a child could be treated.
Before any could respond, Grant’s eyes landed on Heidrek. “Though we need to ken many things whilst here, let us begin with you.”
Heidrek nodded. “What would you like to know, Shaman?”
“You made Erin back down from confronting Adlin. And had Rònan bowing to your will as well.” Grant's eyes held Heidrek's “What are you? I’ve never seen anyone who can control a dragon shifter.”
Erin and Rònan's eyes remained locked on Heidrek, eager for an explanation.
But Heidrek never lost eye contact with Grant. “I am something different. Something that allows me to hear all of you speak within the mind.”
“All right. But what precisely are you?”
“What I am does not matter.”
“It verra much does.” Grant’s eyes went from Jackie to Heidrek. “If you mean to keep her safe.”
Heidrek’s hand slid to the blade at his waist. “I know how to keep her safe.”
“Aye,” Grant agreed. “But we all saw that you have a way of doing it without a weapon. So again I ask, what are you?”
Heidrek eyed Grant for a long moment before his gaze slid to Erin and Rònan. Jackie was surprised by the slight glow of their eyes—a flicker of dragon neither expected—before he gave his answer not to Grant but them.
“Amongst other things, I am a Dragon Seer.”
Jackie didn’t miss the slight shift in Grant and Heidrek’s posture.
Though they didn’t draw them, both put a hand on their weapons at the same time. This, naturally, made the MacLomain men do the same.
“Impossible,” Grant hissed softly. “They are but myth long before your time. And markedly vulnerable to darkness.”
/> “Not anymore.” Heidrek slowly removed his hand from his weapon as he eyed each and every man. “I cannae say if there are others, but I am one. And though my mother turned to darkness, I will not.”
“But you control dragons,” Grant said. “That is a verra powerful and unique form of magic. A type that can weaken even the strongest of human minds. And a weak mind is easier to corrupt.”
“Then we must hope my mind is stronger than most.”
“Indeed.” Grant cocked his head. “So why are you really here?”
“You were there. Because Adlin summoned me. Not only that but your son requested it, and I agreed. I mean to protect Jackie and I desire…” his eyes went to Jackie but drifted to Erin. When Rònan’s eyes narrowed, Heidrek’s gaze returned to Grant. He shook his head, his eyes again flickering back to Erin. “I desire Jackie, but something has changed.”
Rònan clenched his jaw, his hand still on his weapon. Even so, he was obviously unsure of his next move based on the odd sort of worship in his eyes when he looked at Heidrek.
Erin took it out of everyone’s hands when she clenched Rònan’s thigh and narrowed her eyes on Heidrek. “I’m not available so you better get your shit together fast.”
Heidrek bowed his head before his eyes met Rònan’s. “I am no threat, Dragon. I am but a brother.”
“What sort of brother, though,” Rònan wondered, the dragon in him defiant though the man clearly wasn’t. “When ye arenae a dragon?”
“Born to a seer and dragon-shifter, I am what I am,” Heidrek said simply. “I share a kinship with dragons that is hard to explain. I think as you think. Beneath the Viking King’s tutorage, I have become stronger and wiser. Now something new calls to me…” His eyes again went to Erin. “Something has changed.”
Erin’s brows shot together as she plunked down on Rònan’s lap and kept a you-better-understand-who-I’m-with look on her face. “Well, I’m not sure how I can help you,” she patted Rònan’s chest, “because I’m with him.”
Heidrek’s eyes went to Grant. “I will not harm you and yours.”
Grant’s gaze stayed locked with his for several moments before he finally spoke. “I dinnae think you will, lad, but I will be watching you verra closely regardless.”
After Heidrek nodded, Grant turned his attention to Jackie. “Now let us get to what weighs most on our minds.”
Jackie felt Grant’s stare as though her life had narrowed down to a single pin-prick point.
Darach’s arm again snaked around her lower back, his gaze never leaving his father. “Take care how you go about this, Da.”
Grant’s eyes met Darach’s before they settled on the fire. “Either I tell her, or you do, Son.”
Upset, Jackie frowned at Darach. “Well, somebody needs to tell me and sooner rather than later. What’s going on? Why did that deer run off? I can only assume it wasn’t all that injured to begin with.”
“Nay, ‘twas dead, lass,” Darach said softly as his eyes connected with hers. “It seems you have a gift nobody expected but mayhap explains why you were able to keep Erin safe when she traveled to the Otherworld.”
“Just tell me,” she prompted when he paused. “I have the right to know.”
Darach nodded, but she could tell he was worried about how she would react.
“It seems you have the power not only to keep death at bay but to resurrect not only people but animals,” he said. “’Tis a rare and special gift, lass. I’ve never known another to possess it to the degree you do.”
Impossible. Chills raced through her only to be replaced by tingling then numbness. “What exactly do you mean by degree?”
“I mean that while Aunt McKayla and Lair have the ability to heal, I cannae say they’ve ever brought anyone back after they’ve passed over,” he said. “And that it was a deer, something you had no emotional attachment to, makes it more profound.”
“I see,” Jackie murmured as she tried to suppress her fear. “Any thoughts on why I’d be able to do such a thing?”
Grant shook his head. “Verra few in history have possessed such a gift.” His compassionate eyes met hers. “As tales foretell it, she who can resurrect must first stand on the brink of death herself.” His disgruntled eyes went to Darach. “And she can only ever be meant for he who would chase her into the afterlife with no chance to return.”
Chapter Six
LOST IN THOUGHT, Darach finished the last of his meat and continued to eye the fire. Erin and Jackie had gone off to talk a while ago with Rònan and Heidrek trailing at a distance. Darach had wanted to speak with Jackie alone, but she refused, saying she needed time with Erin. So here he sat, confused as hell and trying to come to grips with what his father had implied.
Jackie was sick…possibly even dying.
And by the looks of it, only Erin knew because Nicole wasn’t doing well at all. Grant wouldn’t answer any of her questions, saying it was Jackie’s place to tell her. So now she paced with a disgruntled Niall alongside as he tried to convince her to calm down. That it wasn’t good for the wee one.
“Was it necessary to say such around so many?” he mumbled to his father. “’Tis a poor time for everyone to be so upset.”
“Aye,” Grant said, clearly upset as well. “Adlin wouldnae have responded to her as he did if he didnae want her secrets known. More than that, ‘tis a truth that needed to be revealed so that we all better ken what lies ahead.”
He kept looking to the woodland, hoping Jackie would return.
“You mean so that I would better ken what lies ahead.” Darach narrowed his eyes. “So that I might have all the facts before I continue pursuing Jackie. Do ye truly think I would let my own potential death stand in the way of my feelings for the lass?”
Darach understood his father was upset that the prophecy said her true love would die. And while he didn’t blame him for his concern, he’d rather his Da find it in his heart to approve rather than dissuade.
“Ye willnae potentially die if ye end up with Jackie, Son. ‘Twill be a definite, unavoidable thing.” Pain ran deep in Grant’s eyes. “Ye arenae a father yet so ye dinnae ken how I feel. How much pain losing ye would cause. And though I want ye to find the kind of love I have with yer mother, ye cannae fault me for trying my best to give ye fair warning…to hope mayhap yer heart will lead ye in another direction.”
“It cannae. It willnae.” He met his father's eyes and finally came clean. “I've been dreaming about her for years, Da.”
Surprise flashed across his father's face followed by concern. “Why didnae ye tell me?” His frown deepened. “Yer my son. I've been inside yer mind and never sensed these dreams.”
“I didnae tell ye at first because I didnae want ye to worry. Eventually, she became more to me and for lack of a better explanation, I started feeling possessive of her. There were times I wanted to tell ye and my kin but 'twas impossible. She became a secret I couldnae seem to share.” He frowned. “Now I wonder if Goddess Brigit had something to do with that.”
“Goddess Brigit?” Grant's brows lowered sharply. “I dinnae ken.”
Darach had assumed he did by now. Evidently not. So he shared her part in everything.
“Well, this certainly gives me a better sense of direction,” Grant muttered.
“I’m surprised Adlin didnae mention as much.”
“I could say the same about you, Son.” Grant frowned. “Adlin told me the ring had changed and little else. He didnae mention one was a replica.” He shook his head. “Between that bit of information and your dreams, ‘tis becoming far clearer why ye gave her to Heidrek.” His voice dropped an octave. “’Twould have been good to know before I accused her of betraying ye.”
“Och, da!” He scowled at his father. “Ye didnae?”
“Aye, I did, and she put me in my place for it.” Grant shrugged when Darach kept scowling. “I'm a parent watching out for my bairn. ‘Tis really your fault for not sharing things with me sooner.”
Darach
sighed and shook his head.
“So ye continue to feel just as strongly about Jackie?” His father searched his eyes. “Are ye certain ‘tis not just a false sense of commitment based on the dreams?”
“Nay, what I feel for her has only intensified. ‘Tis verra real.”
“Let me ask ye this then,” Grant said. “If she continued to wear the duplicate ring, would ye still be on the run? Would ye still be willing to give her up?”
“Without hesitation,” Darach said. “I’d do anything to keep her safe.”
His Da eyed him for a long moment. “I believe ye mean that son.” He tilted his head. “So ‘twas truly risky to kiss her then, aye? Because God knows, a kiss can change everything.”
“Let me guess?” Darach arched a brow. “Ye learned as much when Jackie put ye in your place?”
“Aye, lad,” Grant said. “And ‘tis safe to say she was as upset with ye as she is with me at the moment.”
“No doubt.” Darach shook his head. “’Twas foolish of me.” He sighed. “Had the demi-god suspected how strongly I felt, it could have caused a great deal of harm.”
“Aye.” Grant continued to eye him as Darach looked at the fire. “Tell me how ye learned to switch the passion of the ring.”
“Och.” Darach’s eyes shot to his father. “How did ye know about that?”
“Adlin.” His father gave him a pointed look. “He was concerned and wanted me to look into it.”
“’Tis of no importance now.” He frowned. “Even if I didnae want her, I wouldnae do such a thing to Heidrek in light of recent revelations.”
“Nay, I dinnae suppose ye would.” Grant considered him. “So tell me how the passion is switched.”
“’Tis naught but an incantation that calls on Brigit’s intervention. ‘Tis she who has the power to switch the passion,” Darach said. “After all, ‘twas she who created the rings.”
“Indeed.” Grant’s eyes narrowed as he pondered. “A Celtic goddess who is clearly playing games seeing how the real ring is now on Jackie’s finger. What happened to the replica?”
Passion of a Scottish Warrior (The MacLomain Series: Later Years Book 4) Page 8
