“She could shift, like Simon. But her gifts, as you call them, were too many to count.”
“Grainna is dead.” Simon started to pace the small room.
“That doesn’t mean there can’t be others out there like her,” Mrs. Dawson, who had kept silent, reminded him. “I may not have read all the books in my library, but there are several tales about evil like hers that have existed since before she entered this world. Let’s not forget about Helen’s previous employer.”
“A Druid?” Giles asked.
Helen nodded. “He and his brother…and yes, they were evil to the core. But they too are dead.”
“There are always more to take their place. We can only hope none become as powerful as Grainna.” Gavin squeezed Amber’s hand while he spoke.
“The crow couldn’t have been a shifter. It must have been controlled by someone who could talk to animals.”
“How can you be sure, Simon?” Mrs. Dawson asked.
“When a shifter is injured, they can only hold the shift for a short time. You said you destroyed the crow.”
“I did,” Gavin said.
“Well, whoever decided to invade the sanctuary of your home picked the wrong one. Simon is the most powerful shifter ever known.” Giles said.
“We don’t know if that’s true,” Simon said.
Giles shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure. It’s well documented. First son of Finlay MacCoinnich soars the skies, and swims the oceans, surpassed by none other. Other books state similar themes. Shifters themselves are rare.”
“I’m sure there are others.” Simon clearly didn’t like the praise.
“I remember everything I read, Simon. You’re a rare duck…pun intended. Talking to animals, bending their will…that sort of thing is much more common among Druids than your gift.”
“I could do that as a child.”
“And now someone is watching us. We need to trace the power and find its source.”
“How do you suggest we do that, Kincaid?” Simon asked.
Gavin turned to stare at Helen. “Do you find objects, people, with your gift?”
“I have, but I don’t know if I can follow power.”
“Have you ever tried?” Giles asked.
Helen shook her head.
It looked like she’d have her chance.
****
Giles walked beside Kincaid and Amber as they moved about the library securing wards. At one point, Kincaid stopped beside Amber, removed the band she had holding her hair back, and secured their wrists together with it. “To keep you from slipping away again,” he told her.
Amber smiled and for the first time since Giles had known Kincaid, the man’s face softened. The binding holding them together triggered a thought hovering in his mind. A possible solution, though he knew it wouldn’t be the favored solution.
Once the room was as secure as it could be, Giles returned to the table in the center of the room covered in books. “Kincaid, Lady Amber… I’d like to show you what I’ve found so far,” he told them before they could follow Simon and the others out.
“Something hopeful?” Amber asked.
“Something interesting. I’m not sure how hopeful.”
Once they were seated, Giles swiveled several leather-bound books around so they could see the passages he’d found. “These books are not in this library in the future, which is why they stood out to me. This one,” he tapped on the one closest to him, “was the one I was reading when Helen and Mrs. Dawson summoned me. Inside it speaks of your parents, Lady Amber. About their strong bond and ability to lead armies. Of course, it doesn’t say your mother led any, but my guess is she raised strong sons who fought alongside their father. Most books of this time don’t outright give women their due share of praise.”
“We understand how history works, Giles. And we already knew the MacCoinnich’s raised a strong family, both for the times and in their Druid abilities. What about this book struck you as unique?”
Right! Moving on. “You see, before you arrived, Kincaid, Helen attempted to search for more information inside the book. Power beyond us flipped pages inside, stopping often, and continued on.”
“Power beyond us?” Kincaid asked.
Amber sat forward. “You mean the Ancients?”
Giles exchanged glances with Kincaid. Neither of them had a strong faith in Ancient power, but he hadn’t seen such a strong reaction out of a simple request before.
“That’s what Helen said. Anyway, last night I read the pages where the book stopped. It talked about generations of MacCoinnich’s and other strong Druid families.”
“A lesson about the family tree?” Kincaid asked.
“At first, that’s what I thought it was, but this afternoon I found these other books and attempted to cross reference the information to see if there was something linking them together. What I found was each of the couples both came from Druid families. Both had Druid blood.”
“That can’t be rare,” Amber said.
“Actually, as the years move on from your time, it does become rare. As each century passes without guidance, some Druids never even know of their heritage. And in this time, we know many Druids think of themselves as witches, or that they’re crazy.”
“Selma thought herself a witch until she met Lizzy,” Amber reminded them.
“Exactly. It appears after the millennium more Druid connections occurred. Maybe because of the time travel brought on by your family…or awareness on a more secret level. Who knows, maybe Kincaid and I being in this time as we are, was predetermined to set the course for the future. It’s hard to say.”
“The books led you to learn about the strong gene pool between Druids. How does that help us?” Kincaid’s voice was all business and no smile met his lips.
Giles dropped his gaze to their joined hands sitting on the table. “Amber, tell me, were your parents bonded? Had they exchanged Druid wedding vows?”
“Aye. As are Tara and Duncan.”
“I’m assuming, only by what I’ve seen of course, that Helen and Simon are not bonded.” Giles refused to meet Kincaid’s stare, knowing the man would probably follow his line of questions.
“No. Nor are Lizzy and Fin.”
Kincaid turned to Amber. “Why not?”
Amber shrugged. “When we were battling Grainna, there was too much uncertainty about the outcome. I don’t believe my brother, Fin, wanted to risk Lizzy’s life. Then there was always the question about how time travel would affect the couple if they were separated for any amount of time since bounded couples share part of their souls.”
Giles pinched his eyes together. “You mean to say your family believed the other partner would perish if they traveled separately in time?”
“Is that not true?” Amber asked, her eyes wide with question.
Kincaid released breath. “No, Amber. It’s not true. It’s only when the soul has left this world, this plain, that the surviving mate yearns for the other. Yes, most die within a short time when that happens, but not when one travels in time.”
Amber brought a hand to her neck and played with the necklace she wore.
“The bound couples in the books I’ve read about often outlived their unbound cousins. Which is why in our time,” Giles waved a hand between him and Kincaid, “when couples are married, Druid wedding vows are always exchanged. It has made us, as a race, and the couples stronger. You know each Druid has a unique power, some more than one. Bound couples, with enough practice, can use their mate’s power as well.”
“I’ve never seen my mother create lightning as my father can.”
“She probably hasn’t been encouraged to try. The power is never as strong, but it does happen. The more powerful the couple, the more powerful the bond.”
Giles sat back and let the information soak into the two Druids in front of him.
“Your mother had the gift of premonition, is that right?”
“Aye.”
“She told you to live here.”
<
br /> “Aye. If I were to survive I had to come with Simon to this time to live my life.”
“Did she say anything else?”
Amber’s eyes fluttered several time, her face lost all color, not that it held much.
“She did.”
Giles held his breath and Kincaid started to squirm. The man never squirmed.
Amber stared directly at Kincaid. “She said a Druid awaited me in the future, and that this warrior would be the balm that saves me.”
Chapter Twelve
It’s not me. I’m no one’s balm.
Yet as Kincaid stared at his hand already bound to Amber’s, he knew how wrong he was. No one in his time had the ability to shield others. Some had the ability to shield themselves, but only for short periods of time and not beyond their own life force.
It’s what made him valuable to the team.
It’s what made him valuable to Amber.
It’s what was keeping her alive.
A massive wave of sorrow vibrated between the two of them as Giles’s words soaked in.
Bonding with anyone wasn’t his plan. If this was the only solution Giles was going to find in his books… “Keep searching for answers,” he told him.
“Of course.” Giles wouldn’t look at him.
Kincaid stood and Amber followed.
“Before you leave.” Giles stopped them. “Kincaid, were your parents bonded?”
“My father raised me. My mother was not Druid.”
Giles scratched his head. “That’s right. I seem to remember that. And your grandparents?”
“My father spoke of a mother. I didn’t know my grandparents.”
“It’s safe to say they weren’t bonded either?”
“One can assume.”
“Yet your powers are stronger than most.” Seemed Giles was thinking aloud.
“Your point?”
“No point. An observation. Perhaps another answer is in your lineage.”
Was he suggesting another man for Amber?
Kincaid swallowed hard, not liking the taste of that on his tongue. “I’m an only child.”
Giles turned pages in his book, already moving to the next option. “Right. A cousin perhaps…”
“What are you suggesting, Giles?” Amber asked. “That I bond with just anyone because of their gift?”
“If that’s the answer—”
Amber pushed her chin into the air. “My father didn’t arrange a marriage for me, and I’m not about to let a man I hardly know make that decision on my behalf.”
“Of course not. I’m not suggesting… But if the answer lies in bonding—”
“Keep looking,” Kincaid said again.
Giles offered a single nod and returned to his books.
Half way down the hall to the kitchen, Amber pulled him to a stop. “Let’s keep the information Giles gave us to ourselves for now. The others will worry.”
“I agree. We need to weigh our options before bringing anyone else into the discussion.”
Amber shook her head. “I’m not sure any discussion needs to occur. This is neither their problem nor their choice.”
No, it’s ours.
“Nay, Gavin. The problem is not yours either. ’Tis mine and mine alone.”
“Did you read my mind?”
She hesitated. “I-I suppose I must have. It wasn’t intentional.”
Unsure of how he felt about her being inside his head, he offered, “You don’t need to make any decision tonight.”
She studied the floor below her feet. “No, I don’t. But we both know this…” she squeezed her tied hand in his… “cannot last too long.”
His jaw set and his back teeth started to pulse with the unintended pressure. His need to see her smile made him repeat her words. “Is holding my hand such a hardship, m’lady?”
There it was...a slight lift of her lips. “There are times you annoy me, Gavin Kincaid, but nay, holding your hand is no hardship.”
“It was my kiss then?”
His heart lifted when she smiled full on and her cheeks turned an adorable shade of rose. “Is it polite to talk about kissing?”
“I suppose it depends on what time you’re from.”
“In my time, women would talk to each other about such things…but never a woman to a man.”
“You know this from experience?”
Her dark eyes sparked when they finally met his. “I have not held another man’s hand in years…not even my father’s. I have no experience, as you say.”
Kincaid lifted their joined hands, kissed the edge of her fingers.
She tugged but he wouldn’t let her go. Not again. “Tsk, tsk…I’m teasing.”
Her spark simmered into a quaint smile. Anyone else and he would swear the look was practiced and devious. But Amber had no way of honing the sort of womanly wiles that could sway a man with a look.
“We have time, Amber. Plenty of time to consider what needs to happen.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Then do.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, the mirth on her face slid away. “When I was a child, before Grainna, I could sometime sense things before they happened. A small portion of my mother’s gift lived inside of me.”
Kincaid held perfectly still, too wired into her next words to move.
“I’ve not felt her gift for years. Until you took hold of my hand.”
“W-what did you see?” Do I really want to know?
“The picture wasn’t, still isn’t clear.” Her eyes squeezed shut tight as if that would bring her visions into focus. “There’s pain, uncertainty…and darkness. Something is coming. I don’t know if I’ll be here for it, but it’s coming.”
“Darkness?”
With her eyes still closed, she tilted her head; her long hair drifted to the side of her body and made him want to push it back.
“Encircling the darkness there’s a blinding light that sparks around it. The light beyond sings, calling to me.” She opened her eyes suddenly and stared directly at him. “That is what I see. What I feel is urgency. This time you speak of that we have, may be in theory only. In reality…I think not.”
Kincaid blew out a long breath. “Do we have tonight?”
“My feeling and visions have no timeline.”
Is that better?
“We should dine, Gavin. Think on what Giles has learned and make no assumptions.”
The need to act…to do something, itched on the surface of his skin like ants crawling over ones’ feet with the need to be brushed off. “We need to plan.”
“Plan for what? Darkness?” Her shoulders folded in with a small laugh. “No need for that. Darkness will come regardless. We need to remember our convictions, what we stand for, and move from there.” She nodded toward the kitchen. “Let’s sup. Fuel the body, and the soul and mind will follow.”
“Are you repeating your mother’s words?”
Amber shook her head. “Nay…my father’s.”
Later that night, with Giles’s words running through his head and Amber’s small frame lying perfectly still next to his, Gavin held her hand and stared at the familiar ceiling above his head. Neither of them spoke, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
Every few minutes, he’d hear her voice in his head. Amber’s thoughts, her worry, skidded across his mind like a fly buzzing by.
Her desire for her mother’s council was most apparent. When she shifted her weight on the bed, he felt her unease over sharing the space with a man.
On a completely caveman level, Kincaid enjoyed the fact she’d never shared her bed with anyone. In his time, he avoided virgins like the red plague. Not hard to do when most women were rid of their virginity before they were allowed to drive. He could say he avoided innocents…women who didn’t guard their heart and didn’t understand the underlying risk of being with him.
Amber might be innocent, in a virginal sense, but she wasn’t naive to the dangers of life.
/> If the truth were told, she could probably teach him a thing or two about the risk of living.
Who would willingly move through time, some five to six hundred years in the future, to live? Who could say they had come against the greatest evil ever known and survived…and she had been what, a teenager?
“I was twelve…nearly thirteen,” Amber’s soft voice said beside him.
Content with the fact he could feel her inside his head, he released a sigh. “Was it awful?”
“I was little more than a child. I’d been told all my life that my brothers, Duncan and Fin, needed to travel beyond our time to prevent Grainna from regaining her power. I was told of her threat, but didn’t truly understand it until I saw it myself.”
He turned on his side and watched her as the light of the moon shone in from the windows. Her gaze was fixed on something above her.
“She followed Fin and Lizzy back to our time as an old woman. It wasn’t long before her curse was broken and every day was a fight for survival. I’d been told all my life to use my gifts only when necessary. To hide them.” She smiled, taking Kincaid by surprise. “Then Lizzy confronted all of us. Told us to work together, pull our energy together to fight Grainna. Can you imagine my excitement when I, a mere child, was encouraged to help battle evil?”
“It made you feel worthy.”
“Aye. Worthy and needed. I worked harder…searching other’s thoughts, the intentions of the animals around us. Anything. I’d sit in my room at night and spark fire from my fingers so often my fingertips were black.” She laughed. The memory fresh in her mind filled him with warmth. “I realized the thought of Grainna coming back into her power truly terrified my father.” She twisted in the bed and looked at him. “My father is never frightened. Worried, maybe…but frightened? Nay. Never.”
“He understood the risk.”
“He did. More than any of us. The evil she spread before we defeated her was a black soupy fog that darkened so many families, so many lives.”
“Yours most of all.”
“Cian lost a young woman caught in the fist of Grainna. He never did recover completely. His pain gripped me more than anyone’s. It was his pain I felt knife through me once we destroyed Grainna. It was as if I couldn’t breathe. Everyone else celebrated her demise and I slowly started to feel all the pain she left in her wake.”
Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) Page 10
