Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five)

by Bybee, Catherine

  No…she needed eyes back in time and the blood of another.

  Mouse barely kept his eyes open.

  She still needed him, but needed him more alert than he currently was. “Seek your bed, Mouse.”

  He nearly collapsed with pleasure.

  “Before you do, send Clarisse to me.”

  Raine waited for the woman and smiled when she entered the room. “Just the talent I need.”

  ****

  It was impossible not to smile.

  She was home. Alive and home.

  The laughter of the children was more welcome than it had ever been before. With Gavin’s shield, she didn’t feel their worry or their overriding emotions that once caused her pain. No, she only heard their excitement, constant chatter, and questions. All of them asked about the manor in the future. The manor had briefly been a sanctuary for them. A wonderful escape into a future they will hear a lot about but would probably never live in.

  Aislin, Myra and Todd’s youngest daughter, sat curled in Amber’s lap and listened to all the chatter.

  “You look so different,” Fiona told her. Tara and Duncan’s only daughter sat beside Selma, her cousin while all the boys grouped together and kept a watchful eye on Gavin. Her poor husband had no less than six sets of eyes on him at all times. If not the children’s, then the adults in the room. Except for Cian. He decided to ride to the village and avoid any more words on the touchy subject of Grainna’s blood.

  Amber hated the divide from her brother, but there wasn’t anything she could do now that she and Gavin were bonded.

  Family filled every corner of the massive room.

  “You look like yourself again.” Lora smiled when she spoke.

  “I feel like myself again,” Amber told her.

  “Amber tells me you’re the one who knew I’d come,” Gavin said.

  “I didn’t know who would come, only that someone would.”

  “Are you truly married?” Briac asked.

  “Aye, son, they are,” Duncan spoke for them.

  “But doesn’t grandpa need to approve? I mean, you are his daughter.”

  Most of those in the room turned their gaze to Ian.

  “’Tis a little late for that now, lad. Though I would have preferred some knowledge before any vows were exchanged…”

  “There was no time, Father,” Amber told him.

  I don’t think your dad likes me. Gavin’s words spoke inside her head.

  Give him time.

  “Simon stood as witness. He understood the urgency,” Amber said.

  “Why didn’t he return with you?” Lizzy asked.

  “He didn’t know I was coming home.”

  “How could he not know, lass?”

  Guilt about the way she left swelled in her chest.

  “He couldn’t have come even if he knew,” Gavin said. “There were important matters to attend to when we left.”

  “What matters?” Fin asked.

  How much should I say in front of the kids? Gavin asked her.

  How much is there to say? Did I miss something?

  Things were erupting after you disappeared.

  Are they in danger?

  Someone in the room cleared their throat.

  “Selma, can you take the children outside so we might speak?” Amber asked Liz and Fin’s oldest daughter.

  A collective sigh of disappointment rose from all eight kids. But not one of them argued as they stood and left the room.

  Gavin sat on the arm of the chair beside Amber while the rest of the family waited for some explanation.

  Amber rested her hand on Gavin’s leg. “What happened?”

  “I felt you running, knew when I went to our room that you wouldn’t be there. When I didn’t find you, panic filled the house. Selma’s panic.”

  “Selma?” Lizzy asked. “Do you mean Selma Mayfair?”

  “Yes. She’s been staying with us for a few days. Someone threatened her, and Jake insisted she be around others.”

  Todd sat up. “Jake? My partner Jake?”

  “Aye, Todd. It seems the two of them are attracted to one another. He seemed quite worried when she was threatened.”

  “Was the threat magical?” Duncan asked.

  “It didn’t seem that way at first,” Gavin told them. “But when I was leaving I knew Selma’s panic matched my own. She was terrified for Jake’s daughters. She believed something awful was happening to them.”

  “Jesus,” Todd jumped to his feet. “We need to help him. Jake’s girls are all he has.”

  Ian lifted his hands in the air. “Calm yourself. We will not rush into anything.”

  Gavin nodded. “And traveling in time to alter a single event for one’s own personal gain is forbidden. Besides, the Ancients only allow us to travel where they want us to go.”

  “But Jake—”

  “He has Simon, Helen, and Selma with him.”

  “And Giles,” Amber added.

  “Who is Giles?” Tara asked.

  “He’s from my time,” Gavin said.

  “Your time?” someone in the room asked.

  “When were you born?” This question came from Tara.

  “Twenty-one ninty-nine.”

  “Really?”

  “Wow! What’s it like in your time?” Tara asked.

  It seemed as if everyone in the room focused on Gavin.

  “Harder…some things are easier. The political world is volatile and on the brink of civil war in nearly every ‘free country’. Our natural resources are waning, as would be expected with the population growth and the advancement of medicine. Many of us live as far off the grid as we can to go unnoticed.”

  “Off the grid? What is the meaning of that?” Ian asked.

  Gavin grinned. “Much like how you live here. Your resources for living…food, shelter, and power…manpower are all provided within the walls of the Manor. I live in Dawson Manor, which is much different from the Manor you know. The home is the same, but larger. The grounds extend for acres. The homes there now are occupied by those in our brotherhood.”

  “Brotherhood?”

  “Or sisterhood. Many of us are Druid. Some are family or sworn friends to our cause. Not unlike what you have here. Laird Ian has his family and those watching the walls of this fortress. his men, and his servants making sure everyone is fed, clothed.”

  “And who manages this fortress?” Ian asked.

  “It’s more of a collective of Druids that manage and protect those who are not. We follow the leadership of a brother and sister whose powers help guide our path.”

  Duncan pushed away from Tara’s side as if he couldn’t stand still. “You said something about a cause? What cause do you speak of?”

  Gavin narrowed his eyes and paused. “Yours. All of yours. We serve you.”

  “How is that possible?” Lizzy asked. “You don’t know us.”

  “But I do. I know all of you. More than you will ever know me, I’m afraid.”

  “Do you meet us in the future? I don’t get it.” Tara exchanged confused looks with her sister.

  “No. Nothing like that. You set into motion many things. The recovery of the trunk that Selma Mayfair retrieves with a stone in the twenty-first century?” Gavin paused. “That trunk needs to travel in time undisturbed for hundreds of years before it reaches its destination. We, those of us who are branded warriors, make tasks like that happen.”

  “Wait.” Todd tossed his hands in the air. “How?”

  Gavin smiled and Amber felt the entire room riveted to his words. A level of honor washed over her as she watched him speak.

  He slowly lifted the sleeve of his shirt and exposed the embedded ink circling his upper right arm. “The ink used in this mark is derived from one of the original stones. Those stones are spread throughout the globe in my time. I believe at least two reside in this home throughout time. Only warriors, strong Druid warriors, are given the ability to shift time. We have learned, from the librarians, of yo
ur trials and the risk that Grainna posed to all. Imagine if the one stone had not made it to Selma when it was needed most? How would that one task have changed all of our lives?”

  Amber remembered the final battle with Grainna, how each of them was needed to fight against her in order to win.

  “There are other times, when the knights of this Keep are outnumbered and would have been overthrown if not for our intervention.”

  “Wait! Are you saying you’ve fought in this very hall to protect the stones?”

  Gavin nodded. “Yes. Many times.” As if to make his point, he stood and walked to the hearth and ran a hand over its massive stone mantel. When he reached the third stone on the end, he placed his palm over it and watched it turn. Inside, a sacred stone lay alone.

  “One of the original stones?” Gavin directed his question to Ian.

  Her father said nothing, but she noted the flare of his nostrils and the rigid set of his shoulders.

  “’Tis but a rock.”

  Gavin lifted the sacred stone she knew was anything but a rock and grinned. He moved the stone closer to his arm and the Celtic marking on his arm appeared to glow. “More than a rock. But I understand your need to protect it.” Gavin returned the stone and closed the strange door.

  “I have served this family, our cause, since I knew of your existence. I am but one of your knights, Laird Ian, sworn to protect this family and all the secrets you hold.”

  Amber’s gaze shifted from her father to her husband and she held her breath.

  “How is it you came to know my daughter? Did someone in your future tell you to find her?”

  Gavin settled his eyes on her. A soft smile met his lips. “I noticed her portrait hanging in the stairway of this hall. It captured my attention because I’d never seen it before.” And because of your beauty.

  Amber smiled.

  “I asked Giles to search for the name behind the picture. After that a series of events brought me to your daughter’s side.”

  “If your one purpose is to protect this family then how is it you didn’t know Amber on sight?”

  Gavin turned to her family. “I have seen every one of your pictures. Portraits that even in my time are preserved in this Keep. But not Amber’s. The books say very little of her. Giles and I thought perhaps she’d passed away as a child. Obviously that isn’t the case.”

  “You should tell them what Giles learned right before we came here,” Amber said.

  The prophesy?

  Aye.

  Kincaid shook his head but launched into the driving force behind Amber’s speedy retreat home. “Giles found out that Grainna had a child. And that the powerful child was thrown away by her at birth. Throughout time, each offspring has only one child, only to give the baby up. A mother giving away a son, a father giving away a daughter. It’s repeated, making it difficult to follow the child’s ancestry.” The mention of Grainna’s name brought every eye in the room on him.

  “Go on.” Ian’s strong voice ordered him to continue.

  “The passage Giles believes pertained to Amber and myself said this: Only when the powerful one bonds and completes their union with one of equal gift, will the cycle be broken…and then the gifts of the forefathers and mothers will come together. This bond will come from two opposing families…enemies. A crossroad will follow where the path of good or evil will be chosen. Power, in this time, will mean everything, and the path of right will have been nearly forgotten. From this day forward, the path will not be recorded to protect and preserve the future.”

  Amber noticed the sobering expressions of her parents.

  “I have no proof I am or am not, a descendent of Grainna. However, I do know when attempting to record our marriage and our bond in the books we leave for the future, those recordings do not keep.”

  “You mean the writing disappears?” Lizzy asked.

  “Nearly as fast as it’s written. Which then leaves only word of mouth, but it seems even that doesn’t stand in time.”

  “What of this crossroads?”

  Gavin shrugged. “I have no idea. Amber and I bonded less than a week ago. I know she worried about not seeing any of you again, and I have concerns about where and, more importantly, when we are meant to live our lives. Those are the only crossroads I can see.” He turned to Amber. “Do you feel anything looming?”

  “Only the approval of my father and my mother. I too wonder where it is we will live. It seems a fortress needs to be made of Mrs. Dawson’s home and with only Simon and Helen there to do the task—”

  “Oh, Amber, this is not a crossroads.” Lora, who had remained silent, spoke now commanding the attention of everyone in the room. “You are not meant to live in this time. That I know. Your time will be in the future, that I felt when I saw your knight saving you. When in the future I cannot say, but I do know your time here with us is limited.”

  Amber’s heart sank in her chest.

  You didn’t want to hear that.

  Amber looked at her husband. They are my family.

  “I’m sorry, m’dear. I too wish it were different. Perhaps I will have another premonition giving me more details of our future.”

  “Maybe the passage has nothing to do with you. You’re obviously bonded, the union complete. Do either of you feel the weight of new gifts inside of you?” Myra asked.

  “I feel Gavin’s shield. The strength of it increases every day. My gift is difficult to reach.”

  “Or you fear its return,” Gavin said.

  “Aye. I do fear the pain.”

  “Amber’s gift hovers over me. I felt your fear when I arrived, sensed your distress about our union, and experienced your joy that Amber will survive what once was killing her. As for multiple gifts? There’s nothing I didn’t have before.”

  “Perhaps the passage isn’t about us after all,” Amber whispered.

  “Or your union isn’t complete,” Tara’s small voice said from the back of the room.

  Gavin reached for Amber’s hand and weaved her fingers together with his. “I assure you, we are bonded. Before we spoke the vows I couldn’t let Amber go without her gift crippling her.”

  Amber nodded her agreement. Tara was mistaken, which must mean the passage didn’t apply to them.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Selma and Jake held the girls long after their tears had dried up, and their swollen eyes finally closed in sleep.

  Jake was reluctant at first, but he decided Mrs. Dawson’s was the best place for all of them while the police feverishly attempted to find his ex-wife’s killer.

  He eased off one side of the bed while Selma did the same on the other. The girls snuggled closely together in their sleep.

  After propping the door open, she and Jake made their way down the stairs in silence. They hadn’t had time to really talk once the police arrived and the investigation began. She’d kept it together during the entire ordeal—a show of strength for the girls in an effort to alleviate their pain. The adrenaline that fueled her hours before now short-circuited in her veins and made her dizzy enough to sway on her feet.

  “Hey?” Jake caught her elbow and steadied her.

  She started to shake. First the tremor in her hand moved up her arm and then waved over her body and down her legs. “I thought I was too late.”

  “Shh! You weren’t.” He pulled her into the safe warmth of his arms. “They’re upstairs, alive.”

  Selma buried her face in his shoulder and released the sob that had been lodged in her throat for hours.

  Jake held her, just held her as she cried on his shoulder. The man could have lost his kids and yet he was comforting her. It was her fault. Whoever was after her managed to touch the girls. “You should take the girls. Go far away from me.”

  “Shh!”

  She pushed away and met Jake’s eyes. “I-I mean it. The crazy after me is probably behind this.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “But it could be.”

  Jake�
�s jaw bulged. “I’ve been a cop for a long time. It could be anyone from my past too. Where would you suggest I go to escape it?”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “But if it’s because of me—”

  “Then we deal with it.”

  She couldn’t look at him. His trusting eyes, his calm voice. How could he be so calm?

  Jake lifted her chin with one finger. “You protected them, Selma. You and your cauldron crap.”

  The snark in his voice made her hiccup and smile. “You don’t believe in my cauldron crap.”

  “I don’t want to believe in it. Doesn’t mean I don’t. I’m all about facts, and I sure as hell can’t ignore any of you. Especially you.”

  God, when had Jake become so human? He’d always been such an ass with everything Druid.

  “We almost lost them,” she whispered.

  “But we didn’t. And we won’t. Now…” He slid a thumb over her cheek to dry her tears. “Let’s find the others and figure out how to protect my girls in this house.”

  “O-okay.”

  ****

  Amber didn’t see a lot of Gavin over the next couple of days. On the day of the gathering meant to welcome Gavin into their family, she retreated with the women while her father took Gavin and her brothers outside the Keep for a more private talk.

  The sun sank low on the horizon, and she smelled the cooking fires and the rich aroma of roasted meats and fresh bread coming from the kitchens below. They would have a feast in honor of her and Gavin’s joining.

  “The longer you stay the harder it will be for you to leave,” Tara said from where she sat next to her sister. Myra and Lora were perched in chairs across from each other, and Amber stood by a window staring at the land surrounding her childhood home.

  “I know. Gavin reminds me we can visit, but I can’t help but wonder if doing so would alter the future.”

  “Your father worried of that when we first sent Duncan and Finlay to the future. The responsibility of traveling in time isn’t something we can ignore. It seems Gavin understands that better than even we do.”