“What did we miss here? I believe we have new house guests?” Amber changed the subject.
Helen blew out a breath. “Jake’s ex and her fiancé were murdered.”
“No!” Now Amber understood the level of grief in the home.
“Yeah. We just don’t know for sure who did it,” Giles said.
“It was an animal attack. But I’ve yet to find an animal that can open doors and penetrate a home without help.” Simon leaned forward on his elbows. “I can’t tell if it was mortal or magical.”
“How are the girls?” Amber asked, more worried about the children than who was behind the deaths.
“Unharmed. They hid in a closet when they heard their mother’s screams.”
“Did they see anything?”
“No, thankfully.” Helen went on to explain the charms Selma had given the girls and how they’d been found.
They were still talking when Amber felt the children moving closer. “They’re coming. Best we change the subject.”
You can hear them? Gavin asked Amber.
Aye, can’t you?
He shook his head.
A couple of seconds later, two adorable girls walked into the kitchen with Selma and Jake at their side.
“You’re home!” Selma rushed forward for a hug.
“Aye, we are.”
“It’s about time.” Mrs. Dawson walked into the room behind the others. “We were getting worried about you.”
Amber stood and offered her chair to the older woman. “Tea or coffee?”
“Tea would be lovely, dear.”
Selma introduced Amber and Gavin to the girls and put them on the task of mixing a couple of bowls of pancake batter. The twins quietly watched the others in the room and talked amongst themselves.
Amber moved to Jake’s side and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded toward his daughters. “It’s them I’m worried about.”
“We’ll keep them safe.” He met her gaze, and sorrow mixed into her thoughts of the girls safety. “But that isn’t what you’re worried about.”
“They just lost their mother.”
“But they still have you.”
Jake gave a curt nod and moved to the place between his girls to help.
****
The prophecy lay on the tip of Raine’s tongue, yet there wasn’t a single crack in the white honor of Kincaid or Amber MacCoinnich. Not one.
She sat next to the fire under the night sky. Her clothing was carelessly tossed to the side as she bared herself to the elements to feel every ounce of energy around her.
The herbs tossed into the pyre billowed in dark smoke and filled her lungs then her head.
She rocked back and forth and stared into the hot flames. When the world around her slid away, she whispered the words, “Show me.”
A white flame licked an orange one then merged into a blue ball that spread and filled with the Druid lives she wanted to take. Their souls were chess pieces moving on a board, and she was a dark angel watching from above.
The white light of children played. The call of a wolf screamed as sap slid from the bark of a tree and ignited in the flames. The blue sphere tightened, enclosing the children. All the souls in the Manor cried.
Then before she could see more, the ball exploded.
Yes. Raine needed to move the chess pieces in place for the queen to take her throne. No use destroying a MacCoinnich who had yet to realize all their power. That would be like chewing cake and spitting it out.
No, it wasn’t time to kill. It was time to move about the board, collecting power, removing a pawn, a knight, and then removing the queen would reward her as an empress.
The world slowly moved back in place around her and the wind kicked up. Without thought, Raine stood and walked through the flames to reach her discarded clothing. She flicked the soot off her arm and dressed.
As she turned to walk away, the flames behind her died.
****
Kelsey and Sophie had taken to the backyard to explore Mrs. Dawson’s massive yard.
“Todd sends his best,” Amber told Jake who watched his girls through the door.
“It’s not fair you just saw him.”
“He feels the same way. Perhaps one day you’ll meet again.”
Jake pushed away from the window, and Amber took his place.
The girls were chasing two butterflies and laughing. Then, as if they realized they were smiling they both stopped.
Amber gave a silent prayer for their strength and ability to laugh. The girls continued to move in and out the flower garden talking with each other.
“So the person behind the murder—any leads?” Gavin asked.
“Selma seems to think the wacko that wants a piece of her is behind it, but Simon thinks something witchy forced the dogs to attack.”
Amber overheard their conversation, only half listening as she watched the girls. Apparently, two dogs from one neighbor and another one from an adjacent property banded together and attacked.
Amber cracked the window so she could hear the girls. They need to be guarded. It isn’t about the mother; it’s the girls.
Amber?
The window wasn’t open enough so she moved to the door and walked outside.
Amber?
She opened her shield and stepped on the porch.
Voices from the adjacent houses filtered in. She pushed them away. The girls were quiet in their grief, and the attention of those in the house were focused on one person. Her.
But she couldn’t dwell on that, not now. Someone, two someone’s were close. Watching.
Something darted from the trees. Kelsey and Sophie both screamed.
The hair on Amber’s nape stood on end. She lifted her arms and pushed her shield around the girls some half an acre away. The blue light surrounded them when several wolves moved out of the trees. Their howls pierced her ears and Jake ran past her.
Amber?
Gavin called to her, but she couldn’t answer.
He was out there…the person making the wolves attack.
One of the wolves jumped on Jake. But before the wolf could sink its teeth into Jake’s flesh, she reached for a way to fight off the animal from so far away. The solution was there, like a jay sitting on a fence inside her head, mocking her.
She caught her breath and held it.
Stop breathing! Amber pushed the thought into the animal’s head. The wolf whimpered and dropped to the ground, its eyes nothing more than a cold, dead stare.
Her mind flooded with a tsunami of knowledge—power resting just beneath the layer of her consciousness.
Jake stumbled away from the fallen animal and moved into the circle with his girls.
Do you feel him, Gavin? He’s here…
“Where are you, you coward?” Amber yelled to the sky.
I feel him.
She swiveled toward the house to see Simon standing before Helen, a dirk in his hand. Gavin’s weapon was pointing toward the ground. Giles stared directly at her. Mrs. Dawson stood inside the house and Selma was gone.
Selma!
Gavin turned to see the missing member of their family. “Shit.”
A scream sounded from the front of the Manor.
Amber grew cold and she started to run.
Gavin was in front of her in the space of one breath. They both found Selma being dragged by a man twice her size into a waiting car, a knife to her throat.
Drop the knife! The words came from her husband’s head, not hers. The knife shot from Selma’s attacker’s hand and flew several yards away.
Amber focused on the man. Her body grew rigid and rage swirled in her line of sight.
You stupid man. You can’t breathe.
The attacker stumbled, his grip loosened.
You! Can’t! Breathe!
The man dropped Selma and grasped his neck.
“Move away, Selma,” Amber didn’t recognize her cold and calculating voice.
/> Selma didn’t need to be told twice. She stumbled behind Amber and Gavin.
Amber opened her gift, pushed into this man’s head. He struggled to breathe while cursing Selma. Called her a witch. He hated her… only her. Wanted to hurt her as much as he’d been hurt.
The man fell to his knees, his face turned bright red.
Amber!
No one hurts my family…my friends!
Gavin moved into her line of sight. “Amber! Stop!”
She blinked several times.
“Let him go!”
She tilted her head. Let who go?
Kincaid looked at Amber, saw the darkness swirling in the whites of her eyes.
Let him go. You’re killing him.
Amber sucked in a breath. Oh, God. Breathe.
He didn’t need to turn around to know the man behind them pulled in a desperate breath of air.
Confusion marred Amber’s brow. “What did I do?”
Kincaid gripped her shoulders. “Focus. Someone else is here.” As soon as Amber darted outside, the world darkened. Opposing forces with evil intent surrounded them all. He noticed the girls playing and before the first wolf emerged, Amber had covered the girls in the thickest layer of blue he’d ever seen. He couldn’t remember, not once, an ability to protect someone from as far away as they were. When the wolf dropped into a lifeless heap, he turned to his wife. Pulsating power surged from her and wouldn’t let him in. He couldn’t get into her head. He called her name but she didn’t respond.
She was looking at him now… his innocent wife.
“Focus.”
Amber closed her eyes and envisioned the back of the house. Someone was still there watching them.
“Stay here. Keep him from leaving.” Gavin shoved his weapon in her hand and ran to the back of the house.
Jake and his girls were in the center of the yard. One dead wolf lay on the ground, but the others were gone.
The air shifted and a high sulfur scent filled the air.
Whoever had been there was gone.
Shifted in time and gone.
****
The Arizona man, Norman Rock, was led away in handcuffs. The blood of his ex-girlfriend and her fiancé was found all over towels in the trunk of his car.
He mumbled about witches and supernatural power, which simply put him on a medical evaluation list. Kincaid knew, however, if they didn’t start placing the right barriers and protection around Mrs. Dawson’s home, the kind of finger pointing the man who’d attempted to kidnap Selma would draw attention. Unwanted and potentially dangerous attention.
The entire time the police were at the home, Amber remained silent. Her worry about what happened, why and how it happened was a constant sea of emotion inside him.
Kincaid saw the darkness in her eyes but, more than that, he’d felt the darkness inside them both. His ability to force another to move in any way was limited, yet Kincaid knew he had forced Norman to throw his weapon aside. Worse, Amber tried to destroy him. Nearly did.
Helen and Selma had taken the girls inside while Simon and Jake spoke with the police, and Mrs. Dawson and Giles huddled together in the library. Kincaid and Amber stood on the porch watching the police as they finished talking.
“The prophesy is about us,” Amber said under her breath.
He wanted to deny her.
“Grainna could steal away one’s breath.”
Kincaid moved to her side and slid his arm over her shoulders. “You were saving the life of a friend, an honorable friend.”
“That isn’t the point, Gavin. I nearly killed a man with only a thought. I didn’t mourn the animal. And the animal was only acting on the will of someone else.”
Gavin stood in front of her and caught her eyes. “You’re not evil, Amber. You’re human. When the innocent around us are in trouble, we do whatever we can to save them.”
“But to kill?”
“Were you not a part of destroying Grainna? It took all of you, but you did. If you could have done it alone, wouldn’t you have tried?”
Amber squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m scared, Gavin.”
The clear sky above him cracked.
“My father’s gift is only a thought. I feel it as easily as I feel yours.”
When his insides turned on themselves, the growl of faraway thunder erupted. Gavin thought of the growl again, and the earth replied. I feel his gift, too.
A tear fell down Amber’s cheek. We’re cursed.
“No, Amber. We’re gifted. We saved innocent lives today.”
“But what if we don’t? What if the power swallows us, pushes us to her ways?”
“We’re in this together, Amber. I will keep you grounded, and you must keep me the same.”
And if we can’t?
We will. We have to believe we will.
“Promise me.”
“Promise you what?” Gavin asked.
“Promise me we’ll leave this world together if the power consumes us. On our love, promise me.”
Kincaid met her unwavering eyes. “On our love, I will do anything in my power to remove us both if the power turns us.”
****
“It’s just going to help them forget…to ease the pain.” Selma stood over the stove, her pot simmered with what Amber assumed was tea.
Jake crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled.
“Trust me.”
Amber and Kincaid moved into the room filled with their family and friends. Holding hands in unity. Honesty in the home was paramount, and they didn’t make exceptions.
If the others weren’t comfortable with the changes happening inside them both, they would leave.
The conversation ceased as they walked in.
“We need to talk with all of you.”
Selma turned the fire off the stove and moved to stand beside Jake.
Giles stood beside Mrs. Dawson while Simon took the space beside his wife.
“Go ahead, child,” Mrs. Dawson said. “We’re listening.”
Gavin smiled at the older woman. “The prophecy…it was right. We don’t know what changed to shift what’s happening inside us, but we both feel a change in our power.”
Amber watched Simon’s jaw clench. “We noticed.”
“I almost killed that man.”
Simon shook his head. “On a field of battle in our time, he would have been dead by the swiftness of a sword.”
“But I nearly did it with a thought…her thought.”
“You’re not her.”
“Nay, Simon. I’m not. But it’s here.” Amber poked her chest. “And it’s dark.”
A slight surge of fear washed over the man she thought of as a brother. “We all see the darkness in your eyes. We know it’s there. We also know that power, all power has two choices. Good or evil.”
Amber didn’t think he understood. “I almost destroyed a man today.”
“And I’ve killed many. Your point, Amber?”
“’Tis against my nature.”
Simon moved to stand before her. “You have yet to determine what your true nature is. Kincaid’s gift has afforded you a real life. Now this dark power, as you call it, will give you even more power to fight the righteous fight. You have never been anything but innocent and careful of all life.”
“You saved my girls today,” Jake reminded her.
“And instead of keeping your thoughts to yourselves, you’re both coming to us,” Giles pointed out. “You have nothing to hide.”
Mrs. Dawson pushed from the chair she sat in and walked over to them. “Awareness is most important in this time in your life. Awareness and love.” Mrs. Dawson leveled her gaze to Amber. “Remember, Grainna lost her love, lost the part that made her sane. Within the bond your father laid was a blessing to keep you righteous. You have to believe that.”
Amber leaned into Gavin. Could it be that simple? Could love be the glue that keeps us on the path of righteousness?
“Love is always the answer.”
>
Amber glanced at her husband. Did she just hear my thought?
Perhaps she’s just a wise woman.
“Your husband was a lucky man, lass,” Simon told Mrs. Dawson.
“Damn straight he was,” she said.
Laughter filled the room.
“Now, enough of all this talk of darkness. I’d like to consume something other than Selma’s forget-everything potion. And then Giles and I need to rack his brain about entities that take over animals to accost little girls.”
“So there was someone else here.”
“Of course there was,” Mrs. Dawson said. “You don’t think that putz sitting in a jail cell controlled those wolves, do you?”
Giles released a long sigh. “I was hoping.”
“Well knock it off. We have work to do.” She turned to Amber. “And with all this newfound power, perhaps you can start laying wards over this house to help keep those babies safe. They’ve seen enough evil, don’t you think?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try.”
“We’ll try,” Gavin added. “Together.”
“Good. Let’s get to work.”
Epilogue
Raine sat before both Mouse and Clarisse.
“Their power is united,” Mouse informed her. “I escaped with my life only because of the human who offered himself as a distraction.”
“Who holds the most power?”
“It’s hard to tell. Neither one of them were approachable. Their shield wasn’t breached by an ant.”
“And you, Clarisse? Did you accomplish your task?”
The beautiful blonde lifted her chin, her perfect figure stretched like a cat. “Cian is in my bed. It’s only a matter of time.”
Raine sat back with a smile playing on her lips.
“Time? We have plenty of time.”
###
About the Author
New York Times best-selling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and in addition to the MacCoinnich Time Travel series she has penned the novels Wife by Wednesday, Married by Monday, and Fiancé by Friday in her Weekday Brides series and Not Quite Dating, Not Quite Mine, and Not Quite Enough in her Not Quite series. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.
Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) Page 26
