“I didnae know a dragon could give up their magic,” Bryce began, but Ma put up a hand, shook her head and silenced him as she continued speaking with Jessie.
“Embrace the magic I’ve given you and trust it.” His mother took Jessie’s hand and held her eyes. “Make it yours and allow it to offer you new light, guidance, and strength. Allow it to bring you joy where there has never been any.” She cocked her head. “Can you do that? Will you?”
Jessie nodded again and if he wasn’t mistaken, blinked away a glimmer of moisture.
“And you, my son.” His mother’s eyes swung his way. “You will not harbor anger at Jessie for my choices. She didn’t ask me to do this. I did it because her journey back from where she’s been is far more difficult than you can imagine.” She clenched her jaw. “And if this country is to have any hope at all, she needs help. Not just from me but from all of us.”
Bryce kept frowning. “How do you know she needs help?”
“I think what you meant to ask is ‘how can I help’?” She met his frown. “Your father and I are well aware that you’ve been trying to dodge your prearranged marriage so now you have a chance to redeem yourself.”
He arched his brows. “Redeem myself? You’re asking me to break my pledge to our clan now that I’ve finally realized the error of my ways!”
“I never said break your pledge,” she replied, a flicker of unexpected challenge in her eyes. “Unless, of course, you intend to try to ignite the power of Jessie’s ring with her.” She shrugged. “That, I suppose, might mean breaking your pledge.”
Bryce crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. “You’re playing games with me.”
“No,” Ma said bluntly, her eyes unwavering as they stayed with his. “I’m focusing on what I feel is more important right now.” Her eyes went from Jessie back to him. “And that’s you being the admirable man I know you are. That means you’ll stand by Jessie’s side and protect her while you two at long last free both her and Scotland from this God-forsaken curse.” She reached across and took his hand, never letting go of Jessie’s. The look in her eyes was both emotional and strong. “Will you do that for me, Son? Will you help Jessie save our country?”
“There isnae anything I wouldnae do for ye, Ma,” he grumbled, his brogue thickening as he did his best to keep emotion at bay. “Ye know that.”
“Good.” His mother squeezed his hand and was about to pull away, but he stopped her by placing his free hand over hers.
“Will ye be all right, Ma?” Eyes firmly locked with hers, he embraced his dragon and let his vision haze red so he could see any truth she might be hiding. “Or will losing yer dragon end up harming ye in some way?”
“I’ll be just fine,” she assured and pulled away. “So put your dragon eyes away, Son.”
She was hiding something but what? If it was illness, his dragon should have sensed it.
“I’ve said everything I intend to say,” his mother announced as she poured ale into two mugs. “Now I’m going to spend time with my husband so I can put his mind at ease.” She slid the mugs in front of Bryce and Jessie. “Meanwhile, you two will take this time to talk.” Her eyes landed squarely on Jessie. “And you will explain what Colin already knows. You will tell my son exactly how you are connected to his twin sister and you won’t spare a detail. Do you understand?”
Bryce’s eyes shot to Jessie as her eyes drifted to the fire and she murmured, “Of course.”
“Oh, no. Enough with hiding your gaze in the flames.” Ma gently tipped Jessie’s chin until she turned her head and met Bryce’s eyes. “Time to face things.”
“Okay,” Jessie whispered as his mother left.
She cleared her throat, rallied her courage and started talking. “I first came in contact with your sister Ainsley during the creation of the rings...well her essence anyway.” Though he sensed she wanted to look at the fire again, she sat up taller and continued. “In a strange way, we grew up together.” She blinked several times as though stopping moisture before it had a chance to form. “She grew in the afterlife as she would have here...and she was my only friend for a very long time.”
He tried to respond but couldn’t he was so caught off guard by her revelation.
“She’s been trying to protect you all this time,” she said softly. “That’s why not just Milly’s but especially Christina’s gem shone the color of your eyes. She was desperate to connect you with a Broun so that you would be protected by the power of the MacLomain, Broun connection.” She shook her head. “Lindsay’s ring was the only one she couldn’t manipulate because she and Conall had connected for the first time via the oak outside MacLomain Castle.”
A deafening silence fell as he processed what she had said. He wasn’t sure what troubled him more. That his deceased sister hadn’t passed on to somewhere peaceful or that Jessie’s existence really was so reclusive that a ghost was her closest friend.
Finally, still coming to grips with the enormity of what she had shared, he took a deep swig of ale then asked about yet another thing that worried him. “The warlocks know about Ainsley then?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “But they think she’s my sister, not yours.”
He frowned, not expecting that answer. “Why?”
“It explained why she would have been there at the creation of the rings,” she said. “And it kept them from going after her.”
His heart leapt into his throat. “Will they now that they know you betrayed them?”
“No,” she whispered and swallowed hard. Though she remained stiff and her face expressionless, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “She’s free of all this now and moved into the light. They can’t touch her there.” Her eyes stayed with his. “I’m so sorry, Bryce.”
Overwhelmed, he set his drink down and stared at her. He didn’t realize until this moment how hopeful he had been that Ainsley was still out there somewhere. In all honesty, until this moment he didn’t realize that he had hoped by some miracle that she might reappear like Uncle Darach had.
Evidently sensing he was having trouble with her information, she said, “When and if you’re ready, I’ll continue.”
All he could manage was a single nod.
“Like Kenna, Ainsley also sacrificed for the good of Scotland on Christina and Graham’s adventure,” she said softly. “By creating the magic that you and Christina harnessed on the first day of The Battle of Bannockburn, she helped see history through.” She clenched her jaw as another tear slid free. “As such, she and her inner dragon became part of their time loop. When it closed, she was set free from the place in between and moved on to what many would call Heaven.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Her every thought was of protecting you and your kin at all cost...especially you, Bryce...her twin brother.”
He shook his head in denial even though he felt the truth of it in her words. He could see it in her eyes. Ainsley was really and truly gone.
“I wish it could have been different,” she whispered. “I wish she hadn’t become part of all this, to begin with.” She finally brushed away her tears but did as his mother asked, and kept her eyes with his. “Even so, I feel privileged to have known her and hope, as time goes by, you’ll allow me to share my memories of her with you.”
If nothing else was clear, it was that Jessie had loved Ainsley. They had shared an important bond. He nodded, still mute with disbelief and sadness. It was no easy thing to know one’s sister hadn’t crossed over when she died in infancy but grew up in some strange dimension in between. That she had chosen to be caught in a curse so she could protect her kin and country. So that she could protect him.
It seemed that nod was all she needed because Jessie’s eyes drifted back to the safety of the fire. She left her drink untouched as her sad gaze seemed to reflect his every emotion. He knew he should thank her. That she had done a lot for him. Yet all he could do was watch her stare at the fire. More so, observe the way the flames danced in the rich darkness of he
r eyes.
In fact, he became mesmerized by it.
“Och, nay, not yet,” he began but knew it was already too late as the air thinned and the ground dropped out from beneath them.
Like it or not, they were traveling through time and most likely beginning their adventure.
Chapter Five
Western Isles, Scotland
6 August 1322
JESSIE GASPED AS SHE was whipped through time against her will for the first time ever. Her chair vanished, and she thumped back against cold hard stone. By instinct, she murmured a chant, and a fire flared to life.
“Bloody hell,” Bryce muttered from somewhere beyond the cave she found herself in. “Why does this sort of thing keep happening to me lately?”
Her eyes swept around the small space and found Sven. Then her eyes locked on Christina and Graham.
All she got out was, “We need to save him,” before she raced in the direction of Bryce’s voice. She followed a narrow stone hallway until it opened up to a raging waterfall. He was hanging, white-knuckled, on a cliff right beside it.
“Don’t embrace your dragon, Bryce,” she yelled. “The waterfall will rip you apart if you do.”
When his eyes met hers, she sensed he knew the truth of it.
Yet that same waterfall was kicking off enough water pressure to put him under a great deal of strain. Though well-muscled and fueled with the aid of dragon magic, it was already testing his strength.
The other three skidded to a halt beside her, their eyes wide as they took in Bryce’s precarious situation. When they started in his direction, determined to cross the thirty feet of sheer, bottomless space between them, she spun and roared, “Stop!”
She chanted, and another fire sprang to life nearby. Not only did she manifest it for extra cloaking from a possible warlock but because it gave her strength when facing so much water.
Her eyes went to Sven’s. “I need your strength and the magic of your dragon to throw me his way.” She shook her head. “But don’t shift.” Her eyes went to Graham. “I need your magic to make sure the waterfall gets me to him.” Her eyes went to Christina’s. “I need you to stand guard in case anyone sneaks up on us.”
“My blade’s yours,” Christina assured.
“Should I use my magic?” Graham asked. “Willnae the warlocks sense it?”
“It’s unlikely,” she replied. “Between my fire and the rock surrounding us, it should be fine.”
“Then mayhap I can just manipulate the water to get Bryce to safety,” he pointed out. “Though in his current state of agitation his fire might evaporate it beforehand.”
“He is very close to embracing his dragon.” Sven leant credence to Graham's concern. “So using water alone to aid him would not be the wisest move right now.”
“I need to get over there.” Jessie’s eyes shot to Bryce again as one hand slipped and he swung. Despite how hard she tried to fight it, fear for him tightened her chest. “Everyone please just do as I ask.”
Sven nodded, meticulously decisive as he swung her up into his arms, spun hard and tossed her. Meanwhile, Graham began chanting and manipulated the water molecules coming off the waterfall to carry her the rest of the way. She landed on the small ledge above Bryce and got her bearings. The rock was slick and the area remarkably dangerous.
Because of her disconnection from the warlocks and the fact she was facing so many previously repressed emotions, terror nearly froze her in place. Yet as her eyes fell to Bryce and she saw how close he was to death, that inner calm she had become so good at rose up. She could do this. She would do this. Determined, pulling forth her magic, she crouched and wrapped her hand around his wrist.
“Trust me,” she said softly as she met his eyes. He wasn’t panicking, so that was helpful. Rather, he simply seemed frustrated. “When I say ‘let go,’ let go.”
“Och,” he muttered, his brogue thick. “Ye ask a lot, lass.” He clenched his jaw, remembering what his mother had said. Something Jessie knew because she caught his thoughts. “But aye, I’ll trust ye...I havenae much choice.”
“Not good enough.” She narrowed her eyes on his. “The only way I can save you is if you trust me...if you believe it.”
He clutched the cliff and frowned, his eyes never leaving hers as he sensed the gravity of the situation. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“As a whole, it’ll take some time,” she conceded. “But for now, look inside yourself and know I possess the power to save you.” Then she added for good measure though she wasn’t necessarily sure it was true. “Your mother’s magic possesses the power.”
His eyes held hers for a moment longer before he nodded. Thankfully, he meant it. Enough so that when she chanted, and he was forced to let go, she drew on the earth, air, and water to swing him up beside her. Both fell back against the rock wall, breathing heavily. Him because of the strength he had exerted, her because of the magic.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered and looked at her, clearly shaken. “Thank you.”
“And thank you for not embracing your dragon,” she replied. “I don’t think I could’ve helped you if you had.”
He nodded as he eyed their surroundings. “So what are we to do now, lass? We’re trapped, are we not?”
She frowned. “Yes.”
His brows shot up as his eyes whipped back to her. “Yes? That’s it? Have you not a plan beyond this?”
“No.” She shrugged. “I only thought to save you.”
And that was the truth. She had been so terrified for him that she had formulated a plan to save him and that was it. She blinked several times at the enormity of that. Not once since the tender age of ten had she done anything unless it was well thought out from start to finish.
Now here she stood, with a mere two feet between her and a sheer drop and had no clue what to do next.
“How can we help?” Sven called out, clearly catching on that she hadn’t thought this all the way through. “How do we get you back?”
Bryce perked a brow at her. “I dinnae see any way out of this without Sven or I embracing our dragon.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. Not only because of the waterfall but because I’m not sure how well the rock will mask you from the warlocks if you embrace your dragons fully.”
“Aye, then,” he murmured, eying her with a look she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I’m sorry,” she said out of instinct. “I should have thought this through better.”
“Nay,” he replied. “Had you, I might’ve given up on you being a mere mortal.”
Surprised by his response, she realized what it was she couldn’t pinpoint about his look.
It was a flicker of humor.
“You find this amusing, then?” she asked, truly curious. “Us moments away from death because I didn’t think things through?”
“Aye, I guess I do find it a wee bit amusing.” His eyes never left hers as they balanced precariously. His next words were unexpected and made her heart skip a few beats. “But know this, if you lost your balance at this point, I would embrace my dragon, and I would save you.”
Their eyes held as that sunk in.
“Because you know I can save Scotland,” she finally said.
“Aye,” he replied, a strange new appreciation in his eyes. “At the verra least.”
“Jessie,” Christina yelled over the waterfall, breaking into the strange yet intimate connection they had just made. “Are you listening to me, Jessica?”
Startled by the use of her full name and the urgency in her friend’s voice, her eyes returned to Christina, Graham, and Sven.
“People are coming, Cousin,” Graham said into Bryce’s mind, but she caught it. “We’re going to hide until we know if they’re friend or foe. If you can, do the same.”
“Bloody hell,” Bryce muttered as he looked left then right.
“I heard what Graham said.” Jessie gazed around as well. “I think if we can sidle behin
d the waterfall, we might be able to hide as well. I sense there’s some extra space back there.”
He eyed the roaring wall of water beside him dubiously then looked at her again. “And how do you intend we do that, lass?”
“Let me around you,” she replied. “I can get us through the water.”
“How do you know that’s not a warlock heading our way and won’t sense your magic?”
Though they seemed to have crossed several barriers in the last few minutes, she knew her next words would wipe all that away. “Because I know these warlocks.” She kept her eyes on his just as Erin had asked her to. His mother might not be here, but she would show the strength Erin hoped to see in her. “I know my warlocks, Bryce.”
She didn’t miss the flash of disappointment in his eyes before he managed a small nod and held out his hand. “Aye then, lass, step around me...Ma would want me to work with you for the sake of our country.”
Jessie clenched her teeth, disappointed that the small bridge they had built was so swiftly knocked down. That he was so quick to dislike her again. But that wasn’t to be worried about right now.
Well aware time was running out, she carefully turned, so she was facing the wall, took his hand, and began moving. Step by step, she made her way along the ledge to the point where they would have to share a space.
She met his pale golden eyes and tried to ignore the flustered way they made her feel. “Are you ready for me to pass?”
“I am,” he lied.
She could tell by his guarded expression he was nowhere near ready. Not because he was a coward but because he was aware of his effect on her. More so, how much he liked it. His wariness had nothing to do with plummeting to their death but allowing her close enough that she could pass. Close enough that he would feel the heat of her skin.
So a bridge might have been knocked down, but something else was taking its place. She worked to steady her breathing at the quickly escalating attraction between them. Now was most certainly not the time.
The MacLomain Series: A New Beginning Boxed Set (Books 1-4) Page 86
