“Me too.” Julie looked at Chara. “So, Leviathan, huh? He must be something.”
“He is,” Chara confirmed. “Unfortunately, he and Destiny aren’t getting along too well right now, but then neither trusts the other all that much.”
“Yet Leviathan said there was still hope for her,” Adlin pointed out. “Which tells me whether they get along or not, he’s here to help her as well as us.”
“Aye,” Marek agreed. He had Chara tucked against his side as if inherently protecting her. “As we just told you, though, he’s as evasive as the goddess.”
“Not for much longer, I imagine.” Grant contemplated Cray and Marek. “Whilst ‘tis one thing for your human halves not to connect, I find it more than a wee bit curious that Cray’s dragon never knew about Chara. Nor that any MacLeod dragons did considering how interconnected and close your inner beasties are.” He cocked his head at Marek. “And was it not said on the last adventure that ‘twas your inner dragon that gave you all your tattoos, lad? Because it almost sounds like Chara had more to do with it.”
“Nay, I'm quite certain ‘twas my dragon.” Marek seemed to sense something and paused. “Though it might be safe to say my inner beast was used as a conduit. A means to help relay a message...”
“Yes,” Chara whispered, suddenly sensing what he did.
More than that, she was fairly certain she knew who had relayed those messages.
Chapter Fifteen
“’TWAS YE?” CRAY exclaimed, realizing what Marek and Chara just had. Likely because of his close connection to Marek. “Yer incarnates tattooed you, Marek? How is that even possible?”
“I dinnae know.” Marek shook his head and looked at Chara. “But I sense they did, somehow. Our former incarnates are trying to help us through what we now face.”
“I think they are,” Chara agreed, shocked. “Which means they had to have known what would happen.”
“Which, in turn, means unless one of them had the gift of foresight, someone would have had to tell them.” Grant mulled it over and glanced at Adlin. “Which also means, the unicorn,” he looked back at Chara kindly, “Chara might have, in the end, willingly gone to her death.”
“Or,” Adlin countered, ever the optimist. “Though they prepared for a potentially bad outcome based on foresight, they still hoped they would make it through what ended them. That the unicorn wouldnae be sacrificed, and Marek would not follow in her wake despite being immortal.”
“I wouldnae have wanted to go on without her.” Marek had never meant anything more. “That said, if I knew the Brotherhood had her in the end, that I couldnae stop it, there isnae anything I wouldnae have done to follow her.”
“Aye.” Ethyn glanced at Ciara before looking at Marek, clearly understanding how he felt. “Whatever happened to you in the end, cousin, I guarantee you did it to try to save your lass. I know because I saw what you did to save my lass. The evil you gave yourself over to. That in mind, dinnae doubt you’ve my sword at your back every step of the way.”
Marek nodded in thanks, then flinched. “And you’ve my apologies for attacking you on your adventure.”
“’Twas not you but the Brotherhood,” Ethyn assured.
“Right,” Ciara echoed. “All you did was struggle against their hold over you, Marek, so that Ethyn and I could finally be together.” She shook her head. “And you did it not just in one life but two.”
Sensing his angst over the whole situation, Chara squeezed his hand in reassurance. “They’re right.” She looked at him. “Whatever ultimately happened, you’ve always been the good guy in this, and we all know that.”
“And that,” Grant began but blew away on a gust of wind before he could finish his sentence.
“And that is something the Brotherhood likely didnae count on,” Adlin continued, evidently knowing what his comrade was going to say. “My bet is, however angry they've likely grown with you, Marek, the Brotherhood counted on you eventually rejoining their ranks. They wouldnae expect your kin to stand by you after the darkness that’s possessed you thus far.”
“Verra true, Da.” Tiernan nodded at Marek and Chara in support. “You’ve all of us at your back no matter what, cousin. Even if they possess you again.”
When Marek shook his head, not wanting them anywhere near him, his brother intercepted.
“The time for keeping your distance and dealing with everything on your own has come and gone.” Cray left no room for argument. “We’re a team now and will find a way to subdue you if you’re possessed again.” He shook his head. “We willnae kill you, though.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, the looks on their faces as resolute as Cray’s.
“With any luck, ‘twill not come to that again.” Adlin drifted closer, eyeing Chara’s ring. “’Tis quite the gem, lass.”
“It is,” the women agreed, their expressions as curious as their mate’s.
“What do you make of it?” Chara asked, shocked when she discovered the gem was golden now rather than the color of Marek’s eyes. “Especially considering it’s so different than the others?” She paused as if sensing something. “Not only that, but I get the feeling it's somehow connected to the golden clover ring Marek made me in a dream. A flower that seems to haunt us.”
“I'd say ‘tis a ring above all rings.” Adlin continued eyeing Chara's Claddagh. “As its verra appearance eludes to, ‘tis special. Different. And unquestionably powerful, I would imagine. Especially once ignited.”
“It’s also an end,” Julie said softly. Guardian Magic flared in her eyes. “It marked the beginning, and so shall mark the end.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “In two places at once.”
Tiernan and Julie had first accessed the magic of being in two places at once on their journey, and it had since happened on everyone else’s adventures. A fold in time, so to speak.
“’Tis all interrelated,” Adlin murmured as if he too sensed something. “The gem in Chara’s ring, the sacrificial table, sunset, and sunrise, Bull Rock, even the Stone of Destiny and...”
That was all he got out before his astral projection wavered, and he snapped away. Not surprisingly, Tiernan muttered under his breath how tired he was of that happening to both his da and Grant.
“Do you still have your piece of the sacrificial rock?” Marek asked Chara telepathically.
“I do,” she confirmed. “I'm actually beginning to think it might be helping us look into the past. Helping us remember what happened between my unicorn and your Fianna.”
“Aye,” he replied. “I've been sensing the same.”
“’Twill be curious to see how it all ties together.” Tiernan said, pulling them back to the ongoing conversation. “Especially the Stone of Destiny considering it’s played such a small role in all this thus far.”
“Yet should make you take pause,” a voice growled before Leviathan and Destiny appeared out of the woodland. “Considering the demi-goddess at the heart of all this.”
Though they knew he was on their side, Chara didn’t blame the men for standing at the sight of the massive Viking and putting their hands on the hilts of their blades.
“Holy hell, it’s you,” Ciara gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. She was the only one who saw him beforehand, and they still didn’t know why.
Leviathan nodded but offered her no immediate response. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the men. Not with fear, but obvious exasperation.
“He’s all bark no bite,” Destiny muttered, rolling her eyes at Leviathan.
“I’ve got more bite than most, woman,” Leviathan countered, scowling at her.
Destiny waved off his comment and looked at Chara with relief before she focused on the other women, evidently already aware they knew the truth about her. “Hey guys...” She pressed her lips together, clearly upset before she continued. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t upfront with you about everything, but I had no choice.”
They took in Destiny’s new appearance in stunned sil
ence before Julie finally spoke, not with anger but appreciation. “I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you not just for whatever you did to get us all to this point but for protecting Chara.” She closed the distance and embraced the goddess. “You undoubtedly went above and beyond, and I look forward to hearing all about it.”
Chloe, Madison, and Ciara agreed, embracing her as well.
The men ran more cautious, merely nodding their thanks for now, but then they continued to remain wary of Leviathan. How could they not, considering his dragon eyes flared in warning that they not use their weapons.
“Oh, stop that.” Destiny scowled at the Ancient. “Aren’t you here for them, after all?”
“In part.” Though Leviathan spoke to Destiny, his distrusting gaze flickered from Cray’s hand on the hilt of his weapon to his face, targeting the dragon. “But as you know, demi-god, my presence here isn’t all for them.”
“’Tis all right,” Marek assured the men, looking specifically at his brother. “Leviathan has watched out for me. Or should I say watched out for those around me, including Chara.”
“Why didn't you approach us sooner so that we might know you?” Ethyn asked Leviathan. “Why did only Ciara see you?”
“At first, I was here for Marek and Marek alone to assist him when the time was right. Meddling any sooner might have changed the course of things.” Leviathan shrugged. “As to Ciara seeing me, we Ancients are visible to those stuck in a curse for a long time.”
“Why?” Chloe asked curiously. “And if that’s the case, why couldn’t Ethyn see you too?”
“Because Ethyn was not stuck within the curse for generation upon generation.” Leviathan nodded thanks to Marek when he handed him a skin of whisky. “Ciara, however, was. That meant those like me, direct descendants of dragonkind’s homeworld, a far more sinister and dark place, could be seen by her. In turn, I can more readily see darkness as well.”
Chloe frowned. “That’s got to be discomforting.”
“Aye, but it could also be helpful in circumstances such as these.” Tiernan eyed Leviathan. “It sounds like you have the ability to see evil where most cannae.”
“Yes.” Leviathan glanced at Destiny as though they’d already discussed it, and he didn’t like her response. More so, as if he were accusing her of something. “I can.”
“Why are you looking at Destiny like that?” Chara shifted closer to the goddess. “She’s on our side, remember?”
It seemed like Leviathan was going to say one thing as his unsettling gaze lingered on Destiny but ended up saying another. “Of course, she is.”
“There you have it then.” Chara urged Destiny to sit. “So what happened between the Defiance and here? Though we have somewhat of an idea, I’m sure you know more.”
“I do.” Destiny thanked Marek when he handed her whisky. “As I know you’ve already gathered, it seems your former incarnates might be helping you. More specifically, your connection with them helped activate something already put in place to assist you.” Her gaze went to Tiernan. “You should see it on your tattoo.” Then she looked at Marek. “And you via one of your tattoos.”
Curious, Tiernan rolled up his sleeve only for everyone to exclaim in surprise.
“One of the points that mark a standing stone is colored light blue now.” Tiernan glanced from Julie to Destiny. “Mine and Julie’s stone if we’re to go off the color of the gem in Julie’s Claddagh.”
“That’s right,” Destiny confirmed, finally revealing a larger piece of the puzzle. “Like Ethyn and Ciara figured out on their adventure, as each standing stone in Scotland was sealed off, it secretly fueled the Irish Stonehenge to help defeat the Brotherhood in the end. Now Tiernan’s tattoo, put there to aid each of you on your journey, is finally ‘activating,’ for lack of a better explanation.”
“Activating?” Chloe looked at it curiously. “What does that mean exactly?”
“It’s a countdown of sorts.” Destiny took a swig of whisky and continued. “Once every stone is filled with the color matching the gems of each wizard’s eyes, which will happen pretty quickly now, it’ll be time for the center stone to ignite. When that happens, the ultimate fight will take place. By then, between the Brotherhood already being weakened and the power all of you have amassed igniting your rings, you should be able to defeat the enemy once and for all.”
“So did mine and Tiernan's stone ignite first because we were the first couple to come together?” Julie asked as Chara urged Marek to take off his tunic so they could check out his tats.
“Yes,” Destiny confirmed. “The stones will ignite in the order each couple harnessed the power of their ring. The middle stone, or sacrificial table, will be last.”
Though everyone glanced at Chara with concern, she took it in stride.
“While the sacrificial stone’s obviously at the center of death and heartache,” Chara glanced at Marek, “it’s not all bad because at least part of it was beside me when I first reunited with Marek in a dream. Actually, in some small way, I feel like it led me to him.”
“Because it did,” Destiny said softly before sharing something that, again, surprised everyone.
Chapter Sixteen
“I STILL CAN’T believe the sacrificial table at the Salem Stonehenge played such a big part in connecting Brouns and MacLomains across time,” Chara remarked to Marek.
They were en route west with David’s retinue.
As it turned out, though other things had affected it over the years, the stone the unicorn lost her life on contributed a great deal to the time travel aspect between Salem and medieval Scotland. Though Destiny said little more about it, they got the impression the last of Chara’s unicorn magic might have had something to do with it.
“Aye, ‘tis enlightening,” Marek agreed. He sat on the horse behind her, not for the first time, nuzzling the side of her neck. “As is what’s happening with my tattoos.”
Upon checking out his tats earlier, they discovered several words glowing green. Written in the Fianna language, they seemed to be igniting in conjunction with Tiernan’s compass tattoo. Due to their connection to Ethyn and his Fianna magic as well as Ciara with her Woodland Druidess magic, everyone understood them. Interestingly, though not surprising considering all of this connected to the creation of Adlin, they were riddles. Ones that rhymed no less.
The words currently ignited read, “Follow the king that leads to a ring. See then the foe whose fate ye sow.”
After a brief window of discussion before everyone had to get going, they came to the conclusion it simply meant they were on the right track. After all, they were following a king which would, as these adventures tended to do, lead to an ignited ring. The foe was a given and their fate hopefully sealed by the end of all this.
“So how far will we travel today?” she asked, so aware of Marek at her back, it was a wonder she could form words. “I imagine at some point we’ll board a ship to France.”
“Aye, once we reach the western shores of Scotland,” he replied. “’Twill take several days to get there, though.”
Unfortunately, to do things according to history, they had to ride horseback rather than just whisk David there on a ley-line. Worse than that, they were on the run now with Edward Balliol, the recognized King of Scotland. At least by the English. Which more than likely meant there was a bounty on David’s head.
She sighed. “It really would be helpful if Destiny just came clean with us.”
“Aye, but I dinnae doubt we’ll figure everything out on our own soon enough,” he assured. “My bigger concern right now is Leviathan’s growing distrust of her. He clearly knows something he’s not sharing.”
“I know.” She eyed her friend and Leviathan, who rode a good distance apart from one another. “Either way, she’s not evil. No way, no how.”
“Not evil, no,” he agreed. “But something if Leviathan’s taken notice.”
Worried, she frowned at Marek over her shoulder. “Do you t
hink it has anything to do with why he said all hope wasn’t lost for her?”
“I dinnae know.” His gaze fell to her face and softened. As always, he comforted her despite his own concerns. “One way or another, ‘twill be all right, lass. If she were truly bad, it would make little sense for her to shelter you nearly your whole life, not to mention, get all of us to this point.”
“Right,” she murmured and faced forward again.
While she appreciated his vote of confidence, she knew he remained wary primarily because, simply put, Destiny was in control of so much. That in mind, what said this wasn’t all some sort of big trap on her part?
Thankfully, as the day wore on, they didn’t speak about it again. Rather they spent the day catching up on old times and getting to know one another better in this reality. Which, really, was pretty much everything she already knew about him. Even so, it still felt new, and she enjoyed every moment.
It seemed, unlike Ethyn and Ciara before them, they might even be able to avoid constantly shifting back to Ireland. Or so she thought until later that day when, one moment they were in Scotland, the next, Ireland.
“Och, I wondered how long ‘twould take,” Marek said softly. He dismounted and helped her down when they heard people just ahead.
“’Tis impossible to know if they’ll be able to see and hear us, so best to speak telepathically,” he said into her mind. They kept to woodland shadows and made their way in that direction. The wind blew pleasantly warm, and waves crashed against rock, not all that far off.
“Look,” she exclaimed when she spied her incarnate and Marek’s Fianna sitting on a rock overlooking the sea. “It’s one of the areas from our dreams! In fact, that rock’s sitting right where you proposed to me.”
“’Tis.” They got as close as they dared and crouched where they couldn’t be seen. “If that isnae enough, look closer at that rock.”
“Oh my God...is that?”
“Aye,” he said when she trailed off. “’Tis the stone that seems part of our journey.”
A Scot's Retribution (The MacLomain Series: End of an Era Book 5) Page 10
