“Aye,” he managed, trying to keep his arousal in check as his Fianna slipped his hand up under her incarnate’s skirt. As he touched and caressed her soft center. As she arched and moaned just as she did in this life. “He’s testing his strength a great deal doing this.”
“I know.” Chara watched them and breathed faster. “She’s doing the same allowing him to pleasure her. But it feels so good, and she wants...”
When she trailed off, he knew. She wanted a normal life with him. To love him in every sense of the word. Feel him as though she were fully human.
“Please,” Chara’s incarnate whimpered, tugging at the front of his Fianna’s tunic. “Come over me, love. Let me feel the weight of ye. Let me pretend for a moment.”
“Not a good idea.” Chara’s cheeks flushed. “She’s way too turned on.”
“As is he.”
Yet, as they somehow knew, that wouldn’t stop them.
“This was what the message on your back meant,” Chara murmured, sounding certain. “Choose to sin but do not give in.”
She was right. Because though his Fianna came over her incarnate and she spread her legs for him, they remained clothed. Instead, he wrapped his hand with hers in the clovers beside her head, kissed her hard, and moved his hips as though making love to her.
“Damn.” Chara barely breathed now. “If that’s not hot enough to watch, I swear I feel what she felt.”
“Aye,” he agreed, painfully aroused. “I dinnae know how he’s finding the strength not to take her.” He shook his head, certain. “But he willnae. She’s far too important to risk it.”
“I know.” Chara wiped away another tear and bit her lower lip. “She’s close...so close...”
Moments later, her incarnate arched and cried out.
What happened moments after that, however, was truly astounding.
Chapter Twenty
“WOW,” CHARA WHISPERED, blinking in disbelief as what they’d witnessed in ancient Ireland faded away, and they were once more astride Marek’s horse in Scotland. “Did I just see what I think I saw?”
“Aye,” Marek confirmed, just as shocked. “’Twas the gem in your ring in our adjoined hands.”
Not surprisingly, Destiny and Leviathan rode beside them again, where they hadn’t before the flashback.
“I don’t understand.” Chara looked at Destiny. “Where did it come from?”
“You.” Destiny’s eyes softened on Chara before she looked at Marek. “And you.” Her gaze returned to Chara. “What you two created in that moment was a combination of the true love you felt combined with respect, restraint, passion, and magic. The perfect combination to create a gem unlike any other.” She looked at Chara’s ring. “A gem that found you then and has found you again.”
“A gem the verra color of the golden clovers that have always been around us,” Marek murmured. His voice deepened with emotion. “Also, the verra color of her unicorn horn.” He narrowed his eyes at the goddess. “There’s something to that, aye?”
“Yes, there’s something to that,” Destiny confirmed softly. “And soon enough, you will remember.”
Over trying to get information out of her friend, Chara gazed at the gem in her ring. Though she saw it in a whole new way, she suspected whatever Destiny knew would have her looking at it differently, again. Nevertheless, whatever the meaning of the rock, its root lay in true love.
More than that, somehow, it helped her and Marek find their way back to one another.
“We stop to rest the horses soon.” Leviathan eyed the woodland before he looked at not just Marek and Chara but Destiny. “Best to be especially vigilant in these parts.”
Before any could respond, he spurred his horse and headed toward the front of the retinue.
“Was it me,” Chara smirked at Destiny, “or does he seem to care about your well-being too?”
Destiny scowled at the Viking but gave no response. Rather she warned them he might be right and to take care before she spurred her horse and headed toward the back of the retinue.
“I dinnae ken those two,” Marek commented, nuzzling her neck. “Yet, there is something to ken, aye?”
“Looks like it.” She tilted her head to give him better access, eager to be off this horse and somewhere private. “They definitely seem to have chemistry...”
She groaned and closed her eyes when he nipped the side of her neck, then tilted her chin and kissed her. Though brief, it was passionate enough to let her know he wanted off this horse as much as she did. Regrettably, however, when that time came, they were ordered to stick close to the others. They were passing through an area of clans who were more sympathetic to Balliol than King David.
Heavily guarded, the king rested while their group gathered beside a pond in which they could swim and bathe. They were at least a day’s ride from Argyll, so would be passing by the Cowal Peninsula very soon. That meant, interestingly enough, that they wouldn’t be all that far from MacLomain Castle twelve years in Marek's past.
“Bloody strange, aye?” Tiernan said, after commenting on what she’d just been thinking about. Then again, Marek was thinking the same thing, so his kin likely picked up on it. “Have you checked your tattoos again, cousin? Because another stone has ignited on mine.”
“It has, hasn't it?” Grant remarked before he somewhat manifested nearby. Apparently, he’d been with them a few times since they last saw him, so he knew what was going on. Unfortunately, however, things were becoming so unstable in the afterlife, he couldn’t be seen.
“So, another stone filled with color that fast?” Chara said, surprised. Sure as heck, when Tiernan pulled his tunic off to go swimming, a third stone matching Cray and Madison’s ring was colored. They, of course, were the third couple to come together.
In turn, Marek pulled his tunic off as well, only to reveal that more words were, in fact, ignited.
Avoid the stone though it is home. Seek the sad despite the fear to be had.
“The stone has to be the sacrificial rock.” Chara chanted herself into a bathing suit and looked at Marek, certain of something though she had no proof. “I might’ve met an awful end, but somehow, because of you, that rock always seemed like the closest thing I had to a home before this life and the shelter Destiny offered.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “But who is sad? And what is the fear to be had?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I feel like I should. As if it’s right at the forefront of my memory, but I can’t seem to remember.”
Grant was about to say something, but a ray of sunlight hit his form, and he faded away. Aidan sighed and shook his head, clearly feeling for him.
“You’ll remember everything soon enough, Chara,” Julie said sympathetically. “I know the wait’s frustrating, but the truth will come.”
“She’s right,” Chloe agreed, smiling at Aidan when he took her hand and waited for her to follow him to the water. She looked at Marek and Chara. “And when it does, I don’t doubt that it’ll see evil defeated and you guys enjoying your much deserved happily ever after.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Madison echoed in passing. “C’mon already. Let’s swim!”
“Right,” Ciara exclaimed as she and Ethyn headed that way. Not before she stopped, squeezed Chara’s shoulder in comfort, and met her eyes. “There’s no way things aren’t going to work out perfectly for you two.” The corner of her mouth shot up, her confidence admirable. “Not with Ethyn and I determined to get you there.” She glanced at the others. “All of us, for that matter.”
Chara smiled in thanks, grateful for her new friends. Grateful that somehow, against the odds and despite the varying degrees of honesty that marked their beginning, they had come this far. But then she supposed friendships were built on people learning about each other over time, sometimes without transparency at their onset. Especially when dealing with all things magical. So in their case, with the fate of a country and clan at stake, she supposed they weren’t d
oing too badly.
“Come, lass.” Marek pulled her after him. “Let’s take a moment from all the mystery and go enjoy a swim, aye?”
In full agreement, she followed him in, loving the cool water. Thankful for a moment of fun and normalcy. She smiled at Marek, especially glad to be enjoying it with him. They laughed and splashed each other, playing like they often had at the pond in their dreams.
“This feels so,” she dipped beneath the water, intending to say ‘good’ when she surfaced only to suddenly feel the opposite.
So much water.
Too much water.
She struggled to reach the surface, but it felt impossible.
Too far away.
All of a sudden, everything shifted around her, and she was someplace else.
Water rushed at her, and an overwhelming deluge swept her off her feet. Small feet at that. Unicorn hooves, to be specific. She was in the body of her unicorn when very young by the looks of it. For a fleeting moment, she swore she saw a larger unicorn being swept past, then it was gone.
Lost.
Over a cliff to its death.
Pain cut through her at what she realized was the loss of her mother before she slammed into something and stopped moving. Rain and water still beat down from every angle, but she wasn’t going anywhere.
She was safe.
Yet that didn’t stop her tears. Nor did it stop the soul-deep misery of losing all she had left in the world. Of feeling utterly and hopelessly alone. She tucked her head against her side and whimpered, barely aware that the waters had receded.
Awash in misery, she cried and cried then cried some more.
By the time she was done crying, the sun was setting, and she felt a whole new kind of loneliness. The sort one feels when they are the last of their kind. When they are truly alone in the world. In its own way, it felt like everything was over. That there was no kind of life left for her. Almost as if something were about to take her away too.
“Is this the end?” she whimpered in a language nobody would be able to understand, curling closer to the rock. Maybe, if she just kept talking, her mother would somehow hear her. Maybe, though she’d appeared to meet her death over the cliff, it had been some sort of illusion. She would return and tell her everything was going to be all right.
“I don’t want it to be the end,” she sobbed. “I don’t want it to be over.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, praying this was all a nightmare. That her mother would nuzzle her, she’d open her eyes, and everything would be okay. Everything would be as it was.
Instead, she felt a touch on her shoulder and heard a small voice say, “Might this cheer ye up, lassie?”
She jolted and scrambled back against the rock when she realized a human boy crouched in front of her. More so, that he seemed to be able to hear her. He leapt back as well, seeming equally jolted by the sight of her. But then her mother had said the rare people who could see them were always taken aback. None could actually approach them, though, for they were too pure.
Yet the boy didn't seem to have any issues. Then again, his was a truly noble soul, wasn't it? Though scrawny with not much to him but a bit of fabric wrapped around his waist, he was strong of heart and truly good.
“What are ye?” he stuttered. At first, it seemed like he might run but ended up standing his ground.
“I’m me.” Though terrified by him at first because she’d never interacted with a human, the more she stared at him, the less she feared. “Who are ye?”
“I’m me, too.” Now that he was over his initial alarm, he seemed more worried than anything as he looked around at the ground.
As it happened, he was worried because she seemed so sad.
“Ah!” He picked a green clover and held it out to her. When it occurred to him she had no hand to take it, he rested it by her hoof. “Lassies seem to like flowers, so that’s for ye to make ye feel better.”
She looked from the clover to him, quite taken with the simple gesture. More so, the wobbly smile he offered. A smile that sparked a wee bit of hope deep inside her.
Maybe it wasn’t over after all.
Maybe she wasn’t alone in the world anymore.
His smile widened when an uncontrollable burst of magical golden dust puffed off her horn and coated her clover, turning it the same shimmering gold. Moments later, it turned all the clovers around them gold as well.
He was about to say something else, but, sadly enough, he faded away.
“Come back,” she cried only to find herself once again in Scotland.
She was no longer underwater but beneath a fur on Marek’s lap.
“I’m here, lass.” He wrapped his big warm hand around the back of her neck and looked into her eyes, more worried than she’d ever seen him. “Are ye then? Are ye here with me now, Chara?”
“I am,” she managed. Emotions threatened to overwhelm her. “What happened? One second I was...”
Unable to finish her sentence, she pressed her cheek against his chest and, despite her best effort not to, cried. Even though meeting him had been wonderful, losing her mother had been tremendously hard.
An end and a new beginning in one fell swoop.
“’Tis all right, lass,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “’Tis far behind ye now.” He pulled her tighter against him. “But not me. I amnae behind ye but right here. Always right here.”
“I hope so,” she murmured, meeting his eyes. “I just...we just...met again...”
And how they had met most certainly explained the way they’d met in their dream all those years ago.
“I know, lass.” He looked at her tenderly. “Though I remained right here, I felt what you felt. Saw what you saw.” Pain lit his eyes. “And I’m so verra sorry, my lass.”
“I know you are. You were then too.” She cupped his cheek, so glad he was with her. That they had found each other again. “Just like you were when you first found me in a dream.”
“A dream that you likely understand far better now,” Destiny said softly. Her gaze was warm and sympathetic when she sat beside them and looked at Chara. “It also means I can share more.”
Chapter Twenty-One
THOUGH MAREK HAD chanted Chara into warm clothing, and she appeared better now, he kept her on his lap wrapped in a fur while Destiny filled in some of the blanks in their memories. He’d never been as frightened as he was when Chara went into a trance underwater. He might have followed what she experienced, but she’d still felt a million miles away.
Everyone sat with them, waiting, eager to hear what the goddess had to say.
“It was that moment after the storm deluge,” Destiny explained, “the moment Chara’s little horn burst with magic and colored the clovers, that truly marked the beginning of all this. Her connection to you, Marek, was the first spark of humanity a unicorn had ever felt. Humanity, unfortunately, that put her on the Brotherhood’s radar, though it took years for them to pinpoint her exact location.”
“So I’m to blame,” he said softly. “Had I not approached her, the Brotherhood would never have known about her.” He shook his head, seeing it clearly enough. “And whilst, aye, those who got sucked into what the Brotherhood did contributed to their dark plan, it would have ultimately been impossible without the last unicorn.”
“While that’s true, there are a variety of things to consider.” The goddess looked at him kindly. “First, all living creatures have a destiny. And Chara’s destiny was you, Marek.” She shook her head. “Without that, connecting with her one true love like all the couples who have come together over the generations, she would never have been truly whole. Truly on the path meant for her. One that touched so many.”
Destiny looked back and forth between them before continuing. “Not only that, but everything has order. Without one thing happening, the other cannot.”
“Aye,” Adlin murmured, having manifested nearby. Wisdom lit his eyes. “For had the Brotherhood not done what they did, the
couples who came together on this adventure would not have connected. They needed to walk their destined paths to find their way back to each other.”
Destiny nodded in agreement as Adlin continued.
“From the moment I was conceived in my last life, everything had to go exactly the way it did.” Adlin shook his head, clearly awed by the whole thing. “Not just afterward but before. And not just for obvious reasons but because it allowed my soul, not to mention all MacLomains after me, to harness what each couple contributed to their stone. Traits that influence MacLomains to this day.” His brows perked. “No matter which way one looks at it, the Brotherhood had to be part of this. Darkness had to be part of this.”
“That’s right.” Destiny sounded more like a goddess than usual. “But then their involvement follows the natural order of things. As in everything in life, there must be balance. There cannot be dark without light and vice versa.”
“So essentially the Brotherhood is a necessary evil,” Chara murmured.
“I’m afraid so.” The goddess looked at Marek. “So there’s no blame to be had here. Only thanks.” Her eyes softened on Chara. “Thanks that you didn’t leave her little unicorn all alone in the world. That you were true of heart and brave enough to approach her and offer friendship during her darkest hour.”
“There was bravery to it,” Adlin said softly, sensing something in that, “wasn’t there?”
“Very much so.” Destiny shook her head. “There’s a reason unicorns are considered a myth and shrouded in mystery. Though only ever seen by a handful of people over the centuries, they were never approached. Their magic wouldn’t allow it. People would only ever see them as powerful and good. Not to say they aren’t...or weren’t, but no one really knows for sure because, in truth, nobody’s ever gotten close enough. Had they, unicorn magic would have repelled them. A unique type of magic that inherently protected and kept their kind safe from predators.”
“Until Marek in our first life,” Chara said softly.
A Scot's Retribution (The MacLomain Series: End of an Era Book 5) Page 13
