Everyone agreed, watching as the ship set sail into what turned out to be yet another sunset.
Moments later, the boat faded, and MacLomain Castle appeared.
“Welcome home, kin.” Adlin and Milly stood beside the massive oak tree in front of the castle as if they’d been expecting them. “Might you join us for a wee dram before some of you head home?”
They nodded, relieved to see everything as it was despite having clearly conquered evil. Yet as they followed Adlin and Milly over the drawbridge and into the courtyard, Marek felt a change in the air. Something was different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Once they were inside in front of the great hall fire with drinks in hand, Adlin explained.
“Whilst our magic is at last stable again,” he began. “’Tis not what it once was.”
“’Tis not, is it?” Tiernan murmured, as disquieted as them all.
“Nay.” Adlin appeared to gather himself before he went on. “You see, Destiny knew when she set her plan in motion what had to happen. The only thing that could happen to stop the Brotherhood from destroying the MacLomains and Scotland.”
“She gave up her inner goddess,” Chara whispered, suddenly sensing it. Seeing it for what it was. “She used the last of her goddess magic to stop her father and the Brotherhood.”
“Aye,” Grant confirmed, joining them. His ethereal form was perfectly stable now that MacLomains in the afterlife were no longer at risk. “There was more of a price to pay than Destiny losing her inner goddess, though.”
“Indeed there was,” Adlin echoed. “For with the destruction of Destiny’s ring, came the end of the Claddagh connecting MacLomains and Brouns. Not just that, but though magic still exists, ‘tis but a myth now.” He shook his head. “Even members of our own clans dinnae know it ever existed nor what we’ve done for Scotland over the years.”
“That’s a little sad,” Julie murmured from Tiernan’s lap. “Because they’re such wonderful stories. Such good deeds.”
“Very true,” Milly agreed. “But their tales will not be lost to those of us who still possess magic nor those to come.” Her gaze dropped to Julie’s stomach, and she smiled. “And I’m sure they’ll cherish those stories every bit as much as we have.”
When Julie’s brows shot up in surprise, and she placed her hand on her womb, Adlin beamed at her and Tiernan. “No doubt, they will!”
It seemed they were pregnant and Adlin and Milly, not overly shocking considering who they were, had the pleasure of knowing before the parents even did. Julie and Tiernan embraced before everyone congratulated them and raised their mugs in a toast.
Marek, who also had Chara on his lap, rested his hand on her womb, eager for the day she conceived. Desperate to hear their wee one’s heartbeat for the first time. She, in turn, rested her hand over his and snuggled back against him, just as eager based on her thoughts.
Like the rest of them, she also remained curious about a few things.
“While everyone else will forget magic existed, what about King David?” Chara asked. “Will he forget too? Will he forget he ever even met us for that matter?”
“Verra likely,” Grant replied.
“Though not necessarily,” Adlin added.
“Nay,” Grant agreed. “For he was verra close to all this and still a wee bairn.”
“And wee bairns,” Adlin went on, “tend to remember things adults cannae.”
“So he just might,” Chara cut in, getting the hang of how to handle the two wizards. “Time will tell.”
“Aye, time will tell,” they said in tandem.
“Destiny wasn’t entirely truthful about her Claddagh ring, was she?” Chara murmured, switching topics. Her eyes narrowed as if she sensed something. “She claimed she wore it so the Brotherhood would think Marek was meant for her rather than me, but there was more to it, wasn’t there?”
“Aye,” Adlin replied softly. “She created and wore her ring so you wouldnae have to sacrifice, lass. She wanted to be the one who sacrificed, for in her mind ‘twas she who started all this. She who created something that required great sacrifices from each couple not only to compensate for the unicorn’s sacrifice but for the Guardian Witches’ ritual to work. So she felt, at the verra least, she could ease your burden and pay for that.”
“Which she did,” Leviathan grumbled, speaking for the first time since they’d left the Stonehenge. Though Marek sensed the Viking meant to leave soon, he lingered. Almost as if he wanted to be with those who knew Destiny. “At least, in the end, the message relayed was true. All hope was not lost for her.”
“What happened between you two, anyway?” Chara asked. “How did you guys survive those flames?”
“As you now know, part of her did not.” Leviathan pulled out Destiny’s dagger and eyed it as though he saw great secrets in it. “For this demands a great price.”
“A price you paid, I would say.” Adlin’s eyes flickered with magic when he looked at the Viking. “A price paid when you two were forged in fire. For without it, she would have lost her life altogether. Verra likely even her soul.”
Leviathan’s eyes snapped to Adlin, his voice a growl. “Why did you say that, wizard? What do you know of dragons being forged in fire?”
“Verra little other than ‘tis something rarely done and unique to Ancients,” Adlin replied, not put off in the least by Leviathan’s attitude. “’Tis what happened betwixt you and Destiny, aye?”
“You saved Destiny’s life?” Chara looked at Leviathan with gratefulness. “Truly?”
Rather than respond, he sheathed the blade and ended up doing what Marek knew he would for no other reason than he felt cornered. More than that, he suspected the Ancient had discovered the last thing he wanted to on his journey here.
Something they discussed once the Viking left.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“DESPITE UNDOUBTEDLY BEING one of the heroes in all this, he really is a distant sort, isn’t he?” Chloe remarked after Leviathan vanished into the newer Viking tapestry, with the Viking sword that had helped them so much in hand. “He’s all alpha grunts and vague nods of goodbye, then off he goes back to ancient Scandinavia without a backward glance.”
“Ancients are different,” Adlin conceded. “Especially those who lose their hearts when they dinnae believe in love.”
“You think he lost his heart to Destiny?” Chara asked. “Really?”
“’Tis a distinct possibility,” Grant replied. “Time will tell.”
Adlin perked a brow at him. “You think?”
Grant perked a brow right back. “Dinnae you?”
“Well, she is overseeing the chalet in Maine now,” Adlin conceded. “From where many a lass has traveled back in time to ancient Scandinavia, aye?”
Grant nodded. “Aye.”
“Yet she’s one of ours,” Adlin exclaimed. “The first Sigdir who might travel back!”
“Until then, back to the here and now, da,” Tiernan intercepted, chuckling. “Is it truly over, then? We willnae have any more issues with the God of Death?”
“’Tis truly over,” Adlin assured, grinning at everyone. “And mayhap time to celebrate?”
As if in direct response, his sister Iosbail peered out through the faces over the mantle and grinned. Her way, without a doubt, of saying it was long past time.
So it was that the pipes trilled, and the MacLomain clan commenced to celebrating like they never had before. The great hall filled not just with clansfolk but ghosts from the past.
“Everyone’s here, aren’t they?” she whispered to Marek as he held her close. “All the MacLomains and Brouns who have come together over the years? They're dancing all around us?”
“Aye, lass,” he murmured, only having eyes for her. Though he didn’t say it, she could feel his need for kin and clan. His want to bring her home at last.
“When is it appropriate to leave?” she asked, giving him an excuse. “Because I’m eager to finally step fo
ot in the castle I’ve been dreaming about nearly my whole life.”
“Whenever you like, lass.” He smiled, visibly relieved. “I know Cray and Madison are ready when you are, and my family eagerly awaits our arrival.”
She met his smile. “Then let’s go, already.”
After many a goodbye and promises to see one another again soon, they bid farewell to everyone alongside not just Cray and Madison but Aidan and Chloe, who were heading back to Hamilton Castle.
“We will see you again soon in this new era of ours,” Adlin said as everyone embraced. “May we all enjoy the peace we’ve found!”
As it happened when MacLomain Castle vanished, and MacLeod Castle appeared in front of them, that was exactly what she felt. Soul-deep peace. As Cray and Madison went on ahead, she looked at Marek with tears in her eyes and whispered, “I’m here. I’m finally really here, aren’t I?”
“Aye.” He never took his eyes off her. “Nobody wants to disturb your walk into a place you’ve only ever dreamt about, so they’re waiting in the great hall.”
She looked at the rugged castle overlooking the North Sea and nodded, far too emotional to talk. Rather she cherished every step outside the woods she could never travel beyond. Then her walk over the drawbridge with its sharp teethed portcullises.
“It really is suited to a dragon clan, isn’t it?” she said in awe.
“In its own way, I suppose ‘tis,” he conceded. “Though in truth ‘tis just a weathered old castle without much elegance.”
Not as far as she was concerned.
Chara stared up at the towering castle bracing itself against the wind and knew nothing could compare. She smiled at the people welcoming her as they passed beneath the second portcullis and entered the courtyard.
“I think it’s the most beautiful castle I’ve ever seen.” That sentiment was only confirmed when she walked into a great hall full of angry ocean tapestries and dragons roaring across the sky. “Definitely the most beautiful castle I’ve ever seen.”
After that, everything went by in a whirlwind as she finally met Marek’s mother and father, and grandparents. All of whom seemed to love her from the onset and welcomed her with open arms despite her being teary more often than not.
“I’m so sorry.” She wiped away yet another blasted tear when she and Marek had a moment alone. “My emotions are all over the place.”
“Aye.” He reeled her close and brushed his lips across hers. “Of course they are, lass.”
“Right, because I’ve dreamt of this place for so long and—”
“Nope, that’s not it,” Madison chimed in, spinning by on Cray’s arm before they headed upstairs. She looked over her shoulder. “See you soon, sweetie!”
Chara looked at Marek in confusion. “See her soon?” She shook her head. “And why did it sound like she knew another reason I might be so emotional?”
His dragon eyes flared, and he smiled when he seemed to figure it out. He pressed his hand to her stomach. “I imagine because her babe connected with our babe before anyone else.”
“Oh,” she whispered, overjoyed as she put her hand over his. “That fast?”
“Aye, it can happen verra fast with dragons.” He winked, referring to what he’d said the first time they met in a dream. “Though ‘tis safe to say it took a wee bit more than just holding hands and smiling.”
She grinned, never more grateful for that. For him. For the babe in her belly.
Marek kissed her soundly, then met her eyes. “I want to show you something, lass.”
“What’s that?” She couldn’t help a small smile. “Our bed?”
“Most certainly that eventually.” He swept her up into his arms and started up the stairs. “But first, something else.”
“What could possibly be more important?” she murmured, inhaling his scent, more than ready to take their clothes off.
“You’ll see.”
And see she did when he went up another set of stairs then another before stepping out onto a balcony. Though only at the top of the castle, they seemed atop the world. A full moon reflected on the churning sea, and torches burned and spit in the wind.
Marek’s kin stood waiting alongside a holy man.
She fought another wave of emotion when he set her down in a carpet of golden clovers. Then another still when Marek sank to a knee. He looked up at her and tried to speak but couldn’t seem to find his voice. When he did, his brogue was thick.
“As we did in our dreams, I’ll ask ye again proper.” He held out a beautiful ring designed like a twig wrapped with golden clovers. “Will ye marry me, lass? Will ye—”
“Yes,” she choked out. “Yes, Marek. From long before you asked me to this very moment and far into the future, I’ll marry you.”
Everyone laughed and clapped, congratulating them not just on the babe but their upcoming nuptials. A marriage, as it turned out, that took place that very moment. Despite Marek pulling her close halfway through the ceremony and kissing her passionately, the holy man married them, and they were, at long last, man and wife.
“Well, then,” his mother Jessie chimed in with amusement when they resumed kissing. “What will you two do next?”
“What would you do?” his grandmother Erin said, chuckling.
“I know what I’d do,” Madison kicked in.
“Could they be any more obvious?” Chara murmured against Marek’s lips before glancing their way and smiling.
“I know what they could do,” Cray carried it on. He leapt on the railing and winked at Marek. “And your mate will never forget it, aye, brother?”
“Nay.” He looked at Chara. “She never will.”
She gasped when Cray leapt over the edge, followed swiftly by Marek’s parents, grandparents, and Madison. Moments later, a loud whooshing sound filled the horizon, and six dragons swooped up and away from the castle.
“Magic is hidden now so we can fly at will without Scotland being the wiser.” Marek leapt onto the ledge and held his hand down to her. “What say you, lass? Would you like to do what my great-grandmother Torra and great-grandfather Colin did off this verra ledge after marrying? Would you like to spread your wings and fly?”
“But what if I don’t get it right?” She let him pull her up. “That’s a long way down and,” she put a hand over her womb, truly never so happy, “and what if...”
“Do you think I would ever let you fall, my lass?” Marek squeezed her hand, anticipation in his eyes. “That I wouldn’t catch you first?” Pulling her until she faced him on the ledge, he wrapped an arm around her back before she could teeter. He kept them perfectly stable amid the wind shear and tilted her chin until her eyes met his. “The babe would verra much like the experience. That aside, I would always catch ye, be there, love ye, in every life, Chara. Never doubt that.”
She didn’t either. Not for a second as his lips brushed hers once, twice, then again and again before he deepened the exchange, and she lost herself. Almost as if the wind swept her away, and she was falling into an abyss.
But she wasn’t falling into an abyss at all and waking from another dream lost to her.
Rather, they had gone over the edge, and she was waking up.
Spreading her wings.
Whooping with joy, it took no time to adjust as she caught the wind and soared toward the full moon. Marek’s black dragon joined her a moment later, whooping with equal pleasure as they sailed alongside the other dragons before he steered her west.
“If you’re up for a flight, everybody’s waiting to see us once more and wish us a happy marriage, lass,” he said into her mind. “Then there are some that dinnae even know they’re waiting.”
Freer than she’d ever felt and willing to fly all night, she sailed alongside him for what felt like minutes but had to be hours. Sailed until she saw Destiny in the distance lounging on the deck of a seaside chalet in Maine without a care in the world.
Sailed until they passed over Hamilton castle, where Aidan and Chloe w
aved at them and provided a sky full of twinkling fairy lights to soar through. Last but not least, they soared over MacLomain Castle, where everyone waved in passing from the highest torch-lit wall-walk.
Then, racing each other all the way, they finally headed home.
Back to a future that looked brighter than ever.
A former unicorn had embraced her dragon, and a Scot saw through his retribution. Life as everyone knew it had ended, and things had begun anew.
It wasn’t such a bad new start, though.
For a lonely little unicorn and the boy who’d found her had ignited something they could never have imagined. Something that sparked the beginning of what would always be known to those who ‘had the gift’ as the most powerful clan ever to be. One who brought true love together across the centuries and ensured Scotland’s history.
A clan whose deeds eventually became rooted in folklore, therefore never truly forgotten.
Is it really over, though? Turn the page to find out...
Epilogue
New Hampshire
Present Day
“IT’S QUITE SOMETHING, don’t you think?” Adlin walked through the front door of the colonial and gestured into the living room, remembering Mildred sitting there as an old woman, then Milly reborn and young. “Everything is updated with a lovely décor left by the previous owner.” Biting back emotion, he looked upstairs then led them into the kitchen. “I’ll leave you here to browse the rest of the house at your leisure, but I think you’ll find it’s everything you’re looking for.”
“Thank you,” the young couple said at once, clearly seeing the same thing he did when they gazed around. How could they not when hundreds of years of happiness filled this place?
Hundreds of years of love.
Despite his heartache at saying goodbye, he couldn’t help but chuckle when three wee ones raced past him down the hallway, off to explore all the colonial had to offer. When he glanced back at the couple, they were wrapped in an embrace, murmuring in excitement, looking forward to a bright new future here.
A Scot's Retribution (The MacLomain Series: End of an Era Book 5) Page 21
