Cover Copy
Traveling through time…for a Highlander
With her dying breath, Katherine MacLean makes a wish inside a faerie circle, a wish that sends her traveling through time and into the arms of the warrior the fae have bound her soul to. She is the progeny of two great clans, MacLean and MacDonald, but with a vicious feud raging between them, she’s called by the fae to unite and bring about some peace.
Highland warrior John MacDonald holds a piece of Katherine’s soul and only through him can she survive. When Katherine escapes him to the enemy’s land to see to the fae’s mission, everything within him demands he make chase and protect her.
Once Katherine joins her MacLean kin, she discovers her mission is not quite as it seems. Can she find a way to claim the warrior her soul hungers for…without becoming the one who ignites the feud?
Highlander’s Faerie
by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander Heat, #5
Amazon Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Joanne-Wadsworth/e/B00AVRVIBM/
Dedication
As a child I loved making wishes on the first star I saw at night, and to this day I still do. This one is for everyone who loves wishing too.
Acknowledgements
I have an incredibly supportive family who allow me so much time to write. Huge thanks go to my hubby, Jason, and kiddies, Marisa, Caleb, Cruise and Rocco. Hugs.
For my readers, I can’t thank you enough for joining me, and taking this journey to where imagination and magic soar.
A Word From The Author
Each book within this Highlander Heat series is stand-alone, although for your reading pleasure you may wish to read Highlander’s Magic book two, before this one as the two stories involve twin sisters traveling through time. Marie’s story comes first in Magic, and now this one is Katherine’s. If you require the Amazon link, it’s below.
Highlander’s Magic – (Amazon Page)
New Cover
Table of Contents
Cover Copy
Highlander’s Faerie
Dedication
A Word From The Author
The Faerie Circle
Katherine and Marie’s Parents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Author’s Note
Joanne Wadsworth
Books by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Castle
Highlander’s Magic
Highlander’s Charm
Highlander’s Guardian
Protector
Witness Pursuit
Short Excerpt: Witness Pursuit
Copyright: Highlander’s Faerie
The Faerie Circle
The ruins of Dunyvaig Castle, on the Isle of Islay, Scotland, current day.
The full moon, a bright ball of eerie orange, hung low along the ocean’s horizon and cast its glow over ghostly wisps of cloud floating across it. The wind rose, and inside Dunyvaig’s faerie circle, Katherine MacLean huddled on the cold, damp grass, her knees drawn tight to her chest. Nine white stones standing six feet high and six feet apart surrounded her, while a tenth center stone, short enough to sit on but just as wide, shone marble smooth with her ancestor’s silver amulet draped upon it. Mary’s MacLean’s talisman had been engraved on one side with the MacLean clan crest, and on the reverse, the MacDonald crest. The piece had been gifted to Mary on the day she’d wed the MacDonald chief, and should have represented the time when the two great clans had finally come together in harmony. Instead the feud had become bitterer and raged across the Western Isles.
Even as Mary’s kin had battled, she’d continued to wear the amulet as a firm reminder she belonged to both clans, until the day had come when Mary had decided nothing more could be done except to ask the faerie folk for aid. She’d stood in this circle and made a wish, asking the Guardians of Dunyvaig to aid her in bringing peace between her clans. They’d instructed her to bequeath her amulet to her eldest daughter, requesting it be passed down through the generations until it once again came into the possession of the eldest daughter born to a MacLean. That had taken over four-hundred years, but it was a gift Katherine’s older twin sister, Marie, had held dear to her heart.
Marie had received the bestowment on her twenty-first birthday, and following it, Katherine and Marie had traveled halfway around the world, from Australia’s Gold Coast to Scotland’s mainland then by ferry to this beautiful isle. As the progeny of two bickering clans, they’d brought Mary’s amulet home as she’d requested.
Then a mere week ago, Katherine had stood in this faerie circle with her sister and made a wish that had gone awry. That wish had lowered the veil and taken Marie away from her and far into the past.
Behind Katherine, high on the craggy hill, Dunyvaig’s ruins tormented her. Those blocks of jagged stone lay so heartbreakingly cold and alone, as she’d been this past week without her sister. Rocking, she allowed her tears to trickle free. “Please,” she cried out to the little folk, “I’ll do whatever you ask of me. Grant me one more wish. Allow me to join my sister. She’s all I have left in this world.”
Pain speared through her and she slumped onto her side. Blood flowed down her neck from an open wound that had come out of nowhere. She grasped the edges, but her lifeblood poured through her fingers and soaked her red and blue tartan coat.
Vision blurring, she scrambled to the edge of the circle and hit a hazy barrier. Beyond the fog, the darkened waves of Lagavulin Bay rolled in with a pounding crash, and high on the hill, Dunyvaig Castle rose strong. Three stories high, its battlements topped fortified walls and candles glowed from the tower windows.
“Mary, you’re no’ to wander beyond the gates,” a guardsman bellowed as he rushed across the top of the barbican.
A woman with a riot of red-gold curls swaying around her belly swollen with child hurried toward the circle and patted the sides. “The veil has risen,” Mary called to the guard. Kneeling in her white gown, she peered within, right at Katherine. Softly, she murmured, “Please, whose presence do I feel? That of the fae?”
“I need your aid.” Katherine fought to get to her knees and hammered the veil with what strength she had.
“I hear whispers from within.” Mary searched the circle. “Guardians of Dunyvaig, I implore you. Marie has gone to battle for the Rhinns and I fear for her safety. She will perish if my brother’s life is taken. Lachlan MacLean has yet to father her paternal line. If he dies, she dies.”
“Mary, you have to send someone to Marie.” She clutched her wounded neck.
“Aye, if that is what the fae ask of me, then that is what I shall do.”
“I’m not one of the—”
“Ye must come inside, Mary.” The guard strode out in a thick fur vest and breeches, his sword at his side. “’Tis late and the weather turns.”
“Nay, I need a moment. I can sense the fae’s presence.” Mary bowed her head against the veil. “Please, show yourself to me.”
“There is none there. Now come.” The warrior helped Mary to her feet and gently led her back through the gates.
“Mary, stay. I—I—” Black spots danced before her eyes. No. She had to hold on.
“Katherine.” A voice floated all around and a light shimmered. “I am one of the fae and have heard your wish. If your desire is to join your sister then you must survive. Your paternal ancestor is wounded, just as you are. Hold strong.”
“I ne
ed Marie.” She fought the descending fog.
“I know. You’ve always needed each other.” Another voice, and not one she’d ever forget, not when it belonged to her late mother. She blinked and forced her vision to clear. A glowing form made of mist and moonlight materialized and took the shape of the woman who’d given birth to her, the woman she’d mourned since her death only a few months past.
“Mum? Am I dead?”
“No, but I’m here. Your father and I never wished to leave you and I’ve always been close, as is he.”
Another form shimmered to radiant life next to her mother.
“Dad?” On her knees, she tried to grab them but met nothing but air.
Thunder rumbled all around and lightning hit the rippling waves of the bay with a sizzling crackle. The veil thinned and her parents and the faerie fluttered away.
The dark consumed her.
Katherine and Marie’s Parents
Inside the faerie circle, a day later.
“We need to do something.” Marianne MacDonald lowered to her knees in the faerie circle next to her husband. Her daughter was so close yet still beyond her touch, right where she’d fallen the day before. She called to the fae, “Marigold, please, we need you.”
“I’m here.” She shimmered into sight and kneeling, pressed her palm against Katherine’s chest. “Wake, my child. ’Tis I, one of the fae.”
Katherine stirred and coughed. Slowly, she opened her eyes then fumbled for the fae’s hand. “Help me,” she croaked.
“I have already promised to give you aid, although to survive your soul will need to be bound to another who already walks this Earth.”
“Do something. Anything.” Blood dribbled from Katherine’s mouth.
“You will need to join your sister in the past. That is now your place. Look. She comes.”
Marie snuck across the stony courtyard and passed under the arched entrance.
Marianne soaked in the sight of her firstborn child, as did her husband who gripped her hand.
“I’m here, Katherine.” Marie slipped between two of the perimeter stones, knelt before the center stone and eyed Mary’s amulet sitting upon it. “Where are you, sis?”
Katherine gurgled on blood and her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed her last.
“They can’t see each other. Quickly, do something,” Marianne urged the fae. “Katherine can’t die.”
Marigold closed her eyes and murmured, “I hereby bind Katherine MacLean’s soul to the one man who should have always been hers. He lives in this time, her warrior protector. Send a piece of her inner light to him, so that he might guide and watch over her, throughout all time.”
A bright light shimmered around Katherine’s prone form and tendrils separated from her body and floated beyond the circle. As the fae swept her hands over Katherine, the wound on her neck closed and the blood drew away until not a drop remained. Marigold breathed into Katherine’s mouth then stroked her cheek. “Wake, my child, but without fear. You shall no’ remember what has happened here until you’re ready.”
Marianne held her breath.
Katherine gasped and dragged in precious air.
“’Tis done.” Marigold nodded at Marianne. “In healing your daughter, her memories of the past day in this circle will be gone, but she will recall what is needed in time. ’Tis best that way.”
Tears trickled down Marianne’s cheeks. “Thank you.”
“Come.” Marigold drew her and Locky away. “We can no longer intervene or be seen.”
“She needs to know we’re here.”
“Nay. For now, ’twill be too much for her to bear.”
“Please, let Katherine come,” Marie cried out to the fae as she thumped the short center stone. “I need her.”
“I’m here.” Katherine shook her groggy head and crawled closer to her sister. She swished her hand through Marie’s form. “No. I can see you, but not touch you.”
Marianne grasped her husband’s hand. “They have to find each other, Locky.”
“They will. Trust in the fae.” He squeezed her hand in return.
“I can hear you, sis.” Marie sagged forward. “I saw to Archie’s wish. Lachlan MacLean lives and he’s been taken by the king’s men to Edinburgh as history has foretold. Our paternal line continues on. You and I will survive.”
“Then come home to me. I’m between times.”
“Marie!” Archie shouted her name as he raced down the trail, his white shirttails flying free behind him. The MacDonald warrior hit the edge of the circle, bounced off and slammed onto the ground. Stunned, he shook his head then staggered to his feet. “Hell, the veil’s up.”
“Take the amulet, sis.” Katherine pleaded.
“Marie, is Katherine in there with you?” Archie shoved against the veil. “Dinnae go to her, no’ yet. I need to hold you, one last time.”
“Marie.” Katherine clambered to her feet, her long blond hair whipping about her in the swirling breeze. “Every day since you disappeared into the past, I’ve returned and waited for you. I’m right here, and I’ve watched those ruins and wished for the castle to reappear. Pick up the amulet. It must be the only way you can get back to me.”
“I don’t want to leave him, but I’ll never leave you.” Marie wrapped shaky fingers around the amulet and slipped it over her head.
Katherine gasped and grabbed her sister as she appeared in full form before her. “Oh my goodness, you’re back. I can finally touch you. You’re real.”
“We’re together again.” Marie mashed their wet cheeks together.
“Archie!” Archie’s brother raced down the trail, his warrior’s sword at his side. “What’s happened?”
“Marie’s gone, John.” Archie clutched the grass and ripped handfuls free. “She’s gone.”
“Then wish for Marie back, as you wished for her in the very beginning.” John crouched beside Archie.
“This is what Marie wanted, to return to her sister. I willnae make her choose between her own kin and me.” Archie seized his brother’s arm. “I must give her up.”
Katherine hugged Marie tight then looked into her eyes. “I can see Archie loves you.”
“He has my heart.” Marie peered at Archie, her gaze filled with such longing.
Katherine glanced between the warrior and her sister. “We should join them, Marie. There is nothing left for us in the future. Mum and Dad are gone. We have no other family.” She swiped the talisman from around Marie’s neck, clasped hands with her and wound the amulet around both their wrists. “Let’s do this, but this time, we go together. You’re not leaving me again.”
“Are you sure?”
Marianne wrung her hands together. “Yes,” she whispered to her daughters as she pressed them, “you must go together.”
“It’s been hard to live without our parents, so yes, I’m sure. Surely you don’t want to lose another person you love too?” Katherine strode toward John and pressed her hand against the veil in front of him. “John, it’s Katherine, Marie’s sister. Tell Archie to make a wish, for both my sister and me.”
“I hear you.” The warrior rose and rested his hand over Katherine’s. “Make a wish, Archie, for both of them. Katherine asks it of you.”
“I’ll try.” Archie squeezed his eyes shut. “Guardians of Dunyvaig, I ask for a wish. For you to send me the woman who has stolen my heart and the one she holds closest to her. Bring them here, so we need never live apart again.” He swept his hand through the air and Marie’s amulet rose, breached the barrier and spun into his palm.
A wind rose and tunneled around Katherine and Marie, whipping their hair across their faces. Marie clutched hold of Katherine. “Don’t let go of me, sis. If you do, you’ll be in more trouble than it’s worth.”
“I’m holding on. Sisters, forever.” Katherine peered back toward Marianne and Locky and smiled.
“Can she see us, Marigold?” Marianne touched her heart.
“Nay, and so too her memories
of this past day in the circle are gone, but as kin, she senses your presence all the same. Look.” The fae motioned toward the streaming tendrils of Katherine’s essence which still swirled beyond the veil. They wisped around John and then absorbed into his body. “He is her warrior protector, the one always meant for her. He now holds a piece of her soul. The two are deeply bound.”
The veil thinned and Katherine fell through the barrier and into John’s arms.
“Katherine has made the right choice and lives.” The fae smiled. “Now she must accept her fate and her new bond with her warrior. She cannae survive without him. To do so, will mean her ultimate death.”
“Then that’s a death I’ll never allow.” Marianne held firm to her words. She’d do whatever it took to ensure both her daughters’ survival and that Katherine remembered all that had gone on within this circle. She couldn’t be with them in life, but she would still safeguard their future happiness.
She’d watch over them as she always had.
Chapter 1
Dunyvaig Castle, MacDonald stronghold, 1590, two weeks following Katherine’s arrival.
Katherine stood at her chamber window. Beyond the gates, the faerie circle remained quiet, bare of any breeze, and the amulet glinting in the moonlight upon the center stone where her sister had tossed it following their arrival into the past. Something within the circle called to her, demanding her return, just as her nightly dreams urged her to do the same.
She needed answers, and it was time. She grasped her burgundy skirts, strode out of her room and down the winding stairs. Hurrying, she bypassed the great hall, walked across the stony inner courtyard and under the arched entrance.
After taking a deep, fortifying breath, she stepped into the circle and stopped before the center stone. Slowly, reverently, she picked up the amulet and whispered, “Guardians of Dunyvaig, why have you brought me here?”
Highlander's Faerie (Highlander Heat Book 5) Page 1
