“It’s usually allocated for guests, except Hunter is currently occupying the room since his chamber is undergoing a renovation. Come with me. We’ll go and find the men you seek. The sooner you meet them all, the better.” Murdock caught her elbow and guided her back down the passageway to the stairs leading to the lower floor.
Eager, she bounded downstairs ahead of him, her tension draining away. A little excitement even swarmed through her. She’d finally be able to show herself to Murdock’s clansmen and naught more could have pleased her. In the foyer, wide double doors engraved with the Matheson clan crest stood open and she walked into the great hall filled with trestle tables and a roaring fireplace to the side. Blue suede couches curved around the fire blazing in the hearth and a warrior lay stretched out on one of the couches, his navy pants encasing long legs and his ankle dagger glinting where he’d crossed his feet and the hem had lifted. Firelight played over his chiseled features, his dark hair clearly the same length and cut as the warrior from her vision. Right height and build as the prisoner too. She definitely needed to speak to him.
“That’s Levi,” Murdock whispered in her ear before crossing to the man and nudging his arm. “Up you get, sleepyhead.”
One long groan, his eyes still closed. “Hunter, I’m not supposed to take over from you for another half an hour. Go away.”
“I’m not Hunter.” Murdock rustled Levi’s hair.
“Chief?” Levi cranked one eye open and groaned again, then toppled from the couch as he caught sight of her. “Who do we have here?” Quick as a whip, he bounded to his feet, then slowly sauntered across to her before pulling her into a back-breaking hug she hadn’t expected. She gasped and got a mouthful of his cotton shirtfront as she tried to speak. “Mmm,” he rumbled in her ear. “I scent unmated female. Give me your name, sweet pea.”
“Levi, meet Ailith.” Murdock motioned to her. “She’s one of the full-blooded fae, the daughter of Cian, the prince and healer of our fae kind beyond the veil, and the niece of Cherub. Ailith, meet Levi, one of my senior officers who is desperate to find his mate. He can be a terrible flirt too. Just warning you.”
“Thank you for the delightful welcome, Levi.” She managed to tip her head back and get some much-needed air, except she came eye to eye with him as she did.
“Anytime.” Another rumbling answer as he kept his gaze on hers while asking Murdock, “Chief, can I keep her?”
“Not unless she’s your mate.” The chief chuckled. “Ailith holds the skill of combat sense and can receive visions of war before they unfold. She’s foreseen the death of a warrior from our time who perishes far in the past, and now she’s here to discover exactly who he is so she can ensure his protection, a warrior who spoke of being mated to her.” Murdock thumped Levi on the back. “Don’t break her bones, son. She doesn’t hold the strength of a shifter.”
“I’m sorry. You’re not hurt, are you?” Levi released her, so swiftly, worry flashing across his face.
She tumbled back into another man. ’Twas Hunter, the warrior she’d watched from the chief’s solar window. She cleared her throat, righted herself and stepped back from him. His golden shifter eyes blazed a molten hue, the same shade as that of the prisoner she needed to find and protect. Unfortunately, ’twas also the same shade that everyone held within this clan, a true indicator of their shifter blood.
Hunter’s gaze narrowed, his eyebrows pinching together. “I caught the chief’s introduction. Who is this warrior you’re looking for?”
“I’m unaware of his name, and all I caught in my vision was the sound of his voice. He was caked in dirt from head to foot, as if he’d been wallowing in mud, then hung from chains in the MacKenzie’s dungeons and tortured before having his throat slit. ’Twas a rather gruesome death to witness.”
“It definitely sounds it.”
“I’m here to ensure that warrior’s protection, to keep him alive.” She thumbed her chin as his voice washed over her. It could be a match, although so too could Levi’s. Gosh, how annoying. She’d hoped the warrior’s voice would be instantly recognizable, that she’d know beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly who had featured in her vision. “Ah, your chief saw the same vision as I did and believes either you, Liam, or Levi are a match to the warrior who perishes. I need to meet Liam too, so I can listen to all three of you speaking and see if I can uncover which one of you is about to perish.”
“I’m Liam.” Another warrior leaned against the doorway wearing a white collared lab coat flapping over pressed beige pants and polished boots. A pen was hooked in his front coat pocket and a small pad poked out of his pants pocket.
“You’re the resident doctor?”
“Aye, and I could scent you from the other side of the keep.” He stalked toward her, halted in front and crossed his large arms across an equally large chest. “You smell damn good, like an unmated female. Are you?”
“I too scented her, from outside on the ramparts.” Scowling, Hunter stepped away toward the narrow window overlooking the inner courtyard, the stained glass sparkling with deep reds, blues, and greens. With his forehead pressed against the glass, his shoulders shook as a low growl rumbled from deep within his chest.
“Are you all right?” She took one tentative step toward him.
“Aye, I’m fine.” Hand shoved up, Hunter canted his head in a very animal-like way. “Stay right where you are. You don’t only smell like an unmated female, but you’re also in heat and the fragrance you’re emitting has just gotten a whole lot sweeter and more lethal.”
“You must be wrong. I cannae be in heat.” As an immortal, she’d never physically aged past her twentieth year and due to her immortality, her courses fell a good twenty or so years apart. She wasn’t due for another flow for years yet.”
“I’m not wrong. You’re in heat.”
She lifted a brow at Murdock, who surely would have scented such a thing and warned her by now. “Can you scent I’m in heat?”
“You weren’t in heat on your arrival, but something’s changed since we entered the great hall.” Murdock stuck his hands in his pockets and pursed his lips. “I’d have to agree with my men. You’re in the early stages of being in heat.”
“’Tis too soon, and I am never early.”
“I agree with Hunter and Liam.” Levi lifted his nose to the air and breathed deep with a mischievous smile. “You’re definitely in heat, sweet pea, and your scent has been gaining in strength while we’ve been standing here chatting.”
“Then ’tis best I get down to the business at hand.” Three unmated males stood in this room, and each one followed her every move with their acute shifter gazes as she walked back and forth between them. She took in their size and build, the way they held themselves and their mannerisms. All were so very similar, which meant discovering which man was the one she needed to save would be more difficult to uncover than she’d first believed. Even their voices as yet hadn’t given the one she sought away.
She halted beside Hunter first, gently laid her hand over one of his clenched fists on the windowsill. “You seem to be the most affected by my presence.”
“I like how you smell, and so does my bear. He can be quite territorial, particularly around unmated females. That’s because I’ve had a younger sister to protect until this past month when she accepted the bond with her mate.”
“What’s her name?”
“Bella. She an empath and a fierce little shifter.”
An image of Bella flittered through her mind, her sweet empath nature strong, her inner bear definitely a fierce little fighter. It had been three years since her last visit here to Murdock’s time, and even though she hadn’t uncloaked herself to Bella when she’d caught sight of her arguing with Jamie one day in the courtyard, she’d still known exactly who she and Jamie were. Bella and Jamie had been beyond the veil in spiritual form for centuries as they’d both awaited their rebirth to occur here in this time, although both of them had been reborn as babes, and as such
had no memories of their past and all that had occurred. That was the way for the odd couple who required rebirth, particularly when they were taken far too young from this world and hadn’t been given the chance to complete their bond with their mate. “I spent time with Bella beyond the veil. Your sister was a delight to be around, although rather prone to getting into others’ business, even in her spiritual form, but that is simply because of her fae empath ability.”
“Empaths are nosy. They can’t help it.”
“I would love to see her while I’m here.”
“She and Jamie are currently away on their honeymoon.”
“Oh, then I shall catch up with them both on their return.” She would look forward to it. She cleared her throat and returned her thoughts to her mission at hand. “Hmm, I thought I’d be able to identify the warrior from my vision, from your voices, only I still cannae say which one of you he might be. Mayhap if I spoke to you all privately, I’ll get more of a sense of which warrior it is I need to protect.” As it was, all she could sense was their growing frustration with her overpowering scent, which was only adding to her own frustration too. How annoying she was in heat. If only that hadn’t happened until it should have.
Still, she’d deal with her scent right now, remove it from this great hall then get back to doing her job.
From her pouch, she wriggled two fingers inside, pinched a little golden dust and tossed it high over the men. “With this fae dust,” she chanted, “allow my scent to lift from this great hall. Draw it higher and disperse it.”
She settled back on her heels and took in each of the three men.
They snorted under their breath and prowled in a circle around her, mayhap even more tense than before. “Is, ah, all well?”
“You shouldn’t have spelled your scent away.” Hunter leaned in, his nose in her hair as he breathed deep. “You smell wrong now, as if you’re hiding an important part of who you are. Bring your scent back.”
“Wait.” Liam gripped Hunter’s shoulder. “I believe she was right to spell her scent from this hall tonight. Our focus needs to be on her vision right now, on discovering who she needs to protect, so that we can protect her in return.”
“And which one of us might be mated to her while she makes that discovery.” Levi cracked his knuckles. “I for one want to find out before the next full moon rises. Three weeks is a lifetime away. If she’s mine, then I want her now.”
“Excuse me,” she interrupted and pushed the men back from her. “I would have you know I am a highly trained warrior. I dinnae carry a sword for no reason. I can certainly look after myself. I’m here to protect you, no’ the other way around.”
“Well said.” Levi pulled her into another smothering hug and squeezed her tight. “But you’re still a woman and make no mistake, we’ve been brought up to protect our women at all costs. They are the future of our clan, and only through them can we ensure our kind don’t fall into extinction.”
“I understand, but—”
“Let her go, Levi.” Hunter grasped Levi’s shoulder. “Your scent is all over her and my bear doesn’t like it.”
“Cease fighting.” She squirmed out of Levi’s hold and grasped Hunter’s muscled bicep. “I’ll begin by getting to know you first, Hunter.” She smiled at Liam and Levi. “’Tis time for me to begin my work here. I’ll speak to you two later, mayhap in the morning since Levi is due on duty, taking over from Hunter if I caught Murdock and Levi’s conversation right earlier.”
“You did.” Murdock nodded his agreement.
“We’ll definitely speak in the morning.” Levi sent her a teasing wink and blew her a kiss. “Breakfast is on me, here in the great hall. I’ll save a seat for you. Do you like bacon and eggs?”
“Quit it, Romeo.” Liam smacked Levi in the arm then eyed her. “He’s the tease around here, in case you missed that. I’ll catch up with you in the morning too. No need to track me down again tonight.”
“Wonderful.” She dipped her head at each man, including Murdock. “Please, keep me informed if you have any further visions. I see a great deal afore war looms, but I dinnae always see all, no’ as a seer can.”
“Of course.” Murdock slapped Hunter on the back. “I’ve given Ailith the guest chamber next to yours. Ensure she returns to it without any issue.”
“I’ll guard her with my life.” Hunter curled his hand over hers on his arm, then led her through the double doors into the dark of the night.
Outside, torches mounted along the curtain wall sent soft golden light flickering over the night-shrouded courtyard and up high over the battlements above. She strolled at Hunter’s side, along the cobbled pathway leading around the perimeter of the bailey toward the postern gate.
As they passed under the stone arch, the wind rose and swirled all around her, while up on top of the corner crenellation, a camera mounted on the stone whirred as it slowly moved to take in the wide expanse of the forest. “Your twenty-first century surveillance technology is quite remarkable.”
“What’s more remarkable is how you know my younger sister.” He led her down the grassy trail and into the shadowed depths of the pine trees where the camera could no longer reach them. “That surprised me.”
“Over the centuries, I’ve come to know many of our fae kind. You though, I know very little about.” She traversed the winding trail down toward the pebbly foreshore, then halted on the grassy bank and smiled as she took in the long length of the inner channel of Loch Alsh. Home. No matter what century she traveled to, this was always home. The waters shimmered a midnight-black and reflected the moon’s glow across its rippled surface. “This land has no’ changed in all these centuries. ’Tis always a wonder to behold.”
“The fae village has certainly changed.” Hunter eased in behind her, his big body providing solid protection and an undeniable element of heat, which sent tingles racing through her body. She rarely allowed any man to stand at her back, but this felt right, strangely right. In her ear, he continued, “Unfortunately, it fell into disrepair centuries ago, but we’ve managed to rebuild one of the homes and we’re going to start on the second later this month.”
“That is wonderful news.” With one hand raised to her brow, she searched the shoreline leading around the curve of the bay to the point. Moonlight played over the thatched roof of one home standing all alone within the crumbled remains of the outer stone wall. Gently, she swayed back against Hunter, until her back fully rested on his chest. She wriggled against him and he swept one arm around her waist and pinned her close. Oh my, the tingles returned and tightened her nipples. “I w-would love to see it.”
“I’ll take you tomorrow. I promise you I shall.”
“I’ll take you up on that kind offer, should I still be here.”
“You truly only wish to discover who the warrior is, then leave?”
“Aye, his protection comes afore all else, and should he travel to the past then that is where he shall ultimately perish, and should we be soul bound, then what kind of a mate would I be to allow his death when I know I can halt it?” Which meant she needn’t get quite so close to Hunter right now, not when all she needed to do was discover if he were the warrior she sought. ’Twould be three weeks afore the next full moon rose, which meant three weeks until she’d know if a bond existed between them. A lifetime away, yet not so far. She would wait, as patiently as she could.
She breathed deep of the salty sea air, pushed away from Hunter and hunkered down into a crouch. With one palm pressed firm on the grass, she closed her eyes and allowed her senses to rise. Even though so far away from Gilleoin’s time, she would still be able to sense her kindred fae kind she’d left behind, and she touched her heart as the steady thrum of her people rose and brought such sweet calm to her very soul.
Chapter 2
Hunter couldn’t stop staring at Ailith as she crouched with her hand pressed to the shoreline. She’d had her hand curled around his bicep mere minutes ago, her fingers so small ye
t so warm and burning a brand into his skin. She was in heat too, unmated and now they’d left the great hall, her heady scent once again swirled on the breeze. So damn intoxicating. He drew it fully into his lungs and his bear rolled around deep inside him, his other half now incredibly content he had her all to himself where they could remain alone.
Those with the enchanted fae dust she held could spell all manner of things, from manipulating memories, cloaking their forms, to erasing their scent. Over the years, he’d read recorded accounts in their ancient tomes about the dust and the fae who wielded it. He hadn’t heard about her specifically though, her father, aye. Cian was known as the greatest healer of their fae kind beyond the veil, the legends surrounding the prince immense.
He paced the shoreline right beside her, crunching the sand and pebbly stones under his feet. She was so trusting, what with giving him her back within minutes of meeting him, but it had felt incredibly natural to stand that way with her and when she’d leaned back and he’d wrapped an arm around her waist, heat had flared at the base of his spine, zapped around to the front and stiffened his cock. First time that had ever happened around another woman, and what a woman. She was beautiful. Her golden-brown locks fell in spiral curls halfway down her back, her nose dainty and the freckles across her high cheeks so cute. What he found the most striking though, was that she stood like a warrior, her battle leathers donned and a loose-sleeved cream tunic fluttering underneath the corseted leather bodice of her vest. The tips of her wrist daggers glinted under her cuffs, and the claymore belted at her side was a beauty. A finely made hilt of burnished steel with emeralds embedded in it, the stones an exact match to her emerald eyes, although her eyes also had flecks of gold within. Mesmerizing. He halted in front of her, lowered to a crouch and eye to eye, asked, “Do you sense anything? Is that the way of your skill? You connect with the soil and send your senses searching out?”
Highlander's Claim: Time Travel Romance (The Matheson Warriors Book 2) Page 3
