by Grant, Donna
She glanced past him. “I don’t think we’ll be leaving quite so easily.”
“Ah, Malcolm,” Wallace said from behind him. “It seems I underestimated Evie. My first mistake. I need to rectify that immediately.”
Malcolm stood and helped Evie to her feet before he faced Wallace. “Your time has ended.”
“As you can see, Death can no’ be killed,” he said as he swept his hand across the land to the battle. “The same goes for me.”
“Everything can be killed.”
“You’re right, of course.” Wallace’s blue eyes narrowed on him, anger flashing in his depths. His normally perfectly coiffed hair was in disarray from his jumping around in excitement. “I thought I should keep you alive to give Evie the push she needed, but I see what really needs to happen is your death.”
Malcolm got off a shot of lightning that hit Wallace once. Like before, Jason quickly had him immobile so Malcolm couldn’t use his power again.
“That hurt,” Wallace said as he looked at the scorch marks on his shirt. “Just for that, I’m going to make your death extra painful.”
* * *
Evie wasn’t going to lose Malcolm again, not after working so hard to get him back. There was no holding back her fury, no stopping the hate. It mixed with the love filling her until she didn’t know which would win.
Her magic erupted within her as if someone had flipped a switch. The more she thought of how much she loved Malcolm, the stronger her magic grew until it felt as if her skin was too tight and she might explode from it all.
And there … in the magic she felt something. It was small, tiny, but so powerful that it left her gasping for breath. The child growing within her, the child made from love and hope had added its magic to Evie’s.
Evie looked at Malcolm to find his gaze on her. His azure depths were filled with worry and faith. She gave him a reassuring smile as she let her mind connect with her child.
“Trust me,” she asked of him again.
And in his gaze, she saw his acceptance—and his trust.
Evie held her palms facing each other as a white ball of crystal tendrils swirled. The more she poured her magic into the ball, the larger it grew.
“You’re wasting your magic,” Jason said with a laugh.
Evie smiled. “Have you never heard the saying that love can conquer all?”
Jason’s grin slipped, and just as she hoped, Malcolm used that opportunity to shift his hands toward Jason. Jason’s attention was on her, giving Malcolm the chance he needed to be able to use his power.
“You’re scared now,” Evie said. “So scared that you haven’t even realized you no longer have a hold on Malcolm or on your army.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Evie saw the Druids and Warriors begin to gather around them once the figures of Death had vanished.
Wallace glanced around frantically.
Evie barely contained her joy. She wanted to laugh, but she would hold it in until the battle was over. “Death couldn’t hold Malcolm because its strength was split in fighting your battle.”
“Death is too strong for that,” Wallace stated angrily, spittle flying from his lips.
Evie felt a tickle in her stomach from her child. Because of the babe, she was going to leave this battle with both Malcolm and the bairn.
“Even Death can be defeated,” Malcolm said.
“Nay!” Wallace shouted.
Evie let the ball of magic grow larger. “Your overconfidence will lose you this game. You took your eye off the prize, Jason. You forgot how strong love and hope are. Because of that, Death walked away from you. It left you here, alone. To face us.”
Malcolm moved beside her. “Ready?”
“Oh, yes.”
She released the ball of magic the same instant Malcolm threw several lightning bolts at Jason. Wallace raised his hands to block the attack, but he couldn’t stop it.
He fell to one knee, a shocked expression on his face. “How?”
“Love,” Malcolm said. “Evil can no’ withstand the power of love.”
Evie threw several more blasts of magic at him as more lightning shot from Malcolm’s hand until Jason was on the ground, his body writhing while he fought to drag in a breath.
The Warriors and Druids closed in around him and, as one, gave him one last blast of magic and power. Wallace yielded a final shout before his body disintegrated into particles so tiny they were taken by the wind.
Evie watched the last of Jason Wallace float away as rejoicing sounded around her. Suddenly, Malcolm stood before her, his hand on her stomach.
“Our daughter is going to have strong magic.”
Malcolm’s smile was slow as it spread. “Daughter?”
“Daughter.”
“She gets it from her mother.”
“She was the catalyst,” Evie said as his hand slid around the back of her neck. “She added her magic to mine. She is life made through love.”
“Love. No’ a word I ever thought to utter again, but you, Evie Walker, are impossible no’ to love.”
She looked into his azure eyes and melted. “I love you, too, Malcolm Munro.”
His lips claimed hers in a searing, scorching kiss that set her body aflame with desire. Pats on their backs from the others broke the kiss, but Malcolm didn’t release her.
“I doona want to live another minute without you. You saved me, Evie.”
“And you saved me.”
His brow furrowed, causing her to laugh.
“I learned something else today. You stopped the last drop of my blood from completing the drough ceremony. I can use the black magic, but I’m no’ drough.”
“How do you know?”
“The ancients told our daughter, and she told me.”
Malcolm hugged her to him, burying his head in her neck. When Evie pulled back it was to see a tear roll down his cheek.
“I doona deserve you,” he said.
“Too bad. You’re stuck with me.”
“Thank God. Now you must make an honest man of me and become my wife.”
She giggled as he lifted her in his arms and carried her out of the crowd. “I thought you’d never ask.”
EPILOGUE
One week later …
The great hall of MacLeod Castle was overflowing with Warriors, Druids, Dragon Kings, and mortals. Laughter and joy reached every corner of the castle.
Malcolm watched as Evie was passed from Arran, Phelan, and Lucan during the dance. She hadn’t stopped smiling since they had walked away from the stone cottage, and that smile had only grown that afternoon when they had become man and wife.
“What now?” Con asked.
Malcolm shrugged. “I’m no’ sure. Lucan and Camdyn found Evie’s necklace at Wallace’s. We have the spell to bind our gods.”
“Are you?”
“I doona believe anyone is. There will be more evil to come. It’s no’ fair for you Dragon Kings to get all the glory.”
Con gave a bark of laughter and slapped Malcolm on the back. “Wise choice. You know you and Evie, as well as Brian and the bairn, are always welcome at Dreagan.”
“Thank you for that,” Malcolm said. “I’ll go wherever Evie wants.”
“Here she willna age.”
Malcolm nodded. “True, but we’ll figure all of that out.”
The music stopped and Logan jumped onto the table, knocking over wineglasses in the process. “I have another toast,” Logan shouted.
Galen groaned and the rest of the castle burst into laughter.
Logan narrowed his gaze on Galen, but it was spoiled by his smile. He then turned to look at Malcolm and Evie. “To Malcolm, who we all never thought would find a woman who could put up with him—”
Loud cheers followed, and Malcolm winked at Evie.
“And to Evie,” Logan continued, “who can easily hold her own against the brute!”
Malcolm laughed, still amazed at how easily it came to him now. It was almost as if the
past few years hadn’t taken place. He raised his glass in salute to Evie as she blew him a kiss.
When the bagpipes began again, it was Fallon who took Evie spinning around the room.
“I have something for you and Evie,” Con said. “Consider it a wedding gift from all of us at Dreagan.”
Malcolm accepted the gold band where a triskelion was etched into the top with dragon heads at all three points. “It’s beautiful. Evie will treasure it.”
“As long as she wears it, she’ll be immortal.”
Malcolm’s gaze jerked to the King of Kings. “I didna realize you could do this.”
“You both earned it. Any Druid here who wishes to live outside of MacLeod Castle will be offered the same token.”
“You have that kind of magic?”
Con just smiled before he raised his glass in salute and walked away. Malcolm managed to pull Evie out of Fallon’s arms as they danced by and shared what Con had given them.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said in shock.
For the second time that day, Malcolm slid a ring onto her finger. “We have forever.”
“How I love the sound of that.”
“Where do you want to live?”
She smoothed the lock of hair out of his eye. “Anywhere as long as I’m with you.”
“We’ll need to think of the bairn.”
Evie glanced down at her still-flat stomach and the way the white silk hugged her frame. “I’ll be waddling soon, so I guess we’ll need to think about a home.”
Malcolm found Brian near the hearth holding baby Emma in his arms as Camdyn and Saffron’s daughter cooed up at him. “Brian will need to return to his school.”
“Actually, Charon offered us a piece of land on the edge of Ferness as a wedding present. He said it was secluded.”
Malcolm shook his head in dismay. “I doona know what to say to everything they are doing for us.”
“You say thank you, and you take your wife out of here. I’m ready to have you all to myself, Mr. Munro.”
Malcolm didn’t need to be told twice. He took Evie’s hand and made a dash for the door. Once outside, they took the first vehicle they found, the red Jaguar F-type, and drove out of the bailey, the shouts of their friends filling the air.
* * *
Con glanced at Kiril and said, “She took your car again. You can always ride back with me.”
Kiril rolled his eyes. “No’ the way you drive.”
Lucan spewed his ale as he laughed. After he wiped his mouth, he grinned at Con. “We’ll have peace for a while.”
“Until another evil steps up,” Fallon said, but he was still looking fondly at the Jaguar as it sped away.
“And we’ll always be around to put evil in its place,” Quinn said.
Con looked at the three MacLeod brothers and nodded. “We make a good team.”
“Of course,” Lucan said with a wink to his brothers. “It’s why you were so hesitant to befriend us all those years.”
Con barked with laughter. “What will become of everyone now? Each Warrior is married.”
“Aiden and Britt are leaving first thing in the morning,” the youngest MacLeod brother said. “I hate to have my son leave, but it’s been a long time coming. He plans to propose to Britt on their travels, so we’ll have another wedding in the next few months.”
Lucan clinked his goblet with Quinn’s. “Good for Aiden. We all like Britt. It’s a good match.”
“Logan and Gwynn willna be the only pair expecting,” Fallon said, barely able to hold back his goofy smile. “Larena told me this morning she’s pregnant.”
Con looked at Lucan and Quinn expectedly.
Lucan shook his head. “No’ yet. It will happen, because I know it’s what Cara wants.”
“I’m waiting for Marcail to give me that look,” Quinn said after he took a drink of ale. “I suspect it’ll be any day now.”
“And the others?” Con asked.
As one, all four turned on the steps of MacLeod Castle and looked through the door into the great room. The bagpipes were playing, the drink flowed freely, and smiles were aplenty.
“It’s odd, is it no’?” Lucan asked. “I think back just four centuries earlier when I didna know how I would make it through another day alone.”
Quinn leaned a hand against the doorway. “Then you brought Cara inside.”
“And our lives were changed forever,” Fallon said. “We went from three lost brothers, to a castle full of family.”
“Doona forget about battling evil along the way,” Con added.
Lucan raised his goblet. “Too true. Back then I wouldna have believed that all of us would find happiness or vanquish our demons. But we did.”
“We triumphed,” Quinn said. “Our parents would be proud.”
“Aye,” Lucan said as he clamped Fallon on the shoulder.
Fallon raised his goblet. “To the MacLeods.”
“MacLeods,” Quinn, Lucan, and Con repeated before they all took a long drink.
Fallon caught Con’s eye. “The future is uncertain now.”
“No’ when you have allies. The Warriors can always count on the Dragon Kings.”
“And the Kings can always count on us,” Lucan said.
Con finished his drink and handed Quinn his empty glass. “Duty calls, but you’ll be hearing from us soon.”
He walked down the steps of the castle knowing he’d made the right choice in letting the Warriors know about the Dragon Kings, because evil wasn’t gone. It was closing in on Dreagan, and Con suspected they would need every friend they had to keep the Dragon Kings a secret from the world.
* * *
In the months following, Lucan and Cara remained at the castle, though they took frequent trips, the first of which was to Egypt to see the pyramids. They decided to spend quality time enjoying each other before they started their family.
Fallon and Larena readied the castle for their impending child, though Fallon often jumped them to Paris or Rome for a night out. Both wanted a castle full of children. There were no lasting effects from the drough blood in Larena thanks to Britt’s serum. Leaving the couple plenty of time to argue—and make up—about the name of their first child.
Quinn and Marcail decided to remain on MacLeod land and build their own home. Just as Quinn predicted, Marcail had given him that look. Three months later they learned she was carrying their second child.
Hayden and Isla embarked on an excursion to Australia and New Zealand for two months. They also remained on MacLeod land, choosing to build near the cliffs for a spectacular view. Just weeks after their home was finished, Isla surprised Hayden with the news that he was going to be a father. In Campbell fashion, it was a great excuse to throw a party and celebrate.
Galen and Reaghan also traveled, but remained closer to home and toured England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Undecided on where they wanted to live, they remained at the castle while considering options on MacLeod land and in Ferness.
Broc and Sonya chose a spot on MacLeod land and built their home, only to leave and travel through much of Europe including the Netherlands, Hungary, and Belgium. After a brief sickness, which Sonya thought was brought on by food, they were surprised to discover she was pregnant. Broc cut their trip short and quickly returned home to the safety—and the shield—of MacLeod land.
It took some convincing, but Gwynn talked Logan into a trip to Texas. Logan refused to get on a plane, so Fallon jumped them to her hometown of Houston. For almost three months they toured the US before Logan had Fallon jump them back to Scotland. The remaining months were used in building their home in a secluded part of the forest on MacLeod land where Logan knew his family would be safe, and the love of his life would always be by his side.
Ian and Dani took up residence in Ferness, in an old cottage they decided to renovate. Ian discovered he had a special talent for woodworking, and Dani loved decorating. They often shared meals with Charon and Laura as well Malcolm a
nd Evie. Not a day went by that Ian didn’t feel the loss of his twin. It was with Dani’s love that he looked to the future, not the past.
Camdyn and Saffron remained at the house they built on MacLeod land. In between their duties as parents to Emma, Saffron was exposing Camdyn to the role of businessman. The family often went to meetings for the numerous companies she owned. Camdyn had a head for business, and it wasn’t long until he was running the companies alongside Saffron while waiting for the birth of their second child.
Ramsey and Tara kept a room at MacLeod Castle while they traveled all over the globe for weeks at a time, only to return for a month before traveling to a new destination. Because of the volatile magic running through Tara, it was decided it would be better if they didn’t chance subjecting a female child to what she had endured. They adopted a menagerie of pets instead. They too built on MacLeod land. Ramsey had found a family with his brethren, and he wished to remain close.
Arran and Ronnie resumed Ronnie’s archeological study, preferring to remain in the United Kingdom doing their digging. They discovered many ancient places some considered sacred to Druids. Arran worked beside Ronnie, making them an unbeatable team in the archeological field.
Charon and Laura continued on as before in Ferness, except Laura was now his business partner. Laura also accepted a ring from the Dragon Kings allowing her to become immortal as long as she wore it. Together, she and Charon grew his vast empire of holdings and businesses while looking after the people of Ferness.
Aiden and Britt did leave the castle right after Malcolm and Evie’s wedding. They traveled first to Spain before heading to Italy. On a gondola ride in Venice he proposed, and Britt happily accepted. While in Rome, they decided to get married, and Fallon teleported everyone to watch the wedding at the beautiful Santa Susanna church. After a large celebration, Aiden and Britt continued on their journey to Switzerland and France before returning to Scotland so she could finish her studies.
Phelan and Aisley decided to spend some time getting to know the Fae side of Phelan’s family, which took them to Ireland and there they remained for several months. Upon their return, they took up residence in Phelan’s cottage near the loch where Phelan tended his flowers and Aisley learned to cook.
