by Baker, Katy
Although, she had to admit, the tunnels were in surprisingly good condition for a place that had been abandoned for years. The floor was hard-packed earth and the walls and roof were held up by stout wooden beams. Blair led the way, stopping every so often to consult the map that Laird MacSual had given them. Jess walked in the middle, surrounded by her companions but even so, terror kept trying to claw its way up her throat. All those tons of earth above, all that weight of rock and time and age...
Only Ramsay’s stout presence behind kept her moving forward. Whenever she glanced back he was there, right behind her, his expression fierce and resolute. He would not let anything happen to her.
It was difficult to keep track of time in the unending darkness but Jess guessed that a couple of hours must have passed in the world above as they wove their way through the subterranean labyrinth. The MacSual mine was extensive and if her grandfather had more of these on his lands, she could understand why Benneit MacGregor wanted to grab them for himself. The iron and copper ore they could produce would make any clan wealthy if they had the means to exploit them.
She guessed that somewhere above, miles from here, the battle against MacGregor’s army would have begun. Ross had planned to attack the MacGregor forces as the sun began to set so they would have the advantage of the setting sun at their backs, blinding their opponents. What had happened in the battle? Was it still raging? Were any of them even still alive?
“What’s that?” Blair said suddenly.
They halted, crowding into the area where Blair had stopped. Here the tunnel widened and the wooden posts that had been holding up the ceiling were replaced by stone pillars. The stone glinted white like marble, with no moss or dirt marring the smooth surface.
Jess stepped closer as something carved into the stone caught her eye. There were markings, faded by time but still visible. If she could just make them out...
She straightened with a gasp. “Runes,” she said, looking around at the others. “There are runes carved into these pillars, like the ones carved into the Fae archway.”
Ramsay turned to Blair. “Is this place marked on the map?”
“Aye,” Blair answered. “The mine extends beyond here. My guess is they worked around whatever these structures are, building them into the mine itself.”
“Then we go on.”
They carried on walking and the carved pillars became more and more prominent, many incorporated into the scaffolding that held up the walls and ceiling.
Why have ye come here? a voice suddenly whispered.
Jess spun. “Who said that?”
Ramsay looked at her quizzically. “Jess? Are ye all right?”
Ye are not welcome here. Why have ye brought the power of the Seelie into our domain? Begone!
She froze, heart thumping. The others carried on walking, seeming not to have heard the voice. It was low and sibilant, like the hissing of a snake. It seemed to be coming from the darkness all around and the sound of it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Begone!
Then she noticed an odd sensation in her feet, a deep vibration coming up through the rock and somewhere far away she could hear a low humming noise, like the drone of distant bees. The others stuttered to a stop, peering around warily, hands on weapons. It took Jess a moment to realize that the humming noise was coming from above, filtering down through the ground.
They’d halted at an intersection with four tunnels radiating out from it. Those strange carved pillars held up the ceiling here, some remnant from a civilization long forgotten. These pillars were carved with hieroglyphs in addition to the runes. Jess approached one, held the torch close and squinted at the markings. The pillar was carved with a repeating pattern over and over, all the way up its side: two parallel upright slashes with a third lying across the top.
Jess hissed, stumbling back. “We’re below the archway,” she breathed. “And the ritual has begun! That’s what we can feel. We have to hurry!”
Blair nodded. “It’s not far. This way.”
Throwing caution to the wind, they took off at a run into the darkness.
THE MINE SPAT THEM out through another shaft, this one dripping moisture and almost overgrown with ivy and other climbing plants. Ramsay led the way as they ascended the ladder and emerged into the cool air of a Highland night. He was glad to be free of the mine. Down there he’d sensed the Fae close, felt the dark breath of the Unseelie, as though only a thin barrier had separated their world from this one. When this was over he would recommend to Laird MacSual that the mine was sealed up forever.
As the others emerged behind him, he did a quick head-count, then turned to the east. The wind was blowing in their direction, carrying the sounds of battle this way. Even though it was many miles distant, the faint clash of weapons carried on the breeze. The sky in that direction was lit a lurid orange as fires burned. Ramsay’s stomach clenched. He should be there. He should be fighting beside his brother.
Jess moved to stand by his side. “Listen.”
From the other direction, around the base of the squat hill where they’d emerged, came another noise. It was low and deep, like the rumbling of a waterfall. Ramsay cocked his head. It took him a moment to realize it was chanting. The hairs rose on the back of his neck. He glanced at the sky. Although it was clear of clouds, it was utterly dark, with no moon to light the night. Only the stars gave any light, tiny silver pinpricks in the dark blanket of the sky.
Jess had been right. It was the dark of the moon. And the ritual had begun.
“This way,” he whispered.
In silence, they loped around the hill, keeping low and to the sparse tree cover wherever possible. As they moved, the chanting grew louder and the strange vibrations they’d felt in the mine grew stronger. It seemed to pulse through Ramsay’s whole body. It was not a sensation he liked.
Up ahead, he spotted torchlight, and he held up a hand for everyone to halt. They hunkered down into the undergrowth and crawled forward. Ramsay peered through the bushes.
There it was. The crooked arch. Around it torches blazed, illuminating the runes carved into the upright stones, the four empty slots across the lintel, and accentuating the all-encompassing darkness that lay beyond. Except it wasn’t completely dark anymore. Within the doorway something flickered, something like heat-haze over a bonfire.
Artair Campbell stood before the arch. His arms were spread wide and the low chant bubbled from his lips in a guttural language. Benneit MacGregor stood to one side, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he watched the proceedings. Ramsay’s jaw tightened in anger. So, the bastard didn’t even have the decency to lead his warriors into battle. Instead he skulked here whilst his men died in his name.
Blair tapped Ramsay on the shoulder and pointed to the shadows amongst the trees. Ramsay squinted at the darkness and, as his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he made out a ring of MacGregor warriors stationed around the clearing on that side. Going through the mine might have gotten Ramsay’s party through the battle lines but it seemed they would still have to fight.
He nodded to Blair. His cousin gave a murmured word of command and he and his warriors melted into the trees, leaving Ramsay and Jess alone.
He pulled in a deep breath and turned to look at Jess. He could barely make her out in the darkness, only her eyes where they reflected the torchlight. He ran his thumb across her cheek.
“I love ye,” he whispered. “Never forget that.”
She nodded, swallowing thickly.
Ramsay rose. “Stay here,” he commanded. “Stick to the plan.”
Then, lifting his chin and squaring his shoulders, he strode out to confront Artair Campbell.
Chapter 16
REMAINING HIDDEN WHILST Ramsay walked away from her was one of the hardest things Jess had ever had to do. As he left, her heart hammered against her ribs and she had to dig her nails into her palm to stop herself from going after him. But this was what they’d agreed. She fingere
d the keystone in her pocket, waiting for her chance.
Branches snapped as Ramsay left the cover of the bushes and stepped out into the ring of torches. At the sound of his approach, both Artair Campbell and Benneit MacGregor whirled to face him.
“Ramsay MacAuley!” Artair snarled. “Curse ye! What are ye doing here?”
“And how did ye get through my guards?” MacGregor added, gripping his sword.
Ramsay cocked his head. On the wind the sound of distant battle could be heard. “Ye hear that?” he said to MacGregor. “That is the sound of yer army being defeated. Just as ye will be defeated.” He turned his head and fixed Artair with a hard glare. “Cease this madness, Campbell, before it’s too late.”
Artair lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Ye are pathetic, Ramsay MacAuley. Ye are a coward and a fool. A coward for turning away from the power that could have been yers and a fool for coming here alone.”
Ramsay smiled. “Who says I’m alone?”
“We’re wasting time,” MacGregor snapped. “Men! Kill this MacAuley bastard!”
Jess held her breath, but no guards came. Blair and his warriors had done their job.
“There isnae anyone coming to yer aid,” Ramsay said. “Ye are alone. Yer guards are dead or scattered just as yer army will soon be dead or scattered. It is ye who are the fool, Benneit MacGregor. Ye are a fool for trusting this man. He will betray ye in the end.”
MacGregor took an angry step forward. “Ye dinna know of what ye speak, man. My guards are dead? Fine, I’ll have to do the job myself.”
Like lightning, he sped across the clearing, drawing his sword and swinging it at Ramsay. Jess jammed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming but Ramsay was ready for MacGregor. The two blades met with a clang. Ramsay threw a scything riposte at MacGregor’s mid-riff but the man danced out of the way. MacGregor aimed a thrust at his back, forcing Ramsay to turn and meet the blow then attacked with a barrage of wild swings, nothing elegant, but designed to force Ramsay away from Artair and the arch.
Artair turned his back on the two men as if they were insignificant, flung his arms wide and resumed his chant. In response to Artair’s words, the heat-haze inside the doorway began to ripple like water disturbed when a rock is thrown into it.
This was her chance. MacGregor was distracted by Ramsay, and Artair was alone now that Blair had taken out the guards. She staggered to her feet and walked into the clearing.
“We’re gonna have to stop meeting like this, Artair Campbell,” she called. “People will start to talk.”
Artair turned. His eyes narrowed then he barked a laugh. “Ha! I might have known that wherever Ramsay MacAuley was, ye wouldnae be far behind. I should have shot ye when I had the chance. As soon as I laid eyes on ye, I knew ye were going to be a right royal pain in the arse.”
Jess gave a little bow. “I do my best. Now, how about we settle this like civilized adults? I think you might be interested in this.” She took the keystone—returned to its circular shape—from her pocket and held it up for him to see.
From the sudden greed that flashed in his eyes she knew she’d guessed right.
“With this you can go home. You can return to your sister and the life you left behind. Or would you rather stay here? Would you rather become the plaything of the Fae? A puppet to dance on their strings?”
Doubt flared in Artair’s eyes for an instant. He wavered. Despite everything, he was still a child of the twenty-first century.
But then his expression hardened. “Ye are as stupid as yer lover. Ye think I would trade all this power just to go home? When I hold the power of the Unseelie I can travel to any time I choose! This is what my sister and I have worked for all our lives, ever since our grandmother taught us her secrets.”
Jess faltered, caught off guard. “Your grandmother?”
Artair laughed. “Do ye think we learned about the Fae on our own? In the twenty-first century nobody believes in that stuff anymore. It’s just myth and fairy tale. Nobody knows the secrets of the rituals or the location of the ancient sites. It’s all been lost, buried beneath technology and rationality. Only somebody who lived through it could pass on such knowledge, one who’d been born when the Fae still walked the earth.”
Jess shifted uneasily. “One who lived through it?”
He smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Ye think yer precious Ramsay is the only one to have ever traveled to the future?”
Suddenly, it all slotted into place. Rosa MacSual had disappeared through a portal in time when she’d gone after Elspeth MacGregor. She’d never been found.
And neither had Elspeth.
“Elspeth MacGregor was your grandmother,” Jess breathed. “She traveled to the twenty-first century, taking her dark powers with her. She passed them on to you.”
Artair nodded. “She married my grandfather, became a Campbell, and made a life for herself in the twenty-first century. But she never forgot where she came from. She never forgot the power that was almost within her grasp. And when Adaira and I were born, she saw in us two that were worthy to follow her.”
That explained why Jess’s grandmother had left her beloved Highlands and moved to the US—to protect her unborn child from the enemy who’d followed her through time.
Jess glanced at Benneit MacGregor. He and Ramsay were still locked in a vicious fight. Jess gulped. “Elspeth was his grandmother too. You’re cousins. That’s why he believed you so readily! That’s why he was so willing to support you!”
“My grandmother tried to teach him but found his aptitude sadly lacking,” Artair replied with a nod. “My cousin is more brawn than brain.” He held out his hand. “Now give me the keystone.”
She lifted her chin. “How about we make a bargain? You like those don’t you? I’ll give you the keystone if you stop the ritual. If you return to your own time and leave the Highlands in peace.”
He raised a surprised eyebrow. “As easy at that? Ye would give up yer only way home? I dinna believe ye!”
“I’m already home,” she replied. “I have no wish to return to the twenty-first century—unlike you.”
Impatience flashed across Artair’s features. “How about a different bargain? Ye give me the keystone and I willnae kill ye. How does that sound?” He reached beneath his tunic and pulled out a gun which he pointed at Jess.
She swallowed. Oh shit. She’d hoped he would have run out of bullets by now. Obviously, she was wrong. Slowly she held out her hand with the keystone resting in her palm.
“Throw it over here.” Jess did so and Artair snatched it out of the air. “Wise move. Maybe ye aren’t as senseless as ye seem. Now go and stand over there. Dinna do aught stupid or I promise I will shoot ye.”
Jess moved to stand where he indicated. She looked for Ramsay but he’d been forced right over to the far side of the clearing by MacGregor who was blocking all Ramsay’s attempts to come to her aid. She swallowed. This was not going to plan.
Artair laid the keystone reverently down then knelt and resumed his chant, the words seeming to slither from his tongue like snakes. The heat-haze shimmering within the portal began to writhe and boil.
Then suddenly an almighty thunderclap shook the clearing. A wave of force exploded from the arch and slammed into Jess, taking her off her feet. Her head smacked into the ground and she must have blacked out for an instant because the next thing she knew she was staring up at the sky with blood streaming from her nose.
With a groan she rolled over. Artair knelt in front of the portal, head flung back, eyes wide in rapture. And the portal...oh shit, the portal was open. The shimmering heat-haze had gone, replaced instead by the image of a shadowy throne room filled with tall, pale creatures with eyes like glass.
“Ye have come at my call!” Artair cried.
A voice spoke from the shadowed recess where the throne stood. “Nobody calls the Lord of the Unseelie. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t eat your soul.”
“I offer a bargain!” Artair cried.
“And by the laws of yer people, ye must consider it.”
The voice laughed. The sound sent terror clawing up her throat. “What do you have to offer me, mortal?”
“I will become yer servant! I will do yer bidding if ye will gift me with yer power. I offer ye three lives in payment: these two mortal men and the woman to do with as ye choose!”
He waved at Ramsay and MacGregor who were both lying unconscious on the far side of the dell, knocked out by the blast.
A pale hand emerged from the shadows around the throne. It pointed and Jess felt its presence push through the portal and enter the clearing. The pressure in the dell increased, becoming so heavy it felt like a thunderhead was bearing down on her. Blood began to drip from her nose. The dark presence quested towards Ramsay and MacGregor, assessing.
“It is a fair bargain,” the voice said. “The price is paid.”
No, she thought. No.
From the corner of her eye she saw Ramsay was starting to come around. He groaned and climbed to his knees. He peered around, met her gaze across the intervening space and—
Jess’s vision shattered.
Time slowed. Or rather, time split. She saw the future. Countless futures. Endless possibilities of what would be. Infinite outcomes, all stemming from this moment and the choice she made.
She saw the dark presence curl itself around Ramsay’s throat. She saw him reach out to her, his eyes widening, as it choked the life out of him. She saw Artair Campbell fill with the power of the Unseelie. She saw him blow open the doors of time. She saw him bring his sister, Adaira, here. She saw them crush the Highlands under their heel.
There were other possibilities too. She could go home. She could grab the keystone and run. But in all those futures, in all the myriad of choices, she saw Ramsay die.
