Curse Breaker (Phoenix Throne Book 7): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance

by Heather Walker

  “So have ye.”

  She stuck her feet into her shoes and tied the laces. Christie watched her from the bed. His bare chest eased up and down with his gentle breathing. The blanket lay across his hips, and his hair framed his face. “I want ye to come back to Mull with me, lassie.”

  Alexis spun around. “Are you insane?”

  “That’s what I meant to tell ye last night, afore all this started. Ye come back with me. Ivy’s there. Ye can rest there, and ye can help us lift this curse. Ye dinnae need to race around the countryside running away of it all the time.”

  She turned her back on him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Do ye think I’m the only one that sees ye jumping from one place to another trying to figure the whole thing out?” he asked. “Ye cannae decide to come or go. Ye caused this curse, and ye dinnae ken what to do about it. Come back to Mull with me. Lachlan and Ivy and I and all our kin are facing the same curse. We’ll work together to break it.”

  She rounded on him and chopped her hand through the air. “Shut up! I don’t want to hear another word about any curse.”

  “Ye cannae do it alone, lassie,” he went on. “Ye cannae do it blinking here and there and everywhere all over the place. Do ye no’ see what you’re doing? Come with me. We’re your family now. We can give ye a home where you’ll be safe.”

  “I will never be safe on Mull!” she screamed. “You don’t know anything about it, or you wouldn’t say that. Do you think I want to go back with you? You’re soft in the head. I knew this was a big mistake when I did it. Go stick your head in a bucket of cold water. I never want to see you again.”

  He stiffened. “Ye dinnae need to get nasty about it. Ye had a good time last night, I reckon.”

  “A good time is all it was, and a good time is all it will ever be. We had one night, and now I’m leaving. You go on your way and forget about me, because I will never go back to Mull—never!”

  His shoulders relaxed. The softness went out of his eyes, and he clenched his jaw. “All right. If that’s the way ye feel about it, I’ll no’ ask again.”

  Alexis wilted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You don’t understand how it is, or you wouldn’t ask.”

  “Why do ye no’ tell me how it is, then?” he asked. “Make me understand.”

  “Bad things happen when I go back to Mull, okay?” she told him. “That’s all.”

  “What bad things?” he asked.

  “All of it!” she exclaimed. “Every bad thing that has happened on Mull has happened because of me. Every time I go there it gets worse. One of these days, something really bad will happen and no one will be able to put it right. The best thing is for me to stay away. That’s the only way everybody will be safe.”

  He studied her from the bed. “Do ye think we would let ye twist out here on your own, even kennin’ you’re the source of the curse? We want ye there, no matter what. Do ye no’ ken that, lassie?”

  Alexis clapped her hands over her ears and screamed “Shut up! Shut up before I do something really bad to hurt you.”

  “Ye are no’ this curse, lassie.” His voice vibrated into her bones. “You’re a wee lassie, just like Ivy and the others. Ye didnae do this on purpose, and you’re no’ to blame for all that’s happened or all that may happen. Do ye hear me? We want ye back. We need ye. We need ye for a lot more that lifting this blessed curse. We need ye for yourself. Do ye no’ understand that?”

  She raced for the door. “I hate you! I wish I’d never seen your face. I never want to see you again. Don’t ever come near me again, or I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for the consequences.”

  She saw and heard herself raving, but she couldn’t stop. She had to get away from him. She had to stop him saying those things before she went insane. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t. No one could ever understand what really went on in her head and in her heart and in her dreams.

  No one could know the places she’d been and the things she’d seen. That was the real problem. She didn’t just see them. She caused them. All these horrors came out of her. She knew that. If he thought she wasn’t responsible for those atrocities, he was a lot stupider than she realized.

  None of that mattered. She got her random hookup with a handsome guy in the backwoods of Scotland. Now she could go her own way and he could go his. She raced down the stairs and out onto the open moor. She ran a long, long way, not paying attention to where she was going. What difference did it make, as long as she put as much distance as possible between herself and anybody that knew her?

  She ran until her legs gave out under her. She collapsed on the wet grass. The rain from last night soaked her clothes, but she didn’t care. She rolled over and stared up at the sky for hours.

  What could Christie McLean possibly know about her and her situation? He didn’t care about her. He only cared about saving his people from her. He would use her to break the curse, and then he would drop her. She knew better than to trust him or anybody else.

  Everybody she got close to wound up dead, or close to it. She befriended Kincaid, and now he was dead because she asked him to help the McLeans. If she kept hanging around these people, they would all die. She saw that the last time she made the mistake of visiting Ivy. What else could these visions mean?

  She didn’t move until late afternoon when she started to get hungry. She sat up. She should have paid more attention to where she was going. She wanted to avoid Christie’s route. She couldn’t let herself encounter him again. He was bad news.

  She stood up. That’s when she realized she was freezing cold. She could go back to the inn where she spent last night, but Christie might still be there. That didn’t matter. There were thousands of other inns in the Highlands. He couldn’t be staying in all of them.

  She started walking. She didn’t care where she went as long as she got warm. Even now, she didn’t really see where she was going. What difference did it make in the end? She had nowhere left in this crazy world to go. The curse came back to haunt her no matter which way she turned.

  She hated herself. She hated her life. She wished she was dead, but she couldn’t even accomplish that. Why did she have to live this torture of an existence?

  She found her breath coming slower. Her vision cleared, and she realized she was climbing a hill. Trees dotted the top, and the wind roared in their branches. This was as good a place as any to check the countryside and decide which direction to go.

  She scaled the hill. When she got to the top, she stopped dead in her tracks. She was face to face with the stones James Stewart pointed out to her, the ones he said would take her to his house.

  That was impossible, though, wasn’t it? How could these stones take her to his house? She didn’t want to go to his house anyway. She wanted an inn and a hot meal.

  Just out of curiosity, she walked around the stones and inspected them. They stood on their ends in a curious pattern resembling a star. Green and blue and yellow lichen grew on their ancient surfaces.

  Alexis put out her hand to touch the lichen. The instant her finger made contact with the stone, the ground beneath her feet turned to spongy pudding. She never had a chance to cry out before she sank into the Earth.

  Chapter 5

  Christie lay back on the bed. The room echoed with the silence following Alexis storming out and slamming the door in his face. To the devil with her. She was fun for a night, but she obviously belonged in some asylum for the deranged. She didn’t know her right hand from her left.

  He gazed out the window for a while. The day grew brighter outside. The rain cleared, and a high blue sky rang to eternity and beyond. Birds sang, and the noise of the inn help drifted to his ear.

  He did what he could to convince Alexis to come back to Mull with him. He failed, and now she was gone. No matter. He had a mission to fulfill. He didn’t need a flighty pullet like her slowing him down anyway.

  He threw the blanket off and climbed out
of bed. She sure was sweet for one night, though. Her scent still clung to his skin. He smelled her on his hands and in his hair. He felt her skin stroking his chest and her thighs gliding against his legs.

  He crossed to the wash stand and poured the pitcher of water over his head. She was right. He needed to dunk his head in a bucket of cold water if he thought he could take her back to Mull. He was going to Urlu, nowhere else.

  He washed himself all over and put his clothes on. Now he felt like his own man again. He went downstairs, ate breakfast, and paid the landlady. He retrieved his pack from the front door and set out on his way.

  The instant he got outside, he was glad she said no to coming with him. He enjoyed traveling alone with no one to answer to but himself. He could decide when to go and when to stop. He didn’t have to consult anybody about which direction to take.

  He pressed on north. He would have walked all day, but the sun shone so sparkling clear and made him so happy he decided to stop for a meal at midday. He spotted a clump of trees on a hilltop far away, and he made for it.

  When he got there, he found a circle of standing stones. He sat down in the middle of the ring and opened his pack. He took out some dried meat and hard crackers and closed his eyes to the sunshine.

  As much as this day filled him with delight, he couldn’t help drifting back to the joys of last night. What was one woman in a man’s life? She said she hated him. She said a lot of other nasty things, and the more he thought about it, the more he hated her, too. Her words obliterated all the sweetness of holding her in his arms and whispering in her ear and waking up in her warmth.

  He shoved her out of his mind and wrapped up his pack. He kicked her in the teeth and sent her rolling down the hill. He chuckled when he thought of her surprised screams and her howls of indignation when she flopped in the grass way down there.

  He took hold of his pack, but when he straightened up, he set it down again in a hurry. A group of ten mounted men rode up the hill in front of him. They cantered into the circle of stones and surrounded him. Christie’s hand flew to his saber hilt.

  He measured the men with a glance. They all carried weapons and wore a dark blue and green tartan. Christie’s skin prickled. They were Black Watch. What did he do to provoke them? No way could a single man stand up to so many of them, and them on horseback, too.

  The leader sat astride a tall gray stallion. His black hair and beard set off his flashing gray eyes. He scanned Christie up and down. “Christie McLean?”

  Christie stiffened. “Who wants to ken?”

  “You’re to come with us,” the man replied.

  “I’m to come with no man until I ken his business,” Christie shot back. “What’s the meaning of this? I have broken no law. I’m a free Highlander traveling on my own account.”

  “That’s neither here nor there,” the man returned. “Ye have broken no law, but I have my orders to bring ye in. If you’ll be so good as to come with us, we’ll make this as easy for ye as possible.”

  “I’ll no’ budge from this spot until I ken your business,” Christie snapped. “Ye can state your business, or ye can taste my steel. The choice is yours.”

  “You’re a fool, lad,” the man told him. “You’re a conceited fool if ye think ye can stand up to us.”

  “I never said I could stand up to ye,” he replied, “but I’ll no’ be ordered about by any man who hesitates to state his business.”

  The man straightened up in his saddle. “I’m Alasdair Sinclair, of His Majesty’s Royal Infantry, and I have my orders to bring ye in afore ye take a step outside this ring. You’re coming with us, lad, one way or the other.”

  “I’ll come with ye dead afore I go with ye any other way.” Christie drew his saber and stood back to brace himself for the inevitable.

  Even then, he knew better than to make the first move. If they wanted him, they better be prepared to take him. He didn’t like his chances against this bunch, but he wouldn’t get far in this country if he bowed to every man that tried to order him around. He had a mission to complete. He couldn’t let these men or anyone else divert him from it.

  Sinclair drew his saber, too. He reined his horse around hard, and the animal reared. Then Sinclair touched his heels to the animal’s flank and rocketed forward to charge Christie. Christie faced him, even as he sensed the other Highlanders rushing him from all sides.

  Christie rounded on Sinclair. He had to take that man down before he did anything else. He checked over his shoulder. Another man raised his sword hilt to club Christie across the head. Christie dodged under his arm and raised his weapon to meet Sinclair’s blade coming down to slash him.

  Their blades met above Christie’s head. Sinclair was a lot stronger than Christie anticipated. It took all the strength in both his arms just to hold the larger man off. At the same time, horses cantered in to capture him from behind. Christie couldn’t disengage to deal with them.

  At the last moment, he stuck out his leg. He tripped one horse in full flight. It plunged into the ground and ran headfirst into another horse coming at it from the opposite side. The confusion startled Sinclair’s horse, and the big man’s blade unlocked from Christie’s weapon.

  Christie jumped back to survey the mayhem. Another sturdy Highlander urged his horse forward. He raised a net to throw over Christie’s head. So that was it. They wanted to capture him alive for whatever reason. So much the better. That gave Christie all the advantage. He didn’t care who he killed defending himself.

  The man with the net spurred his horse to a gallop. He raised the net to throw. Christie preempted him by rushing forward and seizing the net with both hands. He gave the web a violent yank and unseated the rider. The man tumbled to the ground at Christie’s feet, but he paid the man no attention.

  He grabbed hold of the saddle horn and vaulted onto the running horse. Now he faced these men on equal terms. He wheeled the animal around to meet Sinclair coming at him one more time. The two men clashed their weapons together, and Christie found himself face to face with the snarling Highlander.

  Sinclair roared in his face. He gave Christie a shove to disengage with him. Sinclair raised his foot and planted it on Christie’s horse’s head. He kicked the horse away, and the beast whipped around to turn Christie’s back on his enemy.

  Christie whirled around in his saddle to deflect another shattering sweep of Sinclair’s blade. Sinclair moved his horse a few feet forward, and Christie had to spin around the other way just to keep the man in sight.

  At the same time, three more of the enemy closed him in from the front. He couldn’t fight them all. He fought so hard they no longer showed any sign of holding themselves back. They all aimed their weapons to kill him.

  All four sabers jabbed and slashed at him at once. He had no choice. He dove off the horse’s back under the bodies of his enemies’ mounts. He scrambled between stamping legs and pounding hooves.

  For an instant, he confounded his opponents. He had to take advantage of this moment to escape, but he already gave up his one chance to outrun them by giving up his horse. He couldn’t go anywhere on foot.

  The Highlanders rounded on him at once. He turned to face them, and that’s when he lost sight of a fifth man charging him from behind. The horse barreled into him going full tilt. It knocked Christie off his feet. He staggered sideways and tripped over a pebble embedded in the ground.

  He tried to catch his balance, but it was too late. He fell back and slammed into the standing stone behind him. The next thing he knew, the world caved in. The ground evaporated under his feet, and he plunged into the Earth itself.

  Blackness closed over his head. He couldn’t breathe, but the next moment, he came to rest standing on his feet in a large clean hall. Black and white checkerboard tiles covered the floor, and ornate columns held up the carved plaster roof. Graceful arches opened into colonnades leading off in the four directions.

  A few crumbs of dirt fell around Christie’s feet. Other than that,
no sign remained that he just fell through the Earth into this curious place. He stared at everything around him. He couldn’t comprehend where he was or how he got here.

  While he stood there with his mouth hanging open, a group of men walked down one of the colonnades toward him. They wore dark blue and green kilts, and he recognized the men who just attacked him on the surface.

  They didn’t attack him here, though. They entered the hall and stood off at a distance. They watched him, and Alasdair Sinclair nodded to him in a friendly way. The whole scene confounded Christie’s mind. What in the name of Heaven was going on?

  A large double door swung open to his right. It opened into a huge hall lit by thousands of lamps and candles. The light dazzled Christie’s eyes, but that was nothing compared to the costumes of the people standing inside.

  Men and women in the most regal attire clustered in the hall. Jewels decorated their hair, and gold and silver emblazoned on their clothing. Some wore crowns on their heads, and their fingers and necks dripped with exquisite gems.

  Christie stared in on the place in shock. He glanced over his shoulder, and Sinclair nodded again. What did it all mean?

  Everyone turned around to look at Christie. Not one of those magnificent people looked down their noses at him or scanned his rough attire. They all smiled at him in kindly welcome.

  Then the assembly parted into two waves. The crowd split, and Christie stared down a long stretch of emptiness to a throne perched at the far end. A King sat on the throne in a jewel-studded crown and a scarlet cape decked with white ermine.

  Christie couldn’t believe his eyes. Alexis sat in a chair at the King’s right hand, and on his other side stood a tall, well-made young man. He wore a kilt of dark green and red, with a golden collar around his neck. His black hair accented his dark eyes, and he smiled down at Christie. It was Fergus Cameron.