She didn’t belong in this country. She belonged back home if she could ever figure out a way to get back there. Anyway, she made a bargain and now she had to keep it.
The fighting men of Clan McLean sat around the Great Hall with the Urlus. Angus and Callum convalesced. The women talked with the men and they all shared a meal, but Christie wasn’t among them.
Where was he? He said she never had to see his face again. He must have known how those words would stab her in the guts. Losing him hurt worse than any of it, but she would go through with her side of the bargain.
At least she wouldn’t see him out running under the moon. She couldn’t handle that. She couldn’t trust the she-wolf not to do something foolish with Christie around.
With all the others occupied in the Great Hall, she slipped out the front entrance. The clouds raced in front of the moon and cast eerie shadows on the ground. She slipped down the steps.
She didn’t really know what to do with herself. The only time she shifted into her wolf form were unconscious and instinctive. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She wasn’t even sure she could do it again now.
None of this made sense until she got to the forest. The trees closed over her head, and a shockwave went through her. This happened by itself, too, with no conscious interference from her human brain.
Without thinking, she dropped onto her hands and started running in a silver streak through the trees. She raced down a long gully and up the other side. She broke out onto the moonlit moor with the whole island spread all around her.
She dashed along the moor under the open sky. What in God’s name had she been doing resisting this for so long? Wild exhilaration filled her soul. She ran to the highest point she could find and turned up her nose to the moon in a long low howl. The sound poured out of her heart beyond any reckoning. She could never stop it.
The next thing she knew, she was running again. She ran around lakes and around rivers. She plunged into dank forests and dashed along rocky beaches. The surf churned over the gravel, and the hissing foam spoke to her in a language only her wild soul could understand.
This had nothing to do with Christie. She could travel anywhere in the known universe and still feel this intoxicating joy. She could mate with any man on the planet. This was all her. This was her own self, free and eternal, and it always would be.
She could go back to America if she wanted to. She could go back to a job in an office and live in an apartment. She could never get rid of this and she didn’t want to.
She could never regret the night she spent with Christie when she exchanged power with him. Even if she never saw him again, she would bless the day she met him and gained this power of living flight.
Her heart split open with dizzying love, for the night, for the sea, for the untamed wilderness. She ran through crooked villages and past ruined castles. She ran around the remains of the Tower House.
She headed back inland. She got as far as the Lochbuie Standing Stones when she saw them. A long file of wolves slithered out of the shadows. They crested a hill and ran parallel to Alexis for a while. Then they disappeared.
Alexis’s skin tightened all over her body. She skimmed over the ground going faster than ever. She plunged into a black forest and lost herself among the dense foliage. Even here, they found her. They appeared out of the night itself, but they still didn’t come near her.
She made the first move. She had to find out who and what they were, even though she already knew. Christie wouldn’t be with them. She could let herself be fully wolf with them.
She veered to her left and ran up to the biggest wolf. He was a big coal-gray bruiser with numberless scars all over his muzzle. He made a dive for her and nipped her when she approached him. She checked herself and turned to match his stride.
The other wolves moved in behind them. Alexis ran at the leader’s side, and the others swirled all around them. They enfolded Alexis into their pack. She didn’t care anymore who they were. They were wolves, the same as she was.
On and on they ran, into the night. After hours of running, they all came out on a tall hill overlooking the sea. They sat down to rest in a circle, and the leader howled to the icy stars. The others joined in the song. It infected Alexis with its plaintive mystery. She bent back her head and poured out her soul to the night.
After a brief rest, they set off again. The leader bent his nose to the ground and picked up the trail of a stray sheep. The pack tracked it onto the moor. They caught sight of the creature lying down in a hollow out of the wind. It jumped to its feet and set off running, but it was too late.
The wolves surrounded it. It dodged one way and ran straight into the leader. He collided with the sheep and went tumbling head over heels down the hill. Forgotten instinct took over Alexis’s movements. She dove at the sheep and bowled it off its feet.
In seconds, she clamped her jaws around its throat. The other wolves moved in, but the hot blood already ran down her throat. She went into a frenzy. She shook the sheep hard. Her muscles wanted to destroy it. It jerked against her, and she fought it to the ground.
She pounced on top of it. She held it down in its death throes while the other wolves tore into its body. Snarls and growls touched her ear. She was one of them. She was a wild animal, a hunter and a killer. Blood was hers, and death.
The wolves made short work of the sheep, and Alexis got her share of fresh meat torn from the living bone. She crunched the bones between her teeth and sucked out the marrow. She never ate a more fulfilling meal in her life.
When she licked her muzzle clean, she noticed streaks of gray in the sky. Dawn was coming. The leader got to his feet and trotted a short distance away. He glanced back at his comrades. One by one, they left the sheep to follow him.
Alexis gulped down one last mouthful of the meat and ran after them. She loped among her new friends until they came to the forest below Duart Castle. The wolves ran into the open and up the steps to the front door. They changed into people and disappeared inside.
The leader paused under the trees. He scanned the surroundings with his calculating eyes. Alexis ran up next to him. The stillness surrounding him worked a spell on her, and she shifted. She looked down at the majestic animal at her side, and he changed before her eyes. It was Lachlan.
Alexis stared at him. “Lachlan! It was you all the time.”
“Aye, lass. You’re a wild one, just like Christie said you’d be.”
“Christie?” she exclaimed.
“Aye. He told me you’d be out tonight, and he asked me to keep an eye on ye. Now I guess ye ken what it’s all about.”
She gazed out at Duart. “I guess I do. I guess that’s why he told me to go out there.”
“Was it like ye thought it’d be?” he asked.
“No, it was nothing like I thought it would be,” she replied.
“Och, well, I suppose ye can go tell him all about it.” He started up the hill, on his way home.
That was the problem, wasn’t it? This was his home. It was home to all the wolves of the Clan McLean. He belonged here, and she didn’t.
Why couldn’t she belong here, too? Why couldn’t she spend every night the way she spent last night? Hadn’t Christie asked her to marry him? Why couldn’t she say yes? Then all of this would be hers.
This big beautiful castle, this rugged island with all its mysteries—she wanted it more than anything. She wanted nothing more than to run over its moors and meadows. She wanted to come home to this castle and call it her own. She wanted that a lot more than she ever wanted America.
This was the gift Christie really wanted to give her. He wanted to give her life. He wanted to give it to her because he loved her and cared about her. He wanted what was best for her, the way he said he did.
She watched Lachlan walk up the hill. This great family was all hers for the taking. Nothing stopped her but her own selfish pride. They wanted her. They needed her. They admired her and respected her for everything she�
��d done. They didn’t blame her. Only she blamed herself.
Could she really embrace this? Could she let Christie into her heart the way she wanted to? Marrying Christie concluded the rapture and majesty of last night. That would be the ultimate ending to the greatest night of her life.
She would walk into that castle. She would go up to the bedroom she shared with him. She would put her arms around him and kiss him. She would sleep with him in that bed and…
What happened after that was anybody’s guess, but that was the first step. She knew it and he knew it. Everybody knew it. She just had to do it. Nothing stopped her.
While she stood there watching and thinking, Lachlan took a step. He brought his weight down on one foot and swung the other foot forward. He never got a chance to put it down before his whole lower leg angled out at the knee.
A wrenching pop sounded across the field. Lachlan hit the ground with a shriek. His leg tore off and hurtled away over the open sea. Alexis rushed forward, but at that moment, a bright golden dragon came sweeping out of the Heavens over the castle.
The dragon stooped to get a closer look, stalled, and then plummeted out of the clear blue. He smashed into the ground right in front of Alexis with half his body gone.
Chapter 31
Christie carved a hunk of cheese off the block with his dirk. He put the piece in his mouth and chewed while he wrapped up the block and put it back on the kitchen shelf. He didn’t mind fending for himself in the kitchen, now that all the women evacuated for the mainland.
He tore a piece off the end of a loaf of bread. He carried his breakfast to the fire and kicked a stool into place for himself when Grace rushed in. “Christie! Come quick! It’s another attack!”
He dropped his bread and cheese. “Where’s Alexis?”
“No one has seen her since last night.”
“Didnae she come back?” he asked.
“Back from where? She went to her room. That’s the last anybody’s seen her.”
“And Lachlan?” he asked. “Is he no’ in the castle somewhere?”
“He’s outside,” Grace panted. “That’s what I’m telling you. He was on his way up the hill and his leg snapped off. Now Jamie’s out there, too. Everything’s happening at once.”
“Are the trolls at them?” he asked.
“There are no trolls!” Grace shrieked. “They’re falling apart. Now will you stop talking and come? There’s not a moment to…”
At that moment, her face peeled off her skull. A great flap of flesh from her eyebrow, down to her nose and cheek, ripped clear of the bone and tore into her upper lip. She screamed in pain. The skin hung dripping blood.
Her hands shivered over the flap. Christie stared at her in horror. Then he burst into action. He swept her up in his arms and carried her out of the kitchen. He met Robbie, Fergus and Hazel coming out of the Great Hall.
“It’s starting,” Fergus murmured.
“Get aloft, all of ye,” Christie ordered. “Scout the coast and see if there are any trolls floating around or portals opening anywhere.”
“What are you gonna do?” Robbie asked.
A scream answered him from the Hall. Christie glanced in to see Callum writhing on the floor in a pool of blood with both arms missing. Across the room, Angus hauled himself across the floor by his arms. One leg stretched out useless behind him.
Angus bellowed at Christie through his bared teeth. “Get out of here! Get outside and find your lassie before we all wind up dead.”
“Angus, you’re…” Christie began.
“Go!” Angus roared. “I’ll get aloft as soon as I get outside. I can still fly without a leg.”
Christie lowered Grace to the ground. “You’ll be safe here, lass. You’ll be as safe here as you’ll be anywhere else.”
She shuddered with sobs. “Go on, Christie. Find Alexis and close the hole like you did before. That’s the best thing you can go for any of us right now.”
The minute he put her down, she started crawling toward Callum. Christie didn’t hang around to see what happened next. He raced outside. Jamie still twisted and convulsed on the field with Lachlan nearby.
Robbie, Hazel, and Fergus soared overhead. They flew in wide circles around the castle, but Christie saw no portals open anywhere nearby.
There had to be a portal. This disaster wouldn’t be happening if there wasn’t one. Where was Alexis? He cast a quick glance around, but he didn’t see her. She must be around somewhere or the attack wouldn’t be happening.
He dropped onto his hands and shifted. He touched his nose to the front step and caught her smell. Why did he bother? He wouldn’t track her all over the island, just to find out where she was when she came back. If she wasn’t here, he had to find her another way.
At that moment, Clyde came running around the corner, along with three other Duart wolves. They headed for Christie when Clyde plowed into the ground right in front of Christie. He rolled over on his back, and Christie saw a section of his rib cage jutting out of his chest. His lung showed bloody and torn through the hole.
Christie shifted in a heartbeat. So did Clyde. Christie picked up his cousin, and Clyde gasped for every ragged breath. “Christie…” he panted. “Christie, I…”
“Wheesht, lad,” Christie whispered. “Lie still. You’re all right.”
“Christie…” he breathed, “do ye remember that Spanish chest ye found down Lochbuie beach that time? Ye turned it over to your father, but ye kept back that gold chain for yourself. Do ye remember?”
“Aye, lad. I remember.”
“I stole it, mon,” Clyde choked. “I wanted it, and I stole it out of your room when ye were out hunting with your brothers. I buried it under a rock behind the Craignure kirk. Ye go and dig it up, mon. It’s yours by right.”
“Och, cousin,” Christie replied, “that’s fifteen years ago now. Do ye think I care about that at a time like this?”
Clyde grasped his hand in a death grip. “Ye go and get it, Christie. Ye have it. I dinnae want it. It’s yours.”
Christie swallowed hard. He couldn’t watch this. He glanced up and spotted Alexis at the edge of the forest. He had to get to her. He had to close this hole before it killed everybody.
The minute that thought crossed his mind, a deafening impact rocked his whole world. A massive green body slammed down on the ground at the foot of the steps. The green dragon puffed steam through his nostrils. His sides heaved once and then exploded in a towering geyser of molten lava.
Christie ducked, and burning pebbles of Sulphur pattered all around him. One of them hit him in the back and burned through his shirt. He batted it away. He bent his head to check Clyde. He wanted nothing more than to put his cousin down and run for the forest. He didn’t know how he could extricate himself from his cousin’s death, but when he looked into Clyde’s face, he found him already dead.
He laid his cousin on the steps. He couldn’t see a single wolf in sight. He didn’t want to see any wolves or dragons. He couldn’t watch these people dying all around him. He took a running diving leap off the steps and hit the ground running on all fours. His black form slithered across the ground.
He dove into the forest running for all he was worth. He ran to the spot where he saw Alexis and lowered his nose to the ground. He ran all over the place in search of her scent trail. He picked it up heading into the forest. At least she would be safe in there from the…
A crackle of heat caught his attention. He raised his head to see glowing light flickering through the trees. He wheeled and retreated back the way he came, but the fire was moving too fast. It raced through the dry forest incinerating everything in its path.
Christie put on speed. He had to get out of this forest, out into the open field. That was the only place he’d be safe. The fire couldn’t cross the rocky ground. He broke through the trees and spotted Ivy running around the corner of the castle. Christie headed for her.
At that moment, a block of stone broke off the b
attlements high above. It toppled and fell in front of Ivy. She checked her stride and looked around her. Christie ran up to her and shifted. “Ivy!”
She turned around to face him when a terrible spasm stabbed her in the guts. She doubled over, and the expression on her face quaked Christie to his bones. She stared up at him, and her face went ashen white.
Christie made a grab for her, but she wrenched out of his grip. The next instant, she thrashed back and forth on her feet. She bared her gritted teeth and snarled through them while her whole body convulsed with spasms.
Christie closed her in his arms, and her knees gave out. She collapsed against him, and blood foamed out between her teeth. “Oh, Ivy!” he moaned. “Ivy, no!”
He lowered her to the ground. He barely got her laid down when her body gave a gut-wrenching jerk. Her body snapped in half right in front of him, and she lay frozen and bent on the ground. Her eyes stared in dead horror at nothing.
Christie turned to run away. He had to run anywhere to get away from this, but before he could move a step, the whole side wall of the castle erupted outward in a shower of blocks and mortar.
Christie staggered out of the way as a huge black dragon erupted out of the gap. Angus took wing from the rubble. He got his wings unfurled and ten feet off the ground when a bright red dragon came plunging out of the sky. Brilliant flames torched her whole body. She flapped her wings in torment, but that only fed the flames to burn higher.
Hazel hurtled down from the Heavens at terminal velocity and crashed on top of Angus. Christie didn’t have time to react when a deep fissure cracked open at his feet. The Earth itself popped apart. The tremor knocked him off his feet, and he scrambled away on hands and knees.
He had no idea where to go or what to do. He wanted to run for the forest, but the fire already consumed the whole area, all the way up to the field. Dear God, what if Alexis was still in there? What if she got trapped somewhere? What if she got burned alive, and he was alone with this disaster?
He whipped around the other way when a window ripped out of the upper castle turret. It sailed several feet away from the wall before the glass exploded. Razor-sharp shards fell all around Christie and sliced his skin on their way to Earth.
Curse Breaker (Phoenix Throne Book 7): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance Page 21
