“Ye dinna ask a question, but aye, that I am.”
“Could you rustle one of them up to help?”
Lachlan hesitated. “Is it possible for someone to overhear our conversation?”
“Not from my end, dragon shifter. I have no idea what magics you’re conjuring on yours.”
“Lass.” He aimed for a placating tone since his magic appeared to upset her. “I have been ensorcelled—asleep, if ye will—for hundreds of years. The world I woke to is still passing strange to me.”
“Excuses!” she snapped. “They’re an indulgence. Get over it.”
Lachlan couldn’t help himself. A laugh rumbled up from his belly. “’Tis a feisty one ye are. In my day, a woman wouldna speak so to a man.”
“What a good thing customs have changed,” she retorted dryly. “Now, what are you going to do to retrieve my mother?”
“Do ye ken where she is?”
“Not exactly, but she’s still alive. I’d know if she were dead.”
“Excellent news. ’Tis what I meant by her blood kin having a feel for her energy. I’m not hedging, but I’m reluctant to disclose my thoughts since I have no idea how to shield this type of conversation from those who seek to harm us.”
“You will do something to retrieve my mother. The state the world is in, we need Mary Elma. Her loss would be a grievous blow.”
“Aye. I willna abandon Maggie. She needs my help.” Lachlan considered trying to talk around the ancient prophecy regarding himself and Maggie.
He’d just opened his mouth when Chloe said, “I already know about it. Our entire coven does, so I assume our enemies do as well. Margaret tried to escape her destiny, but that never works.” A brittle laugh. “In any event, you aren’t the only one with foes who’d just as soon see you out of the way. Give the phone back to my niece.”
Lachlan complied. Apparently niceties such as greetings and farewells had gone the way of prehistoric beasts. Moments later, after a flurry of I know and I understand and Yes, Auntie, Maggie slid the phone back into her bag.
“Sorry about that,” she murmured. “My aunts can be intense, even when things are going well, and Chloe is the worst of the bunch.”
Lachlan chuckled. “She was a wee bit overbearing, but she has a right to be since circumstances are skidding toward Hell.”
“You’re being kind. Chloe was a bitch on wheels, but she’s worried sick about Grandma. For that fact, so am I.” A sign for Loch Lomond flashed past, and Maggie pulled off the main road onto a smaller one where the cars didn’t travel as fast. “What do you want me to do once I get to the loch? As I recall, we’ll reach it before we get to the castle.”
“Is there a deserted area where ye could leave this beast, and it wouldna be disturbed?”
She cocked her head to one side. “It’s still very early in the morning, so all the parking lots should be pretty much empty. Do you want to be closer to the loch or the castle, or does it matter?”
“It doesna matter. We can walk to where we need to be.” Lachlan turned his thoughts inward. “Do ye have any ideas?” he asked the dragon.
After a silence so long, Lachlan figured Kheladin was annoyed about something, the dragon finally said, “The world is vastly different. Were this a more familiar time, I would say we should shift, and I could talk with the creatures in the loch. Sea creatures are full of information.”
“We doona even know if the loch has life in it.”
Sounding uncertain, Maggie broke in. “Since I can hear you, I thought I’d shed what light I could. Pollution has been a problem here, just like everywhere. There are fish in the loch, but they’re planted by the government.”
“Planted?” Lachlan spoke aloud. “Whatever do ye mean?”
“Fishing is a sport. People don’t have to fish to eat, at least not most people. So the government grows fish in hatcheries, and when they get old enough, they move them into the lake, er loch. I’m not certain how they do it here. Back in the States, they often drop them from airplanes.”
“Forget I suggested it.” Kheladin sounded shocked and disgusted. “Such creatures surely have no ancestral memories left.”
“He can hear us if we don’t use mind speech?” Maggie asked.
“Aye, if he chooses to listen. The best way to get his attention, though, is silent speech.”
Maggie turned into a large gravel area. She pulled the car to its far end and turned it off. Lachlan reveled in silence. He didn’t fully appreciate how annoying the car’s motor was, always nagging at the edges of his hearing, until it wasn’t there anymore. He got out and sent his mage senses spinning outward. No point in walking into a trap in case Rhukon—or the Morrigan, who was much smarter than the black wyvern—anticipated his next move.
“What’s next?” Maggie made her way to his side while he was hunting for danger.
“Grand news, lass. We’re alone.”
“Of course we are,” she began and then nodded. “I understand. You were looking for something…invisible.”
“Aye. Ye never know which ears might overhear.” He gazed about them. Loch Lomond was about fifty paces away, water lapping gently against its rocky shore. The castle sat on the far side of the loch, maybe an hour’s walk. It was lit up like a holiday festival tree. “So people yet live in the castle?”
“Not nobility or anything like that.” Maggie gazed at the lights. “If anything, there might be a staff of caretakers.”
“Do ye think it would be hard to get inside?”
She snorted. “Oh my, yes. I’m sure it’s alarmed from here to Sunday.”
“Which means?”
“There are electronic beams that set off alarms if anyone tries to break in. The alarms might be silent here, but you can bet they’d alert someone at the police station in town.”
“Once we are not sore pressed, I want you to explain these electronic beams to me. Ye canna see them, yet they seem immensely powerful.”
“Sure.” She stood, hands on her hips, gazing at the loch. With her blonde tresses and ramrod straight stance, she might’ve been a Viking maid. Because he couldn’t help himself, he bent toward her and brushed his lips over hers. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Their breathing escalated as their bodies strained toward one another. Her nipples pressed against his chest, and the scent of her arousal was thick in his nostrils. His cock, desperate for release, rubbed against the rough fabric of his breeks.
Much more of this and I’ll spend without her laying a hand on me.
With a great deal of effort, Lachlan broke away from their kiss. “I want you more than is good for me, lass.”
“I know. Me, too.”
She stepped back, but he felt the heat of her even across the distance between them. In a rush of chivalry, he grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to its back.
Lachlan forced his mind away from his swollen member. Being lost in lust wasn’t conducive to clear-minded thought. Since the castle was occupied and guarded by something he couldn’t see, it would be a last resort. Even if he could work his way into its lower levels, where earth magic was strongest, it would still take time to cast a spell and hold it long enough for it to yield information. He shut his eyes and reconstructed the location of the nodes ancients had used to concentrate their magic. One was quite close. He opened himself to sense its pull. “This way.”
“Where are we going?”
He drew a hand through her arm and propelled her forward. Even so small a touch was like an aphrodisiac. He wanted to crush her to him, lower his mouth to hers, and sink onto the mother goddess earth to take his pleasure. “’Tisn’t easy to explain, lass, but there are places magic congregates.”
“I know about them,” she cut in. “We call them power points, and magic is easier to access there because of harmonics.”
“I doona understand harmonics, but I know what I feel and how power flows through me. Into this grove now. Careful, someone’s erected a fence.”
He
helped her over wooden rails. Once on the other side, they moved deeper into thick undergrowth, among friendly trees. Thank the goddess, even today’s version of humans had left the sacred grove intact.
“Is this what I think it is?” She kept her voice low.
“Aye. See the stones.” He pointed. “And the trees. Come stand in their center.”
Lachlan laid a hand on a standing stone and mouthed a prayer. The strength with which the goddess, Ceridwen, rushed into his mind surprised him. Like everything else he’d seen in modern times, he’d expected earth magic to be faded and weak.
Numinous light rose from the standing stones and hovered. “Gwydion and Arawn told me ye were near.” Ceridwen’s voice held a multi-tonal aspect, as if two women spoke simultaneously.
“Blessings, lady, on you and your grove.” Lachlan bowed. “I would introduce my mate.”
“Aye, and well I knew her mother and grandmother. Stand tall within my grove, Margaret Hibbins.”
Maggie squared her shoulders, her eyes round as small moons. She groped for Lachlan’s hand. “Which of the goddesses are you?”
“In olden times, ye would not have lived to mouth the last words of that thought.”
“Forgive me.” Maggie bowed low. “I can’t see you, only light.”
“Use your third eye,” Lachlan murmured.
“Even if I saw her face, I wouldn’t recognize her.”
“Child.” Ceridwen’s voice was sharp. “Why have ye abandoned the power within you?”
Maggie cleared her throat. “Because I was stubborn, willful, and grieving.”
“And are ye still?”
Maggie shook her head. “I’m feeling humble and stupid right about now. Whichever goddess you are, if you knew my mother, you’ll understand why I grieved her loss as a child. If you know my grandmother, could you help us find her please?”
Lachlan draped an arm around Maggie and pulled her against his body. “Forgive her, Ceridwen. She’s of the modern world and doesna understand one doesna ask boons of the gods.”
Tinkling laughter trilled. Lachlan relaxed his hold on Maggie. He’d been afraid the goddess would strike her dead for impertinence.
“Lady. May I speak?” Kheladin forced Lachlan’s vocal chords to his bidding, something he’d only done a time or two before.
“Dragon.” Ceridwen inclined her head.
“Do my kin yet live anywhere near here?”
The numinous light pulsed and took form. A tall, robust woman with long, black hair mingled with gray, and piercing dark eyes stood before them. She was clothed in flowing white robes and carried a carved staff. Gold rings circled most of her fingers. A heavy golden torc curved around her neck, and strings of pearls wound through her hair. “Aye, dragon. Would ye have them make themselves known?”
“Of course. I’m lonely. I slept for long years and wakened to find no one to fly with.”
“Lachlan?”
He recovered his voice with effort. “Aye, my lady.”
“I will aid all of you, but first I require a sacrifice. The earth is parched, hungry for the essence of life. Humans no longer pay homage to me. No one has prayed in this grove for many a long year.”
“Of course.”
“No.” Maggie twisted in his arms. “No sacrifices. I can’t believe you’re even considering such a thing. We aren’t going to harm—”
“Sssh. She dinna mean what ye think. She wants us to make love here in her sacred grove and let the juices from our bodies soak into the earth.”
The sky was lightening in the east. In its glow, Maggie’s eyes widened. “In front of her?”
Ribald laughter crashed around them. Ceridwen laughed so hard her eyes streamed tears. When she could talk again, she said, “Humans have turned into a horde of withered prudes. Yes, daughter. In front of me. Ye asked a boon of me. ’Tis a small enough price to pay.”
An idea bloomed around Lachlan’s rising urgency to plumb Maggie’s lush body. They had the goddess’ blessing, after all. He risked meeting Ceridwen’s dark gaze. “Would ye consent to wed us?”
Maggie, who’d been half-leaning against him, wrenched herself out of his arms. “Too soon. This is all happening too fast. Sleeping with you is one thing. Tying my life to yours forever is quite another. My God, I barely know you.”
Shocked, Lachlan stared hard at her. After what they’d shared in Kheladin’s cave, it wasn’t possible the lass could wish for another. Or was it? Heart aching, he tamped down the magic that would force her to his will. Prophecy or no, she had to come to him freely—or not at all.
Chapter Twelve
Unfamiliar emotions buffeted her. Lachlan was all the things she thought she wanted and needed in a man, so why was she on the verge of spinning and running down the lakeshore path for all she was worth? She tried balancing pros against cons.
Tall, tawny, to-die-for body, amazing eyes, good mind, compassionate, cares about me…
Yes, but what happens to my life? He won’t fit into any of it. Do I just walk away from practicing medicine forever? After all the years it took me to finish my training?
Maggie nodded to herself. There it was in a nutshell. If she stayed with Lachlan, her life would never be the same. Am I ready for that?
Ceridwen stared right through her, as if she saw down to her soul. “Well, witch. What shall it be? The safe and known, or throwing caution to the four winds? I’ve spent many a decade watching humankind erode. Will ye rise to your witch heritage or sink to the level of yesterday’s gruel?”
“I-I’m not sure. He and I barely know one another,” she stammered repeating her earlier words.
“Ye’d never want for aught.” Lachlan moved back to her side but didn’t try to touch her.
“That’s not it.” Maggie pressed her tongue against her teeth. “I’ve never been enamored with money or things. I guess I’m having a hard time seeing how we’ll spend a lifetime together. We’re just so different.” The moment the words were out, it felt as if someone shoved a burning blade into her solar plexus. Even though she didn’t know him well, and her life would change forever, she understood she’d rather risk that than face the long years to come without his solid, alluring energy by her side.
He gazed at her, pleading in his eyes, but pride too. He wouldn’t beg. She had to choose him of her own free will. Not because of the strength in their combined magic. Not to defeat Rhukon and the Morrigan. Not because he’d help her find her grandmother, and she didn’t have any other options.
“Aye, lass,” he said, obviously reading her mind. “I wish to be wanted for myself. What man wouldna?”
Ceridwen cocked her head to one side. Maggie was grateful the goddess wasn’t pushing her. If it had been her Aunt Chloe, she was certain she’d have made a dive for her throat just to shut her up. Ceridwen chuckled. “Och aye, and I know that blood kin of yours too. A prickly one she is. ’Twould do her good to take a man between her legs. Might improve her disposition.”
Maggie didn’t mention that Chloe hadn’t shown any predilection toward either sex—ever. “What happens if we just make love and leave the wedding part open?”
“Tch. Lack of commitment. Another human weakness that has expanded by leaps and bounds. What is it, witch? Are ye stuck in the modern concept that ye must know and love a man afore ye bind yourself to him?”
“Yes. I suppose that’s part of it.”
“Far more marriages fail today than they did a century ago—or five centuries. The term divorce has been around forever, but it was rarely exercised so enthusiastically until recently.”
“I know all that,” Maggie sputtered. “But we’re talking about a whole lot more than marriage here. My entire life, the career I spent twelve years training for, will all go up in smoke.”
“I dinna ask you to quit being a healer,” Lachlan broke in.
“Okay,” Maggie amended. “It might go up in smoke.”
Ceridwen leaned close. “Aye, ye’ve hit the nail on its head. Can
ye be who ye are and wife to this man all at the same time? Beyond whatever ye do to earn your bread, beneath it all, ye’re still a woman.”
“Honest answer?”
“Of course, witch.”
“I don’t know.” Maggie sucked air to the very bottom of her lungs. The careful planning that had been a hallmark of her life to date blew away in a whoosh of unexpected audacity. “But I’d like to find out.”
“Ye’re hedging,” Ceridwen’s dark eyes flashed.
Oh, what the hell.
“Yes,” Maggie said, surprised to find tears in her eyes. “My answer is yes.”
Lachlan closed his arms around her. He rained kisses on her hair, her face, her neck. “Ye willna be sorry, lass. I will care for you, protect you.” More kisses. “We’ll find your grandmother, defeat Rhukon.”
“Carve a return path for the dragons who chose leave to Earth,” Kheladin said. “Doona forget that part.”
“We shan’t,” Ceridwen replied.
Something about the exchange got Maggie’s attention. She ducked from beneath Lachlan’s embrace and faced Ceridwen. “Why is repopulating the Earth with dragons important?”
The goddess gave her an appraising look and swept her long hair over her shoulders. “Dragons come from the first world—Fire Mountain—and hold ancient magic. They’re linked to the ebb and flow of life on Earth.”
Maggie narrowed her eyes. “So not having them here disturbs some sort of cosmic balance point?”
“More or less—” Ceridwen began.
She was almost immediately drowned out by Kheladin trumpeting telepathically. Maggie pressed her hands over her ears and then understood it wouldn’t do a shred of good since the dragon was inside her head. She quirked a brow at Lachlan.
He took her hands. “Kheladin’s unhappy—lonely for his own kind. I told him we’d see about solving the dragon problem, but only after we had everything else well in hand. I doona think he liked my answer.”
Lachlan pulled her into his arms. She heard the thud of his heartbeat beneath her ear. The sky had turned a pearlescent pink in the east with streaks of violet and teal, almost as if it were blessing their union. She turned her face up, and he closed his mouth over hers. His lips were firm and insistent as he licked at hers. She opened her mouth, and he sank his tongue inside, tasting fragrant as fresh-cut hay.
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