Highland Destiny (35 page)

"My safety?" Mackenzie asked with wide, innocent eyes.

She knew it was to keep her from escaping.

"Yes, my dear, we can't have your husband coming after you, now can we."

"My husband?" she was genuinely startled. He hadn't mentioned Connor other than to say how disappointed he must be to find Mackenzie missing. Disappointed was not the word.

"Now you didn't think that little detail would escape my attention, did you?" He spoke condescendingly, Mackenzie almost expected him to pat her on the head. He was polite, but there was nothing in his eyes. Just cold, barren, ice blue emptiness.

Mackenzie pretended to shudder. She had a role to play.

"That barbarian is not my husband. It was so scary. My father will be happy to hear that I have arrived safely."

Hopefully he would believe her to be no more than a simple girl who wanted to please her father.

The smile he smiled as she denounced Connor made her hair stand on end. He reminded her of a snake about to devour its prey.

"Your father has paid handsomely for this match,"

Mackenzie wondered who had really paid him, "he will be pleased indeed. I am the most powerful man in the Highlands, and after we are married, and I have killed the 345

She hid her pain at the thought of Connor's death, and instead asked if she could have some books to help pass the time, and perhaps a tour of the castle.

"I shall have one of my servants bring you something to read, but a tour, I think not. I can't have you wandering about unattended. I also cannot discount the fact that you may be here under false pretenses. What if you were to run back to the MacRae and let him know everything you have found out?" He clucked his tongue. "Oh, no, that wouldn't do at all. Now, please, behave yourself and I shall see you in a few days for the feast in our honor. Then we shall be married the following day."

He turned on his heel and left, locking all of the locks in place from the outside. Mackenzie didn't bother trying to open the door, she was here, where she needed to be. No matter how scary or unnerving that was, she was here.

So for the next few days, Mackenzie had nothing more than books and staring out the window to pass the time. It reminded her of when Connor had locked her away. What was it about men of this era locking women in towers? Maybe this is where all the fairy tales came from. Too bad she didn't have hair like Repunzel, or a fairy godmother like Cinderella.

Ironically, though she had two wizards on her side, however they weren't able to send her home yet, so it wasn't the same as a fairy tale.

When the wizards showed up in her room, it was through some form of teleportation, because one second she was 346

"We apologize for the unannounced entrance, my Lady, but Lord Campbell has banned anyone from entering your room. He alone holds the keys."

"No, that's fine. I'm curious to see what you have found out." No need to tell them that she knew they couldn't save her. No one could. She was on her own.

"Much, my Lady." Gregor's eyes were lit up with the barely contained excitement. "We have discovered what we need to defeat him; but we need your blood."

Mackenzie's eyes popped out. "Excuse me?!"

It was Morvern who spoke, trying to reassure Mackenzie,

"What my hasty son means, my Lady, is that if we could but have a few drops of your blood, the blood of the first female born to the Stewart line for 200 years, we would be able to charm a weapon for you, to protect you." Morvern laid his cold, paper-thin hands on her still flat belly, "and your wee bairn."

Mackenzie gasped again. "What?" she choked out. It felt as if her airways had been constricted.

"We know that you carry the child of the MacRae. Your child has a powerful parentage and his destiny is to unite the clans of the highlands."

"His?"

Morvern smiled. His crinkly skin creased with the effort.

"Yes, 'he.' Your child will be a lad."

"Father, enough. We must act quickly."

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His dark powers have now surpassed our own, and we must kill him before Samhain. Now please, hold out your hand."

Mackenzie obliged and Gregor took a dagger and stabbed her index finger rather ruthlessly, she felt, and the blood spilled into a small vial. She yanked her hand back and wrapped it in the linen strip handed to her.

Addressing Morvern only, Mackenzie asked, "So you have my blood, now what?"

"We will charm the dagger and you will hide it under your gown. Then after the wedding feast, when everyone is deep in their cups, you must stab him with it. But a warning first, my Lady, his blood will burn you, should any of it touch your skin."

Mackenzie cut him off, "Okay, so don't touch, simple enough, but how will this charm be any different from the other dagger?"

"The other one only would protect you, this one will kill him. We have discovered that your blood is the only thing strong enough to accomplish that feat. His dark powers have made him nigh invincible."

"Great, simple." She muttered.

"Do not fret, my Lady. You are for whom this dark task was meant; you will prevail."

Morvern was trying to placate Mackenzie, but she knew nothing could do that. She would relax her frayed nerves when this dirty deed was done. Then she could go back to her own time, and—-and what? she asked herself. Pine away for 348

Taking a deep breath, Mackenzie tried to focus on what Morvern was telling her; he hadn't stopped talking during her panic attack.

"...and when you see the MacRae, you must not pay heed."

What was this? Connor? What had she missed?

"Excuse me, but what was that about Con—about the MacRae?"

"He will try to reclaim his wayward bride, but it is not meant to be; you must resist him."

"Oh," Mackenzie knew she sounded sad. "Of course not, I mean, I wouldn't want to endanger him. Or anyone else.

Umm...is he really going to come here? I thought he would remain at his castle."

Morvern exchanged a shrewd look with his son, and his whispery voice somehow echoed in the room, "Do not mistake your worth. The MacRae will chase after you until he retrieves you. He will follow until he finds you." His voice was intense by the end of his speech, and Mackenzie wondered what he actually was trying to say. His son was gaping at him as if he had revealed too much. Unfortunately for her, Mackenzie had no clue what that might be.

"Do not underestimate Lord Campbell's reaction either. If you are not successful, then he will come after you. Please 349

Her eyes wide, and her breathing accelerated, Mackenzie stared at them for a moment, letting his words sink in.

Eventually she was able to make her voice even.

"In other words, if he is not killed, then he will come after me through time, and...and then what? Will he kill me? Pull me back through time? What?"

"Most likely, he will kill you where he finds you, and once he lays eyes on your world, he will want to rule it as well. Or, in the worst possible case, he would bring back your weapons and use them here. We can
not
allow that to happen. He must be defeated, and it must be tonight." Gregor, ever blunt, forced Mackenzie to understand that there were indeed things that were worse than her own death.

Beneath the calm exterior she was afraid. Mackenzie felt as if her knees were shaking so violently that it should be audible. "What you are telling me is that if he is not killed by the time I go back through the gate, then the world will end.

Great, super." Where was a superhero when she needed one?

A simple and all-encompassing "Yes" was all that she got out of Gregor.

"Great. So what do I do now?"

"You wait. We will be back soon to bring you the dagger, and if anything else reveals itself to us, we will let you know.

Before we go, though, we will set up a warning, so to speak.

Gregor?"

He handed his father a large purple crystal.

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"Thanks." Mackenzie sat down on the one chair, and prepared to wait.

Morvern paused and said, "Do not be sad. All will work out in the end, and everything will be as it should be."

"You sound so sure."

"Naturally. I have faith, my Lady, and faith in you. Good will prevail. You will be surprised at how things work out." He smiled and was gone. They both were. She shook her head and tried to calm herself as she waited. But waited for what?

She had no idea.

"Father, if the MacRae and the Stewart lass are meant to be, why did you tell her it wasn't?"

They had hidden themselves away in their workroom, and were working on charming the dagger that they desperately hoped would kill their master.

"She needs to believe she must go back to her own time, or she won't go, and the MacRae needs to believe she willingly sacrificed herself for the good of his clan, or he will never understand how she loves him. If all goes as planned, she will save our lands, return to her time, and the MacRae will come to us. We will help him cross times, of course, and then she will understand how much she means to him. A man who is willing to give up his lands, title, position, his time, why would she resist that?"

"Why do you take it upon yourself to do this?"

"The world has so few true champions of good, we must do all we can to help. Pass me the vial of her blood, we must make quick work of this."

After the wizards had returned the dagger to her, she stood in her room, looking out the window at the loch. It was Loch Ness, and she idly wondered about the Loch Ness Monster and if it really existed. After everything she had been through in the past few weeks, she was a believer. It was then that she heard a noise behind her, next to the fireplace.

A scraping, shuffling sound. Mackenzie gasped, her hand flying to her throat, as the wall opened and the dark shape of a man stepped silently out. Mackenzie ran for the dagger, unsure of what she would do with it.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't stab me again." The all too familiar voice sounded almost amused.

"Connor?" she gasped. Mackenzie was so relieved that it was him and not the Campbell returning, but she was worried for him. He shouldn't be here. She ran to him, but stopped short of throwing herself into his arms. So many emotions flitted across her face, as she tried to control what she felt.

"Aye, lass."

"How did you get in here? What are you doing here? You have to leave. Now." She tried to shove him back through the opening in the wall. His rock hard muscles didn't so much as budge.

"I didn't come all this way to leave now."

"Why
did
you come?" she retorted coldly. It was so hard to be angry with him when all she felt was fear.

"Liam told me that you lied to me."

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"He said that you are with child."

"Oh, that. Well he's wrong." His penetrating gaze unnerved her, so she turned away and walked back to the window.

"Don't lie to me lass." Connor strode over to her and gripped her chin in between his strong fingers, forcing her to meet his probing sapphire gaze. "Are you carrying my child?"

She instantly denied it, "No, Connor, I'm not pregnant."

"I don't believe you." His voice was thick.

"Believe what you want. I don't care anymore." Mackenzie shook her chin loose and looked away from his too intense gaze.

"What is it? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you are unwelcome and need to leave.

Now." This was killing her to be so cold to him. But she needed him as far away from here as possible, even if it meant sacrificing her own heart and making Connor believe the absolute worst of her. She was a hideous person for having love and pushing it away. So many people dreamed about this kind of love, and here, she had it, and was stomping on it. He had to accept that she was a cold, selfish person who'd never had any feelings for him.

Connor gripped her face between his hands and stared deeply into her eyes for a long moment before pressing his warm lips to her tight mouth.

"I still don't believe you. You are a terrible liar." He was so gentle with her.

A bright purple light caught her attention from the corner of the room. The crystals!
Oh crap, he was coming!

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Her eyes locked on Connor's, then back to the crystal.

"He's coming," she hissed at him. "You need to leave or he'll kill you!"

"The Campbell? Let him come." Connor flexed his fingers into fists, and then released them. He seemed so confident that he could win. Mackenzie was saddened by the knowledge that if he faced the Campbell, he would die.

"No, Connor," her eyes were wild as she pleaded with him.

She pressed her hands to his chest and shoved once more, but he didn't budge an inch. "You need to go."

"I'm no' a coward." Connor seemed angry that she would insinuate he should run, but it was necessary.

"You're also not stupid. Connor, you cannot beat him. Not here, not now.
Please
, hide! We're running out of time!"

Connor took in the naked fear on her face and grudgingly nodded. He stepped back into the wall and the door swung shut almost noiselessly. What was she going to do?

Seconds within Connor hiding, John Campbell unlocked her door and walked in.

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