Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) (25 page)

Amber noticed the sobering
expressions of her parents.

“I have no proof I am or am not, a descendent
of Grainna. However, I do know when attempting to record our marriage and our
bond in the books we leave for the future, those recordings do not keep.”

“You mean the writing disappears?”
Lizzy asked.

“Nearly as fast as it’s written.
Which then leaves only word of mouth, but it seems even that doesn’t stand in
time.”

 “What of this crossroads?”

Gavin shrugged. “I have no idea.
Amber and I bonded less than a week ago. I know she worried about not seeing any
of you again, and I have concerns about where and, more importantly, when we
are meant to live our lives. Those are the only crossroads I can see.” He
turned to Amber. “Do you feel anything looming?”

“Only the approval of my father and my
mother. I too wonder where it is we will live. It seems a fortress needs to be
made of Mrs. Dawson’s home and with only Simon and Helen there to do the task—”

“Oh, Amber, this is not a
crossroads.” Lora, who had remained silent, spoke now commanding the attention
of everyone in the room. “You are not meant to live in this time. That I know.
Your time will be in the future, that I felt when I saw your knight saving you.
When in the future I cannot say, but I do know your time here with us is
limited.”

Amber’s heart sank in her chest.

You didn’t want to hear that.

Amber looked at her husband.
They
are my family.

“I’m sorry, m’dear. I too wish it
were different. Perhaps I will have another premonition giving me more details
of our future.”

“Maybe the passage has nothing to do
with you. You’re obviously bonded, the union complete. Do either of you feel
the weight of new gifts inside of you?” Myra asked.

“I feel Gavin’s shield. The strength
of it increases every day. My gift is difficult to reach.”

“Or you fear its return,” Gavin said.

“Aye. I do fear the pain.”

“Amber’s gift hovers over me. I felt
your fear when I arrived, sensed your distress about our union, and experienced
your joy that Amber will survive what once was killing her. As for multiple
gifts? There’s nothing I didn’t have before.”

“Perhaps the passage isn’t about us
after all,” Amber whispered.

“Or your union isn’t complete,”
Tara’s small voice said from the back of the room.

Gavin reached for Amber’s hand and
weaved her fingers together with his. “I assure you, we are bonded. Before we
spoke the vows I couldn’t let Amber go without her gift crippling her.”

Amber nodded her agreement. Tara was
mistaken, which must mean the passage didn’t apply to them.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Selma and Jake held the girls long
after their tears had dried up, and their swollen eyes finally closed in sleep.

Jake was reluctant at first, but he
decided Mrs. Dawson’s was the best place for all of them while the police
feverishly attempted to find his ex-wife’s killer.

He eased off one side of the bed
while Selma did the same on the other. The girls snuggled closely together in
their sleep.

After propping the door open, she and
Jake made their way down the stairs in silence. They hadn’t had time to really
talk once the police arrived and the investigation began. She’d kept it
together during the entire ordeal—a show of strength for the girls in an effort
to alleviate their pain. The adrenaline that fueled her hours before now
short-circuited in her veins and made her dizzy enough to sway on her feet.

“Hey?” Jake caught her elbow and
steadied her.

She started to shake. First the
tremor in her hand moved up her arm and then waved over her body and down her
legs. “I thought I was too late.”

“Shh! You weren’t.” He pulled her
into the safe warmth of his arms. “They’re upstairs, alive.”

Selma buried her face in his shoulder
and released the sob that had been lodged in her throat for hours.

Jake held her, just held her as she
cried on his shoulder. The man could have lost his kids and yet he was
comforting her. It was her fault. Whoever was after her managed to touch the
girls. “You should take the girls. Go far away from me.”

“Shh!”

She pushed away and met Jake’s eyes.
“I-I mean it. The crazy after me is probably behind this.”

“We don’t know that.”

“But it could be.”

Jake’s jaw bulged. “I’ve been a cop
for a long time. It could be anyone from my past too. Where would you suggest I
go to escape it?”

She hadn’t thought of that. “But if
it’s because of me—”

“Then we deal with it.”

She couldn’t look at him. His
trusting eyes, his calm voice. How could he be so calm?

Jake lifted her chin with one finger.
“You protected them, Selma. You and your cauldron crap.”

The snark in his voice made her
hiccup and smile. “You don’t believe in my cauldron crap.”

“I don’t want to believe in it. Doesn’t
mean I don’t. I’m all about facts, and I sure as hell can’t ignore any of you.
Especially you.”

God, when had Jake become so human?
He’d always been such an ass with everything Druid.

“We almost lost them,” she whispered.

“But we didn’t. And we won’t. Now…” He
slid a thumb over her cheek to dry her tears. “Let’s find the others and figure
out how to protect my girls in this house.”

“O-okay.”

****

Amber didn’t see a lot of Gavin over the
next couple of days. On the day of the gathering meant to welcome Gavin into
their family, she retreated with the women while her father took Gavin and her
brothers outside the Keep for a more private talk.

The sun sank low on the horizon, and
she smelled the cooking fires and the rich aroma of roasted meats and fresh
bread coming from the kitchens below. They would have a feast in honor of her
and Gavin’s joining.

“The longer you stay the harder it
will be for you to leave,” Tara said from where she sat next to her sister.
Myra and Lora were perched in chairs across from each other, and Amber stood by
a window staring at the land surrounding her childhood home.

“I know. Gavin reminds me we can
visit, but I can’t help but wonder if doing so would alter the future.”

“Your father worried of that when we
first sent Duncan and Finlay to the future. The responsibility of traveling in
time isn’t something we can ignore. It seems Gavin understands that better than
even we do.”

Myra stood and started to pace. Her
overburdened belly filled with a new life led the way. “I wonder how Gavin and
those in his clan police others. Certainly, tragedy must occur in the lives of
those who time travel. The desire to alter the outcome would be difficult to
overcome.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Lizzy
said. “What would any of us do if something awful happened? Would we be tempted
to go back and change the results?”

“We have to believe there are reasons
for our journeys in life. To alter them, no matter how painful, could prove
more tragic.”

“Isn’t that what Gavin does all the
time. Changes the course of time?” Myra asked.

“Not entirely,” Amber said. “There
are gifted Druids who guide the travelers to where their premonitions tell them
to go.”

“The Ancients must be guiding them.”
Myra rubbed her back as she talked.

“As they did us,” Lora said.

“Still, there have to be rogue
warriors. Those who desire personal gain, love and power.”

“There are, Lizzy. According to
Gavin, men and women throughout time have simply disappeared. Some band
together, others stay apart from their own. Many want to be the next Grainna.
They collect power, as she did, and fight against Gavin and his men.”

“For not knowing Gavin for very long,
you certainly understand his cause.”

Amber smiled. “Before we bonded the
only thoughts in my head were his and mine. The peace of only him being in
here,” she tapped her head, “was a blessing. Escaping the pain wasn’t something
I ever imagined happening in my life.”

“Is that why you bonded with him?”

“Nay, Myra. I bonded with him because
he saved my life… twice. I couldn’t let him die.” Just the thought of him
laying there lifeless, or nearly so, chilled her core.

“How did he save your life twice?”

She wasn’t proud of her weak moments,
but talking about her fears with the women in the room wasn’t something she
would have the luxury of repeating often in her life. “I was dying. I felt my
body weakening, my will to live with the world crushing in was simply too much
to bear.” She turned away from her mother’s watering eyes and stared out the
window. “In a moment of weakness I prepared myself to return here. I didn’t
want to die without seeing all of you again.” She paused.

“What happened?”

“I collapsed before I could shift
time. When I woke, Gavin was beside me holding my hand, and the world had gone
silent. His gift surrounded us both and pushed everyone else out.”

“That’s one hell of a gift,” Lizzy
said with a weak laugh.

 “What happened when he let go?”

Amber’s eyes drifted to her mother
briefly, then back to the green landscape. “He couldn’t, not without everything
rushing back in. We learned that quite by accident. Giles searched feverishly
for a cure, a way to use Gavin’s gift to seal everything out, or at least
control it, but all we found was talk of bonding and marrying our gifts.”

“So you had to bond. That or die,”
Tara said.

Amber pushed away from the window and
moved to her sister’s side.

“I chose to die. I couldn’t ask Gavin
to bond to me. His loyalty to us, his honor would have forced him to bond. I
couldn’t let him.”

“But you didn’t die.”

“No. I left his side one night but
only made it as far as the attic. I’m told when they found me I was on my last
breath. Gavin took hold and spoke the vows.”

Lora sucked in a breath. “To a dying
woman?”

“Aye, mother. My gift crippled him
while I slowly began to heal. So you see, when I woke I had to save him. I
couldn’t let him die—not after all he sacrificed for me.”

Lora stood and walked to her side.
She lifted a hand to her cheek and pulled her into her arms with a sob. “I’m so
sorry for your pain.”

Her mother’s sorrow struck her gut as
the emotion leaked through Gavin’s shield. Instead of fighting it, Amber let
the feeling in. “I’m well now. We simply need to determine how we will live our
life together.”

“At least he’s cute,” Lizzy said
evoking a laugh from all of them. Lora and Amber pulled away from their hug and
the grief in her mother’s heart started to mend.

“He is handsome, isn’t he?” Amber
asked with heat filling her cheeks.

“I’m happily married,” Tara said.
“But I’m not blind. He’s hot.”

Myra started laughing while holding
her belly. “You’re going to make me wet myself.”

Lizzy curled her legs under her skirt
and leaned her elbows on her knees. “So if he couldn’t let you go until after you
bonded…that means you guys slept together…bathed together?”

Tara’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, how
did that go?”

Amber gauged her mother’s reaction to
the question before answering. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“I’ll bet
that
was scary.”

“At first.”

“Didn’t you say the two of you
haven’t been intimate?” Myra asked.

“We haven’t.” If she didn’t take into
account the moments in the bathtub, they had very little knowledge of each
other.

“Do you want to?” Lizzy asked.

Amber blinked several times, not sure
how to answer the question. She moved her gaze to her mother and chewed on her
bottom lip.

“Don’t hold back for me. Intimacy is
part of a marriage.”

“I never thought I could stand the
touch of anyone, let alone—”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Lizzy said
with a laugh.

Tara stood and arranged her skirts.
“Well if Gavin is as considerate with your body as he was with your life, I
don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“She has a point,” Lora said. “But if
you have any questions—”

“Nay, Mother. I’ve heard all of you
speaking of intimacy, and dare I admit when I couldn’t control everyone’s
emotions from taking root in my brain, I have more knowledge than I probably
should.”

Lizzy giggled. “Our own little
voyeur. Who knew?”

“The men are back,” Tara said.
“Duncan is suggesting we make ready for dinner.” Tara and Duncan’s bond was as
seamless as walking. She was obviously speaking to him in her head where Amber
felt the need to pause her thoughts before connecting to Gavin.

“I think we should dress you as a
bride.” Lora played with a strand of Amber’s hair as she spoke.

“What a grand idea. I know just the
gown.” Myra waddled toward the door, and Amber trailed behind with Lizzy at her
side.

“Uhm, Lizzy?”

“Yeah?”

“What does the word voyeur mean?”

****

Please tell me you’re on your way
down.
Kincaid pushed
the words into Amber’s head long after he had returned to the Keep with all the
MacCoinnich men. Well, again, Cian wouldn’t join them, but Duncan, Finlay,
Todd, and Ian had insisted on spending time with him away from the Keep and away
from the women.

Kincaid wasn’t a father, and could
only imagine how difficult it was for a medieval man to meet his daughter’s
husband after they’d already wed. If not for the fact that Kincaid’s gift saved
Amber’s life, he thought Ian would have forced an annulment and banished him
from his home.

Their ride in the Highlands had been a
testing ground. Apparently, Kincaid passed the riding test, and the sparring, because
at one point Duncan suggested a friendly fight. There was not one word of
praise or acceptance, just a nod before they returned to the Keep.

Todd seemed the most accepting and
offered words of encouragement.

“At least you married his daughter
before sleeping with her.”

“You didn’t?”

“I’m sure Amber will tell you the
story. But no. And without any powers, I was completely out armed when I ended
up here.”

The hall was filled with family,
servants, and knights. Many an eye followed Gavin as he and Todd spoke.

Kincaid drank ale from the goblet one
of the servants gave him.

“If Ian didn’t approve, you’d already
know it. It killed him to leave her with Simon and Helen.”

“Seems he’s testing me to see if I
can keep her safe.”

Todd nodded. “Wouldn’t you? If you
had a daughter?”

“I guess I would.”

Todd nudged his arm and said
something, but he didn’t catch it because Amber’s words filled his head.

Is my father being difficult?

Kincaid caught Ian’s eyes on him
before looking away.

I believe I’ve passed all his tests. Are
you on your way?

We’re nearly done.

“You’d think I’d be used to this
thing by now,” Todd said as he scratched his knee under his kilt.

Kincaid wore one identical to Todd’s
and since there wasn’t a threat looming, no sword accompanied the costume. Not
that Kincaid didn’t have one of his modern weapons hidden in the layers of the
plaid. He was a warrior, and being unarmed was against his nature. “I’ll be
sure and tell Jake about your distaste for a kilt.”