Iona the wolf pressed tight against Mairi’s side, her body rumbling with a low-throated growl. Granny edged closer, flanking her other side. “Don’t listen to her, Mairi. She is wrong. That is not how it has to be and you know it.”
“Am I wrong, Mairi?” The wicked force crackled like growing thunder. “Ye’ve always known when any man lied to ye. Thisgiftdidna start with Ronan.”
Mairi shook her head against the nauseating singsong voice, fighting against her own inner voice whispering,She’s right.A lone teardrop dripped off her chin and splashed across the top of her hand resting on Ronan’s chest. She hitched in a shaking breath and brushed the side of her thumb against his cooling lips. So cold. He was growing so cold. Soon he would be gone forever.With a shaking breath, she brushed the back of her fingers against the silver stubble dusting his jawline. Forever. Without Ronan.She pressed her forehead against his and closed her eyes.
Shutting out all else around her, she focused on his last words. He hadn’t begged her to heal him, hadn’t begged her to save him from whatever was wringing the very life out of him. No. All he’d said with his last breath was that he’d loved her true. He said he wished he hadn’t been so foolish, but it was only because he loved her so much that it frightened him.
Her heart swelled with the memory of how he had whispered those words. He had spoken from his very soul. She pressed her lips to his icy temple and willed him to hear her, willed him to feel just how much she needed him to stay.You have to live. I need you to live and love me.She hugged him tighter, blocking all else out except the ancient heartbeat of the earth gently nudging her flesh with every breath she took. Yes. She was sure of it now. Even the ancient mother wished her to make this choice.
“NO!” The roiling cloud of darkness screeched through the bay with an ear-splitting howl.
Mairi smiled to herself as the weight of Granny’s hand rested on her shoulder and Iona the wolf pressed against her other side.Yes. This is the right thing to do.Her heart swelled with the surety of the prospect. She inhaled a deep cleansing breath, clutched Ronan closer, then released her heart and soul into his with a rush of warm, healing energy. Her heart sang when he stirred in her arms. She opened her eyes to his.
“Ye ken the truth of it now? Ye ken the truth of my love?” His halting whisper was the sweetest sound she had ever heard. With a hesitant touch, he cradled her cheek in his hand then laced his fingers into her hair and pulled her closer. “Say the words. I beg ye, my dearest one. Say ye can find it in yer heart to forgive me.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “And there is nothing to forgive.”
A wailing scream pierced the air followed by angry rolling thunder. The ground shook and the sea boiled with the final surge of the black cloud before the water split apart and sucked the cloud down into the watery abyss. Then all fell silent. Nothing moved. The sea shimmered, as still and peaceful as a mirror, and the wind disappeared.
“Ronan—your . . . your mother.” Mairi helped him to his knees as the elderly woman collapsed beside them, clothed only in the winding tresses of her thick, silvery hair. Iona struggled to rise and gain her balance then fell to the ground again.
“My son.” The woman weakly lifted a hand to Ronan, falling back in his arms as he lifted her up and wrapped his plaid about her. “Dinna mourn for me. I finally get my wish to go to yer father, my one true love.” She tapped a shaking finger lightly against his chin and smiled with a shuddering sigh.
“Máthair.”Ronan supported her in his arms and pulled the plaid tighter around her frail body. “This canna be. I thought ye would surely be granted a bit more time once the curse was broken.”
Iona smiled as she struggled to draw in another weary breath. “I dinna wish to live on, my dearest lad. I wish to take the path denied me so long.” Her bony hand fell back to her chest as her head weakly turned to the side. “Remember, Ronan. Death is never the end. It is but another path to be followed. Dinna fash and waste precious moments grieving for what ye fear ye’ve lost. Bid me a fond farewell and know that I’ll be watching after ye from the other side—and I’ll be standing beside yer father.”A soft tremble shook her in his arms and then her head fell limp against his shoulder.
“Safe journey,Máthair.” Ronan kissed her forehead, then gently lowered her to the ground.
A gentle wind, light as an angel’s touch, blew in from the sea. Mairi held tight to Ronan’s arm as his mother’s body disintegrated into the finest dust then soared away in a glistening trail, riding out across the waves in the arms of the softly soughing wind.
“I’m so sorry.” Mairi hugged closer to his side, rubbing a hand back and forth across his shoulders. It seemed so unfair. The first time he had ever seen his mother as a woman was the day she died in his arms.
“She is finally at peace.”
His pained whisper twisted Mairi’s heart. She hugged him tighter. “I’m glad she’ll be watching over us.”
“Aye.” Ronan jerked his chin down in a curt nod then turned and gathered Mairi close. “My heart is filled with gratitude this day—for many reasons.”
“So ye mean to let a man freeze his bollocks off, then?” The shout echoed off the cliffs.
“Graham?” Mairi lifted her head and arched a brow at Ronan. Together they stood, turning toward the sea to search the rocky stretch of land curving around the firth. After seeing Ronan’s mother dissipate into dust, she dreaded seeing Graham—strong, valiant dragon-hearted Graham—as a withered, dying old man.
“Oh my.” Mairi covered her mouth but couldn’t make herself look away. Graham was not a decrepit old man—not by a long shot.
The man stood atop a wide black stone, naked as the day he was born. Broad shoulders squared, the bulging muscles of his arms rippling, he rolled up on the balls of his feet as he cupped both hands over his crotch. His pale skin shimmered wet and slick in the fading light, making him greatly resemble a statue carved of pure white marble—a well-proportioned statue of a Greek god.
The only hint of his age was his bald head—quite regal, in fact—and the closely cropped beard with a hint of gray curling along his jawline. Graham grinned at Mairi then winked and nodded toward Ronan. “Be a good lass and send the laddie down here with a plaid afore the best parts of me turn a bonnie blue, aye?”
Ronan grabbed Mairi by the shoulders and turned her away from Graham. “I’ll thank ye to stop ogling the old bastard. There’ll be no living with him now that he’s a free man.”
Mairi clamped her lips shut against a giggle but couldn’t resist one innocent question. “How is it that Graham looks like . . .” Ronan’s sharp look gave her pause. Mairi took a deep breath and forced herself not to smile. “I thought he would be quite old too.”
Ronan’s gaze fell to the spot where his mother had just been. “Graham wishes to reclaim the life he thought lost. Mother’s greatest wish was to be back at my father’s side.”
“I’m sorry, Ronan.” Mairi cupped his face between her hands. “I’m so sorry you lost her just when you’d gotten her back.”
“Ronan!” A fist-size rock ricocheted off the ledge where they stood and bounced off behind them. “Step lively, man. My cock is near frozen.”
