Before his mother had discovered the way to break the curse, Latharn decided to end his hell. He couldn’t accept an eternity of unjust punishment within the crystal ball. He’d rather take his life and take his chances at losing his soul to the abyss. At least there, he wouldn’t be isolated and his family would find closure with his death. In their own time, they’d also find their peace.
However, the malicious sorceress had foreseen such a possibility and taken care to prevent such an easy escape. Latharn couldn’t count the times he’d slashed open his body, just to watch the wound heal before a single drop of blood spilled.
Therefore, he’d accepted his fate and turned his mind inward to find a way to survive. The chief druid, Emrys MacKay, had once told him meditation was the key to finding his strengths. All the mysteries of the universe waited inside him. All he needed was the patience and the discipline to find them.
As he crouched, then sprang to whip the blade through the air, the song of the steel echoed through the chamber. Its strength pulsated through his veins, the energy coursing through his mind. The power of the dance grew frenzied, his body tensed as he lunged for his unseen prey. His heart pounded; he barely breathed. His unblinking eyes stared straight ahead. Once again, Latharn’s mind escaped the stifling realms of his prison; he traveled through the mists of time.
His consciousness journeyed through untold planes of existence. He explored universes of energy, discovering levels of enlightenment he’d never hoped to attain. It was during these travels through the veils that he’d found a fascinating form of energy he couldn’t resist.
An aura of light pulsated with such an intensity of compassion it drew him like steel to a magnet. He’d touched it with his consciousness, to discover it flowed through him and connected to his soul. Shocked at the joining, he pulled away from the energy. He’d never experienced such an intimate melding on any of the planes he’d explored. Intrigued, he touched the energy again, locking with it as though it were a piece of a missing puzzle. The two auras danced and swirled upon the plane, discovering the universe together.
He’d followed the light for an untold amount of time, since on the current plane, time didn’t exist. The playful energy teased and danced with him, first touching his mind before jumping back like a puppy pouncing on an enticing toy.
It took him eons to realize this comforting presence was the life force he was destined to love. However, this realization confused him more. Before his mother died, she had discovered how the curse of the witch’s ball could be broken. The one woman capable of winning Latharn’s heart must call out for his release. If this presence was the consciousness of the woman he was to love, where was her physical body?
As it turned out, it was more like when was her physical body. Latharn had known the moment she was born. He’d become so adept at meditating through the planes, he’d watched over her as she’d grown. He’d suffered in silence as her parents belittled her. He’d watched them treat her as though they’d wished she’d never been born. His soul raged within his crystal prison as he watched the tear-filled life of the emotionally battered child. How could anyone be so cruel to a bairn of their own? Their words pained and damaged the lass more surely than if they’d beaten her with a club.
When at last he’d found the pathway to her dreams, he’d been determined to do his best to comfort her. He would ensure she knew she was a precious gift. She would know her inner beauty was even greater than the loveliness of her physical body. It didn’t matter if he ever escaped his hell. All that mattered to Latharn was that he delivered Nessa from hers.
He’d been proud as he’d watched her grow into a talented young woman. He wished she could see her own beauty but she was more sure of herself than he’d ever hoped she would be. When she’d started relationship exploration with the opposite sex, it was almost more than he could bear.
It was then he decided to shape destiny with his own hands. If he’d consoled her subconscious while in her dreams, then he should be able to guide her to the location of the globe.
And now she was on her way to Scotland. He’d even managed to fixate her upon the area of Durness. Once upon his homeland and in the exact proximity of the globe, Latharn knew he’d be even stronger at manifesting his powers around her.
It was time he took a different path in her dreams. As her lover.
ChapterFour
Deardha couldn’t believe he had never cried out to her. Damn, that hard-headed Highlander. She had figured for certain he would drop to his knees and beg to hear her terms. She would’ve wagered her finest athame Latharn would plead for his release within weeks of his imprisonment. She had watched the man his entire life. Latharn MacKay thrived best when surrounded by those he loved. The man needed the touch of his clan more than he needed the touch of his damnable Highland plaid. And yet even when he’d watched his mother jump to her death, the stubborn fool had just stood there within the bauble, silent as a stone cairn.
“I shouldha’ just destroyed him rather than imprison him!”
With an irritated hiss, Deardha traced her fingertips across varying sizes of globes as she worried about the darkened room. The shelves flickered with crystal orbs glimmering in every spectrum of the rainbow. Over the past six hundred years, she had collected souls much as a child collects fireflies on a summer’s eve. She smiled with pride at her varied collection. It wasn’t easy tending so many fools. A few scattered orbs along the shelves had gone dark. She’d allowed their lights to flicker away. Some of the occupants became such simpering bores. No matter. Bright, shining replacements abounded.
Turning from her beloved collection of souls, she focused on the largest orb of her assortment. Her scrying globe rested upon a massive stone pedestal in the center of the room.
“Show me the bitch,” she commanded with a wave of her hand as she stormed across her chambers.
The center orb filled with a blue-white haze as though someone had just exhaled a puff of smoke and blown it inside the glass. Mist swirled inside the globe as Deardha tapped her nails upon the surface. “Focus now! I know she’s far but Latharn has succeeded in guiding her to our shores and we must prepare for her arrival.”
Nessa’s laughing face appeared in the vision, chattering into her cell phone as she packed for her trip. A shiver of revulsion swept over her body as Deardha stroked the cool smooth glass between her hands. “I still do not understand what he sees in that bit of fluff. There’s not enough woman there for a good night’s ride!”
Deardha dispersed the vision with a wave of disgust, spitting her disapproval on the floor. Smoothing her hands over the frigid glass, she inhaled a deep, cleansing breath, and lowered her voice to an evil purr. “Now, on to more pleasant things. Show me the weak one we found the other day, the one who shows such promise for destroying the scrawny bitch.”
The crystal didn’t falter but shifted to show the image of a surly, dark-haired man as he towered over a cringing young woman. Excitement surged through Deardha’s body. Oh, this was wondrous. Perfect timing. She watched the scene play out within the crystal: the man stormed in a fit of rage and the woman cowered before him, terrified. Deardha rubbed her hands together as she hissed into the glass. “Oh, go on, you know you want to hit her. You know she really deserves it.”
A resounding slap echoed from the depths of the globe, followed by the sound of the woman’s sobs.
Deardha nodded with a satisfied chuckle. This one would serve her purpose well. She controlled his weak soul without even taking over his body. He was her puppet, his mind so open to her suggestions, she need but whisper to him across the mists.
Of course, she should get out more. It had been centuries since she’d been out in the world. She could stir up so much more mischief if she possessed the man. It wouldn’t take much to take him over. After all, the simpleton had already forfeited his soul when he read the ancient mantra backward during the dark of the moon.
“Ye should figure out what those Latin words mean before ye start dabbling in my world, fool.”
She idly tapped a fingernail on the glowing crystal before her. With a sigh, Deardha decided to wait and see how it all unwound. After all, she hadn’t survived over six hundred years by tossing caution to the wind.
ChapterFive
