Her heart swelled so big; it would surely burst if she wasn’t careful. She hid her face in the curve of his neck and whispered, “I love you, Ronan. So very much.”
He tightened his embrace and pressed kisses into her hair. “I love ye more, my golden-eyed lass. More than ye will ever know.”
The late eveningmist rolled in off the sea, blanketing the cliffs of Clan MacKay. Aveline sat in the garden, her face lifted to the night, eyes closed as she breathed in the chilly night air and concentrated on connecting with the rhythm of the earth. It wouldn’t be much longer. Just a few more weeks until the equinox, and then she would return Harley to her time. Maybe then Ronan would finally forgive her and speak kindly to her again rather than constantly scold her.
“I thought I would find ye out here.”
She jumped as Ronan stepped out from a shroud of mist and loomed over her. Breath held and bracing herself, she waited, watching him closely. His speaking to her in a calm tone was a promising omen, but not if he changed at the last moment and resumed lecturing her about what she had done to keep him close. She angled her chin higher, knowing she would do everything the same were she to do it all over again. He needed to stay here in the safety of the clan and his homeland. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, concentrating on him and the sound of his emotions. He was different. Something had changed. His anger toward her had weakened considerably.
“Ye have changed,” she said, the weight of her worry lightening. “I am glad ye are no longer so vexed with me.” She scooted across the bench and patted the spot beside her. As long as he didn’t berate her, he was more than welcome to sit and offer her the pleasure of his company.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he ignored her invitationto sit. “What ye did was wrong. Ye misused yer gifts, and no, I am no longer as heated with ye as I was before—but that doesna lessen the severity of yer transgressions.”
She glared at him. With that attitude and the ability to throw her past mistakes in her face at every opportunity, he would make a good Christian priest. “So, ye merely came to scold me again? Trust me, brother. Mama and Papa have that particular chore well in hand.”
Pacing back and forth through the mist swirling around his feet, he frowned downward as though sorting through his thoughts. His demeanor shouted at her, but she couldn’t decipher what it was. He was not as angry as before, but he remained anxious about something. But what? And he contained a contentedness and a peace she had never sensed in him before. She sat taller and tensed, beginning to dread whatever it was he was about to say.
“We have yet to hear what yer punishment will be,” he said while still keeping his gaze lowered. “Has Mother received any news from Brid or the Fates?”
She blew out a long-suffering sigh and stared down at her hands in her lap. Her read of him was wrong. He was here to lecture her again. She didn’t know which she preferred, his sullen, angry silence or his pompous nagging. “No. Mother hasna had any visions as to my punishment. Nor heard from the Goddess Brid.”
He halted his pacing, lifted his gaze, and glared at her. “Ye realize that what ye did was wrong? Ye understand where ye erred?”
“Ye canna let it go, can ye? And yes, oh mightiest of my brothers,” she said, not attempting to veil her sarcasm. “I have seen my errors and will not make them again, I assure ye.”
Rather than lash out at her as she expected, he turned and looked up at the keep and smiled.
Aveline twisted on the bench and followed his line of sight. There Harley was, in the window, brushing out her long, dark hair by the soft candlelight of the evening tapers. Aveline cast a covert glance at Ronan’s expression. By the goddess, how he had changed. She had never seen his aura glow with such happiness. “Surely, ye didna search me out to have me apologizeto ye yet again.”
He turned and gave her a thoughtful smile that tied her middle into knots. She saw it in his eyes. The man was besotted with Harley, and here she was about to send her back to the future. “Avie—Harley and I are to marry. She has agreed to be my wife.”
Aveline’s heart fell and the knots in her stomach twisted even tighter. Now, what should she do? She swallowed hard and silently thanked the shadows for hiding her worries from Ronan. Thankfully, he also seemed too preoccupied with thoughts of his lady love to notice anything other than his own feelings. If he’d taken but a half second to veer his attention to Aveline, he would have heard her panic fair shouting at him.She had to calm herself, lest he pick up on her worries. She rose from the bench and went to him. “How wonderful! I am so glad the two of ye finally came together and saw ye were meant to be one.”
He frowned and cast a dubious look her way.“Ye dinna seem genuinely happy for me, sister. Is this not the reason ye meddled with time?”
Aveline shored up her aura, shielding it from his intuitive senses. “Of course, I am happy for ye. I am merely afraid Harley will not accept me as a sister. After what I did to her life, I fear she will never trust me again.”
“I shall speak to her,” he said. “She is happy here now, and I am sure she will give ye a second chance. The two of ye will be well on yer way to becoming friends by the time of the autumnal equinox.”
“The autumnal equinox?” Aveline nearly choked. Did he know the equinox was when she planned to cast Harley back to the future?
“Aye.” Ronan nodded and fell in step beside her as they made their way back to the rear entrance of the keep. “We plan to wed on the autumnal equinox. The veil of time is thinner at that time. We shall be able to project the happiness of our union to Harley’s parents.”
“But they willna know what it is,” Aveline said, quickening her pace as her mind reeled with her brother’s news. She had to figure out what to do next. She had to contact Goddess Clíodhna and tell her of Ronan’s plans.
He easily kept up with her, his long legs making a mockery of her scurrying stride. “Aye, that is true. They willna know why they feel a sense of peace. But they will know it has something to do with their daughter, and it will assure them she is truly at ease with her fate.”
Clenching her skirts in her hands, Aveline quickly stepped across the cobblestones, changing course to head for the steps leading to the outer wall.
“I am happy for ye, Ronan,” she shouted back over her shoulder as she scurried down the steps. “Tell Mama and Papa I have gone to the outer wall to make peace with the Fates for the error of my ways.”
“I will tell them, Avie,” he called after her with a warm chuckle that threatened to make her weep.
She skipped down the steps faster, damning this change of events. She wanted Ronan happy, safe, and at home—if she sent Harley back to the future, he would be none of the three. “I have to tell the goddess. She loves Ronan. Surely, she will allow me to change our plan.” But a sickening dread weighed heavy on her and became more burdensome by the moment. Deep in her heart and soul, she knew the goddess would not take this news well.
CHAPTER 17
Aveline hadn’t gone to the outer wall even though that was what she had told Ronan. Instead, she waited in the shadows just past the gate until she was positive all but the night guards had gone to their beds. Worrisome guilt nagged at her. She hated lying to anyone but most especially to her favorite brother. He was just now trusting her again, and she feared losing that precious trust once more.
