Emma tore her gaze from the medical file she had just reread at least five times.Dammit.She couldn’t concentrate on anything. Tightening her grip on the edge of the worn folder, she pinched the pages as though they might help her hold fast to reality. “What do you need, Moira?”
Moira opened the door wider, sidling her round body through the space as if she feared something else might sneak into the office with her. “Would ye have a moment to step into the waiting area? Your sister brought someone to see ye.”
Emma closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and blew out a defeated breath. Alex and Laynie wouldn’t let up and they had suckered everyone else at the clinic into the futile quest as well. The scavenger hunt for the path to Torin was getting extremely old. “I’m pretty busy, Moira. I really need to finish dictating these files.”
Moira’s thin lips clamped into a determined line as she slid the folder out of Emma’s hands. “Dr. Mac said he would take care of the dictation from now on. It is not healthy the hoursye’ve been keepin’. Ye look a wreck. Come to the waiting room and at least give a listen to what this man has to say.”
Emma pushed her weary body out of the chair without another word. Arguing with Moira was about as effective as arguing with a wall. She might as well go through the motions and see what Laynie had up her sleeve just to get everyone off her back.
Rounding the last turn in the hallway, Emma’s heart fell when she spotted a tiny wisp of a man trembling at Laynie’s side. Balding and thin, his knobby fingers twisting a ratty tweed hat in jerking circles, he peered up at her over bent, wire-rimmed glasses as though he feared he was about to be attacked. Where in the world had Laynie found this mouse of a man, and how could he possibly help?
“Emma, this is Gaynor. Gaynor, this is my sister. So, what do you think?” Laynie looped her arm through the man’s spindly elbow and nudged him toward Emma.
Gaynor’s bulging Adam’s apple skittered up and down his scrawny throat as he dipped his head with a hard swallow. His fierce blue eyes narrowed behind the smudged ovals of his glasses. His grizzled chin jiggled back and forth as his sunken mouth and non-existent lips betrayed the absence of all his teeth. After he drew a trembling hand to his chin and scratched across the silvery stubble peppering his face, he finally bobbed his head forward once in a decisive nod. “Aye. I see the magic in her aura. I will help ye find the way to re-open the portal.”
An eerie shiver crawled across Emma’s flesh. Gaynor’s deep voice sounded so familiar. His rolling brogue rang clear and deep as a bell. How could such a sound come from such a scrawny body? Stepping closer, she extended her hand. “It’s good to meet you, Gaynor but what exactly do ye mean byyou see the magic in my aura?”
Gaynor’s gaze settled on her extended hand. His receding lips curled downward into a slight frown as he clasped his arthritic hands in front of him. “I am not fit to touch one such as you. Ye should know that. But I will not hold your ignorance against ye. From what your sister tells me, ye are verra new to the Ways.”
Embarrassment sent a rush of heat through her, as Emma tucked her tingling palm back into her pocket. “Well, I guess that pretty much cuts through the niceties. Why don’t you just tell me who you are Gaynor?”
“I am one of the caretakers. My clan has served the stone guardians since they first came to be. ’Tis our duty to keep the legends alive and ensure the guardians have all their needs fulfilled should they ever decide to return.” Gaynor stood taller as he spoke, bobbing his head at different objects around the room. “And I am also grateful that one of my own has been deemed worthy of adoption into the guardian’s clan.”
“One of your own?”
Gaynor bobbed his head again. “Aye. The Chieftain himself saved my great-grandson from the wicked magic poisoning his body and blessed him with an aura heartstone.”
Emma stared closer at the ancient man’s face. It was the eyes. She knew she had seen those eyes before. Glancing at Laynie and Moira’s excited expressions; she knew there had to be more. “Who is your great-grandson?”
“’Tis the boy your Torin healed. The child he named as a future guardian.” Moira nudged Emma’s shoulder to draw her attention to a child’s photo she held in her hand. “Remember?”
That’s where she had seen those flashing blue eyes before. Emma took the picture, immediately remembering the sickly lad Torin had snatched from death’s jaws. The boy had his great-grandfather’s eyes. There was no mistaking the bloodline.
Fingering the corner of the picture, Emma drew in a deep, calming breath. It didn’t mean anything. She didn’t need to get her hopes up. She had destroyed the portal leading to the other reality. Torin was lost forever.
With a withering glance at Laynie’s triumphant grin, Emma struggled to keep the desolation she felt from creeping into her voice. “What makes you think you can help me, Gaynor? If you know all the legends, you will need to know that I completely destroyed the portal.”
Gaynor’s scraggly white brows knotted together with a disbelieving scowl as he jerked his head back and forth with a stubborn shake. “No portal can be truly destroyed. Ye but sealed the passage between this world, and the realm to which it opened. Ye need only know the mystical secrets to unlocking the gateway again. All ye lack is the knowledge to call him forth from that place.”
The frailest tendril of hope stirred in her aching heart. Emma searched Gaynor’s face. The tiny man oozed certainty. Righteous fire burned in his gaze. Her voice cracked, the words catching in her throat as she mentally reminded herself not to raise her hopes. “Do you know the secret, Gaynor? Can you really help me?”
“Aye.” Gaynor winked with a polite bob of head. “’Tis my duty to serve ye, Guardian.”
Chapter
Sixty-One
“Have you got everything?” Laynie slammed the door to the truck and tiptoed to peer into the rust-covered bed.
“I think so.” Emma pulled her coat collar higher, squinting against the bitter cold lashing across her face. Blinking hard against watering eyes, her already churning stomach lurched at the sight of several familiar faces waiting at the stones. “Why are they here?”
“Because when you leave with Torin, they’re going to be here for me.” Laynie cleared her throat and pulled her wool scarf higher across her face. “Remember our deal, Emma. No looking back.”
Emma swallowed hard, nearly choking on the big lump of doubt lodged in her throat. Laynie seemed so certain that this was going to work. Emma wished she could be that sure. And if it did, she would be back to the difficult decision of leaving her sister behind. Tucking her short curls behind her ears, Emma knotted the thick wool plaid tighter beneath her chin. “Will you really be all right, Laynie? What will you do when I’m not here anymore?”
Laynie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears as she swiped a blonde strand of hair out of her face with a mittened paw. “I’ll be fine, Emma. Especially, if I know you’re happy.” Casting a glance in Alex Mackenzie’s direction, she fixed Emma with a knowing grin. “And besides, I think I might’ve found somebody who’ll be willing to keep me company.” Turning back to Emma, the corners of Laynie’s mouth quivered with a resigned smile. “You’ve taken care of me and made sure I was happy all these years. It’s time you allowed someone to take care of you and give you a little happiness.”
“You really think you can be happy with Dr. Jerk?” Emma glanced up the hillside at the figures milling about the stones. Alex was there with his gaze firmly fixed on Laynie. Emma still didn’t like the man but she remembered the sparks she had sensed in the cottage when she had discovered the two of them together.
