Jessa snorted as they climbed through the split in the skirting wall—a disturbing reminder of Morrigan’s visit.Emily knew her far too well.“When have I ever been positive about anything?You know I am always the one foot in, one foot out sort.Your mom always blamed it on childhood trauma, but I think it’s because it never fails, once I commit to one thing, something better comes along.”
Emily wrapped an arm around her and gave her an affectionate shake.“But there’s a difference about you now, Jess.I can’t remember ever seeing you this…this…”
“This…what?”All sorts of varying adjectives sprang to mind, but Jessa couldn’t wait to hear which ones Emily chose.
Emily shrugged.“It’s hard to explain.For lack of a better word, you’re not astwitchyas usual.And I mean that in a good way.”
And Jessa took it in a good way because she understood exactly what her friend meant.“I’m connected to Grant.A connection I never dreamed could exist.”The warm contentment that had taken up residence within her, always simmering just below the surface, rippled with her acknowledgment of it and sent a stronger surge through her.“I love him, Em.It’s as if I’ve known him forever.I love him so much it’s scary.The only thing I’m stilltwitchyabout is taking up residence in this time.”She held onto the front of her stays and fished deep into her cleavage for the square of linen that would have a hard time holding up to the onslaught of tears the upcoming separation from her friend was sure to trigger, no matter how stoic and dry-eyed she was determined to be.“Well, that’s not the only thing I’m twitchy about.I’m twitchy about losing my best friend, my real sister, and the only genuine family I’ve ever had.”
“Mairwen thinks the goddesses will allow us to visit at Seven Cairns,” Emily said.“From what I understand about all this mystical stuff so far, it’s sort of a way station for all the eras of time and what we used to consider the mythical planes that the Highland Veil keeps in place.”Emily hugged her again.“But when I asked her if Mama, Papa, and the fearsome five could visit…”
The heaviness of the silence between them as they walked through the tangled grass spoke volumes.
“I take it she said no?”Jessa wondered if Emily realized that meant she would eventually lose her family, too.After all, Mairwen had said Emily had a fated mate waiting somewhere orsometimefor her.”
“And yeah, I know what that means,” Emily whispered.“I can’t even begin to wrap my head around never seeing them again.”She attempted a cocky wink, but her voice faltered.“But you know me.I always find a way around the rules I don’t like.We’ll see them again.Just you wait and see.”
Now it was Jessa’s turn to hold tightly to Emily.For all her friend’s fussing about how her parents and brothers meddled in her life, Jessa knew Emily would be lost without her close-knit family.Maybe it was better to change the subject.“I wonder why everyone doesn’t get a fated mate?Or is it that Mairwen and her army of matchmakers just don’t have the manpower to snap that many souls back together?”
“I asked her about that,” Emily said as they meandered over to the cliff’s edge and seated themselves on the bench overlooking the sea.“It took her a while to come to the point and admit that it is exactly that.”
“Exactly what?”
“The auld ways are dying.When people stop believing, that which they no longer believe in ceases to exist.Scotland and the Highland Veil are one of the last strongholds because superstition is alive and well in this part of the world.Mairwen says there used to be several veils located all over the earth—but not any longer, and when those veils fell, the dark forces destroyed the Defenders and Weavers of those veils.Why do you think there’s already so much chaos and suffering in the world?”Emily bumped shoulders with her.“That is why you have to believe with all your heart and soul that you belong here, belong with Grant.Any doubt about any of it gives the dark ones a dangerous toehold.”
A pair of terns, white as fluttering ribbons, floated on the updrafts above the churning, frothy waters below.Their shrill keening as they circled in their gracefully spinning flight joined the symphony of the waves crashing against the base of the cliff, the shush of the wind rustling the tall clusters of grasses, and the faint noises of cleanup from the keep behind them.Jessa smiled at the peacefulness of the eighteenth century’s natural music.
Sitting in companionable silence, she mulled over what Emily had said.“I know I belong with Grant,” she said almost more to herself than to Emily.“It’s thewhenof it I’m none too sure about.This isn’t exactly the safest place for a digital creator and wannabe engineer.Everything I say makes them look at me as if they’re sizing me up for the stake and bonfire it would take to roast me.”And she was only partially joking.Grant’s clan had been more than kind and welcoming, but ever since she had healed him and with Griselda crowning her as one of the divine, everyone treated her differently.They were afraid of her.She could see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices, and sense it by the way they immediately went quiet whenever she walked into a room.
“You have to commit,” Emily said.”One way or the other.All in or all out.If you don’t…”
“I know.”A chill raced across Jessa, making her rub her arms and look up for any sign of the sun.“It’s clouding up again.I guess we need to get back inside the safety of the walls.Clouds make me nervous now.”
“Not a good thing, considering how often it rains in Scotland.”
“No kidding.”
A sudden rise in the wind gusted against them, strong and hard, shoving with amazing force, as if trying to push them over the edge of the cliff.Jessa stumbled, her feet tangled in her skirts and the long grass matted into knobby piles of treacherous hillocks.
Emily grabbed her by the arm, half dragging her to regain her footing.“I don’t like this,” Emily shouted, bowing against the gale as they fought to return to the keep.
“Go ahead!”Jessa told her.An eerie tingling at the base of her skull warned this was no natural storm kicking up without warning.“You are a tall target for the wind.Stay low and scuttle fast.I’ll be right behind you.”She dropped to all fours, waving Emily onward, knowing if she told her what was really going on, Emily would stay.Thisfeltthe same as before.Apparently, the Morrigan, whatever it was, did not give up easily.
Bent double by the wind, Emily squinted at her, eyeing her for a long moment that told Jessa her friend knew exactly what was happening.But Emily needed to go.Jessa couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her.She pointed at the keep.“Go!Warn the others!I’ll be fine.I can hold on until you return with Mairwen.”
Squinting against the gale, Emily’s dark eyes flashed as she bared her teeth.“Don’t you dare die on me!”she shouted.“I’ll be back with reinforcements!”
Jessa nodded and waved her onward.“Go!”
And then the ground beneath her fell away, and everything went dark.
* * *
Jessa opened her eyes.Or, at least, they felt like they were open.Nothing but blackness filled her vision.Panic surged through her hard and fast, making her blink rapidly.Maybe she had somehow been blinded by a blow to the head or something, or the collapse of the cliff had stolen her eyesight.Stop it,she silently ordered.Spiraling out of control helped nothing.She needed to calm down and think, not give in to hysteria.It was just dark wherever this was.Dark as the inside of a freaking cow.Or like she was buried alive.Great.Because that possibility was so much better than being blinded—right?But it could be true.After all, the ground had fallen away when the cliff had separated and slid into the sea.She sucked in a deep breath to convince herself she had enough air.Damp, cool, and maybe a little earthy, wherever this was smelled like the potting soil she had helped Mrs.Garducci add to her windowsill garden.Maybe this was some kind of air pocket created by the landslide.That made her swallow hard and press a hand to her pounding heart.
Must.Not.Panic.She needed to see if she was hurt, then figure a way out of here.She tried to inventory all her parts without moving too much in case she was injured or maybe even perched on a narrow ledge in this strange pit of despair.That gave her pause.Pit of despair?Where had that come from?She didn’t usuallytalklike that—not even to herself.Mairwen must be rubbing off on her.
The silence of the darkness deafened her.She couldn’t even hear her own breathing or the beating of her heart.She could feel it hammering in her chest, but couldn’t hear it.At least, she thought she felt it.She tried to find a pulse at her wrist and, failing that, tried to confirm life by feeling for her jugular.She clamped her hand to her chest again.The pounding was gone.Had she died?Was this death?
