No one said a word as Maggie knelt beside Angus and took his hand. “Uncle, speak to me,” Maggie pleaded, but he didn’t utter a word. She passed her hands over him, in an attempt to heal any broken bones or other invisible wounds, but it was to no avail. Maggie was very frightened. What had Brielle done to him? She knew Brielle was capable of putting someone into a deep sleep, but this was something far different. Angus’ breathing was shallow and his skin was cold to the touch. Maggie didn’t know what she could do to save him, so she did the only thing she could think of and talked to him.
“Uncle Angus, I hope ye can hear me. I need ye to stay here with me. Remember we were going to take care of each other. I ken I have nae held up my end of the bargain, but I cannaeimagine my life without ye, Uncle. Auntie Edna needs ye as well. Yer the one man who can calm her frazzled nerves. She listens to ye and nae one else. I dinnae ken what would happen if ye left us.” Tears fell from Maggie’s eyes and she attempted to wipe them away, but they fell faster than she could catch them. Dylan put a comforting arm around her shoulders and she lay her head on his chest and cried even harder. Robert quietly told the men to disperse and leave them be. They shuffled away with many a backward glance.
“Maggie, my dear, let Cormac and Cailin carry Angus inside to a soft, warm bed,” Robert suggested. Maggie nodded her agreement, but kept a tearful eye on the men as they carefully lifted Angus and brought him inside.
Maggie knew she looked a mess—red, puffy eyes and a tear-stained face most likely. Using the hem of her cape, she did her best to scrub away the tears and by doing so, regained her composure. Her uncle needed her to be strong now; falling apart wouldn’t help him or anyone else. She sniffled one last time and said, “I dinnae believe Brielle’s dead, nor do I think she’s gone. I can sense her presence.” Maggie cast her gaze around the courtyard and on past the gates. “She’s gone just far enough away that I can’t get to her, but close enough that I can still feel the evil emanating from her.”
“How will we find her?” Dylan’s brow wrinkled as if he was worrying about what might come next.
“We won’t need to… Brielle will findme.She’ll want her amulet back.” Maggie nodded as if she were agreeing with herself. “I must leave Breaghacraig. Brielle’s already done enough damage here. If I can draw her away—somewhere so she can’t harm anyone else, then it will be a fair fight.”
Dylan shook his head stubbornly. “I’m going with you, Maggie. We’re a team.”
“Dylan, I must do this alone. I cannae risk any harm coming to ye because of me.”
“And I can’t risk any harm coming toyou,because I’m not there to protect you.”
Maggie bristled at the suggestion. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she snapped.
“I know you are and I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t, but I’d feel better, knowing I was there if you needed me.” Dylan knew he had to keep his male ego in check. He wanted to protect Maggie and take care of her. He’d never felt that way about any other woman before Maggie came into his life and he didn’t quite know what to do with those feelings. Hanging around with a bunch of medieval highlanders hadn’t helped. They were all about protecting their women, but both Cormac and Cailin had somehow learned how to deal with strong-willed women from the future and still protect them, without Ashley and Jenna protesting. He made a mental note to ask them how they did it.
“I’m sorry.” Maggie twirled her hair around her finger. “It’s just that I’m afraid she’ll hurt ye, like she did Uncle Angus.”
Dylan smiled. The way she played with her hair when she was nervous was very endearing. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t get hurt, but I’ll do my best not to. I want to do this with you. I want to be there with you when you take her down.” Dylan tried to gauge Maggie’s reaction to what he was saying. She didn’t say anything in response, but he suspected she might be softening to the idea. He decided to plough on and bring up a worry he had over the amulet. Who knew what it was and what it could do? “One question, though. What would happen if you destroyed the amulet?” Dylan wondered if by destroying the amulet, it would somehow destroy Brielle. But if that were the case, why would Brielle have left it when she disappeared?
“I don’t really know. I think she left it behind on purpose. I think I’ll need it to locate her. If I destroyed the amulet, itpossibly would destroy Brielle, but I cannae be certain of it. It could be that she left the amulet here accidentally and that mistake will lead to her downfall, but I’m going to have to take a wait and see approach.”
“Better safe than sorry… right?” Dylan took her hand in his, loving the way it fit so perfectly. “What do you say, Maggie? Can I go with you?”
He could see she was pretending to give it some thought. “Well, okay, as long as ye dinnae interfere or get in the way. Magick is a powerful thing, Dylan, I ken ye know that.” He watched as she changed from serious to smiling in a single beat. “Let’s go check on Angus, shall we? And I’m going to try to contact Aunt Edna for some help.” Maggie had a sneaking suspicion she would need all the help she could get.
Chapter 14
Edna knew something was wrong, she could feel it in every cell of her being. “Angus,” she cried. “Angus, my love, nae ye! This was never what was supposed to happen. Ye must fight this, love. Fight it with all ye have in ye.” Edna drew on every ounce of power she had, trying to get through to him.
Brielle had used every trick in the book to get to Edna, and now she was attempting to take Angus away.I won’t let you take him! As I live and breathe, Brielle, ye will pay for this. Ye will pay!Even as she heard the faint cackling laughter of her nemesis, Edna positioned herself in her usual spot by the fire and stared into the flames. She searched the fiery embers until she saw Angus, lying motionless on a bed and barely clinging to life. She fought hard to keep her emotions under control. It would do him no good if she were to fall apart now. Sending waves of healing energy his way, she had to fight her way through the shield Brielle had placed around him, designed specifically to keep Edna out. It took all Edna had in her and she could feel her energy swiftly flagging, but she finally managedto shatter the veil of evil that surrounded him. She watched and waited and then she saw it. A slight movement of his eyelid. A twitch. And then another. His eyes remained closed, but the subtle movement was all Edna needed to reach out to her husband and send words of encouragement she knew he would hear. “Angus, my love, hold on. I’m here to help ye, but ye’ll need to help yerself, as well.”
Another small movement caught Edna’s eye, this time his lips moved slightly, as if he wished to speak. Ideally, it would have been better to be right there with him, touching him to assist in breaking the spell, but instead, Edna found herself both miles and centuries away from her love. Edna continued her healing work, and as if in answer to her prayers, she saw Maggie and Dylan enter the room where Angus lay. Maggie walked over to Angus and placed a hand on his chest. It was the therapeutic touch needed to complete their task and as Maggie touched Angus, the link between Maggie and Edna grew stronger.
“Maggie, work with me,” Edna pleaded.
“Auntie, I can hear ye. What would ye have me do?” Maggie’s connection with Edna allowed her to hear her aunt’s voice clearly, while Dylan, on the other hand, heard nothing.
“Do exactly what ye are doing, Maggie. Send yer healing into him while I do the same. With double the magick, we should be able to save him.”
Edna watched as Maggie concentrated on Angus. She could feel the energy Maggie was sending through him and Edna was pleased by the strength of the magick she felt there. Maggie was coming into her own at the perfect time. Between the two of them, Angus would be saved. Edna experienced a great sense of relief. The healing flowed back and forth between Maggie and Edna as it passed through Angus. Dylan stood back near the door, watching intently. Edna surmised he had decided it best to stay out of the way and she appreciated his perceptive nature.He would be a good match for Maggie and the perfect addition to the family, if things worked out the way she had planned they would.
Angus groaned loudly, startling them all.
“Uncle Angus, it’s me, Maggie. Auntie Edna is helping too. Please wake up, Uncle.” Maggie moved to hold his hand and his fingers closed around hers. “I think we’ve done it, Auntie,” she cried. “He’s squeezing my hand.”
Relief flooded through Edna, exactly as she knew it was through Maggie. “Good work, Maggie. Ye did it! I couldn’t have done it on my own. Brielle used verra powerful magick on Angus and neither of us would have been able to break the spell alone.”
Maggie leaned down and lovingly stroked Angus’ cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and scanned the room. “What’s this all about? Dinnae look at me as though I were a dead man.” Angus struggled to sit up and Maggie did her best to hold him down. Dylan came to her aid and lowered Angus back down onto the bed.
“You have to rest, Angus. You’ve been under Brielle’s spell for quite a while.” Dylan sat on the edge of the bed.
“Was it that bad, lad?” Angus appeared to be seriously considering what Dylan had just said.
