“I’ll be back when I can,” he assured.
“And then what?” she demanded, sounding agitated. “I don’t belong here, Malcolm. This isn’t my world, my time. Evie doesn’t belong here, either, but I suppose she’ll never leave now that she’s pregnant.”
He froze as he stared down at her, the shock rolling through him. “The lass is with child?”
Her eyes flew wide. “Oh, crap, you didn’t know?”
“Nay,” he said slowly.
He was going to be an uncle. The thought sent a tingling of joy skipping through him.
Chloe tried to tug out of his grasp, but he held firm. “Let me go, Malcolm.”
He pulled her to him, clutching her in his arms. She struggled only a bit as the clothes she held tumbled to the floor. Her breasts pressed against his bare chest. It was the best feeling in the world. He pushed her auburn hair off her shoulder, holding her close. She stopped struggling, her body going limp as she allowed him to hold her.
“What are ye afraid of, lass?”
“Everything,” she whispered. “Being here. You. That cursed keystone.” Her breath hitched as a sob clotted her throat. “Bruce.”
He squeezed her. “I willna let him hurt ye. Ye have my word on that. As for the keystone…well, I gather there is naught to be done about that.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “And what about you?”
He softened at that, holding her tight. “I willna hurt ye, either. Ye have my word on that.”
Chloe placed her head on his chest again, wrapping her arms around him. They stood like that for a long moment, in the peace of the morning, holding each other.
“I don’t believe in destinies or prophecies,” she muttered. “I believe in facts and choosing your own fate.”
“Aye,” he said slowly. “I believe that, too. But I’ve seen things to prove the prophecy is real and all our destinies are tangled together. Yours. Mine. Your sister’s. My brother’s.”
She shivered in his arms. “And Jamie?”
“Aye, Jamie, too.” He pushed back, then, holding her at arm’s length. “But we dinnae have to think about that now, lass. We never have to speak of it again if you dinnae wish to.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Will ye stay here and wait for me?”
Indecision flashed through her eyes for a moment. Then she nodded. “Yes. I’ll stay.”
“Good. Now, as much as I hate to see that bonnie body of yer’s covered, we must dress. I have to find my brother. And keep that cursed keystone safe and on yer person.”
Chloe glared at it as it rested on the bedside table. “It is a cursed thing. Isn’t it?”
Still keeping one arm around his waist, she leaned out and reached for it. The moment she picked up the stone, her body went rigid. She sucked in a sharp breath, her back went ramrod straight. Then her knees gave out and she crumpled. He held on to her as she fell, keeping her from hitting the stone floor.
“Lass? Are ye all right? Can ye hear me?”
But her eyes were closed, her body quaking, and she definitely did not hear him.
***
The vision started the moment she touched the keystone. It was as if the world fell away and she was there, standing at the base of the craggy hill with the icy wind ripping through her hair.The scene was familiar to her—she’d seen it in the enchanted tapestry. But this one was different. There was no lightning flashing, no battle raging, no Triple Goddess or keystone in the center of it all. Chloe was seeing the events through someone else’s eyes—not her own.
Alexander MacLeod assembled all his men on the field at the base of the crag. He sat atop his destrier and peered across the vast field at the man who had betrayed him. He should have known forging a truce—fragile that it was—with Brodie MacDonald was a mistake. But Alexander felt as though he had no choice. It was the only way to protect their lands from the northern invaders.
When he discovered—by way of Padrig Sinclair—the man secretly plotted against him, he had to act. MacDonald was driven by greed and great ambition and intended to destroy all the northern clan leaders to take control of their lands.
Hisland. His and Padrig’s land.
He would never stand for this. Nor would Padrig.
