“Aye.” Callum looked back at him, concern lingering in his blue eyes. “Fire?”
“Let’s go.” He nudged him.
Callum shoved open the gate and ran through it. He wielded his claymore the moment he stepped through. Malcolm followed. Black and gray smoke billowed into the night sky. The keep was on fire.
“God’s teeth,” Callum bellowed.
He bolted through the narrow passageway leading from the gate. Malcolm followed on his heels. They rounded a corner and halted, facing the bailey. Standing there at the end of Rory MacDonald’s great axe was Chloe. Evie cowered behind her.
Malcolm roared, unsheathed his sword, and charged.
“Wait!” Callum called.
But he refused to listen. Blinded by his fury, the war cry ripped from his throat. MacDonald spun to face him, surprise on his face. He recovered quickly when he saw him and charged toward him.
Great axe clashed against claymore. MacDonald swung. Malcolm swerved. He fought with all the pent-up rage he’d heldin the moment he learned Chloe was taken from him. The older man had difficulty keeping up with every swing of his sword. He beat him back, making him stumble over his own feet until at last he collapsed on the ground.
Malcolm pointed his sword inches from his face. His breath seesawed in and out of him. MacDonald still had his grip on his great axe as he lay on the ground, peering up at him with harsh eyes.
“Move and ye die,” Malcolm warned.
“Ye cannae kill me,” he said.
“I can and I will.”
“Release him, MacLeod!” his son shouted from behind him.
Malcolm cut a glance over his shoulder to see Callum standing like a human shield in front of the two lassies. Behind him, Rufus had his bow pulled back taut, an arrow pointed at his back.
They were trapped within the bailey of the MacDonald stronghold while the keep was on fire. Indecision flashed through him as he tried to figure out his next move. With his gaze on Rufus, and his sword point on Rory, he had to decide if he was going to yield or continue to fight their way out.
The ground started to shake. A low rumble rippled through the bailey, making the stone walls shudder and quake.
His gaze flew to the women who had moved to stand in front of Callum. Chloe held one of Evie’s hands. In the other, her piece of the keystone pressed against Evie’s stone. The power burst from the two pieces put together and a bright, white light exploded from it.
“We bind the past, the present, the soul. By blood, by will, by magic whole,” Chloe and Evie chanted together.
But their voices sounded strange—as though they were controlled by the Triple Goddess herself. And their eyes—both of their eyes glowed with an ominous light.
Callum shouted his name and gave a frantic wave for him to hurry toward them. He cut a glance to Rufus, whose wide-eyed gaze was on the women. Then to Rory who remained prone on the ground, glaring up at him.
“Across the veil, our home draws near. To Dundale’s keep, the way is clear.”
“Malcolm,now!”
He broke into a run, his legs pumping hard, as a strange light split the air in two, much like the light he saw when Chloe fell through time.
“Stop them! Stop them! Stop them!” Rory shouted.
But Malcolm didn’t look back. Clutching his claymore in his sweating palm as he made a mad dash for them, he watched the light engulf Chloe, Evie, and Callum. Cursing, he leapt into the light as it closed around him and winked out.
***
Chloe felt as though she were in someone else’s skin as she watched the events unfold around her. Evie urged Callum to use the tip of his dagger to slice open their hands once more. Then they smeared blood over the stones, clasped hands, and pushed the two pieces together.
As soon as they did, the magic of the Triple Goddess sparked deep inside her. In that moment, shewasBridget. She knew the words to speak as if they had always been inside her. As did Evie. Together, they used the stone to rip open time and space to send them back to Dundale.
Together, they stepped through to Dundale’s bailey, followed by Callum. She watched as Malcolm ran toward them. He jumped through the light as the light shrank and then disappeared into nothing more than a pinprick. Then it was gone and she was back in her own skin.
