“When the stars align and the shadows of chaos eclipse the sun once again, the time will come to unite a warrior’s heart and a maiden’s grace. Together, they’ll reunite the pieces of the keystone and protect it, to safeguard it for time eternal. Three pieces of stone. Two ancient bloodlines. One divine destiny.”
He had clearly memorized this as he said itwith confidence.
“A warrior’s heart and a maiden’s grace,” she repeated, amused. “You the warrior, me the maiden?”
He nodded.
She wanted to laugh. She hadn’t been a maiden in several years.
“Do ye no’ see? Y’re here to reunite the pieces of the stone.You, Brianna, have the third piece. Three pieces of stone—Past, Present, Future. Two ancient bloodlines—MacLeod and Sinclair.” When he said his surname, he thumbed at his chest. When he said hers, he motioned to her. “One divine destiny—all of us together.”
Gooseflesh erupted all over her skin. She dropped her arms and squared her shoulders as she locked gazes with him. He was deadly serious. There was no snarky grin on his face. He wasn’t kidding around. He meant everything he said—he spoke of the prophecy as though it were something to be revered. He believed the words with his whole heart.
“Well, then,” she muttered. “I guess that means I’m screwed.”
Chapter Eight
Brianna clutched herelbows as the wind whipped past them, making her shiver.
“We should go,” he said, waving toward the horses.
“Jamie, there’s one more thing I need to know.” When he gave her a quizzical look, she continued. “Something you said. That you’ve been waiting for me. That I appeared in the tapestries. What did that mean?”
His cheeks flushed as he glanced away, fixing his gaze on the loch. “’Tis hard to explain. It would be best if I showed ye.”
“Show me.”
“To do that, we have to ride back to the castle.”
“Then let’s go.”
It was a short ride back as the sun dipped toward the horizon, leaving the sky blistered with a fantastic sunset in gold and pink and orange. It was hard not to notice the breathtaking beauty. Once back at the castle, they wasted no time returning their horses to the stables and then headed back into the great hall. It was empty by the time they returned.
Brianna expected Chloe and Evie to be there waiting for her, but they weren’t.
It was just as well. She was tired, but she wanted answers. Then she would decide what to do next—staying here was likely her only option. She had nowhere else to go.
Jamie led her through the great hall, down a corridor and to a room with the door standing open. Firelight from candelabras flickered along the floors and wall of the chamber that had one oversized four-poster bed, a fireplace that was cold and dark, and a chair beside the hearth. Along the wall were several tapestries with images on them the likes she had never seen. As she approached them, her heart pounding a wicked beat and her breathing shallow, she knew immediately they were something special, something enchanted even.
She paused at the first one, staring at the image of the three women standing on a craggy hill. The woman in the middle had silvery hair billowing out to the side with something clenched in her fist and light seeping from around her fingers. Upon closer inspection of the woman in the center, recognition slammed into her with such force she sucked in a sharp breath.
The woman in the center was the shopkeeper in Mystic Treasures who had given her the piece of keystone.
“Moira,” she whispered.
The next tapestry was of the same three women with swirling, dark clouds behind them. The ground was lit by bolt of light. The wind still whipped around them. Below them, an army approached with weapons held high and in the center of it all was a man holding aloft a glowing great axe.
She swore she saw the images moving. She looked away, shook her head to clear it, but when she looked back, the images were still moving in what appeared to be super slow motion.
The third tapestry made her gasp and clutch her throat. There was a woman with fiery red hair laying on the ground in a black dress and one arm out to the side. She was unconscious. The sky above her looked as though it had a rip in it.
“Is that…Evie?” she asked, peering closer at the image.
“Aye. When she arrived here,” Jamie said.
She stole a glance at him over her shoulder to see him leaning oneshoulder against the doorframe watching her as she examined each tapestry. He pushed off the frame in a slow, languid movement and then stepped into the room, joining her. His gaze was focused on that first tapestry with the three women.
“This is the Night of Shadows.” He pointed to the first one. “This is what we call The Shattering.” He pointed to the second.
