Evie’s gaze flickered back up to Jamie, who stood there still holding the bowl and the pitcher.
“I can take it from here,” she told him, dismissing him.
Without a word, he placed them on the table and then walked away. But he cast a longing look at her as he departed. Brianna kept her gaze on him as he moved through the great hall to the staircase that led to the upper floor.
“Why did you dismiss him? He was trying to help,” Brianna said.
“I need to tell you something.”
She paused as she gathered her thoughts. Then she held out her scarred hand for Brianna to see. She clearly made out the lines from her piece of the keystone. But there, across the scar, was a faint silvery scar. Like something had slashed across her palm.
“You cut yourself, too?”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “It’s what powers the stone.”
Brianna’s gaze narrowed as she looked at her younger sister. “What does?”
She lifted her gaze from her hand and met Brianna’s. “Blood.”
“Really, Evie, if this is some riddle or something—”
“It’s blood magic. That’s what she’s trying to tell you.” Chloe’s voice echoed through the great hall as she stepped into the room.
Brianna pulled her hand out of Evie’s grasp and placed it back in her lap. Chloe paused next to Evie and showed Brianna her palm. She had the same type of scarring on her palm—a brand from the stone as well as a silver slash.
“You both cut your hands? Why?”
The twins exchanged a glance as silent communication passed between them. It was something they’d done a lot when they were younger, as though they had telepathy and always knew what the other was thinking. Chloe gave her a nod of encouragement.
“We have a lot to tell you,” Evie said. “But first, we should clean that wound before it gets infected.”
*
Two hours later,Brianna sagged against the chair. She still sat at the great hall table, utterly drained from listening to the two of them tell the story of how they had both ended up in the past, how they had both cut their hands and used the blood magic and the stone to see into their respective time.
Evie had the power of the Present. Apparently, she had the ability to create a time bubble, to slow down time, and see all the possible outcomes of immediate choices. She’d used this to see the battle Callum had faced with Rory MacDonald. She’d seen his death in several different scenarios if she hadn’t intervened.
Chloe had the power of the Past, giving her the ability to extract memories from people as well as uncover ancient truths. Like Evie, she’d had visions of the past showing her the history between clans Sinclair and MacLeod, how the Night of Shadows had come about and how the Triple Goddess had shattered the Stone and proclaimed both clans protectors.
Brianna held the power of the Future. None of them yet knew what power that would give her. Evie, though, was determined to find out. She stared at the small piece of stone on the table in front of her. Next to it, a dagger. The candlelight winked off the sharp blade.
“You’re telling me if cut open my palm and I bleed on the stone, it will give me this power?” Brianna asked. She wasn’tsure she believed in any of this.
“Yes,” Evie said.
“You know this for a fact?”
“Yes,” Evie replied.
Brianna looked to Chloe, who had remained mostly quiet during Evie’s tale. “And it worked for you like that?”
“Not at first,” Chloe said. “It was only later after Malcolm and I—” She pressed her lips together. She was unwilling to tell her what she and Malcolm had been doing, but Brianna knew. “I discovered I had to touch Malcolm and the stone to invoke the power.”
“Why?” Brianna asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe because we’re connected.”
“But it wasn’t like that for me,” Evie said. “Only when Moira sliced my hand did I gain that power the night of the battle.”
