She looked ill when she said all were killed. It was not unlike how Brianna felt when she awoke from that horrible nightmare, wrapped in Jamie’s arms, when she saw the men’s deaths. Now, she sat, numb, as she listened to them tell her almost the exact vision she’d had when Athea came to her and told her she had to be the one to shift the timeline.
“You both had a vision of the future,” Brianna said. “I know this for a fact.”
“How?” Evie asked.
“Because one of the first visions I had was similar to this.”
She related to them how she had seen MacDonald use the glowing great axe to rip a hole in time, opening to the Realm of Chaos. She told them of the dark winged creatures pouring outand how all three MacLeod men were killed in the battle.
And all the while she stood on the craggy hill holding the whole keystone, her fist glowing.
“Athea came to me,” she said, peering down at the tray, unable to look either of them in the eye. “She told me…” She paused as her mouth suddenly turned dry and swallowed hard. “She told me I had the power within me to shift the timeline. She told me I had the power to prevent or bring about certain destinies.”
She braved a glance at each of them. Both stared at her with wide, round eyes. Chloe’s face paled. Evie clenched the cup in her hands so tightly, her fingers leeched of color.
“What does it all mean?” Brianna asked when neither said anything.
Evie reached for a slice of bread from the tray and then sat back as contemplation flickered over her face.
“I think we need to put the stone back together,” she said finally.
“How do we do that?” Chloe asked. “After that last vision, it broke apart again.”
“I don’t know yet,” her sister replied.
“It’s possible we have to try again with the blood magic,” Brianna said as much as she hated the thought. “It might be the only way to mend the stone.”
“But it wasn’t enough,” Evie pointed out. “There must be something we’re missing. Something we need to do in addition to the blood magic to mend the stone.”
“And if we do, then what?” Chloe asked. “What are we supposed to do with it?”
“Not we,” Brianna said. “Me.”
“You?” Chloe snorted. She put down her cup and swiped a piece of dried meat. “Why you?”
“Because I’m the one who’s supposed to shift the timeline.” Anger simmered under the surface at Chloe’s incensed tone.
Brianna didn’t have the reason as to why she was supposed to be the one to shift the timeline. Athea hadn’t shared that information with her. She’d had enough of Chloe’s snide remarks and hateful looks.
“Just what is your problem with me?”
Chloe glared at her from across the table. Evie’s eyes widened as she opened her mouth to intervene, but her twin cut her off.
“My problem with you is you aren’t interested inanyone but yourself and whatyou’redoing. Even when you were taking care of us after Mom and Dad died, it was clear you wanted to be anywhere but there.” Chloe folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the chair, as though she’d flung down the gauntlet.
Brianna took on the challenge. “I did everything I could to make sure you two were taken care of. Who do you think arranged the funerals? And dealt with all the endless paperwork? Went to probate court? Meanwhile, my then-husband was robbing me blind and charging up all our joint credit to the tune of thirty-thousand-dollars while I was trying to divorce his sorry ass.”
There was a beat of silence between them. Evie sat ramrod straight. Chloe hadn’t moved a muscle or relented her combative position.
“It was only after I was able to settle everything I could climb out of debt and finally kick that lousy man to the curb.” Brianna’s hands were shaking as she reached for the cup of tea. She peered into the pale liquid, wishing there was something stronger.
Without a word, Evie rose and walked to the other side of the room. She pulled open the door on the wardrobe and reached inside. She brought out what appeared to be a leather pouch.
Brianna watched her with interest as she plucked the cup from her hands. She poured the tea into the nearby chamber pot, then filled her cup with a splash of whatever was in the leather pouch. She did the same for Chloe.
Brianna sniffed the tawny liquid. It smelled like whiskey.
“What is this?”
