Brief surprise flickered over his face and then he laughed. It was a deep rumbling sound in his broad chest. “And a fiery one, too, aye? Take her away.”
John’s hand tightened on her arm, his fingers digging into the fleshy part of her biceps. He dragged her away from the group toward the stables where the MacDonald clan had decided to use it for their own horses. He went directly to a large black warhorse that was already saddled.
There was a bustle of activity behind her. As John mounted the horse, she cut a glance behind her to see the other MacDonald men mobilizing to ride and leave behind the castle. Her heart thundered as she thought of Jamie and the others still locked up in the dungeons.
“Come, lass.” John held hishand down to her.
A flash of defiance went through her and for a brief moment, she thought about making a run for it. But to where? Anywhere she went, she’d be captured and punished. As her pulse raced, she knew she had no choice. She reached her hand up and placed it in MacDonald’s. And then she was mounting the horse behind him. Moments later, they galloped away, leaving behind the ruins of Dundale Castle.
*
The group madeit out of the dungeons and headed for the armory. There was an eerie silence that hung in the air. The hair on the back of Jamie’s neck stood on end and he knew something was wrong.
Instead of going to the armory with the others, he headed for the tapestry room. There was something he had to see. He was aware of the weight of the stone in his sporran, as if it had become heavier the closer he got to the tapestry room.
“Jamie, where are you going?” Evie called.
He ignored her, though. He had one thought only—get to the tapestry room. He had a feeling that something was different, that something had changed. That feeling tingled in the middle of his palm where the stone had burned him.
The great hall was destroyed and deserted. Outside, nothing but silence. MacDonald and his camp had moved on, taking Brianna with them.
When he arrived, the door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open and stepped inside, the light from the corridor slashing across the threshold and sliding up the wall of woven wall hangings. In the half-light, they shimmered with their enchantments. Something was different about one of them. Something he was terrified to see.
As he approached, his heart in his throat, his gaze fixed on the one that was of the three women. The one where Brianna stood in the center, flanked by her sisters, wearing the white gown with the windbillowing through her hair. The one where she held the whole keystone as it pulsed and glowed.
The image shifted. Now, it was only Brianna standing on the top of a flat boulder in the center of castle ruins with a glistening sea in the background. He recognized those ruins—Castle Caelnar was not far from Dundale, perched on a cliff overlooking the water. Her fisted hand lifted to the sky. Light seeped through her fingers, indicating she held the whole keystone. Her sisters were no longer in the wall hanging as before. Instead, she reached with her free hand for someone else. Someone whose appearance began to slowly emerge.
He watched, mesmerized, his heart thudding like a war drum, as he waited for the fully formed image. A hand reached for Brianna’s. And then the shimmering threads shifted as a man emerged, reaching for her outstretched hand.
That man was him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jamie was staringat the changed image when Evie entered the room. She paused in the doorway, hesitating, as if unsure whether or not she should enter.
“They changed,” he said, almost as an invitation.
She moved to stand next to him and followed his gaze. She stared in stunned silence.
“It’s you,” she finally said. “Not us as it was before.”
“Aye,” he agreed.
“Those ruins were never there before,” she said, eyeing the crumbling jagged walls in the tapestry.
“’Tis Castle Caelnar. It was built as a coastal fortress to guard against invaders and was once the stronghold of Clan MacRae. Local legend whispers the ruins are haunted by spirits cursed to roam the lands forever.”
She shuddered, clutching her elbows. He’d never put much stock into the eerie legend, though now that he saw this place in the tapestry, he wondered if there was some truth to it. Mayhap the spirits of the Triple Goddess were the ones haunting the ruins.
“If the tapestry has changed, that means something else has changed.” She turned to him, reached for his branded hand. He held his palm up to her. She traced the burned lines. “Because of this maybe.”
“I dinnae ken,” he said.
“Two bloodlines.” Her glittering gaze lifted to his. “One destiny. It’s the two of you now.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But it appears you are the second bloodline that helps shift the timeline.”
