He didn’t need to apologize for trying to save her. It was the single most romantic thing that had ever happened to her before, even if they were going to die together on this hill, in these ruins. She would forever love Jamie for that.
The thought banged into her with such force, she swayed on her feet. The guard behind her put a hand in the center of her back to keep her steady. His palm was hot, searing through her woolen gown.
And while she tried to ignore that, she could not ignore the thought of loving Jamie that insisted on beating against her head. She loved the way he smiled at her with his deep dimples. She loved the way his eyes glinted with adoration when he looked at her. She loved the way he doted on her and took care of her, even when she tried to shove him away and insisted she was an independent, strong woman.
She loved him with her whole heart.
She had never loved anyone that way. Not even the man she’d married under the neon glow of a Las Vegas chapel.
As she stood there, basking in the glow of her love for Jamie, she also faced fear. Fear they would not survive this night. Fear she would fail. Fear she could not alter the timeline. Fear she would never be able to tell Jamie how much she loved him.
And fear she would never be able to stand in front of their kin while their hands were bound together and they pledged their lives to each other forever.
Because every piece of her wanted that. She’d longed for the fairy tale. Now, as she looked at him, with tears threatening, she understood the moment she’d landed here, in this time, shewaslivingthe fairy tale. He was her knight in shining armor. Her prince. Her soulmate. And she may never have the chance to tell him.
“Jamie, I—”
“Bring her to the center,” Rory said.
He halted in the center of the ruins and turned to face them. The guard still had a hand on her back and gave her a shove. Jamie objected to that by surging forward, jerking against the men holding him. Brianna forced her feet to walk, moving toward the enemy. The one man who insisted on destroying all that she had come to love. This land. That man. Her sisters’ husbands who had become her family as much as the twins.
She lifted her chin and gave him her best defiant glare.
“Now, lass, ’tis time to use that wee stone of yer’s.”
“You have to untie me first,” she said, her voice strong and sure. She was proud of herself for that.
He jerked a nod to the man standing behind her. She felt him tug at the knot and then the ropes fell away. She dropped her hands to her sides, the feeling returning in a whoosh and sending pinpricks to her fingers and palm.
“And I need a knife,” she said.
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”
She held up her scarred palm. “Blood magic.”
He stared at her in contemplation, as if trying to decide if he should hand over a dagger to her or not. Finally, he pulled a dagger from his belt and handed it, hilt first, to the man behind her.
“Do it,” he ordered.
“Brianna—” Jamie started, and then a muffled thud.
She turned in time to see one of the henchmen smacking him in the side of the head with the butt of his sword.
Fury burst through her.
The guard behind her moved to stand in front of her. She held up her hand, ready for the slice across her palm. But something caughtthe man’s attention. The shuffling of feet at the entrance to the ruins. More of MacDonald’s men brought Callum and Malcolm.
A smile creased Rory’s face. “MacLeod,” he said in greeting. “Are ye ready to see the end of yer clan?”
Callum’s face was impassive as he peered at the man, concealing all his emotion. Malcolm, too, remained calm and expressionless.
“’Tis no’ the end,” Jamie said.
“We shall see,” Rory said. Then to his man, “Get on with it.”
“Wait,” she said, seconds before the dagger sliced. “It won’t work without the stone.”
Rory waited. She stalled. She cut a glance to Jamie. He gave an imperceptible shake of his head as if to say,don’t do it.But she had to.
