“She doesn’t have it. He does,” Bruce announced, pushing forward from the back of the crowd. He had a lump on the side of his head as he glared at Brianna and then Jamie.
“Bring him forward.” Rory used his great axe to point to Jamie.
The men shoved him forward. Her heart raced as he stopped next to her. She tried hard not to look at him but it was nearly impossible. His imploring expression said everything he couldn’t. She knew he didn’t want to give her the stone, but at this point, he had no choice.
“Release him so he can give me the stone,” she said, using her best demanding tone.
Rory continued to glare at her until finally he gave the go-ahead nod to one of his henchmen. He cut the ropes off Jamie’s wrists. She turned to him. He reached into his sporran and brought out the now whole keystone. The lines were faintly glowing and she thought for sure she heard the soft hum.
Their eyes met for a long moment. He placed it in his palm—the one with the brand—and lifted it to her.
As she reached for it, he said in a low whisper, “One destiny.”
The words pounded through her as she plucked the stone from his hand. Something he’d said in the tentcame back to her.
The tapestries changed. I’m the one on the hill with ye. No’ yer sisters.
She grasped the stone in her fist, her gaze never leaving his. “Two bloodlines?”
He nodded.
Her heart leapt to her throat as she turned back to the man holding the knife. Everything clicked into place then. He was the one on the hill with her—he was the one who was part of her destiny. He was the one who had to help her shift the timeline.
He would also need to slice open his hand.
Blood magic.
But not just her blood. His, too.
“Now, lass,” Rory said. “It’s time to give me that power.”
She clenched her jaw so hard, her teeth ached. She held out her hand with the newly healed cut.
“Do it,” she said.
She hadn’t a clue what would happen once her hand bled and she placed the now glowing, now humming whole keystone in her fist. With her stomach in a knot, she held her breath as the man sliced open her skin.
Blood welled as she sucked in a sharp breath. The humming of the stone grew louder.
But before she closed her fist around it, shouts rose up from the foot of the hill. Shouts and the thunderous pounding of horses. One of Rory’s men burst into the castle ruins, out of breath and red faced.
“It’s the Sinclairs!”
Rory roared his frustration. The great axe flared to life. In one swift motion, he sliced open the air between them. The seam sparkled and shimmered and then pulled apart, bursting with light long enough to blind them all.
Rory MacDonald had unleashed hell.
“Now, Brianna!” Jamie shouted.
She was frozen in place, unable to move as she held her hand open with the stone sitting neatly in the middle of a pool of blood.
Everything happened so fast, she was paralyzed with indecision.
Dark winged creatures spilled out from the Realm of Chaos into the air, attacking anyone and everyone in their path. The three MacLeod brothers went into action, somehow avoiding the attacks, as they fought the MacDonald men.
A man screamed behind her. She turned to see a winged creature sink its claws into his back, pick him up, and fling him over the side of the ruined castle wall.
Someone slammed into her from behind. She pitched forward and fell, the stone tumbling from her hand. She watched as it landed in the dense grass. Frantic, she clawed her way toward it while the creatures continued their assault on the MacDonald men and beyond.
