Page 48 of A Rogue in Twilight (The Whisky Rogues #2)

Moments later, the queen slipped away, lifting a hand in farewell.

Keeping Elspeth’s hand in his, James followed Niall and his fairy wife along the hewn corridor toward a blaze of light.

He heard a carillon of laughter, the strumming of harps, a steady drumbeat, voices raised in song, the skirl of pipes.

Niall turned. “Do not cross any threshold here. Follow only us. You will see food and drink, but do not partake. Speak to no one but us.”

Chambers like cells and bubbles in the stone lined the corridor. James and Elspeth walked steadily past, following her parents. The rooms gleamed with light and crystal, gorgeous fabrics, polished furnishings. Though he heard voices, he saw few people, and those were either translucent or shadowy.

Tables along the hallway held dishes of fruits, cakes, breads, cheese. Wine trickled from silver fountains into crystal goblets. James felt intensely thirsty, desperately hungry. Wanting to pluck grapes from a golden bowl or take up a goblet, he moved on.

The tunnel split into three paths that channeled through the heart of the stone.

To the right, he saw a lofty room filled with light, music, ghostly laughter.

To the left, the rock walls flickered as if from fire, and he heard the sound of a hammer upon metal, as if from a forge.

The center pathway was dim, dull. Niall led them that way.

The tunnel walls flickered with flash-fire colors that traced along veins of gold and silver, ruby and emerald. He touched the wall, his fingers coated with sparkling dust.

“Do not,” Niall said. They walked on.

Now the floor sloped upward and they climbed its ramp. His leg, even after the climb up the mountain to the cave, did not hurt at all. He walked with more stability and ease than he had in the seven years since his injury.

He gathered Elspeth close again, and she braced her arm about his waist as they walked up the stone slope. Ahead, he saw sunlight, a cave opening, trees and sky.

Niall stopped near the top of the incline. “Here we will leave you. Go back to your world. We have no hold over you now. And we are in your debt.”

“Father,” Elspeth began, and threw herself into his arms. Then she turned to her mother, their delicate faces and shining dark hair so much alike.

James swallowed hard, watching, aware that she might never see them again.

She drew back, tears on her cheeks. Niall clasped James’s hand.

“Take care of her. She is precious to us.”

“I will.”

“She will bring much joy to your family. Riches and happiness will bless your family. We will see to that, in gratitude.” Niall sighed, set his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Eilidh, you were born to be with this man, not with us.”

“Did you know that?”

“I see it now. Riona knew from the moment you were born that your destiny was tied to Lord Struan and his lands. You will have a family, responsibilities, joy.”

“Grandda always said you would take me into your world one day.”

“If you never found love,” he replied. “But you two found each other.”

“But the night we saw you riding through during the storm—what of that?”

“We saw that night that you had found your destined love, even if you did not know it. We could not take you. We had to wait, and hope the treasure would be found instead. I always wanted you free of that spell. And your Lord Struan is too firmly bound to the earth and this life. He would never have let you go.”

James smiled. “I would have gone after her wherever she went.”

“You would, I know.” Niall smiled at Elspeth then. “Your grandfather loves you dearly and has done his best to protect you. He only knew we might take you. He wanted to send you away, but we changed our minds when we saw you had found this man.”

“Before we go,” James said, still feeling the strangeness of this interlude, and feeling dreamlike, as if it was real and not real. “Do you remember my grandmother? Your painting was precious to her.”

“She was kind and dear,” Niall replied. “We met before I went over to the Fey. She was so interested in the local legends, and I told her what I knew. We spoke of the future—what could happen if her grandson ever met a daughter of the Fey. Lady Struan would be very pleased that our plan turned out so well.”

“Plan?” Elspeth asked.

Niall glanced at Riona. “Lady Struan told me her grandson James was not happy, that he would not allow himself happiness. That he felt responsible for a cousin’s death.”

Straightening his shoulders, James realized that his grandmother had known more about him than he had realized. “She knew that?”

“She was concerned you might never wed, never let yourself love, never expand her family. Your siblings as well—she had a great desire to renew the fairy blood in the MacCarran line through her grandchildren. But she had to ensure that there would be great-grandchildren someday, and that meant making sure you and the others found the right matches.”

“So she put that in her will?”

“She did. She wanted you and your siblings to have lives that changed for the better, that brought magic back to your line. Even after I had gone over to the Fey to be with Riona, I sometimes saw Lady Struan in the hills. And she saw me. Fairy blood,” he said, “showed itself in her.”

“I am not surprised,” James said.

“She wanted to bring happiness to her family, and I wanted my daughter to find happiness too—either in her life, or in this realm if need be. Your mother and I have watched you grow from afar,” Niall added, looking at Elspeth. James saw the sheen of tears in her eyes again, and he pulled her close.

“So you put your heads together, you and my grandmother,” he said. “Have you made plans for sister and brothers too?”

“That is not for me to say. But I know Lady Struan wanted all of you to find something special in life and in love.”

“Love makes its own magic,” James murmured. “The motto of the MacCarrans.”

Elspeth drew back, looked at him. “You know about the motto?”

“I did,” he said with a little smile. “But I found it hard to believe in magic.”

“There is never a guarantee of the outcome with love or fairy magic,” Niall said. “Human free will can accept it and grow, or circumvent it and diminish. What happens to you is not up to us or our kind in the end. It is up to you.”

“That,” James said, “sounds very sensible to me.” Niall smiled. He understood.

“What of the treasure?” Elspeth asked.

“That was the one condition that could change everything for good or ill.”

“But love changes everything,” Elspeth said.

“Love and treasure are sometimes one and the same.”

Riona, quiet and gentle, stepped forward. “We can make no barters or manipulate humans where love is present. You had to find it and realize it. But if the treasure had not been found, we would have had to ride forever, seeking, demanding.”

“And now we must let you go,” Niall said, drawing Riona back to his side.

Riona nodded. “If you stay too long inside our magic, the glamourie will take you over, and you will not want to leave.”

“Go,” Niall said. Elspeth embraced them again, and James took their hands. Then they stepped back, and within the moment, turned to mist.

Taking Elspeth’s hand, James guided her up the slope toward sky and sunlight.

They stood at the top of the garden overlooking Struan House.

With her hand in James’s, Elspeth stared, stunned to find herself in the rocky grotto where water trickled and late-blooming heather flourished.

Glancing back, she saw that the rock wall behind them was solid, with no portal to another world.

They had not even needed the blue agate still tucked in her pocket.

“We came rather farther than expected,” James said, looking about.

She laughed. “Magic. We may have to get used to it.”

“I can only try,” he drawled, and they walked downward. “Careful.”

“Just here,” she said, “I slipped and fell in the awful weather, and landed at your feet in the mud.”

“And a better day there never was, my love.”

“I wonder if the others are back yet,” Elspeth said, peering at the house.

“We will have to explain how we came to be here rather than meeting them out in the hills far from here.” He led her down the slope.

Hearing the dogs bark, hearing shouts, Elspeth saw the door at the back of the house open. Patrick and Fiona emerged, flying across the lawn, waving, calling.

“Where have you been?” Patrick asked.

“We were so worried!” Fiona embraced James and then Elspeth. “Thank God you are safe! I dreamed you were lost in a cave in the mountain, captured by the fairies—just as in the fairy tales Grandmother used to tell us.”

“We waited, but you never met us,” Patrick said. “We were frantic, and sent people to search for you. Someone suggested you had gotten lost and found another way back home.”

“We did,” James said. “I hope you did not wait long.”

Patrick frowned. “James, you have been gone for three days! We were beside ourselves, and about to send out yet another search party. But it was Donal MacArthur who said we should wait, that you probably found another vehicle and took your time.”

“Three days?” James asked. “Impossible.”

“We lost our, ah, sense of time when we got lost,” Elspeth said hastily.

“It is such a relief to see you, and I am just grateful you came to no harm,” Fiona said. “Donal MacArthur will want to know. He was the least worried of all of us. He said he knew the mountain best, and knew you would find a way home if you missed us.”

“He was right,” Elspeth said.

“Even Cousin Nick met us out in the hills yesterday to continue looking.”

“Eldin?” James asked.

“He said he was only interested in fairy gold, and made rather a sour jest of it, but I thought he seemed worried,” Fiona said.

“What about Charlotte Sinclair? Is she still here?” James asked.

“Charlotte,” Fiona said, “decided you are a useless cad who fell for a simple Highland lass. She has gone back to Edinburgh with Sir Patrick, her new interest.”

“May she be happy,” James said.

“Did you find anything of value while you were out there?” Patrick asked.

“No treasure chest,” James said. “But we did find some excellent crystals.” He reached into his pocket and brought some out. “A few lovely gems perfect for a ring.”

“A ring?” Fiona asked. “How can you think about jewelry now? You must be exhausted and in need of food and rest. Come inside.”

“How did you find your way back?” Patrick asked as they headed for the house.

“Subterranean caves and tunnels brought us this way,” Elspeth said.

“Labyrinthine, really,” James said. “I doubt we would ever try that again.” He glanced down at Elspeth, smiling. For a moment, she felt as if only they two existed.

“It looks to me,” Patrick said, “that you two found more than a few crystals.”

“I suppose we each found what we were looking for. But we are back.”

“Donal will be glad to know it,” Patrick said.

“We were fine,” Elspeth said. She looked up at James. “We—made a decision.”

“We were married,” James said. “Handfasted. Legal, you know.”

“Handfasted!” Fiona broke into a bright smile. “How romantic!”

Elspeth smiled, feeling her heart lift, wanting to laugh, suddenly.

“Married?” Patrick stared. “Without a vicar?”

“We will take care of that part of it,” James said.

Fiona shook her head, smiling still. “Aunt Rankin will have a conniption.”

“Let her,” James said.

“We could have a quiet little wedding here,” Elspeth said.

“So you found yourself a Highland bride after all,” Fiona told James.

“And one with fairy blood.” James hugged Elspeth close under his arm.

Fiona laughed. “Grandmother Struan would be so pleased!”

“More than you know. Now it is your turn.” James laughed. “You should read our grandmother’s book.”

“I would love to read her book of fairies,” Fiona said.

“Then you can each discover for yourselves what this fairy nonsense is all about. Though I warn you, it could be an adventure.” James twitched his lips in a smile.

“Come inside and freshen up, and have something to eat,” Fiona said. “You will both feel human again.”

“I feel quite human,” James laughed, and reached for Elspeth’s hand again.

“So do I,” Elspeth said, and he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.