Page 31 of Desiring the Highland Laird (Highland Destiny #1)

C allum watched her walk away, leaving him alone in the stable.

His stomach was in a knot. Much as he wanted to resist, he was unable to stop himself from kissing her.

That first brush of their lips in the kitchen nearly did him in and all he could think about from that moment was how she would feel in his arms.

Now he knew.

He would never be the same.

When Evie started to leave, he had to stop her. He had to touch her. He had to hold her soft hand in his. He had to trace the lines of the keystone still branded in her palm. As he did, his da’s words came rushing back to him.

One divine destiny.

It was impossible to deny that she was from the future, that she had come to help him protect the keystone. Hell, she’d brought it with her.

But what he had trouble puzzling out was how she had gotten it in the first place. Oh, she said she got it from the woman named Moira. The woman—the goddess—in the tapestries hanging in her bedchamber.

If that were true—and he suspected it was—where, then, did Moira get it?

“It was created to protect all of Time.”

The lilting female voice startled him. He spun to see the woman standing in the doorway of the stable, her silvery hair hanging in long waves over her shoulders.

She had bright blue eyes—eyes that sparkled with starlight—and wore a silvery gown that shimmered in the half-light of the stable.

He glanced around but no one else was about.

The stable boys had retired for the night.

“Who are ye? Where did ye come from?”

Though she seemed to pose no threat, he still planted his feet shoulder-width apart as he stared her down. She gave him a pleasant smile.

“Ye know who I am, Callum of Clan MacLeod.”

He clenched his fists.

It couldn’t be her.

“Aye, it is.”

“Do ye read minds now, then?” he demanded.

“No.” She continued to smile. “I see the emotions on your face. The confusion and the disbelief. You look much like your father. He had a similar reaction when I came to him. Now, you are laird.”

“Moira?” he whispered.

“Aye.” She moved into the stable, the shimmering of her gown glinting in the candlelight.

“So, ’tis true then. The Night of Shadows and the Shattering.”

“It is.” She gave one nod of her head as she clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m sure your father, may God rest and keep him, told you the story.”

She knew his da was dead. Was that why she had appeared to him, then?

“He told me.”

“He told you, but you did not believe.” It was not a question, merely a statement of fact. When she said nothing, she continued. “Even when the Sinclair lass arrived, you still did not believe. Will no amount of proof make you trust what your eyes see? That is why I’m here.”

“I thought it nothing more than a fanciful story.” He sounded defensive even to his own ears.

“It is no fanciful story. She holds part of the keystone. I know, because I gave it to her.”

He peered at her. “How? She is from another time in the future.”

She took a deep breath and expelled it as if prepared to answer the question with a long answer.

“Time is not linear for me as it is for you or her. It is always in motion. It moves quickly as though it were nothing more than the blink of an eye. I live in the past, the present, and the future as do my sisters.”

He thought of the three women in the tapestry. The ones standing on the hill with Moira with the lightning all around them, and the army approaching them, and the man wielding the great axe that looked much like MacDonald’s.

“Aye, you know of them, don’t you? I see the truth of it in your eyes.”

“The tapestries—” He cut himself off, not wanting to mention those to her. But she smiled.

“My sisters, Bridget and Athea, were there with me on that hill the night of the Shattering. You’ve seen them. Did your da tell you what happened that night?”

“The stone was broken into three pieces.”

“Aye,” she agreed. “And more. War,” she said as though it were a simple explanation.

He thought again of the tapestries. “MacDonald?”

“Aye,” she said. “They know of the stone. The Chronos Stone as it was called then. It is why my sisters and I split it. We sent the pieces off throughout time for safekeeping, but the MacDonalds know it exists. They want its power.”

“Why?”

“Because he who holds the Chronos Stone controls all of Time.”

He understood what that meant. If the MacDonalds got all three pieces of the stone, it would give them the power to conquer and take what lands they wanted.

“There is more to this clan feud than the spurning of the MacDonald lass, isn’t there?”

“There is.” She said it matter-of-factly. “The story has been passed down for generations. They have been watching and waiting for the arrival of Evangeline. They know she’s here. They know she brings with her the stone. They will not stop until they have her and the stone.”

A cold fear slipped through him as he thought of his clan rivals stealing her away from him. He would never let that happen.

“It is why you must protect her and the stone with your life.”

“Why me—us? Why MacLeod?”

“During the Night of Shadows, there were two clans who came to our aid. They tried to help us, to save us from destroying the stone.” She gave him a pointed look.

Understanding crept through his mind. The Night of Shadows was not merely about the MacDonalds trying to seize power. It was something more. A war, then. And a war that was fought between the three clans. War in which his ancestors and Evie’s were trying to protect the three goddesses.

“After the Shattering, the chieftains made a promise to us to protect the stone when the time came. The time is now. The MacLeods and the Sinclairs will make one final stand to protect all they hold dear—time eternal.”

She paused there, her starry eyes piercing him. One silvery brow lifted in question as she peered at him.

“Do you believe now, MacLeod?”

There was no denying the truth anymore. The evidence hung in the bedchamber where Evie slept. The evidence was standing before him in her shimmering gown, staring at him with her starry eyes.

“There is no need to visit your chieftain,” she continued. “He cannot help you win this fight. You and your brothers can. Once the pieces of the stone are reunited…” She paused, her words trailing off.

“What? What happens then?”

“The MacDonalds will come to claim it.”

It was a cryptic answer, but he understood.

War would come. There would be a mighty battle between the MacLeods and the MacDonalds.

He had to be ready. They all had to be ready.

He thought of Evie and glanced toward the keep, wondering if she was sleeping by now.

He thought of the sister she missed so much and wondered then if she would end up here, back in time with Evie.

He thought of his brothers and how Malcolm was determined to avenge their da.

“Go to her. Love her. Protect her. And she will do the same for you.”

When he looked back to where Moira stood, she was gone.

Callum stood alone in the empty stable for a long moment.

There was no sound other than the soft whicker of one of the horses, the quiet snore of another.

One of the cats who lived in the stable sidled by and brushed against his leg, leaving behind orange fur.

It was as if to remind him she was one of the best mousers around and deserved a treat if he was going to stand there all night.

He reached down and patted her head. She responded with a loud purr and more headbutts against his shin.

“All right, then, wee lassie. Let’s get ye a treat. I’m sure Roslyn has some scraps to give ye.”

The cat trotted behind him, following him to the back door leading into the kitchen, as though she understood fully what he said. And mayhap she did. She spent her days lazing in the stable with the horses and her nights hunting for rodents.

In the kitchen, he found scraps of their leftover meal and tossed them out to the cat.

She gobbled them up, purring the entire time.

He paused there in the deepening twilight of night, sitting on the stoop and petting her behind the ears.

While he spoke with Moira, the sun had plummeted beneath the horizon.

The goddess told him there was no need to visit Ian MacLeod, for he would not be able to help him end the feud with the MacDonalds.

It would continue until they had what they wanted—the keystone.

He wondered, then, if that was why they had attacked the keep—because they knew Evie was there and had the first piece of the stone.

Love her. Protect her.

But would she do the same?

If her kisses were any indication, she would reciprocate. There was one way to find out.