Page 26

–Aspen–

THE LAST THING we expected when Broderick and I finally made our way downstairs after making love for the better part of two days was for Kenneth MacLomain to greet me the way he did when Chara urged us to join the family in the war chamber, so we might talk privately.

“’Tis so good to meet you, Aspen,”

Kenneth said warmly, offering me his usual smile.

When Broderick and I frowned in confusion, Chara urged us to sit by the fire with her, Broderick’s father, Marek, as well as Lucas, and little Flame, who seemed right at home at MacLeod Castle, curled up in front of the hearth.

“Sit so we might catch you up on everything.”

Chara eyed me with motherly concern.

“How do you feel, Aspen?”

“Good.”

Knowing she referred not just to my near-death experience but to my inability to have children, I swallowed hard and embraced her. “Better.”

I held on tight.

“I can’t thank you and Flame enough for saving me. For giving Broderick and me the chance to have a life together.”

“’Twas our pleasure, lass.”

She held me at arm’s length.

“Might I soon call you daughter?”

Though it was odd being a daughter to someone other than my birth mother, I couldn’t ask for anyone better to fill her shoes, and I knew my mother would feel the same.

“I would like nothing more.”

“Aye?”

She smiled from Broderick to me.

“Should I assume you finally agreed to marry my son?”

“You should,”

I confirmed, to heartfelt congratulations all around, before we circled back to why Kenneth didn’t seem to know me.

“’Tis the oddest thing,”

Marek said.

“When Kenneth arrived yesterday, we expected him to tell us what we already knew about the events at Sutherland Castle, but instead, he seemed to have no idea what we were talking about and said he had never met Aspen.”

A strange little shiver went through me, and I shook my head in confusion. How could that be? Yet it was clear by his reaction Kenneth truly believed he had never laid eyes on me.

“What do you mean, you had no idea?”

Broderick exclaimed, rightfully troubled when he looked at Kenneth.

“You were here the whole time, then left to keep an eye on Aspen.”

His eyes rounded, and his brogue thickened.

“Hell, ye even found her at the aspen tree and carried her to MacLeod Castle.”

“Nay, my friend.”

He shook his head, clearly just as baffled.

“I came straight from MacLomain Castle when Adlin said I might be needed.”

“Adlin MacLomain?”

I exclaimed, alarmed when I looked at the others.

“I thought he was in the twenty-first century with my sisters?”

“He is,”

Kenneth assured.

“’Twas a brief visit to let us and the Hamiltons know we might be needed in the coming days, and ‘twould be good if we checked in on our allies, the MacLeods.”

“If not Kenneth, then who was that?”

I asked, looking at Broderick’s parents, hoping they had some idea.

“Who was it that they even fooled all of you?”

I eyed Kenneth and shook my head.

“Who could possibly be that convincing?”

“Someone verra powerful.”

Chara gave Broderick and me a reassuring look.

“And someone I would say has your best interests at heart, Aspen.”

Not following her meaning, I kept shaking my head.

“Are you absolutely positive your father passed recently?”

Chara asked tentatively, seeming to understand how shocked I would be by her question.

“As crass as it may sound, did you actually see his body?”

“Of course,”

I began before it occurred to me I hadn’t because he had been in a closed casket.

“Well, not technically, but it had to have been him. Who else would it have been?”

Yet the more her question sank in, the more I thought about things. Namely, my father's request to wear a red dress to his funeral. As it turned out, one that matched the color Broderick had seen me wear in our last life. Then, there was the appearance of my aspen tree outside the funeral home and Storm’s note about me moving to New Hampshire. Then, on top of all that, I found out my father was from this era.

“Mayhap nobody was in your father’s casket,”

Marek said, eyeing me curiously.

“If you dinnae mind me asking, how did your father die?”

“A car accident,”

I replied.

“The car caught on fire, and he was burned too badly for an open casket.”

Even as I said it, it sounded far-fetched now I knew dragons really did exist, and he undoubtedly was one. Assuming we were somehow immune to fire in human form.

“Which we’re generally not,”

Broderick said, following my thoughts.

“Yet if your father is powerful enough to fool all of us into thinking he was Kenneth, then ‘tis verra likely he was capable of escaping those flames.”

“Assuming ‘twas not a set up from the start,”

Chara added.

“to bring you and your sisters together dressed a certain way so he might aid you with what you shall all face.”

She looked from Broderick to me.

“Did he not deliver you to your fated mate when you could have ended up with Dugal Sutherland first?”

The idea the man I had thought was Kenneth was my father blew my mind. No way. Yet a little voice in my head wondered.

“He flirted with me,”

I pointed out, shaking my head. Shooting Kenneth an apologetic look, I shrugged.

“Sorry, but you were…I mean he, it, whoever he was, flirted.”

“Then it seems he knows me well.”

He winked at Broderick.

“’Tis true enough that I would have, aye, if she wasnae taken yet?”

“’Tis,”

Broderick confirmed.

“Whoever it was, he was verra convincing. So convincing our dragons didnae even sense it, and my dragon alone would have been acutely aware of anyone who meant my fated mate harm.”

“This leads me to believe he was protecting her.”

Chara’s gaze settled on me and Broderick.

“Which leads to our next discussion and how ‘tis clear safeguards were put in place to protect you and your sisters, Aspen.”

“How so?”

Broderick asked.

“The trees Aspen and her sisters are named after are deeply entrenched in this pact and will, one way or another, lead them to the MacLeods before Sutherlands,”

she said.

“Or ‘tis Elspet’s belief, and I agree.”

“So why are there pictures of our trees in her dining area?”

I asked.

“How do they tie in, because I can’t say I was crazy about seeing them there.”

“If we’re to believe Elspet’s claim, this is where things get interesting,”

she replied.

“According to her, they were painted by Malcolm Sutherland. It seems among his many talents, he was an artist, and they were his favorite trees. She tried to remove them, but they are magically bound to that room, so she assumed they were connected to the pact.”

“Which would imply my father was connected to the pact somehow, ”

I said softly, aware he liked to paint. Ellie claimed he was pretty good at it, but I never bothered checking out his work.

“What else did you and Elspet discuss?”

Broderick asked because, at that point, he had been too busy fighting Dugal on top of Sutherland Castle.

“I promised to see the pact through,”

Chara said softly, surprising me when she crouched in front of me, cupped my hands in hers, and looked at me with the strength and comfort I needed right now.

“You have my solemn promise that Marek and I will do everything in our power to ensure ‘tis as the pact says and your sisters come here before going anywhere else, for the trees already protect them because the Sutherlands cannae locate your sisters nor get to them.”

“And if they somehow do?”

I wondered, sensing something before she said anything.

“Because I can’t go back to the twenty-first century right now, can I? The pact forbids it.”

I shook my head.

“Even though I don’t remember reading that anywhere.”

“Because you didnae,”

she said gently.

“’Twas an agreement made on the Sutherland battlement betwixt me and Elspet so I could get to you and try to save your life.”

She shook her head.

“If ‘tis broken, she willnae hesitate to try and get to your sisters before a MacLeod does.”

“She is a vile person, isn’t she?”

I said, sighing.

“While I’m thankful to you for saving my life, I’m not sure I would’ve put my life before theirs.”

“Then you dinnae understand how important you are to us MacLeods.”

Chara's knowing gaze went from Broderick to me, and she squeezed my hands, sending a burst of warmth through me I knew was made up of unicorn magic because it allowed me to see how important I was to them.

“Especially to your fated mate. Keep that in mind because you will only grow stronger together, and that strength is what your sisters will need in the days ahead when they make their way back to this era.”

“I hope you’re right,”

I said, but knew it was only a matter of time before I saw them again.

“I am.”

Chara stood and held out her hand.

“Might I show you something I think will make you verra happy?”

She looked at Broderick.

“You as well, son. Mayhap the perfect place to wed?”

Curious, I slipped my hand in hers and let her lead me to the window.

What I saw when I looked out took my breath away because she was absolutely right. It was the perfect place to wed.