Page 6

–Aspen–

IF IT WEREN’T for Kenneth and Lucas, as well as Broderick’s parents, I’m not sure how I would have made it through the rest of the evening because after seeing the Viking sword tattoo on my wrist, the man who was supposed to be my soulmate bid everyone an abrupt good night and left mid-meal.

Fortunately, Kenneth and Lucas gave me no time to get upset because I was damn close, but thanks to them being as charming and amusing as ever, the whole situation didn’t seem so catastrophic.

At least not until I was alone in bed later that night.

That’s how I had always been, though. I did my best not to show my angst around others, only letting it out when I was alone. It had become my mantra as I grew up, and my mom moved us from trailer park to shelter to trailer park. My father was nothing but a sperm donor, in my opinion, who ran off and only later peppered himself into my life when I was an adult, or at least he had tried. By then, he wasn’t worth the effort. Why get close and risk the pain of him possibly turning away from me all over again?

Now, here I was, lying in a medieval castle over six hundred years in my past, suffering that same feeling, yet it seemed ten times worse, and I’d only just met Broderick. Or so I kept reminding myself because it felt like I had known him far longer. You could say I had, in a way, via my imagination born of Storm’s letters, but it felt deeper than that. More than that.

Since the moment I looked into his eyes in the courtyard, whatever whimsical make-believe ideologies he’d become part of had blossomed into something I couldn’t break free from. It was like he burrowed deeper inside me, refusing to let me go even though he didn’t want me here.

Even though he was clearly in love with another woman.

The fact he was in love with someone I considered a dear friend made this so much more excruciating. While I suspected I knew what Storm, who turned out to be a time traveler from my century, had been thinking when she wrote me those letters, I still felt angry she hadn’t been honest from the beginning. That she hadn't told me she had been good friends with Broderick. I knew it was silly to feel that way because I had only been a child and wouldn’t have understood, but still.

How could she play matchmaker with so many lives? And across time, no less? One part of me felt she was probably feeding a guilty conscience if she knew how Broderick felt about her. Another more practical side knew it was an awful lot of effort to go to, even for a good friend.

That left only one answer, and based on whatever had been growing inside me since I got here, combined with how familiar I was with the castle, Broderick’s cousins, and Broderick himself, it was the only answer that made sense.

Broderick and I were fated mates whether we ended up together or not.

Although it took a bit to come to terms with everything, I knew that for dragons, fated mates meant we were bound to each other, life after life. Most of the time, we would be drawn to each other, no matter what, finding it impossible to be with anyone else, but every so often, there were cases where one of the mates chose to be alone.

So that could very well be this life for us.

It felt like it was heading in that direction as I did something I hadn’t done since childhood and gave in to tears, crying myself to sleep. Given my circumstances, I thought it would be an uncomfortable night, but I slept soundly as though, in some strange way, I were home.

More at home than I had ever felt before.

When I woke the next morning, thunder rumbled in the distance, and as if recently tended, an inviting fire crackled on the hearth. At first, I felt a rush of anticipation when I remembered where I was, but then, just as swiftly, I felt crushing disappointment when I recalled what had happened last night.

“Just deal with it,”

I muttered, as I always did when times got tough. Enough is enough.

The worst thing I could do was give in to sadness, so I got out of bed, rolled my shoulders, inhaled deeply, and focused on the positive aspects of my situation. More often than not, that meant looking at everything as an adventure and reminding myself change was good. In my youth, it was because I was getting away from one unpleasant location or another.

Right now, staying positive meant seizing an opportunity most people in the twenty-first century didn’t have. A chance to explore a Scottish castle in the actual medieval period. It didn’t matter that it was full of dragon shifters. It was still part of recorded history. I learned last night that Robert II was the King of Scotland, having taken the throne after King Robert the Bruce’s son, King David, passed away at Edinburgh Castle.

While unlikely, I couldn’t help but thrill at the possibility of meeting the current King of Scotland in a day and age when monarchs fought and died alongside their men on the battlefield. Keeping that sense of anticipation, as well as the excitement of exploring MacLeod Castle, in mind, I pulled on a dress similar to the one I’d worn the night before, minus the plaid wrap, ran a crude-looking brush through my hair, and set out on the next leg of my adventure.

“Ah, she awakens.”

Having clearly been waiting for me, Kenneth leapt up from his chair across the hallway when I opened my door. Offering me an infectious smile, he extended his elbow.

“Might I escort you below stairs to break your fast, then mayhap we can enjoy a tour of the castle and grounds together?”

“That would be great.”

Already liking him a great deal, I met his smile and slipped my arm into his.

“But not outside due to the weather?”

“Does rain melt witches from the future, then?”

Lucas teased, having been leaning against the wall beside the door, waiting for me as well, which was fine because I liked him just as much.

“Because I know dragons tend to enjoy it.”

“I don’t know about the dragon part so much,”

I replied as we headed down the same hallway as the night before.

“But this witch loves the rain and most definitely loves a good storm.”

Kenneth steered me down another corridor I hadn’t traveled before.

“Then ‘twill be a good day all the way around.”

“And mayhap one to speak of things we didnae get to last night,”

Lucas added.

“And what would that be?”

I wondered, yet somehow, I instinctively knew based on the change I felt in Lucas. His behavior was less flirtatious and more friendly as if something had changed overnight.

Something to do with someone other than me.

“Truth told, I cannae help but be curious about the other lasses Storm wrote to,”

Lucas said.

“Your sisters, aye?”

“That’s right,”

I confirmed.

“I have three of them.”

“All half dragon and half witch?”

“Yes.”

I was about to continue, but we arrived at one of a few balconies overlooking a massive great hall, and the words died on my tongue. Where everything I had seen so far was impressive in an intense sort of way, it paled in comparison to the enormous chamber below with several huge hearths crackling with fires.

Forget the sense of anticipation I had felt in New Hampshire. The feeling I got now when my eyes swept over the enormous floor-to-ceiling tapestries depicting fire-breathing dragons swooping through dark clouds over seething oceans was crazy-exhilarating. For a split second, as thunder shook the floor and a flash of lightning lit up the tapestries, I felt like I soared with them, spreading my wings for the first time as I rode the dangerous, thrilling, turbulent winds.

A blink later, the sensation faded, but not the rush it had given me. I felt alive in a way I never had before. So much so my vision flickered red before returning to normal, and I knew I had ever so briefly looked through my dragon eyes for the first time.

“Wow,”

I whispered, dumbstruck because it felt so foreign yet familiar at the same time. Like I had been waiting my whole life to see the world that way.

“I had no idea.”

“Now you do,”

came Broderick’s curt voice from behind, startling us all as he scowled at Lucas and Kenneth in passing and grunted that they should not linger in dark hallways alone with their guest. What would people think?

Not his guest but theirs, despite Kenneth not even living here.

“’Tis no darker than any other corridor,”

Lucas mumbled, shaking his head at Broderick’s back as he headed down the wide stairs to the great hall.

Kenneth agreed and frowned.

“And since when does he care what people think about a lass alone in a hallway with as many men as she wants in this castle?”

He snorted as we followed.

“’Tis the verra reason I like this place so much.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what that meant, but I was too curious for my own good.

“So, I take it this is a pretty amorous clan?”

“We are dragons, lass,”

Lucas said as if I should know that already.

“We lust as intensely as we hunt and battle.”

No prude, that didn’t particularly bother me. I liked sex well enough and didn’t judge others for how many partners they took. What did bother me, no matter how much I tried to ignore the sensation, was the idea of Broderick sleeping with one woman, let alone several at once. It left a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. One I did my best to ignore as we finally made our way down into the great hall and straight into a history book.

Setting aside the intensity of the castle itself, I was awestruck by the people meandering about in clothing suited to the era. Some chatted in small groups toward the entrance, where fresh rushes had been laid, and others sat at trestle tables eating. Others still, sat in small, carpeted areas in front of the hearths.

When Broderick introduced me, his deep voice carrying across the hall, everyone looked my way curiously, even though I got the distinct impression they were told about me beforehand. Most specifically, they were told not to stare at me and make me feel uncomfortable.

“Aspen is to be welcomed in every corner of our kingdom by all MacLeods,”

Broderick said in closing, never once glancing my way.

“If any spread word of her arrival to anyone not of our clan, ‘twill be a swift death by my sword.”

He might not have looked at me, but there was no mistaking how deadly serious he was as his gaze swept over everyone, and I saw his dragon eyes flare for the first time. When they did, I didn't feel fear but an entirely different sensation and my vision flickered red briefly as if in response.

Broderick went his own way after that, predictably standoffish and brooding, not just during the time I ate with Kenneth and Lucas but for the remainder of the day. I thought I could push past his despondency and enjoy my adventure, but something had shifted inside me since looking through my dragon eyes at the tapestries in the great hall and then seeing Broderick’s dragon eyes for the first time. Something that made the adventure of my life seem dull when it should be anything but.

In fact, despite the warm welcome I received from everyone inside and outside the castle as I toured the courtyard and surrounding buildings, from the smithy to the stables to several carts selling wares, I ended up pleading exhaustion a few hours later. After thanking the men for being such gracious hosts and even escorting me to my door, each endlessly vying for my attention, I felt relieved when I was finally alone.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

I was restless and frustrated. Despite seeing so much today, it still felt like I was waiting for my adventure. I had met so many interesting people and tried delicious new foods, including freshly baked bannock slathered in sweet, churned butter, yet it didn’t feel like enough.

“Sometimes you have to make your own adventures,”

Storm’s words seemed to whisper through my mind, even though they had only ever been written on paper. Yet still, they had helped me through the rough years.

“Sometimes you have to make your own destiny despite what the world throws at you.”

Even though she had been referring to a particularly hard move into an even shadier neighborhood during my childhood, I couldn’t help but wonder now if she was referring to this moment. Better still, my situation with Broderick, such as it was.

Had she known this day would come? This very moment?

I appreciated her words now more than ever, whether she had or hadn't known, because she was right. I could sit here and mope and give in to exhaustion I suspected had more to do with feeling rejected, or I could pave my own way and maybe create my own destiny. In this case, it wouldn’t be crawling into bed far too early and crying more tears I had no use for but exploring all the parts of the castle I had yet to discover.

Feeling better by the moment, I waited a few more minutes until I was sure Kenneth and Lucas were gone and did exactly that, only to learn soon enough this was no castle for grand solo adventures. More than that, it was no place to create your own destiny without someone along who knew the rough terrain.