Page 19 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)

CHAPTER 18

A lec would have to remember to properly thank Ramsay once they returned home. Whilst Alec and Sadie were otherwise occupied in the confines of the coach, Ramsay had ensured that the main dining room, the kitchen, and several of the bedrooms had healthy fires roaring in their hearths. His thoughtful brother had also taken the time to unload the carriage and neatly stack all the necessities they’d packed on one of the long trestle tables that sat at the back wall of the chieftain’s meeting room.

“This place is beautiful,” Sadie said in a hushed reverent tone.

A sense of pride and contentment filled Alec’s heart as he led Sadie through the top three levels of the keep, giving her the grand tour from the freezing guard room located at the summit of the keep’s single turret down to the weapon and banner-covered walls of the main hall. Castle Danu was by no means large, but it belonged to the MacDaras and as the eldest son, the keep would someday be his home—as soon as he chose a wife and decided to start a family.

“It warms my heart to hear ye say such.” He pointed at the MacDara clan crest hanging above the stone hearth that stretched across the entire rear wall of the chieftain’s meeting room. “There. That crest symbolizes my bloodline and the history of my family.”

Sadie slowly approached the hearth, intently studying the crest as she walked. “The triquetra. Imprinted on a three-sided stone. A rough-looking pyramid of sorts. Interesting.” She stopped a few feet from the fire, holding her hands toward the warmth as she continued looking up at the MacDara symbol. “Most of the crests I’ve seen have animals of some kind. This one’s unusual. The triple goddess knot on the stone and three weapons centered on what looks like a . . . a round shield maybe?” She turned and waited, an expectant look on her face.

Tell her, an inner voice whispered. Tell her all. Alec sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Dare he tell her the entirety of the MacDara truths? He joined Sadie in front of the hearth, took her hand, and pressed a gentle kiss to the backs of her fingers. Upturning her hand in his, he lightly traced a finger across the lines of her palm. “The symbols on the MacDara crest not only tell of our past, but also speak to our future.”

When Sadie didn’t speak, Alec stole a glance at her face but then quickly returned his focus to her hand. ’Twas much easier to tell all while concentrating on the softness of this dear woman’s hand. Little did she know how much she held in that wee, gentle palm—she held his heart and soul.

Looking up at the banner, he pointed at the symbol. “At the center of the crest, ye see the Heartstone. A precious gift from the goddesses to humanity. Not only to ensure their survival, but to make that survival worth living.”

“What does it symbolize?” Sadie asked. She snuggled closer and leaned her head against his shoulder, still looking up at the tapestry hanging above the mantel.

“Hope, creativity, a desire for a better life . . .” Alec paused, pressed her hand to his chest, and curled his other arm about her waist. “And above all . . . love.”

“And the weapons?” Sadie whispered as though mesmerized by the telling of the MacDara saga.

“Also gifts from the goddesses to enable us—Clan MacDara—to ensure the blessed Heartstone is always kept safe. Each MacDara son masters one of the weapons, until such time to pass it down to the next.” Alec waited. Afraid to move. Afraid to breathe. The only sound in the room was the muted crackling of the fire.

Sadie shifted in his embrace with a contented sigh, then stretched up on her tiptoes and brushed a gentle kiss across his mouth. “What a lovely legend of courage and gallantry you tell, Alec MacDara.”

Disappointment sank like a rock to the pit of Alec’s stomach. Damn . She thought it was naught but a wee tale—nothing more than an ancient Highland saga . The knowing of what he had to do goaded him like a stubborn ram intent on battering its adversary into submission. He had to show her. He had to take her to the vault.

“Come with me.” Alec took her hand and led her to the right corner of the massive hearth. Both the right and left corners of the floor-to-ceiling fireplace were made of four-foot-wide columns of granite. The dark, slate-gray columns with striations of white perfectly framed the multicolored sandstones used to build the rest of the structure.

The granite columns were also the perfect material for the inconspicuous doorways leading to the maze of tunnels running beneath Castle Danu—the tunnels that bored deep into the mountain behind the keep and led to the reinforced vault housing the goddesses’ treasures. It had taken six years to construct the network of tunnels and create a safe, secure chamber. The first two years alone had been spent discreetly locating and enlisting other modern-day druids and believers trained in the fields of expertise needed for such a massive undertaking.

Sadie gave the stone wall a slow up-and-down look then, turned to Alec with a confused expression. “Nice rock?”

“Wait.” Alec sidestepped over to the base layer of sandstones farther to the left and bumped one of them with the toe of his boot. He took Sadie by the shoulders and stepped them both away from the wall by several feet.

A faint shushing hissed behind the slab of stone, then the mechanical grinding of gears rumbled and growled as the towering obelisk of granite slowly moved, swinging outward inch by inch to reveal a set of steel steps disappearing down into a brightly lit passage.

Without actually moving into the tunnel lined with riveted metal plating and wire-covered security lights, Sadie stretched on tiptoe and weaved from side to side, peering down the steps. “This place must have one hell of a basement.”

She turned to Alec and eased away from him until there was at least an arm’s length of space between them and she had a clear shot to the exit. “You’re not going to go all weird on me, are you, with some kind of torture chamber? I like a little kinky, but I don’t do pain. You can forget that.”

“Sadie!” Alec took a step back, the suspicion darkening her eyes hitting him harder than a blow to the jaw. “How could ye think such of me? Have I ever given ye any cause to fear me or think I’d cause ye pain?”

“Well . . .” Sadie huffed and made a flipping motion with one hand toward the tunnel. “No . . . but . . .” She blew out a frustrated breath and scowled at him as though she were ready to throttle him. “I’ve misjudged people before, and what am I supposed to think when you suddenly reveal a passage that looks like it leads to a nuclear bunker or some sort of strange laboratory?”

“It leads to the Heartstone.”

Sadie stared at him, eyes narrowing as she inched farther away. “To the what?”

“The passage leads to the Heartstone.” Alec took a step closer and held out his hand. “If ye’ll trust me, I’ll show ye what few individuals other than those chosen by the goddesses have ever seen.”

Sadie didn’t move, just watched him as though she expected him to sprout a forked tail and a set of devil’s horns at any moment. She finally glanced back up at the crest draping down the front of the stone hearth. “You’re telling me it’s real.”

“Aye.” Alec kept his hand extended, praying that she’d see the truth of it in his heart and feel how much he needed her to understand—and accept him for all that he was.

Catching the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth, she finally relented and slid her hand into his. She gave a quick shrug of one shoulder and sheepishly glanced down at the floor as she inched over beside him. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings,” she said softly. “Sometimes it’s a little hard for me to trust. I’ve been burnt before.”

“I would never hurt ye,” he whispered, then brushed a kiss to her temple. “Nor would I ever allow anyone else to cause ye pain. I swear it, mo cridhe. ” He didn’t miss the sheen of moisture in her eyes as she glanced up at him with a shy, trembling smile.

“I know you won’t hurt me.” She cleared her throat and squeezed his hand. “Now show me this Heartstone.”

The tunnel was wide enough that they could walk side by side. He wasn’t particularly fond of close places, so when the engineers were planning the passage, he’d had them make it as wide as they could. They’d also used reflective material for the walls to give as much a feeling of open space as possible and seen to it that plenty of lighting was installed as well.

“I feel air moving. Fresh air. How can that be?” Sadie trailed her fingers along the wall, glancing all around as they walked deeper into the maze.

“Generators. Fans. Things I’m not smart enough to explain.” Alec took in a deep breath and blew it out. Somehow, having Sadie at his side made the closeness of the tunnel more bearable.

“What are those symbols?” Sadie pointed to large white glyphs stenciled on squares of copper, bronze, and pewter that were mounted close to the ceiling. The strange signs were spaced at unexplainable intervals down the long hallway.

“Blessings, guidance . . .” Alec turned them down an adjoining tunnel to the left of the main passage. “And protection. We’re nearly to the vault.”

Sadie looked back, then glanced up at the ceiling. “How deep are we?”

Alec leaned in close as they stopped in front of a wide steel door. “’Tis probably best that ye dinna know.” He always tried not to think about how far under the mountain they actually were. If he dwelt on it too much, he could hardly breathe. He flattened his left hand on the black glass panel set into the wall beside the door. Stretching as far as he could reach, he placed his right hand on an identical panel on the other side.

Facing the speaker above the door, Alec said, “ Spero, ” loud and clear as though it were a command.

“Sparrow?” Sadie asked.

Red lines of laser beams zipped down the panels and scanned both of his hands. Alec relaxed and dropped his arms down to his sides as a series of clicks and metallic thuds signaled that the locks on the door were opening. He turned to Sadie and shook his head. “Not ‘sparrow’ like the bird. But spero. ’Tis Latin for ‘hope.’”

“Hope,” Sadie repeated, her eyes shimmering dark and wide.

White-knuckling the steel bar of the door, Alec forced the handle down and slowly heaved the thick barrier of metal open. He secured the latches at the top and sides of the beams framing the door, securely clamping it to the wall to keep the stout hydraulic cylinders at the hinges from pulling the door shut.

He turned and extended his hand to Sadie. “All I ask is that ye keep an open mind and trust that I would never tell ye anything other than the truth.”

“I will,” Sadie whispered as she barely touched her fingertips to his, then stopped. She hitched in an audible shaking breath, staring down at his hand as though she knew if she moved forward, she could never go back.

Alec’s heart ached with the need for her to trust him—to accept him. Say it. Say the words ye’ve never said to anyone before. “I love ye, Sadie.” The words spilled out before he could stop them. “I truly love ye. I swear it on all I hold sacred.”

Sadie wet her lips, looking up at him as though she didn’t dare believe he’d just said what she’d heard. “You love me ?”

“Aye, lass.” He pulled her into his arms, closing his eyes as he hugged her close. “I think I loved ye from the first moment I read yer wee emails.” He kissed the top of her head, then pressed his cheek to her silky locks, inhaling her sweetness like a man starving for air. “I love ye,” he whispered again. “And I hope and pray ye’ll find it in yer heart to love me too—especially after ye see what I have to show ye.”

She shuddered with a hiccupping sigh, then her arms tightened around him. She lifted her face to his and smiled. “Surely, it can’t be all that bad.” Then her smile faded into a sober line and her gaze fell to the fingertip she was trailing along the edge of his jaw. “I can’t remember anyone ever telling me they loved me,” she whispered. “Not ever. Not even my parents.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that we’re beneath several miles of mountain, I’d roar it so loud all the world would hear.” He kissed her long and deep, then finally raised his head. “Now. Come and see,” he said.

As they made their way into the chamber, panels of floor-to-ceiling blue-white lights set into the walls of highly polished stone came to life in response to Alec and Sadie’s progress across the room. Alec forced himself not to cringe when he heard Sadie’s sharp intake of breath.

“What is this place?” Her voice was hushed, her tone soft and reverent. She crept carefully around the room as though she feared she’d disturb whatever lived there. “Are these real? Authentic?” She stood with hands clasped to her chest, staring at the Heartstone. It was flanked by the ancient weapons the goddesses had given to the MacDara druids so long ago. The sword and the hammer stood guard to the left. The shield and the spear stood to the right. All the weapons waited, ready for battle, in the racks that Alec’s ancestors had crafted long before he and his brothers were born.

“Aye. All are quite real and from a time so old they canna be labeled with any of humanity’s numbers.” Alec remained in the center of the room, praying this would go well, especially when he told her he was not of this time. “The MacDara druids are the keepers. The protectors. We have been so since the Heartstone was first sent to dwell among us.”

Sadie inched forward, leaning closer to examine the surface of the large three-sided rock without actually touching it. “Why have I never heard of any of this? This is amazing.”

“The safety of the stone demands a code of secrecy. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, all humankind would suffer.” Alec shifted uncomfortably in place. At any moment, the beloved Heartstone could decide to make its feelings known. He needed Sadie to hear the truth from him before that happened. “Long ago, many races vied for the stone and its power. But now . . . since its existence is all but unknown in this time . . . the stone is much safer.”

Sadie straightened, turned, and stared at Alec. “What do you mean by ‘its power’?”

How could he sum up in but a few sentences what it had taken him years to learn from their oral tradition regarding the stone and all its wonders? Alec joined Sadie in front of the stone, studying the rough-hewn boulder shaped into a crude pyramid and carved with the goddesses’ knot on each of its three sides. Flecks of crystals, a myriad of colors, dappled the surface of the stone, winking in the bright lights of the chamber.

He folded his arms across his chest and slowly shook his head. “The Heartstone is much like an advisor—a being of sorts—filled with uplifting wisdom and aware of man’s need for hope, love, and creativity in order to flourish here and survive. It constantly gathers these energies and sends them back out, ensuring they’re never gone from the world.”

Turning to Sadie, Alec silently willed her to understand. “Imagine how ye would feel if there were nothing to look forward to. No hopes to fulfill. No dreams to strive for. Nothing to stir the beating of yer heart and leave ye thrilled and breathless. Just a bland existence. Time would slowly pass until ye died.”

“That wouldn’t be a life,” Sadie said, easing even closer to the Heartstone as though drawn forward by a will other than her own. “I’d rather be dead than live like that.” Still clutching her hands to her chest, she slowly inched around the artifact, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow. “But if it does what you say it does, how could it be misused?”

She doesn’t believe. She thinks it merely an artifact, a bit of history . A sad heaviness filled him. How could he make her see? “According to legend, the beloved Heartstone could be purged of its benevolent goodness and filled with the negativity of avarice, hatred, and the hunger to control all.” Alec frowned at the stone. “Whatever resides and thrives in the stone . . . resides in the world.” He blew out a weary breath, stepped forward, and rested his hand on the side of the stone. “Or it could just be destroyed and plunge us all into bleakness.”

Sadie scrubbed her hands up and down her arms as she slowly circled the stone and walked around each of the weapons. This place and Alec’s apocalyptic tale of the ancient rock gave her the heebie-jeebies. The weaponry and stone definitely looked old. And if they were actual historical artifacts, that would explain the need for secrecy, the hidden vault, and the network of confusing tunnels. The bronze-and-copper-inlaid shield alone was probably worth millions.

As she came around the back of the shield, she stole a look at Alec. He was upset—or angry. Something was wrong. She knew that brooding look. Had she made him mad because she hadn’t quite gone along with all the we have to protect the world rhetoric? Did he really believe in all that? She came to a halt at the point where she’d started in front of the Heartstone. Might as well hash this out now. There was no changing the subject and avoiding this one.

“Tell me. You have that look. What’s wrong?” She waited, wishing she could read his mind. Or maybe not. Either way, she had the nauseating feeling this wasn’t going to end well.

Alec huffed out a deep breath, shook his head, and remained silent.

Lovely. She’d really done it this time. Sadie moved closer and rested a hand on his shoulder, thankful that he didn’t shy away from her touch. “Please tell me what I’ve done to upset you.”

“Ye are unable to believe.” He slowly turned and faced her, taking her hands between his. “And when I tell ye the rest, I will surely lose ye forever.”

“There’s more?” The ever-increasing sick feeling of something bad about to happen made her swallow hard.

“Aye.” He released her and took a step back. “I am Alec Danann MacDara. I was born in 880 A.D., in the Highlands of Scotland. My family and I were brought to this time and place by the goddesses Danu, Scota, and Bride fifteen years ago.”

Sadie felt her jaw drop but was powerless to close her mouth. She was paralyzed, rooted to the spot. She couldn’t even blink. I have fallen in love with a nut kept racing through her head. Why does he have to be crazy? her inner voice cried.

Almost as though he couldn’t stop now that he’d finally started, Alec continued to explain, “The men of the North had breached our walls. There were too many. Máthair was far along with unborn Esme and couldna handle a sword—just the bow. Athair was busy begging the goddesses for guidance. My brothers and I were sorely outnumbered.”

“A-and . . . what happened?” Sadie forced herself to speak calmly even though she wanted to scream and beat him on the chest. She wanted to yell at him to shut the hell up and stop talking like a lunatic. But she also felt like she was listening to some medieval drama miniseries and the station had just gone to commercial. She had to know what happened. And yet, she didn’t really want to hear what outlandishness came next.

“Everything disappeared,” Alec said quietly. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he stared off into space. He blinked slowly as though waking from a dream, then turned and locked eyes with hers. “And then we were here. And the goddesses spoke to me. And sent Dwyn to help us learn to live in this time. He is guardian to all the druids of this time.”

The feeling of something very precious slipping out of her grasp made Sadie want to drop to her knees and sob for all that could have been. She couldn’t lose this. Not now. “We . . . we can . . . get you some help. All of you.” Could an entire family be hit with some weird sort of mass hysteria that made them all believe the same wild tale?

Alec’s shoulders slumped and he gave her a sad smile. “I am not crazed. All I have said is true, Sadie. I swear it.”

She had to stay calm. Doesn’t it just figure? The only person who had ever said he loved her was stark, raving mad. She squinted her eyes shut, willing the sting of pending tears to leave her the hell alone. She would not cry. She’d just find the best psychiatrist and get them all some help. But then once he was cured, Alec would probably figure out that he had never loved her to begin with.

A subtle humming, soft and low, interrupted her tortured thoughts. A soothing warmth, as comforting as an angel’s touch, brushed across the side of her face, then came to rest atop her shoulder, slowly turning her away from Alec and moving her closer to the Heartstone. The goddesses’ knot on the side of the stone facing her glowed a brilliant red. The inner light fluctuated with the ebb and flow of the calming sound coming from the rock.

Without thinking, Sadie reached out to touch the edge of the inner circle of the shining knot embedded in the center of the stone. Instead of the cool, rough surface she expected, her hand entered the stone, sinking up to her wrist. She felt nothing but a gentle flowing of what could only be described as the essence of pure delight around her fingers. It was as though the state of bliss had become a physical thing that could be touched. And she felt a tranquil knowing—and so much happiness that tears of joy escaped and rolled down her cheeks. A soft cry escaped from between the trembling fingers she held pressed against her lips. It was real. All he said was real. She looked back at Alec.

“I see now,” she whispered. “I finally see.”