The Highlander's Curse (27 page)

“This
doesn’ae make any sense a’tall. Scarlett, we should get back, the woman is messin’
wi’us the way she did wi’Kieran and me.”

“I’m
not messing with you,” Shannon spat. “I’m telling you the truth. One of my
ancestors was one of the children of Cailen Conall Grant MacKinnon and Scarlett
Elizabeth Michaelson MacKinnon, and there was zero information about Scarlett’s
parents.”

There
was silence all around, with only the sounds of the ocean waves crashing
against land, and the gentle squawk of birds overhead.

“History
isn’t just history. History is the future and the past. It’s all one big loop…or
a lot of them, I guess. I mean…I know how you feel, Scar,” the witch continued,
more gently. “I didn’t believe it myself at first.”

“You
don’t know how I feel,” Scarlett replied. “You weren’t dumped in the middle of
nowhere, and forced to fend for yourself. Why didn’t you just
tell
me?”

“Because
you wouldn’t have believed me, and because I was so worried that we’d gotten
the spell wrong on the pocket watch that I was terrified you wouldn’t make it
to the right time. I’m not an expert with any of this yet. You were my first
traveler.”

Cailen
placed his hand on Scarlett’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. As much as
he wanted to hear of his brother’s fate, he kent his lass was hurting. Her
dearest friend had been lying to her all along. And he was angry that the witch
would put her through this, without even kenning what she was doing.

“Without
the two of you hooking up, I wouldn’t exist anymore. My mom wouldn’t exist
anymore, and so on. I
had
to do it, Scar. I didn’t want to fade away.”

“You
wouldn’t have just faded away. That doesn’t happen.”

“It
happens all the time. That’s what the Legions are trying to prevent. They’ve
worked for centuries searching for those not in their own time, and sending
them to where they’re supposed to be. Where fate meant them to be.”

“Did
you just say ‘Legions’?”

“Yeah,
the Legions of Fate. Kind of a big deal in the grand scheme of things.” Cocky
wee bizzom.

“So I’m
supposed to be here?”

Shannon’s
gaze bobbed around, searching the surrounding hills before returning to Scarlett.
“In a way. To save
me
you really just needed to be here until
yesterday.”

“Until
yesterday?” Cailen asked. “Why yesterday?” What was so special to Shannon about
yesterday? Scarlett had agreed to be his wife, and they’d made love.

“Oh my
God,” Scarlett said, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes locked with his
before moving to Shannon. “We had sex yesterday. Am I
pregnant
?”

The
witch nodded, and Cailen barely kept himself from plopping down on his arse.

“So why
did I only need to be here until then? Obviously I’d have to stay forever if
that’s the case.”

“That’s
kinda where I’m breaking the Legion’s rules.” Scarlett’s friend walked toward
her and the two girls embraced, though his lass looked numb while the witch
grinned happily. He didn’t like it in the least, but he was far too stunned to
move. “Congratulations on the baby by the way.”

“Shan,
what did…” Scarlett’s voice died away as she pulled something out of her
pocket. She gaped at her friend. “What did you do?” There was something in her
hand, and she tried to pry it free as she started to panic.

He was
beside her as tears trekked down her cheeks. “I can’t get it off! It’s burning
and I can’t get it off! Cailen!”

He
yanked on the silver pocket watch in her palm, unable to break it free.

“What hae
ye done!” he yelled, turning toward the witch.

“I came
to take her home.”

“I
don’t want to go,” Scarlett cried. “I have to stay! Please, I—”

He
whirled around at the sudden silence. No, it couldn’t be. Scarlett and that
bloody witch were gone.

He was
alone.

Cailen
slammed a fist against the tower, letting all the pain and rage in his heart
fuel him. His knuckles bled, but he couldn’t feel it. His Scarlett was gone,
never to return. He fell against the rocks, wishing for all the world that he
could see his lass again. He didn’t ken what he’d do without her. He needed her
in his life even more than he needed air.

A long
while passed before he made his way back to the kirk. He wasn’t sure how he
made it, but he’d somehow put one foot in front of the other.

“Cailen!
Och, where hae ye been? Everyone’s inside waitin’ for ye. I feared ye might hae
run off again.”

He
peered up at his mother, trying to form the words. “I…Nae, I didnae leave.”

“Where’s
Scarlett?”

He
looked at the ground. “There’s no’ goin’ tae be a wedding, mither. She’s gone.”

His mam
gasped. “Oh no, darlin’. What’s happened?’

He
stepped past her to open the kirk doors. There wasn’t going to be a wedding
today, nor ever for him.

****

I sat up, cupping my
hands over my eyes as my head throbbed. I felt like I’d been run over with a
steamroller, and my hand tingled from the burn of the pocket watch, which laid
in the grass by my side. Peering through my fingertips, my gaze settled on the
stone tower. It didn’t look the same as it had just minutes ago. Much of it had
crumbled apart, it’s pieces had fallen to the ground and shattered into gray
dust. I was by our tower though. The ocean was just down below, and I
recognized the grassy, rolling hills all around me. I ambled to my feet,
searching in every direction for Cailen, and feeling panic rise once more as I
saw that only Shannon was near.

A plane
flew over my head, the loud rumble of its engine drawing my gaze upward as my
heart skipped a beat.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening.
I stomped
toward my friend. “What did you do?”

She
leaned against the decaying tower, shaking her head. “Whew! I’ll never get used
to that feeling. Do you feel like crap when you travel, too?”

“
What
did you do
?”

“I
brought you back,” she snapped. “You should be happy.”

I wiped
at my tears with the back of my hand. She’d taken me away from Cailen, and she
thought I should be
happy
? “Send me back.”

“
What
?
Scar, it’s not that easy.”

It had
to be! It just had to be! I was about to get married to the love of my life.
She couldn’t have ripped me away from that. “Ugh!” I raced away from her,
irritated that tears blurred my eyes as I hauled ass down the hill. My heart
was shredding into a million, tiny pieces as every home I’d known in Ardmoir
was no more. On and on I ran, ignoring Shannon’s pleas as she followed after
me. I slowed as I rushed through the decrepit dyke that ran around Conall and
Ailsa’s home, and fell to my knees as I saw what was left. There were only
markers. Stones showing where the outer walls had been. Right there had been
the front door, and just in front of me had been Ailsa’s flowers. They couldn’t
be gone.

It
couldn’t all be gone!

I
shoved to my feet again and ran through what used to be Ardmoir, passing more
houses that were no more than proof of what had once been. I skidded to a stop
as I approached the church where Cailen and I were going to be married. It was
gone, too. Only ruins remained.

Everything,
everyone, was all gone.

“Scarlett!
What the hell is wrong with you?” Shannon said, gripping my shoulders and
turning me to face her.

“Let me
go.”

“No.”

“Let me
go!”

“No!”

“
What
have you done?
” I pulled my fist back and let it fly, feeling the sting in
my knuckles as they connected with her face.

She
fell back and gaped up at me, clapping a hand over her cheek. “What the hell?”

“I hate
you!” I yelled, staring down at her as she sat on the ground. “You just mess
with people’s lives and do whatever the hell you want. You didn’t even care
enough to find out what I wanted, or even bother to find out whether or not I
love Cailen. Because I do. I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life
with him. I don’t want to be here, knowing he’s been dead for two hundred
years!”

“I
thought you’d want to come back home. I mean, God, Scar, look at yourself. You’re
bruised and you’re constantly holding your side. It looks like the eighteenth
century was going to kill you instead of doing what it was supposed to.” She
flashed her puppy-dog eyes my way. “I thought you’d want your family, and me.”

“I do
want my family. I love Dad and Jason, but I’m not whole without Cailen. He’s my
family now. He’s
everything
.”

Shannon
finally stood, wiping small bits of grass from her cloak. “You should probably
take some time to think about this. We both know you just jump into things. I’m
sure you’ll change your mind.”

Was she
freakin’ serious? “I don’t get it. Why put me through all of that just to bring
me back?”

“Well,
I miss you. You don’t know what it’s been like without you here. Your dad has
been searching for you nonstop, and it really would make all of us a lot
happier to have you back. I figured that you could raise your baby in our time
and eventually my coven could just send your…son or daughter back.”

“You’d
send my child back there and force them to figure out the past the way I had
to? You’d take my baby away from me?”

“No,
not your baby. I’d wait until she’s older.”

She? I
was having a girl? “Are you mental? You’d do that to me? You’d do that to
her
?
What else are you selfish enough to screw up, besides making it so that I can’t
be with the man I love, and ensuring my daughter grows up without her dad?”

“No’
tae mention other lines wouldn’ae exist.”

I
turned, only to find probably fifteen people standing there. They were a mix of
ages, but there was one that really stood out among them: an old man with
silvering hair who looked like he wanted to kill the girl responsible for
bringing me back to this time, his expression far more intimidating than the
disappointed stares of those behind him.

“Yeah,”
Shannon said, suddenly quiet as she looked at the ground. “That’s why I broke
the rules. Any other time someone is dropped into their fate, they’re just left
there without any explanation. Usually the coven doesn’t have a direct tie to
the person.”

“Legions
frequently hae direct ties tae their travelers,” the old man spat, his cold
gaze fastened on Shannon. “But most o’ us are smart enough tae leave things the
way they’re meant tae be.”

“Other
lines,” I whispered, focusing on the Legions. “Our other children wouldn’t be
born.” I really was pregnant with a girl, and would have more babies with
Cailen? I let out a slow breath.

“Nae,
they wouldn’ae,” another witch replied.

“You
don’t have to decide now,” Shannon said quickly. “It’s not like we have to do
anything right now. What’s done is done.”

“There
is no choice here,” I laughed bitterly. “You think I make hasty decisions, but
I’ve never messed with someone’s life before. If I’m really supposed to be in
1770 with Cailen, then that’s where I want to be. Even if I’m
not
supposed to be there, he’s who I want to be with. And if you think for one
second that I would jeopardize the lives of my own children, then you’ve got
another thing coming.”

Shannon
wrapped her arms around her stomach as tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“You
can be sorry all you want, but the only thing I want you to do is send me back.”
I could only imagine what Cailen must be feeling, and that was enough to wrench
my heart in two.

“I can’t,”
she replied. “It takes time to suffuse a watch with magic and get you back to
where you’re supposed to be. Scar, I can’t send you back right now.”

****

The doors opened and the
church flooded with light as everyone turned toward Cailen. He strode inside,
and his gaze locked with mine as he fell to his knees.

I let
out a nervous breath, fighting back the tears I knew would come the second I
saw my Highlander. My heart jackhammered in my chest as he rose to his feet
once more, and slowly strode toward me. The entire church was utterly silent,
his clansmen watching on as he lumbered toward me. His eyes never left mine as
he stepped onto the altar. Was he
crying?

“Scarlett?
Are ye an angel before ma eyes?” He lifted his hand slowly, and cupped my
cheek, starting as he touched my flesh. “Yer
real
?”

I
leaned into his hand, unable to keep my own tears from spilling. “I’m real,
baby. And I’m home.”

“Ye
returned tae me?”

“I
wouldn’t have stopped fighting until I found my way back to you.”

He
pulled me to him, gripping the back of my head as our mouths melded together.
His tongue darted into my mouth, and I opened up, urging him to take all of me
he wanted. Our lips parted, and he pressed his forehead to mine, wiping tears
from my cheeks as I wiped his.