Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) (29 page)

Stop breathing!
Amber pushed the thought into the
animal’s head. The wolf whimpered and dropped to the ground, its eyes nothing
more than a cold, dead stare.

Her mind flooded with a tsunami of
knowledge—power resting just beneath the layer of her consciousness.

Jake stumbled away from the fallen
animal and moved into the circle with his girls.

Do you feel him, Gavin? He’s here…

“Where are you, you coward?” Amber
yelled to the sky.

I feel him.

She swiveled toward the house to see
Simon standing before Helen, a dirk in his hand. Gavin’s weapon was pointing
toward the ground. Giles stared directly at her. Mrs. Dawson stood inside the
house and Selma was gone.

Selma!

Gavin turned to see the missing member
of their family. “Shit.”

A scream sounded from the front of
the Manor.

Amber grew cold and she started to
run.

Gavin was in front of her in the
space of one breath. They both found Selma being dragged by a man twice her
size into a waiting car, a knife to her throat.

Drop the knife!
The words came from her husband’s
head, not hers. The knife shot from Selma’s attacker’s hand and flew several
yards away.

Amber focused on the man. Her body
grew rigid and rage swirled in her line of sight.

You stupid man. You can’t breathe.

The attacker stumbled, his grip
loosened.

You! Can’t! Breathe!

The man dropped Selma and grasped his
neck.

“Move away, Selma,” Amber didn’t
recognize her cold and calculating voice.

Selma didn’t need to be told twice.
She stumbled behind Amber and Gavin.

Amber opened her gift, pushed into
this man’s head. He struggled to breathe while cursing Selma. Called her a
witch. He hated her… only her. Wanted to hurt her as much as he’d been hurt.

The man fell to his knees, his face
turned bright red.

Amber!

No one hurts my family…my friends!

Gavin moved into her line of sight.
“Amber! Stop!”

She blinked several times.

“Let him go!”

She tilted her head.
Let who go?

Kincaid looked at Amber, saw the
darkness swirling in the whites of her eyes.

Let him go. You’re killing him.

Amber sucked in a breath.
Oh, God.
Breathe.

He didn’t need to turn around to know
the man behind them pulled in a desperate breath of air.

Confusion marred Amber’s brow. “What
did I do?”

Kincaid gripped her shoulders.
“Focus. Someone else is here.” As soon as Amber darted outside, the world
darkened. Opposing forces with evil intent surrounded them all. He noticed the
girls playing and before the first wolf emerged, Amber had covered the girls in
the thickest layer of blue he’d ever seen. He couldn’t remember, not once, an
ability to protect someone from as far away as they were. When the wolf dropped
into a lifeless heap, he turned to his wife. Pulsating power surged from her
and wouldn’t let him in. He couldn’t get into her head. He called her name but
she didn’t respond.

She was looking at him now… his
innocent wife.

“Focus.”

Amber closed her eyes and envisioned
the back of the house. Someone was still there watching them.

“Stay here. Keep him from leaving.”
Gavin shoved his weapon in her hand and ran to the back of the house.

Jake and his girls were in the center
of the yard. One dead wolf lay on the ground, but the others were gone.

The air shifted and a high sulfur
scent filled the air.

Whoever had been there was gone.

Shifted in time and gone.

****

The Arizona man, Norman Rock, was led
away in handcuffs. The blood of his ex-girlfriend and her fiancé was found all
over towels in the trunk of his car.

He mumbled about witches and
supernatural power, which simply put him on a medical evaluation list. Kincaid
knew, however, if they didn’t start placing the right barriers and protection
around Mrs. Dawson’s home, the kind of finger pointing the man who’d attempted
to kidnap Selma would draw attention. Unwanted and potentially dangerous
attention.

The entire time the police were at
the home, Amber remained silent. Her worry about what happened, why and how it
happened was a constant sea of emotion inside him.

Kincaid saw the darkness in her eyes but,
more than that, he’d felt the darkness inside them both. His ability to force
another to move in any way was limited, yet Kincaid knew he had forced Norman to
throw his weapon aside. Worse, Amber tried to destroy him. Nearly did.

Helen and Selma had taken the girls inside
while Simon and Jake spoke with the police, and Mrs. Dawson and Giles huddled
together in the library. Kincaid and Amber stood on the porch watching the
police as they finished talking.

“The prophesy
is
about us,”
Amber said under her breath.

He wanted to deny her.

“Grainna could steal away one’s
breath.”

Kincaid moved to her side and slid
his arm over her shoulders. “You were saving the life of a friend, an honorable
friend.”

“That isn’t the point, Gavin. I
nearly killed a man with only a thought. I didn’t mourn the animal. And the
animal was only acting on the will of someone else.”

Gavin stood in front of her and
caught her eyes. “You’re not evil, Amber. You’re human. When the innocent
around us are in trouble, we do whatever we can to save them.”

“But to kill?”

“Were you not a part of destroying
Grainna? It took all of you, but you did. If you could have done it alone,
wouldn’t you have tried?”

Amber squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m
scared, Gavin.”

The clear sky above him cracked.

“My father’s gift is only a thought.
I feel it as easily as I feel yours.”

When his insides turned on
themselves, the growl of faraway thunder erupted. Gavin thought of the growl
again, and the earth replied.
I feel his gift, too.

A tear fell down Amber’s cheek.
We’re
cursed.

“No, Amber. We’re gifted. We saved
innocent lives today.”

“But what if we don’t? What if the
power swallows us, pushes us to
her
ways?”

“We’re in this together, Amber. I
will
keep you grounded, and you
must
keep me the same.”

And if we can’t?

We will. We have to believe we will.

“Promise me.”

“Promise you what?” Gavin asked.

“Promise me we’ll leave this world
together if the power consumes us. On our love, promise me.”

Kincaid met her unwavering eyes. “On
our love, I will do anything in my power to remove us both if the power turns
us.”

****

“It’s just going to help them
forget…to ease the pain.” Selma stood over the stove, her pot simmered with what
Amber assumed was tea.

Jake crossed his arms over his chest
and grumbled.

“Trust me.”

Amber and Kincaid moved into the room
filled with their family and friends. Holding hands in unity. Honesty in the
home was paramount, and they didn’t make exceptions.

If the others weren’t comfortable
with the changes happening inside them both, they would leave.

The conversation ceased as they
walked in.

“We need to talk with all of you.”

Selma turned the fire off the stove
and moved to stand beside Jake.

Giles stood beside Mrs. Dawson while
Simon took the space beside his wife.

“Go ahead, child,” Mrs. Dawson said.
“We’re listening.”

Gavin smiled at the older woman. “The
prophecy…it was right. We don’t know what changed to shift what’s happening
inside us, but we both feel a change in our power.”

Amber watched Simon’s jaw clench. “We
noticed.”

“I almost killed that man.”

Simon shook his head. “On a field of
battle in our time, he would have been dead by the swiftness of a sword.”

“But I nearly did it with a thought…
her
thought.”

“You’re not
her
.”

“Nay, Simon. I’m not. But it’s here.”
Amber poked her chest. “And it’s dark.”

A slight surge of fear washed over
the man she thought of as a brother. “We all see the darkness in your eyes. We
know it’s there. We also know that power, all power has two choices. Good or
evil.”

Amber didn’t think he understood. “I
almost destroyed a man today.”

“And I’ve killed many. Your point,
Amber?”

“’Tis against my nature.”

Simon moved to stand before her. “You
have yet to determine what your true nature is. Kincaid’s gift has afforded you
a real life. Now this dark power, as you call it, will give you even more power
to fight the righteous fight. You have never been anything but innocent and
careful of all life.”

“You saved my girls today,” Jake
reminded her.

“And instead of keeping your thoughts
to yourselves, you’re both coming to us,” Giles pointed out. “You have nothing
to hide.”

Mrs. Dawson pushed from the chair she
sat in and walked over to them. “Awareness is most important in this time in
your life. Awareness and love.” Mrs. Dawson leveled her gaze to Amber.
“Remember, Grainna lost her love, lost the part that made her sane. Within the
bond your father laid was a blessing to keep you righteous. You have to believe
that.”

Amber leaned into Gavin.
Could it
be that simple?
Could love be the glue that keeps us on the path of righteousness?

“Love is always the answer.”

Amber glanced at her husband.
Did
she just hear my thought?

Perhaps she’s just a wise woman.

“Your husband was a lucky man, lass,”
Simon told Mrs. Dawson.

“Damn straight he was,” she said.

Laughter filled the room.

“Now, enough of all this talk of darkness.
I’d like to consume something other than Selma’s forget-everything potion. And
then Giles and I need to rack his brain about entities that take over animals
to accost little girls.”

“So there was someone else here.”

“Of course there was,” Mrs. Dawson
said. “You don’t think that putz sitting in a jail cell controlled those
wolves, do you?”

Giles released a long sigh. “I was
hoping.”

“Well knock it off. We have work to
do.” She turned to Amber. “And with all this newfound power, perhaps you can
start laying wards over this house to help keep those babies safe. They’ve seen
enough evil, don’t you think?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try.”

“We’ll try,” Gavin added. “Together.”

“Good. Let’s get to work.”

Epilogue

Raine sat before both Mouse and Clarisse.

“Their power is united,” Mouse
informed her. “I escaped with my life only because of the human who offered
himself as a distraction.”

“Who holds the most power?”

“It’s hard to tell. Neither one of
them were approachable. Their shield wasn’t breached by an ant.”

“And you, Clarisse? Did you
accomplish your task?”

The beautiful blonde lifted her chin,
her perfect figure stretched like a cat. “Cian is in my bed. It’s only a matter
of time.”

Raine sat back with a smile playing
on her lips.

“Time? We have plenty of time.”

###

About the Author

New York Times
best-selling author Catherine Bybee
was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to
Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with
waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending
most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and in
addition to the MacCoinnich Time Travel series she has penned the novels
Wife
by Wednesday
,
Married by Monday,
and
Fiancé by Friday
in her
Weekday Brides series and
Not Quite Dating
,
Not Quite Mine,
and
Not
Quite Enough
in her Not Quite series. Bybee lives with her husband and two
teenage sons in Southern California.

Connect with Catherine Bybee Online:

CatherineBybee.com