His sword, his own strength and abilities had served him well in the past and would do so again. It didn’t make a difference to Evangeline that he was a half-blood, and hers was the only opinion he cared about. He decided he had the best of both worlds. His love of the highlands flowed through his veins while his beautiful and magickal wife held his heart.
Certain she would try to stop him if she saw what he did, he held her tight to his chest and conjured a dagger behind her back. The blade glinted in the firelight and he gritted his teeth, fighting off the memories of Lamont coming at him with a burning dagger. Holding the tip of the blade to his wrist, he tightened his grip on the handle to keep his hand from shaking. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He wiped it away, reminding himself why he did what he did. He closed his eyes and drew the cold steel across his flesh.
He shut out the images of Ursula’s torture and rid himself of the dagger. Carefully, he rolled Evangeline to her back.
“What are ...” Catching sight of his wrist, her eyes widened. “No, I won’t, I—”
“Shh. Take your blood, Evie,” he said, holding his arm above her pale lips.
She shook her head, her lips compressed.
“Please, let me do this. I need to do this fer ye.” And he needed to do it for himself. To prove he’d put the past and Glastonbury behind him.
She searched his face, then tentatively touched the tip of her tongue to the wound. “Take it.” At the gentle suction of her mouth on his wrist, his cock swelled. “More.” He rocked against her, allowing his desire for her to take hold.
His worries had been for naught. His fear the action would drag him down into the dark tortured depths where he’d lived for so long, were wiped away. Their love for one another was too powerful for the nightmares to intrude upon.
She lifted his arm and drew a circle in the air, bandaging his wrist.
He frowned. “Are ye sure ye have taken enough?”
“Yes. Thank you,” she murmured, rubbing her cheek in his palm.
“Nay, I doona think ye did.” He levered himself up on his elbow and flicked his finger at the hearth. When the flame shot to life, he looked down at her, awaiting her explanation.
“I thought we could share.” When he went to object, she framed his face with her hands. “Your love has brought me more happiness than my magick ever did. I know what it cost you to do what you just did, and I love you even more for doing so. I have enough power, Lachlan.” Her lips twitched. “Besides, this way we truly are equal partners.”
His heart overflowing with love for her, he smiled at the teasing light in her eyes. “I would do anythin’ fer ye. I adore ye, Evie MacLeod.”
“So, does that mean you agree to sharing the responsibilities of running the Isles and—”
“Oh, aye, and sharin’ in the care of the bairn.” He laughed at her grimace. “I’m teasin’ ye. Doona worry, we’ll work it out, Evie. But now, instead of talkin’, I thought I’d show ye how much I love ye.”
“Well,” she nudged him onto his back, “since we’re equal partners, perhaps I should show you first.”
Chapter 32
Lewes Castle
May 1608
Syrena nudged Evangeline, who looked up from her conversation with Aileanna. “What ...��� Her voice trailed off. Lachlan walked into the grand hall carrying a cake ablaze with candles. Aileanna had not only brought her healing skills with her when she’d come from the future, but her customs as well. So Evangeline was well acquainted with this particular celebration. Her eyes filled, knowing what her husband did for her. He walked toward the dais where she sat, a small crowd of their family and friends following behind him, singing: “Happy birthday to ye. Happy birthday, dear Evie, happy birthday to ye.”
“Oh.” She waved a hand in front of her heated cheeks. Her throat constricted at the tender smile creasing her husband’s handsome face. Trying to contain her tears, she bit her trembling lip and blinked her eyes. But to no avail—the tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks.
Lachlan came to her side and placed the white iced cake in front of her, directing the others as to where the array of brightly wrapped packages should go.
“’Twas no’ meant to make ye sad, Evie,” he said. Framing her face with his hands, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
“I’m not sad ... I’m ... I’m happy,” she choked out on a sob.
His gaze softened. He crouched beside her, taking her hand in his. “I hope ye doona mind sharin’ my day of birth. ’Tis the day we met, and I thought it only fittin’ since my life held little meanin’ or happiness before ye.”
“Thanks,” Aidan commented dryly, grunting when Syrena elbowed him.
Evangeline’s heart overflowed with love for Lachlan, but she was embarrassed by all the attention and didn’t know what to say. She blurted out, “I don’t have a present for you.”
His lips twitched then he curved his big hand around her neck, bringing her ear to his mouth. In erotic detail, he told her exactly what he wished her to gift him with. What he wanted her to do to him and what he in turn would do to her later that night. Under his heated gaze, she fanned herself, squirming in the chair.
“Uncle Lachlan, the candles,” Alex said.
“Aye, the candles.” Lachlan didn’t rise from his crouched position and she had a fairly good idea why. Considering the aroused state his words had left her in, she thought it served him right. “Evie, ye need to make a wish, then blow out the candles,” he instructed her.
Lifting her eyes from the flickering flames, she turned to him and shook her head. “I don’t need to make a wish. I have everything I’ll ever need or want. I have you,” letting her gaze light on those gathered around the table, she added, “and all of you.”
Jamie drowned out the womens’ sniffles with a loud “good.” With Alex’s help, he set about blowing out the candles. Ava and Olivia, who’d crawled onto their mother’s laps, banged on the table demanding their turn.
Out of the corner of her eye, Evangeline saw Lachlan’s son Kamden standing off from the others. She felt a pang of sympathy for the child and waved him over. Evangeline wasn’t surprised when he shook his head. The little boy had yet to warm up to her. She thought perhaps he was jealous she stole the attention of the father he adored. But Lachlan seemed to think it had more to do with her coloring being similar to Ursula’s.
After the cake had been eaten and she’d opened her presents, one for every birthday that had gone uncelebrated, she sat back to enjoy the relative quiet of the hall. The children had gone to play out of doors, supervised by their doting grandfathers and Fiona. Half listening to Aileanna and Syrena’s conversations, she noted the hand signals that Gabriel and Lachlan sent to each other. She snorted at their futile attempt to keep their silent exchange from the women’s notice. Lachlan leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m goin’ to join the others fer an ale by the hearth,” he said as the men rose as one, their chairs scraping loudly across the stone floor.
Evangeline fisted her hand in his tunic to hold him in place. “What do you mean to discuss that you don’t wish us to know?”
“Yes, Broderick, do tell,” Fallyn said, then added, “And before you answer, you may wish to consider the word
trial
.”
“And you,” Evangeline narrowed her gaze on her husband, “may wish to consider the words
equal partnership
.”
When Syrena and Aileanna opened their mouths to speak, Lachlan released a loud, put-upon sigh. “’Tis but a rumor that has yet to be substantiated.”
Evangeline crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell us.”
“Gabriel received word that Dimtri sent out search parties after Morfessa in hopes of retrieving the blue stone.”
“His attempts will prove as futile as ours,” Evangeline said with a measure of frustration. Not only was it imperative that they be the ones to retrieve the stone, Evangeline wanted to find Morfessa, to hear him admit he’d been wrong about her. The Fae had gone a long way in making amends for their past treatment of her, but she needed a simple acknowledgment, an apology from Morfessa for what he’d perpetrated against her, to let go of the past completely.
“My men seem to think Dimtri has acquired knowledge we do not have,” Gabriel said.
“Where do they believe him to be?” Evangeline asked.
Gabriel held her gaze. “The future.”
“The future? But how ... why?” She looked to Uscias for the answer.
“As to how, the blue stone is reputed to have powers beyond our comprehension. It is not difficult to conceive of the standing stones being used as a portal to another dimension. It has happened before.” From his tight-lipped expression, it appeared Uscias had said more than he intended to. Evangeline was going to question him further, but he continued, “Aileanna is just one example of Fae magick’s ability to cross time. I can only speculate as to why. For all that the act he committed against you was evil, Evangeline, his motivation, though twisted, was not. I believe he seeks a way to make amends.”
Lachlan stood behind her, the comforting weight of his big hands resting on her shoulders. “How does taking the stone to the future accomplish that?” she asked, finding it difficult to hear Uscias’s defense of Morfessa.
Uscias sighed. “I suppose it’s something you should’ve been told. We now believe your mother found a way to the future. If I’m not mistaken, it is why Morfessa would go there.”
Lachlan, kneading the tension from her shoulders, said, “So Morfessa believes if he returns both stones, he will regain my uncle’s esteem?”
“As I said, I can only speculate as to his reasons. But yes, I imagine that is what he hopes.”
“Is ...” Evangeline took a deep breath before continuing, “is my mother alive?”
“No,” Aurora said.
Evangeline looked up, startled to see Aurora standing beside Lachlan. She thought she’d gone out to play with the other children. “How can you know that for certain?”
Aurora’s gaze flicked to Uscias, and he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “I can only tell you what I know to be true.”
Evangeline sought her husband’s gaze. “Do you have a plan?”
“I wouldna call it a plan as such, there’s too much we doona ken. But one thing is certain, someone must go to the future and find him before Dimtri does.”
Everyone spoke at once, arguing who should lead the quest. Lachlan’s fingers tightened on Evangeline’s shoulders when she claimed the right as her own. “Nay, ’twill no’ be ye.”
“It must be Iain who goes.” Stunned into silence by Aurora’s pronouncement, everyone gaped at the little seer.
“Ye canna mean my brother,” Rory said.
Aurora nodded.
Evangeline understood Rory’s disbelief. Iain was the last person she’d choose for the mission. Perhaps, before the loss of his wife and his injuries, she would have considered him. But he was no longer the man he’d once been. The man who’d once thirsted for adventure could not even be cajoled to leave Dunvegan. Bitter and angry, he kept his distance from them all. Evangeline had gone before the Seelie Council to ask that Aurora be allowed to heal him—a talent only the little seer held. Permission had been granted but Iain had refused the offer. Rory thought his brother refused in a misguided attempt to punish himself for his wife’s death.
A part of Evangeline—the part of her that felt guilty for Iain’s suffering—wished he would take up the challenge, afraid if he went on as he did, the Iain she remembered would no longer exist.
Fallyn and her sisters proceeded to tell the three kings how they thought the mission should proceed. Lachlan bit back a frustrated oath and held up his hand. “The Seelie Council convenes on the morrow. We’ll—”
“I shall be attending,” Evangeline said.
“As will I,” Fallyn added with a look that dared Broderick to deny her.
“That ale is soundin’ mighty good aboot now,” Rory said, escaping from the dais with Aidan.
Before Lachlan could follow them, Evangeline took hold of his hand. “We will be discussing this when we get home.”
“Aye, we will.” He leaned in and added on a heated whisper, “But no’ until ye’ve given me my day of birth gift.” Tipping her chin, he kissed any thought of protest from her head.
With the women’s talk centered on the latest development, Evangeline hadn’t noticed Aurora kneeling beside her chair until she felt the light pressure of the child’s hand on her belly. The little girl bent her head as though she listened to something inside Evangeline. At the child’s giggle, Evangeline asked, “What’s so funny?”
“Your baby.”
“My what?” The question exploded from her lips, drawing the attention of the men on the other side of the hall.
Aurora tilted her head, a glimmer of amusement in her blue eyes. “Your baby. He’s playing inside you.”
“I’m having a ...
baby
?” she croaked.
Syrena, Aileanna, Fallyn, and Fallyn’s sisters loudly expressed their delight. Evangeline shushed them, having a difficult time believing the news. “Aurora, are you ...” Her voice trailed off when the little girl lifted her swirling eyes.
No
, Evangeline groaned inwardly.
“The child within you is destined for greatness. Both Mortal and Fae will look to him to lead on the day of reckoning. But beware, even now evil seeks to destroy him. His enemy is close at hand. Guard him well.”
Evangeline stifled a shocked gasp behind her hand. Syrena rushed to her side. Taking the chair next to her, she reached for Evangeline’s hand and squeezed. “Don’t worry. No one will harm your child. We won’t let them.”
“Syrena’s right, Evangeline, your son will have all of us looking out for him. No one who seeks to harm him will get near him,” Fallyn promised.
As the other women added their support, Aurora lifted her gaze and Evangeline started. There was a maturity in the little girl’s bright blue eyes she hadn’t noticed before. Although, if she thought about it, over the last months there’d been other changes. Aurora had become more serious about her studies, not given to bouts of mischievousness or playing with the other children.
“I have been sent to protect your son. His destiny is intertwined with mine. I shall guard him with my life.” Coming from any other child, the promise would be nothing more than a sweet gesture, but Evangeline knew instinctively that one day Aurora would prove to be her son’s closest ally.
“Thank you, all of you. I just wish I knew from whom we protected him,” Evangeline said.
“Aurora, dear, why don’t you go outside to play?” Syrena suggested.
Once the child had left the dais, Syrena said, “No one knows as well as we do, Evangeline, that Aurora’s prophecies can be misinterpreted.”
“I would say the gist of that one was pretty clear,” Evangeline said dryly.
“I’m just saying now is not the time to dwell on it. Enjoy your good news. You are happy about the baby, aren’t you?”
Evangeline couldn’t help but notice that Fallyn and Aileanna were having a difficult time containing their laughter. She supposed she couldn’t blame them. After all, she had never done a very good job of hiding her intolerance of whiny children, especially Ava and Olivia. But she had no need to worry where her child was concerned. He would be perfect in comparison to the little hoydens.
Syrena nudged her. “Here comes the father-to-be. Will you tell him of Aurora’s vision?”
“Yes,” Evangeline said. Watching her husband stride across the hall, she wondered what his reaction would be to the news. “Not now, but later this eve.”
“Why don’t you let Kamden spend the night? Aileanna and Rory are staying, so he’ll have all his cousins to play with.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
Concern furrowed Lachlan’s brow as he came toward her. “What’s wrong, Evie?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” She reached for his hand. “Aurora has just given me the most wonderful news. I now have a birthday present for you. We’re having a baby. You’re going to be a father ... again.”
Lachlan laughed so hard, Evangeline was tempted to hit him. “What’s so amusing? I thought you’d be overjoyed with the news.”