Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels #5)(25)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Amber slumped against Gavin and the protective shield around the others returned to just the two of them.

He led her to a chair and sat her down.

She cursed the weakness inside her, hated the effort her body needed for a simple spell. Without the others in the shield, the pain instantly eased to a dull ache.

“Better?” Gavin kissed the edges of her fingers.

“Aye.”

“Protective wards are sealing in the conversations in this room. I suggest if anything truly dire needs to be discussed, it happens in here.”

“How do we know if the wards are holding?” Simon asked.

“Place your hand over the edges of the room.” Gavin instructed.

Simon moved to the corner, waved a hand in the air, and drew it back shaking it as if it stung.

“Simple enough? It will take more of us to place wards over the manor and property. With so few of us here, I’m not sure how successful we’ll be. Though two of you are MacCoinnich’s, I assume you’ll both be more successful than the rest of us.”

“You do this in the future?” Helen asked.

“More like maintain. Wards are piled upon over the years making them stronger with each generation.”

“What happened that prompted this?” Simon asked.

Gavin glanced at Amber then the others. “We noticed a crow watching us. When it didn’t scare away easily, we both knew it was more than an omen. Before I destroyed it I heard it laughing.”

Amber hadn’t been sure if that had been in her imagination or not. She shivered, liking it better when she thought it was all in her head.

“Breaching this compound is as easy as flying over or walking into it. We need to set wards and monitor—”

“Wait…the crow was laughing? How’s that possible?” Helen asked.

“We heard the laughter in our heads,” Amber told her.

“But I thought the shield was protecting you from that kind of thing.”

Disgust rolled through Gavin and hit Amber in her chest. “It wasn’t your fault,” she told him.

He shook his head. “I let you go. I didn’t have to destroy the crow. It wouldn’t have been able to hurt us.”

“Your instincts told you to shoot.”

“You let Amber go?” Simon asked.

“For a few seconds.”

“I take it that didn’t work out very well,” Helen said.

“The pain was instant and debilitating,” Gavin told them.

“Let’s not lose focus here,” Amber redirected them. “A crow, quite possibly guided by a Druid, was feet away from us today. That hasn’t happened since…”

“Since Scotland…since Grainna.” Simon’s words made those in the room pause.

“Controlling animals was one of her gifts?” Gavin asked.

“She could shift, like Simon. But her gifts, as you call them, were too many to count.”

“Grainna is dead.” Simon started to pace the small room.

“That doesn’t mean there can’t be others out there like her,” Mrs. Dawson, who had kept silent, reminded him. “I may not have read all the books in my library, but there are several tales about evil like hers that have existed since before she entered this world. Let’s not forget about Helen’s previous employer.”

“A Druid?” Giles asked.

Helen nodded. “He and his brother…and yes, they were evil to the core. But they too are dead.”

“There are always more to take their place. We can only hope none become as powerful as Grainna.” Gavin squeezed Amber’s hand while he spoke.

“The crow couldn’t have been a shifter. It must have been controlled by someone who could talk to animals.”

“How can you be sure, Simon?” Mrs. Dawson asked.

“When a shifter is injured, they can only hold the shift for a short time. You said you destroyed the crow.”

“I did,” Gavin said.

“Well, whoever decided to invade the sanctuary of your home picked the wrong one. Simon is the most powerful shifter ever known.” Giles said.

“We don’t know if that’s true,” Simon said.

Giles shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure. It’s well documented. First son of Finlay MacCoinnich soars the skies, and swims the oceans, surpassed by none other. Other books state similar themes. Shifters themselves are rare.”

“I’m sure there are others.” Simon clearly didn’t like the praise.

“I remember everything I read, Simon. You’re a rare duck…pun intended. Talking to animals, bending their will…that sort of thing is much more common among Druids than your gift.”

“I could do that as a child.”

“And now someone is watching us. We need to trace the power and find its source.”

“How do you suggest we do that, Kincaid?” Simon asked.

Gavin turned to stare at Helen. “Do you find objects, people, with your gift?”

“I have, but I don’t know if I can follow power.”

“Have you ever tried?” Giles asked.

Helen shook her head.

It looked like she’d have her chance.

****

Giles walked beside Kincaid and Amber as they moved about the library securing wards. At one point, Kincaid stopped beside Amber, removed the band she had holding her hair back, and secured their wrists together with it. “To keep you from slipping away again,” he told her.

Amber smiled and for the first time since Giles had known Kincaid, the man’s face softened. The binding holding them together triggered a thought hovering in his mind. A possible solution, though he knew it wouldn’t be the favored solution.

Once the room was as secure as it could be, Giles returned to the table in the center of the room covered in books. “Kincaid, Lady Amber… I’d like to show you what I’ve found so far,” he told them before they could follow Simon and the others out.

“Something hopeful?” Amber asked.

“Something interesting. I’m not sure how hopeful.”

Once they were seated, Giles swiveled several leather-bound books around so they could see the passages he’d found. “These books are not in this library in the future, which is why they stood out to me. This one,” he tapped on the one closest to him, “was the one I was reading when Helen and Mrs. Dawson summoned me. Inside it speaks of your parents, Lady Amber. About their strong bond and ability to lead armies. Of course, it doesn’t say your mother led any, but my guess is she raised strong sons who fought alongside their father. Most books of this time don’t outright give women their due share of praise.”