Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels #5)(52)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Kincaid leaned forward and laid his hand across the table. She hesitated for a moment before laying her hand in his. Their connection sparked and a sense of peace filled his blood. “Your father’s approval is important to you?”

“Aye.”

“Then we should return to your time. Inform your family what has happened.” If he ever had a daughter, he’d want to know if she was safe. Ian MacCoinnich might be the patriarch of damn near his entire race, but he was still a man…a father.

“You’d do that for me?”

“Amber,” he uttered her name in a whisper. “My life is in as much turmoil as yours. We have both leapt into this bond, but I’d like to think there was something there before the leap. Your portrait on the wall drew my attention, and you’ve captured something deeper than just an attraction.”

The edges of her embarrassment developed in her blushing cheeks.

“I find you attractive, too,” she said in a whisper.

He wanted to laugh, but held it in. “That’s a start.”

“Is it enough? We’re bonded…married.”

The thought chilled him. Her worry? Or maybe it was his. “We’ll figure it out. Families arranged marriages for years, especially in your time.”

“That was never a concern of mine. My father didn’t follow that tradition.”

Her father was obviously the obstacle to help her past her fears. The thought of meeting Ian face to face didn’t sit well in his gut. Once again, Kincaid shielded his thoughts as best he could from his wife. They would need to visit her family as soon as time permitted. She needed their strength and their approval to move forward.

And moving forward, in order to find their place in life, was essential for him to return to his world.

He paused and realized he wasn’t sure where that was anymore.

Past, present or future? He didn’t know.

****

Giles huddled over the book that had fallen off the shelf and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

Why was this information coming to him now? To confuse him or to make him question all he knew? Did he dare look for answers?

Grainna, the evil one the MacCoinnich’s removed from all time, had bore one child. A product of a union, a ritual that gave her immortality that only the MacCoinnich’s could remove. She discarded her child as if it were garbage.

Giles cross-referenced his books—found other information on the lineage of that child, of their children. The story was always the same…a child was born and discarded. In early times, the legends said the adult child understood the power they held, and attempted to exploit it and others. In some generation’s accounts, the child did not know of their bloodline.

Then, in the last pages of the book Giles held, he read the most cryptic and disturbing prophecy of them all.

Only when the powerful one bonds and complete their union with one of equal gift, will the cycle be broken…and then the gifts of the forefathers and mothers will come together. This bond will come from two opposing families…enemies.

A crossroad will follow where the path of good or evil will be chosen. Power, in this time, will mean everything, and the path of right will have been nearly forgotten.

From this day forward, the path will not be recorded to protect and preserve the future.

May God be with us all.

Giles slammed the book closed, crossed his arms on the desk, and laid his head down.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Raine knew the moment Mouse returned to their time. The shiver up her spine was a physical sign of pleasure, much like a cat purring or a dog rolling on his back for a rub to its stomach.

Mouse arrived with enough information to dent the armor of the MacCoinnich lineage—possibly even change history. What good was time travel if one could not alter the outcome in favor of oneself, anyway?

She sensed him at the door of her chamber and bid him enter.

The man had circles under his eyes, the effect of lack of sleep and too many trips through time without rest.

“Well?” she asked, skipping all pleasantries.

He held onto the back of a chair as he spoke. “The librarian has the book.”

“And?”

Mouse shook his head and closed his eyes. “Is Kincaid really a descendent of Grainna herself?”

“You’re not here to ask questions, Mouse. Just tell me what you know.”

“There isn’t much to tell. Selma Mayfair moved into the manor.” Mouse pressed a button on the timepiece on his wrist and accessed the holo projection in Raine’s room. A picture of a law enforcement officer of the twenty first century played on screen. “This man is not Druid.” The images shifted and two identical children appeared next to a woman. “These are his children and his former wife.”

Raine smirked. “So many broken marriages in this time. Who are they to Amber and Kincaid?”

“No one directly. However this man,” the image flipped back to the officer. “He was a close colleague to the second sister’s husband.”

“The second sister?”

“Amber’s sister.”

Raine pushed from where she was perched and started to pace. Now the pieces fall into place.

The pieces and the path.

“Tell me of the manor. And then tell me the routine of these children.”

Because nothing created chaos quite like a child in need.

****

Amber exited the car with Gavin’s hand in hers. He paused under the moon and stroked a stand of hair that had fallen in her face. “We’re going to be okay, Mrs. Kincaid.”

“I want to think so.” They’d talked all night of their lives before he entered hers. Just under the surface lay worry. The fact she had trouble hearing all his thoughts and that he had managed to keep her out of his head as much as she had kept him out of hers, troubled her. She wanted to mask her insecurities, her worry of being inadequate as a wife and companion. What did she know of anything other than being a child? The opportunity of living her life hadn’t presented itself until Gavin entered her world.

Adding to her unease was the strong desire to see her family, to speak with her mother, and seek her father’s approval. They would want to see her well and alive, but would they approve of her rash decision to bond with a stranger? And why did it matter so very much?

She knew the answer to that.

She’d lived under the protection of her family her entire life. Never once had she been in a position to make a decision for herself.

When she had made a decision, it was the ultimate one.