Well, all the men save one. Cian’s reaction needed to be analyzed.
The muddy sound of a horse approaching brought his attention to the misty darkness in front of him.
Amber?
Aye.
Listening to her in his head held a strange comfort. Even though she didn’t offer anything other than confirmation, it was her approaching.
She sat on the back of a horse; her brother Fin sat in front.
Fin swung from the horse and captured Amber’s hand to help her dismount. The hood of her cloak covered her face, masking any emotions he might see.
Long layers of dark fabric covered her lithe frame. She moved in the gown with the ease of a woman born in them, ever so much a lady.
Fin handed her over to Kincaid, who happily took her hand.
“Give me time to make it back and circle in from the North.”
“I’m familiar with the land, Fin.”
“As am I,” Amber said.
Fin returned to his horse and kicked it into a run.
Alone, Kincaid watched his wife.
“You missed your family.”
“Desperately. But I shouldn’t have come here the way I did.”
“I won’t argue that.”
“I’m sorry, Gavin. I was scared.”
He pulled her farther under the tree to add some protection from the drizzle. “You have to learn to trust me, Amber. Maybe that would be easier for you to do if you didn’t work so hard to keep me out of your head.”
“But I’m not.”
“You are. Even now. I see the stress in your eyes, the tension in the way you stand, but your emotions are highly detached from inside my head. Emotions I felt before we bonded.”
“I haven’t learned to separate your shield from my gift. Not completely.”
Then simply open your mind to hear my voice. Can you do that?
I’ll try.
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
For the first time since they arrived in this time, she offered him a smile.
You’re so very beautiful.
Her cheeks started to resemble the pink rays of sun starting to lift over the horizon.
Thank you. She lowered her eyes.
“I’m embarrassing you.”
“I’m not used to the compliments.”
“Well prepare yourself, Amber Kincaid. I plan on complimenting you often.”
She giggled and he felt a smile on his lips.
“C’mon, m’lady. Your family awaits. I really don’t want them to worry more than they already are.”
He helped her onto the back of the horse and pulled himself up behind her. He held her slim waist with one hand and the reins with the other.
He led the horse to the north in a wide berth before heading toward the Keep.
“Should I worry about Cian?”
“I want to say no. He lost the most when we battled Grainna. The girl he loved fell victim and died before we could destroy the witch. I suppose if any of us knew of a child of Grainna’s we might have searched them out.”
“Guilty by association?”
“I don’t know. Men in these times battle families based on the past deeds of their ancestors. My father has never ruled that way, but ’tis hard to say if he would have, had he known of a child.”
The fog pulled in around them, and he slowed the horse down to see the silhouette of the Keep.
“And if I carry her blood…will your father damn me?”
He felt her answer before she said a word. “Nay. My father will judge you on your merits. He will worry and question. Grainna held so many powers, dark menacing power. Yet she was beautiful on the outside. Only her dark eyes gave away her evil. The contradiction is what will keep my family on alert.”
“Hmm. What about you, Amber? Will you damn me?”
She twisted and looked up at him.
Kincaid pulled the horse to a stop and opened his mind for her to search for answers.
“You’re worried Giles is right.”
“I am.” Because the evidence Giles found in the past seldom led them down the wrong path.
“Then we’ll battle whatever internal conflict might occur together.”
His chest warmed with the conviction of her words. He leaned down and briefly touched his lips to hers.
She didn’t flinch.
“Let’s get you home,” he told her.
Without effort, the horse started to move again, carefully picking his way through the fog.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I did what I could, but the children were charmed...protected.”
“I wanted you to bring them to me.”
Mouse barely held himself up. “I couldn’t touch them. The power surrounding them was too great. You wanted to create panic, which was achieved with the death of the parents.”
Raine seethed, gripped the back of the chair.
“Did you at least penetrate the manor?”
“Yes. Briefly.”
Mouse wasn’t meeting her eyes.
“Well?”
“Kincaid and Amber were both gone. Slid in time.”
“Forward or back?”
“Back. Far back.”
Raine hid a smile. At least that part worked.
The manor would fill quickly now. Because Mouse had been inside and laid his own blood, he would be able to penetrate the wards that would undoubtedly be placed. Only Mouse wasn’t cunning enough or strong enough to finish the job Raine was preparing for.
No…she needed eyes back in time and the blood of another.
Mouse barely kept his eyes open.
She still needed him, but needed him more alert than he currently was. “Seek your bed, Mouse.”
He nearly collapsed with pleasure.
“Before you do, send Clarisse to me.”
Raine waited for the woman and smiled when she entered the room. “Just the talent I need.”
****
It was impossible not to smile.
She was home. Alive and home.
The laughter of the children was more welcome than it had ever been before. With Gavin’s shield, she didn’t feel their worry or their overriding emotions that once caused her pain. No, she only heard their excitement, constant chatter, and questions. All of them asked about the manor in the future. The manor had briefly been a sanctuary for them. A wonderful escape into a future they will hear a lot about but would probably never live in.
Aislin, Myra and Todd’s youngest daughter, sat curled in Amber’s lap and listened to all the chatter.
“You look so different,” Fiona told her. Tara and Duncan’s only daughter sat beside Selma, her cousin while all the boys grouped together and kept a watchful eye on Gavin. Her poor husband had no less than six sets of eyes on him at all times. If not the children’s, then the adults in the room. Except for Cian. He decided to ride to the village and avoid any more words on the touchy subject of Grainna’s blood.