Highlander's Seduction (The Matheson Brothers #3)

“Then help yourself to whatever you wish.” Cherub collected the corner armchair for Arabel and offered it to her. Arabel thanked her and sat.

“My hungry cubs seem to want an inordinate amount of meat right now.” Isla selected a slice of bread and added a large wedge of beef and a sliver of cheese, her yellow gown with its long embroidered sleeves swaying gently over her wrists. She munched and moaned. “Mmm, this is just what I—they needed.”

“Now that we’re all here, I have good news I wish to share.” Cherub picked up her tea cup and sipped the hot brew. “Last eve, I spoke the spell needed to bind Kirk’s soul to mine. There is none now who can ever part us.”

“That’s the best news.” Isla beamed.

“Oh aye, you have my most heartfelt congratulations as well.” Arabel clapped. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thank you, yet even in my happiness, I cannae forget that there remains a very real threat looming on the horizon. The Chief of MacKenzie intends to rule these waterways, and it appears he hopes to do so with the aid of a time-walker. Which means I need to know exactly what his coming plans are, then to halt him afore he can see to them. He must be stopped.”

“I agree.” Fire flared to life on Arabel’s fingertips, her tone impassioned. “My apologies, but any talk of Colin MacKenzie always sets my anger to rising and fire to flaring. He cannae be allowed to harm anymore of our kin.”

“I detest the man too, my dear, and you’ve no need to apologize.” Nessa shuffled her chair closer to Arabel’s and squeezed her granddaughter’s shoulder.

“Then I shall leave immediately and ensure he cannae harm another soul.” Cherub stood and glanced at Arabel and Isla. “When I am as one with the air, I can slip in and out of the smallest of spaces. I shall return once I know exactly what is going on.”

“You must take care,” Isla murmured as she rose to her feet.

“I shall.” She melted into a mist and flowed out the open window. “Kirk?”

“I’m here. Is something wrong?”

“Nay, I just needed to hear your voice.” Over the treetops, she soared then swept high into the sky, each breath she took coming harder and faster the farther she moved away from her mate. Pain lanced through her chest, so strongly and so swiftly she was forced to slow her ascent. The castle far below was a mere pinprick of gray amongst the jewel blues of the loch and the lush greens of the forest.

Confusion swirled through her mate’s mind and raced along their link. “I can sense distance between us. Where are you?”

She rose through a layer of puffy white cloud, the air stirring and swirling all about. “There are certain matters I must attend to.”

“We spoke about this. Where you go, is where I go.”

“You’re busy with your brothers right now and I didnae wish to take you away from them.” She was also used to being alone. “You must give me some time to accept all these new changes. I have acted alone for so long.”

Swiftly, she sped across the loch and along the land toward the northeast. Being as one with her element allowed her far faster movement, and right now, there could be no more delay.

“Soul bound mates should never be separated. We’re a pair, best together and never apart. I’m here to aid you.”

“You’re right, although I’m almost where I need to be.” She soared down through the sudden stillness in the air and skimmed the gray mist sitting low over the water, the fortified walls of the MacKenzie’s keep shrouded within them. “How are your brothers this morn?”

“On edge now since I am. Tell me exactly where you are.”

“The MacKenzie wants a time-walker, and I need to know why. Until he is halted, Amelia and all those within the village remain in danger. That I cannae allow.” She breezed over the foggy curtain wall and into the bailey. Below, men trained in battle leathers, dust pluming at their feet and mingling with the hazy air, their claymores clashing and each strike ringing loud in her ears. Slowly, she circled the tower house then slipped inside the front door of the keep as a lad in breeches with suspender straps looped over his shoulders swept dirt from the doorway, outside.