“No, father.”
“So he is the man who...” He saved her the embarrassment of finishing his sentence.
“He is.”
Ian turned so fast she had to move quickly. “And I am to accept him into my home?”
“Just as he accepted me into his.”
“Ha! What father would allow that?” He opened the decanter of Scotch and poured some into a glass.
“The father that sent me away knew the risks, and the consequences.” She pointed out to him.
“Why is he here?”
“I do not know. He ran in after Fin, Lizzy and Simon.”
“Something must have gone wrong.” He finished his drink with one swallow. “Find your brother and send him to me.”
Myra’s mother shuffled him into a room by candle light. “I’ll be back in a moment,” she said before ducking out the door. The sparsely furnished room, with towering walls and a fireplace on one end, surprisingly looked exactly as he’d pictured Myra’s home to be. He hadn’t expected her parents to be so young. He should have, he chided himself. During these times, people were married and having children before the average twenty-first century kid received their High School diploma. Still, their youth surprised him.
Todd scanned the room and lit three wall sconces to add light to the dim space. “Jesus. I’m really here.”
A timid knock sounded at his door. He spun around, uncertain what to do.
“Yes?” He called out.
“’Tis Amber, Myra’s sister. May I come in?”
“Ah, yeah.”
A mass of dark hair popped through followed by the youngest MacCoinnich. Todd knew instantly how Myra must have looked as a child. Amber held a bundle of clothing and quickly placed them on the bed. “My mother asked that I bring these. She asked that ye, ah, I mean you, come down once you’ve changed.” A warm smile followed her words. Her attempt to make him comfortable didn’t go unnoticed.
“Thank you.”
Her long skirts made wispy sounds as the fabric moved along the floor. She stopped in front of the fireplace. “The room’s cold. Would ye-you like a fire?”
“Ah, well...” the girl didn’t give him time to say a thing. She simply opened her hands and flames leapt between the logs. Amber turned and charmed him with another smile.
“I don’t suppose there’s any way I can learn to do that?”
She giggled before walking up to him and patting his hand like a parent would a child.
“Welcome to Scotland,” she said before leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Todd removed his clothes and tucked them away in a chest at the foot of the bed. He kept his leg holster and back up revolver in place and shrugged the long sleeved shirt before attempting to put on the snug pants he’d seen only in stage plays or history books. “Oh, hell. I feel like Peter Pan,” he mumbled to himself.
He took his time composing himself before working his way downstairs. Todd found Myra and her mother by the fireplace in the main hall. Myra caught her lip between her teeth, and her eyes sparkled with joy.
Todd asked, “Where is everyone?”
“My father, Fin and a few others went to search for the remaining stones.”
“They’ve been quite a while.” Lora added.
Behind him, Lizzy descended the stairs, her arm around Simon, both transformed by the clothing they wore.
Todd didn’t need an introduction to the couple who followed them. Tara McAllister, now MacCoinnich, stood by her husband and looked exactly like the photo he’d studied in an attempt to find her.
“Todd Blakely, this is my oldest brother Duncan and his wife Tara.” Myra made the introductions.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Blakely,” Tara managed.
“Aye, a lot,” was all Duncan said. He did shake Todd’s hand, but his death-grip reminded him of his place.
The door opened and Fin and Ian strode inside.
Lora hurried to her husband’s side. “Did ye find them?”
“Only one, love.”
“What does that mean?” Simon asked.
It means we’re screwed, kid. Todd kept his thoughts to himself, refusing to think beyond the day. “It means we’re stuck here, doesn’t it?” Lizzy asked on a sigh.
Fin nodded. “Aye. All of you.”
Silence filled the room until Amber bounced down the stairs. At her side was another MacCoinnich son, the family resemblance, striking.
Todd did a little mental math and realized there was an end to Myra’s family. His eyes shifted around the room. The men stared at him, while the women watched Myra.
Amber broke the tension. “’Tis time to eat. I’m sure Lizzy and Simon are hungry.”
“I’m starving,” Simon said as he followed the girl into another room.
They gathered again around the table, serving themselves after dismissing the kitchen help for the night.
Simon sat close to his mother with Fin flanking him on his other side. Ian sat at the head of the table with Lora and Myra close at hand. Todd sat strategically on the far end of the table.
Todd wasn’t easily intimidated, but Ian MacCoinnich’s deadly stare caught him off guard.
Even the encouraging smiles from Myra didn’t block the chill coming off her father. Stiff spines came from Duncan and even the teenager, Cian.
Fin tolerated him with more patience than the others. Nothing like engaging in a little battle to bring a couple of guys together.
“We need to find her weakness.”
“Or a power to keep her from controlling our breathing.”
“Maybe you can send her back again,” Myra added.
“And let her take the stones with her? I don’t think so.” Ian’s voice of authority stopped that flow of conversation. “Grainna is dangerous to all time now. There is no way of knowing if she can work with the stones and the power they hold.”
“I thought the stones were controlled by the Ancients,” Todd said.
Myra nodded. “Ultimately they are, but Grainna is very powerful. There’s no telling what she can do.
They are dangerous in the wrong hands, and her hands are most definitely the wrong ones.”
“What about the guy who was with her?”
Fin spoke up, “He looked familiar, but I couldn’t see him well in the dark. Simon, did you hear his name?”
“She didn’t talk much, at least not out loud. I heard her call him Mr. Steel, but I never heard a first name.”