Beyond the Highland Myst(502)

"Then I'm going too," Gwen said instantly.

"Nay!" Drustan and Dageus both snapped at the same time.

Gwen glared. "I will not be left behind."

"Neither of you will be going." Dageus halted that argument before it built steam. "We have no guarantee that the Tuatha Dé Danaan didn't plant other dangers in the in-between. Any Keltar who opens a bridge for personal reasons is at risk. No Keltar but I will be opening any bridges to another time. I'm already dark. Besides, what one brings into the stones at one end doesn't always show up on the other end. I lost several heirlooms when I came through last time."

Gwen nodded slowly. "That's true. I lost my backpack. It went spiraling off into the quantum foam somewhere. We can't risk trying to bring the books through."

"Can you open the stones safely? What will the use of magic do to you?" Drustan asked cautiously. To Gwen, who hadn't been privy to their earlier conversation, he explained, "When he uses magic, it makes the… er, ancient ones stronger."

"Then maybe you shouldn't go," Gwen worried.

Dageus exhaled dismally. All his hopes were pinned on those Keltar texts, and he'd wasted as much time as he dare. "If what you say is true, and the tomes aren't here, I doona have a choice. As for the magic, I'm more concerned about what Da might do to me. I'll deal with the darkness somehow."

"We're clan, Dageus," Drustan said softly. "Da would never turn his back on you. And the timing couldn't be more fortuitous. The spring equinox is but a few days hence—"

" 'Tis no' necessary," Dageus cut him off. "I can open the stones any day, at any hour."

"What?" Drustan and Gwen exclaimed together. " 'Twould seem our esteemed benefactors withheld significant portions of knowledge from us. The stones can be opened any time. It but requires a different set of formulas."

"And you know these formulas?" Drustan pressed. "Aye. Because those within me do. Their knowledge is mine."

"Why would such knowledge have been withheld from us?"

"I suspect they intended it as a deterrent to keep a Keltar from opening a bridge through time rashly. One might entertain the notion—say, if one's brother died—to go through the stones that very day and undo it. But if one was forced to wait until the next solstice or equinox, one might have endured the worst of the grief by that time, and decide against it." Dageus's voice dripped self-mockery.

"How long did you wait?" Drustan asked quietly.

"Three moons, four days and eleven hours."

No one said anything for a time after that. Finally, Gwen shook herself, and rose. "While you two discuss this, I'll go prepare a room for Chloe."

"She sleeps with me," Dageus said in a low growl.

"She said you weren't sleeping together," Gwen said evenly.

"Christ, Gwen, what did you do? Ask her?"

"Of course I did," Gwen replied, as if she couldn't believe he'd even ask such a silly question. "But aside from admitting that much, she wasn't exactly forthcoming. So, what is she to you?"

"His mate," Drustan said softly.

"Really?" Gwen beamed. "Oh!" She dapped her hands delightedly. "I'm so happy for you, Dageus!"

Dageus pinned her with a forbidding stare. "Och, lass, are you witless? 'Tis no' a time for celebration. Chloe doesn't ken what I am and—"

"Don't underestimate her, Dageus. We women are not as fragile as you men like to believe."

"Then put her in my room," he said evenly.

"No," Gwen said just as evenly.

"You will put her in my room."

Gwen tipped her chin up and fisted her hands at her waist, staring him down. For a moment, Dageus was reminded of Chloe brandishing one of his own blades at him, and wondered how such wee women could be so unafraid of men such as he and his brother. Remarkable, but they were.

"No, I won't, Mr. Big Bad and Dark," she said. "You don't scare me. And you're not bullying me, or her, into anything we don't want."

"You shouldn't just go about asking people if they're sleeping with each other," he hissed.

"How else was I going to know where to put her?"

"By asking me." He glowered but she showed no signs of budging, so he turned to Drustan for support.

Drustan shrugged. "My wife is lady of the castle. Doona be looking to me."

"She's safe here, Dageus," Gwen said gently. "I'll put the two of you across the hall from each other. She can share your room if she chooses to."

As Gwen slipped from the library, she cast a last glance over her shoulder at the two magnificent Highlanders. She was both elated and deeply troubled, elated that Dageus had come home, troubled by what was yet to come. She and Drustan had been so certain their idea would work, they'd not thought beyond it.