Heart Of A Highland Warrior (14 page)

The day of the funeral dawned gray, which to Bree seemed an indicator that nothing was going right. The minister was running late—not that it mattered since Faelan had vanished. Anna still hadn’t shown up, which was really troubling. The Seeker who was coming had gotten delayed. And Matilda had some kind of mishap that had Cody ready to scalp her and everyone around them.

Faelan had planned to reschedule the funeral, but Ronan and Bree had convinced him to continue. Whatever was happening with the vanishing fortress and Anna was big. Faelan was the oldest and strongest warrior the clan had. They needed him to be one hundred percent, not mired in grief.

“Stop pacing,” Ronan growled at Bree.

He was in a foul mood too. He was worried about Anna, afraid he
’d
gotten there too late to save her. “If he doesn’t show up soon, he’s going to miss his brother’s funeral.” Bree plopped down on the sofa, the same one Grandma Emily had used for years. Everything in this room was just like it had been when Grandma Emily lived here. Had Layla sat here? Layla had died when Bree and her twin were babies, so she couldn’t have known her mother anyway. But it hurt more knowing everyone had kept the truth from her.

“He’ll show up.”

Bree laid her hand over her stomach, trying to feel the tiny life growing there. “He didn’t even come to bed last night.” Faelan always came to bed.

Ronan dropped onto the seat beside her. “We were out late helping Lachlan and Marcas search for Anna. He probably didn’t want to wake you.” He cocked one eyebrow, and a slow grin started across his face. “But if he’s slacking on his conjugal duties, darlin’, all you have to do is ask—ouch.”

Bree pulled her hand back after smacking his chest. “You’re not fooling anyone. You’re feeling as guilty as Faelan. You’re just flirting to distract yourself.”

He touched his chest and shrugged. “You’ll have to stop hitting me after my nephew is born. You don’t want to set a bad example.”

“If you don’t stop tormenting Faelan, you won’t be around to be an uncle to the baby. And you know very well we don’t know if we’re having a boy or a girl.”

“I’ll take either,” he said. “Or both. Twins do run in the clan. And didn’t you have a twin? I
’d
say your chances are pretty good.” Ronan put his hand on Bree’s stomach, and the baby—or babies—jumped.

“Did you feel that?”

“Yeah.” Ronan stared at Bree’s belly and then looked away.

“You could have one of your own,” Bree said softly. He must want children, at least subconsciously. He touched her belly every chance he got.

“No thanks. Yours will do just fine. I’ll have my hands full keeping your ancient husband in line.”

Bree looked at her watch and stood. “I’m going to find him. He probably took a walk in the woods.”

Ronan stood next to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “No you don’t. I’m under orders to keep you here.”

“I’m worried about him.”

“He probably needs to settle his head, you know. This is hard for him, thinking Tavis died at sea, now finding out he died here. And in his mind he lost him just a few days ago. Finding the grave has brought back all the guilt. God knows he’s got enough guilt anyway.”

“Huh,” Bree said. “You’re one to talk about guilt. You still believe you’re responsible for Cam’s death.”

“That’s different.” A muscle ticked, just in front of Ronan’s ear. “I know I got my brother killed.”

Ronan’s phone rang before Bree could lecture him on his guilt over Cam. He pulled it out, answered, and Bree watched his face harden.

“What is it?” she asked, clutching his arm.

Ronan hung up. “The blond vampire escaped. What could go wrong next?”

Faelan finally arrived, and the warriors gathered under a cloudy sky to pay their final respects to Tavis Connor. His brother’s final resting place would be the burial vault where Bree had found Faelan. The warriors stood somberly in front of the crypt, waiting as Faelan and Sean spoke to the minister. It wouldn’t be a long service, so they hadn’t even put out chairs. He
’d
grieved for his brother once, and now he had to do it again.

“I still think he should have done the DNA test,” Shay said to Bree.

“Faelan doesn’t want to wait. He’s certain it has to be Tavis. It’s his dagger,” Bree said. “The man is wearing a kilt. The coffin is the right time period.”

“Sucks for Faelan,” Cody said next to Shay, idly playing with her engagement ring. “Like losing his brother twice.”

“Wait,” Shay said. “Isn’t that the minister you said had a nervous breakdown?”

Bree sighed. “Yes, but he was the only one available on short notice.”

Sean and Faelan joined them, and Faelan stood beside Bree. He reached for her hand as the minister took his place in front of the group. The wood coffin rested in the shadows behind him. Faelan had insisted on burying Tavis in his original coffin, though it was rotted in places. Faelan said his brother wouldn’t have wanted to be buried in a fancy box.

“We gather here today on a sad occasion,” the minister began. “But one that isn’t without hope.”

Bree held Faelan’s hand tight as the minister continued. A minute later, something thumped in the crypt. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Faelan said, looking at the crypt.

The minister looked at the coffin. He turned back to the crowd, cleared his throat, and spoke again. “This isn’t the end, but the beginning. Death is not final.”

There was another loud thump, and the minister jumped. Bree wasn’t sure, but she thought he cursed. He swiped a hand over his thinning hair and glanced behind him into the crypt. He sped through the rest of the funeral, periodically looking back at the coffin. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

“Don’t mention dust,” Brodie muttered. “Bloody vampires.”

A crash sounded inside, followed by a roar. The minister screamed and knocked over the makeshift podium as he raced across the graveyard. The warriors moved toward the crypt with one motion, drawing their swords.

“What was that?” Niall asked.

“It’s coming out of a crypt,” Brodie said. “It can’t be good. I hope it’s not that blond vampire.”

“He’s in the dungeon in Scotland,” Shay said.

“Not anymore,” Bree said. “Ronan said he escaped.”

“You watch the front, I’ll take the back,” Shay said. She and Bree were the only ones able to track the vampires’ quick movements, where the others just saw streaks of light. And they could fight the vampires better than the warriors could, as if something was programmed inside them to battle the creatures.

A shadow darkened the door, and a figure stumbled out. He had long, dark hair and wore a kilt and a blood-soaked shirt. There were shouts of alarm as warriors hurried toward the man.

Bree turned to her husband, who looked like he
’d
seen a ghost. He was gripping her arm so hard it hurt. The man in the crypt let out a wild cry and rushed at the warriors. Bree was the only one close enough to hear Faelan’s shocked whisper.

“Tavis. How can you be here?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

T
AVIS WOKE TO
darkness. The time vault. He was trapped. He clawed at the lid, and then remembered he wasn’t inside the time vault, but a burial vault. Anna! She was gone. He shoved the lid with his hands and feet, and it fell onto the floor with a crash.

He heard a man’s muffled voice outside. Voltar? He must have found them and taken Anna. Tavis bounded out of the burial vault with a roar. The sunlight was so bright he couldn’t see, but he could hear the voices. Voltar and his demons. Without waiting until his vision had adjusted, he rushed toward the sounds. He heard someone closing in on him, and he fought blind, using his hearing and his sense of smell in place of sight. Strong arms wrapped around him, holding him fast. The cold blades of several swords pressed against his neck and chest.

“Stop!” someone shouted. The bodies surrounding him vanished, and someone knelt beside him and grabbed his face. “Tavis. How can it be?”

He knew the voice and the smell. He leaned back and saw a man with dark hair and a familiar face. A guttural cry rolled from his own throat as he looked on his brother’s face. “Faelan.”

He raised his eyes. A crowd surrounded him, including four men who
’d
been holding him back, but he paid them no mind, focusing instead on the face he
’d
feared he would never see again. Faelan. Looking just the same as the last time he
’d
seen him, over one hundred fifty years ago. “Brother, you’re alive.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you.”

“But how? Who…?”

“Ian. We had to make sure you were…safe.”

“Daft fool. I should have known you wouldn’t stay behind.” Faelan gripped Tavis’s head and grabbed him in a hug. “It’s my brother,” Faelan said to the men who had stepped aside. He turned to the stunned crowd. “It’s Tavis.”

“The one we’re getting ready to bury?” a red-haired woman asked.

“He’s alive. Tavis is alive.” Faelan let out a whoop, picked Tavis up, and then dropped him on his feet.

“Then who’s in the coffin?” someone asked.

“Quinn,” Tavis muttered.

“The Keeper?” Faelan asked.

“You were right. He does look like you.” A woman stepped next to Faelan. Her eyes were wide and green as emeralds. Her clothing and hair looked different, but the rest was the same.

“Isabel?” How could she be here? In this time?

“I’m Bree, Isabel’s great-great-granddaughter. He knew Isabel,” she said, looking at Faelan. She turned back to Tavis, her eyes filled with tears. “How did you get here?” She gave a soft gasp. “The time vault in the chapel. It’s yours.”

“Aye,” Tavis said.

“But Ma and Da, Ian and Alana…” Faelan shook his head. “You gave up your whole life.”

“There was no other way. We heard about Druan’s virus. We killed his sorcerer, but we knew it would only slow him down.”

“Druan’s dead,” Faelan said.

“Faelan destroyed him and his virus,” said a man standing beside Faelan. He was tall, with dark eyes that were nearly as intense as Faelan’s. Handsome in the way that made women swoon.

“We knew he would try to make another,” Tavis said.

“He didn’t just make it, he released the bloody thing,” a red-haired man said. “But Faelan’s talisman ate it up like snakes swallowing mice.”

“How did you get out of the vault?” a pale-haired woman asked. She had the same green eyes as Isabel’s great-great-granddaughter.

“We’ve all got a thousand questions, but he needs to come inside,” Isabel’s great-great-granddaughter said. “He looks like he might faint.”

“I don’t faint,” he muttered as they helped him inside, where everyone stared at him like something on display in a museum. Faelan sat next to Tavis, his gaze so intent that if they
’d
been in the right century, Tavis would have knocked him off the chair for invading his space. The green-eyed woman who looked like Isabel made introductions.

“As I said, I’m Bree, your brother’s wife. You can see he
’s
a bit overwhelmed.”

Faelan had found a wife? Here? Tavis guessed he
’d
had no choice but settle for someone besides his destined mate, if you believed things like that.

Faelan’s wife—Bree—introduced everyone there: Ronan, the handsome one; Niall, who looked like a blond ox; Cody, an intense-looking man; and Shay, the pale-haired woman with green eyes. Brodie and Sorcha were the ones with red hair. “And this is Duncan. He’s a descendant of Ian’s. Doesn’t he look like Faelan? And you?” Bree asked.

Remarkably so.

The red-haired woman stood near Duncan. “He looks more like Tavis than the pictures I’ve seen of Ian,” she said, peering intently at Tavis’s face.

“He should see a doctor,” someone else said. “He looks like he’s gonna pass out.” He couldn’t see who spoke. He was focused on keeping the room from tilting.

“Where’s Tomas?”

“I think he’s at the castle. I’ll call Sean.”

“Don’t worry,” Bree said. “Faelan went through this when he woke from his time vault. Sleeping and then eating everything in the house. You’ll feel better after a couple days of rest.”

He started to tell them that he had been out of the time vault for many days, but he suddenly felt too weak to explain. He had to save his words for what was important. “I can’t stay. I have to find Anna.”

“Anna?” Faelan asked. “How do you know Anna?”

The faces blurred into one large blob of flesh. “She hid me in the crypt.”

“Hid you from who?” someone asked.

“Voltar and Tristol.”

His consciousness gave way to a ring of curses.

“How did he run into Anna?”

“I guess we won’t know until he wakes.”

“I know you want to talk to him, but he needs sleep. Remember how you were.”

“Voltar and Tristol. We’re up the creek.”

The voices woke him, but he didn’t know who was speaking.

“He’s waking up.”

He opened his eyes. He was lying in a bed, surrounded by people all still staring at him. “Bloody hell,” he said, trying to sit.

“Lie down,” Faelan said. He sat next to the bed, and Isabel—Bree—stood beside him. Ronan stood at the foot of the bed. Two of him. Tavis shook his head.

“How are you feeling?” Bree asked.

“I’m seeing double.”

Bree leaned closer, examining him. “Concussion, probably. He’s obviously been beaten. How many fingers am I holding up?” she asked.

“Three,” Tavis said.

“Now?” She held up one.

“One.” Tavis looked back at the foot of the bed. “But there’s two of him.”

Bree looked around. “That’s Ronan and Declan. Twins.”

“Good. I’m not barmy.” His chest was bare. Someone had undressed him and bandaged his wounds.

Declan was introduced, as well as Shane, a long-haired, slender man standing quietly in the back of the room. Tavis vaguely remembered meeting the others.

“He needs food before we start grilling him, poor man,” Bree said, touching his hand. He felt a tingle run up his arm, reminding him of the shocks he
’d
gotten from the guard and his bloody toys.

“Shay’s bringing it,” Ronan said. “Cody’s bringing water and bandages.”

The pale-haired woman appeared at the door carrying a tray. Ronan took it from her and carried it to the bed.

Tavis sat up. “I’m not an invalid.” He didn’t need all this fussing over. He needed to get out of here and find Anna. “We need to look for Anna.”

“You can’t look for Anna without something to give you strength,” Shay said.

“I’ll eat later,” Tavis said.

“You might as well give up now, man,” Ronan said, putting the tray on Tavis’s lap. “You’re outmanned by those two.”

A disrespectful way to speak about lasses, Tavis thought.

Brodie nodded in agreement. “You
’d
have a better chance stopping a steamroller.”

Streamroller? Did they all speak so strange? But he
’d
slept for generations. Times had changed.

“But Anna’s injured.”

“We’re searching for her,” Faelan said. “You need rest. You look like a lion tried to chew a hole in your shoulder.”

“Tomas is on his way,” Duncan said. The one who looked enough like Faelan and Tavis to be a brother, making Tavis miss Ian all the more. His family. They were all gone. But he
’d
known going in that this would be the cost. They would have suffered as well. Ian carrying a burden no man should carry. Had he managed to live a good life? Marry his Bessie, have bairns?

And poor Alana, losing Da and two of her brothers close together. And Ma. He hadn’t even gotten to say good-bye. She must have been sick with grief. Had Ian told her the truth? How had she managed? What would she think to see them together now? Two of her sons, living well beyond their normal years?

“Tomas is the medic.” Duncan laid a small black box type thing on a table. He
’d
been holding it to his ear. He must have seen Tavis frowning. “This is a cell phone. You can talk to people on it.”

And he was the one with the addled brain, Tavis thought, and then decided Duncan must have been jesting. Poor time for frivolity.

A man entered the room and was introduced as Tomas. He had light hair and a kind smile.

“That was fast,” Ronan said. “What
’d
you do? Take the helicopter?”

“I was already on my way to the castle,” Tomas said. He checked Tavis over, the exposed parts anyway, while everyone watched. But after days on end alone, going out of his mind with loneliness, he didn’t mind the company. In fact, he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to be alone again. Anna’s face came to mind. She
’d
saved his life.
Where are you?

Tomas gave him medicine for the pain and declared that he would heal nicely, but he needed rest and food. But he
’d
slept so much in the dungeon, he didn’t want to waste any more time sleeping. Not with Anna still out there.

“Do you want to rest?” Faelan asked. “Or are you up to talking? We all have questions.”

Tavis answered their questions, but his mind kept drifting off, wondering where Anna was, if she was hurt. He realized Faelan was speaking to him.

“What did you ask?”

“Why is Quinn buried in a coffin where my time vault was?”

“Frederick and Isabel offered us the crypt and a grave for Da and Quinn, but we couldn’t tell them you were already in the crypt. So we put Quinn in the hole where your time vault had been buried.”

“We found your dagger and thought it was your coffin. We were told you were buried at sea.”

“That was Ian’s idea, so no one would come looking for me and find you. We weren’t sure who to trust.”

“But the clan already knew about the crypt,” Faelan said. “They just couldn’t find the key. Isabel and Frederick had it.”

“Ian must have decided the Council could be trusted if he told them where you were.”

“Da? Where is he buried?” Faelan asked.

“In the graveyard. I’ll show you.”

Faelan nodded. “After you’ve rested.”

“We know how you got inside the time vault,” Brodie said. “But how did you get out?”

“A man. He said his name was Angus.”

“Angus.” Faelan’s jaw was tight, and the others looked similarly disturbed.

“He took me to a house. He said Druan was looking for him. For me. He thought I was you. Where is he?”

“He’s dead. Druan had him killed.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I properly thanked him. He was brave.”

“He was,” Declan said. “Anna still hasn’t recovered from his death.”

Anna?

“She and Angus had a thing,” Brodie said.

A thing? What was a thing? Like lovers?

“How did you end up in the fortress?” Cody asked.

“Tristol must have followed Angus and me. I was still weak from the time vault, and Tristol grabbed me, bloody bastard. I woke up in the fortress.”

“You must have been there since around the time Angus died,” Declan said.

“I don’t know. I was unconscious part of the time. Anna arrived two days ago, I think.”

“How did you escape?” Shane asked.

“There was another prisoner there. He showed us a way out of the fortress and helped us escape. We were attacked outside by wolves, but the creatures didn’t follow us through the veil.”