Clan Matheson warrior encampment, Scotland, 1210.

 

In the dead of night, unease consumed Cherub and wouldn’t abate as she paced the sandy shoreline of Loch Alsh. The gentle glow of the moon rippled over the rolling waves and across the treetops of the forest rising high behind their warrior encampment. The foamy swell of the surf tumbled in, bubbled over the tips of her riding boots then washed back out. With her hands raised high and the golden ribbons at the cinched waist of her white gown fluttering about her arms, she allowed the very air itself to whisper across her fingertips and bring to her the secrets it held. As an immortal time-walker and the faerie king’s daughter, her duty to her fae kind who walked this Earth would always come first, no matter what place or time that drew her toward, and in this moment, untold secrets unraveled around her. So many lost souls. So many of her fae kind needing her aid.

“I can sense your worry. Talk to me, my elusive imp.” Kirk, her warrior soul bound mate, stepped in behind her and nuzzled her neck, his body a heavenly heat she wished only to surround herself in.

“No’ only do I sense lost souls this night, but I also sense the pain of loss to come, particularly for one of my fae kind. I also fear ’tis a pain I cannae halt.” She turned around in his loving embrace, slid her fingers through his silky, black shoulder-length locks. Being this close to him soothed her, always eased her tension when naught else could.

“Tell me whose pain you sense.”

“Annella’s. She is soul bound to Alec. The two have actually already met even though they reside over eight-hundred years apart.” Breathing deep, she pinpointed Annella’s current location. She should be right here at their warrior encampment with her father and brother, the young woman an enchanting lass who wore lad’s clothing and was swift with the sword and trained in all manner of warfare. Only something had drawn Annella away from their camp and across their land border with clan MacKenzie, their fiercest enemy. Now, Annella had been strung up within the bow of a tree, her worry and fear pummeling through to her. It vibrated with such strength that she’d easily picked up on it, as had Annella’s closest kin. “Annella’s father and brother both hold the battle skill and have sensed her need for them rising, just as I have. They’ve set out after her, the bonds between the three incredibly strong.”

“How have Annella and Alec already met when you’ve never taken either through one of your portals?” Confusion marred his brow. “I would have noticed them joining us as we traveled.”

“Annella is a spirit-walker and has visited Alec by traveling through the dream realm to him while he sleeps.” She rubbed her cheek against Kirk’s broad chest. “Annella does no’ require one of my portals to reach him.”

“Alec has never mentioned Annella to me before. Are you certain they’re mated?” Alec came from Ivanson Castle, from the same twenty-first century time as Kirk did.

“Very, although even they are unaware a bond has formed between them. Alec believes Annella is naught but an apparition since she remains only visible to him within his dreams, although once Annella’s skill fully evolves, something which is overdue in happening, then she’ll be able to travel to him through the dream realm then emerge and solidify her spiritual body. Spirit-walkers use the dream realm to travel to where they wish to go. That is the essence of their gift.”

“What of the pain of loss you sense is coming?” He caressed her back, his love flowing down their merged link and surrounding her with its vibrant intensity.

“Duncan MacKenzie has already captured Annella, and Niall and Ronan have gone to her. The battle to come is one I cannae halt, because if I do, then I’ll forever alter Annella and Alec’s journey to come. The loss I sense is that of Niall and Ronan. They’ll be captured and taken, for they too have a journey ahead of them. All I can say is that the mated bond is a very sacred union and I’m no’ permitted to breach its creation or completion, no’ for any of my fae kind.”

“Alec is so very far away.”

“Aye, and he is also in denial of their bond, although all mated males long for the chase, and part of their journey is in what they must overcome in order to be with their chosen ones. It builds the foundation for their bond and all that ’twill be. Alec needs to see reason.” In the grassy clearing between the shoreline and the forest, a long line of canvas tents dotted the verge and sixty or so warriors sat around the central blazing fire, all except for Annella, her father and brother. “We must wait until things unravel as they should. I will keep my senses open, listening to all the secrets my element brings me.”

“So even you don’t know all that is about to occur until you’re permitted the knowledge?”

“Aye, very much so. The future is interchangeable, always fluctuating and moving. I have no control over it, or at least a very minimal amount.”

“I truly don’t care for any of our people feeling any pain.” He gripped her tighter around her waist. “Holding back when I know a battle is about to rage isn’t easy.”

“The same goes for me, but Alec’s chase will soon be underway and he must be given the chance to hunt his chosen one as he will be drawn to do.”

Never would she abandon her kin during their time of greatest need, but neither would she betray her duty to them either, so for now, she and Kirk would wait, no matter that doing so pained them both.