Nine
Bridgette jerked awake, confused for a moment. The bright sunlight shining in from the window and the soft bed underneath her made her realize she’d slept through the night and once again had dreamed of Lachlan. A deep, pulsing ache filled her belly and lower between her legs. A blush heated her face. How long would the desire for him fill her body and consume her sleeping hours? What if she could never dispel him from her heart? Was she truly in his? She groaned at the questions flooding her mind and squeezed her eyes shut.
Suddenly, the words she’d been told by a seer back home, that she and Lachlan had a future, echoed in her memory. The woman had said that maybe Bridgette would have Lachlan’s love but maybe she wouldn’t. Bridgette had believed in the power of the seer’s visions all her life, as all her family and most people she knew did. She still didn’t think there was any chance she and Lachlan could ever be together, but she had a deep burning need to talk to a seer once more, to find out what the woman saw when she touched Bridgette. And Bridgette knew that a seer named Eolande lived at the Fairy Pools.
Filled with sudden purpose, Bridgette scrambled out of bed, hurriedly dressed, and made her way down the stairs toward the great hall. She intended to break her fast quickly before obtaining a horse and making her way to the Fairy Pools, but as she started toward the great hall, she saw Lachlan and Helena standing in the doorway speaking. Bridgette froze as Lachlan glanced her way. Even from the distance, she could feel his gaze raking over her. Suddenly, Helena reached up, grasped Lachlan by the chin, and turned his face back to her.
Bridgette spun around and fled as her heart raced. There may be a reason for Lachlan’s pledge of a future to Helena beyond love or desire, but Helena appeared to be a woman intent on keeping Lachlan.
Bridgette strode through the courtyard, thinking upon her decision to tell Graham she could never marry him. She wished she’d considered sooner how it would not be fair to him. She’d only thought of her guilt and what she believed she owed him for what he’d done for her, but Graham deserved so much more than a wife who knew she would never love him with her whole heart. She prayed he would not be too angry or hurt.
It did not take long to secure a horse once she explained to the overly worried stable master that she was perfectly capable of riding to the Fairy Pools alone. Soon she was travelling over the hills and through valleys as she thought more upon the seer. The seer back in MacLean land had told her she would get the man of her dreams if she granted Marion the favor she had requested, and when Marion had requested help with Iain, Bridgette had obliged. She’d been sure the man she would get would be Lachlan, as he had been the only man she’d ever dreamed of. How could she have been wrong? This was one of the reasons she felt compelled to seek out the seer here.
The journey to the Fairy Pools took several hours, and just as Bridgette was beginning to worry that she may need to turn back to reach Dunvegan before dark, she spotted the winding creek path that she knew led to the pools.
She guided the horse along the path. The closer she drew to the glen, the thicker the grass became beneath the horse’s hooves until it was a lush green all around Bridgette. Despite the cold temperatures, patches of yellow and purple flowers littered the hills. She dismounted her horse, secured it, and then drew her cloak around her as she trudged down the hill toward the glen. Her footsteps fell silent in the grass. Trees with gnarled trunks lined either side of the path up ahead like ancient wooden soldiers. She stared in wonder at the trees as she walked toward the path. The wind blew around her and birds called above her, but when she went between two mountains, all sounds seemed to cease. Her breathing and the hum of rushing water somewhere in the distance filled the silence.
Her skin prickled with excitement and a bit of fear. With each step she took along the path, shadows grew above her as the rocks formed a barrier to block her view of the sky. As she walked, though the sun was no longer visible, the temperature seemed to grow warmer and the flowers bolder in color, until she drew in a sharp breath and stared in astonishment at the vivid purple flowers all around.
She skipped stones across water to the next hill and then began the steady climb up the rocky, jagged terrain. When she came to the top of the first crest, the rocks seemed to part and the bright-blue sky shone above her. Before her, as far as she could see, was one peak after another. To her right was a steep decline that fell to a bluish-green body of water, except for the frothy white that came rushing from the waterfall above. Down, somewhere in that nook, was the cave where Eolande lived.
It took Bridgette awhile to descend the rocky terrain. She picked her way carefully down the steep slope, and once she reached the bottom, she wiped her damp brow and made her way along the edge of the water toward a cave that had not been visible from the cliff. When she finally reached the cave, she paused, unsure whether to enter or beckon to the seer. Bridgette supposed asking permission for entrance was the customary thing.
“Eolande,” she called. “Might I enter the cave and talk to ye?”
“Enter,” a strong, musical voice answered from within.
Bridgette walked slowly into the cave, coming to a stop when she could see what lay inside. Her breath hitched in her throat at the breathtaking view before her. The cave was round with a pool of dark-blue water in the middle of it. On the opposite side, the cave opened to the outside, allowing sunlight into the area. A waterfall gushed down that side of the cave, and beyond the veil of white mist, sumptuous green trees swayed. To the right of the cave were stone steps that led up the side of the cave into a dark, shadowed area.
Bridgette pulled her gaze from the steps to search for Eolande and let out a gasp to find a beautiful, dark-haired, violet-eyed young woman standing in front of her. The woman wore a white léine and nothing else, save a crown of violet flowers atop her head. Bridgette swallowed. “Are you Eolande?”
“Aye. And ye are Bridgette MacLean, sister of laird Alex MacLean.”
Bridgette tried not to show her surprise that the woman knew their names. “Ye’re much younger than I was expecting.”
A smile played at the woman’s lips. “Nae all seers are old crows, Bridgette. I’ve been expecting ye.”
“Ye have?” A frown pulled her eyebrows together, and she fought to smooth her features.
The woman nodded. “Aye. I thought a woman with yer belief in seers would have made yer way to me after ye first arrived at Dunvegan.”
“I should have considered it sooner,” Bridgette admitted. “I’ve had a great deal to occupy my thoughts.”
Eolande smiled. “Aye. Wishing to ken if ye will ever have a chance with the man ye desire has likely kept ye quite busy.”
Bridgette gaped at the woman.
The seer took a step forward and held out her hand. “We best hurry. Yer destiny approaches faster than ye comprehend.”
Bridgette frowned at the statement but gave her hand to Eolande instead of commenting. From her experience, seers often talked in riddles. Eolande curled her slender fingers around Bridgette’s, and an odd warmth seeped from the woman’s skin. Her violet eyes narrowed and grew dark. “The question ye should be asking is if ye’re strong enough to withstand the destruction yer heart’s desire will create.”
Bridgette gasped, and Eolande nodded. “Ye’re wise to be afraid. Yer desire for Lachlan MacLeod is greater than yer ability to vanquish it forever, but if ye dunnae control it until the time to embrace it is at hand, then ye’ll be the storm that destroys the bond of brotherhood ye both have been struggling to preserve.”
“Us both?” Had the seer really just said Lachlan had been struggling to preserve his relationship with Graham? Was his struggle because of her?
“Aye, it’s because of ye,” the seer said, replying to the question Bridgette had not voiced. “Ye dunnae know true love yet, but it’s there in yer reach and ye feel it, taste it, and ye yearn for it. Ye’ll need to shed yer guilt like a snake sheds its skin and open yer eyes to the lies afore ye.” Eolande’s grip tightened around Bridgette’s wrist before she realized the seer had moved.
The woman’s violet eyes gleamed silver suddenly, like twin daggers. “Jealousy will drive one brother to lie, to risk his life, and to hurt the one he loves. And as for the other brother, jealousy will drive him to his death, whereupon vengeance shall resurrect him.”
Bridgette began to shake as fearful images built in her mind of Lachlan dead and Graham risking his life. She moaned. Or was it the other way around? God’s bones. Did it even matter? Both fates were horrible. She could not let either of these destinies befall Lachlan or Graham.
A sob ripped from her throat. “Ye only foretell what ye see in the moment ye touch me, aye?”
“Aye,” the seer whispered. “Ye have the power to change yer fate.”
“Then I will,” she vowed. She turned and fled out of the cave before the seer could say anything else.
Tears leaked in heavy streams from her eyes, nearly blinding her as she struggled to go back the way she had come. She stumbled several times on slippery rocks as she ran around the water at the entrance to the cave, a whisper in her head that warned her to get away from the Fairy Pools growing louder with each step. A voice swirled on the wind, joining the whisper, and urged her to run faster. Bridgette raced across the rock toward the embankment she needed to climb, a sense of desperation clawing at her. She rounded the corner and ran straight into a wall of rock-hard muscle.
Gasping, she looked up into Lachlan’s face, surprised at the stark relief she saw there. His corded arms circled her in an unbreakable hold, causing hot, searing lust to flow through her body. The seer’s words haunted her.
“What are ye doing here?” Bridgette whispered.
“I came looking for ye,” he said in a thick, unsteady voice. “I intended to apologize to ye for my outburst in the woods yesterday, so I searched ye out after ye fled the castle earlier. When I could nae find ye, I checked the stables and learned ye had come here alone.” She could feel his muscles tighten around her. “I have gone near mad with worry.” His eyes burned as if to confirm his words. “Ye dunnae have a care for yer safety, but I do.” His voice broke, and Marion’s words from last night struck Bridgette. Lachlan did look defeated.
She touched her fingertips to his tense jaw before she realized what she was doing. His body jerked violently in response, and she snatched her hand away, horrified at herself.
“Release me,” she begged, her emotions spinning out of her control. When he didn’t answer or move to do as she had asked, her control snapped. “Every time ye’re near me, I kinnae even remember how to breathe. Release me!” she cried. “Release me before I kinnae remember why ye should nae!”
“Ye’ll be marrying my brother,” he said dully.
“I’m nae any longer,” she replied. “But ye are bound to Helena and—”
“’Tis false what I have with her,” he growled, and suddenly, his mouth crushed hers in a demanding, frantic kiss that she was helpless to deny. His arms unlocked around her, and he plunged his hands into her hair, groaning as his tongue pleaded for entrance, and she opened willingly and eagerly for him. All the desire that had been building for years exploded, sending her thoughts reeling and her emotions skidding and whirling.
She ran her hands over his hard chest and up into his thick hair as he ravaged her mouth like a man set on complete and utter possession. She wanted him to possess her, body and soul. She had never wanted anything but that.