Highland Defiance - By Sky Purington Page 0,52
you…” his hand ran along her thigh. “The way I touch you. All of these things will stay with you. Whether or not you know it now, I will always be the great love of your life.”
What did he mean by that? A strange sense of foreboding seized her. Mildred’s eyes shot to his. “My life that you speak of… will it include you, Adlin?”
“It has to,” he said automatically. “What’s the point otherwise?”
Her heart missed a beat. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
“You think too much.”
“I don’t think enough.”
Silence settled over them like a too-heavy blanket. Mildred knew she should relish the feel of his body next to hers, the breathtaking scene around them, but no. What if she lost him? What if what they’d only just begun vanished?
As if he forced the words past his lips, Adlin said, “There’s no more time.”
When he leapt to his feet and re-clothed, tartan in place, dread gripped her. Uncomfortable, she stood and dressed. “What’s happening now?”
Adlin nodded at the Defiance. “You’re going home.”
Frightened, she said, “I don’t understand.”
Jaw grinding, he quickly became a powerful Highland laird, his tone clipped. “Bruce is nearly here. I willnae let him have you.” He nodded at the Defiance. “I willnae let him anywhere near you.”
Mildred quickly tied the strings on her dress and nodded. “Fine. Good. Then we go.”
When she tried to stride past him he grabbed her arm and shook his head. “You misunderstand. You go back alone.”
“I what?” she exclaimed.
Before she understood what he was doing, Adlin pulled her after him.
Confused, angry she tried to fight him but he was too strong.
They’d nearly reached the Defiance when a bright light flashed and Adlin stopped, growling.
“Now, brother. I lived up to my end of the bargain. What are you doing?”
Iosbail.
“I’m breaking it. She deserves no part of this.”
Iosbail walked through the Defiance and jumped down.
“Think,” she said sharply to Adlin, her black hair flowing and nearly one with the moonlight. “I have done much to make sure history flows the way it should when I didnae want to nor have to.” She flicked her wrist and Adlin hit an unseen wall. “You have done so much. To think with yer heart now would let us all down.”
Mildred’s hand broke from Adlin’s when he threw up his arms. A white arch pillowed over the wall his sister had just erected.
Frightened, she stumbled back as brother went up against sister. Adlin’s voice sounded foreign and intense. “I can rewrite history.”
“You could never rewrite history, Adlin.”
Iosbail’s voice roared so loud that the ground rumbled. Mildred covered her ears. The moon hid behind the clouds. Even the ocean waves ceased to roar.
Adlin’s tall frame took on a confident swagger as he pushed Iosbail’s unseen wall back, her small frame stumbling. With a sharp motion, he shot his hands in the air and the wall shimmered then vanished. Iosbail fell to her knees and held her throat, gasping.
When he stood over her, rage evident in his shaking body, Mildred shook her head. Though afraid, she knew this was all wrong.
Before she could say a word, Iosbail’s body slid along the ground and rose in the air. No longer gasping, Adlin held her in some sort of suspension. Even then, Iosbail’s eyes narrowed and she croaked, “Yer letting yerself down, brother.”
Iosbail’s body rose and hovered in front of the Defiance. Adlin seemed another man, his kilt moving slowly as if under water. Mildred shook her head and screamed as loud as she could, “Let her go!”
Her words made him stagger and Iosbail fell to the ground.
Mildred took the opportunity to run to Adlin. Halfway to him the air grew so heavy she lost her breath and fell to her knees. Spinning, he stared at her, confused. “Go back now. Live your life. Love, Mildred.”
The closer he came the easier it was to breath. But she sensed he was still stuck in his ways and didn’t let Mildred down. Instead of taking her in his arms, he crouched in front of her. “I want you to be happy.”
He wanted a lot of things and had the power to get them accomplished. Adlin expected a lot of things from her at this moment so she hit him with what he least expected. “You’re an eagle.”
Lips twitched, brows furrowed, but he remained confident. “I can be.”
“An admirable creature,” she remarked as she stood on shaky legs and looked over his shoulder at Iosbail. “Is sending me home right now admirable?”
Adlin stood as well. “Sending you