right?” he asked, relief evident in his voice. “Your mother told me about your conversation this morning. I assumed you’d be here. Thank God I was right.”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled into his shirt, “and very glad to see you. Did you bring something to eat?”
He laughed. “Of course. But it wasn’t my idea. Your mother deserves the credit.” He pulled away to look down at me. “I want no more half-truths between us.”
Neither of us noticed Kate coming down the stairs toward us. I was rummaging through the bag when her voice stopped me.
“Stay with her if you must,” she shrieked, brandishing a kitchen knife with a pointed blade. “The two of you shall meet your fate together.”
With a curse, Ian stepped in front of me just as she lunged forward. The knife caught his forearm in a deep gash. Blood soaked his sleeve and dripped down over the stairs. His knees gave way, and he doubled over. I screamed and cradled him in my arms, trying to pull him away from her.
Kate laughed and lifted the knife again. I closed my eyes, fully expecting that moment to be my last. One second passed, then two. Nothing happened. Cautiously I lifted my lids, a fraction at first and then completely. She had focused on something behind us. The glee on her face had been replaced by fear. For a full minute she stared, seeing something in the darkened space that I, no matter how hard I strained, could not. After what seemed an eternity, she snarled and turned away from us to climb the stairs.
Ian struggled to his feet. His left hand was clamped down tightly over his wound. “I’m going after her,” he said. “She’s obviously mad, and your mother is waiting for us at the top. With that knife, I don’t know what Kate will do to her.”
Ian handed me the light and started up the stairs after her. She was already far enough ahead of him to make my heart stand still. If she got to the top before he did— “Hurry, Ian,” I shouted. “Hurry.”
My head swam, and I sat down again, overcome by weakness. I couldn’t begin to think of following them until I’d eaten. It was a long way to the top. An endless climb of narrow passages and slippery steps, requiring complete concentration. I simply wasn’t up to it.
Positioning the flashlight on the step below, I reached into the bag and took out an apple. Blessing my mother’s foresight, I stared into the inky blackness outside my circle of light and ate down to the core. It wasn’t until I’d replaced the remains in the bag that I noticed the light. It came from somewhere below me, soft and comforting, nothing like the dim, murky battery light surrounding me.
Slowly I stood, forgetting the food and the flashlight, forgetting everything but the mesmerizing pull of the glow before me. As I continued downward, the stairs ended and leveled out until I stood before a wall illuminated by white light. There was a narrow opening on one end. Turning sideways, I squeezed through into a room so bright I was momentarily blinded. When my eyes adjusted, I saw exactly what I’d expected.
It was the burial vault of my dream, complete with death masks and shadows and thousands of flickering candles. Beneath a small altar on a raised dais was Scotland’s Stone of Destiny. Behind it, her hands resting at her sides, her eyes steady on mine, was Mairi of Shiels.
This time she did not look tormented. In fact, she looked pleased. I smiled tentatively. She smiled back and beckoned me to join her. I crossed the distance between us and looked down at the stone. This was Jacob’s Pillar, the Royal Stone of the Belgic Kings brought from Dunstaffnage in A.D. 838, Scotland’s Stone of Destiny. Mine were the first human eyes to rest on it for over seven hundred years. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for helping me find it.”
She nodded, and we looked at one another, communing in silence for what seemed to be a long time.
“Christina,” Ian’s voice called out to me. “Christina, where are you?”
Alarmed, I looked at Mairi, a question hovering on my lips. Her eyes were kind and filled with understanding. Words were unnecessary. She knew my mind as well as I knew hers. The candles were the first to disappear, throwing the death masks and the ancient altar into deep shadow. The brilliant rainbow quality of light