different style of gown, one that must have been from centuries earlier, with a girdle and a veil held in place on her head by a gold circlet. She had been staring at the opposing castle situated high on the edge of a cliff.
Though she had never seen the castle, she knew it. She also knew its name — MacLeod Castle.
Reaghan lifted a shaky hand to her face and swiped at a strand of hair caught in her eyelashes. How could she know that’s what the castle looked like? Did she have magic, as Galen and Logan had said? If so, then was her gift seeing the future?
“Nay,” she murmured to herself.
If she had seen into the future, and seen herself at MacLeod Castle, she wouldn’t have been wearing a gown from long ago.
Reaghan got to her feet and tried to find Galen. When she couldn’t spot him, she went to Logan. “What does Deirdre look like?” Logan’s hazel eyes narrowed, his attention focused on her. “What?”
“Deirdre? What does she look like?” Reaghan asked a second time.
“She’s not aligned with us if that’s what you want to know.”
Reaghan blew out a frustrated breath. “Does Deirdre have long white hair that touches the ground? Are her eyes as white as her hair?” The stillness that came over Logan was answer enough. Reaghan fisted her hands and struggled to bring a breath into her lungs. “It’s her, isn’t it?” “How did you know?” Logan demanded, his voice low, harsh.
Reaghan shrugged. “I’ve seen her before in my dreams. I’ve seen so many things I can’t explain.”
“Give me another example.”
She licked her lips, knowing it was a bad idea to tell him more. “MacLeod Castle, it is on a cliff, the sea below it, wild and untamed?” Logan smiled, but Reaghan could see it was forced. “You must have heard Galen describe it to one of the Druids.” “I wish that were the case, but I don’t think it is. For the past year I’ve seen more and more things in my dreams.” “We told you there was magic inside you. I suppose that is your gift.”
She forced her own smile, her stomach filling with dread. Logan didn’t believe it was her magic any more than she did, but she saw the concern in his eyes and it terrified her. “I suppose it is.” “We’ll be leaving soon. Go break your fast,” he urged her.
She didn’t hesitate, but turned on her heel and walked away. If it wasn’t her magic, then what caused such strange images to come to her? How did she know what Deirdre looked like?
And not just her hair and eyes either. Reaghan could have told him Deirdre favored black, and her voice could command the wyrran with just a whisper.
Reaghan couldn’t recall ever seeing wyrran before they attacked the village, but she knew instantly what they were when she caught sight of them, even when she had first heard their shrieks. Not because of the descriptions of her fellow Druids, but because she had seen them countless times in her dreams.
A warm, strong hand gently grasped her arm. “Reaghan?”
She melted at the sound of Galen’s voice and turned toward him.
“Logan found me.”
“It’s not my magic,” she said.
He glanced around the camp as the others ate, their gazes lifted to him. “Follow me.”
Reaghan fell into step beside him. Galen gave a small nod to Logan as they walked past him. “Where are we going?” “I would like some privacy, and I think you would as well. The others will catch up to us soon enough. Now, tell me what happened.” “I thought Logan already had.”
Galen shrugged nonchalantly, but she saw the apprehension in his dark blue gaze. “He told me you described Deirdre and MacLeod Castle.” “I did. It’s not my magic, Galen. So do not try to tell me it is.”
“All right,” he said, and lifted his hands in a conciliatory gesture. His gaze shifted to the ground before him as they walked. “Tell me what happened.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “It began some moons ago. I see things, Galen. People and places I’ve never been, but yet I know these things and people.” “Like Deirdre?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
“Have any of the Druids ever described her?”
“Nay. They’ve only ever said her name. I kept seeing this woman with incredibly long, white hair. Her eyes would pierce me to my very soul, and I knew she was
“I was standing on one of the cliffs at a distance from the castle. What struck me as odd was that I was wearing a gown from centuries earlier. Why?” He grunted in response. “What else have you seen?”
“I know that in the mountain range, Foinaven, which I seek, there is an entrance to the valley between the mountains. It is hidden from those who don’t know of it. I know every section of those mountains as if I had lived there. As if it had been my home.” Galen heard the fear in her voice and it tore at his soul. He stopped and pulled her into his arms. “These dreams or visions cannot harm you.” “I know,” she mumbled against his chest, her arms holding on to him tightly. “I know I’ve been out in the world before, but I don’t know when or how.” “Does it matter?”
She leaned back to look at him. Her brow was furrowed and her gaze searched his. “I have a past that is blocked to me. Do you have any idea how it feels to know there are memories there, memories that could tell me about my family and what I did wrong?” “What makes you think you did anything wrong?” he asked. “Maybe someone did this to you.”
“If that were the case, why would Mairi and the others keep it from me? Why not tell me?”
Galen pulled her against him again and rested the palm of his hand on the back of her head. “I know they want to keep you safe, and if that means they have to keep your past from you, they will.” “It’s my life, Galen, my past. I have the right to know.”
He knew she did, and that’s what was killing him. To hear her speak of Deirdre and MacLeod Castle had left him speechless, but it was when she described the mountains and the secret entrance that he realized she must have been referring to the place she had lived as a young girl.
What worried Galen most of all was if Reaghan somehow remembered who she was. Would she leave? Set out on her own?
A strange, hollow ache began in his chest just thinking of a world without Reaghan in it. Though he didn’t want to think about why, he knew he needed Reaghan. He needed her, hungered for her, as he did the sun on his face and air in his lungs. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to her no matter what.
“You know, don’t you?” she said. “You know what happened to my memories.”
Galen knew in the moment she looked at him with her somber gray eyes that he wouldn’t be able to lie to her. “I do.” “Is it as terrible as I fear?”
He took her hand and began to walk. “I know the elders kept it from you because they care about you.”
“Please. Tell me,” she said, her voice breaking.
Galen laced his fingers with hers and took a deep breath. It was tearing her to pieces not knowing, and if she was going to lose her memories, he didn’t see why the truth should be kept from her.
“Reaghan, you put a spell upon yourself in an effort to hide something from Deirdre. The headaches are caused because you are about to lose your memories, as you do every ten years.” She missed a step, but kept walking, her head held high. He was amazed at the strength he saw. Despite what she had learned, she didn’t crumble to the ground, not that he would have thought less of her if she had. But it proved how strong she was that she could keep walking. Galen saw the tears swimming in her eyes, and it tore at him.
“That is why I see events from the past in my dreams?” she asked.
“I believe so.”
“This has been happening for a very long time based on what I see in my dreams. How long do I have before my memories are gone?” Galen squeezed her hand. “I’m no’ sure.”
She stopped and turned to him. “I don’t want to forget you.”
“You willna,” he promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Galen wiped away a tear before he covered her lips with his own.
