She was awestruck, spellbound. “Why?”
“I think for you and any generation of MacBeths.”
Rennie whipped her head to him. “Me? I’m nobody.”
“Aye, but the important ones always think that.”
She made a sound at the back of her throat and started to argue when he held out his hand.
“Shall we see the rest?”
There was no way she was turning back now, no matter how hard her heart thumped. Dale’s fingers entwined with hers and she felt a current of something charged, something exhilarating rush along her skin.
He stepped close and wrapped his other hand around hers that was holding the torch. His body filled the area, enclosing her back against the wall. Rennie lifted her head, welcoming the kiss she knew was coming.
The kiss was savage in its claiming. And she embraced the raw, primal need that swept through her. The hard, rigid length of his arousal pressed into her stomach, reminding her of the sensual and decadent night she had spent in his arms.
Rennie took her free hand and pulled at his shirt, wanting to feel his skin. He tore his mouth away, his breathing harsh in the silence.
“Och, but I want you,” he said and ground against her.
“Not nearly as much as I want you. It scares me, this hunger I have. It’s all for you, and it’s like I can’t ever get enough.”
“Aye. I feel it as well.” He leaned his chin atop her head and simply held her. “I either take you now, Rennie, or we go deeper into the tunnel.”
“Don’t make me choose.”
“If you doona do something quick, I’ll no’ be responsible for the ripping of your clothes,” he said, a note of laughter in his voice.
It took every ounce of will for Rennie to drop her hands from both Dale and the torch, letting him know they needed to continue on. “I have this pressing need to know what it is Harriet wants,” she explained. “The more I know, the more I can be prepared.”
Dale faced the narrow opening and held the torch high. “Then let’s get to the bottom of this.”
Rennie quickly followed and reached for his hand. She felt safer with him, even if she had only known him less than a day. Dale glanced back at her and gave her a reassuring smile.
As they walked deeper into the earth, the ground continued to slope down. “How come my aunt never told me this was here?”
“Maybe she didna know,” Dale said.
Rennie didn’t believe that. “She knew every inch of this land. She knew. I just don’t understand why she didn’t tell me.”
“Maybe she wanted you to find it on your own.” He ducked as they exited the tunnel into a large cavern. “Maybe she was hoping you would find it.”
“It would’ve been easier had she just told me. That way I could have told Harriet to go to Hell and leave me alone.”
Rennie came out of the tunnel and could only stare once more. If the etchings in the anteroom were impressive, the ones gracing the walls of the cavern were breathtaking. Intricate knotwork designs made a continuous circle around the room, the design at least four feet tall.
But it was the writing that caught her attention. It, like the beautiful knotwork, went all the way around the cavern. “I don’t recognize the wording.”
“It’s Gaelic,” Dale said as he walked into the center where large stones had been used to construct a fire pit. He lowered the torch into it and flames shot upward.
Rennie stepped back as the fire lit the entire cavern, showing her the high ceiling above them. Then she realized what Dale had said. “Gaelic. You can read Gaelic?”
“I’m a Warrior, Rennie, I’m able to learn things quickly.”
“What does the writing say?”
“‘We’re waiting.’”
She looked at him, expecting him to continue. “And?”
“And what? That’s what it says over and over again.”
Rennie looked at the words, seeing the same symbols repeated until she came to a section where the lettering was smaller and more difficult to see. “What does this say?”
Dale walked to her and peered at the wording. “It says, ‘Find us and find the answers.’”
“Wow. That isn’t cryptic or anything.” She shivered, suddenly more cold than when she’d been in the snow.
“Look around you. This is where your ancestors gathered.”
For the first time, Rennie pulled her gaze from the walls and truly looked at the place. Around the fire in a perfect circle, placed exactly two feet apart were twelve stones that had been carved in a concave to make a seat.
“Your family has always been
She nodded, still taking in everything. “Yes, always.”
“And Harriet’s?”
Rennie lowered herself onto one of the seats. “A few decided to remain
“You doona know what that pact was?”
“No.” She rubbed her eyes as she tried to think of all the family history she had learned as a child and quickly dismissed as unimportant. “The more Harriet’s family left, the less it became significant, I guess. I don’t know. I wish I’d paid better attention to my aunt’s stories now.”
Dale continued to walk around the cavern. “This place is magical. Many spells were done here, but there is something else that I’m feeling.”
“What?”
He turned to face her. “You.”
That made her sit up straight. “Um … but you said you’ve always felt my magic.”
“Aye. It feels different here. Do you no’ feel different?”
“Disoriented. Shocked. Speechless. Take your pick.”
“Nay, lass. Concentrate on your magic.”
Rennie gave half a thought to her magic and felt a tidal wave of it rise within her. It frightened her so badly she jumped up and started to run out of the cavern. As she reached the narrow doorway, she slammed into an invisible force that knocked her on her back.
“Rennie!” Dale yelled and was at her side in a second.
“Damn, but you move fast,” she murmured as she shook off the effects of the fall. “What just happened?”
“I doona think they want you to leave.”
She sat up and looked at the doorway. “Are you telling me I can’t leave?”
Dale stood and easily walked from the cavern before he turned and walked back in. “Try again.”
She accepted his hand up and tentatively approached the doorway, but once again something pushed against her as she neared.
Rennie took a step back and the pressure instantly ceased. “I can’t leave.”
“I’m telling you, you were meant to find this place. It’s why your aunt left the land to you and no’ your mother.”
Rennie shook her head. “No. She left it to me because she knew my mother wouldn’t return.”
“Are you sure of that?” Dale asked as he cocked a brow.
She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. “What am I supposed to do?”
“I doona know. Perhaps your magic can tell you. What about the ancients?”
She stared at him, aghast. “How do you know of the ancients?”
“I was with
