Highlander Enchanted(78)

Her eyes darted to the sky then to the seawater starting to fill the valley.

“You will have gold,” she continued. “We will never … we will never leave our lands, because they are ours and so beautiful, you would not ever wish to leave, and no one will ever take them from us. The king has given me his word. He will protect the seillie and my claim and Niall will ensure the hills are always covered in flowers and we will dance every night with … with the clan,” she babbled. “But you must stop this first. You must protect us and your cousins and …” She broke off and sobbed, aware of how little time she had to reach him through the madness, of how many lives were likely lost already.

Waves crested the ridge, these large enough to swallow the valley.

“You must save me, Cade. One last time,” she told him.

He was unresponsive.

Isabel looked away from the sea and clouds attempting to devour all in their path and shuffled on her knees to her husband. Hunching her shoulders against the storm, she wrapped her arms around Cade’s neck and pulled him into her body as she had her brother. The ocean loomed over the ridge behind her, and she swore never to let Cade go, even if they were swept out to sea.

“Please, Cade,” she whispered. “I cannot live without you.” She closed her eyes, expecting to spend her last moment alive knowing she had not been able to save any of those she loved.

He shuddered.

She squeezed him tighter in response, unable to speak through the sobs clogging her throat.

He was trembling and warm, and the growth of his beard was rough against her skin. Her strength was spent, and she clung to him. She waited to die as the sounds of the world dying around her tore away what remained of her hope.

“Isabel.” His voice was rough.

She swallowed hard. “I am here,” she managed. “I will not leave you again.”

He lifted her chin and pushed the wet strands of hair plastered to her cheek out of her face. “I thought you were dead.”

She shook her head, chin trembling.

His eyes were glassy, and the shadow she had seen over him in Laird Duncan’s Great Hall was present.

“Forgive me, Cade,” she whispered and took his cheeks in her hands. “Forgive me for not saving you.” She fluttered kisses across his face and hugged him again.

He sighed deeply. Cade’s arms closed around her, drawing her against him. He felt strong and solid despite the faint tremor of his being, and she melted into him, grateful to spend her last moment alive with the most honorable man she had ever known.

“You did save me, lass,” he murmured.

Not this time. She could not speak the words aloud.

“My magic chose ye. It always ken ye would protect my kind. Were that I trusted m’self sooner, trusted you …”

No wall of ocean water swept them away, and no wind tossed them into the heavens. Her eyes opened. The sea no longer peeked over the ridge, and the clouds above had begun to break up. Wind softened its abuse of all in its path and the rain was receding.

“Cade,” she breathed, afraid to hope the danger was passing.

“The madness took me. I couldna … fight … alone …” He drifted off and then buried his face into the nape of her neck, squeezing her against his hard warrior’s frame.

She breathed in his scent, too exhausted to speak. She listened to the sound of his heart above the quieting tempest. It was strong and steady despite his state.

She relaxed in his embrace, grateful for his strength when hers was close to gone.

“Isabel, my wife,” he whispered. “Ye soothe my unseillie blood. Ye return me from the madness.”

She blinked back tears, gazing up at his rugged features framed against a pop of brilliant blue sky visible as the clouds rolled away. Cade was flushed, his moon-hued gaze sharp but his skin clammy.

“The sky,” she said, straightening. “I have not seen the sun since I arrived.”

The color dazzled her. She refused to blink, afraid this was a dream, that the blue would disappear and the storm return. Finally, she allowed her eyes to close and open – and nothing changed. The clouds raced away as fast as they had formed. Puddles of water and mud littered the verdant valley. Men and horses were starting to rise from where they had been dropped by the wind and seawater. Wood from broken wagons and trees were scattered across the floor of the valley, along with weapons, armor, and other debris.

Ocean water was retreating as well, running up the ridge back towards the sea. The unnatural sight of water flowing up hill, of Cade’s magic reversing the damage it had done, assured her he had truly returned from the madness.

“You did it,” she said, focusing on Cade once more. “You saved us!”

He cupped her cheeks in his roughened palms. “You saved us, Lady Cade,” he whispered. “You saved me.” The shadow receded with the clouds, until not one tendril of darkness lingered across his features.

“Forgive me, Cade,” she said, fighting more tears. “I have wronged you from the day we met.”

“Isabel –”

“I must speak my mind,” she interjected. “You cannot know how painful the thought of losing you was, how my heart ached for you to know how blessed I am to be your wife. You stole my brother’s madness and suffered beneath the burden so that he might live without it, and I wished you dead.”