Page 64 of Dark Victory

He released her. “Aye.”

“Macleod, I feel certain that evil came from New York. It was the same evil that came from the Met. It is the evil associated with An Tùir-Tara. But is there any chance I am wrong? Could it be the Melvaig witch, sending us a little present?”

“Criosaidh is a witch, Tabitha, but a mostly human one. There are rumors one of her grandfathers was a deamhan, but I dinna ken the truth. But she lives an’ breathes as we do. She canna put herself into the air as evil.” His expression changed. “Or I dinna think she can.”

Tabby hugged herself. Now that the attack was over, the ramifications were suddenly sinking in—all of them very bad for her and Macleod.

“I’ll protect ye.”

She met his steady regard. “Why? Because we’re sharing a bed?”

“Aye…an’ ye’re Innocent.”

“But you’ve refused to take your vows.”

His dark blue eyes glinted. “MacNeil has harped on me like a shrew for almost a hundred years. Dinna start, Tabitha. Ye’re Innocent and ye have power. I wish to protect ye an’ I will.”

“I have a news flash.” Tabby grimaced. “Your power is meant to stop our flesh-and-blood enemies. You can’t stop a spirit, apparently.”

“But ye can.”

“Maybe, but my powers are erratic!” Tabby cried, really worried now. “One day they will be strong, I think, but I can’t depend on them. If we’re counting on me, we’re in trouble, Macleod!”

“Yer magic is stronger than ye believe.” He left the hall and Tabby followed him into the bedchamber.

“We still don’t know why a vanquished demon would hunt me,” she finally said.

“Ye have enemies,” he said flatly, staring down at the locked chest at the foot of the bed. His expression became thoughtful.

“As far as I know, my enemies are dead. Every time we’ve fought evil, we’ve vanquished it—otherwise, we’d be dead right now.”

“But the evil has come back from the vanquished, aye?” He gave her a look over his shoulder and knelt, taking keys from his belt.

She suddenly recalled something he’d said to her—if he didn’t kill his enemies, they would kill him. Maybe their worlds weren’t as different as she’d believed. “Macleod, I don’t think it got in here. It was at the embrasures, and really mad that it couldn’t get in. But it pushed the door closed, sending its energy from the window.” She sobered. She’d barely been able to open the door. And she had been afraid that the spirit would break her back.

Macleod darkened. “’Twas in the hall with ye, Tabitha, right there, outside this chamber door. I felt it strongly.”

“I put a protective spell on the bedroom, but not the hall.” Tabby shivered. “She hates me—or us.”

He shifted to look at her. “She?”

“Remember the Met?” When he nodded, Tabby said, “My first visit there, I saw your mother’s pendant and instantly felt a woman’s dark evil. This spirit is a woman.”

He stared. “Ghosts dinna haunt the past, they haunt the future.”

He was right. It was one thing for a ghost of any kind to haunt her in 2008, coming from 1550. But this ghost had gone backward in time. Slowly, she said, “Well, if we can time-travel, I guess it can, too.” Then she added, “What are you doing?”

“Hold this,” Macleod said, reaching into his jeans’ pocket.

Tabby started as he handed her the amulet he’d stolen from the Met. It was ice-cold in her hand. “I forgot about this entirely.”

He gave her a look and unlocked the chest.

Tabby felt her tension soar as she realized what he was doing. He had told her that he’d left his pendant in a chest at Blayde. But she had the same pendant in her hand, and she didn’t know what to expect. There couldn’t be two of a single object, could there?

She wet her lips. Time travel changed everything. If she traveled back to the future, but to a few days before she’d ever met Macleod, what would she find? Would she encounter a slightly younger version of herself? Would she come face-to-face with herself? Was it even possible? “I need the Book,” Tabby said suddenly. “Every Wisdom you can think of is in that Book. I’ve never been without it, not in my entire life.” She became uneasy. “The Book is always guarded by a powerful Rose witch. My grandmother left it to me. I don’t know if I can manage without it.”

His glance was steady. “The Masters live by many rules, Tabitha. Over the years, I have learned a few of their laws. ’Tis forbidden fer a Master to leap forward or backward an’ encounter his self in another time. ’Tis one of the most sacred parts of the Code.”