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“But you did anyway.”
“Aye, and my entire bedamned life is tied to this castle, to His cursed Treasure I am sworn to protect! Do ye not think I would have preferred to live a normal life, with a wife, and bairns?” His Scots accent was back, and thick with his anger. “I could not! The burden, and the danger, have been too great. And now—”
“Now?” she prompted, when he broke off.
He gave her a bitter smile. “Why, now He’s sent Grace to me, but only as a means to lead me to another battle I must fight for Him.”
She blinked, startled. “I didn’t come back for that. If I could find the Treasure I was going to use it myself; if not, I knew I would have to ask for your help, but I only need your knowledge.”
“Ah, no, lass,” he said gently. “Ye need me. I’m the Guardian, and no other may use the Power.”
“How does it work?” Grace asked nervously, clinging to his hand as he led her into the hidden passage. The castle slept around them. They had spent the day arguing, sometimes heatedly, over the course they would take. Huwe was dead and that threat ended, so Niall felt he could relax his defenses somewhat, and now was the perfect time for him to go. Remembering the violence of the procedure, Grace couldn’t look forward to going through it again. “How do you get the electricity?”
“Electricity?” He repeated the word slowly, feeling his way along the syllables. “What is that?”
“A form of energy. Power.”
“Power.” He laughed, the sound humorless. “We use God’s Power. The procedure is a means of returning.”
He walked with confidence, as if he had no need for the candle he held. Grace was less certain. She felt surrounded by the nothingness of space, of emptiness, as if the reality of Creag Dhu was already dissolving around her. Her heart pounded wildly, the pressure high in her throat. She swallowed to contain the panic, the unreasonable fear. She had been there before, and with less trepidation.
But still, now she knew. She felt the breeze, and the subtle throb of the very air against her skin. Niall led her down, down, to the deeper darkness beneath the stairs. He left the candle outside and walked into the darkness, his arm hard around her now to keep her with him.
It lay in the blacker depths, hidden from view but pulsing with that silent energy. The air should have felt dead, empty. It didn’t. Though cold and dark, the chamber felt fresh, vibrant with the secrets it concealed. Treasures. Things. And yet the real treasure lay not in what they were, but what they represented.
“We have drunk the water and eaten the salt,” Niall said in a low voice. “Take us.”
The flash was blinding, the force like a giant blow that knocked her flat. She lay senseless for a time, deafened and blind, not even thinking. When the fog began to clear, she groaned and tried to roll over.
“Let me help you, my love,” a voice crooned, and she was lifted to her feet, held upright by strong arms. Grace’s head lolled back on her neck. She fought for control, won it. She opened her eyes, and stared up into Parrish’s smiling face.
“Imagine my surprise when the workers found you lying in the rubble,” he said conversationally. “I sent them all away, except for a few trusted men. I believe you’ve met Conrad, and perhaps you remember Paglione, too.”
Dazed, Grace found herself staring into the cold, emotionless eyes of the man she had shot in the McDonald’s parking lot. He didn’t so much as blink. The other man, Paglione, looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place which assailant he had been.
A chilly wind stirred her hair, and she turned her face into it. A sea wind, blowing over where Creag Dhu had once stood. All that remained now were a few ruined stone walls, and the rubble that had been unearthed by the workers. Where was Niall? Had they already found him? Had he survived the journey?
“Looking for the gold yourself, were you?” Parrish asked. He pinched her breast, cruelly twisting the tender flesh. Grace bit off a scream, though tears started to her eyes. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of making her cry out.
“There isn’t any gold,” she blurted.
He stiffened, and his eyes narrowed. “What?”
“The Treasure isn’t gold. It’s artifacts. There isn’t any gold!”
“You’re lying,” he said violently, and slapped her. The force of the blow would have knocked her down if he hadn’t been holding her arm. He drew back his arm again, and this time his fist was doubled.
“Aye, there’s gold.”
The softly burred words made them spin, Parrish dragging Grace about, wrenching her arm. She bit her lip, and tasted blood where Parrish’s blow had cut her. Niall stood relaxed, the wind lifting his hair, ruffling the ends of his plaid. A faint smile was on his lips, and he leaned negligently on the claymore which he had driven into the ground. He looked wild and barbaric and wonderful, a splendid savage who possessed a sophistication of manner and experience most modern men would never come close to achieving.
“Who are you?” Parrish asked. “Not that it matters.” Conrad and Paglione had already spread out, one going wide on each side of Niall, and both of them had guns in their hands.
“Niall of Scotland. And I fear it does matter, for the gold is mine.”
Parrish’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve already found it, haven’t you?”
Niall looked amused. “It was never lost.” He glanced at Grace, and his glance lingered on her bloody mouth, hardened.
