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Cathbad narrowed his eyes. “Is there aught else afore ye find your way back?”
The horse, who’d quieted, returned to blowing and stamping, clearly sensing they’d be leaving soon.
Is there?
“Why was I the one who ended up in the future?”
Cathbad’s mouth twitched into half a smile. “Do ye need to ask that? Why do any of us find ourselves where we do?”
Angus felt a sense of peace envelop him. It didn’t excuse him from what came next, but it released a part of his power he’d always held in abeyance. The part he’d rode herd on and buried, frightened of its origins. No matter if he didn’t remain here. He’d needed to come, to find a link to those who walked before him, to his blood.
Angus smiled, grateful to Cathbad for being plainspoken. “It’s enough to know you exist and that I’m of your line.”
“Ye’ve grown wise in the years since ye left.” Cathbad’s smile broadened, and it transformed the austere planes of his face into something openhearted, rather than harsh. “Ye know where to find me now, lad. The Seer gift runs strong in you. We’ll dream one another, now the barriers are down and ye’ve been here.”
The possibility warmed him, connected him to something he’d been missing. “I’d like that.”
“Aye then, we’ll make certain it happens.”
Cathbad released Angus’s arm. He walked to his horse and vaulted to its back. Raising a hand in farewell, he cantered off the way he’d come, his back ramrod straight as he sat the horse with an easy grace.
Angus watched until he was out of sight.
Arianrhod turned to face him and settled her multi-hued gaze on his face. He felt her magic probe his mind, but gently, respectfully. “Ye’re thinking ’twas worth the detour.”
“Aye. Thank you for insisting.” He paused, gathering his thoughts as he soaked in the feel of Ulster, the Northern Ireland he’d left behind. “I’m remembering now that I’m here. Many things.”
“Good. Those memories are long overdue.” She pursed her lips into a disapproving line. “I gathered from listening in on Cathbad’s words that Arawn dinna exactly keep his part of the bargain. He must’ve needed you enough to shroud your mind so ye’d not be able to find your way back.”
For the first time, Angus saw things from Arawn’s perspective. “Not that it excuses him, but he was afraid I’d bolt at the first opportunity.”
“Would ye have?” Arianrhod raised a silver brow.
Angus dug deep and found truth. “Aye, I’d have left if I could. Those first years were hard. Everything was strange, and when I sought my center—to calm myself—all I found was an obstruction. Over the years I got used to the blank spots, so they didn’t bother me as much.”
“They’re gone now.” She spoke the words as fact.
He nodded. “I feel whole for the first time since Arawn joined me in the time shaft and used compulsion to expel me through a portal.” At the outrage flaring from her eyes, he hurried on. “It’s not that he wasn’t kind enough. He and Gwydion had a home prepared for me where I was fed and cared for. They came and went, but their tasks for me began immediately. First just dreaming things, but once they were convinced I saw true at least most of the time, they began sending me to fix problems.”
She moved in front of him and wrapped her arms around him, tilting her upper body so she still gazed into his face. “Ye have healing energy. ’Tis why they found you so useful. Cathbad radiates the same soothing charm.”
Angus snorted. “It didn’t feel all that soothing when he was turning my insides to broken glass. Whatever he did made me whole, though, so I’m not complaining.” He took a measured breath. “Back to your kin. They wanted me because I could slip into situations, alter them by manipulating earth magic, and leave without much of a trace. So they sent me to do their dirty work. Things they didn’t want their name stamped all over.”
“Aye, I knew that, but never paid verra much attention.” She brushed her thumb over his lower lip, and he kissed her lightly. “I’m sorry. I dinna have the whole story.”
He stroked her hair, loving how the silk of it flowed through his fingers. Angus wanted to stay in the bright sunlit glade and make love with her, but they had to warn Eletea before Cavet damaged her beyond redemption. He recalled how distraught she’d been when they first met on the beach near Inishowen. How she’d said she may as well throw herself into one of the craters on Fire Mountain. Not that fire would kill her, but she deserved to find happiness in her beloved Highlands, not the crap Cavet had planned.
Angus laid his cheek alongside Arianrhod’s. “We should go.”
“Aye, I was just thinking the same thing. Next stop, Rhukon’s.” She slipped from his arms and chanted to summon a time shaft.
Angus realized with a shock he was looking forward to a confrontation with the dragon shifter. Cathbad’s touch had altered something elemental within him, linked him to raw, primal energy that raced through his blood.
She tapped his arm. “Come on. Ye’re daydreaming.”
“Nay, I’m finally figuring out who I am.”
