Free Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) by Catherine Bybee

entered
the room at a slower pace.
    Kincaid took in the scene slowly. An
old woman sat in a chair on the opposite side of the bed from where Simon
knelt. The woman who’d informed Simon of Amber’s state hugged the banister of
the bed and cried. The only familiar face in the room was Giles. Kincaid met
his eyes and he nodded to the woman lying on the bed.
    Dressed in a nightgown he’d only seen
several hundred years back in time, Amber MacCoinnich had the complexion of
Sleeping Beauty and a slow pace of breathing that couldn’t sustain her for much
longer. The long dark hair framed her head and fell past her waist. Even under
the sunken eyes and drawn features, her beauty was unmatchable.
    Simon touched the side of her
forehead, which had a trickling of blood. “What happened?” he asked.
    “I heard a noise and ran in. She was
in the bathroom on the floor.”
    Simon lifted her thin hand and placed
his lips to the back of it. “Don’t leave us, Amber. We’ll find a cure.”
    Kincaid wasn’t sure they could find a
cure fast enough. For some reason, the thought of this woman dying before he
could see the color of her eyes made him ill. He nodded toward Giles and
indicated the hall.
    Giles stepped around the woman at the
foot of the bed and started toward the door.
    “You’re not going anywhere, Kincaid,”
Simon demanded.
    MacCoinnich didn’t need to spend
these last hours with his family worrying about him. Kincaid said the only
thing he could to put the man at ease. “I will see this through, Simon. You
have my word.”
    Content with that, Simon turned back
to the bed.
    “Am I glad to see you,” Giles said
once they were out of earshot of the others.
    “What do you know?” Kincaid asked.
    “Is that the woman from the
portrait?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, it’s safe to say something
forced me here to find her. They’re desperate to save her life.”
    “I can see that.”
    “Do you know who she is?”
    Kincaid tasted her name on his lips
again. “Amber MacCoinnich. Youngest daughter of Ian and Lora.”
    Giles lowered his voice. “All the
books say she died young. We might just be witnessing her death.”
    That didn’t feel right. “Or we’re
here to help find a cure.”
    “I’ve looked, Kincaid. There isn’t a
way to remove her gift. It’s part of her.” Giles swiped his glasses from his
face and pinched the bridge of his nose.
    “Then I’ll go home, gather a healer,
and bring them back to buy us time.”
    “That won’t work. Her brother Cian is
a healer. More powerful than any you and I have seen, and he wasn’t able to
help. The only thing that has brought her any solace is the cloak the family
charmed for her. It acts as a buffer but according to Helen, it’s growing
weaker.”
    “A cloak is her shield?”
    “A filter really. Mutes but doesn’t
stop everything from penetrating completely.”
    He blinked several times, feeling the
answer…or at least a temporary reprieve… was close.
    “What are you thinking?” Giles asked.
    Every Druid had some ability to read
the intentions of others. Though to be honest, Kincaid had never worked hard to
peer into others’ minds. To do so would mean he’d have to open himself, lower
his shield, and allow someone in.
    He said nothing and stared at the
door leading to his room. The wooden barrier was easily breached…a swift kick
and someone could walk right in.
    “I hate that I can’t see a thing
inside your head, Kincaid. Something is working for you,” Giles said.
    He stepped back over the threshold
and motioned for Simon to follow.
    “I have an idea,” he said when they
moved to the second floor landing.
    “What?” Simon asked.
    Instead of answering, Kincaid decided
to demonstrate. “What is Giles thinking about?”
    Simon stared at Giles. “He’s worried,
as we all are.”
    “No. What’s he really thinking?”
    Simon winced and closed his eyes.
“That her death is inevitable.”
    Right. “Now, what am I thinking?”
    This time