Free Immortal Desires (Well of Souls) by Laura Eno

thawed slightly. It would be nice to talk to someone who didn't bark orders at her.
    Isobel set the tray over on a table by the fireplace and sat down at the other end. "Will you come eat? You must be hungry."
    "What do you think of my son?" she asked once Deanna started to eat.
    "You mean the pig-headed Neanderthal who locked me up in this room?" Deanna gave her a hard stare, then decided it wasn't wise to alienate the woman. After all, she did bring food up here.
    Isobel laughed, a melodious sound that drew a smile from Deanna. "He's young yet. I'm afraid it's your name that fashes him so. Tell me, are you of the Camerons of Achadh nan Seileach?"
    "Never heard of them. As I told him, I'm not even from this country…or this century."
    "I didna think so." The woman sat still, as if listening to something Deanna couldn't hear. Her eyes, as green as her son's, refocused after a moment. "I had a vision of you, along with a Bean Sidhe."
    "A banshee?" Deanna frowned, trying to dredge up any facts on the mythological creature. "Don't they scream a lot?"
    "I dinna ken. Have you met many?" Her eyes widened and Deanna assumed it was a serious question.
    "I haven't met any—I don't think."
    "What I saw next to you was the Bean Nighe—the washer woman who predicts death. You didna see her?"
    "I did see a woman with a bloody rag right before I came here," Deanna admitted. "But she didn't send me. I found a brooch and it started shining when I held it. Then I was here." She shrugged, not understanding it herself.
    "A brooch? What did it look like?"
    Deanna described it and the woman's face drained of all color. "What do you know about the brooch? Can it send me back home?"
    Isobel wiped a tear away from her cheek and gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Aye, I ken the brooch. It belonged to my husband. He was wearing it when he died. It's been locked in a chest ever since. My son refuses to wear it. Where did you find it?"
    "In the graveyard." Deanna gulped. How much should she reveal? Did this woman really need to know that her son would be the last Mackay laird and they would all haunt a hotel in the future? No. Deanna couldn't tell them anything useful and she didn't want to change history.
    A new thought struck her and panic clawed its way up her throat. Was she changing the timeline just by being here? Would people die that weren't supposed to because of some action she took?
    "You look like you could use a bit of drink. You're swaying, lass."
    "I suppose I could. I was just thinking about how I might be disrupting history."
    "Nay. Dinna fash yourself about that." The color had returned to Isobel's cheeks. "Fate has a way of placing you where you belong—whether you like it or no."
    She gathered up the tray and eyed Deanna's clothes. "It willna do to have you wandering around like that. I'll bring up something to help you sleep and one of my dresses."
    Isobel threw the door open and spoke to the guard standing there in Gaelic. He shook his head and she spoke again, this time with finger-pointing. Deanna saw his gaze drift over to her, then shrug. Isobel turned around and gave her a nod. "The garderobe is at the end of the hallway."
    Deanna hoped that was some kind of bathroom and hurried down the hall. Anything beat squatting in the bushes outside.
    ***
    Ian stared at the fire long after everyone else had retired for the evening. What bewitchment lay over him? All he saw within the flames was golden hair…and a sweet curve of ass in those trousers that fit like a second skin.
    He gripped the cup in his hand and tried to slow the thunder of his heart as a smile spread over his lips. She had fire in her soul—the kind that burned a man if he wasn't careful.
    Sipping the whisky, Ian thought about what his mother had told him earlier. She really believed the woman was from the future and not a spy for the Camerons. Why could she read the lass, when his Druid powers couldn't penetrate the magic that shrouded Deanna in