Page 62 of My Highland Bride

“And Mairi has her degree now, so she shouldn’t have any trouble landing a job in medicine.” Kenna added a few smaller sticks to the fire, adjusted their placement with the poker, then joined Granny on the bench. “I hope she’s careful about healing people, though. It won’t take much for folks to catch on to her abilities if she heals someone that normalmedicine can’t help.”

Granny smiled, staring down into the flickering yellow flames as if watching something a great deal more intriguing than burning wood. “That won’t be an issue. It is nearly Mairi’s time to join us.” She blinked as though waking from a daze, then turned to Kenna. “Mairi is meant for Ronan.”

“Ronan?” An uneasy feeling rippled through Kenna, stirring her already nauseous state closer to spewing level. Pregnancy had turned out to be just as adept at making her queasy as jumping through time’s version of motion sickness. A sip of cool spring water laced with crushed peppermint leaves helped ease the nausea. She balanced the tankard on the small swell of her stomach, cupping it between her hands. “Are you sure she’s meant for Ronan?”

“Quite sure.” Granny nodded. She pulled her gaze away from the crackling fire and faced Kenna. “Speak your mind, child. I know that tone. What troubles you about your sister’s match?”

Kenna worried her thumb along the rim of the mug. How could she explain to Granny what she wasn’t really sure of herself? “Ronan is nice. An honorable man. But he is . . . different.”

“Different?”

Another sip of water and a deep inhale of the peppermint fumes fortified her resolve.

“He . . . ” How could she tell Granny that the man thought his mother was a wolf and that he was capable of growling just like one of the wild woolly beasts? Not to mention what Colum had told her he had seen on the day he challenged Ronan to the duel. Colum swore that not only had the man been carrying on a conversation with a wolf, but that some scaly creature Colum swore looked like a dragon had been in on the visit as well.

“Spit it out, Kenna. I’m too weary to attempt to read your thoughts. Chloe and her owl kept Kismet and me quite busy today.” Granny continued stroking Kismet, the black cat’s contented purring rumbling through the relaxing glow of the room, lit only by the fire in the hearth and a single taper on the table.

“He thinks his mother is a wolf, and apparently the two of them are also quite close to what appears to be a dragon. I saw the wolf while we were bringing Colum back here to be healed, and Colum swears he saw both the wolf and the dragon on the day he challenged Ronan. Even Ronan’s men mentioned some sort of fierce beast when I planted a vision of a three-headed dragon in their minds.” Kenna waved her mug through the air to emphasize her words. “And Coira even heard talk of a curse. Isn’t there someone morenormalwe could get for Mairi?”

“A debt must be paid.” Granny stared sadly down at the fire, her hand stilling on Kismet’s side and her fingers laced in the cat’s plush black fur. “Tia brought shame upon our house.” Granny’s voice fell to a whisper. “Mairi will set things right.”

“Tia?” The room suddenly seemed colder; the cheerful glow less bright. It had been ages since Granny had spoken of wicked Aunt Tia, Granny’s twin sister.

“In a fit of jealousy, Tia worked a spell, a vile curse that included as one of its victims an innocent—an unborn child.” Granny shook her head with a heavy sigh. “Ronan was that child.”

Kenna took another sip of water, then slid the mug onto the table beside her. She hated to ask, hated to push Granny, but she had to know. “What was the curse?”

Granny seemed to grow a bit paler as she stared unblinking into the fire. “The Fates gave me but a glimpse into Ronan’s history, into the extent of the curse,afterhe kidnapped you and disappeared into the Highlands. They showed me just enough so I could see and understand why he meant you no harm and was in fact meant for Mairi.” She shuddered in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. “Immortality is Ronan’s curse, as well as the ability to assume the form of his birth.” Granny shrugged her wrap closer around her shoulders. Her voice softened, almost as if she was talking to herself. “But he only changes when the need arises.”

“Bychanges, you mean he assumes the form of his birth?”

Granny nodded. “Yes. Ronan Sutherland was born a wolf, and when he wishes to, he can return to that form.”

Kenna stared at Granny, struggling to make sense of what she had just shared. “He turns into a wolf?”

Granny nodded.

“And he’s immortal?”

“Yes.”

Kenna frowned at the fire, doing her best to make sense of the whole situation. What an absolute mess. And it was about to be dropped right in poor Mairi’s lap. “So . . . where does the dragon come in?”

Granny shrugged and resumed the scratching of Kismet’s ears. The cat’s eyes narrowed to golden slits and her whiskers flared forward in a feline expression of ecstasy. “The Fates didn’t see fit to explain Ronan’s dragon. That is for Mairi to discover.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be thrilled about that.”

Granny chuckled. “I am sure she will be too.”