Highlander's Seduction (The Matheson Brothers #3)

If only he could force a vision. At least Nessa, the seer of ancient times, would be watching over his kin. Of that he had no doubt.

“Chief!” Daniel, his right hand man, jogged along the grassy verge of the loch’s shoreline, the castle’s fortified stone walls rising high behind him. The thick slabs of gray stone were bathed a glorious golden hue as the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon rose majestically overhead.

“Is all well?”

“More than well.” Hands on his hips, Daniel halted and grinned. “Several of our unmated men have reported their senses are stirring as never before. They’re certain their chosen ones now await them, although they need to leave tonight and begin their search.”

“Inform them that they may and that I wish them well. Certainly if their searches lead them this night to a place where no one awaits them, then it could well mean their mates reside in the past as Finlay and Kirk’s mates do. We will need Cherub if that is so.” Murdock rarely spoke of Cherub, keeping her secrets as needed. He clapped Daniel on the back. “Ensure all those who need to leave on their search have all they require at hand. This is our time, for our clan to embrace a new future.”

“Will do, Chief, and it’s a new future we long for.” Daniel grasped Murdock’s forearm in a firm warrior hold then jogged back toward the keep in his clan plaid.

Aye, a new time had now dawned for their shifter line, one of renewed hope and endless possibilities.

Quietly, he closed his eyes and focused on Nessa.

He couldn’t force a vision, but with this level of worry and need consuming him, surely one was close to rising. He’d remain alert if one—

A flurry of images swirled to blazing life and he grasped ahold of them. Nessa stood within the great hall of the ancient House of Clan Matheson in an elegant olive gown, her head bowed under the weight of a vision as her clansmen partook of their evening meal around her. He tapped into her mind and followed the path of her vision.

At the fae village along the loch, a young woman wearing a white fur cloak stood on the pebbly beach. Cherub. He touched his heart. Cherub had visited him from time to time over the years, the very first during his darkest days, not long after he’d lost his wife to cancer only a week following Isla’s birth. Lost in his grief, he’d barely been able to care for himself let alone his newborn daughter. Yet he’d promised his wife on her passing that he’d raise their child with all the love and devotion she would have done, a promise he’d kept and would continue to do so.

Cherub had been the one to console him, to assure him his wife awaited him in the land of the fae beyond the veil, in a place that for now would remain beyond his reach, but not forever. One day he would join her, when his time on Earth was done.

“Murdock?” Nessa’s voice reverberated softly through his mind.

“I’m here, my friend. How is Isla?”

“Your daughter is very well. Iain keeps a close watch over her, as do I. She misses you.”

“As I miss her. Tell her I love her. I saw Cherub. She looks troubled.”

“She’s discovered this eve that she is mated to Kirk, a bond she feels she cannae allow to take due to her duty.”

Cherub was devoted to those of fae blood who walked this Earth. She ensured each and every one of her people found their soul bound mate, even though they might be separated by a divide of time. She could command the very air itself and open portals in time. He drew his focus back to the young woman who held a special place in his heart and always would. Just as he could communicate with Nessa during a vision, so too he could do so with Cherub when his sight led him to her. “Cherub, how are you?”

“I am well, Murdock.” A smile lifted Cherub’s lips. “How are you?”

“I have good news. Several of my men have just reported sensing their mates, for the first time.”

“Many of them shall be led to a place this eve where their mate should be, but they willnae find who they search for. No’ when their mates reside here in this time. The same will have occurred for the other shifter clan farther across the Highlands. I need you to speak to their chief, Michael. Let him know the Fae Angel of Love’s duty stands firm and always shall.”

“I’ll inform him. Michael’s been eager to hear more news about Iain, Finlay and Kirk. He misses his sons and will be pleased to hear of your bond taking form with Kirk.”

“I’m afraid I cannae accept the bond with my mate, no’ if I wish to aid all those who will soon need me. Kirk is but one of many.”

“No one has ever been able to defy the mated bond.”

“Then I shall attempt to be the first.”

“There is no need for you to deny what should be.”

“There is every need if I’m to continue to care for my people.” Warmth radiated from her through their link and enveloped him. “We shall speak again soon. Your clan shall need me in the coming days and I willnae forsake you, or them. Of that I give you my word.”