Amethyst Destiny by Pamela Montgomerie Read Free Book Online Page A

rim. But ’tis likely what I seek in Castle Rayne is not the chalice at all, but something quite different. Something that will help me find it.”
    Julia lifted a fine brow, a sharp look of disbelief in her eyes. “How can you not know what you’re looking for?”
    Her shrewish tone chafed at his pride and he shrugged. “The magic can be fickle.”
    She raked her golden hair back from her face. “You’re losing me here. How will you find it if you don’t know what it is?”
    “Ye dinna understand.”
    “Clearly. Maybe if you explained this magic of yours a little better, I might. Who did you ask for help? A crystal ball or magic mirror? God, I can’t believe I’m even saying this. Do you have some kind of magic lamp that grants you three wishes? Or a genie in your pocket?”
    He scowled. “Nay.”
    “That’s it? Just nay?”
    “Ye dinna need to know.”
    “Right.” She buried her face against her knees, her hands over her head. “I wish I didn’t know any of this. I would give anything right now to make it all go away. I don’t believe in magic,” she whispered, a soft lament
    A minute passed. And another. Slowly she lifted up, straightening again, her eyes tormented. She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Your magic brought me here to do something for you. How am I supposed to help you if you keep your secrets from me?”
    He’d never told anyone about his ring and he wasn’t starting now.
    “You have to give me something here, dude. Is the magic yours personally? Again, I can’t believe this stuff is coming out of my mouth. Are you a witch or something? Or . . . what would a male be called? A warlock? A wizard?”
    “I am not.”
    “Then you get your magic through an object or spell book or something.”
    His jaw clenched.
    “I’m right, aren’t I? I can see it in your face. Jeez, Talon, do we really have time for a game of Twenty Questions? I’m going to figure it out eventually. Can’t you just tell me and save us both the annoyance?”
    Bollocks . He supposed it made little sense to keep the truth from her when she’d already witnessed the results. “My magic comes from a ring.”
    Her gaze fell to his hands. “Do you wear this ring?”
    “Aye.”
    “I don’t see it.”
    “None can see it but me.”
    A small smile breached her defenses, but the smile turned sour and she made a sound that was part grunt, part laughter. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
    Anger sparked inside him, then flickered out as he watched her mask slip, and he glimpsed the anxiety she was trying to hide.
    She tossed back the rest of the whiskey with a single swallow, shuddering violently. A shudder, he suspected that had little to do with the spirits.
    She met his gaze, a pained understanding in her eyes. “Almost as ridiculous as time travel.”
    He studied her face and her eyes. “Ye believe me.”
    Their gazes met, then locked, as if two halves of a whole had clicked into place. It was a strange feeling. A feeling he wasn’t sure he liked. Yet he couldn’t look away from her.
    Through her gaze, he felt her reach for him, cling to him as if he alone could give her the answers and strength she needed. As if he alone could see her through.
    A strange and unwanted feeling of protectiveness rose inside him.
    With a quick lick of her lips, she broke the connection and looked away, her gaze scanning the small room.
    “I’m withholding judgment on whether I believe you until I’ve seen a little more than a bedroom and the courtyard. But if I’ve really traveled back in time, then not believing in your magic ring seems kind of ridiculous.”
    She turned to him again, the strength back in her eyes.
    The calm logic of her mind pleased him.
    “I think we’d best find ye some garments that better suit this time, aye? I’m not for certain what we’ll do about your hair. Mayhap we can say you took a knife to it in grief.”
    “Excuse me,” she said with asperity. “This is a