Frustrated, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

The fact that I had been desperate for her was no justification.

I’d known that we were impossible even when I was a teenager. That I’d avoided other women hadn’t been to save myself for her, because she was never supposed to happen. It had just felt…right.

Lonely and frustrating, but right.

Ever since I’d seen her, there’d been no one else for me. I couldn’t even imagine it.

So I’d spent all my free time in the fight ring. Fat lot of good it had done me now. At the first opportunity, while my defenses were lowered in sleep, I gave in.

And how glorious it had been.

But it could never happen again.

10

Eve

 

* * *

 

I woke alone.

Lachlan had never returned, and I was grateful. The last thing I needed was to roll over and look into his eyes.

Last night had been…amazing. Stupid, but amazing.

I rubbed my chest, wondering how much further my heart had inched toward him.

Nope. No time to think of that now. I needed to get my head in the game and solve the mystery of what the hell was going on here.

Of what the hell I was.

It didn’t take long to pull on my boots and jacket. Sleeping in my clothes hadn’t been fun, but it had been efficient, at least. Ralph was nowhere to be seen, for which I was also grateful. I couldn’t imagine that he would have any comforting words for me.

The stairs creaked as I made my way down. The early morning was still dark, the air crisp and cool with a hint of rain on the horizon.

Lachlan leaned against the wall next to the door, but he straightened when I stepped out onto the pavement. I could see people in the distance, still partying on the streets from the night before.

I stopped a few feet from Lachlan and leaned against the same wall. He handed me a takeaway coffee cup and warm paper bag. The scent of a sausage roll wafted toward me, and my stomach grumbled.

“Thanks.”

He nodded and looked away, clearly not wanting to make eye contact.

That was fine. Better, in fact.

I turned and looked out at the street, listening to the sounds of the continuing party as I bit into the savory, salty roll. I finished my breakfast in record time, then started on the coffee. After my first bracing sip, a car rolled up.

The Land Rover was muddy and well used, but the woman at the wheel was as coiffed as she had been yesterday. Fiona rolled down the window and nodded toward the back. “Get in.”

Lachlan strode toward the car and opened the door, gesturing for me to enter. After I climbed in, he shut the door and walked around to the other side.

“Sleep all right?” Fiona asked, a smile in her voice.

I frowned at the back of her head. Had she read what there was between us and intentionally put us in such a tiny room?

I frowned.

“Fine, thanks.” Lachlan’s voice was short. “The boat burning was impressive. We saw it from the window.”

“Yes, the builders try to outdo themselves every year.” She turned onto a country road that led away from the town. “We’ll be there soon.”

The car climbed a hill and looped around. The moon hung low, illuminating the standing stones towering toward the sky. They were utterly massive, fifteen of them at least, flat and wide and tall.

Fiona stopped the car and stepped out. I followed her, watching her squint up at the sky. “Looks like a clear morning. Good news for us.”

“Why do we need clear skies?” I asked.

“We want to see the moon set.” She walked toward the stone circle, and I hurried to keep up, keenly aware of Lachlan at my back.

As we passed through the stone ring, magic shivered down my spine. Suddenly, my blood and bones felt alive with power. It sparked through me like I was made of carbonated soda, and I shivered.

Fiona looked back at me, a considering expression on her face.

The scrutiny made me uncomfortable, so I looked past her to peer into the center of the stone circle. A statue stood in the middle, and I frowned. “That’s unusual.”

“I know.” Fiona walked around to the front of the statue, and I followed. “Only one of its kind in all of the UK.”

I believed her. I’d been to quite a few stone circles and seen pictures of many more. There were never statues in the middle.

From the back, this one appeared to be a woman in a long, simple dress. As I walked around to the front, Fiona pointed to the ground in front of me. “Watch your step.”

I hopped over a gash that had been carved into the ground, no doubt by the thieves searching for the Moon Stone. Lachlan went the other way around the statue, and he, too, had to step over a gouge in the ground.

“They knew that their target would be buried at her feet,” Fiona said.

“Who is she?” I asked, coming to stop beside Fiona.

“You don’t recognize her?” Fiona pointed to the face.

I looked up, then felt my heart drop to my stomach. The air whooshed from my lungs, and I nearly swayed.

It looked like my mother.

No…it looked like me.

Not a perfect resemblance, but the similarity was there in the brow and nose and chin.

I turned to Fiona, my heart racing so fast it made me lightheaded. “How long has this been here? Is this a prank?”

She laughed. “A prank? No, love, we’re not that bored up here in the middle of the sea.”

“Of course not.” I swallowed hard and looked back at the statue. My head swam as I stared into the face. “How long?”

“Long as any of us can remember. Long as our written history. We think it was put here by the wolves who came before us.”

“And the Moon Stone was found at her feet?” I looked down at the scar in the ground. The dirt was still torn up, a great hole where the stone had once been.

“Yes. At least, we think.” She shrugged. “We never saw it, of course, since we wouldn’t disturb this place. But it was written about,” she said, and pointed to the standing stones surrounding us.

It was still too dim to see clearly, but it looked like there were carvings on the stones, just like at the castle.

“Do you have someone who can read those?” Lachlan asked.

“Not all of them,” Fiona said. “But some of the carvings are pictures. Those are easy enough to read, along with the Old Norse.”

The moon was nearly to the horizon. The sun would follow shortly. A bit of me hoped that when the sun finally rose, the light would reveal that the statute was of a completely different person and looked nothing like me.

Sure, I wanted answers. Of course I did. But I didn’t want to be some kind of figure who was so important that there were statues of me.

“It’s got to be an ancestor of mine,” I said, suddenly feeling foolish. Not me. Of course it wasn’t me. This had been carved long before my birth. And even though there were seers who could prophecy such things, it was ridiculous to think I’d be important enough to merit a prophecy or a statue. “I just have a famous ancestor. Hell, loads of people do.”

“Perhaps.” Fiona nodded to the horizon, where the moon was just starting to dip toward the horizon. “Watch carefully, now.”