Page 14 of The Ranger
“That was their plan.” Dallan got to his feet. “Ye’ll keep yerself in check. Yer heart, though it feeds off expending power and meting out justice, will have to stay sensitive to what yer Maiden can give ye.”
Markhel nodded then looked to Shona. “What did Time Master Dallan give your heart?”
She smiled. “His love, his protection. And…” She winked at Dallan. “He sings to me.”
Dallan rolled his eyes. “Och, lass, did ye have to tell him?”
She giggled then gave her attention back to Markhel. “My heart feeds on music, but also the companionship I share with Dallan. It is hard to say what Maida can feed your heart with, but it won’t be fighting so your power has someplace to go. Even after you join, she won’t be strong enough to take you on to feed your heart. It will be something different. But you must recognize what it is when it happens.”
“And if it doesn’t?” he asked. This was one of his biggest fears. If Maida couldn’t feed his inner heart, then he would have to constantly find a way to feed it elsewhere. Usually, a Muiraran’s mate took care of the feeding of the other’s heart after joining. But because of the unusual nature of his, that wasn’t the case here.
“Dinna fash,” Dallan said. “We’ll think of something. The thing to worry about now is getting this started. As soon as Kwaku and Zara return with their report, we can move forward. I’d be more worried about the other obstacle standing in yer way.”
Markhel’s eyebrows knit. He knew what he referred to and hoped he had the strength to deal with what was coming. It was one thing to fight the pain of the Call, and the excruciating loneliness, but quite another to face the opposition they all knew he’d be up against. That of an over-protective parent. But in this case, it could well be Maida’s whole family.
He sighed at the thought and tried to relax. No mean feat. He was, by his own admission, getting nervous. He didn’t know the first thing about wooing and winning a Maiden. Yes, the Call of her heart was one thing. But she was from a time where there were rules to follow when obtaining a mate, and he would have to follow them. Problem was, he didn’t know if he could.
4
“Okay, we can do this.” Makama paced to the other side of the room and back. “Oh, Vale, I’m so nervous I don’t know what to do!”
Her husband crossed the room, took her in his arms, and held her close. “You’ll be fine. We both will. Father has told me so much about Clear Creek over the years, that I feel like I’ve lived there myself. Besides, everyone will be dying to find out how Mother and Father are. They won’t be paying attention to much else.”
“I wish I could tell them who I am.” Her eyes became downcast, and she gave him a forlorn look. “I have so many relatives there. My dad’s brothers, Colin, and Harrison. Their wives, my aunts! And cousins, Dad says I have scads of them.”
He smiled at her, then kissed her on the cheek. “And I’ll be there with you, my love. Every step of the way. But we can’t forget why we’re there.” He stepped back. “The timeline is off. Disrupted. We must take care of Markhel and help him win your cousin Maida.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” She paced again.
Vale watched her flick some of her dark hair from her face. She looked a lot like her mother, Cozette, and was half Muiraran. Vale had a hard time when they were brought together, and he was glad he had as much help as he did. Loads, in fact. But things still happened, and a new enemy made himself known. Dallan, Shona, Melvale and the rest only knew him as “the doctor”, a dangerous man who captured the Lord Councilor Lany Mosgofian, questioned him, then he left him to die.
But Hawaii, where he and Makama met and were joined, wasn’t the first place the doctor had shown up. He showed up in the late 1800s when Tori Phelps and Sir Aldrich were brought together. He kidnapped Tori to get not just a sample of her blood. But all of it.
Then another enemy made themselves known on Dallan and Shona’s last assignment. Thackary Cooke had been taken to the late 1960’s where he was joined with Pepper Kincaid. An ex-Time Master named Philip Brennan had shown up and taken some of Pepper’s blood. No one knew if the doctor and this Brennan were after the same thing or something different. They only knew that both were extremely dangerous.
Vale took Makama by an arm as she paced then pulled her into his. “Darling, it’s going to be okay. We’ll be okay. You’ll meet your relatives, get some time with them, and we’ll see your little cousin properly joined.”
“But who will join them?”
“Kwaku, from what I understand. Dallan and Shona are to deal with the disruption in the timeline. We’ll need Kwaku in case Markhel is too much for us.”
“Oh, yes, that.” She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, but Markhel…”
“Is part of your mother’s race,” he said, cutting her off.
She looked at him. “His heart feeds off of…well, beating people up.”
“That’s not how it works, and you know it. He expends power, a lot of it, especially to bad guys as you like to call them and metes out justice.”
“He’d make a killing in the WWF.” She went to a chair and sat. “I know he’s different. So is Melvale.”
Vale cringed. “Don’t get me started.”
She laughed. “You like him, and you know it.”
He made a face and sat. When he was brought to Makama in Hawaii, he’d been drugged and plagued with Melvale. The Muiraran had tossed him in a pool so Makama would have to save him, then subjected him to all sorts of humiliation in trying to bring the two of them together. Eventually, it all worked, and he was now happily married (or joined as the Muiraran’s liked to call it) to her. Makama’s inner heart fed off being in the water and swimming. His concern was getting her to the swimming hole located in a canyon not far from the Triple-C Ranch where all her relatives were located.
“Thinking of all your fond memories of Hawaii?” she teased.