“I could do that, but there must be a way to open it,” he said.
“Don’t you think I’ve tried? It won’t open.”
“You just haven’t found out how.”
“So you think you can find it when I couldn’t? Me? I’ve spent my life exploring mysteries and looking for treasure.”
Click.
“You didn’t.” Bree leaned closer. One side of the box had separated. “How did you do that?”
“I pressed on the sides.”
“I tried that,” Bree said.
“I pressed on three sides at once. Your wee hands weren’t big enough. Here, it’s yours to open.”
Bree took the box but just stared at it.
“You’re not going to open it?”
“Yes, but I’ve waited so long…”
“Well, open it or I will. I want to know what’s inside.”
She pulled the side that was loose, and a drawer slid out. “It’s a key.” She carefully removed a small skeleton key and held it up. “To what?”
“I think I know.”
“You know? How could you know?”
“Follow me.” Faelan led Bree out of the room and to the attic stairs. He stopped. The stairs were so narrow. And she wasn’t the most graceful of women. There was the bairn to consider. “I think it’s best that you stay here. I don’t want you tumbling down—”
Bree started up the stairs. “They’re just stairs, Faelan.”
He took a large step so that he was right behind her and could catch her if she fell. “The view’s nice here.”
She glanced back and saw him looking at her arse. “There’s more of it to see now.”
“It’s no bigger than it was. Now this,” he said, sliding his arms around her when they’d reached the attic. He placed his palms over her belly. “I can’t wait until I can see that my bairn’s in there.” He turned her in his arms and pulled her close. “Have I told you how much I love you and this little one?”
“Not for a few hours.” Bree leaned in and kissed his neck, making his bones feel like dust. “But you can tell us anytime you want. We love hearing it.”
“Do you think he can hear us?”
“Or her? No. I’m barely pregnant. It probably looks like a chicken embryo right now.”
“Just spoil my mood,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose.
Bree smiled. “But I’m sure if it’s a boy he’ll be every bit as magnificent as his father. ‘The Mighty Faelan Junior.’”
“No you don’t.”
Bree laughed and reached up to turn on the light. “OK, show me what this key goes to.” Faelan led her to a trunk. “This is McGowan’s things. Sorry, your father’s things,” she said.
“Aye.” They’d left the box holding his father’s things inside. Two straight razors. One must have been Quinn’s. There were other things inside. Someone must have kept them there over the years. Old clothing and such. He removed the items and felt for the slit in the bottom of the trunk. “See that? Try the key.”
“That’s a keyhole?”
“Aye. I had a trunk just like this. There’s a secret compartment in the bottom. We used to hide weapons inside. Or anything else we didn’t want found.”
“You knew this trunk had a secret compartment and didn’t tell me?” She looked betrayed.
“I wasn’t sure you didn’t know about it.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “You were afraid I would rip the bottom of the trunk out to get it open.”
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“You know me better than that. I would have opened it carefully.”
He grinned at her admission. She would have opened it if she’d known. She couldn’t resist a puzzle. The only reason she hadn’t gotten the puzzle box open was that she would have had to smash it to do so. “I didn’t know what you were like then.” Which wasn’t long ago. He’d known her for only a short while, though it felt like forever. So much so that he had even started dreaming of her when she was young. Two nights ago he’d dreamed she was in the graveyard crying, upset over some boy. Druan had been outside the graveyard watching Bree. Barmy dreams.
Bree stuck the key inside the hole and turned it. “This is so exciting. Now what?”
“Lift the edge there.”
“Here?” She lifted the corner, and the bottom of the trunk came up. “Oh my. There are letters.” She reached inside and pulled out three yellowed letters tied with a blue ribbon. “This one has your name on them.”
“Tavis said they’d written letters for me, for when I awoke.” Faelan reached for them. These had waited for over a century.
“Do you want to open them with Tavis?” Bree’s expression was so tender, but he knew she was dying to see what was inside.
“He already knows what’s written there. I’d like you to read them with me.”
Her face lit in a grin that made his heart leap. God, he loved this woman. Dangerous, bloody, bold crazy woman. He would die without her.
He carefully opened the first envelope and removed the letter. He unfolded it and looked at the neat writing on the page. “It’s written in Ian’s hand,” Faelan said. “He was always one for letters.”
Faelan, If you are reading this, then someone has awoken you from your slumber. I hope whoever the clan sent to open your time vault has explained what happened. But Tavis and I wanted to leave letters so you would know, and to say our final farewells. The Seeker found your time vault buried in a field. We did not know if Druan was coming back soon, or perhaps watching the place. We found a husband and wife nearby who were kind. They allowed us to stay with them as we searched out a place to hide the time vault. They had an empty crypt and let us buy it. Da was heartbroken and slept the first night in the crypt. He didn’t live to see another night. Voltar killed him and Quinn, according to Quinn, who was barely alive when we found them. Voltar wanted the Book of Battles. We are considering what do to about the problem. We fear telling the elders since we suspect there is traitor in the clan. Tavis and I found a letter from Nigel Ellwood in Quinn’s pocket. Nigel suspected that someone was selling warriors’ names to a demon since several warriors had died under suspicious circumstances. Nigel was worried that the Keeper was involved, since he was the only one who would have had access to the Book of Battles. Nigel told the Council, and they appointed a secret group to look into matters. Nigel convinced them to let him find a place in America for the clan, a second clan seat so that they weren’t all in one place. He had taken the book with him and hidden it in America as well. Most of the Watchers who were investigating Nigel’s claims had also died mysteriously. Since Nigel did not know who to trust, he kept the book in America while he started work on the second castle. He figured the book was safest if it was believed missing, so he pretended to disappear himself. But now he was alarmed because he had spotted four ancient demons nearby. He was worried about the Book of Battles and had written to the Chief Elder asking him to send warriors to transport the book back to Scotland. He stressed in the letter the importance that the Keeper not be told. We do not know the extent of the betrayal. Quinn had the letter and hadn’t told the Council, so he was at least an accomplice to his father’s betrayal. We put Da in an unmarked grave. It is the third grave you will find after walking five paces from the corner of your crypt. We could not risk someone coming to visit his grave and finding the time vault. We will tell Ma the truth. And Tavis and I told Frederick and Isabel about you. They promised to watch over your time vault, and to ensure that someone else in their family takes the duty when they die, until someone from the clan comes to release you. They have the key. They will take care of it as well. We had already buried Quinn in the hole where your time vault was because at that time we had not yet told Frederick and Isabel that your time vault was inside the crypt. Only Ma will know the truth about you. I love you, brother, and I write this with sorrow, knowing that I will never see you again. Not in this lifetime. I will comfort Ma and Alana and will see you on the other side. With love, Ian