Page 21 of Utterly Dauntless

"This is ridiculous." Craig's wife moved protectively closer to her children. Her husband just laughed and waited for the rest of the joke.

"Not ridiculous." Lorraine joined her sister. "Aries doesn't have her power anymore, but we do. And we came along in case you needed some convincing."

The boy was paying attention now. "Cool. What can you do?"

"We can sometimes see the future," Loretta said cheerfully, as if she enjoyed saying it out loud. "For instance, your mother is carrying a child. Another son. One she hasn't told anyone about yet. We're always good at that." She faced the woman and peered into her eyes. "You'll name him...Carson."

"Mum!" Emma's eyes went wide. "That's gross! Ye're not pregnant!"

The brother took one look at his mother's face and groaned. "That is gross. Ye're so old!"

"Shut it, Jake," the mother hissed. Her face was white as a sheet.

"Mary?" Craig looked ill as well. "Is it true?"

She nodded slowly. "I only found out Tuesday. I was going to tell ye..."

"See?" Carson grabbed his brother's arm. "I told ye! I told ye! But no one believed me!"

Craig ran a hand through his hair. "I never thought ye were crazy, Cars. I just...it was easier to think ye had a dream ye thought was real." He looked at Aries. "But ye're saying it really happened? We really disappeared? Just a snap and we were gone?"

"Yes." Aries felt tears threatening. "And I am so, so sorry."

The brothers exchanged a long look and she could almost see decades of misunderstanding crumble and fall away.

Craig was the first to find his voice. "Ye poor man. Sorry I am that Mum and Da arenae here to hear it."

A server appeared to announce that lunch was ready, and everyone moved to the table. Shug said something to make everyone laugh, and the tension dissolved. The teenagers sat across from the Muir sisters. By their faces, it was clear they were creating lists of questions to ask—as long as it didn't have anything to do with their parents having sex.

No one expected the Campbell clan to swallow the tall tale that all five Highlanders had been born near the turn of the 18th century, let alone the fact that they were recently raised from the dead by yet another Muir witch. So, as they were seated, Aries introduced the five men as friends who had nothing better to do than come along for the day.

Grey pulled out a chair for her, then walked around the table to sit across and down a little. She truly hadn't expected to sit down together in the end and share a meal. But the Muir sisters were nothing if not miracle workers.

"So tell me," Craig said, "what exactly happened that day? I've heard Carson's version a hundred times, but I never could quite believe it."

Aries took a steadying breath. "I was young and angry. My father had just died, and I thought you boys were...being disrespectful. I had this power, you see. Whatever I wished for would come true. Only I didn't always control it well. When I saw you throwing rocks into my father's grave, I wished you would go away. And you did."

"Just like that?" Jake leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Like, poof?"

"Just like that," Carson said. "One minute we were there, the next we were...in the middle of nowhere. Looked like any old moor. Then some Highlander showed up and took us home. Our parents thought we were dead. Hadn't seen us for days. But I don't remember being cold or hungry, don't remember it getting dark. But I do remember thinking we were stuck on that moor forever. Lost."

"How long were we there?" Craig asked.

Aries shook her head and lied. "Who knows?" Aries explained. "That powerful witch who found you thought that he'd altered your memories."

The teens looked at each other, grinned, and spoke in unison. "Altering memories." Like it was a new ability they were about to be granted.

"That's why ye went a bit...odd," Craig said softly.

"Aye. No one believed me. Mum and Da took me to doctors, put me on pills..." Carson's voice cracked. "I would flush them down the toilet because I knew there was nothing wrong with me. And the only person who might be able to help...ran away." He looked at Aries and gave her a kind smile. A gift of forgiveness.

She looked for Grey, hoping against hope that he could do the same. But he was frowning at his plate, and she wondered if he'd been paying attention.

Mary reached across the table and squeezed her brother-in-law’s hand. "I'm so sorry."

The first course arrived—a delicate soup that steamed gently in fine china bowls. For a few minutes, there was only the quiet clink of spoons and murmurs.

Emma piped up. "Ye said ye're not a witch now?"

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