Page 65 of Desiring the Highland Laird
He hurried over and joined her on the ground. He peered at it, watching as the lines grew bright then faded, then grew bright, then faded.
“What’s it doing?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I have no idea.”
She reached for it, but his hand clamped around her wrist. Her head snapped up as she looked at him, confused.
“Let me,” he said, then released her wrist.
He reached for the stone, plucking it off the ground and placing it in his palm. As soon as he did, the light faded. It stopped glowing.
“That’s odd,” she said. “It’s as though itwantedus to find it. Like it was a homing beacon or something.”
He stared at it resting against his palm, as if it were a foreign object. When he continued to stare at it and not move, she placed a hand on his arm.
“Callum? What is it?”
“Something Da said to me,” he said. “The secret lies within the MacLeod bloodline.”
He whispered it when he said it and it sent a cold shiver through her. She peered down at the stone, now dormant.
“What secret?” she asked.
He shook his head as if to say he didn’t know. She certainly didn’t either.
“Two ancient bloodlines. One divine destiny,” she said, remembering what Hamish had told her. “MacLeod and Sinclair?”
He nodded. “Aye, lass. Ye have the right of it. Da said this to me, too.”
She considered this as she looked down at the stone, silent in his hand. “Well, then, what if it was a homing beacon? And the MacDonalds couldn’t see it. Or we got damn lucky.”
“Aye, lass. I think we wereverralucky.” He rose and stuck the stone into his sporran once again.
She eyed the place he kept it and wondered if she had picked it up, would she have been able to use it to return home since it was glowing?
“Ye wanted to take it, didn’t ye?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. There was no reason to lie.
“Because ye think it can send ye home,” he added.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“We tried that already.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t glowing then,” she said. She lifted her gaze to his. “But it was when we found it.”
He reached into his sporran and pulled it out once again, extending it to her. “Do ye wish to try again, then?”
Her heart throbbed at a wicked pace. She eyed the stone in his hand, but it was not glowing. She decided this was a test of faith. He was testing her to see if she would take it once again and try to use it to return home, even though they both saw it was not glowing nor was it humming. He was giving her the chance to leave this place. To leave him and this nightmare behind.
But was it truly a nightmare? He was nothing but kind to her. He’d even kissed her. As she chewed on her lower lip, she tapped into her gut feeling. What did her gut tell her?
Every time she hadn’t listened to her gut, she had regretted it. Now, it was telling her not to reach for the stone. Not to return home. She had to stay. There was something here she had to do before going home and it was all tied to this prophecy or her destiny or whatever. She didn’t know.
All shedidknow was that she had to stay. She clenched her fists at her sides, lifted her gaze to meet his dead on. She saw there the apprehension, the question, and even a bit of fear she might leave him.
“No, Callum,” she said finally. “I do not.”
