Page 3 of Her Scot of the Morrow
God knows, I wasn’t the girl I had been.
“According to Elowyn, or Ellie as you call her, the ring will take you where you need to go,” Adlin said, catching me off guard once more.
“How could Ellie possibly know that when she didn’t know about the ring?” I frowned and shook my head. “And she definitely didn’t know I traveled back in time in my youth. I never shared that with any of my sisters.”
“Yet I still knew,” Ellie said, surprising me when she opened the front door and stepped out into the crisp early morning air. She was as beautiful as ever with her intricately braided white-blonde hair and bohemian-style clothing, suiting the peace-loving, witchy vibe she’d long put off.
“What are you doing here, sis?” I frowned, seeing her car wasn’t in the driveway. “Did someone drop you off?”
That seemed strange given she had come from Salem, Massachusetts, where we all lived before moving here, and that was hours away.
“Someone did drop me off,” Ellie confirmed, not elaborating. Her gaze drifted to my ring. “You’ll want to put that on. The Sutherlands are growing impatient.”
Although I had tons of questions, starting with how she seemed to know so much, something about the look in her eyes gave me pause. A flicker of fear I had never seen before.
I didn't like how this felt at all. “Your life really is in danger, isn’t it?”
“It is,” she said softly, a strange light I had seen years ago flickering in her eyes. The same fiery flicker I saw in Sloan’s eyes before he showed me his dragon eyes for the first time.
“Along with our sisters’ lives,” Ellie went on, “so I need you to trust me when I tell you to put that ring on right away. At this very moment, or things could go terribly wrong.”
I might have said I never believed we were half dragon, but I knew the truth, and it seemed Ellie did too. Despite shoving my dragon deep down inside after Sloan broke my heart all those years ago, I still felt its urgency when it came to my sisters.
More so, IknewEllie was right, so I didn't hesitate and slipped the ring on my finger because all my sisters would do the same for me. I couldn’t have anticipated what happened next, though, because it couldn’t have been more different than the first time I wore it.
CHAPTER TWO
Scottish Highlands
1375
–Sloan–
“’TIS NEARLY THE end of the morrow, MacLeod,” Laird Dugal Sutherland ground out. He sat at the head of the table in the Sutherland’s private dining chamber, referring to my assurance of Willow arriving by tomorrow, or today as it were. “And there is still no sign of Willow, whom ye promised would arrive by day’s end.”
“And she will, m’laird,” I said smoothly, giving both him and Elspet, the evil woman who sat opposite her son, a look of reassurance. “I am quite sure of it.”
“Ye best be or we will seek out the last sister on the morrow,” Elspet bit out, her beady black eyes distrusting as she assessed me, “and the king will know ye didnae keep yer word.”
While tempted to remind them my exact words were that I expected Willowasearlyas the morrow, I refrained because it would only incite the two of them further. Not that it took much. Ancient pacts or not, they were the most unreasonable people I had ever dealt with, yet here I was, having offered myself up to them, however hospitably I had been treated thus far, if it meant getting Hazel and Evan out safely.
At least that was part of the reason.
The other part I had no right to feel, given I was to marry another, but there was no helping it. Despite how curt Willowwas with me these days, the thought of seeing her again after so many years was impossible to refuse. Not just that, but the idea of her ending up in Sutherland hands without me there watching over her terrified me more than I was willing to admit.
Willow might be strong, even tough as she would put it, but she was no match for Dugal and Elspet, nor their greed for power.
Either way, I was careful not to smile at the thought of seeing her again, but focused on the here and now because being granted one more night to await Willow's arrival at Sutherland Castle was a good thing. It was more than enough time for Willow to seek me out now Adlin MacLomain was involved, and she knew how serious this was. I wasn’t precisely sure how it would work, as I’d always been in the forest near a willow tree when she arrived. Yet, I had faith that with Adlin’s help, we would find a way.
As it were, a mere night could become longer when Willow’s witchy magic combined with the power of her mother’s ring. Neither of us had ever understood how it worked, only that when she visited, time seemed to slow down in the real world, as she called it, and she was right. My mother would think I had been off romping around in the forest for a few hours hunting, yet it had truly been days.
“And I would fully expect ye to report my deception to the king if Willow doesnae show up, Elspet,” I replied to her dutifully when she threatened me with King Robert, not only my liege but a good friend. “Just as I reported how kind and gracious ye were by letting Hazel go when she didnae wear the gem over her dragon's heart. More gracious still when ye let Evan go as well.” I nodded once at her in respect and thanks, hoping it appeared genuine despite loathing the two of them. “’Twas more than most would have done in yer position and King Robert will know that.”
“As heshould,” she ground out tightly, clearly struggling to be civil. Her dark gaze homed in on Lilias, who sat across from me. “As to ye, daughter-by-marriage, ye will remain by yer husband’s side as he hunts for the mark if it decides to appear on anyone other than my son’s wrist.”
Lilias, as it turned out, was Willow’s half-sister, born to the same father as the rest of the girls, Malcolm Sutherland, before he was banished and made his way to the future, where he sired four more daughters with four different women. With pretty features, light brown hair, and deep, olive-green, soulful eyes, Lilias possessed no dragon blood but was renowned for her mystical ability to communicate with animals.
It was also said she was the reason her father was banished from Clan Sutherland, so Dugal’s father could become chieftain. To this day, we weren’t sure if it was true, but it was enough for us MacLeods to be cautious around her. Though she had seemed trustworthy on Lucas and Hazel’s journey back to each other, we were still on guard.
