Highlander's Charm (Highlander Heat #3)

“I would never lie about something so important. In the future, the Campbell Earls of Argyll take possession of Mingary Castle and my MacIan clan scatter. Many sailed for the other side of the world after hearing there would be free land. They wished for a fresh start and took it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth in the beginning, but I couldn’t. You hate all things MacIan.”


“I detest lies more.” He paced the cave’s opening as he stared toward Mingary. A tic beat rapidly in his jaw.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”

“We all have choices and you’ve deceived me. I would never wed one of the enemy.” A haunted looked clouded his eyes. “You should never have withheld this from me afore we spoke our vows.”

“At the time I was a little distracted. I didn’t know you were going to do that.”

“Damn it.” He thumped his chest. “What game does John MacIan play to send one of his own women into the enemy’s camp? Can he no’ fight with honor on the battlefield?”

“My being here has nothing to do with John MacIan. I wished to find Nanna, not get embroiled in a feud.” She needed to touch him, to soothe the hurt she’d inflicted, but instead she kept her place. “If you wish to renounce your vow, then do it. I’d never hold you to any of the promises you made to me.”

“Unlike MacIan, I hold honor, and my word remains firm.” His gaze hardened. “’Tis a shame though your trust didnae come sooner.” He stormed along the ledge, jumped onto the beach and snagged his black stallion’s reins.

The brisk Highland wind rushed at her, flicking her hair across her face. Below, the turbulent waters surged and she pulled Calum’s plaid tighter. In his eyes, she was a MacIan, and now the woman who’d deceived him.

“Calum,” she yelled across the distance separating them. “I love you, but honor goes both ways. Don’t let yours stand in the way of what you truly desire.”

“You know what I truly desire, to ensure Duart does no’ fall to a MacIan.” He cinched the saddle.

Yes, she did and not for him not to have wed a MacIan. Clutching her charm to her chest, she wished with all her heart as she had that first time at Mingary. “I wish to find Nanna, safe and well. I wish to find—” The ground shook.

“Lila!” Calum shot her a look.

A massive wave rolled in and drenched her. She slipped, made a grab for the cliff but only managed air. She plummeted toward the sea. “Calum!”

Contact with the frigid water stole her breath. She kicked but her skirts dragged her down. The crashing waves tossed her about. So deep.

The plaid tore at her neck. She wrenched the pin free and the tartan jerked away in the murky waters.

What had she been thinking to stand so close to the edge? Her back slammed into the cliff and knocked the breath from her. Black hazed her vision. No. She shoved away and clawed toward the surface. She wouldn’t let the sea take her, not when she was this close to Mingary. All she had to do was cross the damn sound. A mile, maybe two.

The twisting current made her lose her direction. She had to get—

A slick-skinned dolphin butted her arm, and relief burst through her. Yes. She grabbed its fin and held on tight. With one flap of its tail, it shot off, whizzing her toward the blue skies above.

Clean air washed over her face. Calum. She twisted around but the cliffs and bay were gone. Nothing appeared as it should.

The dolphin let out a squeal and she clung to it as her heavy skirts streamed behind her. The beautiful creature rounded the tip then circled one very familiar looking boulder. Her charm heated in her fist. Goodness, her wish had brought her back to Mingary. Or was it the dolphin?

The dolphin dived and she let go. She shoved her coin into her pocket then kicked for the rocky beach a hundred feet away. The cresting waves rolled her into shore.

At knee depth, she heaved her hem to her knees and traipsed out.

Mingary stood tall and strong, the castle’s gray stones now a stunning pinkish-white, as it had been centuries before. Wooden outbuildings were scattered around the outer courtyard, and a horse and rider galloped along the moors toward the stables. A lad ran out of the corral to take the reins as the warrior leaped to the ground. The home of her clan, the most wondrous sight.

A call rang out from a guardsman atop the battlements. An answering shout boomed from two warriors standing on the sea-gate’s stone landing. Her heartbeat pounded as one of the men withdrew his claymore from the sheath across his back.

Her arrival was unexpected, but hopefully not unwanted. She pushed her bedraggled hair over her shoulders and straightened as the armed warrior stormed toward her.

Wearing thickly furred boots and a shaggy vest over his tunic, he slapped the flat of his blade against his palm. “Who are you, and how did you sneak past the sentry guard?”

“I—I didn’t see a guard. I lost my footing on the rocks around the tip and slipped into the loch. My name’s Lila. I’m looking for my grandmother, Jean MacIan. She has the same silver eyes as me and I was told she’d come to Mingary.”

He gripped her chin, tipped her head back. “Aye, you’ve the same eyes as our laird’s mother, and speak as strangely too, like a Lowlander. Mistress MacIan arrived a few weeks past.”