Page 4 of A Fine Scottish Spell (The Magical Matchmakers of Seven Cairns #2)

Her hip raged against the move, punishing her with a dangerous slap of nausea.

Dots of blackness swirled through her vision, making her head swim.

She fell forward and fisted his shirt in both hands while breathing deep to keep from losing the pot of tea and toast she’d had for breakfast. Eyes closed, forehead braced against his chest, she prayed she wouldn’t throw up all over his boots.

“I apologize in advance if I puke on you,” she whispered, then swallowed hard and willed herself not to vomit.

This first impression was not going well at all, and she needed it to.

She would need his help to get back to Seven Cairns, since her freaking magic had turned on her.

He held her with a gentleness that helped her catch her breath and reconsider pulling away.

This man was a total stranger—and yet, he wasn’t.

His nearness, his warmth, the reassuring hardness of his muscular chest against her face both calmed and confused her.

She should pull away. Stand on her own. But—she couldn’t and wasn’t all that mad about being mesmerized into breathing him in and resting in the moment.

He smelled of an exciting wildness, cold crisp air warmed by a smoky fire that made you want to curl up and enjoy it.

Stroking her hair, he softly murmured a string of words she didn’t understand, but she felt them wash over her. What the devil was happening here?

“What are you saying?” she whispered without opening her eyes.

“Just words, lass. Dinna fash yerself.”

Breathing him in yet again, she found the strength to lift her head and look up at him.

He was so tall. At just a whisper shy of six feet in height herself, he was a full head and shoulders taller than her.

“I am better now. Thank you.” Her hip still throbbed, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been.

She could bear it as long as she didn’t put any weight on her left leg, which would be a problem.

“I need to get back to Seven Cairns. What part of Scotland is this, so I can get my bearings?”

He studied her for a long moment, looking deep into her eyes as if walking into her soul and wandering through the shelves of her innermost thoughts to learn more about her.

“Seven Cairns is several days’ ride from here.

Due north. It could take ye nigh on a sennight, depending on the weather, and how hard ye push yer mount.

This is my land. Edinburgh is a wee bit to the south of us. Not far from here at all.”

“Edinburgh?” Her heart fell. Seven Cairns was north of Inverness, about an hour by rental car—not horse, and it was well over a four hour drive from Edinburgh, depending on how many sheep blocked the road in various places.

How had she managed to shoot herself so far south and into another century with what was supposed to be a simple serenity spell?

Then it hit her that he knew of Seven Cairns when earlier, he had shaken his head that he didn’t.

“I thought you said you didn’t know about Seven Cairns? ”

With his arms still around her, he twitched a shrug. “I never said that.”

“You shook your head when I asked about Seven Cairns and MacAlester Craig.”

“I shook my head because I dinna ken MacAlester Craig nor the name of yer friend’s husband.” His expression darkened again. “Or was that a lie?”

She tried to shove out of his embrace, hobbling most of her weight onto her right leg and nearly falling. “Shit!”

Baring his teeth, he caught her arm and steadied her. “So it was a lie, then, was it?”

“Grant MacAlester is the husband of my friend, Jessa, who is more like a sister to me than a friend. In fact, my parents even think of her as family, and I consider myself an auntie to their three babies. Their favorite auntie, I might add!” She thumped his chest with both fists, then almost fell before grabbing hold of his arms. Why was she telling him all this?

He obviously didn’t care. “If you don’t want to help me, then don’t, but nobody calls me a liar. ”

“I dinna make it a habit of leaving the injured to fend for themselves until the wolves end their misery.”

“Wolves?” Mairwen had told her that Scotland had hunted wolves to extinction by the seventeenth century. “Wolves survive on your land?” She loved wolves, had even gone so far as to sponsor several sanctuaries, and raised donations for them on her influencer channel.

A leeriness settled across him as he slowly pulled one of his arms free of her hold and only allowed her to steady herself with the one. “Wolves roam the vastness of the United Kingdom of Scotland. King Roric IV respects their right to survive alongside the rest of us.”

“King Roric IV?” While she had never been a history buff, she’d never heard of a King Roric or known Scotland to ever be called the United Kingdom of Scotland.

“Aye. Roric rules this land.”

“He rules Scotland.”

“Aye. He rules all Britannia.”

All Britannia? “Scotland rules England? They not only won their independence but also overcame England’s rule?”

“Aye. The English made a poor attempt at an uprising in 1746, but we convinced them of the error of their ways. Both them and the French.”

The leeriness in his eyes seemed to shift to concern. Maybe. She had never really been that good at reading people. “What about England’s royals? Their peerage? The dukes and earls and stuff?”

“They all pay fealty to Roric. In return, they are allowed seats in parliament. Some say our king is a wise and fair ruler for doing such, hearing the opinions of those who once opposed him. Some say otherwise.” His scowl tightened with a narrowing of his eyes.

“Where are ye from, lass? Ye dinna speak like anyone I have ever known, and the questions ye ask are worrisome. I am thinking Seven Cairns is nay the home of yer birth.”

“I am from…” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence and wished she had paid more attention to her history lessons.

Or maybe she was better off because she hadn’t paid that much attention to them.

This eighteenth century defied what little history she happened to remember.

Almost like it was flipped. Scotland over England.

An entirely different reality. What had Mairwen said about alternate realities?

Emily’s throat closed up, making her gasp for air as the dark spots returned to her vision, spinning at a dizzying pace this time until everything went black.