Page 5 of Desiring the Highland Laird (Highland Destiny #1)

T he gala event was amazing and exhausting. Chloe was a social butterfly, which Evie found to be different from the sister she grew up with. But she seemed to be in her element and was so full of life that it made Evie’s heart smile.

Still, though, she thought about the stone in her handbag. Thinking about looking at it had nagged her to the point she had to excuse herself from the table to get a moment to herself.

She nudged Chloe, who sat next to her. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”

She gave her a nod as Evie rose from her seat and headed away from the event, leaving behind the hum of voices.

All four stalls in the restroom were empty. Thankfully, she was alone. She placed her handbag on the countertop by the sink and opened it, staring down at the blue velvet bag inside with her pulse drumming a fierce tempo.

She had left the business card Moira gave her in her luggage in Chloe’s flat. She didn’t know why she had even kept it, but she hid it away in case she needed it again.

Why was she so nervous?

“Geeze, Eve, it’s a funky little rock . Not drugs,” she muttered to herself.

She pulled the blue velvet bag from her purse and opened the drawstring, dropping the stone into the palm of her hand. As soon as it hit her skin, it hummed.

Odd.

She placed the velvet bag on the counter next to her purse and stared down at the marking that was worn smooth. She ran the tip of her finger around the jagged edge. She had no doubt that it was part of a bigger piece and that it would fit snugly against it.

But what was the bigger piece? Where and how would she find it?

Evie glanced up at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes and fatigue lining her face. No amount of makeup would hide the exhaustion pounding through her since the moment she had landed in Scotland.

“You look awful,” she told her reflection.

Then she leaned closer to inspect her face. Flecks of mascara dotted her skin under her eyes. She brushed them away. Stepping back, she smoothed her free hand over her dress.

The stone continued to hum.

“This is ridiculous,” she said.

She was about to replace the stone into its velvet bag when she heard what sounded like gunfire. She spun toward the door, her eyes wide and her heart pounding like mad. What the hell was that?

She kicked off her four-inch heels in case she needed to make a dash for it and tiptoed to the bathroom door. She cracked it and peered out. Though she couldn’t see anything, she heard the commotion in the main gallery. Shouts. Screams. More gunfire.

She clutched the humming stone in her hand and slipped out the door, pressing her back against it and listening.

The bathrooms were under the staircase, hidden from the main gallery.

She crept toward the corner. She had to find her sister and make sure she was all right.

She had to get her and get the hell out of the museum.

Six masked men roamed through the tables. All of them held guns. They forced the partygoers onto the floor, face down.

Where was her sister?

There was no way she would be able to sneak out into the gallery. Not with everyone on the ground except for the intruders. What was she going to do?

She had to think. Perhaps she could run around the corner and sprint up the stairs before they caught sight of her. She had no idea what was upstairs. She hadn’t explored the museum because she’d stuck by her sister’s side the entire night.

With her heart beating a wicked beat, she peered around the corner. The two men closest to her had their backs turned. Now was her chance.

Clutching the stone tight in her hand, she ran around the corner and started up the stairs as fast as her legs would take her. Her thigh muscles burned as she ran. But her tight skirt was keeping her from going as fast as she wanted.

“Stop her!” one of the men shouted.

The thump of boots on the ground alerted her to the fact they were running after her.

How many men, she didn’t know. She didn’t dare turn around.

Hope that she made it up the stairs to find a place to hide pressed through her.

But then what? Like an idiot, she left her purse and cell phone behind in the bathroom. She wouldn’t be able to call for help.

“Evie!” Chloe shouted.

She stumbled, stubbing her big toe on the step, making her fall forward. Unwilling to release the stone, she threw out her right hand to break her fall. Her shins bashed against the edge of the stairs, sending shooting pain through her.

“Run, Evie!”

“I said shut up .”

Evie glanced over her shoulder in time to see the masked man shove her sister to the floor, then pointed the gun at her. She sucked in a sharp breath and climbed back to her feet, turning on the step. Sweat trickled down the side of her face. Behind her, two men were coming up the stairs.

But she was focused solely on Chloe. Her sister looked at her, their eyes met, and she understood. She had to keep going.

As she made the decision to start back up the stairs, one of the assailants was on her. She yelped and leapt up to the next step as he reached for her.

“Grab her!” the other man ordered, his voice low and gruff.

As she leapt, the man directly below her wrapped a hand around her ankle. She fell forward again, this time bashing her chin against the stair. She tasted the sudden metallic tang of blood in her mouth and knew she had bitten her tongue.

In an awkward move, she twisted and kicked out with her free foot. Her heel connected with the man’s forehead. He grunted.

“Dinnae fight me, lass,” he said in a deep voice.

Something familiar about the sound of his voice made her stop. She stared down at him, stunned.

“Bruce?” she whispered.

His steely blue eyes lifted to hers and in them she saw pain and anguish.

“Give me the stone, lass, and I willna hurt ye or yer sister.”

Shock rolled through her as her brows drew together. “What?” The word exploded out of her in a roughened whisper.

“The stone in yer hand.” He nodded to her hand still closed into a fist.

She didn’t understand how he knew she had the stone.

“Och, aye, it calls to us,” he said, as if sensing her confusion. “Dinnae ye hear it?”

Fear pounded through her with such a heated rush, she saw black pinpricks behind her eyes. She tried to blink them away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said finally. She kicked him again. This time, hard enough to make him loosen his grip on her ankle.

It was all she needed. She bolted up the stairs on her hands and knees. When she was at the top, she crawled across the cool tile floor. Bruce was right behind her and closing in.

She climbed to her feet and ran hard, thankful she had ditched the heels in the bathroom. She ran past the balcony café into an exhibit featuring Asia and Ancient Egypt. She hid behind a statue of a samurai, trying to catch her breath. Her neck, back, and face were coated in a slick sheen of sweat.

And yet she still managed to clutch the stone in her hand. She opened her fingers to look down at it. The jagged edges left deep indentations in her palm where she’d held it tight. The stone still hummed.

Was that the stone calling to him? Is that what he meant?

“Evie?” he called.

She stopped breathing.

“Come on, lassie. Dinnae make this more difficult than it has to be.”

She had to do something before he found her. The problem was if she moved, she would be out in the open. He’d see her. Then he would be on her in an instant.

The humming got louder. She glanced down at the stone, wishing it would stop. Then she noticed something odd. The lines of the triquetra had started to glow.

Unbidden, the image of Dundale Castle burst through her mind. An urging pounded through her to touch the stone. To swipe her finger over the marking.

“Found ye.” Bruce was next to her, a gun pointed at her. He held his other hand out to her. “Hand it over, lass.”

“I don’t think so.”

Her thumb swiped over the stone and the next thing she knew it was as though the floor dropped out from under her feet and she went tumbling, tumbling, tumbling through the air.

Thankfully, she had managed to close her hand around the stone.

As she fell, the air was sucked out from her lungs and a burning sensation took up there.

She was suffocating, as though she were underwater trying to breathe.

Her lungs were being crushed by a weight she did not understand.

Then everything went black.