Page 7 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)

–Hazel–

THE LAST THING I expected to see when my gaze drifted past Lucas to the young Scottish boy wearing Sutherland colors was him heading straight for me.

Literally.

“That’s me,”

I whispered before I could stop myself because I knew Lucas preferred we speak telepathically. I stared wide-eyed at a little girl crouched at the base of a hazel tree, of all things, exploring some sort of plant growing there.

Almost the moment I said it, the girl glanced up in surprise at the boy, then smiled in recognition, seconds before everything faded. Or should I say the children faded as if they were ghosts, and our surroundings remained the same, only now a chilly wind blew instead of a warm one, and lush green leaves turned into vibrant autumn leaves. Although I sensed Lucas had questions and rightfully so, he took decisive action first despite his confusion over what we had just witnessed.

“Bloody hell,”

he cursed under his breath, pulling me back in the opposite direction with his Viking sword still at the ready, speaking within my mind.

“Let’s hope that cave is still there because Sutherland territory is not where we want to be.”

Although just as confused by what we’d witnessed, I didn’t fight him because I grew more and more confident that he was, in fact, looking out for me, however crazy his methods had been thus far. In the end, he’d shown a level of caution I needed to see before we followed the strange memory that had led us here to begin with.

Fortunately, despite being overgrown with vegetation, the entrance to the small cave was still there, and we were able to slip inside without disturbing the brush or drawing attention to ourselves.

“I cannae risk chanting a torch here,”

he said when he realized the one he’d been carrying was gone, likely because we'd experienced some sort of time slip.

“’Tis too risky lest the Sutherland’s sense my magic. ‘Twould be best if I carried you so you dinnae trip or—”

“No, it’s okay,”

I said, growing more comfortable speaking telepathically by the moment, for no other reason than I liked the deep, comforting rumble of his voice in my mind.

“I can see.”

Blinking, I gazed around in awe as darkness gave way to a muted but brilliant way of seeing, as if a million little stars lit the way.

“I don’t know why, but I can, and it’s stunning.”

“Aye,”

he said, his internal voice gruff, when once again his fiery catlike eyes ignited and his gaze locked with mine. “Verra.”

I struggled to breathe when our gazes connected because I knew I was seeing through my dragon eyes for the first time. That I really, truly was part dragon, and it didn’t scare me like it should. Not so long as I was staring into his eyes, which grounded me in a way that made little sense. Grounded me when I should feel the opposite, given who he was. Or should I say, given he was impulsive by nature.

Yet right here, right now, he felt like the safest, most dependable person I had ever met, whereas I struck him as being the total opposite. Something I felt clearly in his emotions as I saw my own brilliant emerald green dragon eyes briefly in his mind. That’s when I realized he feared I might risk my safety and his by doing something out of his control before he could stop me.

Desperate to keep him from feeling that way because I knew the sensation all too well from dealing with Aspen and Willow over the years, I looked at him with reassurance and gestured ahead.

“Lead the way to safety. I’ll stay with you.”

His gaze lingered on me for a moment longer before relief flashed in his eyes, and he did just that. Or at least he tried before cursing under his breath again and shaking his head.

“I’m unfamiliar with these tunnels, and my inner beast cannae seem to gain a sense of direction.”

Where typically that might frighten me, the further we went, the more familiar things looked, as if I had been here before.

“You might not be familiar with them, but I have a feeling I am.”

When he frowned at me, wondering how much he should trust me, considering I seemed to have recognized the Sutherland boy, I arched my brows and notched my chin, challenging him when I typically wasn’t that sort.

“Unless you have a better idea, I suggest you allow me to lead the way. If you sense we’re heading further into enemy territory, let me know.”

He kept eyeing me, still trying to figure out if he should trust me, then nodded once. That’s all I needed to get moving out of curiosity, if nothing else. A curiosity I hadn’t realized I missed until I looked at my younger self, exploring plant life around a tree, curious if it was some herb that might work well in a recipe, because even then, I was interested in cooking and baking.

Yet, as I made my way along the curving, rocky tunnel as if I’d traveled it many times before, I realized I'd once enjoyed going on adventures and exploring. I felt a lightheartedness the further I went, almost as if I had been carrying a weight on my shoulders all this time.

“We can speak aloud now,”

Lucas rumbled a while later, startling me from my reverie. One where somehow I was out from under a veil of fear and worry I had no idea I was carrying. One that turned me into someone the little girl back there wouldn’t have recognized, and I had no idea how I had gotten there. Not really. Maybe a little, but I didn’t want to think about those hard years with Mom right now, nor what caused them.

When I glanced at Lucas, curious why it was safe to speak aloud now, he explained we were back on MacLeod land.

“I had no idea that route to Sutherland territory even existed.”

He frowned as I continued leading us with the same sense of recognition.

“Yet you clearly did, and ‘twill take you verra close to MacLeod Castle if we continue this way.”

“Somehow I did know the route,”

I admitted, slowing the closer I got to a sharp bend ahead, certain I was right.

“But that wasn’t the reason I liked coming this way so much.”

Because I had, hadn’t I? And I couldn’t remember why.

“’Tis hard to believe given ye obviously knew our enemy,”

he said, his brogue thicker and his voice gruff with suspicion now, and I couldn’t blame him. I would probably feel the same way if I were in his position.

“I’ll choose not to be offended by that because it makes sense you’d feel that way,”

I replied, stopping at the bend when what seemed like a single tunnel appeared the only way to go, yet I had a feeling it wasn’t.

“Who was that Sutherland boy, anyway? He was close to my age, so I assume he must have been close to yours as well.”

“I dinnae know,”

he muttered a little too quickly.

“You’re lying,”

I said, certain of it.

“I’m not,”

he denied.

“You are.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Why? Who is he?”

“It doesnae matter,”

he grunted, continuing on, clearly eager to be finished with this topic of conversation. Even though I was tempted to catch up and try to get it out of him, I couldn’t help but drift in the opposite direction toward what appeared to be nothing more than a rocky cave wall.

“It does matter,”

I whispered, drawn by a pattern carved in the rock that looked like nothing more than an irregular crack, but I saw more, much like I did when I saw patterns in my tea. Aspen had seen a spiral that led her back to her Scot of Yesteryear, yet I saw a ragged, chiseled Y shape.

“It’s a map,”

I murmured, certain of it.

I ran my fingers up the line of the Y, almost positive it symbolized the tunnel we had just traveled, pausing at the intersection I now stood at because it was an intersection. Instead of trailing my finger along the tunnel Lucas was heading down, I trailed it up the other, smiling when the line sizzled with a tiny stream of magical fire and the rock wavered before my eyes, clearly some sort of mystical, hidden door.

“Look at that,”

I exclaimed, stepping through without a second thought, intrigued, only to hear Lucas curse under his breath again and fall in beside me.

“From fearing danger to racing into it every chance ye get,”

he muttered, scowling at me as the rock wavered behind us and returned to being a solid wall.

“Ye dinnae even know where this will lead!”

“And here I thought you were the impulsive one,”

I reminded, biting back a small smile despite the frustration in his eyes.

“And I thought you were the cautious one.”

His scowl remained firmly in place.

“Once again, making me wonder where your alliances truly lie.”

Brave because deep down I knew I could be, I faced off with him and met his scowl.

“If you’re so worried about that, why not take me back the way we came and leave me there where the Sutherlands can find me?”

I narrowed an eye.

“Better yet, take me prisoner and bring me to MacLeod Castle until you figure out if I can be trusted.”

“The latter sounds tempting,”

he grunted, his dragon eyes flaring.

“The former sounds foolish for ‘twould play right into the enemy’s hands.”

“Maybe it would or maybe it wouldn’t.”

Not afraid of his threats because I knew he wouldn’t follow through with them, I shrugged and stood my ground despite his towering height and close proximity in the relatively tight tunnel.

“Who was that boy? How do you know him?”

“I dinnae.”

“You do.”

“Nay.”

“Fine.”

Sensing he didn’t know how to get back through the wall, I turned that way and threatened him.

“I’ll head back to the Sutherland’s and find out myself.”

Where I thought he would finally tell me what I wanted to know when I reached for the wall, instead, he came up behind me startlingly fast, rested his hand over mine, and spoke so close to my ear, I felt his warm, tempting breath brush across my cheek.

“Ye go nowhere without me, lass,”

he rumbled, the vibration of his deep voice against my back rolling through me in a wave of pure sensual fire.

“Not as long as ye’re in my era under my watch.”

“Then tell me,”

I whispered, my voice breathless and choppy from the way he made me feel without doing much of anything. Or at least he wasn’t until he inhaled deeply, as if savoring my scent, before I swore the tip of his tongue flicked feather soft over the sensitive flesh of my neck.

“Nay,”

he said roughly, the corner of his mouth hovering near the corner of mine when I turned my cheek, trembling with a sense of awareness I had never felt before.

Or had I?

I couldn’t help but turn to him with a longing so familiar that tears sprang to my eyes, and I did something so out of character for me, I wondered if I was possessed.