Page 22 of Promised to the Ruthless Laird (Highland Whispers of Love #2)
The journey back to Lennox Castle was a quiet one, the carriage swaying gently with every rut and dip in the road. Sunlight streamed through the small windows, casting shifting patterns across the worn seats and illuminating the dust that swirled in the air. Outside, the Highland landscape stretched endlessly, rolling hills and jagged cliffs bathed in golden light.
Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was of exhaustion tinged with impatience. Davina sat across from Edin and Finley, her body slumped against the cushioned wall. Though she was free, the burden of all she had endured clung to her like an invisible shroud. Her fingers twisted in the fabric of her skirt, and every so often, her gaze would flicker toward the window, as if to remind herself that she was truly going home. that she had survived.
Fatigue pulled at her features, her sharp eyes dulled by everything she had suffered. And yet, there was a glint of something beneath it all — an ember that had not been snuffed out; a quiet resilience that refused to be broken. She had not yet fully recovered, but she would.
Edin stared out the window, watching the sunlit landscape blur past, the trees swaying like silent sentinels under the night sky. She was also going home —to Lennox Castle. Whether or not it would ever truly feel like home was yet to be seen.
Something in her chest tightened. She had spent years convincing herself that she belonged nowhere but the Triad; that her place was among shadows and whispered orders. But now, for the first time in her life, she was choosing something else. Choosing someone else.
After travelling a little longer, she looked at Finley and said, “Stop the carriage.”
Finley’s head turned toward her, his eyes narrowing slightly in question. “Is this the place?”
She nodded once.
Finley rapped on the front of the carriage, and the driver pulled the horses to a slow halt. The sudden stillness settled heavy in Edin’s bones. She inhaled deeply, steeling herself, before opening the door and stepping out onto the damp earth. Finley followed her, his boots crunching against gravel as he fell into step beside her.
Before them stood what remained of an old, abandoned house. Time and neglect had turned it into something almost unrecognizable; the wooden beams sagging, ivy creeping along the crumbling stone. But Edin knew what lay beneath it.
“This is where ye stop, Finley.” She turned to him, her voice steady. “Ye cannae go where I’m headed.”
A flicker of emotion passed across his face, but he didn’t argue. He studied her, searching her face for something, though she wasn’t sure what. Then, with a short nod, he leaned against the nearest post, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’ll be waitin’,” he said simply.
Edin held his gaze for a moment longer before she turned and pushed open the half-rotted door, stepping into the darkness beyond.
The air inside was cloaked in dust and the scent of old stone. Her steps were careful as she moved across the worn floor, finding the hidden passage with ease. With one last glance behind her, she descended the narrow staircase, swallowed whole by the crypt beneath.
The corridor stretched before her, the flickering torchlight casting twisted shadows against the damp walls. Her boots echoed as she approached the chamber where the Favored awaited her.
A cloaked woman stood at the entrance, her face hidden beneath the deep hood. She inclined her head slightly.
“Ye have returned, finally” she murmured.
“I bring news o’ me mission.”
The woman gave a slight nod before stepping aside, allowing Edin to pass.
The chamber was as she remembered — cold, dark, lined with ancient stone. Three figures sat before her, their cloaks pooling at their feet like spilled ink. Their presence was unsettling, their gazes unreadable.
“Speak,” one of them intoned, their voice layered, almost inhuman.
Edin kept her stance firm. “The mission was successful. The Lennox girl is returnin’ home as we speak.”
Silence stretched between them, thick as fog. Then, as one, the Favored inclined their heads in approval.
“This pleases us,” another voice murmured. “Fer this, ye shall ascend. A higher rank within the Triad awaits ye.”
Edin felt a flicker of something — pride, perhaps — for the girl she once was; the one who had spent years proving herself worthy of such an honor. But that pride was fleeting, dissolving almost as soon as it surfaced.
She exhaled slowly. “I thank ye, but I willnae be takin’ it.”
A pause. Then, shifting in the air, a ripple of something unreadable.
“Unusual,” one of them mused. “Ye have been one o’ our most determined. Why refuse what ye have earned?”
Edin lifted her chin. “Because I want tae be somewhere I feel accepted fer who I am — nae just fer what I can dae.”
The Favored did not speak. The silence between them stretched long and heavy. Then, finally, one of them spoke again, their voice eerily soft.
“Daes this place ye seek have a name?”
Edin felt the corner of her lips twitch. “Aye. Finley Lennox.”
The three figures exchanged glances, their hooded heads tilting slightly as though weighing the words. Then, almost in unison, they nodded.
“It is well, then,” the first figure said. “Ye have fulfilled the contract of yer training. Ye are twenty-five now, officially past the age of service. Ye have our blessin’,” the first figure said. “From this day forth, ye are nay longer an active member o’ the Triad.”
A strange sensation washed over her — relief, perhaps; or maybe freedom. She had never known what it felt like to choose for herself.
But even as the sense of obligation lifted, a ghost of her past self lingered in the chamber, watching her with cautious eyes. She had spent her entire life here; training, bleeding, becoming the weapon they had molded her into. How many times had she told herself that she belonged to the Triad, bound by the fact that they had taken her in and shaped her into something so sharp?
And yet, she had only been valued for what she could do. Love — true acceptance — had always been absent.
She dipped her head in respect. “I thank ye — fer all ye have done fer me.”
The words were an acknowledgment, not a farewell. There was no need for one. The Triad did not beg its members to stay. Those who reached five-and-twenty had paid their due, their service complete. She was neither an exception nor a loss worth mourning. Just another weapon they had sharpened and could keep or cast aside when the time came.
With that, she turned on her heel and ascended the stairs in a heartbeat, leaving behind the only life she had ever known.
When she emerged, night had fallen, but Finley was standing exactly where she had left him. The moment his eyes met hers, something in his face softened. Relief flickered in his gaze, as if he had been holding his breath the entire time she was gone
And then she was moving, closing the space between them in a single breath. She barely had time to register his warmth before his arms were around her, pulling her in as if he’d been waiting for this moment forever. Their mouths met in a desperate, searing kiss, his hands tangling in her hair, hers gripping the front of his tunic as if he might disappear if she let go.
When they finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers, his breath warm against her lips.
“Thought maybe ye had changed yer mind,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. “Figured ye might’ve decided tae stay with ‘em after all.”
Edin let out a breathy laugh, her fingers curling against his chest. “Aye? Well, ye figured wrong, Finley Lennox.”
He grinned then, that lopsided, boyish grin that made something deep inside her ache.
“Good,” he said.
With one last kiss, he took her hand in his, leading her back to the carriage. Together, they climbed in, the road ahead stretching wide and open before them.
As they settled into the carriage once more, Edin leaned into the seat, her fingers still laced with Finley’s. The warmth of his touch grounded her, tethering her to the present, to the choice she had made.
Her mind drifted to the ghosts she had left behind. The Triad had been her world once. Not anymore.
She glanced at Finley, his profile illuminated by the pale light filtering through the window. A life outside the shadows awaited her now, uncertain yet full of possibility. A life of her own. A life of hope. And although she did not yet know what the future held for her, one thing she was sure of: she would not look back.
But there’s more…
After a perilous quest to save his sister, their battle is won. Now, nothing stands between Edin and Finley. Find the dynamic conclusion to their tale and final happily ever after in the Extended .