Page 6 of Wild Scottish Gold (The Enchanted Highlands #7)

CHAPTER FIVE

Kaia

I t turns out I’m magick.

Yeah, I know. Even thinking that sounds wild to me, and yet, after hearing Sophie out, meeting Hilda and Archie, and going through an enchanted ritual to add me to the Order of Caledonia, I still couldn’t quite believe it.

I’d thought I was having a wild day just dealing with working under the same roof as Thane, and then the universe threw me a massive curveball.

I think I was happy about it?

Maybe?

Honestly, my head was still reeling.

After Sophie had dragged me upstairs for lunch with Hilda and Archie—the castle caretakers who were in their early sixties and had me desperately missing my own parents—they had all dropped a bomb on me.

It seemed my suspicions about the island in the middle of Loch Mirren were correct— no , it wasn’t a normal island and yes , it housed essentially the holy grail of magickal stones. Then I was treated to the history of the Order of Caledonia, a magickal Order of humans, like Sophie and Willow, who gain magick by accepting the responsibility to protect the Stone and keeping the Kelpies at bay.

No big deal, right?

That was the other thing. The Kelpies. I suppose that provided an answer to the otherworldly shrieks I’d heard in my dreams, but even I couldn’t quite believe that mythological water beasts would rise from the water and terrorize anyone who drew too close to the Stone of Truth.

I was now sitting on the floor of my cottage, my toes digging into the awful green shag carpeting, and staring blankly at the wall as I tried to figure out what had just happened.

Instead of laughing in their faces and booking the first plane ticket out of Loren Brae like I should have, I had just nodded along and agreed to do their ritual.

Was I going to be one of those people that they filmed documentaries about? Like how a woman down on her luck joined a cult and then painted her skin with blueberry juice every day and weaved seagrass into her hair under the full moon? Or worse, joined some sort of ritual killing that ends up in the headlines worldwide?

Nervous, I picked at the threads of the carpet, ripping little tufts out and tossing them in the air, watching them drift down in front of me. I’d had an emotional morning. And then I’d gone and joined a magickal Order just because someone had asked me to. Was I that desperate to belong? What if I’d well and truly screwed myself?

“The Order of Caledonia has a steep history in protecting both Loren Brae and the Stone of Truth from harm. Each member of the Order will need to pass three challenges to prove their worthiness, and those challenges will vary from member to member. It’s on you to see how your magick will manifest. It also isn’t unlikely that you’ve already seen some glimmers of it in your past life, since membership is passed down through your blood.”

Archie, with thick white eyebrows and a stern look to his face, had lectured me thoroughly and succinctly about my responsibilities to the Order of Caledonia, while Hilda had piled sandwiches on my plate and shooed dogs away from my feet. It had all been very cozy and, well, normal. Up until I’d walked the property with them and spoken the words of the ancient ritual, holding my chisel—my chosen weapon, apparently —and felt something shift inside of me when the ritual was complete.

Yeah, that had been wild.

Now I was sitting here, buzzing with this unknown energy, wondering how I was supposed to pass these challenges, what it meant for my time in Loren Brae, and yeah, well, how the hell was I going to work with Thane on the Common Gin project? Did he know about the Kelpies? Did he know that magick existed? Was this just something that everyone in Scotland knew about and was comfortable with?

I threw another tuft of carpet in the air, not caring that I was destroying something I was going to rip out anyway, and thought back to Archie’s words.

My bloodline.

Pulling the phone from my pocket, I checked the time and called my dad.

“Honey!” My dad’s face appeared in the screen, as he fumbled with the phone while pulling his glasses down from where they were perched on his forehead. “Mary, it’s Kaia!”

I grinned, waiting for my mother to join him, and their two faces leaned in from either side of the screen, neither wanting to push the other out, but both wanting a look at me.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Are you sitting on the floor? Did you fall?” Mom’s forehead wrinkled with concern.

“Uh-oh, what’s wrong, honey?” My dad leaned forward, worry in his eyes. They knew me too well. For some reason, I had a habit of sitting on the floor whenever I had something heavy weighing on me. It was as though the weight of the world was pushing me down, and I’d go to the ground to think it through.

I opened my mouth, and then paused, uncertain how to continue. I didn’t keep secrets from my parents, but I didn’t always tell them everything about my life. There were certain things it was natural to filter from one’s parents, so I decided to leave the Thane conversation out. For now.

“Um, hmm. I wouldn’t say anything’s wrong,” I said, rocking backward to lean my back against the worn couch. “But, maybe just weird. Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” both my parents said at once.

“Well, I suppose this is more for Mom.” Half-Scottish, half-American, Mom had grown up in the States but was still in touch with much of her Scottish family.

“Oh, is this a girls-only talk? I can leave,” Dad said.

“No, no, not like that.” I smiled. He really was the best father in the world. “I wanted to ask Mom if she knew of anything unusual in her bloodline.”

“Oh, no, are you sick? I’ll have to check the health records, but I don’t think we have a concerning medical history.” The furrows on my mother’s brow deepened.

“No, not medical.” I closed my eyes and counted to five. I was going to need to just say it. “Anything, um, magickal?”

“What?” My dad laughed.

“Oh,” Mom said, and my dad turned to look at her with surprise on his face.

“You know what she’s talking about?” Dad asked her.

“Yes, I do.”

My eyebrows lifted to my hairline, but mixed with surprise was relief. The tension that banded my shoulders eased and I waited, knowing my mother would explain herself in her own time.

“I’m sorry, you did say magickal, correct?” My dad’s head swiveled between me and my mother.

“There’s … a history in my family. Not much talked about, really, but not entirely hidden either.” Mom’s gaze darted off screen. “Is it too early for wine?”

“You need a drink for this?” Dad was getting worried now.

“No, no,” Mom said, firmly, and put her hand on my father’s arm. “It’s fine, honey. I promise. It’s just that there was talk of my grandmother being involved with a magickal Order. One that helped protect the town is all.”

“Protect the town from what?” My dad’s head looked like he was watching a Ping-Pong match.

“The Kelpies,” I said at the same time as my mom.

“What are those?” Dad’s voice went up a notch. “Are those the invasive beetles that look like ladybugs?”

I couldn’t help it, but I snorted, amused.

“I wish it were that easy,” I said.

“Tell me what happened,” Mom said.

“Wait, Mary. Explain Kelpies to me. I don’t like feeling like I’m out of the loop. It’s not like you to keep secrets from me.” Hurt filled my poor father’s face, and my heart softened as my mom bumped her shoulder against his.

“I didn’t keep a secret, darling. I just don’t ever think about it. It’s one of those family tales from generations ago that has always seemed too far-fetched to be true. Maybe it had popped in my head once or twice since Kaia’s gone over, but truly I didn’t think much of it. Until now, that is.”

“Tell me about your granny,” I said.

“Honestly, it was just a touch out there, you know?” Mom leaned back, jiggling the charm bracelet at her wrist in a nervous habit she had. “But it was said she would charm the gates. The doors. The entrances. Late at night she’d walk the village and speak spells unto houses, and stand before the castle gates, and some said, well, they said they could see a glow coming from her hands as she did her charms.”

“How have you never told me this before?” My dad’s mouth dropped open.

“I don’t honestly know.” My mom shrugged.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears at my mom’s words, and I drew in a deep breath, as soul-deep understanding flowed through me. I didn’t know whether my ancestors worked with metal or not, but I did know that most of the doors and gates of that time period were made using wrought iron. A metal I worked with and was quite proficient with. Would this be how my magick manifested?

It wouldn’t be that far off. There was much said about the alchemy of working with metals, and long have there been myths around the ancient process of bending them to your will.

“Do you know what she did for a living?” I asked.

“I … I can’t quite say. God, that would have been what … like early 1900s? I’m not sure she had a profession so much as she was a homemaker. But I can ask. I’ll reach out to the family and see if they have any more information for us.”

“Where is Gran right now?”

“She’s at a two-month yoga retreat in Costa Rica.” A bemused smile crossed my mom’s lips. “Living her best life I’m told.”

My grandmother, fully Scottish and living life to the largest, was agile and constantly on the move. She’d married rich, saved like a miser, as many Scots do, and since my grandpa passed, she’d been spending his wealth doing anything and everything she pleased, just so she wasn’t stuck at home feeling lonely. It was working tremendously well for her, though I knew she still missed my grandfather. Theirs had been a love match for the ages, as were my parents. Four years ago, I thought I’d found that. How I hate that my confidence in my future has been rocked by my first serious relationship.

I only hoped I’d one day find the same for myself.

My thoughts drifted to Thane, and how good his lips had felt on mine, but I forced myself not to think about that right now.

This was not the time to consider entertaining a relationship with anyone. Maybe my love match is still out there and I’m yet to meet him.

“What does this have to do with you, honey?” my dad asked, pulling us back to the point of the conversation.

“Right, so. Basically … the new owner of MacAlpine Castle asked me to join a magickal Order to help protect Loren Brae from the threat of the Kelpies, as well as basically the holy grail of magickal stones, and I, well, I did. I joined it. Like, just up and joined. Did the ritual and everything.”

“Ritual,” my dad gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth. “Did you kill someone?”

“What!” My mouth dropped open. “Do you honestly think I’d kill someone for a ritual?”

“I don’t think you’d murder someone, with or without a ritual. But it just sounds …” My dad waved his hand in the air helplessly and the phone jostled. “The word ritual doesn’t sound great , honey.”

“No, admittedly it does not.” I sighed and plucked out another piece of the carpet, flinging it up into the air. “It was just like an honorary ritual. A joining of the Order. We walked the cardinal points of the property, I said that I’d willingly help Loren Brae and protect the Stone of Truth, and then I felt … different.”

“Different, how?” My mom leaned closer.

“Good.” The word popped out of my mouth, but once I said it, I realized it was true. “I feel good. Like I’ve plugged into a side of myself that maybe was always there?”

“That makes sense.” My mother tapped a finger at her breastbone. “I’ve always felt like I’ve had a bit of something, too.”

“You have?” My dad swiveled to look at my mother in surprise again.

“Oh, George. You know that. Remember how I told you I felt I could see things at times? Or get a read on the way of things to come?”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right there. I just thought it was woo-woo stuff. Not a big thing.” My dad waved his hand in the air again, punctuating the woo-woo of it all. “Not rituals and ancient Orders and our daughter pledging allegiance to something.”

“There are levels, I suppose. Some more intense if you’re actually in Scotland.” My mother brushed away my dad’s next question and focused on me. “The real question is, are you happy? Are you okay? Do we need to come out there?”

“I think we most certainly do need to go over there,” Dad insisted.

“No, no, no.” I shook my head. While I appreciated their willingness to ride to my rescue, I needed to figure this out on my own. I’d agreed to join something, an Order that made power hum in my veins, and I needed to explore what that meant to me for a bit. On my own. This was my time to figure things out, and if having magick was part of this, well, so be it. I’d made my bed, so to speak, and it was time to lie in it. “Truly, I’m fine. I just wanted to see if there was any connection through Mom. It makes me feel better to know that this was something in our family and that it isn’t as far-fetched as it first seemed.”

“I mean, it feels pretty far-fetched to me. What are your responsibilities as part of this Order? Did they give you a job description?” My father leaned in, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger.

I laughed.

“No, no job description for this one. I need to pass three challenges, potentially of my character more than physical, I’m told. Though I do feel confident I could do both.” I held my arm up and flexed for my parents and my mother nodded approvingly.

“That’s my strong girl.”

“Kaia, I’m worried about all this,” Dad said.

“I know you are. And I’m a touch worried too. But it actually feels right. I’ve made some new friends who are also new to the area and have had to adjust to having power as well, so I think … I think it’s going to be okay. At least I hope it will. I just wanted to talk it out with you both. I’m feeling much better now.”

“You’re sure? I have no problem coming over to help.” That was my father in a nutshell. He might not understand the problem, but he’d show up and help fix it if I needed him to. I loved them both, fiercely, and a pang of longing hit me.

“I do miss you both, but I think I need to do this on my own. And not like in a ‘ritual cult push my family out’ kind of way. Just in a ‘me growing into my own’ kind of way.” I blinked as tears threatened.

“You just say the word, honey, and we’ll be there.” Mom gave me a brisk nod. “I’m proud of you, you know. I get the feeling this was a really good decision for you.”

“Oh, do you? Is this one of your magickal feelings I’m not privy to?” My dad huffed, glaring at my mom. She swatted his arm.

“Oh hush, don’t be in such a fuss. It’s not my fault you didn’t take me seriously when I told you about this stuff.”

“How was I supposed to know that magick was actually real?” my dad seethed and I grinned, knowing they’d be at it for hours now.

“Gotta run! Love you both.”

“Bye, honey, love you!” Both my parents waved enthusiastically at the screen, and I clicked off, sinking back against the couch.

Tufts of shag carpeting lay in piles around me, and little holes showed on the carpet in a semi-circle around where I was sitting. At least this was one mess I’d be able to clean up easily. Needing to work, to stay busy to let my thoughts ponder, I stood and stretched. It was time to see what type of floors we were dealing with under this carpeting.