Much Ado About Highlanders (The Scottish Relic Trilogy) Read online

  “And then?”

  “Then we set a snare for Evers. We’ll get him, my love. He’s cut himself free of his king, it seems, and I swear to you that he’ll never see England again.”

  Kenna had to be satisfied with that. For now, at least. She’d lost the tablet that her mother had entrusted to her, though the gift remained within her. Still, she needed to get the stone back. She knew that she couldn’t live the rest of her life looking over her shoulder at Macpherson guards. She couldn’t live with her family forever troubled by every new face, never sure if it was a friend or foe.

  Finding the two women also gave Kenna hope that perhaps she might learn more about the power behind the gift. Her father knew nothing more than what she herself had discovered. Perhaps Innes and Muirne knew more.

  They made their way through the courtyard to Colin and Tess. Kenna’s father was with them, and he hugged her warmly in greeting. Behind them, Giles and Ninian and Jock stood jostling one another. She smiled at them. The twins had become triplets.

  Standing with Tess, Kenna realized the lads weren’t the only ones growing restless. Across the courtyard the entire party looked ready to go. By the castle gates, grooms were struggling to hold prancing steeds in check.

  A hint of anxiety edged into her. Emily and her father had not yet appeared. And neither had the bridegroom.

  “Where’s James?” she asked.

  “He hasn’t come out yet,” Tess replied.

  The two women looked at Alexander and Colin, who were both gazing innocently at the crowd.

  “Colin?” Tess asked.

  Colin turned to one of the boys who had tumbled against him.

  A stir in the crowd drew all eyes to the great doors of the castle. Emily and the MacDougall came out onto the landing and descended the steps. The expression of concern on her face and the frown on her father’s did nothing to diminish Kenna’s fears.

  She turned to her husband. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  Before he could answer, the whispers reached them.

  No one could find James. He was to meet the bride at the doors of the Great Hall.

  Kenna knew something was wrong. James, ever the organizer, had planned the day from hour to hour. He’d orchestrated each step with the precision of a military campaign. Every event was arranged, scheduled, and rehearsed.

  “Look!” Tess pointed at the south tower.

  Every eye turned.

  James was clambering out of the uppermost window and slowly descending from a makeshift rope.

  “Who is he shaking his fist at?” Tess asked. “And why is he dressed in a nightshirt?”

  Kenna turned to her husband, who was gazing up at his brother with a look of badly feigned surprise.

  “I can’t imagine.”

  Author’s Note

  To begin, we’d like to thank William Shakespeare for deciding to become a writer rather than pursuing a lucrative career in glove making. We’re certain his father went to his grave happy that Will had something to fall back on. We’d also like to thank him for writing one of our favorite plays.

  As most of you have probably guessed, Kenna and Alexander’s story is the first in our Scottish Relic Trilogy. In Taming the Highlander and Tempest in the Highlands, you will meet more strong women and courageous heroes, as well as Kenna and Alexander again, as they battle Sir Ralph Evers in protecting these ancient artifacts and the power they hold.

  Also, as many of our readers know, we can never let our characters go. We hope you enjoyed this romp with our old friends in the Macpherson clan.

  Finally, we need a favor. If you enjoyed Much Ado About Highlanders, please leave us a review . . . and recommend it to your friends. You the reader have the power to make or break this book. We greatly appreciate your support!

  All the best!

  You can contact us at:

  www.MayMcGoldrick.com

  Read on for a sneak preview of the second installment of the Highland Relic Trilogy

  Taming the Highlander

  Available August 2016

  Prologue

  North Head, Scotland

  Death one step in front of her. Death behind.

  Innes Munro stood at the edge of the world, and a cold, watery grave lay ready to take her.

  The grey fog swept up the jagged cliffs, swirling about her. She’d run as far as she could, but another step meant certain death. Her lungs burned, and Innes stared down through moving breaks in the mist at the waves crashing against the rocks far below.

  Trapped.

  The brambles clinging to the edge of the precipice caught at her skirts as she turned to face her pursuers.

  A dozen men, their mail shirts gleaming dully beneath filthy, dark-stained tunics, spread out like hunters at the end of the chase. They’d run their prey into the ever-tightening enclosure on the cliffs. All that remained was the kill.

  They eyed her and awaited their master’s signal.

  The commander sat astride his black steed behind the line of men. He rode no courser, but a warhorse. A leather cloak, tied at the neck, was thrown back over one shoulder, revealing a heavily marked chest plate, a long sword, a pair of daggers. His eyes never left her.

  Trapped.

  Innes knew what they wanted. Merchants traveling from Aberdeen this week had brought the news to the castle. A band of Lowlanders and English soldiers were roaming free in the hills, looking for a certain woman from clan Munro. By the time Innes heard the tale, fact and rumor had woven together into a thick noose. The Munro woman was a witch. She possessed a mysterious relic given by Satan himself. She could turn a person into stone if he looked into her eyes. Most important, gold would be paid to any man, woman, or child who pointed them in her direction.

  Someone would talk. Her secret would be exposed. She’d feared this moment for so long. For years.

  For Innes, the past held no mystery. She knew so well the power of the stone that passed on to her from her mother. Only one piece of the whole tablet. Three other fragments. Each carried across Scotland fifty years ago by men who’d survived a shipwreck not far from this northern shore. Innes knew the powers that the other stones held. And she knew the disaster that would rain down on their heads if the wrong person brought all the pieces together.

  The commander spoke to her. “Give it to me.”

  Innes said nothing. His eyes were fixed on the pouch she wore at her waist.

  She cursed inwardly. Why had she left the safety of the castle? She knew why. Because she’d trusted.

  All her life, Innes valued trust above all other things. She knew, better than anyone, that mere knowledge was a curse. Trust was the only true gift, the pearl of great price. But love had made her blind. She’d followed when she should have hesitated. She’d stayed silent when she should have questioned. She’d refused to use her power, assuming it was betrayal of that trust. What a fool!

  The sea breeze whipped her tangle of midnight black hair with its blaze of white. Behind her, seabirds floated on the wind, their cries breaking the silence.

  “Give me the stone and I’ll not harm you or anyone around here.”

  He was lying. He was an Englishman, risking his life here in the Highlands. He had to know. For all its ancient power, the stone was a useless bauble to anyone until the moment that its bearer died. But perhaps he didn’t. She had to touch his skin to see into his past, to learn whatever it was that he knew, to find out which of the stones he already possessed. But she wouldn’t go near him to find out. What if her fragment was the last that he needed?

  “Go and take it from her.”

  The men advanced a step, and Innes backed to the very edge.

  “Stop right there or I’ll jump into the sea . . . and then you’ll never have it.”

  The men hesitated.

  Innes had been a child of seven when she sat at her mother’s sickbed and was told the secret of the stone. The history, the power of sight that was soon to be hers, the knowledge that no one
she touched could hide anything from her. At that moment, none of it made any sense. She’d only wanted her mother to stop talking, save her strength, and get better.

  Later, standing at the funeral, she’d learned exactly what it all meant. Holding her father’s hand, Innes felt his past flow like a gushing stream into her brain. Hector Munro had been so keenly disappointed with her mother, the woman who’d given him two daughters and no sons, that he’d already chosen his next wife and negotiated for her hand. All of this came to Innes without speaking a word. It was at that moment, as the hot pain that came with knowing cut through her, that she realized what she’d been left was no gift, but a curse. The next morning, she awakened to see the white blaze in her long black hair.

  “She won’t jump. Get her.”

  Innes turned toward the cliffs.

  She welcomed death. It would put an end to all of it. She was ready to part with the heavy weight she’d been forced to carry for much of her life. But she paused at the brink, thinking of him. The man she loved.

  Innes winced as someone grabbed her hair, yanking her back from the ledge. She twisted and fought the men who latched on to her arms. She’d been too slow.

  One of them cut the string of the pouch and ran with it to his commander.

  Held captive, she watched their leader take the stone out of the pouch and hold it up. Inside her, hope fought a losing battle. Perhaps he knew nothing of the power of the relic he held. Maybe they had come because of the rumors, and he now realized that the quest had been for nothing.

  Those desperate hopes sank when she saw him produce two other pieces of the tablet and fit them together. He knew what he had.

  The Englishman’s gaze shifted to her. He’d done this before. He knew how to take from her the power of the stone.

  Innes saw a movement at the top of the rise behind the raiders. A great gray wolf appeared.

  The Englishman nodded to his men.

  “Kill her.”

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Read on for a sneak preview of the second installment of the Highland Relic Trilogy

  Prologue

  Copyright Page

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  MUCH ADO ABOUT HIGHLANDERS. Copyright © 2016 by Nikoo and James McGoldrick. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover photographs: ribbon © Love_Life/Getty Images; heather bouquet © Diana Taliun/Shutterstock

  ISBN 978-1-250-10656-8 (e-book)

  First Edition: May 2016

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