Once they reached the ruins, they dismounted, Ronan tying his horse to a tree. Kara looked down at the two letters in her hands. One letter was to Jon. She’d written a letter similar to the letter Fiona had written to her friend Isabelle, that she was safe and happy in Scotland, and to not look for her. The other letter was addressed . . . to Alice.
Of the many unanswered questions she had, the one which plagued her the most was how Alice knew she could time travel. And the answer was so starkly simple that Kara couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out before.
Kara had been the one to tell her.
At some point in the future, Alice would receive the letter Kara just wrote, and it would set into motion the events that led Kara to coming to this time—to saving her family, and to meeting Ronan. And somehow, Kara wasn't sure how, she would arrange to have Kara's letter to Jon sent after her death—and after Kara traveled back in time. She was certain of this, and she could only conclude that as a time traveler there was some base instinct in her that made her aware of such things.
What she wasn't sure of was exactly how the druid witch would affect her future time travel. Maybe the witch had just given her the final push into this time. She recalled the name of her voice on the wind, right before she’d traveled through time. Kara.
And she recalled Alice’s lack of concern about her love life and absence of meaningful relationships, how often Alice had told her everything would work out in the end. It was because Alice knew Kara would one day go back in time and meet her soul mate.
And that she would stay.
"Are ye ready?"
She looked up at Ronan and smiled. She'd told him what she realized, and though he’d looked disconcerted at first, he now understood.
Ronan took her hand and together they made their way to the ruins of the castle. As she drew near, the wind picked up, and she wondered if it was the same wind that pulled her out of her own time and into this one.
Ronan didn’t seem to notice or hear the wind, but his grip on her hand tightened, as if frightened that she would disappear, pulled through the veil of time. She returned his tight grip, as if he were a temporal anchor holding her still. She knelt, placing the two letters on the ground.
She didn’t know how this worked; Fiona told her she left her letter to Isabelle at the castle and it soon disappeared, hopefully pulled through time.
She stepped back, keeping her eyes on the letters, Ronan's hand still clutching hers. The wind increased, whipping around her hair. Astonishment and relief roiled through her as the letters vanished, where they would arrive in the future, where Alice would find them . . . and lead an unknowing Kara to where she belonged.
At her side, Ronan’s eyes went wide and his lips parted at the sight of the letters vanishing. The wind stilled, and Kara's shoulders relaxed. She squeezed his hand, and he seemed to come down from his surprise, meeting her gaze with a smile.
“Take me home, Ronan.”
Chapter 26
Present Day
Chicago, Illinois
Please don’t try to find me, Izzy. I’m happy. Happier than I’ve ever been. I wish I could tell you more. But know that I will always think of you.
Love,
Fiona
Isabelle read over the letter for the millionth time, raking her hand through her hair with a sigh. She'd received Fiona’s letter out of the blue two weeks ago.
Fiona had gone missing in Scotland over two months ago, and her letter didn't ease Isabelle's worry. For one thing, the letter was written on pieces of ancient-looking parchment and had arrived with no return address. And for another, it wasn’t like Fiona to just disappear and not tell her where she was going, only to send her a letter weeks later insisting she was fine and to not look for her.
Guilt prickled at Isabelle's spine. It was her idea for Fiona to go on her honeymoon to Scotland solo after she'd called off her wedding to her fiancé Derek. If she hadn't suggested it, maybe Fiona would be here now.
Isabelle had flown to Scotland to meet up with Fiona. But when Fiona didn't meet up with her in Edinburgh as planned, Isabelle immediately searched for her, filing reports with the police in both Scotland, and then Chicago when she'd reluctantly returned home after making no progress finding Fiona in Scotland. She called both police departments on a daily basis, but no progress had been made. She knew if she gave the police Fiona’s letter, they would officially close her case.
When Fiona first went missing, she thought that maybe she'd run off with her ex-fiancé and was too ashamed to tell Isabelle. But when Isabelle went to see him, he had no idea where she was, and looked genuinely worried when she told him Fiona was missing.
Fiona had no close family left, so it was just Isabelle doing all the searching. And now this letter had shown up with no return address. Though Isabelle recognized the carefully looped handwriting as Fiona’s, something about the letter just seemed . . . off.
She again looked down at the letter as a memory struck her. In one of the towns in the Highlands where she'd stopped during her search for Fiona, an innkeeper had told her about the rumors of a nearby medieval town that lay in ruins, a town that not everyone had the ability to see. It was called Tairseach, which meant "portal" in Gaelic. The innkeeper told her the rumors of disappearances around the area went back centuries.
Isabelle had thanked the innkeeper, though her heart had sunk. She'd assumed the rumors were just superstitious nonsense.
But now a chill crept down her spine. Was it nonsense? Or could there be something to the rumors?
She picked up the letter, clutching it to her chest. Fiona was her best friend, and she wouldn't stop looking for her if the tables were turned. Even if she got a mysterious letter claiming otherwise. There was only one thing to do.
It was time to return to Scotland.
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I hope you enjoyed Ronan’s Captive, the second book of the Highlander Fate series. The story continues in Ciaran’s Bond.
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About the Author
Stella Knight writes time travel romance and historical romance novels. She enjoys transporting readers to different times and places with vivid, nuanced heroes and heroines.
She resides in sunny southern California with her own swoon-worthy hero and her collection of too many books and board games. She’s been writing for as long as she can remember, and when not writing, she can be found traveling to new locales, diving into a new book, or watching her favorite film or documentary. She loves romance, history, mystery, and adventure, all of which you’ll find in her books.
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Ronan's Captive: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Fate Book 2) Page 14