Edge of Yesterday (Edge Series Book 1)

by Tarah Scott

  *

  They rode through the gates of Raghnall, reached the bailey, and Cailean helped Julianna from her horse. The they hurried toward the castle.

  There was no turning back. Cailean had done away with the vehicle Val used to move people through time. He would live out the rest his days here with Julianna. His only regret was Ginny. God forgive him for abandoning her. She would eventually meet a man and fall in love, have children. She never talked about it, and he knew the idea terrified her, but she wanted a family. That’s when she would forget—mostly—and he prayed that time came soon.

  Lennox didn’t understand all that was going on, but he understood enough to help Cailean rid the world of Crowe. Once that was done, they could live in safety. Cailean could never tell them the truth. A twenty-first century man traveling back to their time was simply beyond their comprehension.

  Fourteenth century Scotland.

  Was he ready?

  Julianna’s shoulder brushed his.

  Was he ready?

  Yes.

  They reached the door and Cailean pulled it open and let them proceed him inside.

  In the foyer, Lennox said, “If we are fortunate, Father will be in his privy solar.”

  Cailean had no idea where that was, realized he really knew nothing about Raghnall, and followed Lennox and Julianna into the great hall. They turned down a short hallway and stopped before a closed door. Lennox knocked, then eased the door open and stepped aside. Ravenstone sat in a well-furnished room, studying what looked to Cailean like the household finances.

  He looked up, smiled, then his expression sobered “Why are ye dressed like beggars?”

  “We must speak with, ye, father,” Lennox said, and he and Julianna went to stand before his desk.

  Cailean closed the door and crossed to Julianna’s side.

  Lennox wasted no time and said, “We have just come from Reay Abbey. Crowe has left to see Alex. He intends for Cailean to appear before him at Heatheredge Tower in Alex’s stead.

  Ravenstone leaned back in his chair. “Who told ye this?”

  Lennox told his father how they’d gone to Reay Abbey. The baron’s expression grew grimmer with each passing word. Then when Lennox looked at Cailean and nodded, Cailean related what they’d overheard in the cave, leaving out only the part about Crowe’s magic. Cailean had been there and he still couldn’t believe what he’d seen. They’d all agreed that the baron was likely to dismiss them altogether if they told him Crow used his wizard’s staff to summon a vision.

  By the time they finished the story, Ravenstone’s expression had turned thunderous. Cailean tensed when the man’s hard eyes bore into him as he said, “You promised me you would take care of my daughter. Yet, less than a day married, ye takeher into danger.”

  “Papa, it wasnae his fault.” Julianna said. “I threatened to follow them if they left me behind.”

  Ravenstone turned a stern eye onto her. “A man who doesnae know how to deal with a wife should no’ be married.”

  Anger flashed in her eyes. “I am not his slave. I go where I will.”

  “Aye?” her father said in a cool voice.” Then your mother didnae teach ye any respect—or mayhap that is my doing.”

  “Be angry if you like.” She lifted her chin. “It is not his fault. I refused to obey.”

  “Aye, it is his fault,” her father said.

  She shook her head and opened her mouth to reply, but Cailean cut in. “He’s right, Julianna.”

  She snapped her head in his direction. “I am no child to be ordered about.”

  “Yet you are acting like a spoiled child,” Ravenstone said.

  “I take responsibility,” Cailean said. Julianna started to reply, but he said, “Nae, Julianna. Let it be.”

  Ravenstone gave a slow nod. “So it shall be. I will leave right away for Inverness. While I am away, Cailean, ye are not to leave Raghnall.”

  “What?” Julianna blurted. “But why?”

  “Keeping your husband here seems to be the only way to keep you safe at home.” He shrugged. “So I will keep him home.”

  Her mouth fell open. “That is ridiculous.”

  Ravenstone stared at her. “Is it?”

  She stared, clearly at a loss.

  Ravenstone turned to Lennox. “Fail your duty by allowing either of them outside of Raghnall while I’m away, you will be sleeping with the men in the great hall and taking guard duty until I die and you become the sixthBaron Ravenstone.

  “Father.” Julianna hurried to his side.” You cannot mean this.”

  His mouth thinned. “Look at the way you are dressed, Julianna.”

  It was just a ruse to —”

  “To what?” He cut in harshly. “If you had told me ye went to Heatheredge and overheard Crow talking, I would say it was good fortune. Instead, you tell me that you snuck into Reay Abbey and pretended to be beggars.”

  “Did ye hear what Cailean said?” she persisted. “There is some connection with Crowe and the Ross sorcerer Valdar Ross. Father, Crowe said he met Alex in Heatheredge when Alex was seven years old. That is when the Rosses attacked Heatheredge. Crowe carries the same dagger Valdar Ross carried. He is Valdar Ross.”

  “I dinnae care if you discovered he is the devil himself come to live among us. What good is any of this knowledge if ye are dead?”

  The room went silent.

  Cailean’s heart pounded. He remembered Lennox saying very something similar about how he didn’t care of the devil’s own walked through the forest, she was to stay home. This was his fault, down to the last drop of moisture that now shimmered in Julianna’s eyes. The moment he realized he was truly in the fourteenth century, he should have found a way to leave Raghnall. But where would that have left Julianna? Dead? Nae, not if he had left after getting her home. Instead, he’d stayed a day longer, then allowed Lennox to talk him into going after the baron. Worse, he’d gotten himself married to Julianna. Even worse, Ravenstone was right, he’d endangered her. He’d told himself it was to protect her but, the truth was, he’d wanted to spend every moment with her that he could before returning home.

  Fate had thwarted him. Cailean wasn’t fool enough to believe that the baron had really placed him under house arrest to keep Julianna home. The truth was, the man distrusted him.

  “Crowe has Alex’s ear,” Julianna said in a quiet voice. “You know he does. If we expose him, that protects you. This information is important.”

  Ravenstone stepped around his desk and stopped in front of his daughter. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “You are more important.”

  Julianna mouth parted in surprise. She bit her lip and nodded. He pulled her close and hugged her. Cailean’s chest constricted when the older man closed his eyes, and Cailean understood the fear he had experienced at the thought of what might’ve happened to his daughter.

  Ravenstone released her and stepped back. “I will deal with Crowe. Whatever his connection with Valdar Ross—if there is a connection—means nothing, at least not at this moment. Perhaps we—I,” he added with a meaningful glance at Julianna, “can discover it, but that will take time. For now, we must deal with Crowe on his terms.”

  Lennox and Julianna had been correct when they told Cailean their father would not easily believe that Crowe was conducting human sacrifices or practicing black magic. The decision not to tell him anything about the magic Cailean had observed had been the right decision. It would have been too much to ask Ravenstone to accept such a tale from his new son-in-law.

  “I will leave immediately,” the baron said. He cast a final glance at his daughter, then strode from the room.

  *

  Julianna followed Cailean and Lennox from her father’s privy solar. She’d known he wouldn’t be pleased with what they’d done, but she’d never dreamed he would react so violently as to forbid her and Cailean from leaving Raghnall. Perhaps that was because she’d never done anything so outlandish as disguise herself as a be
ggar, then traipse through the underground tunnels beneath Reay Abbey.

  Cailean and Lennox continued through the great hall to one of the nearest vacant tables near the hearth. She settled beside Cailean, her thoughts on her father’s trip to find Alex, then nodded acceptance of the wine Cailean poured for her.

  “Your father is right, Julianna,” he said.

  Peevishness surfaced. “He should no’ have imprisoned us in Raghnall.”

  She didn’t miss the glance Cailean exchanged with Lennox.

  “Do no’ treat me as if I am a child. We all agreed on the plan.”

  “Aye,” Lennox said. “Which makes us all children.”

  Julianna gulped her wine. To her surprise, she realized she was very thirsty. “He would no’ have let us go, as ye well know,” she said when she set the mug down.

  Her gaze caught on two guards who entered the great hall. Both battle-hardened warriors, they looked as if they’d tangled with a bear. Their clothes were in worse shape than those she, Cailean, and Lennox wore. The plaids bore mud stains and one of the men, bare-chested, carried his shirt over his shoulder, leastways what was left of his shirt, for it dangled in shreds. The largest of the two—a great brute of a man known as her father’s best spearman—had scratches on his face and, although Julianna never would have believed it, a chunk of his beard seemed to have been yanked out.

  She stared, mouth agape.

  “What is it?” Lennox twisted to look over his shoulder. “Thomas,” he called to the big one. “Guidsakes, what happened?”

  The two men exchanged glances and angled toward them. They stopped at the table, and Julianna saw the look of surprise in the men’s eyes at the clothes they wore.

  Thomas said, “We caught a wildcat outside of Heatheredge.”

  Lennox frowned. “Did ye wrestle the creature?”

  Thomas laughed. “We did. She was a feisty thing.”

  “Ah, a woman.” Lennox chuckled.

  “A hellcat,” Gilley said. “The witch practices some sort of strange fighting art. She sent Thomas flying through the air. It took five of us to catch her.”

  “Five of ye?” Julianna lifted a brow. “How could a wee woman fight five strapping warriors like yourself and Thomas?”

  “Laugh, if ye like, my lady,” Thomas said. “The she-cat is near as tall as I am, and she flipped me over her shoulder, then flew in the air and kicked Nelson in the jaw. We found her in the forest about a mile outside of Heatheredge, near the Reay River. She was walking along half-dressed, so we offered her a ride home. She attacked us.” He snorted. “That is what kindness got us.”

  Julianna grunted. “I suspect the story is that ye mistook her for a prostitute and she became angry.”

  “It would have been better if she were a joy-woman,” Gilley said. “We left her at the Red Lion for charges of theft and practicing black magic.”

  “Black magic?” Lennox repeated. “There is too much of that, these days.”

  “Crowe will be pleased we caught her,” Thomas said. “Mayhap, he will give us a reward.”

  “Crowe?” Lennox blurted. “Why?”

  “She had his dagger.”

  Julianna riveted her gaze onto Cailean. He’d gone pale.

  “The red-headed witch claimed she found it on the banks of the Reay River,” Thomas said.

  “Red-headed?” Cailean repeated. “Tall—did ye say she was tall? How tall?”

  Thomas frowned. “A bare inch shorter than me.”

  “How was she dressed, man?”

  Thomas looked at Lennox, who nodded.

  “She wore a thin yellow shift that barely covered her thighs.”

  “With a white collar?” Cailean gripped the table edge. “Tell me.”

  “Cailean, what is it?” Julianna stared.

  “A white collar,” Cailean repeated. “Did the shift have a white collar?”

  “Aye.” Thomas nodded. “A white collar.”

  Cailean shot to his feet and bolted for the door. Lennox jumped up and Julianna followed. She had to run to keep up with him as he sprinted after Cailean. Lennox reached him in the archway beyond the great hall with Julianna five steps behind.

  Lennox seized his arm and yanked him around to face them. “What is wrong?”

  Cailean’s face had gone even paler.

  Julianna skidded to a halt beside him. “My God, Cailean, what is it?”

  “The woman at the Red Lion, is my sister.” He met Julianna’s gaze. “And she has Crowe’s dagger.”

  ###

  From the Authors

  We hope you liked Cailean and Julianna’s story. True love never runs smooth, especially for a twenty-first century Highlander and a medieval lass. If you can’t get enough of the Edge, never fear. Book two in the series, Edge of Today, is in the oven cooking, Here you’ll find out what happens with Ginny…and Lennox.

  Sue-Ellen & Tarah

  Edge of Today

  Love brings computer expert Gennine ‘Ginny’ Ross across the Atlantic to Heatheredge, Scotland—the last place her brother was seen competing in the village’s popular medieval festival. As a thoroughly modern Scotswoman with a black-belt in Taekwondo, who chases hackers for large corporations, she isn’t buying the local theories about his disappearance. Her brother didn’t stroll off into the Highland mist without a trace. Now, Ginny must do what the authorities can’t: find him, even if doing so pushes her to the edge of everything she believes… or doesn’t.

  Highland warrior Lennox Mackay has seen some strange things, but never a gorgeous hellcat able to fight off five burly Highlanders and frighten a whole village with her odd tongue and scandalous dress. He isn’t surprised she’s landed in the village jail, accused of witchcraft. Her claims to be the sister of his new brother-in-law—and from six hundred years in the future—stun him. Yet, the vixen fires his blood and touches his soul as no other lass has…and he wants to keep her. But even as he tries to persuade her to stay, the fickle hand of time has other plans…

  COMING SOON

  About the Authors

  Welcome to the Edge Series, Highland romance for all time!

  USA Today and Internationally bestselling authors Sue-Ellen Welfonder and Tarah Scott have more in common than friendship. For many years, they’ve both enjoyed spending their working hours in a world of romance and adventure, bringing handsome Highlanders and their ladies to life. Now they’ve joined pens, deciding that when it comes to happily-ever-afters, two writers can stir up even more danger and desire for the characters they love. The EDGE series, Scottish time travel romances, is their first co-authored project, and launches Dec. 27th with EDGE OF YESTERDAY.

  Connect with Sue-Ellen Welfonder

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  Also Available from Sue-Ellen Welfonder

  Novels

  Return to Kintail Romances:

  The Taming of Mairi MacKenzie

  Winter Fire

  Stand-Alone Scottish Medievals

  Wedding For a Knight (also Audio)

  Short Stories

  The Seventh Sister

  Falling in Time

  FREE:

  Available from Allie Mackay

  Ravenscraig Legacy Novels

  Highlander in Her Bed (also Audio)

  Highlander in Her Dreams (also Audio)

  Tall, Dark, and Kilted

  Some Like It Kilted (also Audio

  THE RAVENSCRAIG LEGACY COLLECTION: A Magical World of Highland Romance

  Stand Alone Allie Mackay Novels

  Haunted Warrior (also Audio)

&nb
sp; Also by Tarah Scott

  Claimed

  Sometimes, the hero must be the villain…

  Fourteen months ago, Lady Rhoslyn lost her husband and infant son to a fever. Now, by order of King Edward I, she is yanked from the healing tranquility of a convent to marry the king’s favored bastard knight. Rhoslyn has no intention of returning to the home where her husband and child died. Neither does she intend to hand over her fortune to the ‘Dragon’—no matter his sweet promises and warm kisses.

  Talbot St. Claire tires of war. Seventeen years is enough. King Edward will never release him from service, but the king promises Talbot will find some peace in front of his own hearth. Talbot expects to find a horse-faced, hostile woman in the Scottish heiress Edward commands him to marry. Instead, he discovers a fiery Highland beauty worthy of a man’s respect…and love. Talbot determines to do anything to win his new bride’s acceptance. Anything except the one thing she demands: betray his king and embrace his Scottish heritage.

  My Highland Love

  Voted Indie Romance Convention Readers Choice Award’s best historical romance of 2013

  How does a woman tell her betrothed that she murdered her first husband?

  Shipwrecked in the Scottish Highlands, American heiress Elise Kingston quietly plans revenge for the deaths of her daughter and the brother who sacrificed his life to save her.

  When Marcus MacGregor, Marquess of Ashlund, returns to his Highland home to discover a stunning American woman has been taken in by his clan, his attraction is instant and he resolves to make her his—no matter what secret she’s keeping.

  Elise is shocked by her need for Marcus and, too late, discovers that her feelings make him a target of her enemy—a man powerful enough to destroy even a Scottish nobleman.

  My Highland Lord

  London Heiress kidnapped by the Marquess of Ashlund, read the headlines. Yet no one tried to save her.

  Phoebe Wallington was seven years old when a mass assassination attempt rocked Regency England. Her father was the only accused traitor to elude capture. Seventeen years later, the one man who could prove her father’s innocence is dead. Now as a grown woman and a British spy, she’s no closer to learning what really happened that day.

  Phoebe’s quest for the truth takes a sudden turn when she’s kidnapped by a suspected traitor. But Kiernan MacGregor, the Marquess of Ashlund, may not live long enough to stand trial. Someone wants him dead…and Phoebe stands in the killer’s way. The only way to save her reputation and protect Kiernan is to marry him.