Highland Essence, page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Books by C.A. Szarek
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Epilogue
Sneak Peak of Highland Oath
Other Books by C.A. Szarek
About the Author
Highland Essence
Highland Treasures
Book Two
By
C.A. Szarek
Highland Essence
C.A. Szarek
Highland Treasures Book Two
All rights reserved
Copyright © October, 2022, C.A. Szarek
Cover Photograph Copyright © August, 2017 Period Images, V.J. Dunraven
Cover Model: Julie Paige
Cover Design Copyright © 2019, Bookin’ It Designs, Talina Perkins
Series Logo Design Copyright © 2016, Danielle Loiselle
Edited by Susan Sheehey
Paper Dragon Publishing
North Richland Hills, TX
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including, but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Paper Dragon Publishing or the Author.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-941151-41-9
Print book ISBN: 978-1-941151-42-6
Published in the United States of America
First eBook Edition: October, 2022
First Print Edition: October, 2022
Other Books by C.A. Szarek
Highland Secrets Trilogy—Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
The Princess and The Laird (Highland Secrets Prequel)
The Fae Ring (Book Two)
The Parchment Scroll (Book Three)
Highland Valentine (A Highland Secrets HEA Story)
Highlander’s Portrait (A Highland Secrets Story)
Highland Treasures—Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Highland Oath (Book One)
Highland Essence (Book Two)
The King’s Riders—Fantasy Romance
Sword’s Call (Book One)
Love’s Call (Book Two)
Rogue’s Call (Book Three)
Fate’s Call (A Novella from the World of the King’s Riders)
Crossing Forces—Romantic Suspense
Collision Force (Book One)
Cole in Her Stocking (A Crossing Forces Christmas)—FREE read!
Chance Collision (Book Two)
Calculated Collision (Book Three)
Collision Control (Book Four)
Weekend Collision (A Crossing Forces HEA Story)—FREE read!
Superior Collision (Book Five)
Incendiary Collision (Book Six)—Coming Soon!
The Giovanni
King of Hearts (Book One)
Queen of Diamonds (Book Two)—Coming Soon!
Dedication
I started writing this book about three years ago, and then life happened. During the ups and downs, there were points I was convinced I would never finish another book, let alone publish one.
So, I supposed this book is dedicated to perseverance. No matter what happens, if you fight for what you want hard enough, it can be a reality.
Here’s to this book, story and this “the end.”
I will do I again, too! I hope you love Lexi and Graeme as much as I do!
Chapter One
Act like a grown woman.
Her mother’s voice resounded in her head. Their telepathic communication was one of things she needed to escape. Lexi ignored her mother’s urgings in her mind.
Get out of my head, she shouted back.
Fury guided her actions more than the magic flowing over her in waves. She cursed under her breath, using words she’d never had the courage to voice. Things a proper lady would never deign to say. Even at one and twenty, her father would take her to task. Threaten to tan her hide like he would a lad.
She had no care; only continued the rhythmic actions of her flying fingers, the first requirements to open the Faery Stones. She sensed the music greeting her, yet she couldn’t smile. Magic usually calmed her, but the rage at her mother—her entire family, really—drove her.
Lexi needed to get away.
Away from their chiding. Away from their smothering. From the constant overprotection, as if she was a lassie instead of a grown woman.
Alana, her mother went on, in full lecture mode, but she whispered a spellword to eject her from her mind.
She wasn’t acting like an adult.
She was proving her mother right. Letting impulsivity and anger guide her, but she didn’t stop what she was doing.
Lexi couldn’t.
As the daughter of a former Fae princess, she was half Fae, and she deserved her legacy. The magic in front of her, in the form of the Faery Stones was a part of her heritage.
She was a much a part of the Fae world as the human one.
Or she should be. Lexi had a right to what was before her.
The Faery Stones were made up of five clustered natural formations, rising from the small cavern’s floor, perfectly spaced from each other in a loose circle. One was centered with the other four surrounding it.
When she’d rushed into the dark cave, her eyes hadn’t required time to adjust, because the magic before her lit up the caverns, chasing away the shadows.
The crystals glinted, as if some light source was present to reflect off them, but the radiance came from inside the gems. The Stones gave off enough light to illuminate the cave, but they were hidden well enough to prevent unexpected guests.
No one would find this location along the beaches of Skye, unless they knew where to look.
Her mother had charms in place to deter humans from stumbling upon it. Even if they had no magic, there was an overwhelming sense of dread that settled over any person in the vicinity.
Lexi felt it too, but the call of the Stones to her Fae side always overrode it. Like her mother, she had a strong tie to the crystals.
She could feel the melody. She’d always heard the song they played; the internal tune danced in her thoughts, drawing her closer, as if by instinct, and steered her movements as she repeated the pattern—touching each crystal—that would open the portal.
Each Stone sat atop the five naturally formed pillars, and were from the Realm of the Fae; magic-born. The largest one in the center was the key to making the others work. They had to be in sync as a whole to open the portal.
The semi-circle the Faery Stones sat in was perfect, as if it had been placed there, not grown. That was probably the case; they’d been put in the Human Realm a millennia ago by Fae who’d wanted to link their worlds, for unknown reasons; perhaps to explore?
Learning how to open them didn’t come naturally to those with Fae lineage, as it did to Lexi. Usually, it took several tries to get it right; but not her. She’d always felt their melody in her blood and had been able to open them the first time she’d tried—much to her mother’s chagrin.
The main Stone called to her, brightening and thrumming. Power coursed through her, making her limbs buzz. The pleasure of it fought the negative feelings still filtering through her system.
She bounced on her heels, and her feet slid around in the too-big deerskin boots. They were certainly improper footwear for her, but she hadn’t taken time to use the shrinking spellword her cousin had taught her. The boots also belonged to him, but hopefully Liam wouldn’t be to upset she’d stolen them.
That tiny bit of magic was handy, given that she had a penchant for borrowing lad’s clothes whenever she fled home. Something her mother accused her of doing far too often.
The trews she wore fit like they belonged to her, but they too, were stolen. The deep purple hue was made of fine material from the Fae Realm. Her mother was fond of them, and would be even more irritated when she realized they were missing.
Lexi hummed to the notes each crystal emitted. The Stones responded by going radiant, and the trill got louder, making her body vibrate.
Warmth shot through her, traveling up her fingers, into her wrists and limbs. A welcome feeling dimming more of her anger.
The first pop sounded, indicating the portal’s advent. Then the familiar sound of tearing parchment.
The following pop-pop-pop was each louder than the last, and a magic-born gale swirled around her, making her hair fly in her face.
The flow of power worked up more heat inside her, and the moving air was like a caress, offering blissful coolness even if her tre sses stung her eyes.
White light shot straight up to the cave’s ceiling from the center crystal of the Faery Stones, the last occurrence before the portal’s birth.
The same had happened when she and Liam had opened the Stones almost two years before.
Anticipation hit her, and she broke physical contact with the final crystal.
Alexandria.
Her given name held warning and alarm. Her mother was attuned to the magic of the Faery Stones, even more so than she or her brother, so it wasn’t a surprise that Alana would know what she was doing.
It also wasn’t a surprise her mother had obliterated her mental block. The former princess was a powerful empath.
Alexandria Evelyn Claire MacLeod.
Lexi shook her head as her mother’s assumed omnipotence hitched up a few notches with her entire Christian name. It contained more than alarm.
There was real fear there.
Tales she’d been told of the ferocious Fae danced through her head.
That should give her pause—
An iridescent orb appeared, distracting her from her own bud of doubt and distress. The whole cavern shimmered and wavered as the glowing bubble grew.
The opening hovered above the stark white sand littering the floor of the cave, and the light reflected off it.
Then the portal floated downward, hovering a few inches in the air.
At first hazy and opaque, it started to clear, like multicolored clouds retreating. It grew larger and larger by the second.
Soon, it would reveal the realm on the other side.
The Fae Realm.
The doorway would take her to the people of her mother, and she cared not that it was supposedly dangerous.
Her cousin Liam—the son of a former Fae Warrior—had told her of his adventures when he’d snuck into the other side.
Multiple times.
Like his father Xander, her cousin had wings in the realm of the Fae, unlike here, on the Isle of Skye, in the human world.
As her blasted mother had always explained it, the world of the humans had much less magic, so her cousins—father and son alike—didn’t have their wings.
Over there, Liam could fly.
Over there, her powers would come more easily.
Lexi had been cautioned her whole life how dangerous the Fae were. How they could sense human blood and would kill her on sight for being an abomination, for intruding in their world. Her father Alex, the current Laird MacLeod, was human.
Her mother had sadly explained that her grandfather, the King of the Scottish Fae, Fillan, wouldn’t suffer to look at her before he had her killed, regardless of their blood tie.
Alana had forever fled her people to be with Lexi’s father, so the same was true for the former princess. She was exiled. Self-banished, since she’d fled imprisonment before Lexi’s birth.
Banishment was preferred to being killed by one’s own blood, her mother always said. She was also fond of adding, had they not escaped together—since the king had also taken Alex hostage—Lexi would likely have never been born.
Neither Lexi, nor her brother, Angus, had ever been to the Realm of the Fae.
Liam had always managed to get away from the Fae Warriors who supposedly guarded the Faery Stones on the other side. He knew spells they’d played with as wee ones; knew how to turn invisible for a short time.
They both knew some defensive magic forbidden to use at home. Her mother frowned upon most, if not all, magic use.
Lexi wouldn’t focus on that now, or what’d happened to cause her flight from Dunvegan.
She could blink, or travel by picturing her destination, and appearing there by will. Her Aunt Claire called it traveling telepathically.
She’d get away, too.
Lexi.
This time, the voice in her head was her brother’s.
She swallowed.
With the nickname Aunt Claire had given her, she could feel Angus’ censure, but also his compassion and worry. His love for her.
So, he was going to be the one to try to reason with her. A good plan, since she tended to hear her brother out before she would their parents.
Not today.
She spat a word she’d learned from her Aunt Jules, and had been told by Claire never to utter.
It seemed as if all her ladylike sensibilities had fled.
Lexi grinned for the first time since she’d run out of the bailey and down the road, headed to the beach. She’d fled on foot, since she’d been worried her beloved mount, her silver mare, Turadh, would’ve been lost had she taken time to get her from the stables.
The waiting portal glimmered, as if beckoning her.
She couldn’t make out what was on the other side; it was too dark.
No matter.
With a quick prayer and a big calming breath, she stepped into the bubble.
* * * *
“Stubborn old fool.” Graeme stomped his foot, then froze. He was thirty years old, dammit. He shouldn’t be stalking the beach like a child, kicking rocks. He hadn’t pouted since he was small, or, wee, as the locals would say.
Despite the relatively warm morning, the overcast sky threatened a thunderstorm.
He stared out at the water. The waves crashed into the shore with an edge of violence, each larger than the last, seeming as angry as he was.
Well, angry was too strong a word.
He was frustrated with his grandfather. The man wouldn’t listen, no matter what. It was as if he held a grudge against Graeme that he could never be at fault for.
It was no secret James MacDonald had never wanted his son, Craig, Graeme’s father, to marry his American bride, Susan, and move to Texas.
Away from Scotland. Away from their ancestral home on the Isle of Skye.
It wasn’t his fault.
He hadn’t even been born.
Graeme had only met the Scottish guy a few times when he was a kid—he’d spent a few summers in on the Isle of Skye—but now his parents were gone, and he’d just wanted to reconnect with the only family he had left. Immediate family, anyway.
His mother’s family, his two aunts, two uncles and a smattering of cousins were alive and thriving at home, most of them in the Dallas area.
His mother had met his father because she’d gone to college in Scotland.
Graeme had toyed with the idea of moving to Scotland after he’d sold his father’s lucrative construction company.
A fucking drunk driver had ruined his life three years ago, when the bastard had hit his parents, and although he’d worked for his dad for a few years, his degree was in architecture—a result of his mother’s urging—so he hadn’t wanted to run the business permanently.
As much as he enjoyed designing buildings, his passion was something his grandfather was coincidentally renowned for. Restoration.
He’d seen pictures of his grandfather’s projects and been fascinated. Graeme had worked for a pretty prominent architecture firm after college, and helped his dad on the side, but his penchant for buying antique furniture that needed some TLC had been his in-the-garage thing for years, too.
His mother had teased he was wasting his talent, but she’d loved the pieces he’d given her all the same.
Damn, he missed his parents.
He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing their smiling faces, so perhaps a small part of him had needed that from James, as well.
When the hospital had called after Gramps’ fall almost six months before, he’d panicked; convinced he’d lose the last of his father’s blood, even though he hadn’t seen his grandfather since he was a teen.
Too bad his image was shattered by the curmudgeon who’d greeted him in that tiny hospital room after his hip replacement surgery.
James MacDonald was a bitter old man, and evidently Graeme had only made it worse with his appearance. He looked just like his father, and James had declared him an unwanted reminder of the past, a reminder of the son he’d considered lost, when in reality, Gramps had wasted time until it was too late.
