Mr. Morrow answered, making things clear in a way that made my blood run cold.“Hazel doesnae have the gem over her dragon’s heart, so I have volunteered to be a prisoner at Sutherland Castle until you arrive. If you dinnae, ‘twill be war betwixt the MacLeods and Sutherlands and both your sisters’ lives will be in peril as well as your unborn nephews.”
Alarmed, I frowned and shook my head, answering before I could stop myself.“That’s impossible. I left Hazel sleeping on the couch. She’s fine.”
“She is now,”Adlin agreed, aware of things that must have happened despite my being only gone for a few hours.“Hazel is safely back at MacLeod Castle, and in exchange for hers and her friend’s freedom, Sloan agreed to be taken prisoner by the Sutherland’s until you arrive and are ruled out as the lass meant to fulfill the pact.”
It had been a long time since I’d referred to Mr. Morrow by his real name, and despite genuinely trying to convince myself I was over him, hearing it again brought all the old hurt and pain roaring back to the surface.
Yet, it seemed Sloan had another take on it.
“’Tis your inner beast’s anger,”he grumbled, sounding as frustrated as I was.“’Tis finally letting you know just how mad it is at you for repressing it and making it fly without its wings spread, and I dinnae blame it.”
“And like I’ve told you countless times, it’s none of your damn business what I do,”I bit back, again before I could stop myself.“So get out of my head and leave me alone already.”
“I would if I could,”he shot back, despite how much I sensed my words had wounded him.“But alas, ye are stuck with me, lass, as much as I wish it were otherwise.”
“You and me both because—”
“Enough,”Adlin interjected, the frown in his voice obvious.“What matters now is the Sutherlands are threatening to go after your sister Ellie if you don't go to them, Willow.”
“But that would break the agreement,”I replied, well aware of the details.“And give the MacLeods every right to wage war.”
“Mayhap had Hazel and Lucas not broken the agreement first,”Adlin revealed, again surprising me because I had left Hazel snoozing at home mere hours ago.
However, despite my disbelief, I sensed Adlin wasn't lying, which meant she very well could have traveled back to medieval Scotland without me knowing.
“Now,”Adlin went on,“despite Sloan voluntarily giving himself over to the Sutherlands, if you dinnae show up, they will take action and ‘tis your sister they’re threatening, not you.”
“Smart,”I muttered, because threatening any of my sisters was the only way to get me to do what they wanted. I didn’t bother responding, but swung my plane around and headed back to the small hangar I rented.
It turned out, when I got home, Hazel was indeed gone, and Adlin was waiting for me by my willow tree. With a long white beard and white robes, he certainly appeared to be a wizard. The average person might think he wore a costume, but my sisters and I, witches that we were, knew better. Of course, these days I denied believing any of it, but in reality, I did and had for years.
How could I not, given Sloan and the Morrow?
The Morrow, as it happened, was something I discovered when I was much younger, after losing my mother andessentially my father too, because despite us living under the same roof, I rarely saw him. Given I hadn’t met my half sisters yet, I was incredibly lonely and often bored, so like any little girl would, I entertained myself by dressing up and pretending I was somewhere else.
Mostly, I pretended I was going to meet my dashing Scot of the Morrow.
Until one day, I actually met him when I slipped on a unique, old-fashioned ring with a red stone I found in my mother’s jewelry box. That’s when my willow tree appeared for the first time outside my bedroom window, and the rest is history.
I had wandered out to the tree and traveled back in time to medieval Scotland, where none other than my Scot of the Morrow awaited me. He didn’t know he was waiting for me, but I did the moment I laid eyes on the little boy leaning against the willow tree from which I had magically emerged.
After that, I coined the phrase traveling viathe Morrowbecause it always brought me back to him. Or at least it had until he told me he would be marrying someone else, and that was it. My romantic little fairytale came crashing down around me, and I left, heartbroken, never to return.
After all, despite my tender age of fifteen, he had already proposed to me, and I’d accepted. Granted, we were far too young and from different centuries, but still. We were going to make it work somehow.
“Have you the ring?” Adlin asked, bringing me back to the here and now, yet again knowing more than I anticipated.
Even though I’d had every intention of getting rid of my mother's mystical ring years ago, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to do it. Partly because it had been my mother's and partly because it was mine in a way that made it impossible to let go of. I had walked away from my Scot but never the ring. And nowall this was happening, I was glad I hadn’t because it gave me an advantage the others didn’t have, at least when it came to Sloan.
I could pull him to my tree, wherever it may be, without anyone knowing.
But did I truly want to?
I could tell by Adlin's grim expression that I had better, because too many lives were at stake, including my sisters’. And as much as I tried to ignore it, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about Sloan, too. He might have treated me horribly, but it sounded like he was in as much danger as Ellie, if not more.
“Do you think it still works?” I wondered, pulling the ring from my pocket where I always kept it. I did my best not to wear my emotions on my face because I felt far too many of them at the thought of actually seeing Sloan again after so many years.
Had he changed as much as I? Was he still as handsome? Still as rambunctious and quick to laugh? It was hard to imagine the teenage boy from my youth growing more homely with age or losing the parts of his personality I loved, but anything was possible.
