Heart Of A Highland Warrior Read Online Free PDF Page A

back where it belonged. That was great news. Then why wasn’t she more relieved?
    Feeling the need for fresh air, she grabbed a flashlight and walked outside. A front had moved in, breaking the lingering grip of fall, but it wasn’t the November chill that made her skin tight. She ’d been trained to withstand the cold. Something else was troubling her, and she wasn’t sure what. But it was linked to the chapel.
    In the moonlight it had a haunted, almost beautiful look. The old church had seen more than its share of life and death over the years. Beauty. Evil. Demons. Battles. Time vaults. Not many chapels could boast that kind of activity.
    Before she knew it, she was heading in that direction. She passed the graveyard where Faelan had waited for Bree to wake him from his tomb. It was like a fairy tale…except fairy tales weren’t real. Demons and monsters were. One of them had killed her best friend. Her fingers closed around her talisman, feeling the warm hum against her skin.
    She entered the doorway and turned off her flashlight, letting the smell and feel of the place sink in. A sense of sadness struck her, of anguish and loss. Was she sensing Angus? Ronan was probably right. He must have summoned the time vault in the cellar. Moving slowly, she made her way toward the front of the chapel, her hands trailing over pieces of pews that had fallen prey to time. One still stood, its surface worn smooth from worshippers who ’d already rotted in their graves. Stretching out her hand, she touched the cold stone and felt an overwhelming rush of sadness. She lowered her body onto the pew, trying to figure out what she was sensing. The stone was warm, as if someone had recently sat there. She jumped up and looked around, but she was alone. Troubled, she hurried to the front of the chapel.
    The hidden doorway to the cellar was still blocked. Faelan had restacked the stones, covering the secret entrance. There were a few scattered stones where the wall had crumbled. It was a wonder Bree hadn’t been killed when it fell, but Anna was beginning to think nothing could kill Bree. She ’d survived things no human should live through.
    Since she was here, she might as well check the time vault and the cellar. Both would make ideal hiding places for Angus’s notebook and the time vault key. It took Anna a few minutes to remove the stones. The sensible thing would be to wait for daylight and come back when she was properly dressed and wearing boots, but she felt compelled to continue.
    She dusted off her hands and re-clipped her hair that had fallen loose. Using her flashlight, she found her way down the steps to the cellar. It was bare except for the time vault. The floor and walls were stone, so unless Angus had hidden the notebook under a loose stone or inside the time vault itself, nothing was hidden here. She approached the time vault and put her hands on the lid. Her battle marks began to tingle low on her back. She was starting to get a little freaked, but she couldn’t leave without checking. She lifted the lid and looked inside. It was empty.
    The time vault felt warm under her hands, and the air grew too thick to breathe. Beside her, shadows shifted, gathering into a form. She lowered the lid and stepped back, then reached for the dagger she kept hidden inside her boot, forgetting that she wore only a nightgown and flip-flops. She grabbed her talisman instead and braced for battle as the apparition shaped into a man wearing a kilt. His head was bent, his hair covering his face. Sorrow rolled off him like thick mist. She could almost taste his pain.
    It must be done. There’s no other way.
    A face began to form out of the mist.
    “Angus?” she whispered. But she knew it wasn’t him. It didn’t feel like him. The apparition vanished—if it had even been there—leaving only shadows and darkness. Unnerved, she hurried from the cellar without even stopping to hide the entrance. She would do it tomorrow. She stepped