The Legend of Lady MacLaoch Read Online Free PDF

pipe band and sharing the history the clan has. Castle Laoch is considered home for all MacLaochs, and tours are free for clansmen who wants tae have a look inside,” he said and paused before continuing. “Though I’ll tell ye, I’d not want tae be on the other side of a battle from him. He’s got the look of a man who’s seen hell and come back to tell about it.”

CHAPTER 7
    F ace it, Rowan,” Eryka said, lounging on the settee behind the library desk near the window, like a lizard on a hot rock. “You need me.”
    Rowan gathered the list of book requests that the librarian had given him earlier that day. His annoyance ratcheted up at the husky, accented voice of the administrative assistant. At least the vibrations in his blood had subsided. Earlier at the library, the sensation had been intense.
    It was the stress of the Gathering and all associated with it, he told himself. Only it wasn’t debilitating, the way his nightmares were. The vibration had shaken him to his core, ringing like a bell he’d heard before, soft and comforting in its familiarity.
    “You need me,” Eryka said again. “Eventually you’ll need to get married, Rowan. You’ll need to produce an heir, and with your history, no one vill have you. I’m the only one who understands you and can look past your faults. No one vill ever love you like I can.”
    Rowan picked the last of the books up off the shelf, wanting nothing more than to push Eryka gently out the window.
    Eryka sauntered over to him. Her movements made her filmy shirt shimmy. “Rowan,” she pouted, letting her thin, cold hand slide down his back.
    Rowan stiffened at once. “Get your hand off me,” he said coolly.
    She leaned against him, the length of her body pressing against his, and whispered, “Or what, Rowan? You’ll kill me, too?”
    It was a game to her—to find his most vulnerable point and dig, to try and break him into small, manageable pieces.
    Rowan went ahead and gave her a small push. A wicked smile played across her face as she staggered backward and fell onto the settee.
    “Face it, Rowan, you need me to be there with you at the gala. You know I can help you.”
    “Help me, Eryka? Ye would rather suck the blood from me and this clan than help me. As I said before, I’ll no’ be taking a date, least of all ye,” he growled back at her.
    “Rowan, if not me, there will be no one. You will be alone for the rest of your life!” She bit back at him, her sultry nature gone and replaced with the ugliness that Rowan had seen before in people clawing for power.
    “So be it,” he said, and walked out.
    • • •
     
    At the cliff’s edge, Rowan picked up stone after stone, each one larger than the last. He whipped them out over the ocean, feeling the satisfying release of energy, and watched as their inevitable destiny took hold, dictated by gravity, plunging them into the ocean far below.
    Eryka’s words, You will be alone for the rest of your life , rang through his head. Every day he knew this, knew the effect the family history of the curse had upon him, and most days he was comfortable with this destiny. But today—today it was different.
    Rowan growled in frustration and picked up another rock and whipped it with all of his might.

CHAPTER 8
    H aving said our good-byes, I left the MacDonagh brothers in the harbor and headed toward Castle Laoch on foot. Not long into the journey, I stopped thinking about the MacLaoch and Minory legend. I was breathless from the mythical beauty of the coastline from land. Emerald cliffs rose massive and graceful from the frothing sea. Watery sunlight peeked out and hid again behind clouds, making the land and sea appear to move and shift like living things.
    I had already hiked several miles before I was forced to slide down a particularly steep section of the pebbly trail into a wide shoreline cove. Dusting off, I looked back up the narrow path and just couldn’t imagine Carol, much less Deloris, taking this