I rubbed my chest again, quick and discreet.
Whatever had woken in me two days ago… it wasn’t sleeping now.
? ? ?
Even though my uncle had kept a slower pace for me, the long journey had been a struggle. My feet throbbed, my calf muscles burned, and every step felt like I was dragging stones behindme. By the time the Sassunnach’s house came into view, I could barely feel my toes.
The sheer size of the property made me falter.
Three storeys of cold stone, wide sweeping grounds, windows like watchful eyes. A place built from wealth wrung out of land my people once walked freely. It stung—deep in the bone, deeper than anger—that we were driven from lands we’d lived on for hundreds of years, only for strangers to build monuments like this atop the earth they’d stolen.
I swallowed hard, pushing the resentment down.
But it sat there, aching like the rest of me.
Just as I forced my sore feet forward, a sudden chill ran down my spine.
Not from the blustering Highland wind.
This was different.
Sharp.
Electric.
Wrong.
I paused and glanced back. The tall grass swayed in restless waves, rippling as if something unseen moved through it. The opposite direction was worse—large, dark pines towering over the path, their shadows heavy and watching.
My breath caught.
“Are ye just goin’tae stand there an’gawk?” Uncle Callum shouted from ahead.
I startled, lifting my skirts and rushing toward him despite the scream of my aching muscles. My boots slapped against the pebbled path, heart pounding far harder than the run deserved.
But the uncanny feeling didn’t leave me.
It grew.
It crawled up my spine, settled under my ribs, and pulsed there, deep and warm and alive.
And for one strange, terrifying heartbeat…
I thought I heard something.
A voice without words.
A whisper without sound.
Calling.
Chapter 5
Thaddeus
The tea was lukewarm, and I grimaced as the weak liquid touched my tongue. I set the cup back onto the saucer with a sigh.
On top of the endless list of tasks facing me, it seemed I could now add sourcing decent food and beverages to it.
