Page 257 of The Defiant Curse

“I hope you’re all nice and warm,” he said.

Gabby looked over.

“Why?” she asked.

He pointed out the obvious.

“They scared the horses away. By now, at that run, they are halfway back to the barn. We’re walking the entire way back.”

Gabby sighed.

“I hate cardio.”

Despite it all, that made Elizabeth laugh.

Know what she hated more than a cold jaunt a few miles back to a castle?

GHOSTS.

And this place was filthy with them.

Chapter Sixteen

Three Hours Later

The Castle

Late Afternoon

Oh, it had been a chilly walk back to the castle, and despite that, no one seemed to care. The sun had broken through the clouds, and the breeze had stopped blowing. That made it almost pleasant.

Only, the whole way back, they didn’t talk about what went down in that part of the woods.

Why?

What was there to say?

Anyone who had been skeptical about ghosts being a real thing couldn’t be a naysayer any longer. In fact, this little experience told them all one thing.

Scotland was definitely full of the dead. It was an old country, on an old continent, and the lands there had to have many lost souls.

You could just feel it when you were here.

Now, though, she was thinking about trying to put this all to bed, once and for all. While she appreciated all the legwork they’d done to get it this far, Elizabeth knew this was the most important part.

Why?

Because she looked like Ceit, and a piece of her was worried about one thing.

Was she related to the woman?

Or was the universe just yanking her chain?

Only, for her, Elizabeth knew that coincidences were bullshit, and that was making her curious.

If it wasn’t a coincidence, that had to mean that her bloodline was tied to this. What she did know was her father had told her that his side of the family was Scottish. He knew that was his ancestry, but what were the chances?

Did this all happen because fate was driving that particular bus?