Page 10 of First Light

The next morningCarys woke up with a massive hangover and a note on the bedside table. Carys rolled over, squinting in the grey morning light, and saw a message written in surprisingly graceful writing.

Check out of your hotel and come to my house. Bring all your things. This may take some time.

Below that was an address, or at least what passed for one in Scotland. She’d have to ask the woman at the front desk how to get there, because after her roundabout drive the day before looking for Duncan’s factory, she didn’t have any confidence in her navigation skills.

She rolled back into bed and closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples.

She’d been rude to Duncan the night before, but she’d been so angry. She could feel the shadows of depression threatening her mind, like coastal fog waiting to roll onto shore. She kept pushing it back with action. With anger. With determination.

She wasn’t leaving this country without Lachlan. At least not without an explanation.

Carys reached for her phone and called Kiersten. The phone rang a few times before she realized it was probably really late in California.

Luckily, Kiersten was a night owl and picked up. “Hey! How did today go? Or… yesterday? I’m not sure.”

“Complicated. How’s home?”

“Good. No sign of Lachlan yet?”

“No, but I did meet Duncan.”

“The brother! How was that?”

“They’re twins. Like identical twins. So that was weird.”

“Whoa. I bet. Did Lachlan ever tell you his brother was his twin?”

“No. And Duncan was rude as hell, but he said he’d take me to see Lachlan today.”

“I knew it.” Kiersten watched too much true-crime television. “There’s family drama there. I bet Lachlan got roped back into some toxic family dynamic he was trying to get away from here. He’s kindhearted. Dysfunctional people will prey on that.”

Carys could always depend on Kiersten for a positive take. She was notoriously forgiving.

“All I know is that on top of being worried, I’m pissed off. I understand needing to go back to sort out family stuff, but there’s no excuse for not calling me.”

“If they took his phone though.”

“There are other phones in Scotland, Kiersten.”

“Okay yes. But tell me this: Do you know anyone’s phone number anymore?”

Carys fell silent.Shit. That was a good point.

“See? I probably can’t even remember Laura’s, and she’s had the same number for fifteen years.”

Carys suddenly felt foolish. Or was she still pissed off?

Yeah, still a little pissed off. “You know what? I’ll decide how I feel about Lachlan when I see Lachlan. Right now I just need tofindhim.” She grabbed the paper on the bedside table. “And figure out how to find… Murrayshall House.”

“That sounds fancy.”

“I hardly think it’s going to be that fancy. His brother is a blacksmith.”

“Being a blacksmith sounds like a cool job.” Kiersten’s voice perked up. “Your dad would have loved that.”

“My dad was the kindest and most considerate man in the world,” Carys said. “I don’t think he’d have loved someone who tried to brush me off when all I’m doing is trying to find out what the hell happened to Lachlan.”

“Still. Blacksmith or finance bro, Lachlan’s family drama reeks of OMP.”

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