Page 30 of Wild Scottish Beauty

“So you never really wanted me to come here to be a designer, did you? That was just a ploy to get me to fly here so you could tell me this.” My heart fell. For some reason, this hurt even more than thinking that Miles had manufactured this whole opportunity for me or that Ramsay wasn’t interested in working with me. I’d been genuinely excited to design a custom line for the castle, in my mother’s homeland, and now I realized how stupid I’d been to think they’d just landed on my website and had decided that I was theonlydesigner who could help them with their plans.

Maybe Archie was right in his estimation of me. Iwasan idiot.

I’d been a happy little sailboat, my dreams the wind filling my sails, and now I bobbed in place, helpless to move forward. What had I been thinking? That a castle in Scotland needed a fashion designer? Of course they didn’t. I’d just been blinded by the idea of actual job security for once and had ignored all the warning signs. Once again, my impulsivity had landed me in a sticky situation.

“Yes, and no,” Sophie said, seeing the look on my face. “We do need a designer, as it’s part of the second phase of the marketing program I’m rolling out to encourage tourism to return to Loren Brae. The job offer is very real, and we wouldn’t have offered it to you if you hadn’t met the qualifications. Instead, we would have found another way to bring you to Loren Brae. Do we need you for the Order of Caledonia? Yes, we do. But do we also need a talented designer who can create beautiful, mouthwatering designs for tourists to drool over? Also, yes.”

“Both of these things can exist at once,” Archie barked, and I raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat mollified, though I remained skeptical of, well,everythingthey were telling me.

“We’re just asking that you hear us out,” Sophie said.

Sir Buster got up from his bed and padded over to me, his little body vibrating as he pawed at my leg. I looked down at him.Suspicious.

He pawed at my leg again.

“Is he magickal too?”

“Sir Buster? God no. He certainly thinks he is.” Sophie laughed.

“Can I pick him up?”

“Seems he wants to be picked up, so yes, go for it.” Hilda smiled, and I scooped up Sir Buster. He nestled into my lap, a warm, vibrating, little stress ball of a dog. Still, his presence soothed me.

“You realize this sounds crazy, right?” I said, looking around the room at the group that I had formerly taken for sane adults.

“Oh, absolutely. It took a whole sit-down with books and convincing before I was on board. But it also helpedthat my uncle Arthur sent me here. He knew what I was getting into, and he never, ever, would have set me up for something that he didn’t have faith I could handle. That part made it easier.”

“So just like that? Poof! You’re off fighting Kelpies and using magick?” I looked at Sophie in disbelief.

“Pretty much. It’s wild, but in some respects, it’s also really freaking cool.”

“What’s your power?”

“I’m the Knight. I have a magickal sword and can use my voice to command the Kelpies back.”

“Woah.” The memory of Sophie walking the battlements the night before flashed in my head.

“Lia’s our resident Kitchen Witch. Shona’s our Garden Witch. And you, well, we won’t know what your powers are until you do the ritual. Unless you have an idea of what your powers may be. Shona’s were already manifesting before she joined the Order.”

You know.

A voice whispered deep in my soul and I paused, surprised by my thoughts. Couldthatactually be a power?

“Generally speaking, I feel like the word ‘ritual’ contains more negative connotations than positive,” I pointed out, leaning forward as I stroked Sir Buster with one hand and reached for the scone with the other. I wasn’t hungry, not really, but the few sips of coffee I’d had now churned in my stomach, and I needed something to cut through the acid. I chewed, Sir Buster straightening and sniffing the air hopefully in my lap, and watched Sophie carefully.

“It’s not a blood ritual or anything. More a ceremony of sorts. I’ve learned that magick is all about intent. Towelcome it in, you have to tell it that you accept it. If that makes sense? You accept that you want to be a member of the Order and that you welcome the magick in.”

“And then what happens? I’ll just be magickal?”

“More or less.” Sophie shrugged.

“It can take time with some. With others, it manifests quickly.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?” Sophie tilted her head at me.

“For like, the rest of my life?” I waved the scone in the air. “I just live here and protect the holy grail? That’s it? That’s my lot in life forever on? My future is now here?”

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