Page 88 of The Defiant Curse

Moving toward it, she pulled it the rest of the way open, and stared outside. It was pure darkness, and so shadowy that she couldn’t even see the courtyard.

Damn.

It got dark in Scotland.

Did they not have stars here?

Because that black inkiness didn’t exactly make her feel all warm and fuzzy.

Stepping back inside, she closed the door, and that’s when the hair on the back of her neck stood up. In that moment, Elizabeth knew she was NOT alone.

Turning, she came face-to-face with something that terrified her.

HERSELF.

Well, not exactly. Instead, it was someone who looked just like her.

Immediately, she took a step back, and there was melodious laughter.

“A’m Ceit. Welcome tae ma home.”

That was all she had to hear.

She was talking to a ghost. That’s when Elizabeth just about freaked the fuck out.

Meanwhile…

All he knew was his phone was beeping, and all the old habits of working security came back to him. It was second nature, and immediately, he was focused on that.

In fact, he wasn’t the only one.

It brought both him and Graham wide awake.

“Oh, shit. That’s the door alarm,” Michael stated, throwing back the covers and pulling on his discarded jeans and shirt. Old habits die hard, and he sprung into action.

“We have a problem,” Michael said, yanking up his fly.

Yeah, they did.

Someone accessed the castle, and at the same time, Elizabeth Blackhawk was there. Now, Michael believed he’d made a tactical error, thinking she was safe behind the gates.

This was a HUGE issue.

Not far away, Graham was doing the same thing.

“Someone is breaking in? Oh, shit! I’ll get the gun,” he said, knowing that they kept one there in case of…emergencies. Most of those emergencies were related to owning a ‘farm’, and if the animals had to be put down.

Yeah, Michael didn’t like this.

Not.

At.

All.

His heart was going a million times a minute, as he tried to figure out how the hell this happened.

There was never anyone near the castle, and Elizabeth arrived, and all of a sudden, it happened? The first thing that popped into his head was the Russian spy that was still out there.