Revenge (Book 3 of Lost Highlander series) by Cassidy Cayman Page B

your party tomorrow night.”
    Piper suppressed a groan. She didn’t want the party in the first place, and that Evie and Mel had put it together so quickly didn’t give her any time to settle back in. But they were determined that she have one, and that no more time would be wasted.
    They stopped at the archway leading up to one of the outer rooms when they both distinctly smelled smoke. With a shriek, Evie ran for the entrance, Piper close behind.
    The entry room was lit up with the crackling flames of a small fire set near the doorway. Piper recoiled in frightened disbelief while Evie stamped on it until it went out. Coughing and spluttering, she nudged the thing that had been on fire with her toe.
    “Looks like one of your cardigans,” she said, looking sadly at her ruined shoes. “Did you drop it here when you first came in?” She looked around the ground some more and found an overturned votive. “Good Lord. You could have been roasted alive down here.” She swallowed hard and continued kicking the charred sweater until it was out the door. They made sure it was no longer smoldering and headed back to the castle.
    Piper acted like she had no recollection of taking off her sweater and carelessly dropping it on the ground near a candle. It would have been something a sleepwalker might do, but Piper knew she hadn’t been sleepwalking, knew she hadn’t been wearing that sweater and also knew it would take a lot more  than a cursed trance to make her drop one of her favorite cashmere cardigans on the ground.
    She morosely followed Evie back up to the castle, feeling more angry by the second. Now that witch was messing with her wardrobe. Which meant she had been in the house at some point.
    And you still don’t have the bones. The voice taunted her.
    “Shut up,” she hissed, then clapped her hand over her mouth.
    She had to be careful. Hearing the voice was bad enough. Responding to it was too much. Fortunately Evie didn’t turn around.  
    In the kitchen Mellie was holding a baby monitor and pacing nervously back and forth.
    Evie took the monitor and smiled reassuringly. “She was sleepwalking,” she said, leading Piper over to the sink.
    Piper was too tired to fight her and let her scrub all the dirt and dried blood off her hands. She frowned down at the ragged nails and Evie sighed.
    “I’ll get a manicure in the morning, don’t worry,” she said. “Your party won’t be spoiled by my savage hands.”
    Evie grunted and tossed a dish towel at her. “It’s your party, not mine!” she said, her whole face collapsing into dismay. “I thought you were excited about it.”
    Piper dried her hands and hugged Evie one last time. “I am excited about the party. I’m just overtired. You know you’re not supposed to wake a sleepwalker. Honestly, you’re lucky I didn’t have a heart attack.”
    Evie spluttered and Piper escaped from the kitchen before she could come up with a response. Back in her room, Lachlan sat up in bed, worry creasing his brow. She hurried to his side and sat on the bed next to him, smoothing the troubled lines from his forehead.
    “It’s all right,” she said. “Just Evie being a worry wart. I just needed some fresh air.”
    She considered telling Lachlan about the fire, proof that Daria was about, but if he brought it up to Evie, then her story would fold in on itself. She wouldn’t be able to prove that she hadn’t set the fire herself out of carelessness. Frustrated, she bit her lip and scowled.
    Lachlan pulled her close to his chest and inhaled deeply. “Ye smell like the crypt,” he said. “And a bonfire.”
    She laughed into his chest. His superb senses would be what gave her away. “I wanted to visit Fenella,” she said. “I’ll go get a quick shower.”
    He tightened his grip on her, sliding his hands lower. “I dinna mind,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
    She tipped her face up so he would kiss her mouth and he readily obliged. Every last trace of the