Fire Maidens Scotland (Billionaires & Bodyguards #6) - Anna Lowe Page 0,55
were hardly any left.”
Mungo tugged her down the footpath, and Lachlan explained as they walked. “Unfortunately, that’s true. There was only one Fire Maiden left in all of Europe until recently — Claudia, in Switzerland. But destiny, it seems, has deemed it fitting to reveal further Fire Maidens, including Gemma. Like Grace in Ireland and several others, she’s a direct descendant of Queen Liviana.”
Holly glanced in Gemma’s direction, remembering the reverent way Trevor had talked about Fire Maidens.
“Weren’t some of Trevor’s ancestors Fire Maidens?”
“Aye. His is one of only two families in Scotland that can link their ancestry to Liviana. But neither has born a daughter in generations.”
She picked her way along the winding path. “Who’s the other family?”
Lachlan shook his head and answered so quietly, she almost missed it.
“Mine,” he said.
She stopped in her tracks, staring. “Yours?”
He stuck up his hands. “Don’t be impressed. Trevor is a direct descendant of Queen Liviana on both sides of the family. My clan’s connection is only on one side and twice removed. And I’m the sixteenth in a long line of males.”
She stared. “Sixteen generations without a single daughter?”
He laughed. “You can see how the bloodline gets diluted. The Stuarts have had daughters as recently as a century ago, so all the pressure of producing a female offspring fell to Trevor’s family. And as you know…”
Holly’s chest squeezed. Trevor’s only child was a son who died in his twenties, ending the family line forever.
Lachlan’s brow furrowed in some private thought, and Holly wondered if he had ever been pressured to continue the family line, indirect as the connection to Queen Liviana might be. Family duty and so on.
Then it hit her. Duty. One of several excuses — er, reasons — Lachlan had mentioned when he left her, ten years ago. Had he been pressured not to get involved with her? After all, she was just a country girl from a no-name family in the Rockies. His family was dragon nobility. Had he been expected to find a more suitable mate, like…like…
Natasha? her dragon suggested, disgusted. Penelope?
She couldn’t stand imagining Lachlan with anyone else, but ugh. To lose the love of her life to Natasha?
First love, her mother would have reminded her. There are always second chances.
But her heart just wasn’t buying it, and she knew it.
Lachlan kicked a stone, sending it tumbling along the path. “These days, it’s up to the Guardians of Scotland to do their best without the benefit of a Fire Maiden.”
She looked over. He sounded so…resigned. So determined, yet a little wistful too.
From what Trevor had said, Fire Maidens were pretty damn useful. Their very presence rekindled age-old magic that protected shifter communities — and the unwitting humans who lived among them. Having a Fire Maiden in residence made the Guardians’ goals of maintaining peace and prosperity much more likely.
Once again, she thought of Gemma. Wow. What a heritage — and what responsibility.
Happy to be plain old me, her dragon agreed.
Still, that kind of responsibility was what Lachlan shouldered as commander of the force guarding the prisoner of Gleninnis. No wonder he hesitated to make time for a relationship when so much hung in the balance. And yet, he was starting to make time. Like now, by walking her to Trevor’s house instead of driving. By detouring on the drive over just so she could see the steam train, and offering to stop for flowers. Those weren’t little gestures, given the circumstances. They were huge concessions.
Show me, she’d said. And wow. He really seemed to be trying.
She let out a slow breath. Better to focus on the scenery before she got carried away, right?
The rocky shoreline curved before her, full of countless natural treasures. Rocks slick with salt water. Kelp swaying back and forth as the tide washed in. Sea gulls gliding on invisible air current, leading her gaze over the ocean. With every step she took, the view of the south end of the island broadened. She spotted Trevor’s cottage, set above a perfect, pebbly bay. The sun streamed down through clouds, lighting the clear, shallow water a brilliant aquamarine color.
Mungo darted from one side of the grassy path to the other, sniffing. Then he darted toward the shoreline, barking madly.
Holly squinted, catching sight of a sleek, wet body on the rocks. “More selkies?”
Lachlan shook his head. “Just seals.”
She laughed. “At home, my mom’s dogs bark at prairie dogs. Mungo barks at seals.”
The seal lifted its head lazily, then begrudgingly slid into the sea.