Highland Harmony: Avelina and Drew (Clan Grant Series Book 8) Read Free Page B

bush, he crept over to his spot as quietly as possible. There was a new eeriness to the glade today, one that sent a shiver up his spine, but he saw naught out of order.
    His mother’s voice echoed through his mind. “You lousy fool. You are of little value to the Clan Burnes. How could your father ever leave you in charge of the clan?”
    Her face popped into his view, so he picked up a stone at his feet and hurled it, hitting the rocky ledge across from him. He could almost envision it hitting her right between the eyes—an image that made him smile—so he picked up another loose stone and fired it at the stone wall.
    After five more missiles hit the wall, he grinned and stood back, feeling much better. Aye, that’s what he needed to do. Strike the woman down where she stood. He yelled up at the sky in triumph, imagining how wonderful it would feel to hear his mother begging his forgiveness and telling him how much she loved him.
    Lachlan felt so empowered he picked up a larger rock that took two hands to lift. He swung it over his head and hurled it forward, catching the middle of the wall, sending some smaller stones scuttling down the side of the glade. His blood pumped through his veins in excitement, the flush of exerting himself racing through him, making him want to do it again and again. So he did, increasing the size of the rocks until he found one he could hardly lift over his head. He laughed when it crashed against the rocky ledge, sending stones shooting off in every direction.
    Finally, he stopped, panting to catch his breath, a wide smile on his face. He leaned over to rest his hands on his knees and wait until his breathing returned to normal. But a strange rumbling sound met his ears, so he picked his head up to search for the source.
    Unfortunately, the rumbling almost found him first. He glanced up just in time to see a plethora of rocks shooting down the side of the glen, picking up speed and more rocks along the way, all tumbling straight for him. Covering his head with his hands, Lachlan spun around to run away, but the rocks felled him before he got very far. He hit the ground hard, cursing, banging his chin on the stones.
    He curled into a ball to protect himself from the flurry of rocks still raining down on him. When they finally stopped, he didn’t move for several minutes, afraid it was not yet over. Once he was certain it was done, he peeked out through his hands and stared at the ground strewn with rocks and boulders. Sitting up, Lachlan pushed the rubble away as he surveyed the destruction wrought by the shower of stones. Pain shot up his left side when he moved his legs, but deciding it would pass, he continued to test them. A sharp pain from his right toe forced him to stop. He glanced around, wishing there was someone who could help pull him out of the sea of rocks his glade had become, but there was naught.
    A small squeaking noise put a stop to that train of thought. He turned his head and found a field mouse standing on its back legs on the pile of rubble next to him. The mouse’s beady eyes stared straight at Lachlan, then the wee creature squeaked and began running back and forth between two different locations in the rocks. A glint of steel caught his eye next to the mouse.
    Lachlan forced himself to stand, but as soon as he did, the mouse took off running, only to come to a stop directly next to the piece of steel. When Lachlan bent down to inspect it, he was surprised to see it was the hilt of a sword. The mouse sat up and squeaked at him again, his wee nose wiggling up in the air. He only moved back after Lachlan reached for the sword, though he stood next to Lachlan instead of moving out of his way.
    To his surprise, the sword Lachlan pulled out of the rocks was a strange size—not even half as large as the one strapped to his back. He turned the hilt over to see if there would be some brand or sign identifying the owner, but there was not. He was immediately distracted by