Highlander Betrayed (Guardians of the Targe) (38 page)

Edward dropped him to the ground again and tried to calm his raging mind. Betrayed by Nicholas fitz Hugh, his master spy, the one man he had trusted implicitly to do his bidding? It was not possible. And yet, if this man spoke the truth, it
was
possible.

“I will have his head!” Edward shouted, climbing more slowly back into his saddle. He called his captain to his side, giving orders for two regiments to ride hard into Scotland, to take the Dunlairig glen and its decrepit castle into English hands and to hold the traitor Nicholas fitz Hugh and the woman, Rowan, as prisoners.

“When you have them, relieve them of their heads and the stone and send them all to me!” He signaled the column to continue as he spurred his own horse to a gallop, needing to burn off the fury that gripped him.

“These Highlanders are nothing against me!” Edward shouted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

W
E WRITERS ALWAYS
moan about how writing is a solitary activity, and in many ways it is. However, I, for one, need a community of other writers to help keep me focused, on track, motivated, and writing.

Huge hugs go to my sisters-of-the-heart Pamela Palmer and Anne Shaw Moran. Plotters, critiquers, life coaches, friends. I don’t know what I’d do without you two!

Another big hug to my daily writing compatriot, Phyllis Hall Haislip. Nothing has kept my fingers to the keyboard better than meeting Phyllis every day for coffee and writing.

And a group hug for the fabulous crew at Montlake Romance. Thanks, Lindsay, Eleni, Jessica, Melody, Nikki and all the other talented people they work with. You all know what a fan I am!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MICHAEL TAYLOR

L
AURIN
W
ITTIG COMES
from a long line of natural storytellers, so it only made sense that she was a voracious reader, and eventually became a storyteller, too. She was indoctrinated into her Scottish heritage at birth when her parents chose her oddly spelled name from a plethora of Scottish family names. At ten, Laurin attended her first MacGregor clan gathering with her grandparents, and her first ceilidh (kay-lee), a Scottish party, where she danced to the bagpipes with the hereditary chieftain of the clan. At eleven, she visited Scotland for the first time and it has inhabited her imagination ever since.

Early exposure to many cultures led Laurin to study anthropology at Brown University. Her curiosity led her to a long career in the computer industry, first as a trainer, then as a consultant, and finally as a technical writer. When she dropped out of the paid workforce to stay home with her two children, she used those precious napping hours to write her first book, which went on to become a two-time finalist the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest.

Laurin’s first published book,
The Devil of Kilmartin
, won the National Readers’ Choice Award for short historical romance and
was a finalist for best first book in that contest and in the Holt Medallion.

Today Laurin lives in southeastern Virginia with her husband (who refuses, under any circumstances, to ever wear a kilt), and Anna the Eskie. She can be found online at
LaurinWittig.com
.