Beyond A Highland Whisper by Maeve Greyson Read Free Book Online Page A

with the striking blue eyes.”
    It was about time they got to the point. Latharn responded with the entire spectrum of his emotions. Now he would give them a light show. It was time Brodie and Fiona met their ancestor. He illuminated the entire room in a play of iridescent lasers. The energized light electrified everything it touched. Every surface in the room rainbowed with a prismatic glow.
    His brows arched to his hairline, Brodie splayed his hands across the countertop as he stared at Latharn’s prison. Leaning in closer, his breath fogged the glass as he matter-of-factly spoke to the ball. “Well then. That was a definite choice. So ye like the dark-haired lass?”
    Latharn laughed so hard the globe shook. Brodie was the master of the understatement. This century must have diluted the lad. Latharn vibrated the globe again, sending it scooting across the counter.
    As he captured the vibrating base between his hands, Brodie gaped into the pulsating depths of the crystal.
    “What do ye think we should do now, Fiona?”
    “Ye go after her, ye blessed fool!” Latharn’s deep voice rumbled out of the core of the orb and echoed off the walls of the shop. As his thundering voice dissipated and faded away, so did the lasers dancing about the thrumming globe.
    Brodie’s face drained of color. He pushed away the crystal and steadied himself against the edge of the counter, his hands shaking, knuckles white. He opened his mouth as though about to speak, closed it, then opened it again. Visibly swallowing as though about to choke, he finally found his voice. “Ye can make yourself heard! Is this the spirit of Latharn MacKay? And if it is, why have ye not spoken to us before now?”
    The light of the orb diminished in strength as the crystal reduced to a subtle glow. Latharn blew out a weary breath as he paced the circumference of his prison. His voice grew quieter as he tersely replied, “Aye, I am Latharn MacKay. As for allowing ye to hear my voice? Up until now, I had nothing to say.”
    Brodie’s jaw dropped. “Ye had nothing to say?” He spun on his heel and jerked his chin toward Fiona. “Fiona and I have been your caretakers for nigh on six years now. I have been around ye since I was but a gleam in my Da’s wandering eye. And ye mean to tell me in all those years, ye didna’ have one small thing ye might have wanted to say to us? Not one word?”
    The tension in his chest eased a bit and Latharn chuckled with relief. Brodie had fire. Good for the lad. At least, he’d not considered himself mad when Latharn had spoken aloud. The MacKay power was strong in this one. He swirled the energy just beneath the surface of the crystal and shimmered it at Brodie’s growling reprimand. “If it makes ye feel any better, Cousin, I havena spoken to anyone in several hundred years. I’ve no’ uttered a word to the outside world since my mother took her life and traveled to the next plane.”
    Fiona covered Brodie’s hand with hers and silenced her husband with a shake of her head. “Forgive him, Cousin Latharn. It’s just that Brodie has always defended ye and felt a particular sorrow for all ye have suffered.”
    With a curt nod, Brodie cleared his throat as he stared down at Fiona’s hand over his. “Aye, please forgive me, Cousin. My words were thoughtless but I meant ye no ill will. I just thought ye would have spoken to us before now. It might have helped us in your search for the woman who was the one to set ye free.”
    Latharn deepened the color of the globe by allowing his emotions to fuse into its aura. The force of the light intensified as his voice echoed through the room.
    “I’ve watched ye since before your soul decided to leave the cosmos and join us on this plane. I know your heart is pure, Brodie MacKay. Hear me when I say I am proud to know ye will be the one to aide me when I rejoin the world.”
    Brodie propped his elbows on the counter, his face reddened as he strained to see even deeper into