The same issues plague Samantha O’Rourke, a time traveler living more than three hundred years before her time. Disturbed by revelations about Thomas Randall, a viscous pirate who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, she struggles to maintain the balance that once filled her home. Wanting nothing more than to move on with life and leave the past behind her, she faces each day with resolute strength, keeping her own secrets under lock and key.
With a new leader at the head of The Order and his own standing as a Templar at risk, Tristan, Samantha’s husband, knows that now is not the time to rock the boat. No matter how hard he tries, though, he can’t seem to shake the demons of his past—or the ones threatening to tear him to shreds now. Desperation leads him to recklessness. He will fight to regain what was stolen away from him.
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Continue reading for a teaser from Taken Away!
The silverware clinked around the table as everyone happily ate their dinner, a general air of contentment resting on all of them. Besides the deer steaks, there was bread, cheese, and cabbage soup, as well as whiskey and milk. A warm fire burned in the hearth beside them, adding even more to the candlelight that kept the cold dark away. The fresh scent of lavender spread under the aroma of the food, wafting from the bowl of dried petals left over from last summer’s harvest.
“I take it ye took care of the rest of the meat, Willy?” Da stared at him evenly, wiping his mouth with his fingertips.
“I buried some of it so it would freeze, but aye. It’s all taken care of.” Popping a piece of bread in his mouth he grinned at Rowan, who was discretely trying to feed some of his cabbage to the dogs under the wooden table.
“Good. I was hoping ye’d be finished with it. There was some talk amongst the families that live out beside the Stewart lands that I wanted ye to check on.” Pausing to clear his throat, the elder William grimaced some, as if this weren’t good news.
Worried by the expression, Will raised his eyebrows in surprise. “It’s not the Campbells again, is it? I thought we were finally getting to a good enough place with them that we wouldna have to deal with them any longer.”
The question caused everyone in the room to pause and look to the head of the family, apprehension filling the space. MacDonalds and Campbells famously did not get along, no matter where they lived. However, living right on the boarders of the two clans’ lands had made life particularly difficult at points. Things seemed to be relatively peaceful at the moment, due to extreme effort on the MacDonalds part, but there was never any telling when the rival family would decide to end the peace.
Shaking his head, Da picked up his cup and took a long drink. “Dinna fash yerself about the Campbell family now. It’s not anything like that.”
Everyone relaxed at that, a breath of relief seeming to sweep the room. Eating resumed with ease, the earlier happiness of the evening quickly warming them once more.
“What’s botherin’ them, then?” Laoghaire questioned, helping herself to another biscuit.
“It seems someone has moved into the old shack just up the mountain. They think it’s a young lass, but none of them are willin’ to get close enough to find out for sure. It’s right close to the border for one thing, and as for the other reason—”
“They think she’s a witch,” Alastair piped up, grimacing as his father frowned at him. “Sorry, Da. I dinna mean to interrupt ye. Little Jamie from across the way passed through the pasture this morning and told me about it. He was taking bets on how long it would take someone from the church to send a witch hunter to question her.”
“Hush yer mouth!” Laoghaire scolded him, rising from her seat. “We know nothing about the lass! There’s no sense in spreading such a vicious rumor without knowin’ the truth of it.” All the same, she glanced out the window, toward the direction of the old, abandoned hut up the mountain, and flicked her fingers, making the sign to banish evil.
“I thought only witches lived by themselves, though.” Rowan spoke confidently, smiling as he looked around the room. “Spell casters and old maids.”
“Well, she’s no old maid, from what I’ve been told,” Da muttered, raising his glass for another drink.
“And just what do ye want me to do about it?” Will asked incredulously. “March right up there and ask her if she’s the Devil’s bedmate? If she were, she’d curse me right on the spot!”
“And if not, she’d likely slap him across his face,” Laoghaire added, nodding in agreement. “He can’t walk up to a stranger and accuse them of something like that.”
“I dinna want him to do any such thing,” Da replied easily. “It will put everyone’s mind at ease to know that someone went up and spoke with her, though. The lass is new to the area; perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to invite her down.”
“And I suppose ye want me to find out why she’s alone and what business she has moving into a house that’s barely standing anymore.” Pursing his lips, Will watched as his father confirmed his suspicions with another nod.
“If there’s going to be one more mouth to feed this winter, she needs to help with the work. I dinna care if she’s here, so long as it doesn’t rile everything up, ye ken?”
“Aye, I understand ye well enough.” Taking a drink of his own milk, Will thought it over for a moment before answering. “I’ll go up and see what I can find tomorrow. What shall I take with me, though? I can’t be showing up with nothing but a basket of questions.”
“Take some of the honey,” Laoghaire replied, thinking quickly. “We can easily get more and it will be a fine, welcoming gift.”
“It’s settled then. We’ve been making due without ye in the fields for a few days now. One more will be fine.” Da smiled, leaning back in his chair.
“Soon ye’ll have yer own family to take care of and work for in the fields.” Laoghaire smiled warmly, settling back into her chair. “Fiona will make ye a fine wife. Yer little ones will be a sight to see, too.”
“Maw.” Will groaned slightly, trying not to roll his eyes.
“What? I’m excited for grandkids. Yer twenty-three years old. I thought I’d have them well before now.”
“I sincerely apologize for not engaging in acts of fornication and giving ye grandchildren earlier, but I had it in my mind to wait for the right lass. Since she hasn’t shown up yet, I assume ye’ll just have to wait.” He did roll his eyes then, looking to his father for backup, but was met with a knowing stare instead.
“I know ye wanted to marry for love, Willy,” Da said softly, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “Yer mother is right, though; Fiona is a fine young woman and will be the best of wives. I’m sure, in time, ye’ll learn to love her.”
“I understand,” Will replied roughly, looking down at his plate. “We are a good match. There isn’t much anyone else for her to marry, unless her mother wants to send her away. She needs someone to take care of her and their family has been missing its head since her father died. I wouldn’t have agreed to the arrangement if I didn’t think it would be good for everyone involved.
“I’ll be close to home, where I can help still if needed. We can combine our livestock and gain a higher profit when we take them to market. I . . . I enjoy Fiona’s company as well.”
Truth be told, he found her boring. She had no apparent interest in anything he did and was often found pouting beside the fire over something insignificant. The life he imagined with her was a frustrating one, with little joy. But, as he’d so often seen, love did come in time to such matches. Perhaps, as the years went on, he would find her personality endearing and feel a love for her grow in his heart.
His speech didn’t really seem to convince his father, but Laoghaire’s face shone with happiness as she looked at him.
“Fiona MacDonald is on
e of the finest women I’ve ever met,” Alastair added, blushing slightly. Rather than follow the statement up, he grabbed his cup and gulped down a swallow of whiskey, clearing his throat awkwardly.
“I think she’s stupid.”
Hastily converting his laugh into a cough, Will watched as their mother launched into scolding Ro for being rude, lecturing him on everything from honor and manhood to respect for the trials a woman faced. The sermon was lost on the young boy, though. His eyes glazed over, his attention clearly diverted along another path.
Slowly, dinner finished, Da retiring to his study while Maw cleaned up. Rowan was put to bed with much protesting and Alastair excused himself to go check on the newborn calf and its mother. Left alone, Will found himself on the front step, the dogs resting their heads in his lap as he stared up at the night sky.
What do I do? He asked the stars silently. The prospect of a marriage to Fiona did not excite him at all, nor did any marriage, really. He had truly wished to wait until he fell in love, but there was no way for that to happen. He would have to leave home, abandon his family, and hope that he would find his woman somewhere out there. What if she simply didn’t exist? No, there was no way he could betray his family’s trust in him like that, or disregard his honor so easily. When Da died, he’d become the head of the family. If he was off gallivanting across the country, they would have nothing. Fiona’s family would have nothing. The whole community would suffer under the burden of having to take care of what should have been his.
“Ye look like a man staring at the gallows, son.”
Looking over his shoulder, Will smiled tightly at his father, watching as the man came and sat beside him.
“What’s bothering ye? Fiona?” Concern covered his features, his hand resting lightly on Will’s shoulder as he looked at him. “Is marrying her really that bad of a prospect for ye?”
Shaking his head, Will looked back up at the sky, not sure what to say. The heavens sparkled with such beauty and size, he was suddenly struck with a feeling of insignificance. “It feels like life is getting the better of me, ye ken? Like I’m missing something important, but I don’t ken what it is.”
“What can I do to help?” Da squeezed his shoulder, shaking him slightly. “Maybe ye need some time away, to find yerself?”
“What do ye mean?”
“I’ve been hearing that some young men are going to France for a year or two, to work for the military. We would miss ye here at home, but if it helped ye at all, it would be worth it.”
Shocked, Will pulled away from him, gaping as he absorbed what he’d been offered. “But, I canna do that! We can’t afford it, Da. Traveling to France would take lots of money and I wouldn’t be able to help with the farming or selling the livestock. Besides, what about Fiona? I canna just leave her without a single care when she’s expecting to marry me in a few months’ time.”
“If it helped ye, it would be worth it to me. We would get by without ye, truly. Alastair already does more than his fair share. He’d learn the things I’ve been teaching ye about running the house and such easily, if anything were to happen to me.”
The look on his father’s face was so sincere and kind, it made Will want to hug him tightly and thank him for everything he’d ever done. Instead, he sighed heavily, shaking his head.
“I canna. I only want to do the right thing and choosing myself over the needs of others . . . it isn’t honorable. My own issues aside, I’m needed here. I will deal with my decisions and their impending consequences with grace, Lord willing. Thank ye, Da. Truly. It means a lot to me that ye would offer, but my family comes first. Per mere per terras.”
“By sea and by land,” Da repeated, the MacDonald clan motto giving the discussion an air of finality. “Yer a good man, Willy. I dinna know why the Lord in His goodness decided to grace me with such a child, but I’m glad he did.”
“There’s no one else I’d want as a father.” The chilly air suddenly felt too emotional for him and Will laughed, embarrassed, looking back up at the stars. Thinking back to their earlier dinner conversation, he quickly changed the subject. “Do ye have any advice for how to greet a lass who may be a witch?”
“I’d start with a nice hello, if it were me.” Patting him on the shoulder again, Da rose, quietly letting himself back inside and leaving Will with his plethora of thoughts.
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Acknowledgments
Every time I somehow manage to write another book, I’m reminded by the literal village that helps me get it done!
As always, thank you to my husband, Jake, for putting up with me and my endless prattling about story lines, alternate history theories, and gushing over my heroes. I could not do any of this without you and your support. You are every hero I’ve ever written and loved. Thank you for being awesome and being mine <3
I would never get anything published if not for my mother, Lacey Weatherford, who does her fair share of listening, as well as helping me with edits. I also have to thank my sister, Kysee, for letting me bounce story ideas off her and helping me with edits as well. I love you both!
Jessi Gibson, my author coach, can’t slide by without getting mentioned in the acknowledgments, either. She pushed me to do my best and get my work done. If not for her, I probably would have been so far behind, I wouldn’t have known what to do with myself. Thank you for all of your help and guidance, Jessi!
Hidden Away would not have been what it is without the Arizona Renaissance Festival and their new mermaid exhibit, haha! I worked on the stage crew there when the “sea fairies” show opened and it was something I so needed in my life then. The characters of William MacDonald, Dagger, Valentine, and Smithy are all based off of people who worked on that crew with me and I had to let the mermaids make an appearance when we got to Atlantis. Thank you all for being such wonderful coworkers and friends. I can’t imagine where my life would be right now if I hadn’t decided to just go for it and join you all for some fun in the desert. I love you all!
~Kamery~
About The Author
Kamery is not the person who grew up dreaming of the day that she would clutch her very own novel to her chest, tears brimming over the rims of her eyes as she thought about how she'd written it herself, finally! In fact, anything remotely like that didn't even happen until she was actually holding her first book in her hand, amazed that she'd written it and wondering how on Earth she'd managed to do it when it hadn't ever occurred to her to write one until months before. Surprisingly, though, it was just what she never realized she loved doing.
When starting out in life, Kamery had (and still has) big dreams to perform on Broadway. She loves music and acting very much, while she and dance have a love/hate relationship; she would love to do it and every form of dance decides it hates that about her, haha! The one constant she always had between the performing world and the book world were the stories, tales that transported her to other worlds and made her feel like she really could do anything. Finally, she decided she wanted to do that for someone else and sat down to write.
It's been a few years since she held that first book, realizing that she really liked writing and wanted to do more, but the love that blossomed in that moment has only grown. Currently, Kamery works from home in Arizona, while taking care of her two adorable kids, a girl and a boy, and talking her sweet husband Jake's ear off about the insane amount of characters in her head who are ready to fight to the death for a chance at their own novels.. It truly is a wonderful life!
www.kamerysolomonbooks.com
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Hidden Away (The Swept Away Saga, Book Three) Page 36
