Highland Resilience (The Band of Cousins Book 6) Read online

  The only son of Logan Ramsay, the man known to all as the Beast of the Highlands, Gavin Ramsay feels a powerful need to prove himself. His sire thinks he’s incapable of leading a mission on his own, but when a young lass goes missing from the clan, Gavin vows to find her. His time has come—if he can avoid being distracted by the missing girl’s sister, Merewen, a sweet yet fierce beauty whose stunning talent with the bow rivals even that of his mother.

  Merewen Baird will do anything to save her sister. She’s long admired Gavin, and when he agrees to search for Linet with her, she sets off on a journey with him and several of his cousins. Their search brings them to Inverness, a burgh by the sea, where they discover an underground the likes of which the Ramsay and Grant cousins have never seen. Lasses and lads fight for coin, and there are whispers of a coming shipment of illegal, human, merchandise.

  To save Linet and the other lasses and lads, Merewen and Gavin must risk all—including the promise of a future with each other.

  Table of Contents

  To The Reader

  Family Tree

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Other Novels By

  About the Author

  To the Reader:

  This book will be closely tied to the last two books in the series: Gavin’s story and Connor’s story. As such, each hero and heroine will get their happily ever after, but a string or two is left unsettled. The three are best read together.

  Thanks for reading!

  Keira Montclair

  The Grants and Ramsays in 1280s

  GRANTS

  LAIRD ALEXANDER GRANT and wife, MADDIE

  John (Jake) and wife, Aline

  James (Jamie) and wife, Gracie

  Kyla and husband, Finlay

  Connor

  Elizabeth

  Maeve (adopted)

  BRENNA GRANT and husband, QUADE RAMSAY

  Torrian (Quade’s son from his first marriage) and wife, Heather—daughter, Nellie (Heather’s daughter from a previous relationship) and son, Lachlan

  Lily (Quade’s daughter from his first marriage) and husband, Kyle—twin daughters, Lise and Liliana

  Bethia and husband, Donnan—son, Drystan

  Gregor

  Jennet

  Geva (adopted)

  Emma (adopted)

  ROBBIE GRANT and wife, CARALYN

  Ashlyn (Caralyn’s daughter from a previous relationship) and husband, Magnus—daughter, Ishbel

  Gracie (Caralyn’s daughter from a previous relationship) and husband, Jamie

  Rodric (Roddy) and wife, Rose

  Padraig

  BRODIE GRANT and wife, CELESTINA

  Loki (adopted) and wife, Arabella—sons, Kenzie (adopted) and Lucas, daughter, Ami (adopted)

  Braden and wife, Cairstine—son, Steenie (Cairstine’s son from previous relationship)

  Catriona

  Alison

  JENNIE GRANT and husband, AEDAN CAMERON

  Riley

  Tara

  Brin

  RAMSAYS

  QUADE RAMSAY and wife, BRENNA GRANT (see above)

  LOGAN RAMSAY and wife, GWYNETH

  Molly (adopted) and husband, Tormod

  Maggie (adopted) and husband, Will

  Sorcha and husband, Cailean

  Gavin

  Brigid

  Simone (adopted)

  Beatris (adopted)

  MICHEIL RAMSAY and wife, DIANA

  David and wife, Anna

  Daniel and wife, Constance

  AVELINA RAMSAY and DREW MENZIE

  Elyse

  Tad

  Tomag

  Maitland

  Chapter One

  Merewen Baird awakened with a scream in her throat. Normally, she would have quelled the need to let it out, but not today. Not when her sister’s side of the bed was empty. Not when she knew in her heart something was wrong. She wailed like a banshee—a high, keening sound likely to be heard over most of Ramsay land.

  After screaming loudly enough to rouse half the clan, she bolted out of bed, grabbed a gown, and threw it over her head.

  She rushed out of her chamber into the small central chamber of their hut, her gaze catching her mother’s wide-eyed stare. “Lass, why are you carrying on so?”

  “Linet. She’s gone. Something awful has happened. I can feel it in my blood, in my bones, in the hairs now rising on my arms. Where is she?” She raced to the door, yanking it open to yell her sister’s name into the Highland winds. “Linet! Linet! Where are you?”

  Grabbing her mantle, she dashed outside, ignoring her mother’s pleas.

  “Merewen, wait for your sire! He’ll find her.”

  “Nay, Mama. I must find her now. You know once Papa is working, he’ll not leave. ’Twill be too late by the time he returns.” She adored her only sister, so she would not ignore her hunch. Something had happened, of this she was certain.

  Her heart pounded as she hurried along, looking about for any signs of her sister. As she searched, she tried to remember everything she could from the last time she’d seen Linet. The more she remembered, the more her gut clenched. Her sister had returned from a visit to the chapel, her hands crossed in front of her belly. It had been late, much later than Linet had ever been out before.

  The look on her face should have prompted Merewen to question her, but she’d been too self-involved to do so, even though Linet had clearly been out of sorts. Merewen’s courses had just returned, and the painful, relentless cramps had demanded her focus.

  While she still felt the cramps, they were nothing compared to the ache deep in her belly for letting her sister down.

  Linet had whispered to her in the middle of the night, and rather than answer her, Merewen had groaned and rolled over, giving her sister her back.

  But she could still hear her sister’s last words.

  “Merewen, please? I must tell you something.”

  And now she was gone.

  ***

  Gavin Ramsay brushed his long hair back from his face as he made his way to the stables. He needed to ride, needed to move to ease the restlessness in his blood. These past few days, he’d been tempted to ride off alone to the northeastern part of the Highlands, where they’d last heard whispers of the Channel of Dubh, the underground network responsible for the kidnapping and sale of lasses and lads across the water. His sire, of course, had forbidden him to do any such thing, but that wasn’t the reason he’d restrained himself. His cousin Gregor had persuaded him there was wisdom in waiting for his sister Maggie and her husband to return.

  Maggie and Will oversaw the group he and Gregor had fought and spied with for the last year. They called themselves the Band of Cousins , because all the members were cousins, aside from the siblings, and they’d dedicated themselves to stopping the Channel of Dubh for good. None of them would rest until they prevailed.

  Patience and a calm sense of reason were two qualities Gavin lacked completely. Like his sire, he had an intense craving for adventure and a deep-seated desire to roam the beautiful lands of Scotland. But Gavin’s impatience sprung from something much deeper. The only son of Logan and Gwyneth Ramsay, he had reached an age where the onslaught of pressure never left him.

  Pressure to measure up.

  His parents worked for the Scottish Crown, secretly at one time but now openly. His mother had the reputation of being the best archer in all the land, and his sire?

  His nickname was the Beast.

  Although Gavin was proud of his work with the cousins, he’d never taken on a leadership role. He felt the need to make his own reputation.

  But how?

  He had just mounted his horse when an intense cry, unlike anything he’d ever heard before, reached his ears from the small village of huts outside the castle walls. He turned his horse in that direction, his gaze raking the area for anything unusual.

  Then he saw her. Merewen Baird stood outside the village in the meadow, her expression as stricken as if someone had taken a whip to her. Her long tawny locks whipped about in the early winter breeze.

  As he got closer, he realized she was shouting her sister’s name as she ran. She paid him no mind, so he dismounted and approached her on foot.

  “Merewen,” he shouted as he drew closer. “Merewen, what is it?” The Bairds had lived on Ramsay land for as long as he could remember. The lass’s sire was a gifted blacksmith. He was a hardworking clan member, although he was known for being a strict father.

  “Merewen, what is it?” he asked again, an appreciation for her beauty suddenly enveloping him. She had always caught his eye, but this morn she looked like a wild faerie queen, her hair loose and long, her brown eyes sparkling with gold flecks. He forced himself to rein in his carnal thoughts as he took another step toward her. “Merewen?”

  She spun around to face him, freezing in position, her breathing as fast as if she’d just run to the keep and back. The look in her eyes reminded him of a cornered animal, wild and frantic.

  She swallowed and whispered, “Linet. She’s gone. I can’t find her anywhere. She came back from the chapel late last eve, and then she left before I awoke this morn.”

  “I’ll help you look for her. Have you checked the chapel yet? Is your sire aware she’s missing?”

  She shook her head twice, as if to answer both questions, making a face at his suggestion. “My sire is at his smithy hut. He won’t wish to be bothered.”

  “When his daughter is missing?” Had he heard her correctly? Was the man truly so cold?

  “He does not like to be bothered when he’s doing his duties. Please, can we not search for her before we go to him?” She rubbed her hands together in the cool morning.

  There was no point in delaying their search any longer. “Come. I’ll give you a ride to the bailey. We should inform your sire, but we’ll check the chapel first.” He held his hand out to her, hoping she would trust him.

  She’d always been a bit of a mystery to him—beautiful and intriguing yet wrapped up in her own world—except for that one time they’d shared a kiss. About a year ago, he’d found her at work in the butts, trying to shoot with a broken bow. By the time Gavin had come upon her, she’d started crying out of frustration, for as much as she’d tried to repair the weapon, it would not function.

  She’d told him the whole story then. Her sire had been furious when he’d caught her trying to use a bow and arrow. His response had been to snap her bow in two, declaring that bows were for lads only. No lass of his would shoot.

  Gavin had quickly gone to retrieve a new one for her. His family had so many that it had been an easy task for him, but Merewen, her brown eyes rimmed with grateful tears, had hugged him with excitement and quickly kissed him on the lips.

  Gavin hadn’t let it stop at a simple brush of the lips, instead deepening the tantalizing kiss. Her taste had enchanted him, but he was the one who’d pulled away—he’d known all too well his loins would get him in trouble if he did aught else.

  Ever since then, he’d had an eye for Merewen, but the Band of Cousins had come along and kept him busy and away from home. Away from her. Still, he’d thought of her from time to time while traveling on various missions. In fact, he had to admit she was the only lass on Ramsay land whom he had ever held more than a passing interest for him. Had he made a mistake walking away from her?

  “Nay, she’s not there,” she replied, her big brown eyes darting back and forth. “And Papa doesn’t know anything, either.”

  “How do you know this?”

  She brought her hand up to her heart. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it here. I cannot explain how I know, but she’s far away from Ramsay land. Linet and I…we are so close that we know what the other is thinking. I cannot explain it, but I just know.”

  The two had been inseparable, of that much he was certain. Was it possible to be so close? He often knew what his cousin Gregor was thinking, but not to the point where he knew where he was at all times.

  The certainty in her eyes swayed him. He wasn’t sure he believed her, but his sister Molly knew things no person should. He knew it was possible.

  “Let’s talk with my uncle and your sire before we look elsewhere. We’ll decide what to do then.” His uncle was the clan priest, and there wasn’t a warmer or more helpful soul in Clan Ramsay.

  After a long pause, during which he felt quite certain she would reject him, she finally nodded and followed him back to his horse. He gripped her waist and lifted her onto the saddle, then mounted behind her. At least he had her to a point where she was under control and not running blindly, something the Merewen he knew would never do. Yet he could tell she was gravely unsettled by how she sat as though she were flat against an arrow and didn’t dare move.

  He urged his horse forward and she fell back against him, something he didn’t mind at all. All soft curves, she smelled of the wildflowers that grew in the valley.

  He hadn’t gone far when two horses flew toward him. He knew the riders well—his cousin Gregor, half-brother to Torrian, their laird, and Kyle, Torrian’s second-in-command.

  Kyle’s shout carried to him first. “We heard the screaming. She is hale, Gavin? Was she attacked? Reivers?”

  Gavin shook his head out of her line of sight. He was considering what to say—how to describe a hunch that was more than a hunch?—when, to his surprise, Merewen spoke.

  “My sister Linet has disappeared. She was upset last night, though I know not why, and this morning her side of the bed was empty. Mama has no idea where she is. Papa is in the bailey.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find her soon. She couldn’t have gone far. I take it your brothers haven’t seen her?” Kyle asked.

  “Struan and Mal always leave at dawn for the lists. I know not where she is, but she’s gone from Ramsay land. I can feel it. Who would steal her away? Who?”

  Gavin shared a glance with Gregor, and neither of them needed to say a word.

  The Channel of Dubh. Could the heartless smugglers they’d been hunting with the Band of Cousins have finally reached Ramsay land? Their adversaries had never been so daring, preferring to do their evil out of sight.

  Kyle turned his horse around and rode abreast of them. “Even so, I’ll go to the lists to check with your brothers. Gregor, ask around and then see what her sire knows. Where were you headed, lass?”

  Gavin said, “Linet often visits Father Rab, so we’ll visit him at the chapel to see if he knows aught.”

  “Then we meet in the hall in half an hour,” Kyle said. “I’ll speak with our laird.”

  Merewen leaned forward, frantic again. “And if she truly is gone, what will we do? Will our laird send a patrol out for her? I wish to go along. I’m good on a horse. I can…” She spun her head around, but then bit off her sentence and sat back, her face turning the shade of a fresh autumn apple.

  Gavin couldn’t help but wonder what she had been about to say.

  Apparently Merewen Baird knew something they didn’t.

  Chapter Two

  Merewen had nearly confessed her secret in her worries over her dear sister. She couldn’t tell anyone what she could do, and it would be especially dangerous to tell Logan Ramsay’s son. Gavin Ramsay was a handsome lad. He always wore his hair long and free, and he had the green Ramsay eyes that reflected the color of the forest. He was the jester of the clan, always quick to make others laugh.

  She recalled the time that she and Linet had gone up against him and Gregor in the three-legged race at one of the Ramsay festivals a few years ago. She and Linet had made it to the finals against Gavin and Gregor.

  Gavin had spent the entire race trying to unsettle them or upset them. He’d kept up a never-ending stream of comments meant to distract them.

  “Look out! There’s a mouse by your foot!”

  “I see a snake headed right for you, Linet.”

  “Your legs are untied. No fair!”

  She’d giggled but ignored him, while Linet had chided her for her giggling. She’d been unable to stop herself. Gavin’s sense of humor had always amused her.

  They’d beaten the lads because at the very end, Linet had shouted out, “Watch out!” and Gavin had fallen over.

  After the event at the festival, she’d teased Linet, suggesting the two of them could marry cousins: Gavin and Gregor. But her sister had bellowed a quick refusal. Linet didn’t understand. She thought Gavin a brute. And she wouldn’t budge from their pledge to each other.

  They’d promised each other never to marry unless they could marry brothers. Their bond was so close that they could not bear to live apart. They had to marry brothers.

  No brothers—no weddings.

  And yet there was no denying Merewen felt a soft spot for Gavin Ramsay, especially after he’d kissed her so thoroughly that her toes had curled. She didn’t mind at all being this close to him on his horse.