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    Castle MacKinnon, Lochsbury, Grampian Mountains
     
    For days, Akira felt a disturbance in the ethereal essence
of the dead. A strange sensation filled the air around her. Something gnawed at
her, keeping her on edge. Did this mean her family was close to finding another brathair ? Two of her brothers were free. They’d left the castle several
days prior to journey deep into the Grampian Mountains in search of the ruins
of a long-forgotten church.
    Her brathair Ian’s fiancée, Izzy, stumbled upon a
picture on the internet in some couple’s’ photos of their hiking trip through
the Grampian Mountains. It showed a statue in the overgrown garden of this
church. Though it wasn’t a great picture, it did resemble what might possibly
be a cursed brother. After contacting the owners of the picture, they
calculated their route. Unfortunately, most of it would be by foot.
    The woman who befriended Akira after she purchased MacKinnon
Castle, May, took her English Springer, Belvedere, and went to London for an
art show. According to an article she read, a private collector was displaying
an entire collection of Irish and Scottish antiquities. In the listing of the
items for the show was a set of statues labeled as the sleeping twins .
Akira knew May was hopeful she’d found the youngest of the MacKinnon brathairs ,
the twins Donnell and Dour.
    Akira spun around at the sound of a creak in the castle then
laughed at her silliness. Being a ghost, nothing could harm her any more than
being dead. This edginess didn’t fit her normal calm demeanor. She skulked
about the room then stopped to stare out the window. Maybe it was because she
was alone in Castle MacKinnon for the first time in months. She sighed, taking
in the lack of a clear reflection in the glass.
    Only a hazy outline appeared, but she knew what she looked
like. Long red hair dropped to her waist, which had always been a task to
untangle. Bright-green eyes that Gavin claimed couldn’t hide a lie if she tried
would be staring back at her if she weren’t a ghost. Absently, she brushed her
hair back from her eyes then laughed at her absurdity. In her spiritual form,
even if the wind blew, her hair always remained perfect. What had Izzy said
about that? Oh yeah. It was a trick most women would die for. She couldn’t help
but smile at the memory of that discussion.
    Ever since Ericka freed Gavin and Izzy freed Ian from the
curse, her spiritual existence had taken a more positive spin. No longer was
she alone in her quest to free her brathairs . The castle was filled with
voices and life again after years of solitude and silence. What seemed like
eons had passed before her eldest brathair was freed. During those
centuries, she’d protected Gavin until the woman he was destined to love
crossed his path. Akira sighed. Gaol , love, played an important role in
their freedom.
    She floated from the window and settled her ghostly being on
the settee near the empty fireplace. It mattered none that no fire warmed the
room. Neither cold nor heat normally affected her. Then why did it suddenly
seem frigid to her?
    A whoosh filled the room and she sat erect. Nothing appeared
but she sensed something reached out to her. It weakly called her name, but she
could not follow nor could she answer. Her deal with the angels bound her to
the castle and immediate grounds until the last brathair was found. Then
she’d seek her rest in the Garden of Angels and not one moment before.
    Akira focused on the voice. It grew stronger. Maybe it would find her, since she could not leave, if she concentrated on it. Seconds
seemed long before a being formed in the room near the window. This was a
first. In all her centuries of death, no one ever contacted her other than the
angels who wanted to guide her over into the spirit world.
    “Who are ye?” she questioned the fuzzy image of the other
female ghost. “And what business do ye have at Castle MacKinnon?”
    “I am Mary Campbell of Breadalbane,