Please don’t try to find me, Izzy. I’m happy. Happier than I’ve ever been. I wish I could tell you more. But know that I will always think of you.

Love,

Fiona

Isabelle read over the letter for the millionth time, raking her hand through her hair with a sigh. She'd received Fiona’s letter out of the blue two weeks ago.

Fiona had gone missing in Scotland over two months ago, and her letter didn't ease Isabelle's worry. For one thing, the letter was written on pieces of ancient-looking parchment and had arrived with no return address. And for another, it wasn’t like Fiona to just disappear and not tell her where she was going, only to send her a letter weeks later insisting she was fine and to not look for her.

Guilt prickled at Isabelle's spine. It was her idea for Fiona to go on her honeymoon to Scotland solo after she'd called off her wedding to her fiancé Derek. If she hadn't suggested it, maybe Fiona would be here now.

Isabelle had flown to Scotland to meet up with Fiona. But when Fiona didn't meet up with her in Edinburgh as planned, Isabelle immediately searched for her, filing reports with the police in both Scotland, and then Chicago when she'd reluctantly returned home after making no progress finding Fiona in Scotland. She called both police departments on a daily basis, but no progress had been made. She knew if she gave the police Fiona’s letter, they would officially close her case.

When Fiona first went missing, she thought that maybe she'd run off with her ex-fiancé and was too ashamed to tell Isabelle. But when Isabelle went to see him, he had no idea where she was, and looked genuinely worried when she told him Fiona was missing.

Fiona had no close family left, so it was just Isabelle doing all the searching. And now this letter had shown up with no return address. Though Isabelle recognized the carefully looped handwriting as Fiona’s, something about the letter just seemed . . . off.

She again looked down at the letter as a memory struck her. In one of the towns in the Highlands where she'd stopped during her search for Fiona, an innkeeper had told her about the rumors of a nearby medieval town that lay in ruins, a town that not everyone had the ability to see. It was called Tairseach, which meant "portal" in Gaelic. The innkeeper told her the rumors of disappearances around the area went back centuries.

Isabelle had thanked the innkeeper, though her heart had sunk. She'd assumed the rumors were just superstitious nonsense.

But now a chill crept down her spine. Was it nonsense? Or could there be something to the rumors?

She picked up the letter, clutching it to her chest. Fiona was her best friend, and she wouldn't stop looking for her if the tables were turned. Even if she got a mysterious letter claiming otherwise. There was only one thing to do.

It was time to return to Scotland.

* * *