“Where is she, lad? Surely in a place this size it canno’ be too hard to find one woman.”
Rory found himself halting on the last step as his brother’s voice boomed from the doorway just around the corner in front of him.
This was ridiculous, this … fear. Yes, it was fear. Absolute terror. She’d said he was a spirit, yet his brother sounded quite mortal. His beloved brother.
He stepped into the front parlor and had to brace his knees at the sight before him. Duncan, in his full kilted glory, stood in the doorway to the restaurant where he was presently terrifying the hostess. It brought a smile to his face. Spirit he might be, but he hadna changed so much.
There was a woman next to him that was no doubt Maggie Claren. She had the look of Mairi, she did. Eerie it was.
Duncan went to push past the young woman, who was well beyond speech at this point, when Rory finally found his voice. “Duncan.” It was no shout. It was hardly more than a hoarse rasp of a word, but it was all he could manage. Yet his brother heard it.
Duncan stilled, then turned slowly. His expression turned from angry determination to stunned disbelief. “It canno’ be,” he whispered. He stared, as he took one step, then faltered to a stop. His voice broke. “Rory?”
His eyes swimming now, it was all Rory could do to nod.
A grin split his fierce features as Duncan let loose a war whoop that had several patrons scattering toward the door. It made Rory laugh. It was that exact moment he knew this was real. Better than real. This was goddamn fantastic.
“John Roderick MacKinnon!” The name rang from his brother’s lips like a royal herald. Arms wide, he covered the distance between them.
Rory met him midway, wrapping his arms around his brother’s shoulders. They held on, laughing while tears coursed unashamedly down their cheeks.
Duncan finally grabbed a fistful of Rory’s hair and yanked him off. “Hardly enough fer yer enemies to take,” he commented calmly, as if weeks, not centuries had passed since they’d spoken.
Rory laughed, choking on his tears, and retaliated with a hard right to Duncan’s midsection. Pain sang up his arm. He’d never felt anything so goddamn wonderful in his whole wretchedly long life.
“Enough for the likes o’ you. Now let me go, or did ye intend tae snatch me bald headed?”
Duncan released him. “What in the devil are ye wearin’, Rory MacKinnon? Where’s yer plaid, mon?”
“I fear I’ve changed with the times. It’s cold tending sheep in November wearin’ naught but a skirt.”
“A sheep farmer? Och, but I believe They have conspired a worse afterlife for you than even for me. What horrible thing did ye do tae earn such a wretched existence as that? Sheep.” He laughed as he wiped his eyes, then clasped Rory in another hug. “Dear heaven what happened to ye, brother. Are ye haunting the mounds of Stonelachen?”
“I’m no spirit, Duncan.” Rory stepped back and ran his gaze over his brother, drinking in the incredible sight. “Christ, ye look like yer goin’ tae battle, Dunc. Dinna they let ye change yer kilt in heaven?”
“Ye incorrectly assume I ascended that high,” he responded easily.
“Well, I doubted the devil would let ye out of hell on good behavior.” Rory was having a hard time truly comprehending the sight before him. Despite his own supernatural state of being, he had a difficult time stretching his beliefs to the afterlife. Yet, here stood the proof. Sweet mercy.
Duncan’s smile faded along with his. “How are ye here, Rory?”
“ ’Tis a long story, brother.”
“Time is no’ something I have a tremendous lot of.”
“Then we are in opposite places, brother, for time is all I have.” Rory’s attention was caught by the sight of Cailean. She had broken away from an animated discussion with her two cousins and was headed toward him.
Duncan followed Rory’s gaze to Cailean and grunted. “I see ye’ve met the Claren witch.”
Rory opened his mouth to defend Cailean, then shut it. The instinct to protect had been strong and instant. He shifted uncomfortably. It was one thing to pledge a bond between them privately, he wasn’t so certain he was ready to proclaim the odd union to anyone else, most especially Duncan. “Aye, that I have,” he answered, his attention still on Cailean. Her hair had somehow come unbraided. It struck him hard in the gut. He had flashing images of all that golden glory, spread on his pillow, sifting through his fingers, spread across his chest. She came to stand beside him.
“I see ye’ve more than met,” Duncan observed quietly.
“We share a common purpose,” Rory said evenly.
Cailean’s skin had turned a delectable shade of pink, but he found himself silently applauding her for maintaining eye contact with Duncan. Not an easy task, even for him.
“Rory and I have met, yes,” she said. “Several times in fact.” Her gaze shifted to encompass Maggie, who’d come to stand beside him. Delaney stood just behind her. “You wouldn’t have a problem with that, would you?”
Rory would have laughed if he’d thought he could escape his brother’s quick retaliation.
“Ye think this is hilarious do ye, younger brother?”
Sharp as ever, Duncan was. “We might be able to work up a good argument over exactly who’s the younger now.”
Delaney stepped forward and held out her hand. “Nothing like being a fifth wheel. I’m Delaney Claren.”
Duncan’s eyes narrowed and he looked warily at her hand, then grunted when Maggie elbowed him in the side. He reached for Delaney’s hand.
Rory’s smile turned to a scowl. “I’d be careful with that one.”
Delaney favored him with an even bigger smile, which Rory returned with a cool nod. “I only defend myself when pushed.” She turned her charm on Duncan. “Be nice. I almost threw my back out with that one.” She nodded at Rory.
Duncan looked suspiciously at her hand, then at Rory. “What did she do tae ye?”
Rory felt four pairs of eyes shift toward him. It mortified him, but he actually felt his cheeks darken.
Cailean rescued him by saying, “Rory, I don’t believe you’ve met my other cousin. Maggie Claren, Rory MacKinnon.”
“About whom I expect a full explanation later,” Maggie said to her cousin. She smiled at Rory. “You have no idea how thrilled I am to meet you.”
Rory could have kissed Cailean right on the spot for her timely intervention, which only unsettled him further. He didn’t need a Claren to protect him. A partnership they shared, but he’d intended to control it. He now acknowledged that intent for the fantasy it was.
He scowled, but shook Maggie’s hand. “Aye.”
Duncan grunted and gave Delaney’s hand a quick shake as well.
“There, now we’ve all made nice,” Delaney said.
Maggie laughed. “Why don’t we see if there is somewhere to sit and talk privately.” She motioned with her eyes to the room behind them. The patrons all had their full attention glued to the little tableau in the doorway.
“Yes, why don’t we,” Cailean said quickly. “There’s a small parlor across the foyer for hotel guests. The clerk said it’s usually deserted this time of year.”
In silent agreement, and to the not so silent dismay of the restaurant patrons, they moved to the empty parlor.
The petite Chippendale style settees and chairs looked like dollhouse furniture when compared to the MacKinnon men pacing around them.
Cailean, Maggie, and Delaney sat down as Duncan started a fire in the small fireplace.
“Now he feels better,” Maggie said. This earned her a swift glare from Duncan, which Cailean noticed only deepened the adoring expression on her cousin’s face. Uh oh, she thought. She’d known there was a strong attraction between them, but she feared it had gone much further than that.
And yet she could hardly criticize. She found her gaze straying to Rory, who was handing wood and kindling to his brother. Muscles that had been aching only hours before quivered quite
deliciously. But it was the heart that dipped and fluttered in her chest that proved the real truth. No, she absolutely could not criticize when it came to matters of the heart.
“So,” Delaney said brightly, “this is quite the reunion.”
Maggie looked at Cailean. “Does she know?”
Cailean nodded as Delaney laughed. “She knows,” Delaney said. “She’s not sure why she believes, although when you look at those two, anything seems possible.” She sighed lustily. “They just don’t make men like that anymore.” She turned her gaze back to her cousins. “So, what do we do next?”
“Lachlan left her the land that the MacKinnons and Clarens fought for,” Cailean told Maggie. “Did you read the journals?”
“The ones that dealt the most with the time period. I brought those with me and read them on the plane.” Her gaze darted away. “When I wasn’t dealing with that one in a plane for the first time.”
“We’ll have to hear that tale,” Delaney said, then caught Duncan glaring at them as he moved around the furniture. “Perhaps later,” she said with a wink.
Duncan scowled then joined Rory by the windows.
Cailean turned Maggie’s attention back to them. “Delaney has to sell the land.”
“Oh no!”
Delaney winced at Maggie’s instant horror. “I know, I know, but I can’t afford it. But I think we found a solution.”
“What?” Maggie asked, immediately hopeful.
“Rory,” Cailean said.
“He wants to buy it? That’s great! Speaking of Rory, explain,” Maggie said.
Cailean glanced at the brothers, both of whom had stepped to the other side of the small parlor and were deep in conversation. Her heart swelled at the emotions so clear on their faces as frequent hugs and back slaps, along with the occasional laugh punctuated their reunion.
“Kaithren cursed him,” she said softly, then went on to explain the rest of the story. “I’m the key to the curse, Maggie,” she finished. “All of it. His, mine, and the clans. We have to find the key Lachlan wrote about and figure out how to use it.”
“I’m not sure what he thought it might be,” Maggie said.
“Maybe some ancient tool the Claren Keys used back then, or some talisman.” Cailean shook her head, feeling the familiar frustration taking over again. “I don’t know. Neither does Rory. But I know it is up to us to find it. The fact that we are all here together, on the same ground where it all began, is proof enough that I am right.”
“So, where do we search? Have you found any clues?”
Cailean looked to Delaney. She’d remained silent during the exchange, but it was clear she was just as riveted. She sent a quick glance at Rory and debated on how much to tell them.
She was saved the decision when Duncan let loose a thundering growl and turned on the cluster of women. “She claims to own Stonelachen?”
Delaney jumped. “Don’t do that,” she said, as Duncan stormed across the room toward her. “What in the blazes is Stonelachen?”
Duncan froze and sent a look over his shoulder to his brother. “What madness is this? Did ye or did ye not just get done tellin’ me that—”
“I didna get done tellin’ ye anything,” Rory said. “As usual, ye went stormin’ off before I could finish.”
“What is Stonelachen?” Delaney repeated. “Cailean?”
Cailean rose, her attention focused exclusively on Rory. “They all have to know.”
“What of our promise, Cailean?”
There was complete silence in the room. “Our promise stands. We will do this together. But we need help.”
“Duncan can help, if necessary. He knows her secrets even better than I. But I’ll no’ have them in Stonelachen, Cailean.”
Cailean took the blow without flinching. She stood taller, her expression carefully smooth. “We have no choice, Rory. We are all part of the quest now. It must be that way.” She held his gaze, ignoring all the eyes she could feel trained on them. “You will have to trust me.”
Rory remained silent for some time, his gaze steady. “Trust is a commodity I have not afforded myself for quite some time.” He briefly shifted his gaze to Duncan, then zeroed it back on her “I would lay down my life without hesitation, were it possible, for my brother. And for reasons even I am not certain of, I would likely do the same for you.”
There was an audible gasp from Maggie. Cailean’s heart began a hard, painful hammering in her chest.
“Rory,—” Delaney’s speech was abruptly silenced with one raised hand from Rory.
“That may not be the trust you seek, but I’m afraid it is all I can offer you. I’m doin’ my best, Cailean.”
Shaken, Cailean took a moment to steady her voice. “We have no choice in this, Rory.”
“We have spoken on choices before.”
“I cannot give you proof, but I know that we will each play a part in the final resolution.” She walked slowly, steadily toward him, shutting out the others in the room as surely as if she’d closed a door in their faces. “There have been Clarens in Stonelachen before.”
“And tragedy befell the MacKinnons because of it.”
“I survived it.”
“You are a Key. And there is no proof that your intrusion won’t result in more of the same.”
“Intrusion? Is that how you view my visit there with you?” His eyes flared and her pulse sped up as if injected with a potent drug, still he did not answer. “If you cannot give me your trust, at least give me the truth. If you could reverse time, would you choose to have kept me from Stonelachen? Would you erase the time I spent there?”
“No.” He’d said it clearly, without hesitation. That was something, she told herself. It was a start.
“I am the Key, Rory.” She lifted her hand to his cheek, his eyes blazed into hers. “If we are to lift the curse, it is time for Stonelachen to welcome both Clarens and MacKinnons alike.”
“Have you had a vision of this?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I haven’t had a vision since the one in the graveyard, yet I know things. It’s just there, in my head. Perhaps you were right. Perhaps I do have powers that extend beyond the sight. Perhaps I am the only one that can free you.”
“I believe that you are. Just as I believe that we must do this alone.”
“You are willing to bring Duncan into it.”
“He is a MacKinnon. He knows Stonelachen already. He can pose no threat.”
“You don’t know that. We have no idea what forces are at work here. We would not all have been pulled here to simply break your curse.”
“You were pulled here by a crazy old man who couldn’t come to terms with the death of his wife.”
Cailean dropped her hand. “Are you saying you don’t believe in the legend then? That you and you alone are the sufferer here? What about your brother? Doesn’t the mere fact that he still haunts the earth tell you anything?”
Rory shut his eyes and dropped his chin. “I no longer know what to think.”
She framed his face with her palms. “Would you deny your future descendants the freedom to love as they choose? Would you choose to use me simply to gain your own mortality and ignore the possibilities for the rest?”
He opened his eyes and looked deeply into hers. “Nay. I canno’.” He covered her hands with his. “We will do this as you request.”
Her heart swelled. “You have more trust in you than you think.”
“I would like nothing more than for that to be the truth.”
She went to move away, suddenly quite aware of their little audience. Rory, however, had other ideas.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was neither hard, nor fast, but a deliberate, time-consuming seduction.
“Why?” was all she could manage when he ended the kiss.
“I just needed to assure myself that I am not the only prisoner here.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Cailean looked up from the journal she was rerea
ding when the door to her hotel room opened quietly. She didn’t have to look at the clock on the nightstand to know it was close to dawn.
“I didn’t think you’d be awake,” Rory said as he closed the door.
“I didn’t think you were coming back tonight,” she replied. Maggie and Duncan had decided to stay at the hotel for the night and Delaney had left for her hotel with a stack of Lachlan’s journals. Rory and Duncan had left shortly after to go off alone and she hadn’t known what to expect after that. He’d silently accepted the room key she’d handed him before leaving. “Did you enjoy your reunion with Duncan?”
“Aye.” He started to speak, but then stopped and shook his head, a marveling smile crossing his lips. “Aye,” he repeated more softly.
“I’m happy for you, Rory. I’m so glad they decided to come here.”
Rory’s smile widened. “Duncan’s account of his first plane flight is not to be missed.”
Cailean smiled. “Maggie visited me after you both left. Her account was also not to be missed.”
“I can well imagine.” He crossed the room and slipped out of his coat. “What are you up to there?” He nodded toward the journals in her lap.
Cailean felt a slow heat seep into her veins at the sight of him moving about the room. It was a dangerous thing, getting used to having him around. “Maggie and I were trying to figure out if perhaps we missed something Lachlan said about Stonelachen or the Key.”
“Find anything?”
She shook her head. “If he knew about it, he didn’t write it down in here. In fact, he says nothing about the land or the graveyard. He obviously spent a great deal of time tracking that down, but it doesn’t show up at all.”
Rory came to stand at the foot of the bed. “Odd, don’t you think? For a man obsessed with recording every detail of his research?”
Cailean couldn’t think. Rory was unbuttoning his shirt. His hair was damp from the constant drizzle outside and he just looked so damn sexy.
He looked up and caught her staring. “Something wrong?”
No, she thought. Not a thing. She managed to shake her head.
The Legend Mackinnon Page 25