Bound by Song (Cauld Ane Series)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  Max barked with laughter.

  “See?” she complained. “You just proved my point.”

  She gasped when he lifted her off her feet and gently threw her over his shoulder. “I’ll show you comic relief, baby.”

  “Turn off the pasta,” she directed as they passed the kitchen.

  He did and then carried her into the bedroom. Grace let out a squeak when he smacked her bottom and then dropped her onto the bed, hovering over her. “I’ll take you up on that quickie now.”

  Grace slipped her hand under the waistband of his jeans. “Sex kitten at your service.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  GRACE PULLED HER hair into a ponytail just as the doorbell pealed.

  Max shook his head. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “You can.”

  “I don’t know if I want to do this.”

  Grace smiled up at him. “I know, baby. But you’ll thank me when it’s settled.”

  He frowned. “That might be a bit optimistic.”

  “Come on. Let’s get this over and done with.”

  She led Max out of the bedroom and answered the door.

  “Hi,” Kenna said with a smile, Niall behind her.

  “Hi,” Grace said, and stepped back. “Come in.”

  Niall kissed her cheek and then flopped onto one of the sofas. Kenna sat beside him.

  “Any issues with my family?” Grace asked.

  Niall shook his head. “No. Ollie and Spencer are out for a guys’ night, and your parents are having a romantic dinner. At least, they better be. Brodie is hosting them at Slàinte.”

  “Thank you for that,” she said. “Can I get anyone anything?”

  “No, thanks,” Kenna said.

  “A beer would be great,” Niall countered.

  Max grabbed a couple cans from the refrigerator and then joined Grace on the sofa across from Kenna and Niall. Grace laid her hand on Max’s knee in an effort to get him to relax.

  “Max has told me a little about the history with you two, Kenna,” Grace said. “But I feel like there’s a huge piece of the puzzle missing. I found something that might be nothing, but I think it would be a good idea for us to hash this out once and for all.”

  “I agree,” Kenna said.

  “First”—Grace handed Kenna the letter—“do you recognize this?”

  Kenna scanned it and then nodded. “Yes, that’s a note I had one of the servants take to Moira. A very long time ago.”

  “This isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Max said, and glared at Grace.

  “I’m not sure I understand what the significance of it is, though,” Kenna said. “Where did you get this?”

  “Moira had it the night you lured her to her death,” Max snapped.

  Kenna gasped. “What?”

  “Max,” Grace warned, squeezing his knee.

  “Why would she have that?” Kenna said. “I didn’t write her a note the night she died. This is from a few weeks before the Christmas party. You were with her, Niall, remember?”

  “Not particularly,” Niall admitted.

  “We were all going riding, but I got stuck with Mum at Lady Gertrude’s home, so we met at our stables an hour later.”

  “Oh, yes, right.” Niall said. “It’s ringing a bell. It was the day you and I switched Moira duty, Max, because of…,” He glanced at Grace. “Well, never mind.”

  “Was it in her cloak pocket?” Kenna asked. “That’s the only reason I can imagine it would have been on her the night she died. She always wore her cloak in the winter.”

  “No,” Max said. “She was holding it in her hand.”

  “I don’t understand,” Kenna whispered. “We weren’t meeting that night. I was with Angus and Fiona. Moira knew that.”

  Grace glanced at Max. “Max, what happened, exactly? What made you believe Kenna had sent the note?”

  He swallowed and shook his head. “When I asked Abbot Martin about the note, he told me Moira said she came to meet you.”

  “What?” Kenna snapped. “Abbot Martin is a lying bastard, Max. You know this. You’ve known it since we were wee.”

  “You were the one who believed him to be your mate,” Max countered.

  “Bloody hell, Max!” Kenna stood and jabbed a finger at him. “That was ages ago, and long before I knew exactly what he was like. He tried to convince me I was his mate well before my ár mökunar, and you know I told Moira that I hoped it wasn’t true. But even if he really had been my mate, I would have never asked her to go anywhere without one of you with her. Everyone knew how you felt about the Martin brothers, and Moira was my best friend. I would have protected her with my life…as she would have done for me.”

  Max’s face went white. “You didn’t ask her to meet you?”

  “No,” Kenna said. “Absolutely not.”

  “Oh, my God,” Max said, and dropped his face into his hands. When he finally looked up, his voice was hoarse. “Martin must have found that note in Moira’s cloak and put it in her hand, hoping to throw suspicion off himself somehow.”

  Kenna sank back onto the sofa. “Is this why you’ve hated me?”

  “I never hated you,” Max said.

  “Okay, fine,” Kenna said with a sigh. “I’ll rephrase the question. Is this the reason you’ve been growing progressively more of an arse each year?”

  Max pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know, Kenna. Perhaps our animosity is because you insist on being the never-ending pimple on my progressively growing arse.”

  “Okay.” Grace rushed to intervene. “Can we maybe take it down a notch?”

  “Are you saying that you thought I was responsible for Moira’s murder…or at the very least, for luring her to her death?” Kenna asked.

  His silence gave her the answer.

  “Oh, my God, Max. You thought I lured her to her death?” Kenna turned to Niall. “What about you? Did you think the same?”

  Niall raised his hands in surrender. “This is the first I’ve heard of this,” he admitted, and glared at his brother. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Grace gripped Max’s arm. You never told your brother about the letter?

  Max shook his head, his face void of expression, but she could feel his regret.

  “Max,” Niall snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me about the letter?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose I didn’t want you to…I guess it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I wasn’t in the frame of mind to analyze my motives.”

  “You are an idiot,” Kenna accused.

  Max nodded again. “Aye. I am.”

  Grace’s heart went out to Max. She knew how awful he felt. He gripped her hand like a life rope as she glanced at Kenna, who started laughing… uncontrollably.

  “Kenna?” Niall laid his hand on her back.

  “Don’t.” Kenna shrugged his hand away and stood, her laughter now tears. She glared at Max. “I cannot believe you thought I would be part of anything that would hurt Moira. I loved her like a sister. I have always wished it was me instead of her.”

  “I’m sorry, Kenna,” Max whispered.

  “When did Abbot tell you about the letter?” Kenna asked.

  “Excuse me?”

  “When did he tell you?” she pressed.

  Max stared at her for several tense moments. “The night he confessed.”

  “What?” Kenna asked, horrified.

  “He confessed?” Niall shouted, and shot to his feet.

  “When?” Kenna asked.

  “Three years ago,” Max said.

  “He confessed three years ago,” Niall repeated.

  Max nodded.

  “Who did you tell?”

  “Niall—”

  “No, Max. Answer me. Who did you tell?” Niall demanded.

  “Kade and Connall.”

  “You told them and not me,” Niall accused.

  “Nye, you don’t understand.”

  Grace watched as rage co
vered Niall’s face. She’d never seen him angry…she’d barely seen him irritated.

  Before Grace could say anything, Niall’s hands were twisted in Max’s shirt and he was yanked from the sofa. Lucky for Grace, Max released her hand before the attack or she may have been pulled with him.

  “What the hell made you think you had the right to keep that from me?” Niall ground out.

  Max shook his head. “Because in your opinion, it was done! They hung a man for it, and you went on your merry way, satisfied with the verdict.”

  Niall let out a guttural growl and punched Max in the face. Grace screamed and moved to help, but Kenna grabbed her. “You’ll only get hurt, lass. You have to let them fight it out.”

  Grace covered her mouth with her hands, praying quietly under her breath.

  “You egotistical, pompous, selfish bastard!” Niall bellowed, and hit him again.

  “I was trying to protect you!”

  “From what?” Niall challenged, and hit him again.

  Grace was horrified that Max just stood there and let his brother beat him.

  “I knew Shamus didn’t kill her. I never believed he was the one.” Niall hit him again. “Why the hell would you say something like that?”

  “Stop it, please,” Grace begged with a sob.

  Max took his eyes off Niall for a crucial second and it meant he wasn’t ready for Niall’s next strike. Both men went down with a crash.

  The door to the apartment slammed open and Connall and Kade rushed inside, Connall heading for Max, Kade for Niall. The royals managed to separate the brothers, both bruised and bloody, but healing rapidly.

  “What the hell are you two doing?” Connall demanded.

  “Sorting a few things out,” Max said, and wiped his bloody lip with a handkerchief.

  “Come on, lass, let’s let them talk.” Kenna guided Grace toward the door.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Max, but he was glaring at Connall.

  Max?

  He closed his eyes for a second and then shook his head. It’s okay, love. I’ll find you when this is done.

  Grace let herself be ushered from the room and down the hall, straight into the arms of Pepper. “It’s going to be okay,” Pepper promised.

  Grace blinked back tears. “I thought Niall was going to kill Max. He just stood there and let him hit him over and over.”

  Pepper rubbed her back while Grace tried to “listen” to Max, but he was blocking her and she couldn’t figure out how to get through the barrier. She pulled away from Pepper and paced the room.

  Grace was forced to wait almost an hour before Max came to find her. His clothes were bloody, but his face had healed and was just as gorgeous as ever. Neither he nor Niall, who had come into the room with him, looked like they’d just been in a brawl.

  “Kenna,” Max said. “Can you and I talk next week? Just the two of us?”

  She sighed. “Aye, Max. We can. But don’t think I’m going to like you any better than before.”

  He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, lass.”

  Kenna grunted in response.

  Max held his hand out to Grace and she took it willingly. Niall continued to scowl at his brother, but Max didn’t react. He just tugged on Grace’s hand and led her back to the apartment. Grace wasn’t sure that anything she could do would make anything better, but she couldn’t bear the devastation pouring from her mate.

  Once inside the flat, Max dropped her hand and made his way to the windows. He stood in front of them, his head bowed, his hands deep in his pockets, his body sagging with sadness. She laid her hand on his back and kissed his shoulder as she slipped her arms around his waist from behind. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  He shook his head. “I am the worst bloody person on earth.”

  “You made a mistake.”

  “An unforgivable one.”

  Grace sighed. “No, Max, nothing’s unforgivable. It’s just going to take some work on your part to make it up to Kenna.”

  “I’m not worried about Kenna,” he admitted. “Niall’s beyond angry.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him about the note and Abbot’s confession?”

  “I don’t really know. I don’t have a good excuse. Connall and I found Moira, and all I could think about was making sure Niall didn’t see her looking the way we found her. I straightened her clothes and grabbed the note. I didn’t even read it right away. Alasdair, Kade’s head of security, took it from me the next day when he was gathering evidence. It was in the pile of her personal effects that I had to return to my parents.” Max squeezed his eyes closed. “I hid the note because I wanted to protect Niall and my parents from the truth that Kenna might have been involved. Now I realize I could have avoided all of this.” He glanced at her again. “And when Abbot confessed, I suppose I didn’t want Niall to have to relive this…no, actually, I wasn’t that bloody noble. I was angry at him…and myself, really…that we didn’t fight to find out the truth sooner. I blamed him. It was stupid, but I did.”

  “He’ll forgive you, Max. Just give it time.”

  “I can’t believe I thought…” He shook his head. “Kenna loved Moira, but it was easier for me to hate her than it was to face the fact that I should have protected my sister.”

  “Baby, holding onto your anger towards Kenna made you feel as though you were holding onto Moira. It’s human nature to jump to conclusions based on emotion.”

  “I’m not human,” he corrected.

  Grace moved to face him without breaking contact. “You weren’t thinking straight that night. You were looking at things exactly the way the killer wanted you to. You have to give yourself a break.”

  “For being gullible or stupid?”

  “I have never seen you in either category,” she countered.

  He wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair. “Thank you.”

  She slid her hands under his shirt and pushed it up. “Come on. Let’s get you out of these clothes and cleaned up.”

  He pulled it over his head. “I can do this, love.”

  “No doubt,” she said. “But I want to be sure you do it right. In the shower. With me. Then perhaps in the bed.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Do you?” she asked as she led him to the bedroom.

  “I’m absolutely picking up what you’re putting down.”

  “Just to be clear, we’re solving this issue with sex.”

  Max laughed. “Aye, love. Crystal.”

  * * *

  Grace felt as though she’d just fallen asleep when her cell phone woke her in the middle of the night. Samantha’s number came up on the screen and Grace’s heart raced as she took the call. “Sam?”

  “Hi, Grace. I think you should come now.”

  Grace bit back tears. “Is…ah, is she…”

  “She’s still alive. She’s just in a lot more pain that we anticipated. I promised I’d call you if the meds weren’t working. They’re not.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  Grace hung up and forced back tears, grateful to see Max was already pulling on jeans. They moved in tandem as they rushed to dress and then Max grabbed his keys.

  “You’re going to drive?” she asked.

  “Not enough time to call Bruce, love.”

  “Oh, right. Thank you.”

  She followed Max to the garage and into the car. The drive to the hospital was less than five minutes, made even shorter in the middle of night without traffic.

  Max parked and Grace followed him to the private wing set aside for Gunnach Pharmaceutical patients. Samantha was waiting as they exited the elevator.

  “What’s going on?” Grace asked.

  “She’s exhibiting similar symptoms to conversion,” Samantha said.

  Grace gasped. “Seriously?”

  Samantha nodded. “She only got so far with the synthetic drugs we created using the same antibodies in our blood, so we started her on the trial using your blood. She’s in
more pain than I’m comfortable with.”

  Grace stalled. “Wait. Are you trying to tell me that because she’s got my blood running through her, she’s becoming Cauld Ane?”