The Legend Mackinnon (10 page)

“Listen, you don’t have to tell me any—”

Her eyes locked on Maggie’s. “But I do. You’re part of it now. You’re part of the reason I’m here.”

“Is that what you just saw? In your vision? Something about me?”

Cailean nodded. “You’re in danger.” She swore suddenly under her breath and pulled her hands from Maggie.
“That’s the hell of this.” There was anguish and a wealth of frustration in her voice. “I get to know this much,” she put her forefinger and thumb close together, “but never the whole picture. I know who you’re in danger from, but not why, when, or how.”

“Cailean—”

She abruptly grabbed Maggie’s hands and held them so hard her fingertips went numb. “No, listen. You don’t understand. I might be part of the course fate set you on. I never know if I’m deliverer or deliverance. But I have to try anyway. I
have
to try.”

“Well, of course. Anyone would feel they had to do that, but listen—”

“No, you don’t get it.” Cailean was growing more agitated by the second, pulling on Maggie’s hands, her expression ferociously intent. “I’m not here because I’m some kind of Good Samaritan. Far from it. If it was up to me, I’d ignore the visions, force fate to happen without my help or hindrance. God knows I’m sick of feeling responsible for things I have no control over. But that’s not the way it works. It just gets worse and worse until you think you’re going insane and—”

“Cailean,” Maggie interrupted, first gently, then with some force. “Cailean, stop! Listen to me.” She would have been more worried about the state her cousin was getting herself in if she hadn’t felt such a profound, almost ridiculous sense of relief. “It’s okay. I already know about the threat. That’s why I’m here.” She gently pried her hands loose, then took Cailean’s in her own. “That’s why I wouldn’t greet you at the door.” It was a mark of just how strange a turn her life had taken that she grinned, when there was actually nothing funny about the situation at all. “I actually thought you were a hitwoman.”

Cailean finally stilled.

“I know it sounds weird. You have no idea how relieved
I was when I saw those journals in your hand. I really didn’t want to kill you with the fireplace poker.”

Cailean pulled her hand away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The danger you saw in your vision. My ex-fiancé is stalking me. That’s why I’m here.”

“You’re joking.” She looked at Maggie like she wasn’t too certain of
her
mental stability all of a sudden.

“Of course I’m not joking.” Maggie frowned. She would think Cailean, of all people, would have an open mind. “Listen, I believe you about the visions.” She smiled wryly. “God knows, there’s not much I won’t believe these days.” Cailean continued to appear concerned. With a sigh, Maggie said, “You should be happy. Your job is done. I’m warned. I know I’m in danger. You can stop worrying about me.”

But Cailean wasn’t listening. “I have no idea what other trouble you may be in, but your life is in jeopardy from another source. A source that has plagued Clan Claren for centuries. You are going to cross paths with—”

At that moment the front door crashed open and Duncan strode in carrying an enormous armload of firewood. He was kilt-clad but bare-chested and sweaty from his labor despite the cold mountain air. His hair clung damply to his neck and shoulders.

Maggie sprang to her feet. “You’re back!” she said, a bit too brightly.
Oh great, what timing
. Cailean still had a death grip on her arm and now she had to explain Duncan. At least he’d entered the cabin like a mortal.

She started to pull her arm loose so she could move aside and introduce Cailean, but froze when Duncan dropped the entire load of firewood to the floor in a resounding crash. He pointed at Cailean, simultaneously reaching for a broadsword that—thankfully—wasn’t there. “You!” he thundered.

Maggie turned toward Cailean, but she skirted in front of her, arms spread wide as if to protect her. “MacKinnon! Don’t come near her!” Keeping her gaze locked on the advancing Duncan, she said to Maggie, “This man is going to be the death of you.”

“T
he only one who’ll be dyin’ today is you, Edwyna Claren!” Duncan roared as he charged across the room.

Cailean retreated a step, bumping Maggie backward. “Stand back, MacKinnon,” Cailean warned.

“Di’ ye think waitin’ three hundred years was long enough to make me forget wha’ ye did?”

“I haven’t done anything to you. I’m not Edwyna Claren. My name is Cailean.”

Duncan’s advance ended with him less than a foot away. “Cailean? What devil is this now?”

Maggie whispered, “Maybe your vision was a bit off.”

“I know what I saw,” Cailean said clearly, resisting Maggie’s attempts to push by her. “You are in danger here.”

“Aha!” Duncan shouted. “A
taibhsear
. You have the
dha shealladh
, two sights. You’re a key. Ye’ve admitted it.”

Cailean stiffened.

Maggie ducked under Cailean’s arm and stood between them. She turned to Cailean. “I thought you didn’t know
anything about your family—our family. How do you know his name?”

Cailean never took her eyes off Duncan. “I didn’t until a few minutes ago. What I saw was distant past. There is danger between our clans.” She swore under her breath. “I didn’t see it all, I just … know. There is a threat here.”

Maggie looked uncertainly at Duncan, then at Cailean. She blocked Cailean’s attempt to pull her back. “I appreciate what you are trying to do, Cailean. Don’t worry, I’ll take full responsibility for whatever might happen to me.” She glanced at Duncan. “But I don’t think it’s me he’s after.” She moved back so she could eye them both at the same time. “Now, would one of you like to clue me in on exactly what’s going on here?” She turned to Duncan. “
Do
you know each other?”

Duncan eyed Cailean with clear distaste. “Perhaps no’,” he said, though it was clear he didn’t completely believe it. “I’ve met her kind, sure enough. Cailean, you say? Yer no wraith then?”

“You think I’m a ghost?” Now it was Cailean’s turn to look at Maggie in confusion.

So she didn’t know. Yet. “Humor him,” Maggie said.

Cailean looked back to Duncan. “I’m quite alive, thank you.” She straightened her spine. “And I will remain that way. As will Maggie.”

“We all die sometime,” he said darkly. “Doona expect me tae beg yer pardon, Cailean Claren. First one Claren descendant, now another.” He slashed at the air with his hand. “Aye, as if They thought one wouldna be enough of a test, they put a Claren Key in my path.” His eyes narrowed and he took a menacing step forward. “Even if yer no’ Edwyna Claren, yer a descendant of her. You have her look exactly. Yer a seer, as she was. I’ll warn you now. I’ve no more use for you here today, than my brother did three hundred years ago. If you think tae come charmin’ me onward to hell with your fey ways, then you’ll be sadly
disappointed. I willna be followin’ my brother’s path. You’ll go alone.” He raked his gaze insultingly over her, then, with a snort of disgust, turned away from her in clear dismissal.

Maggie stared after him, more curious about the things he’d said than worried for her or Cailean’s safety. She pasted a smile on her face and turned to Cailean. “He’s not entirely housebroken yet. You’ll have to excuse him.” She eyed Duncan over her shoulder.

Cailean still had a semi-glazed look on her face. “Did he say brother? Does he really believe his brother is three hundred years old?” She was staring at Duncan’s back with a combination of disbelief and fear.

“It’s a long story.” Maggie took her by the arm and led her quickly to the front door before she recovered enough to start asking. She had some questions of her own anyway. Judging from her reaction, Cailean seemed to understand a whole lot more of what he was talking about than Maggie did. She skirted the pile of wood and tugged Cailean behind her until they were safely on the front porch. Did all this somehow tie in to Lachlan’s quest?

The firewood kept her from closing the door, so she moved on down the stairs and across the small clearing. “Why don’t you come with me to Griffith? It’s a little town about forty-five minutes from here. We can talk on the way.”

“Maggie, I want you to explain …”

Maggie wasn’t sure how long Duncan would brood—given his usual pattern, it could likely be days, but she couldn’t take the chance. “I promise I will. I really have to get to Griffith and make a call. Come on. We’ll take the Jeep, my wreck isn’t all that dependable. I’ll pay for gas.” She was trying to usher Cailean along without actually grabbing her by the arm and dragging her. Then she realized she’d have to go back in the cabin and get her purse. Despite her instincts telling her Duncan wouldn’t really
hurt her, there was too much going on for her to be certain Cailean wasn’t in danger here. “You’ll feel better if I’m away from Duncan, right?”

That seemed to push the right button. “I’ll drive.”

“I need to get my purse from the house.” Maggie was already jogging toward the porch. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right out.” She ran up the stairs, checking the front windows to make sure the curtains were still there. She smiled at herself. It seemed like a perfectly normal thing for her to do now, like checking to see if the porch light was on. “You’re deeper in that rabbit hole than you think, Alice,” she whispered.

She half expected Duncan to be gone, but when she found him in front of the fire, her relief surprised her. She was filled with questions for him, but she wanted to talk to Cailean first. She’d probably have better luck getting information out of her anyway. Maybe she’d learn enough to figure out how to prod more information out of Duncan when she returned.

She went to sidestep around the wood, but it was already stacked neatly by the fireplace with the other piles of wood. “Nice trick. You could make a killing in the housecleaning business.”

Duncan grumbled, “The only thing I’d like to kill are nosy Clarens with their
dha shealladh
,” but he didn’t turn to look at her.

Maggie scooped up her purse and the stuffed pillowcase, knowing she should make a quick retreat. It was killing her not to toss a barrage of questions his way. She was at the door when he stopped her.

“Maggie.”

Something in the quiet way he said it made her skin chill. She looked over her shoulder. He was facing her.

“Doona bring her back here. I willna have her in this cabin again.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Maggie said, though it was clear
Duncan was serious about his demand. “I didn’t invite her up here, but I won’t just toss her out.”

The look on Duncan’s face told her he’d have no problem doing just that—literally.

“She’s my cousin, Duncan.” She took a step toward him. “I didn’t even know I had family left.”

“You dinna need family of her type.”

“Her type?” Maggie frowned and walked back into the room. “And who are you to go ‘typing’ people, Mr. Ghost?”

“She’s a Claren Key. ’Tis said their talents were given to them by the
sidhe
. Faery folk,” he clarified. “She’s dangerous.”

Maggie laughed. “You’re afraid of fairies?”

“I’m dead,” he said flatly. “I’m no’ afraid of anything.” Then he spun abruptly around and plunged the poker into a flaming log.

Maggie jumped.

“But I’ll no’ be havin’ the ancestor of the Claren Key who killed my brother Alexander in my cabin. No’ as long as I’m inhabitin’ it.”

His declaration stunned Maggie into silence. “Cailean didn’t kill anyone,” she said at length. “In fact, she doesn’t want to be here any more than you want her here.”

“Good. Then it’s settled.”

Maggie strode across the room, dumping her things on the small couch. “It is not settled. She came here to warn me. She thinks you’re going to kill me.”

Duncan turned slowly and faced her. They were less than a foot apart. “What makes you so sure she’s not right?”

Maggie shrank back despite herself.

“They who have the sight are rarely wrong in what they see. Unless it’s trickery on her part tae make you do something she wants done.”

“What could she possibly want from me? She didn’t even know I existed until just recently.”

“What is she here for, Maggie? Besides the warning. There is something else, isn’t there?”

“Lachlan’s trunk and journals.” At his victorious smile, she added, “They’re her inheritance from Lachlan. She doesn’t even want them, but she feels she has to have them for some reason. It’s all part of her vision and the warning.”

“Don’t trust her, Maggie. It’s trickery, I tell you. The only one who will bring ye tae harm here is her.”

“You are the one talking in circles. First you say seers are always right, then you say she is lying and trying to trick me. If all she wants is the journals, she can have them.” Maggie spun around, but Duncan was suddenly right behind her. His firm hand on her shoulder stopped her from taking a single step. He turned her back around.

“Doona go off wi’ her alone, Maggie.”

It wasn’t the warning that gave Maggie pause, nor the earnest sincerity with which he’d delivered it. What stopped her was the real concern she found lurking behind the frustration and anger in his eyes. “I think you’re the one who’d better be careful,” she said. “For a moment there I actually thought you were really worried about me.”