Duncan (Immortal Highlander Clan MacMar #5)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

“ S ee you, Caro.” Julianne waved at the diver before she dove from the islet’s dock into the shallows, where she began a slow, lazy side stroke toward Caladh.

The impulse came over her to go back and ask the diver to swim with her back to the island, which was silly. Few things gave her more happiness than being in the water, but lately swimming alone had been making her tight. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t tell what. The Finfolk king had warned his guys to steer clear of her, so she was sure they weren’t checking her out from behind the reefs or planning anything. Maybe some of the little Finfolk dudes might have before, but none had tried since Shaw had told everyone they were an OTP. No, this was so much creepier, but it only happened now and then. Maybe she should tell Shaw when she got back to the castle.

Should she say something about the way she’d become forgetful again? The holes in her memory always made her uneasy.

When Julianne reached the shallows she saw the new girl walking along the beach. She could not remember her name— Nina? Carole? —but then she’d have to hear it a bunch of times before she could. She couldn’t do anything about her brain; the new girl would just have to remind her until the name stuck.

“Hey, hi, wait up,” she called out, waving at her as she ran the rest of the way through the waves.

The woman turned to watch her, and just at that moment the afternoon sun peeked through the trees on the west side of the island and covered her with its lemony light. Her hair burst with glints and glitter and other sparkly stuff, like rose gold tinsel under a floodlight, and her skin took on a beautiful peachy glow. She was so pretty it almost hurt to look at her, and when she smiled, Julianne’s jaw dropped.

“Whoa.” She blinked a few times, but it wasn’t a trick of the light.

“What’s wrong?” the new girl asked, frowning as she hurried toward her.

“You’re so beautiful. Like Christmas morning and fireworks at midnight and those really good dark chocolates with cherries in them.” Julianne knew she probably wouldn’t understand but had no other way to relate her admiration. “I mean, I knew you were totes amazing when I hugged you before, but in the light you diamond shine, girl. Like that vampire guy from that movie with the swol werewolves, only without the red eyes. The sun totes loves you, ah, sorry, I forgot your name.”

“My skin doesn’t love the sun.” She gave her a polite smile. “My name is Nicole Fairburn.”

“I’m Julianne Scott, soon to be MacMar. You should check with V—ah, Lady Valerie—to see if she has any sunscreen. She brought back a lot of stuff from our time with her in this bag she was carrying.” She knew she’d upset her, she just wasn’t sure why. “Sorry if I said something wrong, Nick. I’m like a ginormous fail at adulting and remembering names and what not to spill. Can I call you Nick? I can probably remember that.”

She nodded, making her shiny hair glitter even more. “Do you have time to take a walk with me?”

“Sure.” She retrieved her shoes from the dune where she’d left them, and then accompanied Nick up the shoreline to the path that led into the forest. “Do you want to check out the village? They do all kinds of neat stuff there, like forging and weaving and even making cheese. Last week I got to help do that with these uber sweet milkmaids. They let you try the curd stuff and everything.” The memory of one taste made her shudder a little. “Just skip the whey. That’s totes gross, like drinking puddle water. You shouldn’t drink from puddles, either.”

“I won’t. Chieftain Shaw told me that you were raised in the forest world by an immortal,” Nick said. “Where is that place?”

From her expression she wasn’t judging Julianne for how she babbled on and on, which was nice. Sometimes even Lady V got a little impatient with her.

Remembering she’d asked a question, Julianne thought for a moment.

“I’m pretty sure it’s inside special trees, or maybe on the other side of them. The forest is kind of like full of doorways, but also walls and traps and little things that will eat your insides. Only the forest world people can go in and out of it, too.” She tried to recall what her Aunt Klee had told her. “Time isn’t the same there, you know? That’s one thing the fairy stories always get right. It’s like there is no time. I lived in the forest world for almost a thousand years in this world’s time, but I never got old. I just grew up.” She patted her head. “Like, a whole lot.”

“That’s why you’re so tall?” As soon as she nodded Nick’s expression grew troubled. “Aren’t you upset over being trapped in that place for so long?”

“I don’t get salty much,” Julianne admitted, glad that she didn’t have to cope with anger all the time like Caroline did. “Happiness is so much easier and nicer. And I’m glad Aunt Klee took me in, because if she hadn’t these slaver guys? They would have totes killed me like they did my birth mom. Plus after that I got to spend some time in the future with my other mom and dad there, and trained to be a lifeguard, which was p fab.” She didn’t want to even think about her ex Mitchell, or what he’d done to her and her parents, so she stopped there.

“None of that was your choice, Ms. Scott,” the other girl said.

“Bet, only I don’t mind—and hey, call me Julianne, please. If it were up to me, I probably would have picked the wrong things to do.” She had married Mitchell, after all. “Besides, I like being beautiful and tall and saving people, even if I’m not all that smart.” She glanced down at her. “You’re even prettier than me, so you must be okay with yourself.”

“I try to be.” Nick smiled sadly. “Most people wouldn’t be as forgiving as you are.”

“My bae back in our time, Eva? Always said that me being kind was better than her being an Einstein. I think it was true, too. Kids in school got so jealous of her for having the best GPA in our class. Nobody ever hated me for being nice and helping them. Well, this one girl hated me no matter what I did, but you know, some people are always ratchet.” She noticed Nick didn’t seem to mind her babbling. “I bet a lot of people hated you in the future, right?”

That seemed to startle her. “Why would you think that?”

“You’re like super careful around me, so you’re probably like that with everyone else. I bet you think about everything and maybe even try it in your head a couple times before you do the real deal. Also, you watch me really close, so you’re afraid of me, but I’m not scary at all.” She stopped and faced her. “It’s okay, you know. You don’t have to be careful around me. And I won’t tell anyone what we talk about, ever. Like, not even Shaw.”

Nick looked even sadder. “It’s lovely that you want to be nice to me, Julianne, but in this situation I have to be smart rather than kind.”

“Then hanging with you will be like in high school with Eva.” She linked arms with her. “Come on, I bet they’re going to milk the cows in the village one more time before dark. You would not believe how cool that is. You don’t pull on the long dangly things under them, you squeeze them nice and easy, and then milk squirts out, just like that.”

Shaw watched the two women head toward the village, and briefly considered following them there. He had always been fiercely protective of Julianne, but since she had come close to dying during her battle with Derdrui and the Cait Sith he never wished her out of his sight. The thing inside him had just as much affection for and worry over their lady. Yet he knew Julianne had a right to make friends of her own, especially among the women from her time. She could also well defend herself, as her boon allowed her to jump through time and space to another place with only a thought. Another truth reassured him, one he’d discovered upon meeting Mistress Fairburn.

Nicole shall treat my love as she does every innocent: with kindness.

He walked back to the stronghold, and once inside went to the infirmary, where a group of patrollers stood waiting and peered through the entry. Inside he saw Duncan and Nyall standing over a groaning vassal. The scent of his wounds stirred the beast inside Shaw, but only for a moment. It subsided back into slumber, uninterested. Since Julianne had come, the Pritani spirit had become his reluctant ally instead of the nemesis he’d fought for centuries .

Once he was sure he posed no danger to any of them Shaw walked in, but kept his distance from the exam table. “What harmed the lad?”

“The patrol found him in the south glen, near buried in grass and leaves. He’s no’ yet stirred,” Nyall told him.

As Duncan cut open the man’s tunic he exposed several small, triangular-shaped bite marks crusted with dried blood. He then turned the man on his side, and something fell to the floor, which the captain retrieved.

“’Tis a thistle ward.” He held up the carved stone hanging from a torn cord. “One made by the village healer, I reckon. She favors such old charms, only they dinnae work.”

Shaw took the amulet from him, but sensed no enchantment. “Why should he wear such a useless thing?”

“Angalan convinces the men they shall protect them,” the healer said, sounding annoyed. “By such she sells them for a tidy sum from her stall every market day. ’Tis harmless superstition.” He surveyed the unconscious man, and took something from one of his wounds. “Captain, you might send another patrol. Ask them retrace the lad’s steps, and see if he strayed near the water. ”

Shaw saw Duncan hold up a small, jagged-edged object. “’Tis a shark’s tooth?”

“Aye.” He handed it to him. “Only no’ an ordinary shark.”

As he studied it the tooth suddenly changed shape and became blunter and hollow-ended, like that of a bairn. “Fack me. Hybrid shifters attacked the lad.”

“Shaw, remain here and question the man when he wakes.” Nyall seized the tooth from him and tossed it into the hearth’s flames before he strode out into the hall. “Send word to the garrison, I want every patroller on duty within the hour. The hybrids likely returned to the sea, but if they roam the island, we must dispatch them…” The captain’s voice trailed off as he left with his men.

Shaw helped Duncan strip the lad, and then watched him inspect his flesh for any other debris.

“The glen, ’tis a league from the bay,” he reminded the healer. “With such wounds, could the lad flee so far?”

“’Tis unlikely.” Duncan went to his shelf and took down a crock, and used the contents to treat the man’s wounds before redressing the vassal in a loose leine and trews. His movements became jerky and stiff, and when he finally finished with the man he sat down heavily on a stool. “Can you send word for his wife?”

“Aye.” He eyed the unconscious man. “The pain you took from him, ’tis bad?”

“No’ so much that I cannae…fack.” Duncan gave him a narrow look. “Shall no one respect my pride again?”

“You’ve suffered for centuries for this clan and our vassals, and of late near every day. No.” He helped the healer to his feet and guided him over to the pallet where he could rest. “I shall fetch Nicole so she may tend to you.”

“Dinnae,” he said with a groan. “She takes on the very wounds of others as well as their suffering, and I fear so many bites shall sorely torment her.”

Shaw sat down on the edge of the pallet. “Why should the ring grant your lady such a boon? So she might perish as she attempts keep the clan alive in the coming battle?”

“She’s no’ my lady. You reckon ’tis her fate?’ Duncan’s pain-filled dark eyes narrowed. “No, you ken more than you’ve said.”

“She doesnae stir my Pritani spirit in the slightest,” Shaw admitted. “When I look upon her, ’tis the same for the beast as when I behold another MacMar. The damned thing regards her as blood-kin, which she’s no’. Never has such happened with a mortal except Julianne.”

“’Tis taken more than a liking to her, then,” the healer said, sounding as if he disapproved.

“’Tisnae that the thing loves the lady.” He tried to think of how to describe it. “Bas, ’tis the spirit of all that ends. It serves such for those mortals deserving; and assures they shallnae find their way back so they may live again in the mortal realm.”

“Then Mistress Fairburn, she’s undeserving of death,” Duncan said before he pressed a hand to his side and groaned.

“Och, no. She’s different,” Shaw chided. “I cannae tell you how, only that she’s no’ like the other ladies. ’Tis as if naught of this world may wound her, even as all does.”

“Speak plainly,” the healer demanded, his tone cross.

He tucked the blanket over him. “I wish that I could, but she fashes me and the beast as well. Now rest and recover, for I daresay that lad, he’s but the first of many that shall need your tending.”

Nicole thanked Julianne for spending the afternoon with her, but instead of accepting her invitation to join her and the other women for the evening meal, she decided to first go to her room and change. At least, that was what she told herself as her feet took her in the opposite direction, and stopped outside the closed door of the infirmary.

I shouldn’t be here. I made up my mind. I know how dangerous he is to me.

She leaned close, trying to hear what Duncan might be doing inside, and saw some flickering light at the gap at the bottom of the door. She might knock, go in and invite the man to join her for dinner so they could talk a little more about his work around the island. There was certainly nothing he could read into that kind of invitation–

The door suddenly opened, and Shaw looked at her with a raised brow, as if he could hear every idiot thought in her head.

“I thought I’d see if Duncan wants to have dinner with me and the other ladies.” She would have added a casual, meaningless smile to that, but then she saw the healer on the pallet in the back, and pushed the chieftain aside as she hurried over to him. Before she could touch him, however, Shaw got between them.

“He doesnae wish inflict his suffering on you, my lady,” the chieftain said, and nodded toward another man sleeping on the exam table. “Shark shifters attacked the lad, and as he treated him my brother took his pain away.”

“Step aside, Chieftain.” When he didn’t move Nicole almost punched him. “I heal faster than Duncan. If those shifters are on this island then I’m sure there will be more victims.”

“We reckon the same,” Shaw admitted.

“’Tis all right, Brother.” The healer’s voice rasped as he added, “Permit the lady do as she wishes.”

Nicole dragged a stool over and sat down beside the pallet. Pressing her hand to his brow to check him for fever was ridiculous—he was an immortal who supposedly never got sick—but she didn’t care. She could see the terrible pain in his eyes, and against her palm his skin seemed too cold and clammy. Finally she took hold of his hands and held them clasped between hers.

“When I pass out, you’ll have to give up your spot and look after me,” she warned him, blinking against the stinging in her eyes. Why was she being so emotional? “It’s not just on you anymore, Healer MacMar.” Pain suddenly gnawed at her from all sides, and blood bloomed on her bodice and sleeves, shocking her. At the same time a warmth spread over her, along with the beginnings of deep arousal. Torn between all the emotions and sensations, she dragged in a breath and said, “You have to think about the other wound sponge around here.”

“Keep hold of me,” he said when she loosened her grip.

She suspected he was trying to take back what he’d given her. “You can’t reabsorb the pain.”

“Mayhap no’, only I shall try.” He closed his eyes, grimacing as if he could sense her suffering.

If it reassured him, Nicole thought, she’d hold his hands until she passed out. Whatever the healer had taken from the injured man had been extremely painful, and for a moment she eyed a nearby bucket as her stomach heaved in reaction. Then the warmth grew and swept through her, soft and almost liquid, as if she’d been doused with bath water. It took with it all the pain biting into her. Suddenly she realized she was alone with him; Shaw had vanished.

“What did you do?” she whispered, shocked all over again.

“The lad’s pain I took, and that you took from me, ’tis gone.” He sat up and pulled her into his arms. “We healed each other, my lady.”

The embrace should have made her uncomfortable, and it did, but not in the way she anticipated. Julianne’s hug had been warm and friendly, but Duncan’s was more intimate and sensual. Oh, if she were honest with herself, everything the man did turned her on; he could just smile at her and her blood heated up. He probably thought nothing of it, because he wasn’t shivering or about to groan.

It wasn’t fair, but that was becoming their tune. What if she couldn’t keep resisting him? What if she had to choose between him and saving her father?

“I appreciate your healing me.” Nicole eased out of his arms and stood. “Now I need to go and change into something that doesn’t have blood all over it. No, please, don’t bother,” she added when he got up from the pallet.

She kept a straight face as she left the infirmary, and even nodded to the guards she passed. She wondered why they didn’t react to her being covered in blood, but when she glanced down at herself she saw the stains on her clothes had vanished.

As if it never happened. Did I do that?

You can’t get drunk on your father’s brandy, or get stoned with your cousin, or have sex with the gardener’s son who keeps ogling you, or do any of the things other girls do, her Aunt Merry had told her when she was thirteen. You’re too special.

Nicole made it to the guest room, and once inside dropped the bar to keep Duncan or anyone else from intruding. She then stripped out of the gown, just in time to see dozens of triangular pale pink scars fading to white on her fair skin. The sight of the healed wounds made her stagger over to the bed, where she found a bundle of newly-made clothing.

Did someone know this was going to happen to me? Did they assume I would want to change my clothes? No, that’s ridiculous.

She sat down beside the clothing, startled by how quickly her fears subsided. Too many times she had wished she could trade her trust fund, her super cushy life and all the perks of being Maxwell Fairburn’s daughter just so she could stop being so paranoid. Ever since her aunt had visited her, she’d grown panicky each time something unexpected happened. Until now she always imagined and feared the worst.

These people don’t want to hurt me. I’m okay here.

A knock on the door made Nicole rub her eyes. Taking a long shirt from the pile of clothes, she pulled it over her head before she tugged on some trousers and went to unbar and open the door.

Outside in the hall Valerie stood with a tray that held a steaming mug and a plate of fruit, cheese and oatcakes.

“Since you didn’t come down for the evening meal, I brought some to you,” the laird’s wife said, but her smile vanished as she took in her appearance. “You all right?”

“I’m not sure.” Was she going to confess all to this woman? Maybe not all. She pulled the door open wider. “Please, do come in.”

Valerie placed the tray on the table by the hearth, and sat down with her there. “If you just want some company, you don’t have to make conversation. I don’t mind if you just want to sit and rest.”

Since arriving on the island she’d had her reservations about the older woman, but now she sensed her compassion wasn’t an act. Yet if the laird’s wife touched her, she would read her mind, and then Valerie would know everything in her head.

“If the men or Caroline haven’t told you, I lied about my surname,” Nicole said, mostly so she wouldn’t try to use her power on her. “It’s Fairburn, as in the daughter of Maxwell Fairburn.”

Valerie shrugged as if she hadn’t just admitted to being the most eligible heiress on the planet. “We’ve all found it difficult to adjust to our new reality. Thank you for trusting us.”

That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. “You knew?”

“That you were lying? Yes,” the laird’s wife said. “I remembered seeing a photograph of your earrings in a magazine. The article was about the most expensive jewelry in the world. Yours contain flawless blue diamonds worth three point five million dollars.”

“My father bought them for my mother as a wedding gift,” Nicole said. “His idea of something blue. She never took them off until she left him. It’s silly, but when I wear them, I tell myself I’m connected to her.”

Valerie gave her a reassuring smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you look so upset earlier?”

“I had a scare at the infirmary,” she said, and told her about the incident with Duncan. “I don’t understand what’s happening between us. Really, the last thing I want is to become involved with your healer.”

“After what I went through with my first husband, I thought the same thing about Connal,” the laird’s wife said. “You and Duncan seem to have the same chemistry we did.”

It was that obvious to everyone else? “He’s a very attractive man, but going home is my priority. I am sympathetic to your situation here, but there’s nothing more important to me than protecting my dad.”

That was true, Nicole thought to herself. It had to be.

“The rest of us have no families left, so you are the only time traveler to leave behind loved ones in the future,” the laird’s wife said. “Of course we understand how terrifying it is for you to be trapped here. Connal and I will do whatever we can to help you go back.”

“ After I help the clan,” she tacked on.

A delicate pink flush appeared on Valerie’s face. “Lady Joana’s ring brought you here for that purpose, and we would like you to help us. Yet I don’t believe the enchantment would sacrifice your father’s safety for our benefit. That’s not what this is about, Nicole.”

“You put a great deal of faith in a magic Fae ring.” She held out her hand, and the green gem sparkled in the candlelight. “If the enchantment is so powerful that it can snatch gifted people from the future and drop them here, why doesn’t it remove your enemies from this time? Getting rid of this enchantress and her shifters seems like a simpler solution than depending on the kindness of time-traveling strangers to stop them.”

“That’s a good point, but we have no control over what the ring does. We also have more problems than Derdrui and the Cait Sith,” the laird’s wife said. “Duncan told you about the Selseus that live outside the bay. One of them, Duxor, turned traitor and has been creating hybrids by fusing mortals and shifters with other dangerous sea creatures.”

She frowned. “What purpose would that serve?”

“Duxor wants to assassinate Merrick, the king of the Selseus, and seize the throne for himself. That’s a problem they and their people must deal with, but we’ve discovered that the hybrids are more dangerous than anyone realized.” Valerie grimaced. “They are mindless killers who can shift into forms that allow them to breathe air and come on land. Unlike the MacMar and other half-Fae beings, the hybrids are also capable of having young—a lot of young.”

The implications of what she said made Nicole go still. “How many is a lot?”

“That we’ve observed, dozens. The sharks that are native to these waters generally birth up to ten pups at a time, but once they’re fused with a mortal or halfling, that can and will likely change.” She hesitated before she added, “There are shark species that can spawn a hundred or more in one litter. If a hybrid bred with one of those, then they might do the same.”

What she was telling her was ghastly. “Surely predators can keep their population under control. Killer whales, seals, sea lions–”

“The killer whale pod that occupied our waters left soon after Duxor created the first hybrids,” Valerie told her. “We’ve also noticed all the seals that usually come to the island this time of year haven’t made an appearance, and the unaltered sharks have also gone. We’re hoping that like the orca they’re just avoiding Caladh’s waters, but it may be that the hybrids are killing and feeding on them.”

“I can’t see how I could help with that,” Nicole said.

The laird’s wife nodded. “I thought the same thing, until we learned that you can compel the Selseus as you do animals.”

“You’re mistaken.” She curled her fingers around her pendant. “I haven’t tried to compel anyone.”

Valerie related what had happened with the Selseus messenger when Nicole had first arrived on the island, and then added, “King Merrick was quite upset about the incident, but we’ve managed to persuade him to calm down. To prevent any future incidents, please refrain from touching any of the aquatics as well.”

“Of course.” That also might explain why Fletcher and the laird had been so unfriendly. “Do you think I can control the hybrids?”

“Perhaps.” The older woman sighed. “They are unnatural creatures that have been forcibly created out of two separate beings. If we could capture one alive, we’d like you to use your healing power and try to separate them.”