Текст книги "Charmed by His Love"
Автор книги: Джанет Чапмен
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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
“I heard you married that MacKeage bastard.” She tried to
pul free when he leaned in, and his hand tightened
painful y. “So is that why I never appealed to you, Peggy?
You like your men big?” His fingers dug into her jaw, his
thumb pressing her flesh against her teeth as he leaned
closer. “Only this time I see you went for rich as wel .” He
licked his tongue across her lips, then reared back with a
laugh when she tried to bite him.
“He’s going to kil you. And I swear to God, if anything
happens to Jacob and Peter, I’m going to help him.”
“Yeah, him and you and what army?” Chris said, untying
her from the post of the seat. He shoved her down when
she tried to scramble away, then grabbed her hands and
quickly retied them, leaving a length of rope to pul her to
her feet. “Like I said, Peggy darlin’, he’s going to have to
catch me first. Come on,” he growled, giving the rope a
yank as he stepped onto the bank. “It’s a long walk to
Canada.”
Peg fel onto the ground, then scrambled to her feet when
he started dragging her after him. Dammit, she needed to
do something! Had he taken the keys out of the boat?
Where in hel was Aaron? He gave another jerk when she
apparently wasn’t moving fast enough, the rope chafing
against the cuff on her left wrist. Yes, the magic! Surely it
could help her get away. Or maybe she could at least use it
to rattle Chris enough to get him to make a mistake.
“Um, do you believe in the magic, Chris?” she asked,
only to bump into him when he suddenly stopped and
turned to her.
“What in hel are you talking about?” he growled, looking
as if shewere insane.
So Peg gave him the best insane smile she could
muster. “You know, magic; the kind that moves mountains
and turns lakes into inland seas like what happened here a
few months ago? The scientists stil haven’t been able to
explain it, so people are starting to think this entire area
might be … cursed,” she whispered. “You believe someone
can put a curse on a place or a … person?”
“What in Jesus kind of question is that?”
Peg dropped her gaze and shrugged. “I was just
wondering if you believe in stuff like magic and curses and
bad karma.”
He turned and started walking again, giving the rope
another violent snap.
Peg let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “It doesn’t matter,”
she said, adding an insane little laugh, “because I’ve been
told the magic goes about its business whether you believe
in it or not, and that it especial y likes to sneak up and
surprise a person.”
Chris glanced over his shoulder at her, and yup, he was
definitely looking a little rattled. Okay, husband,Peg silently petitioned; it’s time to use your mountain’s magic to save
me like you promised—after you save Peter and Jacob.
Duncan stopped in midsentence and turned away from the
blasting contractor he was talking to and opened the door
on his truck. He reached in for the radio mike and ordered
al the men driving machinery in and around the pit to shut
off their engines, then tossed down the mike and walked
toward the beach. But he changed direction and started
running up the knol to the tote road when he heard barking
and screaming coming from the fiord, and spotted Pete
and Jacob and Hero in the strange boat heading into the
cove.
Realizing the boat was going too fast for the engine only
being at an idle, Duncan ran into the water and caught it just
as he saw Leviathan back away from the far side and slip
under the surface—only to have to catch the twins when
they threw themselves at him, sobbing loudly and both
talking at once.
“You gotta save Mom!” Jacob cried as he hugged
Duncan’s neck.
“A bad man stole her!” Pete added in a wail, also
clinging to his neck.
Duncan waded out of the water onto the road, Hero
jumping out of the boat and fol owing. He shook his head at
Paul when the contractor tried to take one of the boys from
him just as several of his crew ran up to them. “Slow down
and tel me what happened,” he said calmly, kneeling to
stand the boys on their feet and hug them so they wouldn’t
see his own terror. “Where’s your Mom?”
“A man smashed right into our boat and jumped in with
us,” Jacob said. He leaned back to look at Duncan. “H-he
hit Mom real y hard, and he throwed Hero in the water when
he tried to bite him. Then he tried to grab Pete and he
kicked me.”
“Then he threw me in his boat,” Pete added.
“And he hit Mom again,” Jacob continued with a shudder
that racked his whole body. “And he threw me at his boat,
too. But I fel in the water ’cause it was too far, but Pete
pul ed me inside.”
“And he tied up Mom to the seat and left in our boat,”
Pete said as he started crying again. “And she hol ered to
us to sit down, ’cause someone would find us.”
“But no one was f-finding us,” Jacob said with huge sobs.
“And we pul ed and pul ed but we couldn’t get Hero in the
boat.”
Duncan rubbed their tear-splotched cheeks with his
thumbs, saying nothing so they could get it al out.
“But then Leviathan helped,” Pete said. “He just floated
beside the boat so Hero crawled right up his back and got
in with us.”
“And we pul ed the handle on the rope like we seen you
do on the old boat,” Jacob continued in a rush, “and the
motor started and … and we started going.”
“In circles,” Pete added, swiping his puffy eyes with a
trembling hand. “But Levi bumped us and we started going
straight.”
“W-we tried to go after Mom,” Jacob said, valiantly
trying to suck up his sobs. “But Levi kept pushing us this
way. And when we got close, Hero started barking so we
started screaming.”
“I heard you,” Duncan said, pul ing them against him and
kissing each of their foreheads. He held al three of their
heads together with Hero having pushed between his
thighs. “You did good, boys, and so did your pup. You’re al
rescue heroes for staying calm and brave and coming to
get me. So ye don’t worry now, because I’m going to go
save your mom.” He kissed them again, then leaned away
to pat his hind pocket with a reassuring smile. “I’ve stil got
my badge in my wal et to show the bad man.” He folded the
twins back against him and looked up at his crew. “Jason,
get on the radio and have Robbie and Alec get down here,
but tel them to pick up Jeanine and Bea on their way out
the road.” He looked back at Pete and Jacob. “Can ye tel
me where the man took your mom? Did he go toward
Bottomless or farther up the fiord?”
“U-up it,” Jacob said, pointing north.
“He went so far we couldn’t see them no more,” Pete
added in a whisper.
Duncan scooped them up in his arms and started toward
the house. “Jon, you and David catch that boat and pul it
onto the beach.” He stopped and looked at the other men.
“Do Charlotte and Isabel know any of you on sight?” he
asked, only to start walking again when several of them
shook their heads. “Jim, cal the Trading Post and have
Ezra meet the girls when they get off the school bus. Then I
want you to drive Bea into town to get them and bring them
home.”
“We need to cal the sheriff,” Paul said, walking beside
him. “And the warden and forest services; they can have a
plane and chopper in the sky in an hour.”
Duncan sat the boys in the front passenger seat of his
truck after motioning for Paul to open the door, then let
Hero jump in on the floor in front of them. “Jacob, Pete, did
you recognize the man who took your mom?” he asked
softly. “Or did she cal him by name?” he added when they
shook their heads.
“Yeah,” Jacob said even as Pete nodded. “Mom cal ed
him Chris.”
Duncan gave them each another kiss, then turned to the
contractor. “You cal the sheriff and let him know that Chris
Dubois has my wife, Peg MacKeage. But you tel him I
don’t want anything in the air as long as she’s stil with
Dubois. After I get her away from him, then they can go
after him with everything they’ve got.”
Paul’s jaw slackened. “How in hel … You expect to go
after him al by yourself?”
Duncan turned at the sound of a truck racing down the
road and into the yard and watched Robbie pul to a stop
directly behind his pickup. Al four doors opened; Alec and
Robbie jumped out of the front and Jeanine and Bea out of
the rear doors.
“Peter, Jacob!” Jeanine cried. Duncan stepped away so
she could lean inside to pul both boys into her arms.
“Ohmigod, you poor babies, are you okay?”
Duncan walked over to Robbie and Alec when he saw
Bea open the driver’s door and slide in to hug the boys
along with Jeanine. “Can ye get to Peg?” he asked Robbie.
Robbie shook his head. “I’m stil powerless. Only you
have any authority over the magic in this area, as your
mountain is the sole source of energy at the moment.”
“But I woke it up, so why in hel can’t you use it?”
Robbie shook his head again. “It’s tuned only to you,
Duncan, and wil remain so until Mac chooses to release al
the magic again.”
Duncan glanced back at the truck to see the women stil
hugging the boys, then looked toward the fiord and rubbed
his hands over his face. “Christ, I can’t imagine the hel he’s
putting her through.” He turned beseeching eyes on Robbie
and Alec. “What if the bastard’s already kil ed her?”
“Nay,” Robbie said quietly. “He wouldn’t have bothered
taking her if he merely wanted her dead.” He gestured at
Duncan’s right arm. “Go quiet and focus on your cuff. It’s
connected to Peg’s. Listen to what it’s tel ing you.”
Duncan faced the fiord again and took a calming breath,
focusing inward until he felt his cuff softly tighten against his
pulse and vague snapshots started flashing through his
mind. Only instead of seeing Peg, he felther emotions hit
him with enough force to nearly drop him to his knees.
“Sweet Christ,” he whispered, closing his eyes when her
calm yet utterly lethal anger resonated through every cel in
his body. “She’s toying with Dubois, trying to scare him with
the magic so he’l panic and make a mistake.” He turned to
Robbie and Alec. “She’s in pain; I can feel every bruise the
bastard put on her.”
“The connection to your wife runs in both directions,”
Robbie said. “Send her your strength, Duncan. Have Peg
feel you the same way you’re feeling her, and let her know
you’re coming for her.” He grinned tightly. “Ye may also
want to convey that anyone who tries to manipulate the
magic in anger could find themselves with more power than
they can handle.” He set a hand on Duncan’s shoulder.
“And I suggest youremember that as wel when ye come
face-to-face with Dubois.” He dropped his hand away with
a shrug, his smile turning genuine. “Then again, if ye
happened to accidental y … say, send the bastard back a
few centuries, I believe Providence would understand
you’re stil getting used to the magic.”
“The sheriff’s on his way,” Paul said, walking over to
them. “We’re in luck; dispatch said he’s nearby. She’s
sending the state police and game wardens, too.”
“Thanks,” Duncan said, striding to the pickup. He gently
moved Jeanine out of the way and clasped both twins’
trembling shoulders as they clung to each other with Hero’s
head squeezed between them. “Ye have my word, boys, I’l
have your mom home by sunrise tomorrow. Your gram and
gram-auntie wil stay right here with you and the girls until I
get back, and so wil Alec.” He gave them each a kiss on
their foreheads, then wrapped his arms around them in a
careful hug. “Ye just continue to be the brave heroes ye
are,” he whispered. “I love you.”
He gave them a reassuring squeeze, then turned to
Jeanine. “One of my men wil drive you or Bea to Ezra’s to
pick up the girls. Then I would ask that ye keep the children
here until I get back. Ye don’t worry about my crew; they can
cook their own supper. I’l be back with Peg by daybreak.”
“Wait,” Jeanine said, grabbing his arm when he turned
away. “You can’t mean to go after her al by yourself. Is the
bad man the boys are talking about Chris Dubois? Then he
knows the backcountry better than anyone,” she continued
when Duncan nodded. “How are you even going to know
where to look?”
He pul ed his frantic mother-in-law into his arms. “Ye
need to trust me, Jeanine,” he whispered. “Because I have
a secret weapon that’s going to make Dubois sorry he was
ever born.”
“W-what weapon?” she asked against his shoulder.
Duncan gave her one last squeeze and stepped away.
“Your daughter,” he said with a wink, just before he turned
and headed toward the beach. “I already know how to
manipulate time,” he said as Robbie and Alec fel into step
beside him. He stopped at the front of his pontoon boat
pul ed up on shore and looked from one man to the other.
“So once I decide where he’s taking her, I’l get ahead of
them and be waiting.”
“There’s a lot of wilderness out there,” Robbie said, even
as his deep gray eyes suddenly lit with amusement. “But
then, your mountain did have the foresight to give ye a
tracking device to put on your wife, didn’t it?”
“Aye, apparently the magic took pity when it realized it
had given me such a contrary woman,” Duncan said,
leaping onto the deck of his boat and walking back to the
steering console. “Keep an eye on things here, as we don’t
know if this might also be a diversion for Aaron Jenkins to
take another shot at the resort road.” He started the engine,
letting the powerful motor warm up at a quiet idle. “And try
to stal the sheriff from mounting a search until morning, if ye
can do it without drawing suspicion.”
Robbie and Alec nodded, then both grabbed the front
deck of the boat and pushed it off the beach when Duncan
slid the engine into reverse.
“Where’s your sword?” Alec softly cal ed after glancing
over his shoulder to make sure no one was in the
immediate area.
Duncan put the motor in forward. “In my cave. I need to
stop there first, anyway, and have a little talk with my
mountain.” He looked at Robbie. “I’l see if I can’t persuade
it to share its power with ye before I go after Dubois, on the
off chance I end up sending myself to hel with him.”
Robbie chuckled. “I’ve a fear ye may have to go through
Peg to get there. Godspeed, Duncan.” Robbie gave a
wave and turned away just as the sound of a fast-
approaching siren echoed up the main road.
Alec jogged down the beach to keep pace as Duncan
idled toward the fiord. “Are ye sure you don’t want to take
the pup?” Alec asked.
“He’s too young to know the art of stalking yet,” Duncan
said with a shake of his head. “And the children need him
now.” He slid the engine out of gear when he reached the
narrow channel in the old tote road and let the boat glide
toward shore. “Alec,” he said as his nephew waded into the
water and grabbed the side of the deck. “You’l look after
the children?” he asked quietly, leaving the ful request
unsaid.
“Aye,” Alec said with a nod. “They’l never want for love
and family.” He tapped the side of the boat with a
chuckle. “Not that I’m worried,” he said, giving it a shove
toward the fiord. “Since we both know contrary always
triumphs over stupidity.”
Duncan gave him a nod and pushed the throttle al the
way down, the powerful engine making the boat surge into
the fiord with surprising speed as he headed toward his
mountain. Aye, and if the stupid bastard Dubois didn’t
already know it, he was going to be living that very truth
before the day was through.
Chapter Twenty-four
Peg was growing more exhausted from trying to slow Chris
down than from trying to keep up with him, and she wasn’t
sure how much longer she could go before she col apsed.
One of her eyes was swol en nearly shut from one of the
blows she’d taken, and her wrists were bleeding and her
hands were swel ing up like bal oons. Her shoulders felt
ready to fal out of their sockets from Chris’s constantly
jerking on the rope, and she was afraid she was getting
hypothermia because al she had on was a thin shirt under
her life vest.
Peg grasped the rope in preparation for the jerk she
knew was coming. “Please, Chris, we need to stop,” she
pleaded, fal ing to her knees the moment he did and then
col apsing onto her side with a groan. “I need water. And if
you don’t untie my hands, they’re going to fal off.”
He stood with his fists on his hips and stared down at
her. “Ain’t so prissy now, are you, Peggy?” He squatted
down and grabbed her chin, his fingers biting into her jaw.
“You want water, you’re gonna have to earn it.” He pressed
his thumb into the corner of her mouth. “Say, the longer the
kiss, the longer the drink.”
She jerked away and turned her face into the ground,
only to cry out when he pul ed her upright by her hair and
smashed his mouth down on hers. Fighting not to gag, Peg
forced herself to open her lips and push her tongue inside
his mouth, even making a soft moaning sound as she
pressed toward him.
Chris reared back, giving her hair another painful yank.
“What in hel are you doing?” he growled, the last of the
sun’s rays catching the surprise in his eyes.
Peg smiled. “I’m real y thirsty, Chris.” She shrugged one
shoulder. “And if you don’t seem to care about my family
curse, then why should I?”
“What curse?” he hissed, shoving her away.
Peg fel back, but then held up her bound hands. “Untie
me and I’l tel you why I didn’t dare go out with you after Bil y
died. Or didn’t you notice I haven’t gone out with anyone
since I became a widow? I wasn’t rejecting you, Chris; I
was saving your life.”
“What? How?”
She lifted her hands again. “Untie me and I’l tel you
about my curse. Because if I don’t,” she continued when he
hesitated, “then you can’t blame me if something happens
to you.”
Peg gritted her teeth when he jerked the knots on the
rope trying to loosen them, his fingers becoming slick with
her blood. “What in Jesus are you talking about?” he
snarled, backing away when he had them loosened enough
that Peg could finish the job herself. “What curse? What’s
going to happen?”
Peg slowly flexed her fingers, refusing to cry out at the
pain shooting through her hands with the renewed
circulation, and took a slow, fortifying breath. “You know my
mom and aunt are widows, right? Wel , my father died when
I was five, and my stepdad died within a few years of Mom
marrying him. It was the same with my aunt Bea; she lost
both of her husbands in freak accidents just like I lost Bil y.”
Chris scurried back even more. “You’re al black widows
or something?”
Peg nodded, stretching her throbbing legs out in front of
her. “Yeah, it appears al the women in my family for the last
five generations have been deadly to men. Our first
husbands never make it past the age of thirty, and if we
remarry or if any man even has sex with us,” she added for
extra insurance, “the curse kil s them off.”
His eyes narrowed. “You just married MacKeage.” He
snorted. “You hoping he’l last long enough to change his
wil and leave you a richwidow?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not worried about
Duncan dying, because he has the power to break my
family curse.”
“How?”
“By the magic I was talking about. Remember I said
there’s something around here that’s powerful enough to
move mountains? Wel , Duncan’s tapped into it.”
Chris snorted again. “You’re fucking crazy.”
But Peg could see his doubt. “Yeah, crazy enough to
believe what I see with my own eyes,” she said, looking
directly into his. She suddenly had a thought. “I know you
and Aaron tried to burn the building supplies at our house
site across the fiord. So what stopped you right in the
middle of setting that lumber on fire?”
Peg saw his doubt turn to outright fear, and he suddenly
stood up to move even farther away. “We don’t know what
the hel happened,” he said, nervously rubbing the back of
his neck as he stared down at her. “Aaron swears
something tapped him hard on the shoulder, but when he
turned around nothing was there. And he swears to God
when he started running that something tripped him– three
times—as he made his way across the building site to me.”
Peg gave a soft snort. “I don’t think it was God; more like
a pissed-off mountain. So what put out the fire you started?”
Chris took another step back, shaking his head. “I swear
to—A deluge of water came out of nowhere and nearly
drowned me when it landed on the lumber.”
Peg widened her eyes with appropriate horror. “Oh,
Chris,” she whispered. “Forget my stupid curse; I’d be more
worried about Duncan’s magic if I were you.”
“What!” Sweat broke out on his forehead as he suddenly
looked around, his widened gaze stopping on their back
trail before dropping to her.
Peg nodded, coiling onto her side on the ground when
she felt herself getting dizzy, disguising her moan by
snorting again. “Sometimes Duncan scares the hel out of
me, too. But like you said, he is rich. So if his magic can’t
break my family curse, then I guess I’l be widowed again,
only not so poor this time.”
Chris stepped closer to stare down at her, then pul ed a
metal canteen bottle out of the pack he’d had stashed in the
woods not far from where he’d hidden the boat. He
squatted down again and held it out to her. “You’re looking
pale. But don’t drink too much or you’l puke. We stil got a
couple of miles to go to reach my campsite.”
“You sure you wouldn’t be better off just leaving me
here?” she asked, slowly pushing herself into a sitting
position to take the water from him. “You’d make better
time getting to Canada.” It took some doing to get the cover
off the bottle because her hands were shaking and more
than useless, but she final y took a long, blessedly wet
drink. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, then canted her
head at Chris. “I’m pretty sure Duncan’s magic gets weaker
the farther away you get from his mountain.”
“There ain’t no such thing as magic,” he growled—
apparently trying to bluster away his fear. “And MacKeage
wasn’t even around here when the earthquake hit.” He
snorted and stood up, then reached down and grabbed her
life vest and pul ed her to her feet. But then he had to hold
her when she swayed toward him. “Jesus, don’t touch me!”
he yelped, stepping away.
“You’re touching me!” she snapped, jerking free, only to
have to grab a tree to keep from fal ing. “Just leave me
here. I’l find my own way back. Run, Chris; run as fast and
as far as you can.”
He eyed her with indecision for several heartbeats, then
suddenly bent to snatch up the rope before he grabbed her
vest and pul ed her away from the tree. “Oh, I’m running al
right, but not without insurance,” he snarled, wrapping the
rope around her neck. He slapped her hand away when
Peg tried to stop him from tying it into a slipknot. “Take one
more drink,” he said, lifting her arm holding the canteen.
Peg took another long drink and handed the canteen to
him, looking him directly in the eyes. “You made your first
mistake when you boarded my boat,” she said with utter
calm, “your second mistake when you hit me, and your third
when you left Peter and Jacob in the middle of the fiord. But
trying to take me to Canada with you is as good as signing
your own death warrant, Chris. Doubt me or the magic or
whatever you want, but I’m actual y trying to save your life.”
He turned away with a snort and started walking—
although he didn’t jerk the rope this time. “Just shut the hel
up and make sure to keep up with me if you don’t want your
neck looking like your wrists.”
Peg stumbled after him with a stifled curse, having to
grab trees to keep from fal ing, as her legs felt like rubber
and she was so dizzy that she could barely see straight.
Dammit, she’d nearly had him convinced to leave her
behind.
And where in hel was Duncan, anyway? He’d promised
to keep her safe once he got hold of the magic, so where in
hel was the relentless man?
Duncan stood in the darkness of the night with his
back against a large pine tree, undecided if he wanted to
kiss Peg for her genius or shake her until she apologized
for scaring ten years off his life by pushing Dubois nearly
past the point of reason. Didn’t she realize the bastard
could have simply kil ed her to be rid of the stone she’d
become around his neck? Hel , according to what his
mountain had told him, even Aaron Jenkins had realized his
partner in crime was losing his grip on reality and had run
off to Canada over a week ago—right after their botched
attack on Duncan’s house site.
And Peg was wrong; Dubois’s first mistake had been
spray-painting her van, his second burning her house, his
third trying to run them off the road. And the bastard had
signed his death warrant the moment he’d boarded her
boat. As for striking Peg and leaving the twins alone in the
middle of the fiord … wel , that had guaranteed his death
would be slow and painful. Duncan was so goddamned
angry, he wasn’t going to need his mountain’s help, either.
He was about a hundred yards up the trail ahead of them,
but he’d mastered the magic enough that he might as wel
be walking beside them, he was so attuned to Peg. Her
every thought, every emotion, every twinge of pain she felt
was like he was inside her skin.
Christ, she was brave. And scary smart. And so
goddamned contrary she hadn’t heard one thing he’d been
trying to convey to her because she’d been too focused on
rattling Dubois. Hel , he could openly hear her now as they
approached, stil pushing the man to the edge of reason
even as Duncan felt she was on the verge of col apsing.
“Did you know Livy Baldwin’s new husband is an
honest to God wizard?” he heard her ask as they drew
nearer. “Mac’s the one who caused the earthquake. He’s
also the boss of al the drùidhs who guard al the Trees of
Life. One of those Trees is growing right here in Maine,
someplace around Pine Creek, I think.” She snorted. “Gee,
Chris, maybe you should cut it down so you could buy a
new truck and driveto Canada.”
“Shut up!” Dubois shouted just as they passed Duncan,
the bastard jerking the rope around Peg’s neck—making
her cry out as she stumbled.
To hel with just shaking her, Duncan decided; he was
putting the reckless woman over his knee. After, that is, he
kissed every scratch and bruise on her body.
He silently drew his sword and stepped into the trail,
creeping up behind Peg to cover her mouth with his hand
as he sliced the rope with his blade—only to have her go
boneless in his arms with a silent sigh of relief. He lowered
her to the ground and continued on, snatching up the
dangling rope and giving it a hard jerk.
Dubois turned with a snarl, but stopped in midstep when
the tip of Duncan’s sword pressed into his chest. “Fuck,”
the man hissed, going perfectly stil .
Duncan lifted the bastard’s chin with the tip of his sword.
“For the record,” he said quietly, “your very first mistake
was getting aggressive with Peg two and a half years ago.”
He lowered the tip to Dubois’s windpipe just above his
col arbone. “Your last and ultimately fatal mistake, however,
was not walking away just now when my wifewas sincerely
trying to save your life.”
“Um, Duncan?” Peg rasped from the darkness behind
him. “I real y wish you wouldn’t do anything when you’re this
angry, because I real y don’t think I can deal with more
magic than we can handle right now.”
“You heardeverything I was conveying to you?” he
growled without taking his eyes off of Dubois. “And yet ye
stil continued to goad the bastard?”
“I … I liked your idea of turning him into a dung beetle,
even if it was just a fleeting thought. But I don’t think you
should turn him into anything Leviathan could eat, because
that might give the poor whale bel y cramps or something.”
Christ, she was going to be the death of him—or else his
salvation. Not knowing if he wanted to laugh or roar,
Duncan dropped the tip of his sword to the ground between
his feet and crossed his wrists over the hilt with a sigh,
watching Dubois slowly raise his hand to his throat. “Then
what do you suggest I do with him?”
“I … I don’t care, just as long as you don’t offend
Providence.”
“Ye like the wilderness, do you, Dubois?” Duncan asked
as he watched the wide-eyed man inching backward.
“Y-yes.”
“Then enjoy the rest of your life, you stupid bastard,”
Duncan growled as he final y released the magic.
The light of a thousand suns shattered the air with a
thunderous boom, the powerful percussion shaking the
ground in echoing rumbles. Commanding the whorls of
vibrant colors to gather in a howling tempest of tightly
focused energy, Duncan smiled in satisfaction when
Dubois simply vanished, the man’s scream of terror fading
into the nighttime sky with the retreating vortex. The light
dissipated as suddenly as it appeared but for the few
sparkles he commanded to il uminate the immediate area,
and the forest fel silent but for the whispered litany of
“ohmigods” coming from behind him.
Duncan slid his sword into its sheath as he turned and
walked to Peg, shedding his backpack to kneel on the
ground beside her. Christ, he almost wished he hadn’t kept
any of the light when he saw the bruises and scratches on
her face. He drew in a shuddering breath at the sight of her
raw and bleeding wrists when she raised her hand to cover
her swol en eye as if she were embarrassed.
“Aw hel , Peg,” he whispered thickly, careful y lifting her
into his arms. He turned to sit leaning against a tree and set
her on his thighs to cradle her against him. “I’m so sorry I
wasn’t able to bend time enough to stop this from ever
happening.”
“P-please tel me Peter and Jacob are okay.”
“They’re better than okay,” he said as he slowly
unbuckled her life vest. “Your sons are brave, strong young
men, lass.” He sat her upright just enough to careful y slide
the vest off her shoulders, hesitating when he heard her soft
hiss of pain, then final y got it off and tossed it away. “They
managed to get the motor started,” he continued
conversational y as he unbuttoned her blouse, “right after
Leviathan helped them get Hero into the boat. Then the
whale steered them toward home despite their
determination to go after you themselves.”
He slipped off her blouse, being extra careful as he
pul ed the sleeves over her bloody wrists, his gut knotting
when he heard her try to stifle another hiss. “Al your little
heathens are safe at home with your mom and aunt,” he
quietly continued as he tossed the blouse into the woods.
He raised a hand to the back clasp on her bra, only to
break into a sweat when he saw the angry bruise covering
