by Ria Cantrell
Her words snapped Derek out of his ire-fed rage. “Lass, wait!”
“Look, I don’t know who put you up to this little farce, but I want you to leave. The joke is over.”
“It would seem, lass, the joke has been played on me. I am the brunt of this farce.”
Kiera’s face betrayed her confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course ye’ wouldna’. Who could, really? This a cruel and twisted tale, Lass, and honestly, I can barely believe it myself. How can I tell ye’ when it is so fantastical to explain?"
“Well, you had best try, because I am losing my patience.”
“I will try, Lass, if ye’ will agree to listen.”
“I am listening,” Kiera said.
She knew she should have been scared to death. After all, there was huge intruder wearing a costume acting very strangely standing before her, but for some reason Kiera did not feel afraid. Besides, even crazy guys that looked as good as this one did couldn’t be all bad. Kiera watched him as he seemed to struggle how to say what he wanted her to hear. She sighed and said, “Well?”
“Well, lass…I…dunna’ know how to say this…but, well--”
“Go on. What?”
“Bloody hell, ye’ are a bossy little thing. Give me a minute. T’is bad enough I have had to learn the horrible truth about what the bloody Guardians have done. It isna’ like I am used to bein’ seen, ye’ know.”
“Oh, not that ‘ye can see me’ crap again. And just what do you mean by Guardians? Like angels?”
“I certainly wouldna’ call them angels, Lass. And, well ye’ can see me. T’is been nearly seven hundred years since someone has been able to.”
Kiera’s eyes widened. Either he was really good at playing this game or he was truly and completely crazy. Seeing that she looked like she was going to run or scream again, Derek blurted out, “I’m a ghost.” Then as if saying it out loud finally and truly validated the fact, he murmured softly, “Sweet Jesus Christ…I’m a ghost.”
“You are most definitely not a ghost. I can see you as clearly as any man. I think you may be drunk or mad, but you are most definitely not a ghost.”
“Lass, I am not a man any longer.”
Where had she heard that before? Had she dreamed of just such a thing? This was starting to truly creep her out.
“You are the biggest man I have ever seen. Stop this crazy talk.” With a small grin, Derek said, “Thank ye’, Lass.”
Shaking her head, Kiera was beyond annoyed at this point. Now he was being a typical egotistical male. All they ever cared about was how big they were. Rolling her eyes, she said, “Why do you think you are a ghost? Or who told you to be a ghost to scare me?”
“Lass, I am not trying to scare ye’. I am what I have said. It is a long story and I am sure I can tell ye’ over time, but ye’ have to believe me.” Feckers, he barely believed it himself.
Kiera laughed and she said, “I’ll show you that you aren’t a ghost and that I most definitely do not believe you.”
Kiera strode up to him, with her hands on her hips and she thought, “Well if he wants to play this game, I am going to call his bluff.”
She was going to plant a kiss on his gorgeous mouth and prove he was very much alive. But as she was about to throw herself at the man, her hand seemed to pass through him. She caught herself before she tumbled down. Now, it was he who crossed his arms over his chest and smugly said, “See.”
“What the hell kind of trick is this? Where is the projector? I get it, this is a tourist trick.”
“Lass I dunna’ know where the item is that you speak of, but I assure ye’ this is no trick. The Ancients do not have a sense of humor. Look, I am Gavin Campbell’s grandson. I lived in the flesh a very long time ago, but was cursed to walk these walls and grounds until they find me worthy of redemption. I dunna’ want to scare ye’, but I have been waiting for ye’ for quite some time, Lass. Ye’ dunna’ know how long I have been waiting.”
When he said those words, Kiera suddenly knew that this was not a trick at all. No one knew about those words she had been told in a dream. She never told a soul about it and she suddenly remembered him speaking just such a thing to her in that dream when she stumbled upon him in that tower. She looked at him and he seemed whole and solid but as her ill-fated kiss proved, he was not.
“Y-you really are a ghost--”
“Aye, in a matter of speakin’, Lass. I think I may be given a chance to regain my physical body once I am found worthy. But fer’ now, I am as ye’ see me.”
“But I see you whole and--”
“Ye’ saw what happened.”
Kiera nodded dully, not able to take her eyes off this beautiful apparition. With a very sexy grin; too sexy a grin for a ghost to have, in fact, he said, “Were ye’ tryin’ to kiss me, Lass?”
Blush flooded her face and she said hastily, “Of course not.”
“Aye, ye’ were, Lass. Weren’t ye’? Do ye’ always kiss strange men that intrude upon ye’?”
“No, well no. I--”
“T’is alright, Lass. I almost wish ye’ could have. It has been nearly seven hundred years since I was kissed by a lass, too. And probably never one as bonnie as ye’.”
Kiera, who was not usually prone to bouts of temper, stomped around and cursed, “Fucking great! I get to live in a fairy tale castle but it comes complete with my own version of the Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This is just great!”
“Lass, there is no need to be insulting. The Campbells may have done some misdeeds, but even we were better than those back stabbing Muirs.”
Kiera eyed him angrily and she turned her back on him and strode into her apartments. Following her closely, Derek said, “Where are ye’ going?”
“I need a strong drink.”
She stormed into the living quarters and pulled a bottle of wine from the small fridge. Pouring herself a full glass, she plunked down in the chair beside the fire place. She took a deep drink of the wine and waited for the calming effect of it to steel her. Derek watched her silently as she continued to eye him with something that looked like disgust, but not really disgust…more like total ire. The lass was positively livid.
“Lass--”
“Just shut up. I need to process this. Just let me think for a minute.”
She thought she heard him murmur something that sounded like bossy Sasquatch. Kiera grumbled, “What did you just call me?”
“Nothing, Lass. Go on, process, process,” he said with a dramatic wave of his hand.
“Well don’t just stand there.”
“What would ye’ have me do, Lass?”
“Can you sit?”
“Aye,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, that’s right. I saw you sitting in this very spot. The cooking staff think I am quite off my rocker, thank you very much.”
Derek did not know that expression, but he gathered it meant she was mad. He smiled at the way those words sounded. He suspected there were going to be lots of words that would amuse him in this time and he could not wait to learn them. In truth, he hoped her little tantrum would end soon because now that it was out in the open, he could not wait to really talk with her. He had been a man of few words in life, but with seven hundred years of isolation, Derek was surprised how he actually longed to converse and all the better if he could converse with this beautiful woman. He could not take his eyes off of her.
He settled himself across from her and just watched her as she drew a big mouthful of the wine. She continued to glare at him and then she finally ground out, “Can you drink? Would you like some wine?”
He shook his head silently.
“No you can’t drink or no you would not like some wine?”
“I canna’ drink, lass. Or for that matter eat, but aye, I would like some wine.” Holding the glass out to him, Kiera said, “Maybe you can. Try.”
Derek’s fingers passed over her hand and she watched miserably as she merely felt a cold whisper where she
should have felt the warmth of his touch. He was able to grab the wine glass, though, which was puzzling. He took the wine glass up to his lips, but was not able to drink, as he suspected. He carefully held the wine glass back to her. Taking it back in her own grasp gave her a sense of plucking the glass from the floating air. She uttered another oath and downed another swallow. Kiera then drained the glass, gulping the rest of it down. She poured herself another full glass and she said, “So how old are you?”
He did not know why that was her first question but any question was at least a start. He mentally counted the years off in his mind.
“I suppose, technically, I would be…what year did ye’ say we were in?”
“2013.”
“Right, well that would make me 674 years old, I reckon.”
Through her clenched teeth, Kiera said, “How old were you when you--”
“When I died? It’s alright, Lass. I have had a long time to accept it. I had lived a score and ten plus another four years upon my demise.”
“A score…that is twenty, right? That would make you 34.”
“Aye.”
“And how did you…you know….”
“Meet my end?”
Kiera nodded.
“A bloody feckin’ tree limb broke while I was perched on it.”
Taking a big gulp of the wine, and peering at him over the rim of the glass, Kiera said rather nastily, “Hmmph, not such a manly way for a warrior to go.”
“Ye’ dunna’ need to remind me. I was battle hardened and to have it end thus was humiliating. And how did ye’ know I was a warrior?”
“Just a good guess.”
Swallowing the second glass down and pouring herself a third, Kiera did not feel her mood getting any better. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
“Does yer’ head ache, Lass?”
Thinking that, when she opened her eyes, her unexpected guest would be gone. Upon hearing his voice again, Kiera’s eyes snapped open and she glared at him in disbelief once more.
“Yes my head aches. I mean Jesus age Christ! Wouldn’t your head ache if you found yourself living with a man who died over six hundred years ago?”
“Perhaps ye’ shouldna’ have any more to drink. T’is only fixin’ to make yer’ head hurt further.”
“Kindly do not tell me what I should and should not do. Why is it that men, no matter what century they are from, think they know what is best for women?”
Arching an eyebrow, Derek did not rise to the challenge. He merely said, “I was only tryin’ to help, Lass, Ye’ needna’ get tetchy with me.”
“Kiera,” she grumbled.
“What?”
“My name is Kiera.”
“Pleased to make yer’ acquaintance, Lass…I mean Kiera.”
She nodded, still somewhat in shock at having a spectral visitor and still quite perturbed to say the least. She said, “How is it that I can understand you?”
“We do speak English, Lass.”
“I realize that, but if you lived so long ago, I would think that our versions of English would be quite different.”
Derek shrugged. He did not know how they came to understand each other, but he was glad that they could. He suddenly wanted to understand everything this beauty had to say, even in her piqued manner. He tilted his head and his dark hair brushed his broad shoulders. To Kiera, Derek looked the picture of a healthy, buff man. Well, Kiera thought. If I have to live with a ghost, at least he is a drop dead gorgeous one. Oops, drop dead.
Kiera began to chuckle at the ironic joke. Drop dead. Suddenly, as the shock wore off, Kiera could not stop the laughter that bubbled out of her at that thought. It started slowly and built up to a full guffaw. Derek now eyed her as if she was the one who had gone quite insane or perhaps she was a little drunk, after all. Still, her laughter was like the sound of ethereal music to his ears. Drunk or not, he was glad for it. How he had missed the sound of laughter.
“Is something funny, lass,” Derek asked quietly, slightly smirking at Kiera’s own private joke.
Calming herself a little, she said, “Never mind. I think you would not find the humor in it at the moment.”
With a crooked half smile, Derek did not know what had caused her to laugh, but it lightened his heart. Almost as soon as it had started, though, she seemed to sober and she angrily asked, “So, will you be watching my every move? Will you trying to scare me and my tourists?”
“Tourists?” Derek played with the word that he was not sure he understood after all.
“Yes. The visitors that come to see the Keep?”
“Visitors come to see the Keep?”
Kiera rolled her eyes. Oh boy, this was going to be difficult.
“Yes, visitors. They pay a fee and I take them on a tour of the place.”
Pointing a finger in his handsome face, Kiera snapped, “I don’t want you scaring the visitors! You practically scared the other tour guide to death. I am assuming it was you throwing things about to scare them or do I need to know if there are other ghosts roaming the place.”
“Nay, lass. It was me. I am the only one, as far as I know. Perhaps I may no’ know of others, though. The Guardians are very cruel at times.”
“The Guardians…why do you keep saying that?”
“Lass, it is a long story. The Guardians locked me in this state until I atone for my deeds of the past. They have kept me here all this time.”
“Why? What have you done?”
With a sheepish grin, Derek said, “Lass, ye’ dunna’ want to know.”
“Well, given the story of your temper tantrum with the other tour guide, I gather you have a ways to go.”
Kiera saw his visage change at the mention of his continued punishment. He said curtly, “Why do ye’ think it was my temper that scared the woman?”
“You broke things. They say things flew about and I gather you were prone to throwing them. Something must have made you do that. It was not something that a peaceful spirit would do.”
“Nay, I suppose it was not. I didna’ want to frighten the lass. But it is as ye’ say. I was angry.”
“Why?”
When Derek thought about that little episode, he remembered all too well why he was drawn into that show of temper. It was because of her. This MacCollum offspring. He was not going to tell her that. He realized the cruel irony of it all was just that. This girl was sent to save him. He knew that, too.
“Lass, dunna’ ask me that now. I canna’ tell ye’. Please tell me yer family name?”
“Why should I tell you anything if you won’t explain what caused you to be so angry as to destroy valuable property?”
“Bloody hell…it was only a few pottery jars,” he replied, feeling suddenly as exasperated as the lass seemed to be.
“Perhaps in your time their value was not notable, but in this time, things from the ancient world are worth more than you could understand.”
“Then, I am sorry for that. I didna’ mean to destroy anything of value.”
Kiera noted a sense of regret in the man’s voice. Ghost’s voice, she corrected in her mind. Ghost or not, he was most definitely the most male presence she had ever met. It was easier for her to think of him as a man. The way he looked at her was very definitely male. He softly asked again, “Please tell me yer’ family’s name.”
“Why is that so important for you to know?”
“It just is.”
“Callum. It’s Callum. I am Kiera Callum.”
Derek replayed the word in his mind over a few times. It was confirmed; she was somehow descended from the MacCollum clan. Devil take him! At the risk of bringing on a fresh bout of temper, Derek worked to tamp it down. He knew that despite his lingering hatred from the past of all things MacCollum, this was the girl sent to aid in his plight. He had to put the old hatreds aside or all would be lost. Besides, she probably knew nothing of the struggles of his clan with the MacCollum.
Kiera saw something in Derek’s expre
ssion at the mention of her name that caused an involuntary shudder to pass through her. It was as if she had uttered a terrible profanity that invoked the bitterest of memories. Clearing her throat, she said, “Does my name offend you for some reason?”
“Actually, it does, but that is no fault of yers’.”
With that statement, Kiera laughed scornfully.
“Really? My name offends you? I should be the one offended. I am stuck in this job for the moment with a most unwanted guest and my name offends you!” It was not a question.
Tipping his head to look at her, he raised sad eyes to her and he said, “I am sorry, Lass. I didna’ mean to offend ye’. I will try to explain. In my time, my enemy was the MacCollum clan.”
“Crap!”
Kiera already knew she was descended from that name. She had since done some research on the history of her name, upon meeting Moira, and she learned that the MacCollums originally came from Ireland and were thought to be followers of St. Columba or Columcille. Her family name had changed as was suspected, at the shores of Ellis Island. Now, this ghostly man was confirming that she was a descendent of his most hated enemy. She was stuck in a haunted castle with a ghost that hated her. “Shit,” she cursed. Derek took a labored sigh and he said, “I think our clans no longer war.”
“No. They do not. There are no clan wars now, as far as I know.”
“No wars?”
“No clan wars. There are still wars in the world, but none amongst the Clans. I suspect there is nothing more than clan rivalry now.”
“That is good. Very good to know, lass.” That information seemed to surprise, but comfort him for the moment.
“Yes, but it still does not change how you feel about me or my family.”
Drawing still another labored sigh, Derek said, “Nay, but I realize now ye’ had nothing to do with the wars of men from the past. I need to forget that now. Much time has passed. The past t’is of no use to me, now. Besides,” he said with a smile, “Ye’ are very pretty, Lass. I think I shall enjoy.…”
“Whoa, just wait a minute. You are not going to enjoy anything. I have a job to do and I made promises to people who are counting on me to take care of the place. You are not going to enjoy anything, do you hear me?”
