Angus

by Melissa Schroeder

  “I understand also, but I don’t like it,” she said, her voice purring out the words. Oh, damn, he wanted to feel her body against his.

  He had meant to give her a little kiss, just a goodnight parting. But the moment his mouth touched hers, he was lost. His head spun, his body hardened. Plunging his tongue into her mouth, he drank in her taste. Exotic, alluring…it was as if she were made for him. Pressing his body against hers, he slid his hands down her back and cupped her rear end. He was busy trying to figure out a way to open the door when she moaned, bringing him back to reality.

  Her son was in the room just beyond hers and anyone could walk by. With regret, he kissed her and forced himself to pull back. She made an unhappy sound and tried to follow him. Angus would have laughed if he hadn’t been in so much pain. He’d already had her twice that day and he wanted a whole night, but that wouldn’t be possible.

  “Maggie.”

  She opened her eyes, slowly. The desire now threading through his veins was reflected in her gaze. He rested his forehead against hers.

  “I doona want to leave you but we both know I have no choice.”

  She sighed and nodded. “I know.”

  He gave her another quick kiss. “Now go, before I lose any of my good sense.”

  She said nothing else, but slipped into her room, closing the door behind her. He blew out a long breath and turned in the direction of his room. Angus had never really liked being tangled up with a woman, but with this…he didn’t seem to mind.

  * * * *

  “They are getting too close,” Fletcher said, to Logan as they enjoyed some whisky and cigars in front of the roaring fire in the great room. Phoebe had called it an early night so they felt free to enjoy the smokes. Damned woman was always complaining she smelled what she called the stench of those horrible things. Fletcher smiled thinking about his cousin-in-law.

  “I don’t think we have much say in the matter,” Logan said in that patient voice of his. While Angus and Callum had been close, Fletcher and Logan had been drawn together. They were two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways and Logan gave him a break from Anice.

  Now, though, he irritated Fletcher. Logan always did when he was being reasonable.

  “I think we need to be very careful around that woman. There’s something there she’s not telling us.” Although, his thoughts about her over the last week had changed. She might not be telling them the truth about everything, but he did know she wasn’t trying to deceive them now. She was open about her gifts and even suffered Anice and her endless questions. Besides, Fletcher was usually okay with a woman with a mysterious past. This was different, though. She was involved with the family and that presented more problems.

  Logan chuckled. “Yes, and we’ve been bloody truthful with her.”

  Fletcher shifted on his chair, trying to ignore the implication. “That’s different. Besides, I have an idea she and that boy of her knows, or thinks they know about us.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  He glanced over at Logan and studied his cousin. He’d always been the dreamer of the family, the one who could create things that none of them could see. In their darkest days, he had been the one to lift them up and keep them going.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Just what Phoebe said. She mentioned how closed off we are, how we keep ourselves distant. That is until she came along. Now, there’s Maggie…and the boy. I have to say, having the two of them around has livened up the place a bit.”

  He couldn’t deny that. Jack had been fun to play with, even if he seemed too serious for a boy his age.

  “Okay, but still. If they figure it out who knows what will happen?”

  “Oh, they’ll go to the press and sell the story. Except that she is a wanted criminal and it will make her look like she’s mad. No, we don’t have to worry about that. What we need to worry about is if she will disappear on Angus when this is done.”

  “Of course she is. You don’t think she’s going to stick around after the job, do you?”

  “I think it would be best for Angus if she does.”

  That didn’t sit well but Fletcher said nothing. Then Logan laughed. “That’s what you’re worried about, Fletch. Bloody hell, I should have seen it.”

  He watched Logan shake his head as he sipped some more at his whisky.

  “And what should you have seen?”

  “You’re worried with Callum settled down, and Angus with a woman who looks like she can put up with him, that you could be next.”

  Panic closed his throat a little and Fletcher had to swallow before he could talk. “That’s bullocks.”

  Logan smiled. “Don’t worry, Fletch, old man. I’ll fall before you and I don’t see that happening for a long time.”

  Fletcher sighed and decided not to worry about it. With their lifespans, worry gave him no relief and left his gut in knots. It was better to just sit back and enjoy the quiet moments.

  * * * *

  ““I don’t like this,” Callum said.

  Phoebe smiled at him as she held out his coat. “You love intrigue.”

  “Business.”

  “What was that?”

  He took his coat with a sigh. “I like business intrigue. Not meeting with the wanker who is the Laird of that duplicitous clan.”

  She chuckled. “If you want to know my feelings on the subject as an English citizen—”

  “You used to be English.”

  She rolled her eyes. “As I was saying, we think you are all duplicitous.”

  He scowled at her. “Is that so?”

  She laughed, the sound of it warming his soul. “Yes.”

  “And why do you see us that way?”

  “Your pillaging of course.”

  He stepped closer to her and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Is that a fact?”

  She smiled as she cupped his chin. “Indeed.”

  “I’ll show you just how bad I can be—”

  Someone cleared his throat behind Callum.

  “Go away,” he said.

  “There are tender eyes in attendance,” Angus said.

  Callum looked over his shoulder. Angus stood at the entrance with Jack and Maggie by his side. For a second it hit him, the connection Angus surely had with the lad. He followed them all around, but Jack had a special attachment to Angus.

  Phoebe was hitting him in the chest with her little fist. He turned back to her, gave her a quick hard kiss then turned around. “Are you ready?”

  “I’ve been ready, unless you need me to give you a minute or two?”

  He gave Angus a good frown. His younger cousin’s smile widened. “Let’s go.”

  Jack stopped him as he started to walk away. “Sir Callum.”

  He stopped and looked down at the boy. There had to be a little bit of his father in him, but there was a lot of Maggie there too. From the tough chin and the spine made of steel.

  “Yes?”

  “Be careful.”

  He nodded.

  Then Jack looked back up at Angus. “Make sure to watch his back.”

  Angus glanced at Maggie, as did Callum. She shrugged.

  “We’re always careful around a McWalton,” Callum said with a wink. “Let’s go, Sir Angus.”

  * * * *

  After Anice whisked Jack away for what she called some fun time, Maggie followed Phoebe into Callum’s office. She hadn’t been back in the week she had agreed to work for the Clan. It wasn’t quite as imposing as it had been the day she had arrived, but it still intimidated her.

  “Lord, he keeps it cold in here. I complain and he ignores me,” Phoebe said as she walked over to the fireplace. The flames were barely holding spark. She threw a few logs on top and fiddled around with it. “And he always lets this get too low. I don’t know if I can get this started up again.” She straightened and started to walk over to the desk, probably to call the butler.

  Irritated and ready t
o escape, Maggie decided to help matters. She waved a hand and the flames came to life. Phoebe stopped, glanced at the fireplace, then turned to her with a smile.

  “I felt the energy. How wonderful.”

  Maggie blinked.

  “Oh, you can ignore the men in this family.”

  “Kind of hard to ignore that lot.”

  Phoebe laughed as she sat in Callum’s chair. “Yes, well, I have to agree with that. Callum is the worst of the four of them.”

  “But you married him.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve always liked a challenge.”

  Maggie couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, then you have that in spades.”

  “And you don’t have to worry about holding back on your magic while you are here. I’ve a love of anything magical.”

  “Something the men in the family do not?”

  “They have a history with it.”

  Longer than they revealed to the world.

  The voice whispered over her senses. There were always half-truths in what people told her. No one was ever completely truthful, but with a witch, they tended to be more guarded. This family was buried in them.

  “And it wasn’t a good history.”

  “Yes and no. There are variables that make me want to say I am grateful for it. And I am grateful for you. We all are.”

  Maggie didn’t say anything, but there was something to be said for that. She frowned.

  “Oh, I am sure the way they act makes it hard to believe that they want you here, but they do.”

  “For the jewel.”

  “That and I think Jack has livened things up. It’s been years since there’s been a child running in the halls. And all the boys are enjoying it.”

  “Boys?”

  “Oh, they are men grown for many years, but they take life a little too seriously. Well, except for Fletcher. That man never takes anything seriously except his work. That he does.”

  “And you asked me in here to talk about them?”

  Phoebe gave her a knowing smile. “A bit, and I wanted to talk to you without them around.”

  “They do tend to overtake every single situation. It’s their way. Too much Highland Warrior flowing through their blood in that. I just wanted to get to know you better and ask you about your abilities.”

  “What about them?”

  She sat up and leaned forward, setting her arms on the massive desk between them. “What does it feel like? Now that it has returned.”

  Maggie blinked again. No one in this family ever did what she thought they would. There was something very off about them, but she had no room to talk.

  “When I lost it,” she swallowed as the feelings of loss washed over her. As she had for years, she pushed back on that, focusing on the present. “When I lost them, it was devastating. Where other people have their five senses, I always had that sixth sense.”

  “From birth.”

  She nodded. “As long as I could remember, but different than Jack. He has full use of his abilities. Mine was more of a sense that it was there.”

  “And then to lose them and your husband…and be pregnant and alone. I cannot even begin to understand what it felt like. I’ve never really been alone in my life, dealing with things like this.”

  “But you went to college at an early age.”

  “Yes, but then I was always surrounded by people.”

  “You can be in a crowd of a thousand and be alone.”

  Something moved over her expression before she nodded. “Very true. Starting college before you’re done with puberty, not to mention wrecking the curve, did not win me any friends.”

  “But you found a place for yourself.”

  She nodded. “Now back to you. Are you having any side effects?”

  “From my abilities returning to me?”

  She nodded.

  “Not really. I find I need less sleep, but that might be the jet lag. It can take me over a week to get used to a new time zone.”

  Phoebe nodded in understanding. She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I’ve found myself unable to get out of bed a lot of this week, but I think it is the weather. If we don’t get some sunlight soon, I am going to insist on going somewhere south.”

  “It must be hard being here in Scotland when you are used to spending part of your year in Egypt with your parents.”

  She opened her eyes. “Yes. But then, I wouldn’t give up the family I have now.”

  And from her tone, that was all that would be discussed. “Was there anything else you needed to know?”

  “I know that we are asking a lot of you and I want you to know that all of us would understand if you wanted to walk away.”

  The idea of leaving and facing what lay beyond the walls of the estate scared the bloody hell out of her. It had nothing to do with money, and everything to do with the evil she felt gathering.

  “Noted. I think I need to get back and go over the new security information Fletcher got me.”

  Phoebe nodded. “I’ll let you get to it.”

  Maggie left her there, her mind on the things that had to be done, and the wonder of what made Phoebe so sad when she talked of her family.

  * * * *

  Phoebe sighed as she looked out over the rainy day. “Blah, blah, blah.”

  The day was starting to get to her. Not enough sleep, her worry for the Clan starting to really affect everything she was doing. She couldn’t concentrate and she’d become as forgetful as her father.

  Another sigh escaped before she could stop it. She needed to shake off the problem. Maybe a little time with the diary would get her brain working again. She walked over to the little desk Callum had set out for her when she first arrived. The memory of his completely asinine behavior that day tugged a smile from her. How she ever fell for such an ass, she would never know.

  Unlocking the side drawer, she pulled out the diary. The moment she touched it, a flash of heat sparked up her arm. She dropped it and looked down. It was glowing as if it was plugged in.

  This time, she slipped her hand beneath the book, realizing it was just warm, not burning. She placed it on the desk and stared down at it. Opening it, she felt the heat that had shocked her at first dissipate.

  She looked back at the door, then back to the book. Excitement shimmered as a new line of the research and just what it would mean for their new friend came to light.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Angus followed Callum into the office of the newly appointed McWalton Laird. It hadn’t been their idea to meet. In the centuries they had dealt with the family, they had tried their best to avoid them.

  “I doona like this, Angus,” Callum said for the last time.

  “You didn’t have to agree and you know it.”

  He shrugged. It meant that Callum saw it as his duty to handle things like this, almost as if it was a penance for not figuring out a way for them to break the curse before now. And for not saving the world.

  Angus figured his cousin would appreciate his sarcasm.

  “I just don’t like having to be called on the carpet like I’m five years old.”

  “I don’t blame you, Lennon,” a voice said from behind them. They both turned to find the new laird watching them. Angus wondered how long he had been there.

  “I take it you’re Gavin McWalton,” Callum said. He didn’t move forward and didn’t offer his hand.

  “Yes,” he said striding forward. While the former laird had been the epitome of a lazy, drunken bastard, Gavin McWalton was lean and in excellent shape. It was the middle of the day and he was dressed in a suit and working. That was ten steps ahead of the last one. He offered his hand to Callum and for a moment, Angus was sure his cousin wouldn’t take it. But, after a hesitation, he did.

  “This is my cousin Angus,” Callum said motioning toward Angus. Gavin stepped forward and shook his hand.

  “Please, sit down. Can I get you anything to drink?”

  Both men said no and sat.

&n
bsp; “I guess you must be wondering why I set this meeting up.”

  Both of them nodded.

  “I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but I do want to clear the air.”

  “Yes?”

  “You and I both know of the curse, and we both know that while you might have aspirations of breaking it—or that’s what Keith had babbled about in the months before he died, I really don’t give a damn.”

  Angus glanced over at Callum, who narrowed his eyes.

  “Is that a fact?”

  He nodded. “I don’t really care who did what to whom over two hundred years ago. What I do know is that because of the idiocy of most of the damned lairds, we are in dire straights. Financially, I am sure you know how bad we are doing.”

  Callum nodded.

  “I want to rebuild and invest. I want to become a viable enterprise much like you have.”

  “And what does that have to do with us?” Angus couldn’t help asking.

  “Nothing. I just wanted you to know that from this point on, for as long as I am laird, you will have no problems from me.”

  * * * *

  They walked out of the building where McWalton had his offices less than thirty minutes later.

  “What do you think?” Callum asked as they waited for Belvidore to bring the car around.

  Angus glanced at his cousin. “Not sure. Either he is being truthful, which would mean he is intelligent. But, it could also be a ploy.”

  Callum nodded. “True. Canna trust a McWalton, that’s for sure.”

  “Why did you bring me along, Callum?”

  “I wanted your opinion.”

  “My opinion?” It was an odd answer. When it came to business, Callum rarely asked for anyone’s opinion. But so much had changed since Phoebe had come along.

  “You have more at stake now with Maggie and the boy.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh, stop pretending, Angus. The entire household is all atwitter over you and the witch shagging in the office.” He chuckled. “I believed Ada is a bit scandalized.”

  Oh, lord, that’s why the cook had looked at him oddly that morning. Bloody hell.

  “Nothing’s changed. When we are done, she will leave.”

  “Is that what you want?”