So he kept saying, but there was no guarantee.
“Raibeart, please,” Rory pleaded.
“The garden troll chewed holes through my favorite kilt,” he said. “I’m waiting for your ma to fix it.”
“Then wear your second favorite,” Rory said, exasperated. “I swear you’re worse than Jewel sometimes.”
Jewel was Kenneth’s daughter. She’d been born with unlimited power, and she used it as any toddler would—to force everyone into playing tea party and princess fashion show with her. Like all the men in his family, Rory knew he’d been blessed with a handsome face. However, he wasn’t sure any person could look good impersonating a cake topper in giant petticoats and chafing taffeta.
“Don’t make me regret saving ya,” Raibeart warned. “That Jewel is a blessing.”
Rory kneeled beside the woman and slipped his arms under her. She moaned as he lifted her from the ground. “Which way back to the manor?”
Raibeart had a horrible sense of direction, so Rory fully intended to walk the opposite way.
“We can’t take her to the manor.” Raibeart shuffled his feet back and forth, thrusting the knife into the air at an imaginary foe. “Your ma and Margareta won’t like ya bringing trouble into the house. They just refinished the floors after someone let the gremians in.”
“That was ya who let the gremians in,” Rory said.
“Aye, and they weren’t happy about it,” Raibeart maintained.
“We can’t leave her here.” Rory shifted her in his arms. “Do ya see a purse anywhere? Maybe she has a wallet with her address. With luck, she’ll think tonight was a weird dream.”
Raibeart dipped to look underneath her body as he searched the area. He picked up a rolled black cloth and dug inside. “Got an apron.”
“What’s in it?”
“Pen. Notepad with an order for six hamburgers. Wad of cash. Mostly ones.” Raibeart put everything back into the apron and rolled it up. “No ID. No phone.” He deposited the apron onto the woman’s stomach. “I could go for six hamburgers. Ya hungry? You’re buying.”
“We can’t leave her out here. I’ll take her to the motel. Maura will let me use one of the rooms.” Rory’s sister and brother had recently purchased the local motel. Ironically, the last owner had named Hotel in the misguided hope that it would trick people into thinking it was classier than it was. Whenever the MacGregors moved to a new town, they intended to buy up as many local businesses and properties as possible. Control over a city made it easier to keep their magick a secret. Also, it boosted local economies and gave the family members something to ease the boredom of eternity.
“Right,” Raibeart drawled sarcastically. “I have to put on a kilt to hide my glory but waking up in a motel with a strange man won’t scare her.”
“I’m not going to stay in the room with her,” Rory denied. “I am a gentleman.”
“Since when?” his uncle snorted.
“She’ll be safe at the motel. When she wakes up, I’ll have a civil conversation with her and find out why she’s upset with me.”
Raibeart nodded and went to pick up the enchanted rope, winding it around his arm. “This should hold her while we get answers.”
“We’re not tying her up.” Rory peered into the trees. He gestured the best he could and said, “Reveal yourself.”
Tiny blue lights rose from the ground, small pinpoints marking where living creatures were around them.
The largest light source danced over Raibeart, who laughed. “Oo tickles.”
The simple spell revealed what was probably a deer in the forest and several smaller woodland animals. Seeing the light coming from low on the ground, Rory nodded his head in its direction. “She was chasing a puppy when she came across me. Would ya mind rescuing the poor thing so we can find it’s home?”
Raibeart’s expression turned serious at his mission. “Aye. Leave it to me.”
Rory carried the woman down the path the way she’d come hoping it would lead them to town. He looked at her calm face. She appeared to be resting. “Let’s figure out where we are and get ya to safety.”
Chapter Four
The last thing Jennifer expected to see when she opened her eyes was a fat cherub statue smiling down at her in front of red-and-gold striped wallpaper. Her arms felt heavy like she’d been given a sedative. For a moment, she stared at the chubby cheeks and obnoxiously cute smile, waiting for the dream to end.
Any second now…
Any second…
What the…?
Jennifer screamed as full reality came over her, and she flailed into action. Her limbs tangled in the bedding, and she kicked and punched at them until they let her go. In her wild flight, she slid off the side of the bed. She crawled toward a motel room door, next to a window with drawn curtains.
“Oh, crap.”
A woman’s surprised voice behind her propelled Jennifer into further action. She pushed up from the floor and lurched for escape. In her panic, she yanked the doorknob so hard that the door smacked her in the knee. Pain radiated up her leg, buckling it beneath her. She grabbed the doorframe to keep from tripping.
“Wait, please.”
It was then she registered the woman had a Scottish accent.
Where the hell was she?
Jennifer blinked as the bright light of morning streamed over her face. Cars filled a motel parking lot. She kept hold of the doorframe for support as she turned to see who was behind her.
A woman stood, arms lifted to the side, fingers spread to show she meant no harm. Her short red hair looked wet, and droplets trailed down her temples as if she’d run the facet over her head. Tiny drops darkened the material of her green t-shirt. “My name is Maura MacGregor. You’re safe. You’re in a room in my motel. We couldn’t find any ID on ya, so we weren’t sure where ya lived.”
“I…” Jennifer looked from the red-and-gold room to the parking lot. “Is this…?”
“What?”
“A pay-by-the-hour type of motel?” Jennifer asked. “Are you a…?”
“A madam?” Maura laughed, dropping her arms. She looked around the room. “I told Bruce his romantic-honeymoon room theme was a bad idea. It looks more boom-chicka-boom than congratulations-on-your-new-marriage. But if ya think this is bad, ya should have seen the horror-movie theme he had planned. I told him no one would want to stay somewhere with a creepy-ass clown hanging over the bed.”
Jennifer automatically looked up at the ceiling. Cherubs hung off the light fixture. One of them pointed a golden arrow at her. She doubted anyone would ask to sleep under those creepy things willingly, either.
“What am I doing here? How did I get here?” Jennifer stayed in the doorframe, half in the room, half out.
“Do ya remember anything from last night?” Maura asked.
“I was walking home, and I found…” She frowned. Had she been attacked? There was a dark spot in her memory. “I was following something.”
“Your puppy? We found the little guy hiding in the trees. A couple of the maids have been keeping him company, playing with him so ya could rest.”
“I don’t have a puppy,” Jennifer said, yet she had the vague impression of trying to stop a little ball of fur from getting lost in the forest. She remembered thinking she would take him to the shelter where, hopefully, they would have someone who could take care of him. “I can’t afford a pet.”
Though she was glad to hear, the little fellow was all right.
“We should probably call the animal shelter and see if anyone is missing him,” Jennifer said. “And if not…”
“I’ll take care of it. My family does a lot of fundraising for the shelter,” Maura answered. “We’ll see if we can find his owners, but if we can’t, I promise ya we’ll look after him.”
“Thank you.” Jennifer wished she could keep the little runaway but knew it was kinder to let him go to a home with a yard and people who could care for him.
“Do ya recall anything
else?” Maura asked.
Another image flickered through her mind, that of glowing hands and balls of light. “Nothing that makes sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?” Maura prodded.
Jennifer shook her head, refusing to answer. “I don’t understand how I came to be here.”
“My brother and uncle found ya in the woods. They brought ya here to rest.” Maura crossed over to the dresser to lift something from the top. “They said ya had this apron with ya.”
Jennifer flinched and pushed into the doorframe when Maura tried to come closer. The protective action was more a reflex than anything. Maura stopped and slowly set the apron on the corner of the bed before backing away.
“They didn’t find a cellphone,” the woman said.
“I rarely take it to work with me.” No one ever called Jennifer except for work.
Jennifer looked at the apron, knowing she needed the money she had inside and yet unwilling to go fully back into the room to pick it up.
“Was I attacked?” Jennifer felt her head for injury. It still felt fuzzy. “Robbed?”
“I don’t think so,” Maura said. “There is still money in your apron. I couldn’t find anything wrong with ya. Maybe ya passed out?”
Jennifer did a mental inventory of her body. Thankfully, she didn’t feel like someone violated her. However, that didn’t account for the heaviness in her limbs and the dullness impeding her thoughts. She glanced outside, not seeing anyone in the motel parking lot. “Why here? Why not a hospital? Or call the police?”
Maura’s explanation seemed to be lacking. If Jennifer had found someone passed out in the forest, she would have called for help. There is no way she would have dragged that person, unconscious, to a motel to sleep off a hangover and hope for the best. They weren’t in the backwoods away from civilization. This was a town, with doctors and police officers and an ambulance service. The only reason people didn’t call for help was if they were hiding something.
Maura’s smile remained intact, but her eyes shifted away and then back.
“I can’t come up with a good answer for that,” Maura said at length. “I suppose because we didn’t think ya needed one. It’s probably a good thing too. If ya can’t afford a puppy, I doubt ya can afford an emergency room visit for exhaustion.”
Maura wasn’t wrong.
“My family was never big on visiting hospitals,” Maura continued. “My ma has always been a bit of a natural healer. Her name is Cait MacGregor. I can call her if ya want. She lives up on the hill in the family manor. Won’t charge ya to look ya over.”
Jennifer couldn’t say she blamed them for that. She hated hospitals. The smell of disinfectants barely hiding the sickness beneath. Unoffensive pictures of flowers in vases and meadow-filled landscapes hanging on light pastel walls. They were supposed to induce a calming effect. Sound breaking through the long silences was the worst part—monitor beeps or soft moans of pain.
The grief that hit her came in an unexpected wave. All these years later and thinking of her father’s last days could still knock her to her knees. He was the only person who had ever loved her. Well, that wasn’t fair. Her brother had probably loved her, but they had been siblings, bickering more than connecting.
“Do ya need a doctor?” Maura’s smile had fallen. She came forward, reaching out.
Jennifer pressed harder against the doorframe. The memory of glowing hands tried to surface. Her thoughts lagged. “I think I need coffee.”
“That, I can provide.” Maura picked up the apron from the bed and gestured that Jennifer should leave first. “We should have coffee in the office.”
They walked along the shaded sidewalk past the row of motel room doors. In the distance, the sound of a nail gun shot in a steady rhythm.
“Ya have a name?” Maura asked. “I feel like I should have something to call ya.”
“Oh, uh, Jennifer Greene.” Jennifer glanced around the parking lot. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
“Lived here long?”
“Not really.”
“What made ya choose Green Vallis?”
Jennifer knew the woman was trying to make polite conversation. Still, considering she’d just woken up in a place that she didn’t remember going to, talking about her geographical history was weird.
“It’s not a very exciting story,” she answered. “I had a job delivering for a bakery. Green Vallis was on my route. When word came that they were cutting back distribution, I happened to be here and saw a help-wanted sign for a waitress position at Crimson Tavern. I interviewed, and the owner offered it to me. Since having a job is better than not, I accepted. I finished my last run, drove my delivery van back, then loaded my stuff to move here. Jefferson, the owner, hooked me up with a Dale Coldwater, who had a trailer I could rent.”
Maura nodded but didn’t speak.
“I told you it wasn’t exciting,” Jennifer said. “What about you? Have you lived here long?”
“Not very,” Maura said. As if realizing she still had Jennifer’s apron, she handed it over.
“And what made you choose Green Vallis?” Jennifer fingered the apron’s contents, feeling the wad of cash and the heavier weight of change she’d made in tips the night before.
“I didn’t have much of a choice. The MacGregor clan tends to stick together, maybe a little too much. My cousin, Erik, discovered this town and bought the mansion on the hill—have ya seen it?”
Jennifer nodded. “Only from a distance. I overhear customers talking about it a lot.”
“Well, the mansion is huge, which was one of the reasons the family purchased the property. The elders moved in. My cousins moved in, and my brother Rory. Then my cousins’ new wives moved in. And, well, there are a lot of relatives living up in that madhouse. Technically, I have a room there too, but I prefer to spend most of my time down here with the normal folk.” Maura pushed at the door labeled “Front Desk” and held it open for Jennifer. A ringing phone greeted them.
“Normal folk?”
Maura didn’t respond to her question as she went to answer the motel phone.
Jennifer came from what essentially had been a family of two. She used to daydream about what it would be like to have a giant family—people always coming in and out, barbeques in the park, parties in the backyard, endless birthdays, and even bickering over the holiday turkey. Beyond that, she would wish she had someone to call during those times when taking care of her father had kept her up for days at a time, and all she’d wanted for herself was a four-hour nap.
Or to stand beside her listening to the doctors in case she missed something.
Or someone else to plan the funeral.
Or to come to the funeral, so she didn’t have to sit alone.
“Yes, sir, nonsmoking,” Maura said into the phone. “Yes, I have ya down for the twentieth.”
Jennifer half-listened to Maura’s call as she booked a guest. The front lobby was small but newly painted. A rack of brochures for local sights hung on the wall. There was even one for Crimson Tavern with a picture of tater tot nachos. The image made her think of the night before. They’d had a party of seven show up late, which made her shift last longer. It would have been fine except they’d tipped her a dollar apiece—seven bucks for two extra hours of waiting on a one-hundred-thirteen-dollar tab.
Assholes.
After her shift, she’d walked home. A puppy had run in front of a passing car, almost getting hit. She’d chased after the animal to keep it safe, knowing it was stupid to cut off the path and go into the woods alone at night. Then…
Glowing hands.
That was it. Glowing freaking hands.
“All right, sir. Will do. Uh-huh. Ya too.” Maura hung up the phone.
“I thought people booked online these days,” Jennifer said.
“Some guests like talking to people instead of machines,” Maura answered as she finished typing on the computer. She scratched behind her ear. “What were
we talking about? Oh, yeah, my crazy family in the mansion.”
“Who are ya calling crazy?” A man came from the back room.
Jennifer stiffened at the sight of him. Even without the Scottish accent, he looked related to Maura. Blond highlights tipped his brown hair, and though neatly cut, it stuck up in a messy style. The lobby felt even smaller with him in it. The air seemed to pull out of the room, and she took an unsteady breath.
The man’s green eyes met hers. A charming smile graced his lips, but his eyes carried a different emotion, a question she didn’t know how to answer. Seeing him filled her with mixed feelings. He wore a tight black t-shirt and a kilt—a freaking kilt!—that showed off his calves and knees. As a single woman who had no prospects for a boyfriend, she instantly noted his attractiveness. The man was doable, in the crassest sense of the word.
Her attraction wasn’t what alarmed her. That much was to be expected. It was the seed of rage that tried to grow. There was an itch inside her hands to punch that smile from Rory’s face.
Seriously, what the heck?
First, she had no reason to want to injure a stranger. Second, she didn’t punch people. Third, what was happening to her?
“Bloody hell, Rory, stop staring at the poor girl,” Maura scolded. “This is my new friend, Jennifer. Jennifer, ignore my brother. For some reason, he was born without manners. I begged ma to trade him for a pony, but for some reason, she kept him.”
Friend? Aside from Kay at work, that was the first time anyone in Green Vallis had used the word in relation to her. And Kay only used it when she wanted something.
“Jennifer?” Maura asked. “Everything all right?”
Jennifer made a weak noise and nodded. “Sorry, I’m a little pre-coffee.” She pushed the rage down and took a deep breath. It did little to calm the emotion. “So, Maura’s brother? You’re responsible for the cupid room?”
“Oh, hell no,” Rory denied. “That’s my brother, Cory.”
“Cory and Rory?” she repeated.
Another man joined them from the back.
“My name is Bruce. Not Cory.” Rory’s identical twin might have looked like his brother, but his hair and manner of dress were completely opposite.
A Dash of Destiny (Warlocks MacGregor Book 8) Page 3
