Fletcher: The Cursed Clan: Book 4

by Schroeder, Melissa

  “Good night, then.”

  “You’re staying up?”

  She nodded. “I don’t need much sleep, and I understood there was a lemon raspberry tart for dinner.”

  “Good night, Rena.”

  “Good night.”

  He left her in the kitchen as he made his way up to his room. Of course, he didn’t make it without running into someone. Anice’s door opened just as he passed it. Bloody hell.

  “Fletcher.”

  He only wanted to crawl into his bed and forget the day. He’d been an arse to Anice, irritated Simone, who thought he would stay the night, and had embarrassed himself in front of Rena. Still, he knew better. His twin would just follow him down the hall.

  He turned and faced her.

  “You’ve been drinking.”

  He shrugged.

  “Right. I guess we can talk in the morning.”

  He heard the disappointment in her voice. She turned away.

  “Anice?”

  She faced him.

  “I’m sorry for being an ass earlier. I was angry at you, and you know what a wanker I am when I get mad.”

  She nodded. “Tis okay, Fletcher. We are all on edge these days.”

  He knew she meant it. He pulled her into a big bear hug. “Still, I’m sorry. You are the best of us, and I cannae think what we would all do without you.”

  She sighed and returned the hug. “I love you too, Fletch.” She pulled back and studied him. “Are you all right?”

  He shook his head. “Like you said, on edge, but a good night’s sleep is what I need.”

  He kissed her forehead then let her go. He headed to his room, knowing he should shower, but he wanted to lie down for just a moment. He collapsed on the bed thinking he should have taken off his shoes.

  It was his last thought before he fell asleep.

  * * *

  Serena sat in the kitchen for a long time after Fletcher had left, her body still vibrating from his thoughts. The air gleamed with the passion from the fantasy he’d shown her. The scent of clean ocean air, along with a hint of sandalwood remained. She always associated it with Fletcher.

  For as long as she could remember, picking up people’s thoughts was easy for her, but this was a full-blown fantasy. She had been sucked into it because it had been so bloody vivid. She felt his lips on hers, felt the need flowing from him into her. She had wanted to fall into that dream, the one that promised sweet love and amazing sex. It had overwhelmed her, almost stealing all of her control. She craved him, and now that she had felt his sexual energy, she knew it was going to be even more difficult to resist him.

  She shook her head trying to clear it. Bloody hell, her thoughts were still jumbled, and her lips still tingled. Closing her eyes, she tried to get her emotions under control. If she had remained irritated with him, she might have been okay. She’d been jealous of his date tonight, barely resisting the urge to spy on him earlier. But the fact that he came home, she reasoned, Fletcher hadn’t had that romantic of a night.

  She closed her eyes and tried to get her mind on track. Fletcher was a diversion she couldn’t accept. He was beautiful, so beautiful he often took her breath away. She wanted nothing more than to slide her fingers through his golden-brown hair. Every time he spoke, she imagined hearing it as he lay on top of her, his deep brogue moaning her name as he thrust inside of her.

  With a shaky sigh, she opened her eyes. The man got to her. She had never fantasized about a man, but this one had stolen into her fevered dreams. He was very dangerous to her ability to think straight. She wasn’t a virgin, but she’d never truly had a relationship with a man. Not a romantic one. Soft kisses in kitchens was not for the likes of her. She had a duty to her family. For decades, she had been searching for Devon Breck, and now that she was close to cornering the bastard, she could not lose sight of her objective. Involving another person, no matter how immortal, would be unwise.

  Her brain was on board, but she was not sure she would ever get her heart to understand. It didn’t matter, really. She had one thing to accomplish—avenge her family’s murder or die trying. She would not accept anything less.

  Chapter Three

  The stone of love is the one stone that tests lovers the most. It seeks out those who are worthy.

  Phoebe stared at the odd passage and knew it was more important than the others she had translated earlier that day. That was because the others had been about recipes for potions and draughts, mostly all healing remedies. Some of them had been dubious in nature. These witches were not the nicest bunch.

  She stopped reading for a second and smiled. Two years ago, she had been stuck in a job she hated. She’d been bored and unfulfilled. Now she was hunting jewels by translating a diary written throughout the centuries by a family of witches. All of this was to break a curse that held her husband and his family trapped in immortality.

  She blinked and turned her attention back to the diary. She needed to get through this passage today.

  “The stone of love…”

  That had to be the ruby. She had seen references to rubies before in the diary, all having to do with love, so that had to be it. Why did these witches leave such a mess of a translation? Because they wanted to make sure the McLennans were worthy of breaking the curse? If they were worthy of breaking the curse, didn’t that mean they shouldn’t have been cursed to begin with? But, then, she wouldn’t have Callum in her life and the rest of the McLennans. They made her life so rich she couldn’t truly fathom living without them in it.

  The pair straddle two worlds, one foot in each, never feeling accepted, but when they come together, they find the answers they seek in each other.

  She sat back in her chair and looked around the office. Callum had to go out to a lunch meeting, so she was alone. Soft rain beat against the window and the fire crackled. Both of those things were making it impossible to concentrate today. She eyed the couch. She’d entered her last trimester last week and felt it down to her very tired feet. The other problem was that the next McLennan tended to be a night owl. She was barely getting three hours of sleep a night.

  She glanced down at the diary and saw another passage further down the page referencing the ruby. Nibbling on her lip, she worked on it for just a few minutes until she had an answer.

  The lovers will be challenged in every way…heart, mind, and soul. Pessimism can lead them down the path to danger.

  “Bloody hell, you crazy witches.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Phoebe looked up and found her cousin-in-law Anice staring at her. She had dressed down for the day, wearing jeans and a purple sweater that deepened the color of her eyes. She had left her hair down, the soft black curls cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. Not for the first time, Phoebe was jealous of Anice’s thick, glossy hair.

  “Phoebe?”

  She blinked, realizing she had lost her train of thought yet again.

  “Sorry. I’m frustrated with Maggie’s witchy ancestors today.”

  Anice smiled. “I can understand that. Any news from that front?”

  Phoebe shook her head, then sighed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Phoebe looked at her. She might be several hundred years older than Phoebe, but she always thought of Anice as a younger sister. There was still a bit of…not innocence, but maybe optimism that was odd for someone who was so old to still have. The male cousins all wanted to succeed, but Anice seemed convinced they would.

  “First, I feel like I have to go to the bathroom every five minutes, my feet are swelling, and I’m getting very little sleep. Add in these cryptic messages, and I just want to have a lie in and listen to the rain.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Because…well, I feel as if I let the family down when I take a nap.”

  “Do you know how you’ll let the family down?” Phoebe shook her head again. “You’ll not get enough rest for you or the bairn in your belly. Come on,” Anice said walking aro
und the desk and pulling Phoebe up out of the chair.

  Anice started to lead her out of the library. Phoebe resisted. “No, I’d rather just stay here.”

  “Are you sure? A couch over a big comfy bed?”

  “First, I have to walk up a lot of stairs to get to the bed.” Anice snorted. “Secondly, I love it in here.”

  “I should have known you would love to be surrounded by books.”

  Phoebe sat down, then laid back on the couch. “It isn’t that. Well, part of it is that. The smell of old books is one of my favorites in the world. But, in truth, it’s where I fell in love with your cousin.”

  Anice’s gaze softened. “And we are all the better for it.”

  Warmth filled her. She’d never been a woman with a lot of friends—other than her best friend Isabel—and very few confidants, but in the last eighteen months, she had gained not one, but three sisters. Then she remembered Anice’s quest. “Have you talked to Brody yet?”

  The other woman glanced toward the door, as her face flushed. “Shh, the boys might hear.”

  “I told you yesterday to tell them to bugger off.”

  “Rena said the same thing.”

  “See. Besides, Callum is in town, Angus and Logan are both at the offices, and Fletcher…well, I don’t know where he is.”

  “Probably sniffing around Rena.”

  “Yes, he does seem to be smitten by her. So, did you talk to you-know-who?”

  “No.” Phoebe opened her mouth, but Anice stopped her. “I havna seen him since we talked. I’m working from home today.”

  “On purpose?”

  “No. This was planned earlier this week. They are redoing the floors in my office.”

  “Oh, that’s right. All right.”

  After covering Phoebe with a McLennan plaid, Anice sat on the coffee table. “Doona fash yourself, Phoebe. I’ll figure it out.”

  Out of all of the McLennans, Anice had always seemed the most fragile. She was always filled with such hope, that Phoebe often worried about disappointing her the most. She knew firsthand just how horrible it was when your dreams shattered. Years earlier she thought her life was worthless thanks to her late husband. That was before she had met Callum.

  “Just don’t wait too long. I almost did, and I could have lost Callum.”

  “But do you think it was worth it?”

  “What?”

  “The thought that things could go wrong.”

  Phoebe thought of the new life growing inside of her. She had found passages that had warned against any children born from the immortals, but she refused to believe it then and now. Still, she would not give up anything for the two years she had had with Callum.

  “No. Everything I’ve risked has been worth it for time with your cousin.”

  Anice smiled. “Good.”

  “I just want everyone to have their happily ever after.”

  “Maybe some people are just not built for it.”

  Phoebe’s worry increased. Anice had always been so happy, so sure they would break the curse and win the fight. Lately, though, Anice had been going through periods of melancholy. Everyone had bad days, but Anice’s had been growing in duration.

  “Listen to me,” she said taking Anice’s hand. “Every decent person deserves happiness. Make sure to go out with Brody.”

  She smiled, some of the shadows dissolving. “He could turn me down.”

  “Then he’s an idiot.”

  Her cousin-in-law laughed, and it pushed some of Phoebe’s worries away. She squeezed Anice’s hand before letting it go.

  “Get some rest. We can have a family meeting later,” Anice said.

  “Okay. Make sure to tell everyone.”

  “So they can bother me about what it’s about?”

  “First, it’s always about the diary and the quest. But, you don’t know. Maybe I don’t know.”

  “You always know the answer, Phoebe. Just get some rest and it’ll come to you.”

  Phoebe snuggled beneath the plaid, letting her eyes close. With the rain still beating against the window, she let sleep take hold.

  * * *

  Serena backed away from the library door. She had thought to help Phoebe today, until she heard the two women talking. How could someone be that optimistic with the thought of losing their child? She had to believe that they were going to succeed. Serena knew that at this point, she would be a babbling idiot.

  “It’s wrong to eavesdrop,” Jack said.

  She jumped at the sound of his voice. Slowly she turned and found Maggie’s son only a few feet from her. He had a way of sneaking up on a person. If she had not been his target, she would admire his ability. It wasn’t easy to surprise a faery.

  “I wasna eavesdropping.”

  Jack looked up at her, squinting. He was nearing six, but he had what many called an old soul. He had empathic abilities and he could see the future. Now, she had to add sneaking up on a faery to that list.

  “What do you call it?” he asked.

  Good question. “Overlistening.”

  He shook his head. “That isn’t a thing.”

  “I’m older than you so I know it is.”

  “But when I said it, Belvidore said it wasna a thing.”

  He interjected enough of the dour butler’s brogue to sound just like him.

  “Well, there you go. He’s a man.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  This one had so many questions, but before she could answer, Fletcher took over the task for her.

  “She means, dear Jack, that men are always wrong.”

  She stared at him a long moment. For a man who stirred her senses, he definitely snuck up on her a lot too. Just like Jack. She wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. He was dressed in that old chambray shirt he was so fond of, jeans, and those bloody cowboy boots. Why did she find them so endearing?

  She shook off that question, because it did not matter. The boots, the way the man made her lose her mind, none of it mattered.

  “That they are,” she finally agreed.

  “But I am a man,” Jack said. “Am I wrong?”

  “No.” Serena leaned down. “You are wise beyond your years young Jack and being raised by a woman like your mother makes you smarter.”

  The little boy beamed up at her, his eyes sparkled. In him, Serena saw her friend, the mischievous witch who had befriended her when she didn’t want friends. This little man of hers was chipping away at Serena’s need to move on. She didn’t like staying in one place for too long, but the McLennans and her friends seemed to have some kind of hold on her.

  “Good. I wouldn’t want to be wrong all the time like Fletcher.”

  Fletcher chuckled and crossed his arms. His eyes danced as he winked at her. Her heart did that odd thing where it felt like it was somersaulting in her chest. Why? He was attractive in a way. Okay, in every way. And she wanted him in every way a man could take a woman…and she did not like it. Not one bit.

  “What? I’m never wrong.”

  Jack frowned. “But my mother keeps saying, ‘There’s something wrong with Fletcher.’”

  “Is that a fact?” Fletcher asked, trying to look very angry but making himself even more attractive.

  “Yes, and father—you know I mean Angus—says that nothing that some time alone with Rena wouldn’t fix. Is that why you are always looking for her or at her?”

  She bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh. Then, Fletcher tugged on her heart a little bit more. A flush filled his cheeks. Fletcher McLennan was blushing because of something little Jack said.

  “He’s always looking for me?” she asked.

  Jack nodded. “I mean you are kind of cool.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You can get from one place to another just thinking about it. And you are kind of pretty.”

  She laughed. “Just kind of?”

  The door to the library opened and Anice stopped in her tracks, then shut the door quietly behind her.

/>   She motioned them to follow her. They all trailed behind her until they reached the dining room.

  “What is going on?” Anice asked.

  “I was going to offer my help if Phoebe needed it,” Serena said.

  She shook her head. “I coaxed her to lay down and she’s napping. She’s not sleeping well at night.”

  “That’s because her baby boy keeps her up,” Jack said.

  The three adults in the room turned to look at him.

  “What?” Serena asked.

  “The baby boy. He is anxious.”

  “Boy?” Anice asked. She rolled her eyes. “Bloody hell, Callum will drive us batty with that fact. He’ll strut around here like he’s some kind of god.”

  “He is immortal,” Serena mentioned with a chuckle.

  Both Fletcher and Anice shot Jack a look.

  “I know about all of you,” Jack said.

  “You know it’s a boy for sure?” Fletcher asked.

  Jack gave him a look of disgust. “Of course.”

  “Apologies. I forgot who I was talking to.”

  “We have a family meeting after dinner tonight,” Anice said.

  “We do?” Fletcher asked.

  She nodded. “Come on, Jack. I heard talk that your favorite scones were being prepared for tea today,” Anice said, holding her hand out to Jack.

  He looked first at Fletcher, then Serena. “Go on, little one. Favorite scones are waiting,” Fletcher urged.

  He nodded, then took Anice’s hand and allowed her to lead him to the kitchen.

  “That boy needs to get out more often,” he said.

  “I don’t know about that.”

  Fletcher looked at her. “Why would you say that?”

  She sighed. Again, she felt a bit of her secrets tumbling out of her. Was it the mood of the rainy day or the man? Probably a little bit of both.

  “When you have empathetic capabilities, or can pick up on other people’s thoughts, huge crowds can be a nightmare until you get it under control.”

  “Speaking from experience?”

  She shrugged and started to wander away. Of course, Fletcher wasn’t going to let it go. McLennans are curious creatures. This one seemed to be the worst of the lot where she was concerned.