Page 53 of Duncan

“On the night of the family reunion banquet, that angel brother of mine clubbed me over the head and threw me off the yacht,” Nicole told her, growing angry now. “The only reason he’s sitting with Dad is so he can use the first chance he gets to murder him, too.”

Her aunt wrinkled her nose. “Oh, dear, I should have suspected as much. That boy never has been content with his lot. He set the fire that killed his parents, you know. That is the real reason why Maxwell sent him to that therapist. Hudson told him it had been an accident, but your father never trusted him after that.”

Neither of them could do anything about her brother; Merrivane was in Elphyne and Nicole was stuck in the twelfth century. “Why couldn’t you have foreseen it, or whatever it is you do? You could have come back and warned me before it happened.”

“I’m not permitted to leave our world anymore, and to be truthful, the only place you can be safe is where you are now, with your lover,” Merry said. “That Scotsman and all his people desperately need your help. He’s so handsome it breaks my heart, truly it does. He could be a Fae prince himself. Oh, if only I were young like you. You do love him with all your heart, don’t you, Princess?”

“That’s my business, not yours.” She didn’t want to think about Duncan now. “What does the healer have to do with my safety?”

“Just like you, Duncan MacMar is not what he appears to be,” her aunt chided. “You would see that if you would look at him properly. But then, you have never looked at yourself that way.” She sighed and patted her hand. “Remember that you have more than one gift—but the one?” Her gentle eyes looked directly into Nicole’s. “If you use it properly, child, nothing in this world or in any other can stop you. But only the once.” She rested her cheek against her hand. “That is all I am permitted to tell you, sweetheart. I wish I could give you more details, but even I have to obey the rules.”

“What game are you playing?” She had a sense of foreboding, although it wasn’t coming from her aunt. “I want to wake up now.”

“When the time comes, you will.” Merry lifted her hands in a palm-up gesture, and revealed the bits of wood she was holding. “Now you have to deal with these.”

“Deal with splinters. Sure, I will.” Nicole watched her aunt turn, and when the old lady faced her again she had become the tall, handsome MacMar healer. “Will you please stop messing with my head?”

Merry-turned-Duncan caught her in his arms, and pulled her against him. All around their feet the darkness grew alive with small splinters of wood that seemed to be writhing and growing larger.

“Dinnae move, lass,” the healer whispered against her temple as the darkness retreated, showing more of the strange bits of wood crawling over the stone floor toward them. “They’re newborn Fae imps.”

Nicole saw they were standing atop the chair she had dozed off in, and from the hard heat of him pressing against her she knew she couldn’t still be dreaming. “How did so many get in here?”

“I’ve collected them over time.” He nodded toward the open doors of his black cabinet. “I saw a maid in the hall before I came. Did anyone look in on you?”

“No, but I’ve spoken to Eilidh and a few of the maids before now.” She thought of the young woman that had passed her right before she’d been attacked. “Did she have bright red hair?”

“’Twasnae Meg. She’s in the dungeons with Lady Valerie.” He took hold of her arms. “I shall lift you up so they dinnae bite you. Once they bore into your flesh ’tis no saving you.”

“Wait.” She reached down, keeping her hand open, and one of the wood imps crawled up onto her palm. When she lifted it up to eye level it hissed at Duncan. “Don’t do that. The healer is a good guy. Why don’t all of you take a nap?”

The tiny creature turned and regarded her as if it could see her despite its lack of eyes. As you command, our princess.

“’Tis listening to you,” Duncan said, sounding surprised. He saw her expression and added, “I can hear its thoughts.”

“So can I. I’ve always had control over animals, and it’s something like them, I suppose.” Nicole stroked a fingertip over its back. “My aunt told me they attack humans if they threaten the trees that are sacred to the Fae. Did you say these are newborns?”

“Aye.” Duncan crouched down and held out his hand, and one of the tiniest imps hopped onto his palm. When he stood up the imp curled up like a puppy and went still. “’Tis dead.”

“Asleep,” she corrected as the one she held wrapped its tiny limbs around one of her fingers and stopped moving. When she glanced down she saw the rest of the imps had done the same. “You didn’t have this many eggs in your cabinet, did you?”

“No.” Duncan carefully transferred the imp he held to her hand before he went over to the cabinet to close and lock the doors. He then looked all around the infirmary, and went over to pick up a small basket that had tipped over onto its side by the chair where she had been sleeping. “The maid brought them in, then, and spilled them on the floor beside you.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Nicole pointed out. “If imps hate humans as much as you said, then wouldn’t they have attacked her the moment she tried to put them in the basket?”

“Only if she’s mortal.” He began picking up the slumbering imps and carefully put them in the basket before he carried it over to the hearth.

“No, don’t kill them,” Nicole said as he began to tip the basket into the fire. “I have another idea.”

She took down a large empty crock from his shelves, and brought it over to him. Together they placed all the newborn imps inside, and after assuring they’d found them all, Duncan sealed the crock with candlewax and a cork.

“’Tisnae a kindness,” he told her. “Once born, they become fixed on finding their creators. They’ll gnaw their way through the cork and attack every mortal in the stronghold, unless we burn them first.”

She didn’t want the imps to hurt anyone, but killing them only because they were dangerous seemed cruel.

“Maybe the ferryman can take them back to the mainland, and release them in a remote forest far from human settlements,” she suggested. “It’s possible that the melia who live there will take them inside their world.”

Duncan gave her an odd look. “You reckon they’d do such for imps they didnae create?”