out, only to yelp when she kept right on sliding—only to be

snatched up and hauled back into her seat.

“Aye, I can see how unrattled ye are,” he said with a

laugh. “Stay put.”

He got out and walked around the truck, his face

completely serious when he reached her door. “Do me a

favor and just walk away without looking back, okay?”

“It … it’s that bad?”

He nodded and took hold of her shoulders and slid her

out, then pul ed her into his embrace. “I’m sorry, Peg. But ye

need to give the truck credit for keeping us safe.” He turned

while slipping his arm around her with his hand grasping

her waist, closed her door, and started walking toward

Bottomless only a few yards away.

“My purse.”

She heard the truck give a mournful beep and realized

he’d pressed a button on the key fob in his pocket. “We’l

get it later. I was wondering,” he said conversational y, “if

you’ve given any more thought to believing in the magic?”

Okay; mundane conversation was good. “Wel , I might

believe,” she said, wrapping her arm around his waist when

she realized she real y was wobbly, “if a house fairy were to

make a special delivery up on that knol overlooking the

fiord.”

His arm around her tightened and he steered her toward

the path that ran behind the stores. “The magic prefers to

be more subtle, I’m afraid, and having a house standing on

a lot that was vacant the day before is a bit much. I was

thinking more along the lines of the kind of magic a person

feels when they realize they’re right in the middle of

something wonderful happening.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You mean like walking

into a hospital to give birth to your third child and walking

out with two babies?”

He looked down in surprise. “Ye didn’t know you were

having twins?”

“Nope. We were al set to bring Peter home, but when

Jacob popped out, Bil y shouted, ‘Oh God, it’s a repeat!’

That’s how the poor kid got his nickname.” She smiled up

at him again. “Is that the kind of magic you’re talking about?

Because personal y, I don’t think there’s anything subtle

about having twins when you’re not expecting them.”

He turned them onto a newly constructed boardwalk

stretching across the low tide and continued down to a set

of floating docks. “Maybe not subtle,” he said with a

chuckle, “but ye have to admit it counts as something

wonderful.” He stopped, turning her to face him. “That’s the

magic I’m talking about; wonderful … surprises.” His grip

on her shoulders tightened slightly, and there was just

enough moonlight for her to see the planes of his face grow

more pronounced. “I’ve a favor to ask ye, lass.”

Peg tensed at the seriousness she heard in his voice.

“What?”

“I would ask that ye trust me enough to get in a boat and

go for a little ride with me.” He grinned, but it didn’t come

anywhere near his eyes, and his grip tightened again when

she tried to step away. “I was going to ask you to go after

the meeting, but I believe it would be best if we leave right

now.”

“Go where?”

“To my mountain. Can ye trust me enough to wil ingly get

in the boat, Peg?”

She dropped her eyes because she couldn’t quite face

the intensity in his any longer. For the love of God, what was

he doing? “I … I’d rather not. I feel just fine now, Duncan,”

she rushed on, looking back up at him. “And we need to tel

the sheriff what just happened.”

He pul ed her forward into an unbreakable embrace the

moment she tried to pul free, and Peg felt his chest expand

on a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, lass,” he murmured as one of

his hands slid up her back to her neck. “Christ, I’m sorry,”

he growled against her forehead just as Peg felt pressure

on the base of her neck and her legs buckled and

everything went black.

Chapter Nineteen

Duncan was so goddamned sorry he was shaking

with anger—at himself, at his mountain, and at Providence

for giving him such a contrary woman. But mostly he was

angry at Mac for orchestrating this entire mess and then

walking away. The bastard better hope he didn’t find the

instrument of his power, because he was going to use it to

blow the top off Mac’s mountain and then his own and cave

them into that damned fiord. Duncan gave one last glance

around as he sped up the mirror-calm waterway past the

pit, then looked down at Peg cradled against his chest.

Christ, she appeared so damned vulnerable, he wanted to

roar for what he was doing to her.

She’d dressed up tonight—more for him than for the

meeting, he was afraid. He real y wished she hadn’t,

though; she needed rugged clothing for their little …

adventure. He snorted, wondering if she’d see it as

something magical or a short vacation in hel .

He had clothes for her in the backpack he’d stashed in

the front of the boat this afternoon when he’d rented it off

Ezra. A bigger boat this time, and faster. He’d packed two

outfits for Peg because he didn’t know if they’d be gone a

day or a week, but he’d purchased them at a store in

Turtleback so Ezra wouldn’t get suspicious of his shopping

for women’s clothes. He leaned forward to glance down at

her feet, hoping he’d bought the correct size boots. He was

thankful he’d thought of them at the last minute, seeing how

she was wearing shoes with a slight heel.

She was going to kil him when she woke up, then

probably tie a rock around his neck and deep-six him just

like she had her van. Hel , he was tempted to save her the

trouble and jump in the water right now and hope the whale

swal owed him whole. Surely Peg was capable of driving

the boat back all by herself.

Duncan broke into a cold sweat as he pictured her

crawling into that cramped cave—out of his sight, knowing

he couldn’t get to her if something happened.

Oh yeah, he had already damned himself to hel , but did

he real y have to take her with him? He had, in fact, decided

not to when she’d handed over the keys to her truck and

climbed in without so much as a scowl. And his decision

had been reinforced when she’d gotten al sassy about

letting him build her new house. But then they’d been

ambushed and Duncan had realized Peg was the target,

and he’d known deep in his gut that he couldn’t keep her

safe without the magic. But to get it before al hel broke

loose, according to Mac, he needed her less broad

shoulders and smal er hands.

Dubois and Jenkins were loggers as wel as what

passed for local hoodlums, and if they decided they didn’t

want to be arrested, an army of sheriffs wouldn’t be able to

find them. Duncan was pretty sure the magic could, though,

once he got his hands on it and accepted his cal ing—

whatever in hel his cal ing was.

He’d had a long talk with Ian when he’d gone home last

weekend, and his nephew had told him that he hadn’t

known he’d had a cal ing, either, until good old Roger de

Keage had al but hit him over the head with it. But Ian had

assured Duncan that the moment he’d touched the staff

Roger had given him, he’d instantly understood the ful

scope of his power and how to control it.

Christ, he hoped that’s how it was going to work for him,

because he real y needed some clarity about what he was

doing. He sighed, wondering if Peg might be wil ing to