Morgan mimicked Mercedes’ amble and slowly made his way over to Callum and Charlotte. He grabbed the canoe and pulled the boat sideways to the bank, then reached in and lifted Charlotte out so she wouldn’t get her feet wet.

Charlotte squeaked much the way her daughter was prone to do and blinked up at him with eyes the mirror image of Mercedes’.

Morgan stepped onto the bank and carefully set Charlotte down, then shot Mercedes a grin. Quickly recovering from her fluster, Charlotte ran to her daughter and gave her a motherly hug.

“I’ve been so worried,” Charlotte whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. She pulled back and took her by the shoulders. “Your cabin was ransacked.”

Mercedes reversed their positions, taking her mother by the arms. “Someone broke into my cabin? When?”

“Yesterday morning,” Callum said, straightening from pulling the canoe onto the beach.

He looked at Morgan, then at Mercedes. “We were coming out to visit you, lass, when we discovered the destruction. And your mother,” he said, waving a hand at Charlotte,

“would have no rest until she knew you were safe.”

Mercedes turned her shocked gaze back on her mother. “Who would do something like that? I had nothing worth stealing.”

“It looked to be more vandalized than robbed,” Callum said before Charlotte could respond. “It appeared as if the man was looking for something.”

“The Dolan brothers were a half day behind us,” Morgan interjected. He looked at his cousin. “You said one man.”

Callum shrugged. “There might have been more. I could find only one set of footprints.

They belonged to a small but heavy man, maybe two hundred pounds.”

“It was not Harry and Dwayne,” Sadie said, glaring at Morgan. “It was a stranger.”

“What makes you so sure?” he asked. “Do you have any idea who would have done this? Other than the Dolans, is there anyone else looking for this gold?”

Sadie shook her head. “Not that I know of. For years the only people who even believed Jedediah’s mine exists were my dad, the Dolans, and Eric Hellman.”

Morgan walked over to her. “Now you will take my warnings seriously, Mercedes?”

Before she could answer him, her mother was poking her in the arm, trying to get her attention again. “There’s a dead moose over there,” Charlotte whispered, pointing down the beach.

Sadie quickly looked back at Morgan, nodded, then turned and led her mother over to see the moose. As Morgan and Callum followed, Morgan let his gaze scan the area.

Morgan suspected that the danger he had seen in thedrùidh’s vision was coming closer.

Callum nudged Morgan’s shoulder and motioned with his head that he wanted to speak to Morgan alone. Morgan looked to see that the two women were deeply engrossed in a discussion over the dead moose. Satisfied that they would have some privacy, Morgan walked a short distance away, and his cousin followed.

“Tell me how I can help,” Callum said quietly, keeping a small part of his attention on the women. “I’ve brought guns if you need them.”

“What makes you think I need a gun?” Morgan asked.

Callum grinned. “It’s been more than eight hundred years, cousin, but not so long that I’

ve forgotten that look.”

“What look?”

“You’re guarded, Morgan. Feeling hunted. And you’re wearing the look of a man who is about to turn the tables and do some hunting of your own.” Callum rubbed his hands together, suddenly looking downright cheerful. “And I wish to help. Nay, I demand to help. I could use a rousing fight just now.”

“I am not hunted,” Morgan snapped, darting a look at the women to make sure they hadn’t heard him. They had moved back to the canoe Callum and Charlotte had arrived in and were rummaging through the gear. He looked back at Callum.

“It’s Mercedes who’s being hunted. That her cabin was ransacked is proof enough. And I think the gold is the reason she’s in danger. Either that, or someone doesn’t want the wilderness park to be built.”

“Besides you?” Callum drawled.

“That’s different. I can stop the park from happening without endangering Mercedes.”

“Why are you so against this park to begin with? It’s only a small part of our land.”

“My land,” Morgan shot back. He let out a tired sigh and attempted to rub away the tension slowly building in his neck. He needed to make Callum understand.

“That gorge is special,” Morgan told him, deciding it was time to reveal his secret to Callum. Only then would his cousin be able to comprehend the scope of the problem.

“The waterfall comes from that mountain pond where Daar’s staff was thrown,” Morgan continued. “And everything around it has changed somehow. The trees have grown taller, the trout are the size of salmon, and even the granite of the gorge itself has been altered.”

Callum took a step back. “By thedrùidh’s magic?” he whispered, his face drawn pale.

Morgan nodded. “Aye. From his old staff. But Daar has no wish for Grey to know this.

He fears what my brother might do.”

“Grey will likely dynamite that pond,” Callum said, nodding agreement about their laird’s determination that Daar’s staff never reappear. “So this is why you asked Grey for that land? To protect the old priest?”

“Something like that,” Morgan muttered, looking back at the women. They were unpacking the canoe, and by the looks of the gear, Charlotte was planning to stay for a month. He turned back to Callum. “People would wander out of the park and discover the gorge. And that would bring even more people.”

Callum could only shake his head. “If Charlotte ever discovered that something like this was connected with us, she would never agree to marry me.”

“You don’t intend to tell her about our past?” Morgan asked.

Callum looked downright appalled. “Hell, no,” he ground out, shaking his head again.

“You saw what happened when MacBain told Mary Sutter. The woman ran away and got herself killed.”

“Grace knows,” Morgan reminded him. “And she still married Grey anyway.”

“Grace is a scientist,” Callum said, getting defensive. “And scientists are used to discovering wonders. They understand that there is something driving the forces of nature that can never be explained. Tell me, are you intending to tell Sadie about your past?” Callum asked quietly, turning the question back on Morgan.

“I do not like deception,” Morgan said. He sighed and kneaded the muscles in his neck again. “I don’t know,” he said more calmly. He grinned. “I thought about getting her pregnant first,” he admitted.

Callum looked appalled again. “And you don’t think that’s deceptive?”

“It might be a good plan. I’ve already claimed her. A babe would only bind us together more tightly.” Morgan broadened his grin. “Are you saying you haven’t thought that maybe a bairn would hurry your courtship along?”

Callum actually looked sick. “I could never do that to Charlotte,” he whispered. “She had to get married at sixteen when she became pregnant with Sadie. I could not force her into another marriage that way.”

Morgan didn’t have the heart to tell Callum that it was too late, that Charlotte already carried his child. Besides, that was Charlotte’s duty.

“I could use your help,” Morgan said, changing the subject. Telling their women they were eight hundred years old was a personal decision that each of them eventually would have to make. But not today. “I need to get that moose taken care of,” Morgan continued. “And it seems I have to notify the authorities that I killed it. If you could help me do that, I would be grateful. I have no wish to leave Mercedes unguarded right now.

Not with the news you’ve brought us.”

“You killed the moose with your sword?” Callum asked, knowing full well that Morgan rarely carried a gun. “Tell me, what does Sadie think of your weapon?”

Morgan shrugged. “She seems to be getting used to it.”