“’Tis nothing. I wanted to be alone with ye for a moment, ’tis all.” She sidled closer to him and said, “Kiss me.”
***
Maggie stood in the shadows and watched as Dylan kissed Brielle. To her eyes, it appeared to be a tender kiss, one that spoke of love and promise.Herlove and promise, damn it! She fought hard against the urge to disrupt the couple’s idyllic moment.I should be the one he’s kissing.The thought ofthe sweet kisses she’d shared with Dylan back in Glendaloch assailed her, nearly shattering her fragile composure. Maggie should never have let Dylan leave. She had stupidly encouraged his sense of adventure. She’d let him go, expecting that when next she saw him she would run to his waiting arms and their love would bloom into the happily-ever-after she’d always dreamed of. Instead, she found herself at Breaghacraig, spying on him as he kissed the woman intent on destroying him and the entire clan.He must be blind,she thought.How can he nae see that she isnae me? Surely one look in her eyes would be enough for him to recognize the truth.Fists clenched and eyes tightly closed, Maggie was steaming mad. The tension was rolling off her body like waves crashing the seashore and the horses sensed her anger. They snorted and danced nervously around her. “Shhh… ’tis fine. Calm yerselves,” she soothed. She purred to them like a kitten; a trick she knew would work to settle their harried nerves. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didnae wish to upset ye.” The horses visibly relaxed and that was Maggie’s cue to do the same. “If this is what is meant to happen, then so be it. I will just have to accept that love may not be for me and perhaps neither is Dylan Sinclair.”
***
Dylan found himself lowering his head and cradling Maggie’s face in his large hands. He hadn’t planned on kissing Maggie, but somehow he found himself doing so. He gently kissed her lips. Maggie kissed him back with great passion and intensity, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him, but for Dylan, the kisses fell flat. There was no spark, no connection. Where had it gone? In Glendaloch, he had been so sure of it, but now it was all wrong. This appeared to be Maggie, but she was a really bad version of Maggie. The Maggie he met inGlendaloch had been sweet and engaging, smart and funny. Now she seemed distracted most of the time, and when she kissed him, her purpose wasn’t clear. It was as if she was trying to prove something to him. But what? The sound of the horses, whinnying nervously made Dylan stop their kiss abruptly. “We should get back,” he said, casting his gaze towards Alec and the horses.
Maggie’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “Why? They’ll not miss us yet. I dinnae wish to stop.” She smiled coyly and traced his jawline with a soft finger.
“Maggie, this isn’t the time or the place.” He glanced back over his shoulder at Alec, who now stood perfectly still, holding the horses. What an odd expression he had on his face. It was a mixture of sadness and anger—or so it appeared.
“Don’t worry about him,” Maggie insisted. “The wee lad looks like he might need to sleep a bit.” As if on cue, Alec yawned and rubbed his eyes. “See there, heissleepy.” She laughed, the sound sharp and cackling as she reached up and kissed Dylan again.
Breaking away from her, Dylan spoke with more vehemence than he’d intended. “Maggie, I’m serious, we need to leave.” He was feeling utterly disillusioned. This was not what he wanted and sadly, it seemed that neither was Maggie after all. Maybe he wasn’t the kind of guy who could fall in love. He never had before and prior to that brief glimpse back at the inn, he’d never given it much thought. He’d always been happy with his commitment-free life, but Maggie had opened his eyes to the possibility of a partner for life and then, before he’d had an opportunity to experience what it truly meant to be in love, it had disappeared.
Dylan grabbed Maggie’s hand roughly and pulled her towards the horses, where a dazed looking Alec still stood waiting. “Are you alright, Alec? You look like you might pass out,” Dylan observed.
“I be fine. Just verra tired all of a sudden. I dinnae ken why,” he said, as he yawned again.
“We’ll be heading back to the castle now. You can rest when we get there.” Dylan gave Maggie a leg up onto her horse, carefully avoiding eye contact.
“Thank ye, love,” Maggie cooed. Dylan fought the urge to cringe. As he turned to his own horse, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Alec swaying on his feet. Reacting swiftly, he reached Alec before he hit the ground and the young lad collapsed into Dylan’s arms.
“Oh, my,” Maggie exclaimed, although she hardly seemed alarmed. “I guess we’ll need to stay here for now.” She started to dismount, but Dylan put up a hand to stop her.
“Let me try to wake him. The poor little guy must be exhausted. Alec? Alec, wake up!” Dylan gently shook him, but had no luck. Alec continued sleeping deeply. “Something’s wrong,” Dylan muttered to himself. He threw Alec over his shoulder, amazed at how soundly he was sleeping and by how light he was. He briefly recalled what Maggie had suggested about Alec being a woman, but right now, it was more important to get back to the castle.
Maggie appeared to be in quite a huff as she watched Dylan get himself onto his horse, shifting Alec around until he had him settled comfortably in front of himself. Dylan called softly to Alec’s horse and when Blue was close enough, he leaned over to grab the reins in order to pony her alongside.
“Maggie, I have something I need to ask you,” Dylan carefully guided the horses through the brush.
“Of course. Anything,” Maggie responded, with a thin smile on her lips.
“Did you put some sort of spell on Alec?” Dylan suddenly asked. “You know, to make him sleep?” Dylan cast an uneasy glance back at Maggie, who seemed startled by his question.
“Why would I do that?” she asked. She had quickly regained her composure and appeared quite peeved by his question.
“I don’t know. I just wondered. Don’t you think it’s rather odd that Alec would fall into such a deep sleep?”
“I did nothing to Alec. If anyone is up to something, I believe ’tis Alec himself. Ever since he’s arrived, all sorts of strange things have been happening. I cannae believe you would accuse me of, of—” Maggie sniffled and brushed a nonexistent tear away from her cheek.
Dylan suddenly felt terrible for insinuating that Maggie was at fault. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I didn’t mean to accuse you. I guess all the strange happenings have me second-guessing everything. I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. Please, don’t cry.” He slowed his horse and waited for Maggie to come up alongside him, and then took her hand in his. Maybe she was right about Alec and he did have something to do with what was going on. Thingshadstarted to happen after he arrived with Angus. But why would he put himself to sleep? That part didn’t make any sense at all… unless AlecwantedDylan to believe that Maggie was up to no good. This was all very unsettling. He was going to have to dig deeper if he was going to get to the bottom of this. “Maggie, tell me something,” Dylan carefully worded his question as she pulled her hand away from his. “What exactly are you doing here in Breaghacraig? Is something going on that you aren’t sharing with me?”
She seemed to think about this question for a moment before she responded. “Well, if ye must know, while I came here to spend time with ye, I’ve found myself thrown into the middle of someone else’s witchcraft. Someone who wishes harm to the MacKenzie Clan.” Brielle nodded towards Alec, where he lay peacefully sleeping in Dylan’s arms.
Dylan didn’t want to argue the point with her, so he let it drop. Again, he thought before speaking. “Maggie, if somethingis going on here that involves witchcraft and the MacKenzies, don’t you think you should tell them?”
She acted as if he’d just suggested that she share some top-secret information with them. “I dinnae see what good it would do for me to tell them. They’d nae believe me and it might complicate matters.”
“I don’t know how much more complicated things can get after yesterday.” Dylan adjusted Alec in his arms as Breaghacraig came into view.
“I ken things will get worse before they get better,” Brielle said with a snicker.
“It’s not a laughing matter, Maggie.” Dylan couldn’t believe she was taking this so lightly, when moments before she had been in tears.
“Nae. Yer right. Although a wee bit of levity never hurts, wouldn’t you say?”
