Kenna gives me another searching glare. “Ye need to know ye are it for my cousin. I’m telling ye, because ye better be feeling the same. I was always on Team Lucas, even when I thought going to the Chieftain on your own without talking to Catriona first was complete shite. Dinnae ye let me down.”
“Thank ye.” I mean that with everything in me. “I’m never leaving her again.”
“Then I shall use all my excellent powers of persuasion and manipulation through guilt and regret to make sure Uncle Cormac is saying ‘hell, yes!’ when ye two make it clear how ye feel.”
“Those powers of yours are really your most appealing quality, ye know that.” I toast her as she beams modestly.
“Oh, I do.”
My phone rings, and it’s Ryan.
“Excuse me,” I nod to Kenna, moving away. “Is this about ye being the biggest, Ryan? Am I gonna have to say it again?”
“Not this time, though I enjoy hearing it. Dubois is on the move, and based on the trail of destruction he’s leaving behind, he’s raging hard.”
“Let me get to my system, download everything ye have, please.” I look back at my Cat, still surrounded by the cousins. I dinnae think a tyre iron could separate them.
Kenna’s watching me with a bit of concern. “Bad news?”
“Bad news and good.” I hesitate, looking for Cat again. “Will ye her I had to leave? I’ll come for her in the morning.”
“Aye, I’ll just barge through the ticket of MacTavi and let her know.”
I dinnae want to leave Cat. Every time we separate, it feels like she could disappear in a puff of smoke. Dubois’ the only reason strong enough to pull away. I head for my car, placing calls as I go.
***
Blether - Scottish slang for talking too much or chattering.
Stonner - Scottish slang for an erection.
Chapter Twenty-One
In which Catriona realizes that Lucas was always there.
Catriona…
I love my family.
I also want them to get the hell off me for five minutes so I can find Lucas. I want to stand together with him under the onslaught of questions.
“Sis, are ye truly… okay?” Michael looks like he’s in physical pain. “Do ye need a doctor? Maybe some time with Kenna on the couch?”
“No one uses a couch in therapy anymore, ye arse.” Rubbing my aching forehead, I search for Lucas. Ah, he’s bookended by my cousins Kai and Wallace. “Not to worry, my virtue is preserved.”
“Did ye ever have any of that?” Michael’s all mock sincerity.
“Not really, but neither do ye, ye arse.” I cut loose from him and head toward the staircase whereI’d seen Lucas last.
My cousin Afton seizes my hand and she, Luna, Arabella, and my sister Maisie surround me. “If you’re not ready,” Luna says, “we understand. But the why and how of it is killing us.”
Standing on tiptoe on the third stair, I can just see Lucas. Short of throwing a serving platter over the head of everyone like a frisbee, I canna get his attention. Sitting down with a sigh, I say, “What do ye want to know?”
“We know that leather-faced piss jar took ye because of your skill with poisons.” Maisie sits down next to me. “Was he trying to make ye create something new?”
“The wily prick already created the poison, but he couldn’t figure out the antidote. He yammered on and on about how I was the only one who could figure it out, howbeautifulmy brain is.”
“Well, ye are pretty damn brilliant,” Afton says approvingly before frowning. “Did he have to… persuade ye?”
