Dragon Warrior (Midnight Bay) (35 page)

“Hiram knew it was you they eventually listened to, not him.”

She looked back at her deceased resident and sighed again. “Let me have someone make up a bed for you in another room, Mr. Killkenny,” she said, looking at him again. “So you don’t have to be in here with him.”

“I don’t mind, Doris. And ye needn’t bother, anyway; if the roads are passable, then it’s time Kenzie and Trace and I got going. Um . . . if somebody could find me something to wear, that is,” he said with a chuckle. “For I fear I’ve already scandalized poor Charlotte and Lois.”

Speaking of the little devils, Charlotte and Lois popped their heads in the doorway, and Maddy walked in and tossed some folded material at him. “The open side of the thin robe goes in the back, and the thick one goes over it, with the opening in the front. Doris,” she said, suddenly noticing her boss. “The roads are open?”

“The main road is,” Doris said. She shook her head. “It looks like a category three hurricane came through Midnight Bay. There are crews working with chainsaws all over the place, and line trucks are clearing away the wires. I swear, it’s going to take a month of Sundays to clean up this town. Only it’s the strangest thing—the storm didn’t seem to hit Ellsworth or even Oak Harbor.” She walked over and hugged Maddy. “I’m sorry, Ms. Kimble,” she said. “I know how much Hiram meant to you.” She stepped back and waved at the decorations, smiling crookedly. “I see you all got together and sent him off in high style, though. I’m sorry I missed the party.”

Kenzie and Trace walked in. “Eve’s on her way to pick us up,” Kenzie said. “Maddy, we’ll give ye a ride home.”

“I need to stay here and take care of William and . . . Hiram.”

“The funeral home has already been called,” Doris said, “and they’re on their way. And the rest of the staff is trickling in, so we’re all set here. Why don’t you take the next few days off? At least until after Hiram’s funeral, which will probably be on Wednesday. He already made the arrangements.” She smiled. “From what hymns he wanted right down to the beautiful pine box he showed me a picture of.”

“But—”

“You can take care of William at your house, Peeps,” Trace said, cutting off Maddy’s protest before she could make it. “That should keep you busy enough.”

“But—”

“And I can sit on your porch and supervise as ye clean up your yard,” William said, cutting off her protest again.

“But you can’t—”

“Don’t make me get out the hair clippers,” Trace said quietly.

William saw Maddy’s shoulders slump in defeat.

But he figured they’d soon straighten back up once she saw the new SUV he would now have to take out of Kenzie’s barn.

Chapter Twenty-three

M
addy gave William a sweet little wave as she pulled out of her driveway, making sure not to let him see her smile. She looked into her rearview mirror when she reached the road, and chuckled out loud at the sight of him standing on her porch, scowling hard enough to hurt his face. She didn’t know which was confounding him more, that she was leaving without him or that she hadn’t even bothered to ask if she could borrow his truck.

She’d had some reservations about letting William stay at her house while he recuperated, but he’d been a surprisingly cooperative patient, and Maddy suspected he quite liked being fussed over by three women. While soaking up their attention like a thirsty sponge, William had in turn entertained everyone with stories of his own family, and spent hours sitting on the porch listening to Sarah read
The Chronicles of Narnia
aloud.

Rick had moved back home, only now instead of stumbling into bed at three in the morning, he was leaving at four to go fishing with Trace as both men plotted to add a second boat to their fleet. Patricia had been horrified to learn that her son had dropped out of college, but Maddy had stood beside Rick when he’d broken the news to their mother that he had inherited his dad’s passion for fishing.

Yes, the Lane house was near to bursting with people, and despite dealing with demon wolves, lecherous tigers, and freak storms, Maddy couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy.

And she wasn’t nearly as scared as she thought she’d be.

She turned on the radio to her favorite country and western station, cranking up the volume until all eight speakers were thumping. When Trace had delivered the spanking-new, fire-engine-red SUV on Sunday, Maddy had seen William actually brace himself, as if he’d been expecting her to explode—or at least spit and sputter and tell him she was not driving this truck around town, either, for everyone to see. But she’d given a squeal of delight instead, and climbed in the driver’s seat and started playing with all the buttons.

She might get stubborn sometimes but she wasn’t stupid; it was a really badass truck. It had ten times the buttons William’s pickup had, including a navigation system a rocket scientist would have trouble figuring out, and she really, really loved it. And she’d finally decided that what was the point of having a rich boyfriend, anyway, if she couldn’t enjoy some of the perks?

Maddy chuckled again as she remembered William’s expression this morning, when, on their way to Hiram’s funeral, he’d finally realized that she had already made the truck her own. She’d folded a pretty throw blanket over the backseat, programmed the radio—which was satellite, thank you very much—to her favorite channels, filled the console with all her paraphernalia, and even slapped a bumper sticker on the back that said, “Nurses Do It with Intensive Care.”

And just to see if she couldn’t get
him
to explode, on their ride back she’d told him the truck would look really cool with a vanity plate that said “DRGNHRT”—after the pretty pin he’d given her that she’d named Willy Dragonheart.

He hadn’t exploded, but he certainly had spit and sputtered.

The poor man; Maddy wished she could tell him to just quit trying so hard. He might not have had her at hello, but she’d definitely started melting when she saw him with her residents. And when he’d given her that small wooden box to tuck under her bed when he’d picked her up on Friday, and she’d realized he hadn’t even
sealed
it . . . well, someone needed to look after the romantic sap before some perky-boobed, tight-assed hussy stuck her gold-digging claws into him.

She had planned to make this trip to Ellsworth on Monday, to talk to her doctor about that new Plan B morning-after pill she’d recently read about and to get a more reliable contraceptive, but since she’d started her period late Saturday night, it had taken away a good deal of the urgency.

So she’d made her appointment for Wednesday afternoon instead, and she intended to come home with several surprises for William: an IUD—because she didn’t think he’d wait around for the pill to take effect—and a couple of cases of fine Irish ale that Trace had told her William liked. As for her third surprise, Mr. Killkenny was about to find out that he wasn’t the only one who liked to give gifts. She was taking the nice little bequeathal Mr. Man had left her in his heart-wrenchingly sweet card—which had started her crying all over again when Doris had quietly handed it to her at the funeral—and buying William a token of her affection.

She’d found the perfect piece last night, when she’d gone online to browse local stores in Ellsworth, although at the time she hadn’t known exactly what she’d been looking for. Figuring William wouldn’t wear anything that even hinted at being jewelry, she had started looking for something he could carry in his pocket. But remembering the St. Christopher medal her mom had given her dad, which he’d worn on a long chain around his neck to keep him safe while fishing, she had eventually gravitated to the small medallions that were definitely made for manly men.

Even if she’d designed something herself, she couldn’t have come up with a more perfect piece than the one she had found.

Maddy pulled into the liquor store just outside Ellsworth and bought three cases of ale and two slip-on bottle sleeves; one exclaiming
Your village just called to say they’re missing their idiot
, and one that said
I’m so damn near perfect, I even scare myself sometimes
.

She then went to the jewelry store, bought the medal, and spent the twenty minutes it took them to engrave it picking out the perfect chain. She wanted one strong enough to survive William and long enough that he could slip it over his head and it would hang low enough on his beautiful broad chest that it wouldn’t show even if he kept the top two buttons undone.

And then she made them gift-wrap it in very manly paper.

It was almost two hours later that Maddy walked out of her doctor’s office, feeling a bit crampy but quite satisfied that she wouldn’t have to worry about another unplanned pregnancy. She climbed into the SUV—which she’d parked at the end of the lot because she didn’t want anyone dinging its beautiful doors—and opened the console. She rummaged through her bag of necessities, got out two aspirins, and popped them in her mouth.

But when she tilted her head back to take a swig of water, Maddy inadvertently glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Maximilian Oceanus sitting directly behind her—holding an open bottle of Irish ale in one hand and the medal she’d bought William in the other.

William sat in the backseat of Kenzie’s truck, staring down at the three cell phones in his hand; one was Kenzie’s, one was his own, and the third belonged to Trace. All three men had gotten text messages half an hour ago; all originating from Maddy’s cell phone, all requesting they come to Dragon Cove.

The messages were signed “Mr. P.S.”

William closed his eyes against the knot strangling his gut. Maddy had written the texts, and signing them “Mr. P.S.” was her way of saying the man she’d called pond scum—to his face—had made her send them.

“Is there a reason you let Maddy go off by herself this afternoon?” Trace growled from the front seat.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kenzie said before William could answer. “Mac would have gotten hold of her eventually. Oceanus is well known for his patience.”

“He’s also known for wiping out entire civilizations when that patience has been pushed too far,” William added, the knot in his gut starting to burn at the thought of Maddy doing the pushing. “So Mac’s the one who’s been holding Fiona,” he said, rereading Kenzie’s text message. He reread Trace’s. “And Carolina must have stolen the coin from her betrothed, and Mac wants it as well as his sister.”

“Then why get Maddy involved?” Trace asked. “Doesn’t he think Fiona is enough of a trade for his sister and the coin?”

“Taking Maddy was personal,” William said, snapping shut all three phones.

“Did you piss him off, Killkenny?” Kenzie asked.

“No, I believe Madeline did,” he said with a sigh.

Kenzie drove right up to the bluff where William was building his home and shut off the engine. All three men sat silently, looking around the construction site, which was empty because the crew was still helping clean up Midnight Bay after the storm.

“Holy hell,” Trace whispered, looking toward an outcropping of ledge.

William snorted. “Mac does love drama,” he said, opening his door.

Kenzie also got out, and William could feel the tension humming through the highlander. “Don’t worry. Mac has no intention of harming Fiona much less keeping her. In fact, he’ll probably offer to
pay
you to take the little termagant off his hands.”

“We don’t show him Carolina until we see both Fiona and Maddy,” Kenzie said.

Trace joined them—although Huntsman had needed to hold on to the truck as he walked around it, as he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the spectacle up on the ledge.

But then, it wasn’t every day a modern saw a drùidh in full regalia.

“Are we supposed to be impressed?” Trace asked.

“No, I believe Maddy’s the one he’s trying to impress,” William said. He started walking toward Mac, the other two men falling into step beside him.

“I would have expected you to build out on the point, Killkenny,” Mac said. “And your new home isn’t nearly as big as your old keep. What, are you not planning to have much of a family?”

William stopped ten paces from the drùidh, the others stopping beside him. “Since when have ye stooped to using helpless women as pawns, Oceanus?”

“Cùram de Gairn’s magic made An Tèarmann impenetrable, which forced me to use the women,” Mac said, apparently brushing off the slight. He nodded to Kenzie. “Tell your brother I said hello when you see him, Gregor.” He winced. “I had hoped he would thank me for the gift I’m giving him, but now I’m beginning to worry he may take offense. And I thought my sister had problems,” he added with a shudder.

William saw Kenzie stiffen. “What have ye done to her, Oceanus?”

Mac pulled back the edge of his large, billowing robe to reveal a woman tucked up against his left side, wearing the clothes of an eleventh-century Scottish lass and a horrified look on her face.

It was the first time William had ever seen Kenzie caught off guard; the highlander suddenly grabbed William’s shoulder, his knees obviously going weak at the sight of the trembling, reddish-blond-haired, golden-eyed woman blinking out at him. “Fiona,” he said on an indrawn breath.