Page 30 of Duncan

Valerie placed the tray on the table by the hearth, and sat down with her there. “If you just want some company, you don’t have to make conversation. I don’t mind if you just want to sit and rest.”

Since arriving on the island she’d had her reservations about the older woman, but now she sensed her compassion wasn’t an act. Yet if the laird’s wife touched her, she would read her mind, and then Valerie would know everything in her head.

“If the men or Caroline haven’t told you, I lied about my surname,” Nicole said, mostly so she wouldn’t try to use her power on her. “It’s Fairburn, as in the daughter of Maxwell Fairburn.”

Valerie shrugged as if she hadn’t just admitted to being the most eligible heiress on the planet. “We’ve all found it difficult to adjust to our new reality. Thank you for trusting us.”

That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. “You knew?”

“That you were lying? Yes,” the laird’s wife said. “I remembered seeing a photograph of your earrings in a magazine. The article was about the most expensive jewelry in the world. Yours contain flawless blue diamonds worth three point five million dollars.”

“My father bought them for my mother as a wedding gift,” Nicole said. “His idea of something blue. She never took them off until she left him. It’s silly, but when I wear them, I tell myself I’m connected to her.”

Valerie gave her a reassuring smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you look so upset earlier?”

“I had a scare at the infirmary,” she said, and told her about the incident with Duncan. “I don’t understand what’s happening between us. Really, the last thing I want is to become involved with your healer.”

“After what I went through with my first husband, I thought the same thing about Connal,” the laird’s wife said. “You and Duncan seem to have the same chemistry we did.”

It was that obvious to everyone else? “He’s a very attractive man, but going home is my priority. I am sympathetic to your situation here, but there’s nothing more important to me than protecting my dad.”

That was true, Nicole thought to herself. It had to be.

“The rest of us have no families left, so you are the only time traveler to leave behind loved ones in the future,” the laird’s wife said. “Of course we understand how terrifying it is for you to be trapped here. Connal and I will do whatever we can to help you go back.”

“After I help the clan,” she tacked on.

A delicate pink flush appeared on Valerie’s face. “Lady Joana’s ring brought you here for that purpose, and we would like you to help us. Yet I don’t believe the enchantment would sacrifice your father’s safety for our benefit. That’s not what this is about, Nicole.”

“You put a great deal of faith in a magic Fae ring.” She held out her hand, and the green gem sparkled in the candlelight. “If the enchantment is so powerful that it can snatch gifted people from the future and drop them here, why doesn’t it remove your enemies from this time? Getting rid of this enchantress and her shifters seems like a simpler solution than depending on the kindness of time-traveling strangers to stop them.”

“That’s a good point, but we have no control over what the ring does. We also have more problems than Derdrui and the Cait Sith,” the laird’s wife said. “Duncan told you about the Selseus that live outside the bay. One of them, Duxor, turned traitor and has been creating hybrids by fusing mortals and shifters with other dangerous sea creatures.”

She frowned. “What purpose would that serve?”

“Duxor wants to assassinate Merrick, the king of the Selseus, and seize the throne for himself. That’s a problem they and their people must deal with, but we’ve discovered that the hybrids are more dangerous than anyone realized.” Valerie grimaced. “They are mindless killers who can shift into forms that allow them to breathe air and come on land. Unlike the MacMar and other half-Fae beings, the hybrids are also capable of having young—a lot of young.”

The implications of what she said made Nicole go still. “How many is a lot?”

“That we’ve observed, dozens. The sharks that are native to these waters generally birth up to ten pups at a time, but once they’re fused with a mortal or halfling, that can and will likely change.” She hesitated before she added, “There are shark species that can spawn a hundred or more in one litter. If a hybrid bred with one of those, then they might do the same.”

What she was telling her was ghastly. “Surely predators can keep their population under control. Killer whales, seals, sea lions–”

“The killer whale pod that occupied our waters left soon after Duxor created the first hybrids,” Valerie told her. “We’ve also noticed all the seals that usually come to the island this time of year haven’t made an appearance, and the unaltered sharks have also gone. We’re hoping that like the orca they’re just avoiding Caladh’s waters, but it may be that the hybrids are killing and feeding on them.”

“I can’t see how I could help with that,” Nicole said.

The laird’s wife nodded. “I thought the same thing, until we learned that you can compel the Selseus as you do animals.”

“You’re mistaken.” She curled her fingers around her pendant. “I haven’t tried to compel anyone.”

Valerie related what had happened with the Selseus messenger when Nicole had first arrived on the island, and then added, “King Merrick was quite upset about the incident, but we’ve managed to persuade him to calm down. To prevent any future incidents, please refrain from touching any of the aquatics as well.”

“Of course.” That also might explain why Fletcher and the laird had been so unfriendly. “Do you think I can control the hybrids?”

“Perhaps.” The older woman sighed. “They are unnatural creatures that have been forcibly created out of two separate beings. If we could capture one alive, we’d like you to use your healing power and try to separate them.”

Chapter Eight